IN BRIEF
FATAL SHOOTING
Man dies, another shot in valley apartment
A male died after he was found shot Sunday morning in a northeast valley apartment complex, Las Vegas police said.
The identity of the male and his age were withheld. Metropolitan Police Department officers said they arrived at an apartment complex at 4244 N. Las Vegas Boulevard about 12:15 a.m., near Craig Road, after they received reports of multiple gunshots fired. Upon arrival, police discovered two males who had been shot inside an apartment. Both males were transported to the University Medical Center's Trauma Center where one of them died from his injuries. The other male was treated for a gunshot wound to the hand and released, police said. Police said the gunshot victims were involved in an altercation with another male. Police described the suspect as a slender black male, about 6 feet, 2 inches tall.
Anyone with any information regarding this incident is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or Metro's Homicide Section at 828-3521.
WILDFIRES
Los Padres wilderness area closed by blazes
Nearly 90,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest remained closed Sunday while firefighters battled five wilderness blazes ignited by lightning last week.
U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kathy Good said fires charred about 250 acres in remote, rugged areas of Santa Barbara County, Calif. No homes or buildings were threatened, and only a single injury was reported: a bee sting.
The forest closure encompassed the northernmost portion of the San Rafael Wilderness, an area of backcountry roads and rustic camp sites popular with deer hunters. The national forest has nearly 2 million acres. The closure is expected to remain in effect until the fires are suppressed.
HISTORIC FIND
Researchers discover old whaling vessel
Not exactly buried treasure, but a group of government scientists has found a 170-year-old whale blubber cauldron and parts of the boat that carried it.
It's the whaling vessel Gledstanes, which broke up on the reef at Kure Atoll in 1837. Parts of the boat were used to build a 38-foot boat called Deliverance which carried the stranded whalers to safety.
A team from the National Marine Sanctuaries made the discovery on Wednesday, halfway into a monthlong expedition searching for shipwrecks among the protected islands.
Government scientist Kelly Gleason says it's the oldest whaling vessel discovery in the islands.
Gleason says she's been looking for the Gledstanes wreckage for years, but has always been turned back by bad sea conditions.
FATAL ASSAULT
Man ordered tried in beating of transient
A Marin County, Calif., judge has ordered a 19-year-old man to stand trial for brutally beating a local transient with a skateboard on a Bolinas beach.
Lamont Donyelle Elkins is one of six young men charged in the June stabbing and beating of 33-year-old Ricky Green.
After reviewing photographs that showed Green "beaten to a pulp," Judge Paul Haakenson ruled Friday there was enough evidence for Elkins to be tried on charges of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury.
The other five people charged pleaded guilty to assault on Thursday in exchange for having attempted murder charges dropped.
