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STRIP SHOOTING-CRASH
Vegas carnage defendant gets 16 years in sex case
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A self-described pimp has been sentenced to 16 years to life in state prison in a sex assault case that served as a prelude to his death penalty trial later this year in a Las Vegas Strip shooting and fiery crash that left three people dead.
Ammar Harris said nothing during sentencing Wednesday in Clark County District Court.
His lawyer, Robert Langford, told Judge Kathleen Delaney that the 27-year-old Harris isn't the bad person he's been made out to be.
A jury in September found Harris guilty in a June 2010 sex attack and robbery of an 18-year-old woman.
Harris is due for trial in September in the Strip shooting and crash that killed an aspiring rapper, a cab driver and taxi passenger a little over a year ago.
WINTER STORMS-NEVADA
Back-to-back storms pack Sierra snow, Vegas rain
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The first of back-to-back storms headed for the Sierra is expected to drop several of inches of snow at Lake Tahoe and up to a foot and one-half on the mountain ridges.
The National Weather Service says the same winter storm system should carry rain into western Nevada valleys and could bring Las Vegas its most measureable precipitation in nearly three months.
A winter weather advisory is in effect from 4 p.m. Wednesday to 10 a.m. Thursday for the Reno-Tahoe area, south to Mammoth Lakes.
Three to six inches is forecast at Tahoe, with 10 to 18 inches above 7,000 feet. The second wave of wetter weather begins Friday night into Saturday.
Weather service meteorologist Barry Pierce says up to a half-inch of rain is possible in Las Vegas.
VETERANS HOUSING FIRE-VEGAS
1 burned in fire at Vegas veterans housing complex
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas fire officials say a man in a veterans housing complex has serious burns after a fire in one of the apartments.
Authorities say they responded to the Veteran's Village apartments on South Las Vegas Boulevard a little before 9 a.m. Wednesday.
They found a heavy fire in one of the second-story studio apartments, and put it out in about five minutes.
Officials say a middle-aged man was taken to University Medical Center with serious burns on his legs and smoke inhalation.
Investigators say the fire appears to be accidental and sparked by careless smoking. Damage is estimated at $25,000.
Veteran's Village provides transitional housing to needy veterans, as well as job placement, counseling and other services.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA-BOULDER CITY
Boulder City bans medical marijuana dispensaries
BOULDER CITY, Nev. (AP) — Boulder City councilmembers have voted to ban medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits, saying they don't think the businesses are a good fit for the town.
The City Council voted 5-0 on the measure Tuesday, making the city of 15,000 the first in Clark County to bar the establishments.
Las Vegas has a moratorium on dispensaries while city staff members research the matter.
Nevada voters approved medical marijuana in 2000, but that law provided no legal way for patients to obtain the drug except to grow it themselves.
Lawmakers passed a law in 2013 that sets up a framework for distributing medical marijuana, although it allows municipalities to impose moratoriums.
Mayor Roger Tobler emphasized patients can still use medical marijuana in Boulder City, even if they can't buy it there.
MACHETE ATTACK-TRIAL
Jury hears of note in Vegas machete attack case
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jurors in Las Vegas are hearing about a confessional note left by a man who admits hacking his ex-girlfriend's arms with a machete, but maintains that he wasn't trying to kill her.
Trial resumes Wednesday for Armando Vergara-Martinez.
He speaks in the letter of betrayal and apologizes for what he's about to do before the March 2012 attack on Maria Del Carmen Gomez.
He also seeks forgiveness from his children.
Vergara-Martinez is conceding guilt on mayhem and domestic battery with a weapon charges that could get him 25 years in state prison.
He's fighting an attempted murder charge.
His public defender, Tegan Machnich, said Tuesday that Vergara-Martinez was too drunk to know what he was doing.
Gomez's hands were surgically reattached, but she died six months later from unrelated cancer.
CASINO STRIKE-VOTE
Las Vegas' largest union to vote on casino strike
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Members of a powerful Las Vegas hotel union are planning a vote next month that could empower organizers to call for a strike.
The Culinary union is negotiating over contracts that cover about 10,000 Las Vegas workers.
Last week, members voted to end a contract extension put in place in June, which means workers now have the right to picket, boycott, and strike.
Culinary spokeswoman Yvanna Cancela says members will take a strike authorization vote on March 20.
The 17 casinos still in negotiations include the Golden Nugget, the D, Tropicana and the Stratosphere. The union recently agreed on new contracts with MGM Resorts International and Caesars.
Cancela says contract negotiations have not ended in a strike since 1991, when workers picketed the Frontier casino for more than 6 years.
MORMONS BY STATE
6 in 10 Utah residents identify as Mormon
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A new Gallup survey shows six in 10 Utah residents identify as Mormon.
That's more than double the proportion in any other state. Idaho ranks second with 24 percent of its residents belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The survey is based on phone interviews with 500 adults in each state done in 2013.
Past Gallup surveys show the percentage of Utah residents who call themselves Mormon has held steady around 60 percent for the past six years.
Utah and Idaho are the only states where more than 10 percent of residents are Mormons. In Wyoming, 9 percent belong to the LDS church. About 4-5 percent of residents in Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii are LDS.
Utah has the smallest percentage of Protestants of any state.
MARIJUANA-NORTHWEST TRIBES
Northwest tribes oppose marijuana legalization
FERNDALE, Wash. (AP) — An organization representing 57 Northwest Indian tribes has announced its opposition to marijuana legalization, specifically in Alaska and Oregon.
The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians announced a partnership Tuesday with the Smart Approaches to Marijuana project, which supports a treatment, health-first marijuana policy.
The tribal group says it supports efforts to reduce marijuana use, especially among young people.
The group represents tribes in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Alaska and Northern California.
CALIFORNIA RAVES-VEGAS VERSIONS
Insomniac announces Vegas versions of Calif. raves
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The producers behind the massive Electric Daisy Carnival rave say they're planning Las Vegas versions of two other dance festivals traditionally held in Southern California.
Insomniac Events CEO Pasquale Rotella announced this week on his official Facebook page that his company would launch a Beyond Wonderland festival and a Nocturnal Wonderland festival in Sin City.
Rotella says the new events will be in addition to festivals in Southern California and won't replace them.
His message addressed concerns that the festivals are outgrowing their usual home at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, Calif. Rotella says Insomniac is negotiating new venues, but hasn't finalized them yet.
Nocturnal Wonderland is traditionally held in September, and Beyond Wonderland is usually held in March. Both are smaller than the Electric Daisy Carnival.
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