Nevada war memorial proposed for Carson

Nevada war memorial proposed for Carson

(AP) — A state senator is proposing that a war memorial be built in Carson City to honor soldiers from Nevada who’ve died in military service since statehood in 1864.

Democratic Las Vegas Sen. David Parks introduced SB 230 on Monday. The memorial would be funded by donations to the state Public Works Division, not with tax money.

An aide to state Veterans Services chief Caleb Cage said Tuesday it wasn’t immediately clear how many names would be on the monument.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the memorial would include benches, a pavilion and a 200-foot wall of names.

Nevada already has a State Veterans Memorial, as well as memorials for fallen police officers and the sailors who died on the USS Nevada battleship at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

DNA testing bill introduced in Nevada Senate

(AP) — DNA samples would be taken from people arrested on felony charges under a bill introduced Tuesday in the Nevada Senate. It’s the second attempt to pass “Brianna’s Law,” a proposal that died on the last day of the 2011 session.

SB243 is named after Brianna Denison, a 19-year-old college student who was kidnapped in 2008 while sleeping on a friend’s couch in Reno. Her body was found weeks later in a vacant lot. She had been raped and murdered.

James Biela, an ex-Marine and pipefitter, was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to death. He was also convicted at the same trial for raping two women in 2007, just months before Denison’s kidnapping. All the crimes occurred at or near the University of Nevada, Reno.

Denison’s family and backers of the bill say Denison might be alive today if officers were allowed to take Biela’s DNA sample after a previous arrest in 1996. They argue he might have been identified sooner.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, and Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear the bill Thursday.

Bill seeks to reimburse teachers for supplies

(AP) — Nevada teachers could be reimbursed up to $100 a year for school supplies they purchase for their students under a bill introduced in the Nevada Senate.

SB240 was introduced Tuesday by Republican Minority Leader Michael Roberson of Henderson. The bill has a list of co-sponsors from both parties.

The bill sets aside $2.5 million in each of the next two years for to create the Teachers’ School Supplies Reimbursement Account.

Money would be apportioned to school districts around the state based on the number of teachers they have.

Teachers could then submit claims for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses.

Another bill also introduced Tuesday would give companies and casinos tax breaks for donating money to organizations that provide grants for K-12 students to attend schools of their choice.

Senate OKs fixing animal cruelty reporting law

(AP) — The Nevada Senate has approved a bill to fix a law that unintentionally made reports of animal cruelty confidential.

Senators on Tuesday unanimously approved SB73 sponsored by Sen. Mark Manendo of Las Vegas.

The 2011 Legislature approved a bill known as “Cooney’s Law,” which was designed to give confidentiality to people who report incidents of animal cruelty.

Named after a dog that was gutted and killed by its owner, the 2011 law increased penalties for animal cruelty.

But an amendment intended to protect people who report animal abuse crimes from retribution was later interpreted to mean all aspects of reports and investigations are secret. The bill to correct the law now moves to the Assembly where passage is likely.