WEEK IN REVIEW: Top News
September 11, 2011 - 1:00 am
A deranged man with an assault rifle killed four people, including three uniformed members of the Nevada National Guard, at an IHOP in Carson City Tuesday.
Killed were Sgt. 1st Class Christian David Riege, 38, of Carson City; Maj. Heath Kelly, 35, of Reno; Sgt. 1st Class Miranda McElhiney, 31, of Reno; and Florence Donovan-Gunderson, 67, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Seven others were wounded.
The gunman, Eduardo Sencion, 32, then turned the rifle on himself, dying later at a hospital. Police said he had a history of mental illness.
In the days following the shooting, stories emerged detailing the horror and heroism inside the restaurant, including one patron who knocked over a high chair to get a child out of the line of fire and another who helped lead a panicked family to safety.
Monday
Arrest in girl’s death
Police arrested a 19-year-old man in the apparently random rape and murder of 15-year-old Alyssa Otremba, who disappeared while walking home from picking up a textbook at Arbor View High School.
Javier Righetti was taken into custody at his home in the same neighborhood where Otremba lived and her burned body was found Saturday.
Hundreds of her friends and classmates turned out to remember her and visit the makeshift memorial that sprang up in her honor.
Tuesday
Romney stumps in NLV
During a campaign stop at the repair shop of a North Las Vegas trucking company, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney unveiled a detailed, book-size economic plan he said would create 11.5 million private-sector jobs and lead to 4 percent annual growth in the U.S. economy in his first White House term.
Speaking to 400 supporters, Romney said, "America should be a job machine."
Wednesday
Rec centers saved
North Las Vegas leaders approved a concessions agreement with the police officers union that will save the cash-strapped city’s recreation centers for now.
The agreement, which delays until July a cost-of-living raise for the union’s 360 members, will save the city about $2 million through June.
Councilwoman Anita Wood cast the lone vote against the deal because she said it simply kicks the city’s budget problem down the road.
Thursday
Highway headaches
Transportation officials warned that congestion along Interstate 15 is likely to worsen over the next month as the second construction project within a 10-mile stretch through the core of Las Vegas gets under way.
Starting today , the Nevada Department of Transportation will embark on a round-the-clock paving job in both directions between the Spaghetti Bowl and Tropicana Avenue. It is the first time in 15 years that the interstate has been fully resurfaced.
Friday
Officer wounded
A man was killed and an officer was wounded in a police shooting at a Walmart.
Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Lew Roberts said patrol officers were investigating a suspicious couple trying to make a large purchase with a fraudulent bank card at the store on Rainbow Boulevard near Spring Mountain Road.
Three or four officers confronted the couple and attempted to take them into custody when the man pulled a handgun from his waistband and began firing, Roberts said.
One officer was struck in his chest and arm, but he was wearing a vest and received non-life threatening injuries.
Week In ReviewMore Information
NUMBERS 3
The number of Nevada National Guard soldiers killed since 9/11 in military deployments associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
4
The number of National Guard members shot to death in Nevada since 2010, including the three soldiers who were killed Tuesday in a Carson City IHOP.
$23.5 billion
Macau’s overall gaming revenues last year, according to government figures. So far this year, those revenues are up 44 percent, quadrupling those of Las Vegas.
$62 million
How much the all-but-defunct Clean Water Coalition will refund to Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas under a plan approved Thursday.
QUOTES
"Support our troops."
The bumper sticker slogan on the back of a van from which 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion launched his attack on a Carson City IHOP Tuesday. The shooting left five dead, including Sencion and three members of the Nevada National Guard.
"We are a resilient society. We rebuild. We don’t forget. I hope we never forget."
Ken Furlong
Carson City Sheriff, on Tuesday’s shooting, which he called "unquestionably the most devastating attack" in the community’s history.
"We’ve got to be perfect 24-seven. They’ve only got to be right once."
Jerry Keller
Former Clark County Sheriff, talking about the challenge facing authorities as they try to protect Las Vegas from a terrorist attack 10 years after 9/11.
"The intermingling of Ms. Berkley’s public and private life … is striking even among her peers on Capitol Hill."
The New York Times
in a story accusing Democrat Shelley BerkleY of taking actions as a House member that benefited the practice of Her husband, Dr. Larry Lehrner.
MULTIMEDIA
• VIDEO: Suspect killed and officer wounded in shooting at Las Vegas Walmart
• VIDEO: Slaying suspect Javier Righetti appears in court
• SLIDE SHOW: Candlelight vigil for Alyssa Otremba
• VIDEO: Movie Minute with Carol Cling 09/09/11
• VIDEO: Mitt Romney unveils jobs plan in North Las Vegas
• VIDEO: Doug Elfman: What’s Hot This Weekend 09/09/11
• SLIDE SHOW: Christina Portaro remembered by friends and classmates at vigil