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CASINOS-HOTEL POINTS
Las Vegas casinos partner with hotel chains
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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Time was, gamblers didn't even want credit card companies maintaining a record of their time in Las Vegas.
Now, visitors want loyalty points from mainstream hotel chains for the days they spend holed up in Strip casinos.
Casino corporations MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corp. have both announced partnerships in recent months with major hotel chains (Hyatt and Starwood, respectively).
The independent Strip casino the Cosmopolitan is also partnering with a hotel chain, striking a deal with Marriott.
The partnerships give the hotel chains a presence in one of the country's biggest tourist destinations. They also add to the casino companies' growing legitimacy in the hospitality industry.
MGM owns 10 properties on the Las Vegas Strip, including the MGM Grant and Bellagio. Caesars owns nine, including Caesars Palace and the Flamingo.
CRIME DATA-NEVADA
FBI reports some crime data up in Nevada cities
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police in Las Vegas reported a jump in the number of murders, and slight increases in rapes and robberies in the first six months of 2013, compared with the same period a year earlier.
In North Las Vegas, murders were down in the FBI Uniform Crime Report made public Tuesday.
But police there reported spikes in several other categories — with rapes up 51 percent, robberies up 22 percent and burglaries up 38 percent.
Henderson reported slight year-to-year increases in overall property crimes, including a 14 percent increase in thefts.
Reno police reported six murders from January to June 2013, compared with none the first six months of 2012.
Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Reno all reported fewer vehicle thefts, and Henderson had just a 3 percent increase.
YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR
Report details risky behavior of Nevada youth
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A new report gives a sobering snapshot on the health risk behaviors of Nevada high school students.
The report compiled by surveys taken last year shows 32 percent of high school students experienced depression and nearly 20 percent contemplated suicide.
Sixteen percent say they've carried a weapon in the month before the survey was taken, and about 20 percent were bullied.
When it comes to alcohol, 67 percent say they consumed it at least once. Of those, 33 percent drank alcohol in the month before the survey and nearly 18 percent participated in binge drinking.
About 40 percent have tried marijuana and a third of students surveyed say they were offered, sold or given an illegal drug on school property.
Forty-three percent of students have had sex.
MISSING WOMAN-DEATH PROBE
Deputies probe suicide of husband of missing woman
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Washoe County detectives are investigating the apparent suicide of a Spanish Springs man whose wife has been the target of a search since she was reported missing on Sunday.
Sheriff's spokesman Bob Harmon said in a statement Tuesday 51-year-old Gerald Muhl had been cooperating in an investigation into the disappearance of his wife before he was found dead Monday morning of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
His wife, Colleen Muhl, last was seen on Feb. 17.
Harmon says family members reported just after midnight Monday that Gerald Muhl left home on foot and may be suicidal. His body was found hours later in a field near the 12000 block of Ocean View Drive.
Authorities were searching for evidence in that area and the hillsides surrounding their home off the Pyramid Highway.
NEVADA WEEK IN REVIEW-RESIGNATION
Longtime 'Nevada Week in Review' host steps down
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The longtime host and producer of the Vegas PBS show "Nevada Week in Review" says he's leaving to pursue other career opportunities.
Mitch Fox has been with the station for 35 years and has hosted the weekly politics program for more than two decades. His last day on the show will be Friday.
General Manager Tom Axtell says the station will be working diligently to find a new host for the program and will use guest hosts during the transition.
Fox has moderated debates including the 2010 U.S. Senate matchup between Harry Reid and Sharron Angle. He's also covered the Nevada Legislature and produced an award-winning documentary series on nuclear waste.
AIRPLANE DUI CHARGE
Bail $101,000 for man held in small plane DUI case
BOULDER CITY, Nev. (AP) — Bail was set at $101,000 cash for a Henderson man accused of taking a small plane on a drunken joyride for midnight touch-and-go landings at Boulder City Municipal Airport.
Boulder City Justice Court clerk Nancy Spilker says Paul Michael Weddle made an initial appearance Tuesday by closed-circuit video before Searchlight Justice of the Peace Richard Hill.
Weddle is due again in court March 11 in Boulder City Justice Court on charges including piloting an aircraft under the influence and taking a vehicle without the owner's consent.
It's not clear if Weddle has an attorney.
The 47-year-old Weddle was jailed in Las Vegas after his arrest early Monday.
He was identified as a former employee of the plane owner, Scenic Airlines.
Police said Weddle's blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.13 percent.
PUPPIES SAVED-RAFFLE
Rescued dogs to be raffled by Vegas shelter group
LAS VEGAS (AP) — County officials have decided to let an animal shelter organization hold a raffle fundraiser to find homes for 27 puppies rescued in a Las Vegas pet shop arson case.
The Clark County Commission on Tuesday rejected an ownership claim by Prince and Princess pet shop co-owner Donald Thompson.
Commissioners decided the puppies should go to Lied (LEED') Animal Shelter owner the Animal Foundation.
Thompson had wanted the puppies to go to another non-profit animal rescue group, Home 4 Spot.
His lawyer, Amy Chelini, says Thompson won't fight the decision. Chelini says Thompson wants what's best for the animals.
Thompson is the estranged husband of pet store owner Gloria Lee.
Lee and another man, Kirk Bills, face arson, conspiracy and multiple attempted animal cruelty charges in the early Jan. 27 fire.
GUN THEFT-FUGITIVE ARRESTED
FBI arrests fugitive in theft of 18 guns in Utah
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man accused of stealing 18 guns from an eastern Utah store over the summer has been arrested by an FBI task force in southern Nevada.
Officials from the Roosevelt Police Department announced that 34-year-old Raymond Michael Livingston was arrested Monday. He's charged in the burglary of Stewart's Marketplace on June 23.
Livingston was wanted on an $185,000 warrant. Roosevelt Police Lt. Pete Butcher told the Deseret News there was a break in the case when three of the guns were recovered in the Las Vegas area, including one during a traffic stop and two during violent felonies.
Livingston is charged with 18 counts of theft and one count of burglary in the case.
He's in the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas pending a Wednesday court appearance.
TAHOE SKI RESORT-BEAR CLOSURE
Injured bear halts Tahoe ski run temporarily
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Part of a ski resort at Lake Tahoe was temporarily shut down while wildlife officials captured an injured bear cub that was wandering around a mountaintop chairlift.
The 1-year-old bear was being treated on Tuesday at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care for a puncture wound to its right shoulder and scraped up pads on the bottom of its feet.
Nevada Department of Wildlife biologist Carl Lackey says the bear was hanging Monday out at Heavenly Mountain Resort at South Lake Tahoe, Calif., near the spot where skiers disembark from the Powderbowl Express chairlift. He says it was approaching people and seemed lethargic.
Lackey shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart and the ski patrol helped him transport it downhill. A veterinarian thinks the animal may have fallen out of a tree.
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