Northern Nevada Briefs for August 24, 1999

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. - A man suffering from mental illness surrendered peacefully after threatening a woman with a steak knife at the group home where he lived.

Reno police negotiated with the man for about a hour Monday afternoon before he was taken into custody without incident and committed to a mental facility for evaluation.

"He was very agitated and challenging police officers," said Reno police Sgt. Jon Catalano. "We didn't think he wanted to hurt anyone, so we had the hostage negotiators talking to him to calm him down."

The man, who was not identified, has a history of mental health problems, police said.

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RENO, Nev. - An arbitrator has ruled in favor of the Washoe County School District in a dispute with teachers over when a pay raise was to take effect in the 1998-1999 fiscal year.

The Washoe County Teachers Association wanted the 2.7 percent pay hike to be retroactive for 10 months. But the district offered only six months of retroactive pay.

The four month difference amounts to about $1.3 million.

The arbitrator ruled that while the district could afford the union proposal, it could jeopardize the district's financial stability down the road.

School officials said the retroactive pay will be distributed to teachers by Sept. 10.

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RENO, Nev. - A federal grant will help Nevada identify convicted sex offenders.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid said the $810,000 grant will be used to improve criminal history record keeping and provide interstate access to those records through federal systems.

"Background information is vital when courts are deciding whether or not to grant bail to offenders, and for screening individuals for positions of trust where they have access to children, the elderly or disabled individuals," Reid said in a statement issued Monday announcing the grant.

The money was awarded to the Office of Criminal Justice Assistance in Carson City.

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RENO, Nev. - Meetings will be held next week in several northern Nevada communities to inform ranchers and others of available assistance to help them cope with losses from devastating wildfires.

Representatives from federal, state and local agencies will make presentations and answer questions.

Fires have burned more than 1 million acres so far this year, killing tens of thousands of cattle and sheep and destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of prime grazing land.

Governor Kenny Guinn has asked federal officials to declare a natural disaster in five Nevada counties hit hardest by fires.

Meetings will be held in Eureka, Imlay and Battle Mountain on Aug. 31, in Jiggs on Sept. 1 and in Denio on Sept. 2, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

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