FAA dedicates nation's 2nd-tallest airport tower in Vegas

Tuesday, October 18th, 2016, 7:10pm

The nation's top aviation administrator has marked completion of a long-delayed air traffic control tower at McCarran International Airport that officials say cost $111 million.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta joined local and state officials Tuesday dedicating the new tower, which took five years to build. At 352 feet, the FAA says it's the second-tallest airport tower in the nation.

It replaces a 200-foot Las Vegas tower the FAA started using in 1983. Work began in May 2011, but was delayed by government shutdowns in 2011 and 2013 and a massive construction error in the tower duct work.

The facility has two top levels for air- and ground-traffic controllers to monitor aircraft at the nation's eighth-busiest airport.

It also has a four-story Terminal Radar Approach Control office building with space for up to 20 controllers at a time... Read More

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Submitted by 8NewsNOWStaff

Monday, October 17th, 2016, 2:54pm

Don't expect all the snarls to be inside the hall when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton face off for their third and final presidential debate in Las Vegas.

Traffic is expected to be a huge disruption outside the Thomas & Mack arena.

Campus, city and police officials warn that streets and freeways could close for security at the same time about 20,000 concert-goers head to the nearby T-Mobile Area for a Rolling Stones concert.

Frozen zones are expected between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. Wednesday in and around McCarran International Airport, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and some major roads crossing the Las Vegas Strip.

UNLV spokesman Tony Allen calls the debate a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity -- even in a town with lots of experience hosting big events... Read More

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Wednesday, October 12th, 2016, 9:08am

UNLV is partnering with the aerospace company Lockheed Martin to help take humans further into space than ever before.

The school and the company held a signing ceremony on Tuesday to formalize their partnership. Lockheed Martin is providing the university's engineering college up to $5 million over five years through a series of work orders.

The projects will support NASA's Orion program, which aims to eventually send humans to deep-space destinations such as asteroids and Mars.

Students at UNLV have already had some experience with space exploration programs through NASA's Mentor-Protege program... Read More

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Thursday, October 6th, 2016, 12:14pm

A man is facing murder, burglary, and grand larceny auto charges following the death of a man on October 1.

Jamie Farr II, 28, was taken into custody after turning himself in at Metro Police headquarters on Wednesday.

According to police, he is accused of shooting a man at a home in the 5300 block of Surrey Street near Spencer Street and Hacienda Avenue. The home was ransacked and a Hyundai vehicle was stolen. That car was found on a nearby street several hours later.

This was the 126th homicide investigated by Metro this year... Read More

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Thursday, September 29th, 2016, 9:44pm

The Nevada Supreme Court has put a halt to the controversial ESA program. However, both sides of the argument claimed victory Thursday.

The court found Nevada's Education Savings Account program doesn't violate the state constitution however the funding under the bill that created the program is in question.

Justices issued a 4-2 ruling on Thursday calling for a permanent injunction on the program, which was on hold on a temporary basis.

The ruling says the program authorized last spring by the Nevada Legislature did not have its own dedicated funding source and is unlawfully drawing on money allocated for public schools in the state's Distributive School Account. It would have allowed parents to use public school dollars to pay for private school tuition... Read More

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Thursday, September 29th, 2016, 9:28am

Officials in Las Vegas are reporting another monthly increase in the number of people using McCarran International Airport in August, and say passenger traffic is up 4.8 percent for the first eight months of 2016.

The Clark County Department of Aviation reported Thursday that nearly 4.1 million arriving and departing passengers came through McCarran in August - up 2.3 percent from the same month in 2015.

So far this year, the nation's ninth-busiest airport has tallied nearly 32 million passengers.

That puts it on pace to host more than the 45 million passengers it handled last year.

McCarran handled a record 48 million passengers in 2007.

The number of international passengers ticked up slightly in the first eight months of 2016 compared with last year, at just over 2.3 million... Read More

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Thursday, September 29th, 2016, 9:26am

A technical problem with the baggage check-in system at McCarran International Airport caused some minor delays this morning.

Baggage had to be checked in by hand.

McCarran Airport Public Information Officer Melissa Nunnery said the technical issue has been resolved. Around 17 flights were delays, but none more than 30 minutes... Read More

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