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NEVADA GOVERNOR
Sandoval files for 2nd term with no big opponent
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — First-term Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval filed for a second term Friday, saying he wants to continue working to diversify the state's economy and improve education and the state's mental health system.
Sandoval noted that when he left a lifetime appointment as a federal judge and took office in 2011, Nevada was in the throes of recession and unemployment hit a record 14 percent. The jobless rate has since retreated to 8.8 percent, but it still remains the second-highest in the nation.
The governor says the state has added more than 60,000 jobs and has seen three years of economic improvement during his term.
Sandoval says if re-elected, economic development and education would remain priorities.
He says that in the 2013 legislative session, the state increased funding for K-12 education by $500 million, expanded all-day kindergarten, decreased class sizes and committed $50 million for English language learner programs.
PUPPIES SAVED-OWNERSHIP FIGHT
Foundation halts Vegas arson case puppy auction
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A raffle has been called off for 27 puppies rescued from a Las Vegas business that authorities say a woman and a man tried to torch.
The nonprofit Animal Foundation issued a statement Friday announcing the postponement and declining comment on a court order issued hours earlier by a judge in Las Vegas.
It leaves ownership of the dogs with Prince and Princess pet store managing owner Donald Thompson — at least until a Tuesday hearing.
Thompson's attorney, Jacob Hafter, alleges that Clark County Commissioners ignored Thompson's ownership claim and conspired with the foundation to steal the puppies to sell them to raise funds.
Thompson's estranged wife, Gloria Lee, and another man, Kirk Bills, are accused of trying to set the store afire early Jan. 27 for the insurance money.
RENO PARK-DEAD MAN
Reno police probe death of man at park near river
(Information in the following story is from: Reno Gazette-Journal, http://www.rgj.com)
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Reno police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found at a park along the Truckee River just north of Renown Regional Medical Center.
Reno police Sgt. Ken Harmon tells the Reno Gazette-Journal there are no signs of serious trauma or reasons to believe the death was of a suspicious nature. But because they don't have complete information, he says officers currently are treating it as a homicide.
Harmon says the man's van was left running with his dog inside at John Champion Park on Kuenzli Avenue east of the Gazette-Journal building.
Another man found the deceased man while walking through the park and called authorities Friday morning.
Harmon says officers are canvassing the area trying to gather more information.
DEPUTY-SEIZED CASH
AP Newsbreak: Deputy accused of illegal stops
RENO, Nev. (AP) — According to two federal lawsuits, a rural Nevada sheriff's deputy is accused of stopping travelers on a lonely stretch of U.S. Interstate 80 and confiscating tens of thousands of dollars for the county without bringing charges.
Two men who were traveling alone through northern Nevada's high desert last year offer strikingly similar accounts of their stops by the same Humboldt County deputy near the town of Winnemucca, about 165 miles east of Reno.
The lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Reno say neither search produced drugs or an arrest, but in one case Deputy Lee Dove took a briefcase filled with $50,000 and in the other he seized $13,800 and a handgun.
Both men say they were told they'd be released with their vehicles only if they forfeited their cash.
The lawsuits say the cash seizures are part of a pattern of stopping drivers for speeding as a pretext for drug busts, which violates the Constitution. They maintain Dove, Sheriff Ed Kilgore, Humboldt County and its prosecutors condone the practice of seizing assets regardless of criminal prosecution.
Two Reno lawyers representing the county did not immediately respond to telephone or email messages seeking comment, nor did Kilgore or Dove.
ARIZONA FUGITIVE ARRESTED
Man convicted in child's death arrested in Nevada
PHOENIX (AP) — A man who fled Arizona after being convicted of first-degree murder and child abuse in 2012 has been arrested in Nevada.
The U.S. Marshals Service says Jose Lopez was taken into custody Thursday night at a Las Vegas apartment complex.
Lopez had posted bond after his arrest in the 2007 death of 21-month-old Mia Alvarez and was required to attend his trial.
Pinal County prosecutors say Lopez fled the courthouse during a lunch recess and wasn't present when the jury announced its verdict in July 2012. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Authorities say Lopez had been baby-sitting for his fiancee in Arizona City in July 2007.
He was accused of seriously injuring the girl, who suffered skull fractures and bruises. She died days later at a Phoenix hospital.
DAIRY DEATH-NEVADA
Sheriff probing man's death at Nye County dairy
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nye County sheriff's officials are investigating the death of a 25-year-old man at a dairy in rural Amargosa Valley.
The sheriff's office in Pahrump says deputies and firefighters responding to a 911 call found the man dead about 9:15 p.m. Thursday at the Ponderosa Dairy property.
Sheriff's Detective Michael Eisenloffel says the initial call was that the man was badly hurt and might be dead.
Investigators thought circumstances were suspicious.
He says the Clark County coroner in Las Vegas will conduct an autopsy.
NASCAR-LAS VEGAS
Joey Logano wins NASCAR pole in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Joey Logano emerged from the organized chaos of NASCAR's first three-round knockout qualifying session Friday with the pole position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
This new qualifying system is a whole lot more interesting than the prior system.
And nobody is quite sure what they're doing yet.
The Penske Ford team has figured it out better than most. Logano won the pole for Sunday's Las Vegas race with a qualifying lap at a track-record 193.28 mph, and he'll start on the front row next to teammate Brad Keselowski, who came in second at 193.099.
The Penske drivers swept the top two spots for the second straight race, reversing their two-round qualifying finish in Phoenix a week ago. Clint Bowyer finished third, with Austin Dillon in fourth and Jimmie Johnson in fifth.
NASCAR added the knockout system to goose interest in a dull weekly ritual, and it's working. The teams are challenged by multiple chances to hit top speed. The drivers are both worried about the danger and excited by the challenge.
And fans seem quite intrigued, judging by the larger-than-normal crowd in the Speedway stands.
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