Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
RENO MAYOR CANDIDATE
Reno mayor candidate dies; will remain on ballot
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The name of a Reno mayoral candidate who was found dead this week in his apartment will remain on the June 10 ballot.
Washoe County Registrar Luanne Cutler tells the Reno Gazette-Journal that Tony Perri's name will appear with 18 other candidates on the ballot.
Cutler says that under state law, a name is removed if a candidate dies before 5 p.m. on the second Tuesday in April before the primary election.
Notices will be posted at polling locations informing voters of Perri's death. In the unlikely event he wins the primary, the name of the next highest vote-getter will take his place on the general election ballot.
Perri was found dead in his apartment on Monday. He was 48 years old.
Autopsy results are pending.
NEVADA CONGRESS-CONTRIBUTIONS
Heck leads Bilbray in campaign contributions
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Republican Rep. Joe Heck is leading Democratic challenger Erin Bilbray in campaign fundraising in the race for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District seat.
Reports filed the Federal Election Commission show Heck raised $365,000 in the first quarter of the year and has $1.2 million cash on hand.
Bilbray's campaign reports raising about $271,000 from January through March, ending the period with $426,000 cash on hand.
Heck is seeking a third term in the House of Representatives. The 3rd Congressional District seat is a major target of Democrats, who hope to reclaim it in the November election.
In Nevada's 4th District, incumbent Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford raised $220,000 during the period and has $287,000 cash on hand.
Republican challengers Niger Innis and Cresent Hardy each reports about $100,000 in the bank.
SUSPICIOUS TEST SCORES
State probe detects cheating on standardized test
LAS VEGAS (AP) — An investigation by the Nevada Department of Education has determined standardized test answer sheets at a Las Vegas elementary school were altered by adults and led to skyrocketing scores from one year to the next.
The department issued a statement Wednesday saying the 2011-2012 test scores at Kelly Elementary School will be invalidated, and the findings will be forwarded to the Clark County School Board for possible disciplinary action.
The Nevada Attorney General's office and the department started investigating after the school submitted scores showing eyebrow-raising improvement.
State data show that from 2008 to 2011, the number of Kelly Elementary fifth-graders considered proficient in reading never reached 25 percent. But that figure leaped to nearly 78 percent for the 2011-2012 school year, and hovered at 72 percent in 2012-2013.
SHOOTING DEATH-SOUTH VEGAS
Coroner IDs man dead in desert area in south Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities have identified a 25-year-old man found shot dead in a desert area in south Las Vegas earlier this week.
Clark County coroner's officials say Las Vegas resident Rashard Felipe Acuna died of a gunshot wound to the back before being found Monday evening not far from the Henderson Executive Airport.
Authorities say gunshots were reported about 7:30 p.m. Monday near La Cienega Street and Neal Avenue. Acuna was found about 100 feet off the road and pronounced dead at the scene.
Police say the Acuna had been having a conversation with two people near a dark-colored vehicle just before shots rang out.
Authorities haven't identified any suspects, and say a motive is unclear.
CANDIDATE RESIDENCY
Nevada Supreme Court removes Schaefer from ballot
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld the removal of a state controller candidate from the June primary ballot because of his residency status.
Justices unanimously agreed with a lower court ruling that Democratic candidate John Michael Schaefer is not qualified to run for the constitutional office.
The secretary of state's office challenged Schaefer's eligibility after obtaining information that he was registered to vote in California and last year ran for the Los Angeles City Council.
Under Nevada law a candidate for controller must be a resident for two years before being eligible to seek the office.
Schaefer's ouster from the ballot leaves Assemblyman Andrew Martin as the only Democrat in the race.
Three Republicans also are running to replace termed-out Democrat Kim Wallin.
YOUTH CLUB-HOT AUGUST NIGHTS
Hot August Nights gives $100K to Reno youth club
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The Hot August Nights Foundation is contributing $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of the Truckee Meadows to help support a new youth facility.
Hot August Nights executive director Tony Marini says it is the single largest donation ever made by the charitable arm of the long-running classic car and music festival.
Mike Wurm of the Boys & Girls Club says it's a big shot in the arm for their daily operations as well as the club's new $14 million William N. Pennington Facility. It's scheduled to open May 20 at the site of the former YMCA across from Reno High School.
Wurm tells the Reno Gazette-Journal it will include four full-sized, multipurpose athletic courts, staffed classrooms, a library, kitchen, cafeteria and technology areas.
COPPER WIRE-UNR
Reward offered in theft of copper wire from UNR
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Secret Witness is offering a $1,000 reward for information into the theft of two huge spools of copper wire from a construction site on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.
UNR police say the construction zone in the married student's housing area was burglarized Saturday.
Officials say one spool weighed about 3,000 pounds and the other weighed 1,200 pounds.
The combined loss is estimated at more than $22,000.
VEGAS-STABBING-ARSON
Vegas police probe stabbing, apartment arson fire
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police in Las Vegas are investigating a stabbing that may have led to an arson fire.
Police say a woman stabbed her boyfriend in the stomach and in the leg during an altercation at an apartment near Jones and Washington about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday.
KSNV-TV reports the boyfriend later poured gasoline around the apartment and started a fire.
Las Vegas Fire & Rescue arrived to extinguish the fire. The man was transported to University Medical Center with undisclosed injuries while his girlfriend reportedly fled the scene.
No names have been released and no charges filed so far.
The case remains under investigation.
BODY FOUND-FLOOD CHANNEL
Partially decomposed body found in Vegas canal
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas police say they've found the body of a person who had apparently been stabbed and then left in a flood channel for two or three weeks.
Authorities say the discovery was reported about 3 p.m. Tuesday in a canal about 300 yards north of B Street and Owens Avenue.
Officers say the partially decomposed body belongs to a male, although his identity has not yet been released.
Police have not identified suspects in the case, and a motive is unclear.
The death marks the 30th homicide in Las Vegas police jurisdiction so far this year.
NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP-NEVADAN
Ex-homeless student at UNR wins $30K scholarship
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A University of Nevada, Reno student who was homeless during part of her time attending high school in North Las Vegas has been named the winner of a prestigious national scholarship worth $30,000.
Ivon Padilla-Rodriguez is one of only about 60 students in the country who will receive the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.
The money is to be used toward graduate education in law, social work, education, international affairs or public administration, health or policy.
Padilla-Rodriguez graduated from Canyon Springs High School in 2011. The 20-year-old junior at UNR says her ultimate goal is to attend law school, become a federal judge and follow in the footsteps of her heroine, Sonia Sotomayor, to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
MULROY-BROOKINGS
Pat Mulroy named senior fellow at Brookings
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former longtime Southern Nevada Water Authority boss Patricia Mulroy is being named a senior fellow at UNLV's Brookings Mountain West.
Mulroy will also serve as a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program in Washington, D.C., and work on environmental and water issues through a faculty appointment with Desert Research Institute.
Mulroy served as general manager of the water authority from 1993 until her retirement in February. During her tenure, she faced the challenges of balancing the needs of a rapidly growing region with the reality of dwindling water supplies.
In her new role, Mulroy will build upon her experience to promote discussion on new ways to address environmental challenges affecting the arid Southwest.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
