YUCCA MOUNTAIN
Total Yucca
Mountain dump cost to top $90 billion
WASHINGTON (AP)
- The Energy Department has calculated
a new
total cost to
open and operate the Yucca Mountain
nuclear waste
dump in Nevada,
to more than $90 billion.
It's the first
official estimate since 2001, when the
figure
stood at $58
billion.
Ward Sproat, the
Energy Department official in charge
of Yucca
Mountain,
disclosed the new figure to reporters
after a
congressional
hearing in Washington on Tuesday.
He said a report
with the exact figure and cost
breakdowns will
be released to
Congress in the next several weeks.
The $90
billion-plus figure is in 2007
dollars, while the
earlier $58
billion number was in 2000 dollars.
PLANETARIUM
DIRECTOR
UNR scientist
joins NASA mission on cave studies
RENO, Nev. (AP)
- The associate director of the
Fleishmann
Planetarium at
the University of Nevada, Reno is
heading to Chile
to help NASA in
its study of caves on Mars.
Instead of
looking skyward, astronomer Dan Ruby
will be part of
a 10-person team
who will go underground in Chile's
Atacama Desert
to help develop
techniques for discovering and
studying caves on
Mars.
Scientists say
the Atacama region is the driest place
on earth
and geologically
similar to Mars.
The expedition
that runs through Aug. 15 is the
second phase of
a three year
project.
WATER FIGHTS
Agency seeks
more rural Nevada water to continue
Las Vegas
growth
CARSON CITY,
Nev. (AP) - The main water supplier
for Las Vegas,
already allowed
to pump more than 19 billion gallons
of water a
year from rural
Nevada, is pressing for a January
hearing on its
bid for another
16 billion gallons from a valley on
the state's
border with
Utah.
But opponents of
the Southern Nevada Water Authority
pumping
plan for Snake
Valley say they need more time to
prepare, and are
asking state
Engineer Tracy Taylor for a hearing
delay until late
2009.
The water
authority's application for the Snake
Valley water is
a key element in
its efforts to start delivering rural
groundwater
through a
200-mile-long pipeline network to Las
Vegas by 2015.
IMMIGRATION
SWEEP
42 arrested
around Tahoe Basin in immigration raid
RENO, Nev. (AP)
- Federal officials say 42 people were
arrested
around the Lake
Tahoe Basin during a recent sweep by
immigration
agents.
Of those
detained, 21 were immigration
fugitives, meaning they
had previously
been ordered to leave the country by
an immigration
judge but
refused to comply, Virginia Kice,
spokeswoman for
Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, told the Sierra
Sun newspaper.
Six of the
detainees had previous criminal
convictions.
The sweep took
place June 30 and July 1 around the
Tahoe area
and were part of
the Department of Homeland Security's
Immigration
and Customs
Enforcement Fugitive Operations
Program.
"The majority of
those encountered during the operation
have
already been
repatriated to their native
countries," Kice said.
GARAGE FIRE
4 escape Reno
house fire that damages garage
RENO, Nev. (AP)
- Reno fire officials say two adults
and two
children escaped
harm when a fire broke out in the
garage of their
home south of
Reno.
Investigators
believe the blaze on Andrew Lane was
accidental,
and may have
smoldered throughout the night before
flames broke out
early Tuesday.
An exact cause was not immediately
known.
Fire officials
say the occupants were awakened by
someone
pounding on
their door before 6 a.m. All evacuated
without injury.
The fire was
contained to the garage, which
suffered heavy
damage.
TRACEABLE
JEWELRY
Jewelry line can
trace gold, silver to source
DENVER (AP) -
Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp. is
teaming with
Wal-Mart Stores
to offer a new line of jewelry that
traces the
source of gold
and silver from the mine to the
retailer.
The giant gold
producer said Tuesday the partnership
was formed
to create a more
transparent supply chain for the Love,
Earth
jewelry line.
The pieces will
be sold at Wal-Mart Stores, Sam's
Clubs and
Walmart.com.
Newmont says the
Love, Earth line will consist of
products using
gold and silver
that is mined and manufactured under
Wal-Mart's
standards of
environmentally safe conditions.
The other
partner in the program is Conservation
International,
which works to
protect the world's environment.
MAMMOTH
RESORT-FLIGHTS
Horizon to offer
daily flights from LA to Mammoth
MAMMOTH LAKES,
Calif. (AP) - Horizon Air says it will
offer
daily nonstop
service between Los Angeles and
Mammoth Lakes during
the winter
skiing season.
Service is
scheduled to begin Dec. 18 and
continue through April
12, 2009.
Officials at
Mammoth Mountain Resort say the
flights will boost
the community's
spring and winter tourism efforts by
providing a
direct link to
the Southern California market.
FATAL STABBING
Reno woman given
probation in killing of boyfriend
RENO, Nev. (AP)
- A Reno woman has been given
probation and
ordered to
undergo drug addiction treatment on
her guilty plea to
fatally stabbing
her boyfriend in September.
Nineteen-year-old Ana Padua pleaded
guilty to voluntary
manslaughter
with a deadly weapon for the death of
35-year-old
Joseph Alan
Robb, who was her boyfriend for about
week.
During her
sentencing, Washoe District Judge
Robert Perry warned
Padua she could
face 20 years in prison if she fails
to complete a
drug treatment
program and 2 to 10 year probation.
Authorities say
Robb died after he was stabbed in the
heart.
Padua told
police she was attempting to leave
Robb when he began
beating her. She
says she stabbed him in self defense
to get away.
NEVADA-COACH
Meuchel returns
to Nevada as head softball coach
RENO, Nev. (AP)
- Matt Meuchel, (pronounced Michael),
the new
coach for the
University of Nevada, Reno's softball
team, is no
stranger to the
program.
Meuchel spent
four seasons at Nevada before leaving
two years
ago for a job at
Oklahoma State.
He was named
this week as head coach to replace
Michelle
Gardner, who
left this month to take over the
program at Indiana.
Meuchel says
he's returning to his "dream job."
Nevada finished
the 2008 season ranked in both
national Top 25
polls after
finishing with a 44-18 record. The
Wolf Pack won the
WAC regular
season title and reached the
championship game of the
NCAA Regional in
Los Angeles.