News Briefs

Transformer fix will result in several street closures

An old electrical transformer will be replaced July 24 and 25, resulting in several closures of nearby streets and facilities.

A crane is needed to install the transformer in the substation on Adams Boulevard, about 300 feet east of Avenue B. As a result, the city will need to close Whalen and Bravo fields, the parking lot at the northeast corner of Adams and Avenue B, the gravel lot between the southeast corner of Whalen Field and Adams and Avenue B from Adams to about 200 feet north of Adams.

According to Scott Hansen, director of public works, the work was scheduled during the summer school break to avoid inconveniencing too many people.

The transformer being installed was removed in April and rebuilt to bring the nearly 50-year-old unit up to modern standards at a cost of about $400,000. It is one of two transformers at the substation.

One dead, one injured in accident near Lake Mead

A 28-year-old Las Vegas woman died and a Las Vegas man was injured after a motor vehicle rolled over at Lake Mead National Recreation Area Saturday.

The accident, near mile marker 9 on Lakeshore road, was reported at 10:44 p.m.

Emergency crews from the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Henderson Police Department, Henderson Fire Department and Nevada Highway Patrol responded to the scene.

The woman, Joni Boothman-Ryder, was flown to a nearby hospital by Mercy Air and later died. The Clark County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.

The male victim was transported to a nearby hospital via Community Ambulance. Nevada Highway Patrol and the National Park Service are investigating the accident.

Nursing home sued in former lawmaker’s death

The family of a former Nevada legislator and longtime optometrist Robert Robinson, who died less than three weeks after being left outside in extreme heat by staff at the Nevada State Veterans Home in Boulder City, filed a federal lawsuit against the facility, the administrator and other unnamed defendants.

The lawsuit was filed July 10 in U. S. District Court in Las Vegas.

The lawsuit alleges malpractice and gross negligence. It also claims that the acts that ultimately led to Robinson’s death are a violation of nursing standards of care and several federal regulations governing nursing homes, among other violations.

The 89-year-old man suffered second-degree burns on his legs and other parts of his body while sitting in his wheelchair wearing only shorts during the height of summer. The cause of death on Robinson’s death certificate included “sepsis, cellulitis, cutaneous burns and prolonged environmental heath exposure.”

The facility is being investigated by the Nevada attorney general’s office.