Dog-poop compost plan; underage sex trafficking; dressing room videos
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from around the West.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
A historic hotel on the Arizona-Mexico border could be shut down for good if no one steps forward to purchase it.
The extravagant Gadsden Hotel in Douglas has been featured in movies and ghost hunting TV shows, reported KOLD-TV. Douglas is 100 miles southeast of Tucson and across the border from Agua Prieta, Sonora.
Owner Hartman Brekhus turns 93 in October and says he can't keep the 109-year-old hotel open much longer. He bought the hotel with his wife in 1988, but she has since passed away and his health is declining.
Brekhus' daughter-in-law, Robin Brehus, is a former manager of the hotel and a spokeswoman for the family.
She told Tucson News Now that the hotel has hosted weddings, proms and quinceneras for the community.
"I don't think I know anybody who doesn't have some memory of the Gadsden," she said.
The Gadsden Hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places and former Douglas mayor Michael Gomez says it is an anchor for the city's downtown. It's held noted guests like Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, John Dillinger and several Arizona governors.
The hotel's elaborate interior includes a 42-foot Tiffany & Co. stained glass mural, an original marble staircase, an old-fashioned elevator and skeleton room keys that still hang behind the front desk.
"Still to this day I walk in here and look around and appreciate the beauty and the detail of this hotel, and it's just sad to think about the doors closing and nobody walking in and out like they do every day," said Adam Carrasco, the hotel's general manager, who has memories of visiting the building as a child.
If the Gadsden closes, it would also displace 14 hotel employees and 10 businesses.
The Brekhus family says they have no current asking price and are willing to consider all offers.
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Information from: KOLD-TV, http://www.kold.com/
- Updated
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new initiative has taken off in San Francisco to convert dog poop into compost.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2cVAsl3) that the program launched Sunday at an open space maintained by volunteers in the city's Potrero Hill neighborhood.
The program aims to help divert dog waste into compost through the use of compostable poop bags.
The company BioBag is partnering with the community volunteers to provide the bags as well as supply bins and coordinate a pick-up service for the dog waste.
BioBag spokesman Mark Williams says the project will help reduce landfill in San Francisco, where there are about 120,000 dogs that produce about 32 million pounds of poop a year.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
- Updated
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Two juveniles suffered minor injuries over the weekend in an accidental shooting at a gun show in suburban Salt Lake City.
Saturday's accident occurred at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy when a potential buyer of a Colt .45 didn't realize the handgun had a round in the chamber when he pointed it toward the floor and pulled the trigger.
Sandy Police Sgt. Dean Carriger told KSL-TV (http://tinyurl.com/jusa7fu ) the bullet struck the floor and ricocheted into a pillar. Concrete chips hit a nearby 17-year-old boy and his 13-year-old cousin.
A paramedic examined the two teens and their parents signed a waiver declining further medical attention.
Carriger says the person who fired the gun is unlikely to be cited. But he says it should serve as a reminder that anyone handling a gun should assume it's loaded.
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Information from: KSL-TV, http://www.ksl.com/
- Updated
DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — San Diego County sheriff's officials say a man was snapping photos with his phone when he was struck and killed by a train over the weekend in Del Mar.
The Union-Tribune newspaper reports Monday (http://bit.ly/2de7Vs7 ) that the train's engineer spotted three people standing near the tracks and sounded the horn and switched on several bright lights.
Officials say one of the three was struck by the northbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe train and died at the scene late Saturday. He was not identified.
The newspaper reports the engineer said the victim had been taking cellphone pictures.
The train was traveling at about 40 mph.
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Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.utsandiego.com
- Updated
CEDAR FORT, Utah (AP) — A Utah man has been arrested after authorities say he assaulted firefighters who were trying to put out a fire at his home southwest of Salt Lake City.
United Fire Authority Battalion Chief Mike White says the home in Cedar Fort was engulfed in flames when his crews arrived to assist the local fire department at about 11:50 p.m. Sunday.
White told The (Provo) Daily Herald (http://tinyurl.com/hbgvmdt) the crews were extinguishing the flames when a man renting the home arrived. He says the man apparently wasn't happy with the job they were doing and "started to get physical with firefighters."
Utah County sheriff's deputies arrested him early Monday. His name hasn't been released.
A neighbor who got involved in the altercation was detained but not arrested.
The home's a total loss. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
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Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldextra.com
- Updated
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A lawsuit alleging the owners of a Las Vegas Strip nightclub secretly filmed burlesque dancers naked and changing costumes in their dressing room has passed a preliminary legal hurdle allowing it to be heard in court.
The decision by the Nevada Supreme Court last week means that the dispute involving four women does not need to be sent for arbitration, but that claims by two others will go to arbitration.
Las Vegas showgirls Michelle DiTerlizzi, Burgendy Candace Kirtz, Monica Alexandra Klus, Sophia Monica, Megan Herbert and Plamena Mihaylova accuse managers at 1923 Bourbon and Burlesque, a leased venue at Mandalay Bay, of recording video them in their dressing room from April to August 2014.
The lawsuit filed in 2015 names as defendants Fat Hat LLC., doing business as 1923 Bourbon & Burlesque by Holly Madison, and Ice Lounge Las Vegas, where the dancers also performed. Also named in the suit was J.F. Sabes Investment Inc., Robert W. Sabes, Avi Kopelman, Noel Bowman and Robert Frey.
Despite the show's title as a burlesque, the women never performed topless, court filings said.
The lawsuit seeks damages based on allegations of invasion of privacy, negligence, infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.
The women were filmed naked and changing costumes without their knowledge or consent, and the videos were streamed to defendants' computers, the lawsuit claims.
Kopelman, who was the manager of 1923 Bourbon and Burlesque, is accused in the lawsuit of keeping his office door open so any employee could have also seen the dressing room feed.
Kirtz and the show's stage manager, Andrea Benitez-Moody, found out about the camera after they saw videos of themselves on Kopelman's office computer, court documents said.
The Sept. 21 Supreme Court decision examined whether the women's contracts with the venues required arbitration or whether they could be heard in court.
The three-justice panel said DiTerlizzi, Kirtz, Klus and Monica did not specifically authorize arbitration in their employment contracts, but that Herbert and Mihaylova did. The latter two were cocktail waitresses who joined the lawsuit two weeks after it was filed.
Attorneys Joseph Garin and Jessica Green, representing the companies, did not immediately respond Monday to telephone and email messages seeking comment. Green declined comment to the Las Vegas Sun (http://bit.ly/2cycNsD).
Lawyers for the women also did immediately respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment.
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Information from: Las Vegas Sun, http://www.lasvegassun.com
- By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press
- Updated
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Eldorado Resorts plans to make more than $50 million in improvements at its three casinos in downtown Reno over the next three years, company officials announced Monday.
The project scheduled to begin before the end of this year includes the renovation of 4,100 guest rooms, new restaurants and casino upgrades at the Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus hotel-casinos, Eldorado Resorts Chairman and CEO Gary Carano said.
The move comes on the heels of last week's announcement that Eldorado Resorts has agreed to buy the Missouri-based Isle of Capri Casinos for $1.7 billion — a deal that will increase Eldorado's holdings to 13 properties nationwide.
The upgrades at the three Reno casinos include a new 20,000-square foot luxury spa and a New York style pizza place at the Eldorado, and improvements at the race and sports books at the Silver Legacy and Circus Circus.
Canter's Deli, a favorite in Los Angeles for 85 years, will open a restaurant in the Silver Legacy this fall, and the carnival midway at Circus Circus will be transformed from a traditional American circus motif to a "more whimsical European feel," the company said in a statement.
Carano, whose company has owned and operated the Eldorado since 1973, said a detailed analysis was started last summer to develop a comprehensive master plan for the three connected properties covering eight blocks in downtown Reno.
The move came after the company acquired the remaining 50 percent of the Silver Legacy and all of the assets of Circus Circus.
"Downtown Reno's renaissance and re-emergence as a vibrant growing economy has been remarkable and as the leading gaming and lodging operation in the market, Eldorado Resorts will continue to benefit from the increased economic, tourist and local activity," Carano said.
Expanded air service, improving housing values, higher employment rates and the arrival of new data centers and high-tech companies such as Tesla Motors and Switch have helped spur economic optimism in the region, he said.
- Updated
MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (AP) — School officials have painted over murals painted onto high school parking spaces in southern Idaho after one image of the Black Lives Matter movement sparked student protests.
Administrators with the Mountain Home school district said Monday that the parking lot was painted over after coming to an agreement between the superintendent and the associated student body president.
School officials said the murals — which were part of fundraiser for homecoming — had to go because they violated school policy. But students countered that the real issue was the content of a portrait of a black woman with a "Black Lives Matter" caption. About 100 students took part in a two-day silent protest at the mural at Mountain Home High School.
Superintendent James Gilbert says under the new agreement students will be allowed to repaint a smaller area within each parking space, but they must be pre-approved by administration.
- Updated
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A 3-year-old girl riding in a car with her family was killed by a stray bullet in a Northern California neighborhood where a shooting over the weekend left another person dead.
The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/2d4oSDi) reports Monday that the child was struck Sunday night by the gunfire and driven immediately to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police say that the family was not the intended target. The case remains under investigation.
The shooting was the latest in Stockton, about an hour east of San Francisco.
A block from where the girl was shot, police say a 30-year-old man was killed and a 24-year-old man hit by gunfire at a shopping center on Saturday.
Police say the shootings did not appear to be related.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
- Updated
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A man lured two women into a Montana-based sex trafficking scheme, and had just recruited three teenage girls from the Midwest before he was arrested, authorities said.
Terrance Tyrell Edwards has been charged with sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and he was scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Monday. He was being held in the Yellowstone County jail after his arrest in a Billings hotel last week, and it was not immediately clear whether he had legal representation before the court hearing.
Edwards met the first woman through a social networking website earlier this month, according to a sworn statement by Missoula police detective Guy Baker. The affidavit did not identify the woman or her hometown, but authorities in Lake County and with the Montana Department of Justice previously identified her as a 22-year-old from Polson.
The woman traveled to Missoula, thinking she and Edwards were going to start dating. Instead, he bought red lingerie, took pictures of her in the lingerie for advertisements to be posted on the internet and told her he planned to make money with her, Baker said in the statement.
As the woman had sex with men for money in Montana and in Salt Lake City, Edwards went to Washington state to pick up a second woman who was brought into the operation, Baker said.
At one point, Edwards struck one of the women in the face for looking at a man who was not a customer, and he then required her to check in with him every two hours, Baker said. He had that same woman drive him last Monday to a court hearing for him to be released from probation for a prior prostitution conviction, the detective wrote in the statement.
In 2012, Edwards was given a five-year suspended sentence for forcing his then-girlfriend into prostitution.
The day after the court hearing, Edwards traveled to Fargo, North Dakota, and picked up three girls age 15, 16 and 17, two from North Dakota and one from Minnesota. One of the girls did not know the purpose of the trip, Baker wrote.
When Edwards left the state, one of the women he left behind contacted authorities with a cellphone Edwards apparently gave her for customer calls, Baker said.
Police arrested Edwards early Wednesday outside a Billings hotel. The three girls were returned to North Dakota, Baker said.
- Updated
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Colorado's largest gold mine will open a public viewing space for its mining pit, which is 3,500 feet wide and nearly 600 feet deep.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2daXwvP ) that Cripple Creek-Victor Gold Mining Co. will open the viewing area on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Newmont Mining Corp., which owns the mine, says the Grassy Valley Mining Overlook will provide an active view of mining operations from a safe vantage point. Onlookers will be able to see the activity and mining equipment, including 250-ton trucks, excavating mine shovels and production blast drills.
Some locals say the new overlook can't replace American Eagles Scenic Overlook, which Newmont closed after buying the mine in August 2015. That spot provided a view of the company's Cresson Mine as well as the Continental Divide and several mountain ranges.
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Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazette.com
- Updated
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A man charged with hitting Sacramento, California, Mayor Kevin Johnson in the face with a coconut cream pie plans to sue after the mayor hit him back.
Claire White, the attorney for 32-year-old Sean Thompson tells the The Sacramento Bee Monday that she is filing a lawsuit accusing the mayor and former NBA star of battery and violating Thompson's civil rights.
Thompson is charged with assault and battery after shoving a pie in Johnson's face last week.
Johnson then punched Thompson and helped police tackle him. Thompson's mug shot shows him with a cut and stitches under his blackened eye.
Johnson said Monday that he had a right to defend himself after Thompson struck him from behind.
The former Occupy protester says the mayor isn't doing enough to fight homelessness.
- Updated
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gun owners and law-enforcement officers will be required to lock up their firearms if they leave them in an unattended vehicle under legislation Gov. Jerry Brown has signed.
The Democratic governor said Monday that he's signed a bill introduced in response to high-profile thefts from the vehicles of law enforcement officers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
SB869 requires that anyone leaving a handgun in a vehicle lock it in the trunk or a locked container out of plain sight, or face a $1,000 fine.
Handguns stolen from law enforcement officers' cars last year were used in the San Francisco killing of 32-year-old Kate Steinle in July and 27-year-old Oakland muralist Antonio Ramos in September.
The measure was among four gun bills Brown signed Monday. He vetoed two.
- Updated
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Three people, including a local activist, were arrested Monday at a protest against police brutality in Tempe.
Police took the Rev. Jarrett Maupin and two others into custody Monday after they refused to get out of the roadway. Initially, authorities reported that four had been arrested but later said that figure was incorrect. The identities of the other two were not immediately released.
All three were booked for impeding a public thoroughfare.
Between 40 and 60 protesters showed up to the morning demonstration. The group marched on the Mill Avenue Bridge and attempted to block traffic. Several police officers on motorcycles and bicycles ordered them to get onto the sidewalk.
It was then that Maupin was arrested and placed inside a police transport van. Demonstrators continued their march and returned to downtown.
Most protesters left the area about 90 minutes later. No injuries were reported, police spokeswoman Liliana Duran said.
Maupin has organized several protests of fatal shootings by Phoenix-area officers in recent months. He and demonstrators have singled out Tempe police over the July shooting death of Dalvin Hollins.
Hollins was shot and killed by a Tempe police lieutenant who was pursuing him after a robbery. Believing Hollins was pointing a gun at him, Lt. Edward Ouimette shot him. The 19-year-old entered a pharmacy wearing a ski mask and, with his hand in a black bag, gestured as if he had a weapon, authorities said.
Protesters also expressed outrage over the August 2014 shooting death of a mentally ill woman by Phoenix police. Sgt. Percy Dupra was with other officers serving an emergency mental health pickup order on Michelle Cusseaux. He shot the 50-year-old when she confronted them holding a hammer over her head. Dupra was demoted to officer after the incident.
- The Associated Press
A historic hotel on the Arizona-Mexico border could be shut down for good if no one steps forward to purchase it.
The extravagant Gadsden Hotel in Douglas has been featured in movies and ghost hunting TV shows, reported KOLD-TV. Douglas is 100 miles southeast of Tucson and across the border from Agua Prieta, Sonora.
Owner Hartman Brekhus turns 93 in October and says he can't keep the 109-year-old hotel open much longer. He bought the hotel with his wife in 1988, but she has since passed away and his health is declining.
Brekhus' daughter-in-law, Robin Brehus, is a former manager of the hotel and a spokeswoman for the family.
She told Tucson News Now that the hotel has hosted weddings, proms and quinceneras for the community.
"I don't think I know anybody who doesn't have some memory of the Gadsden," she said.
The Gadsden Hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places and former Douglas mayor Michael Gomez says it is an anchor for the city's downtown. It's held noted guests like Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, John Dillinger and several Arizona governors.
The hotel's elaborate interior includes a 42-foot Tiffany & Co. stained glass mural, an original marble staircase, an old-fashioned elevator and skeleton room keys that still hang behind the front desk.
"Still to this day I walk in here and look around and appreciate the beauty and the detail of this hotel, and it's just sad to think about the doors closing and nobody walking in and out like they do every day," said Adam Carrasco, the hotel's general manager, who has memories of visiting the building as a child.
If the Gadsden closes, it would also displace 14 hotel employees and 10 businesses.
The Brekhus family says they have no current asking price and are willing to consider all offers.
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Information from: KOLD-TV, http://www.kold.com/
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new initiative has taken off in San Francisco to convert dog poop into compost.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2cVAsl3) that the program launched Sunday at an open space maintained by volunteers in the city's Potrero Hill neighborhood.
The program aims to help divert dog waste into compost through the use of compostable poop bags.
The company BioBag is partnering with the community volunteers to provide the bags as well as supply bins and coordinate a pick-up service for the dog waste.
BioBag spokesman Mark Williams says the project will help reduce landfill in San Francisco, where there are about 120,000 dogs that produce about 32 million pounds of poop a year.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Two juveniles suffered minor injuries over the weekend in an accidental shooting at a gun show in suburban Salt Lake City.
Saturday's accident occurred at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy when a potential buyer of a Colt .45 didn't realize the handgun had a round in the chamber when he pointed it toward the floor and pulled the trigger.
Sandy Police Sgt. Dean Carriger told KSL-TV (http://tinyurl.com/jusa7fu ) the bullet struck the floor and ricocheted into a pillar. Concrete chips hit a nearby 17-year-old boy and his 13-year-old cousin.
A paramedic examined the two teens and their parents signed a waiver declining further medical attention.
Carriger says the person who fired the gun is unlikely to be cited. But he says it should serve as a reminder that anyone handling a gun should assume it's loaded.
___
Information from: KSL-TV, http://www.ksl.com/
DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — San Diego County sheriff's officials say a man was snapping photos with his phone when he was struck and killed by a train over the weekend in Del Mar.
The Union-Tribune newspaper reports Monday (http://bit.ly/2de7Vs7 ) that the train's engineer spotted three people standing near the tracks and sounded the horn and switched on several bright lights.
Officials say one of the three was struck by the northbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe train and died at the scene late Saturday. He was not identified.
The newspaper reports the engineer said the victim had been taking cellphone pictures.
The train was traveling at about 40 mph.
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Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.utsandiego.com
CEDAR FORT, Utah (AP) — A Utah man has been arrested after authorities say he assaulted firefighters who were trying to put out a fire at his home southwest of Salt Lake City.
United Fire Authority Battalion Chief Mike White says the home in Cedar Fort was engulfed in flames when his crews arrived to assist the local fire department at about 11:50 p.m. Sunday.
White told The (Provo) Daily Herald (http://tinyurl.com/hbgvmdt) the crews were extinguishing the flames when a man renting the home arrived. He says the man apparently wasn't happy with the job they were doing and "started to get physical with firefighters."
Utah County sheriff's deputies arrested him early Monday. His name hasn't been released.
A neighbor who got involved in the altercation was detained but not arrested.
The home's a total loss. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
___
Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldextra.com
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A lawsuit alleging the owners of a Las Vegas Strip nightclub secretly filmed burlesque dancers naked and changing costumes in their dressing room has passed a preliminary legal hurdle allowing it to be heard in court.
The decision by the Nevada Supreme Court last week means that the dispute involving four women does not need to be sent for arbitration, but that claims by two others will go to arbitration.
Las Vegas showgirls Michelle DiTerlizzi, Burgendy Candace Kirtz, Monica Alexandra Klus, Sophia Monica, Megan Herbert and Plamena Mihaylova accuse managers at 1923 Bourbon and Burlesque, a leased venue at Mandalay Bay, of recording video them in their dressing room from April to August 2014.
The lawsuit filed in 2015 names as defendants Fat Hat LLC., doing business as 1923 Bourbon & Burlesque by Holly Madison, and Ice Lounge Las Vegas, where the dancers also performed. Also named in the suit was J.F. Sabes Investment Inc., Robert W. Sabes, Avi Kopelman, Noel Bowman and Robert Frey.
Despite the show's title as a burlesque, the women never performed topless, court filings said.
The lawsuit seeks damages based on allegations of invasion of privacy, negligence, infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.
The women were filmed naked and changing costumes without their knowledge or consent, and the videos were streamed to defendants' computers, the lawsuit claims.
Kopelman, who was the manager of 1923 Bourbon and Burlesque, is accused in the lawsuit of keeping his office door open so any employee could have also seen the dressing room feed.
Kirtz and the show's stage manager, Andrea Benitez-Moody, found out about the camera after they saw videos of themselves on Kopelman's office computer, court documents said.
The Sept. 21 Supreme Court decision examined whether the women's contracts with the venues required arbitration or whether they could be heard in court.
The three-justice panel said DiTerlizzi, Kirtz, Klus and Monica did not specifically authorize arbitration in their employment contracts, but that Herbert and Mihaylova did. The latter two were cocktail waitresses who joined the lawsuit two weeks after it was filed.
Attorneys Joseph Garin and Jessica Green, representing the companies, did not immediately respond Monday to telephone and email messages seeking comment. Green declined comment to the Las Vegas Sun (http://bit.ly/2cycNsD).
Lawyers for the women also did immediately respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment.
___
Information from: Las Vegas Sun, http://www.lasvegassun.com
- By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Eldorado Resorts plans to make more than $50 million in improvements at its three casinos in downtown Reno over the next three years, company officials announced Monday.
The project scheduled to begin before the end of this year includes the renovation of 4,100 guest rooms, new restaurants and casino upgrades at the Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus hotel-casinos, Eldorado Resorts Chairman and CEO Gary Carano said.
The move comes on the heels of last week's announcement that Eldorado Resorts has agreed to buy the Missouri-based Isle of Capri Casinos for $1.7 billion — a deal that will increase Eldorado's holdings to 13 properties nationwide.
The upgrades at the three Reno casinos include a new 20,000-square foot luxury spa and a New York style pizza place at the Eldorado, and improvements at the race and sports books at the Silver Legacy and Circus Circus.
Canter's Deli, a favorite in Los Angeles for 85 years, will open a restaurant in the Silver Legacy this fall, and the carnival midway at Circus Circus will be transformed from a traditional American circus motif to a "more whimsical European feel," the company said in a statement.
Carano, whose company has owned and operated the Eldorado since 1973, said a detailed analysis was started last summer to develop a comprehensive master plan for the three connected properties covering eight blocks in downtown Reno.
The move came after the company acquired the remaining 50 percent of the Silver Legacy and all of the assets of Circus Circus.
"Downtown Reno's renaissance and re-emergence as a vibrant growing economy has been remarkable and as the leading gaming and lodging operation in the market, Eldorado Resorts will continue to benefit from the increased economic, tourist and local activity," Carano said.
Expanded air service, improving housing values, higher employment rates and the arrival of new data centers and high-tech companies such as Tesla Motors and Switch have helped spur economic optimism in the region, he said.
MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (AP) — School officials have painted over murals painted onto high school parking spaces in southern Idaho after one image of the Black Lives Matter movement sparked student protests.
Administrators with the Mountain Home school district said Monday that the parking lot was painted over after coming to an agreement between the superintendent and the associated student body president.
School officials said the murals — which were part of fundraiser for homecoming — had to go because they violated school policy. But students countered that the real issue was the content of a portrait of a black woman with a "Black Lives Matter" caption. About 100 students took part in a two-day silent protest at the mural at Mountain Home High School.
Superintendent James Gilbert says under the new agreement students will be allowed to repaint a smaller area within each parking space, but they must be pre-approved by administration.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A 3-year-old girl riding in a car with her family was killed by a stray bullet in a Northern California neighborhood where a shooting over the weekend left another person dead.
The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/2d4oSDi) reports Monday that the child was struck Sunday night by the gunfire and driven immediately to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police say that the family was not the intended target. The case remains under investigation.
The shooting was the latest in Stockton, about an hour east of San Francisco.
A block from where the girl was shot, police say a 30-year-old man was killed and a 24-year-old man hit by gunfire at a shopping center on Saturday.
Police say the shootings did not appear to be related.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A man lured two women into a Montana-based sex trafficking scheme, and had just recruited three teenage girls from the Midwest before he was arrested, authorities said.
Terrance Tyrell Edwards has been charged with sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and he was scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Monday. He was being held in the Yellowstone County jail after his arrest in a Billings hotel last week, and it was not immediately clear whether he had legal representation before the court hearing.
Edwards met the first woman through a social networking website earlier this month, according to a sworn statement by Missoula police detective Guy Baker. The affidavit did not identify the woman or her hometown, but authorities in Lake County and with the Montana Department of Justice previously identified her as a 22-year-old from Polson.
The woman traveled to Missoula, thinking she and Edwards were going to start dating. Instead, he bought red lingerie, took pictures of her in the lingerie for advertisements to be posted on the internet and told her he planned to make money with her, Baker said in the statement.
As the woman had sex with men for money in Montana and in Salt Lake City, Edwards went to Washington state to pick up a second woman who was brought into the operation, Baker said.
At one point, Edwards struck one of the women in the face for looking at a man who was not a customer, and he then required her to check in with him every two hours, Baker said. He had that same woman drive him last Monday to a court hearing for him to be released from probation for a prior prostitution conviction, the detective wrote in the statement.
In 2012, Edwards was given a five-year suspended sentence for forcing his then-girlfriend into prostitution.
The day after the court hearing, Edwards traveled to Fargo, North Dakota, and picked up three girls age 15, 16 and 17, two from North Dakota and one from Minnesota. One of the girls did not know the purpose of the trip, Baker wrote.
When Edwards left the state, one of the women he left behind contacted authorities with a cellphone Edwards apparently gave her for customer calls, Baker said.
Police arrested Edwards early Wednesday outside a Billings hotel. The three girls were returned to North Dakota, Baker said.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Colorado's largest gold mine will open a public viewing space for its mining pit, which is 3,500 feet wide and nearly 600 feet deep.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2daXwvP ) that Cripple Creek-Victor Gold Mining Co. will open the viewing area on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Newmont Mining Corp., which owns the mine, says the Grassy Valley Mining Overlook will provide an active view of mining operations from a safe vantage point. Onlookers will be able to see the activity and mining equipment, including 250-ton trucks, excavating mine shovels and production blast drills.
Some locals say the new overlook can't replace American Eagles Scenic Overlook, which Newmont closed after buying the mine in August 2015. That spot provided a view of the company's Cresson Mine as well as the Continental Divide and several mountain ranges.
___
Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazette.com
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A man charged with hitting Sacramento, California, Mayor Kevin Johnson in the face with a coconut cream pie plans to sue after the mayor hit him back.
Claire White, the attorney for 32-year-old Sean Thompson tells the The Sacramento Bee Monday that she is filing a lawsuit accusing the mayor and former NBA star of battery and violating Thompson's civil rights.
Thompson is charged with assault and battery after shoving a pie in Johnson's face last week.
Johnson then punched Thompson and helped police tackle him. Thompson's mug shot shows him with a cut and stitches under his blackened eye.
Johnson said Monday that he had a right to defend himself after Thompson struck him from behind.
The former Occupy protester says the mayor isn't doing enough to fight homelessness.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gun owners and law-enforcement officers will be required to lock up their firearms if they leave them in an unattended vehicle under legislation Gov. Jerry Brown has signed.
The Democratic governor said Monday that he's signed a bill introduced in response to high-profile thefts from the vehicles of law enforcement officers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
SB869 requires that anyone leaving a handgun in a vehicle lock it in the trunk or a locked container out of plain sight, or face a $1,000 fine.
Handguns stolen from law enforcement officers' cars last year were used in the San Francisco killing of 32-year-old Kate Steinle in July and 27-year-old Oakland muralist Antonio Ramos in September.
The measure was among four gun bills Brown signed Monday. He vetoed two.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Three people, including a local activist, were arrested Monday at a protest against police brutality in Tempe.
Police took the Rev. Jarrett Maupin and two others into custody Monday after they refused to get out of the roadway. Initially, authorities reported that four had been arrested but later said that figure was incorrect. The identities of the other two were not immediately released.
All three were booked for impeding a public thoroughfare.
Between 40 and 60 protesters showed up to the morning demonstration. The group marched on the Mill Avenue Bridge and attempted to block traffic. Several police officers on motorcycles and bicycles ordered them to get onto the sidewalk.
It was then that Maupin was arrested and placed inside a police transport van. Demonstrators continued their march and returned to downtown.
Most protesters left the area about 90 minutes later. No injuries were reported, police spokeswoman Liliana Duran said.
Maupin has organized several protests of fatal shootings by Phoenix-area officers in recent months. He and demonstrators have singled out Tempe police over the July shooting death of Dalvin Hollins.
Hollins was shot and killed by a Tempe police lieutenant who was pursuing him after a robbery. Believing Hollins was pointing a gun at him, Lt. Edward Ouimette shot him. The 19-year-old entered a pharmacy wearing a ski mask and, with his hand in a black bag, gestured as if he had a weapon, authorities said.
Protesters also expressed outrage over the August 2014 shooting death of a mentally ill woman by Phoenix police. Sgt. Percy Dupra was with other officers serving an emergency mental health pickup order on Michelle Cusseaux. He shot the 50-year-old when she confronted them holding a hammer over her head. Dupra was demoted to officer after the incident.
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