Search for Las Vegas reporter's killer leads to official's home
The home of a top Clark County official who was the subject of investigative stories by Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German was searched by police Wednesday as part of the murder investigation into the journalist’s fatal stabbing.
Las Vegas Metro police served the warrant on the home of Clark County Administrator Robert Telles, who lost a primary election in June after German’s stories exposed allegations of bullying, favoritism and an inappropriate relationship between Telles and a subordinate. Telles had publicly accused German of being a “bully” and running a “smear” campaign against him.
Telles has not been charged with a crime and could not be reached for comment.
The search came a day after police announced they connected a red or maroon 2007 to 2014 GMC Yukon Denali to the fatal stabbing of German, 69, outside his northwest Las Vegas home. German was found Saturday morning, but investigators said they believe the slaying occurred Friday morning and security footage had tied the SUV to a suspect assailant.
An SUV matching that description was towed from Telles’ driveway Wednesday morning as detectives searched the house. Las Vegas police on Tuesday released two images they said were potential leads in the killing of the journalist. One was an image of an unidentified suspect whose appearance was disguised by a wide straw hat, gloves and orange long-sleeve shirt. The man was seen casing the area. The second was of the Denali, which had chrome handles and a sunroof.
According to Las Vegas Review-Journal, German was working on a new story about Telles the week he was stabbed to death.
—Los Angeles Times
Texas judge says HIV drug requirement violates religious freedom
FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge has sided with a Fort Worth orthodontist who argued that requiring health insurance to pay for HIV prevention drugs was a violation of his religious freedom.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, of the Northern District of Texas, issued a ruling in the case Wednesday.
Technically, O’Connor’s ruling focused on just one plaintiff: Braidwood Management Inc., a company based in Texas. But in principle, his decision supports the reasoning of multiple North Texas Christians, who challenged a key part of the Affordable Care Act when they sued the federal government in 2020. The plaintiffs include Fort Worth oral surgeon Gregory Scheideman, Fort Worth orthodontist John Kelley, and his company, Kelley Orthodontics.
Braidwood Management Inc., Kelley and the other plaintiffs opposed a core feature of the Affordable Care Act, often known as Obamacare. The law requires that private health insurance plans pay for preventive health care in full, with no charge to the insured patients. Kelley and his co-plaintiffs disagreed with the groups that determine what kind of health care is preventive, and also opposed insurance coverage of services like birth control, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and the HIV prevention drug PrEP on religious grounds.
Kelley is “a Christian, and he is therefore unwilling to purchase health insurance that subsidizes abortifacient contraception or PrEP drugs that encourage homosexual behavior and intravenous drug use,” according to the lawsuit.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
California may legalize sports betting despite lack of data on addicts
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two months before Californians decide whether to open the nation’s largest state to legalized sports betting, a new audit finds that the agency charged with treating people with gambling addictions may be ill-prepared for such a significant expansion of the market.
A new 55-page report, released by California Acting State Auditor Michael S. Tilden, found that the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Problem Gambling does not have a clear picture of how many residents are suffering or who have recently suffered from gambling addition. The agency, which has an annual budget of about $9 million, has also failed to demonstrate that it is effectively monitoring its prevention and treatment programs, according to the audit.
The California Department of Public Health, which houses the Office of Problem Gambling, did not respond to questions on Monday. But the audit states that the agency agreed with the auditor’s findings and indicated that it would implement the recommendations made, such as creating measurable program goals.
On the Nov. 8 ballot, voters will decide the fate of a pair of competing propositions that aim to open up a large legal sports betting market in California. The outcome will determine whether California will join more than two dozen states that have authorized sports betting in recent years — and who will reap the financial benefits.
—The Sacramento Bee
Russian dissident Navalny in solitary confinement for 4th time
MOSCOW — Jailed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has been placed in solitary confinement for the fourth time in a row in the penal camp where he is being held, he said on Wednesday.
Navalny is due to spend 15 days in a solitary cell, he tweeted. Furthermore, he has been classified as a repeat offender because of alleged violations of the camp rules.
This classification means that Navalny will receive even less money for the forced labor in the camp and will be allowed to receive even fewer packages, according to his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh.
Outside visits will also be further restricted, she added. Navalny wrote that a meeting with his family that had been planned for four months was delayed.
Navalny is being held in Penal Colony 6 in Melekhovo, about 160 miles northeast of Moscow, under particularly harsh prison conditions.
He is currently serving a sentence allegedly for fraud but widely seen as an attempt to silence one of the Kremlin's most vocal opponents.
The Russian judiciary is seen as controlled by the Kremlin and has been slammed for its arbitrary rulings by human rights activists.
—dpa
