News briefs

Doctor pleads no contest

A Las Vegas osteopath pleaded no contest to a gross misdemeanor charge of Medicaid fraud Thursday and agreed to pay $175,000 in fines, penalties and restitution to the state.

Dr. Mitchel Phillips entered his plea before District Judge Michael Douglas, who ordered him to perform 50 hours of community service within the next six months.

Tim Terry, director of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the attorney general's office, said Phillips overbilled the state an estimated $20,000 for treatment of patients at two Las Vegas hospitals.

All the money from the penalties goes to the state except for $10,000, which will be returned to the federal government as its share of the Medicaid cost.

Terry said that after Phillips was notified that he was under investigation, negotiations started for a plea bargain agreement. Phillips could have been sentenced to one year in jail and fined $2,000. The charge against Phillips was failure to maintain adequate records.

Several injured in morning crash

Two pickup trucks collided in the intersection of North Rainbow Boulevard and Vegas Drive this morning, injuring at least five people, one critically.

Several people who were riding in the back of one of the trucks were thrown out of the truck by the 6:25 a.m. crash. The driver of one of the pickup trucks and four riding in the back of one of the trucks were taken to University Medical Center, Las Vegas Fire officials said.

One of the injured was in critical condition and the others were listed as serious, fire officials said.

Metro Police are investigating.

Election filing fees may be raised

Candidates running for a future seat in North Las Vegas may have to pay a higher filing fee.

City Clerk Eileen Sevigny told the City Council at Wednesday night's meeting that raising the fees from $25 to $100 will be fair and in keeping with the state and county fees.

Henderson recently raised its fees from $25 for council candidates to $100 for all offices, as did the city of Las Vegas.

Sevigny said she will present the item before the council at the Dec. 1 meeting, so it can be passed for the new year.

Elko County gets another award

An agricultural-vocational teacher at Spring Creek High School in Elko has been named the Nevada Teacher of the Year, the latest in a string of Elko County educators to earn statewide honors.

Dennis "Digger" Digenan claimed the top award out of an estimated 20,000 teachers in Nevada.

"I never competed for any of these contests," Digenan said at the recent awards ceremony. "It was the students, they're the one's who've won this."

Cathy Smales, a speech and English teacher at Elko High School, was named the runner-up for the Teacher of the Year award.

Ann Gustin, Elko County School District trustee, earlier was selected the Nevada School Board Member of the Year. And last month, Spring Creek High School Principal Joe de Braga was awarded the national Milken Award for his work in bringing technology to the classroom.

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