ENSIGN AFFAIR-FINES
Ensign to pay $32,000 fine over parents' payment
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Federal Election Commission says former U.S. Sen. John Ensign has agreed to pay a $32,000 civil penalty over a payment made by his parents to his 1-time mistress.
While he did not admit to any culpability, the Nevada Republican agreed to pay the fine to settle allegations that he took an illegal campaign contribution from his parents.
His parents, Michael and Sharon Ensign, in 2008 gave $96,000 to Cynthia Hampton, a campaign staffer who at the time was his mistress and the wife of his aide, Douglas Hampton.
The FEC ruled the payment was an undisclosed in-kind campaign contribution that exceeded federal limits because it was a severance rather than a gift. Ensign maintained it was a gift.
Ensign's parents also were fined $22,000 by the FEC.
Ensign resigned in 2011 before his second term expired amid a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into his actions.
IPAD KILLING-LAS VEGAS
Teen dies after refusing to give iPad to thieves
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Las Vegas police are searching for two thieves accused of running over a teenage boy with their SUV after he refused give up his iPad to them.
Ivan Arenas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he bought the iPad for his oldest son, Marcos, less than two months ago.
The father says the family has never had a lot and his 15-year-old son knew the value of everything he had.
But police say the Bonanza High School student's refusal to surrender his iPad to the thieves cost him his life Thursday and serves as a lesson for owners of such devices.
Ivan Arenas says he never imagined the iPad would lead to his son's death and for him to lose his life over it is "just not fair."
SIERRA PLANE CRASH
Pilot killed in Sierra plane crash
TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) - Federal investigators are trying to determine the cause of a small plane crash that killed a pilot near the Sierra town of Truckee.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the pilot was flying alone when the twin-engine Cessna 421 crashed Thursday afternoon in the Tahoe National Forest about 15 miles northeast of Truckee.
The pilot's name wasn't immediately released.
The plane was en route from Santa Clara to Reno when it went off radar about 20 miles west of its destination.
Witnesses reported seeing a fireball in the sky before the plane went down.
The FAA says the plane was registered to Reno-based Tri-Wings LLC.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading an investigation into the crash.
MURDER-SUICIDE-VEGAS
Las Vegas murder-suicide under investigation
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Police say they're investigating the deaths of a man and woman at a Las Vegas apartment complex as a murder-suicide.
Investigators say the bodies of the two were found Friday afternoon in a unit at the Mark 1 Apartments and it appears they died earlier Friday.
They say it also appears the man killed the woman before killing himself.
The two are believed to have been in their 20s, but their names or cause of death were not immediately disclosed.
Police believe the woman lived in the apartment.
MENTAL HEALTH
Amendments add money for Nevada mental health
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Legislative money committees have added $6 million for mental health programs, including a home visit pilot program, community interaction services and more beds for mentally ill inmates at a northern Nevada psychiatric hospital.
The budget amendments proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval will be paid for by a 1-time infusion of $21 million in tobacco settlement money. They were approved Saturday by the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
About $1.4 million will be used to re-establish a second Program for Assertive Community Treatment Team in southern Nevada that was eliminated in previous budget cuts.
Another $2 million will create a mental health home visit program.
And $3 million will be used to add 10 beds to Lakes Crossing that serves criminal defendants and inmates.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Rural colleges get some relief in budget closings
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Two rural Nevada colleges will feel less budget pain than initially proposed under actions taken by legislative money committees.
Lawmakers on the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees agreed Saturday to add $1 million a year to reduce losses Great Basin and Western Nevada colleges would realize under a new higher education funding formula.
The action holds the colleges to a budget cut of 11% from existing budget levels in each of the next two years, down from 15%.
A new funding formula for Nevada's System of Higher Education bases general fund support on how many class credits students complete. Upper level classes are also weighted more in the formula.
The money committees approved $751 million for the state's seven institutions that include two universities.
TAHOE BEAR EUTHANIZED
Bear euthanized after entering Lake Tahoe condo
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (AP) - Nevada wildlife officials say they were forced to euthanize a bear that entered an Incline Village condominium because the bruin posed a danger to the public.
A woman phoned authorities after encountering the 3-year-old, 325-pound male bear inside her unit late Thursday night on Lake Tahoe's north shore.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports the black bear apparently entered the condo through an open garage door and unlocked door.
A Nevada Department of Wildlife biologist tranquilized the bear after it broke an upstairs window. The bear jumped from the building, climbed a tree and then fell to the ground.
Wildlife officials say they decided to euthanize the bear because of its behavior in entering the structure. The bear knocked over a dresser, knocked a mirror off the wall and tore up a couch.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
