Tahoe college soccer player arrested in hit-and-run death
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — A 20-year-old soccer player at Lake Tahoe Community College was arrested Monday in a hit-and-run that killed a man crossing a street in South Lake Tahoe, California, police said.
The victim in his 70s was struck Sunday night along Lake Tahoe Boulevard outside a crosswalk, police said.
Hours later, Marlon Cruz, a sophomore starting goalie for the soccer team, walked into the police station and told officers he may have been involved in an accident, police said.
Cruz was charged with felony hit-and-run and booked into El Dorado County Jail where his bail was set at $75,000.
The team’s website says he’s from Idaho Falls, Idaho. It’s not clear if he has a lawyer or will be appointed one at an upcoming court appearance.
The victim’s name hasn’t been released. Police said he was thrown onto a sidewalk when he was hit by the car and later pronounced dead at the scene.
College President Jeff DeFranco expressed the school’s condolences to the man’s family.
“While we don’t fully know the circumstances involved, leaving the scene of an accident is never the right call and we are relieved that Mr. Cruz decided to turn himself in,” DeFranco said.
State awards grant to bring telehealth to schools
CARSON CITY — The state health department has awarded a $1 million grant to a nonprofit group to bring telehealth to Nevada schools.
The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services says the two-year grant could benefit nearly 40 schools in Carson City, and Elko and Clark counties.
Nevada Health Centers already has started providing virtual health services to two schools and will add more each quarter.
Corie Nieto directs telehealth services for the group. She says virtual health visits can help students who are sick but not contagious and whose families are concerned about missing school or work.
School nurses will have a cart and video monitor, hand-held camera, Bluetooth-connected stethoscope and other instruments to help one of several doctors off-site examine patients.
Parents can join the appointment remotely or in person.
Man gets 2 life terms for 1994 rape-killing of Vegas girl
LAS VEGAS — A man who pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty is headed to prison for two life terms with no chance of parole for raping and killing a 7-year-old girl in Las Vegas more than 25 years ago.
Court officials said Monday that 47-year-old Gregory M. Wallen Jr. was sentenced Oct. 2 according to terms of his August plea agreement in the death of Diana Hernandez.
Police found Hernandez’s body in a box in a trash bin in April 1994.
Wallen was arrested in 2009, 15 years after the crime, after DNA and fingerprint evidence tied him to the crime.
Wallen remained in custody for 10 years while attorneys investigated and found that he suffered a traumatic head injury as a child and was diagnosed with autism in 1985.
Escaped Las Vegas rodeo bull causes brief road closure
LAS VEGAS — A rodeo bull briefly escaped its enclosure in Las Vegas.
Police say the getaway happened Sunday around 10:30 a.m. near East Owens Avenue and Betty Lane.
It’s not clear how the bull got out.
But officers were able to wrangle it until animal control officers arrived.
The bull’s owners eventually lassoed the animal and safely put it back in its trailer.
No injuries were reported.
The surrounding roads were closed for about two hours.
Nevada Democrats to offer about 80 early caucus locations
LAS VEGAS — The Nevada Democratic Party will have about 80 locations open for four days of early voting in the presidential caucuses next year, the party announced Monday.
Party officials are planning to have locations in all 17 of Nevada’s counties, including locations in the state’s diverse communities such as Chinatown Plaza in Las Vegas, The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Las Vegas, college campuses, libraries and union halls.
Nevada has been an early presidential caucus state since 2008 and is third-in-line to cast votes in the Democratic presidential primary next year, after Iowa and New Hampshire. But 2020 will mark the first time the state party will offer early caucusing ahead of its main caucus date on Feb. 22.
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, said at a news conference Monday that with more than 60% of voters choosing to cast ballots early in general elections in Nevada, early voting has become a staple in the state.
“We want to increase our primary vote,” Rosen said. “By opening early voting, people are used to that, and we want to give the opportunity to as many folks as we can in the caucus process.”
The party, along with the counterparts in Iowa, had planned to offer early, tele-caucusing where voters would be able to telephone in and express their presidential candidate preference on a hotline, but the Democratic National Committee scuttled the plans. Though the DNC tasked the parties with finding a way to make the caucuses more inclusive and offer some alternative way to participate, DNC officials worried the tele-caucus technology would be too vulnerable to hacking.
Instead, Nevada Democrats plan to offer four nights where voters can show up in person and fill out forms listing their preferred candidate and at least one alternate. The results will be held securely and counted on the main Feb. 22 caucus day, when Democrats will gather at more than 200 locations around the state to express their presidential preference.
The 80 early caucus sites will be open Feb. 15 through Feb. 18, though the hours for the locations will vary. The early voting will be open to registered Democrats, but voters can register to become Democrats when they show up.
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