Nevada Digest

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Southern Nevada Health District says a person diagnosed with West Nile virus this summer has died.

District spokeswoman Stephanie Bethel declined to give further details on the patient, citing patient privacy, but said Wednesday that the person was among four people diagnosed with the illness so far this year.

Two new cases announced Wednesday include a 77-year-old man and an 87-year-old woman who were both hospitalized with the more serious, neuroinvasive form of West Nile. Officials had previously announced a 60-year-old woman came down with the serious strain, and a 70-year-old man had the less serious form.

The death is the first this year and the fifth in Clark County since 2003.

Authorities warn residents to wear bug repellents and get rid of standing water sources that foster mosquitoes.

Board Oks fees to settle developer’s suit

CARSON CITY (AP) — A Nevada board has approved paying $920,000 in attorney fees to settle a decade-old lawsuit over development near Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area outside Las Vegas.

Gov. Brian Sandoval and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, acting as the Board of Examiners, approved the payment Tuesday.

The suit involved a bill sponsored by then state Sen. Dina Titus and passed by the 2003 Legislature that curtailed development of 2,600 acres owned by Gypsum Resources.

Company owner Jim Rhodes had wanted a zoning change to build up to allow up to 4,700 homes in the scenic area.

Clark County dropped the restrictions and in January the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional.

Rhodes, the county and the Legislature now support pursuing a land swap with federal government.

US Senate confirms Dorsey as Nevada federal judge

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The U.S. Senate approved Las Vegas attorney Jennifer Dorsey on Tuesday as a federal district court judge in Nevada.

The 54-41 vote ended a battle over whether contributions to a political action committee associated with Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid tainted Dorsey’s nomination for the lifetime judgeship.

Reid, who recommended Dorsey for the job last year, spoke in the Senate before Tuesday’s vote. He emphasized Dorsey’s hometown Las Vegas roots and said she will be a valuable addition to the U.S. District Court.

Dorsey was born in Las Vegas, near where her father was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base. She graduated from Chaparral High School, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Pepperdine University School of Law in California before becoming a partner in the Las Vegas firm Kemp, Jones & Coulthard.

Dorsey also served as an intern for former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, a Democrat.

“Ms. Dorsey will make an outstanding federal judge for Nevada,’’ Reid said.

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller voted against Dorsey’s confirmation.

He issued a statement saying he remained uncomfortable following Senate Judiciary Committee hearings with the relationship between the timing and amount of financial contributions made to the Senate Majority PAC and Dorsey’s nomination.

Republicans opposed Dorsey’s nomination after the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Dorsey’s law firm partner Will Kemp made a $100,000 contribution and J. Randall Jones made a $50,000 contribution to the entity created by former Reid strategists to elect Democrats to the U.S. Senate.

Dorsey also made a personal contribution of $2,250 to Reid’s campaign in March 2012, according to records. But Reid returned that contribution a month later as he proceeded to check Dorsey’s credentials and experience.

President Barack Obama nominated Dorsey last September to replace U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks, who has since taken senior judge status.

Coroner IDs Vegas security guard dead after fight

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities have identified a Las Vegas security guard who went unconscious and died last week following a fight with another man.

Clark County coroner’s officials say 59-year-old Las Vegas resident Donald Harris died after the altercation about 2 a.m. Friday morning. Authorities haven’t determined an official cause.

Police say they responded to reports of a fight on Bridger Avenue in downtown Las Vegas. They say emergency workers were trying to revive the guard when officers arrived.

Harris was later pronounced dead at Valley Hospital.

Police say Harris had been fighting with 29-year-old Blake Valbracht when he fell to the ground and became unresponsive.

Valbracht surrendered to officers and has been booked in the Clark County jail on suspicion of second-degree murder.

Casinos open rooms to Vegas-area wildfire evacuees

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Several local casino companies are teaming with the American Red Cross of Southern Nevada to provide hotel rooms to people evacuated from their homes due to a wildfire in the mountains northwest of Las Vegas.

Cannery Casino Resorts executive Xavier Walsh said Tuesday that his company is making 40 rooms available to displaced families.

The wildfire was sparked by lightning eight days ago on Mount Charleston and is burning near homes in Kyle Canyon.

Red Cross spokesman Lloyd Ziel says people who need shelter should contact volunteers at shelters at Hafen Elementary School in Pahrump or Bilbray Elementary School in Las Vegas.

Officials say no homes have been damaged and none of about 800 firefighters has been injured battling the 31-square-mile Carpenter One fire on Mount Charleston.

Western Nevada College president to resign

CARSON CITY (AP) — Western Nevada College President Carol Lucey is resigning in the aftermath of the 2013 Legislature.

In a memo to staff Tuesday, Lucey says she’s unwilling to serve through another legislative session that saw state funding for the Carson City-based college cut by more than 11 percent.

She says the budget cuts that began in 2009 have been painful. She says the college, with satellite campuses in Douglas and Churchill counties and centers in other rural areas, has seen its state funding slashed by about 40 percent since the recession.

A new funding formula adopted by the Legislature sends more money to southern Nevada schools.

Lucey has been president of WNC for 15 years. She says she’s asked Chancellor Dan Klaich to begin a national search for her replacement.