Nevada Briefs

Hickey to lead GOP Assembly caucus

(AP) - Assemblyman Pat Hickey of Reno has been elected leader of the Republican Assembly caucus.

Hickey was first elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1996 and served one term. He took a 14-year political hiatus before running again in 2010 and winning election in Assembly District 25.

A small-business owner, Hickey was chosen caucus leader in a unanimous vote Thursday by Assembly Republicans.

He replaces Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea of Eureka, who stepped down to mount his campaign for the state Senate in District 19.

Tax to fund phone services for deaf

CARSON CITY (AP) - State officials are setting a 7-cent monthly tax on telephone lines to fund phone services for up to 10,000 deaf Nevadans.

The Las Vegas Sun reports the Public Utilities Commission and the Disability Services Division agreed on the levy Thursday.

Disability services director Todd Butterworth says between 5,000 and 10,000 people each month use the free services, which help translate spoken words to text or sign language and vice versa.

More than 18,000 calls were placed last month by deaf or hard-of-hearing state residents.

The phone tax used to be 8 cents a month and was later reduced to 3 cents when a surplus built up. The 7-cent rate takes effect in August and runs through June 2013.

Pahrump Marine dies in Afghanistan

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A 22-year-old Marine from southern Nevada has died in Afghanistan.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Cpl. Jon-Luke Bateman of Pahrump is the first Nevadan to die in overseas military operations this year.

Bateman and 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Kenneth E. Cochran of Wilder, Idaho, were killed last Sunday. The Marine Corps said they were conducting combat operations, though the newspaper says family members say Bateman died in an accident.

Bateman is a 2007 graduate of Pahrump Valley High School.

Funeral arrangements and burial at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery are pending.