Reid names American Indian to national civil-rights post

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has appointed Arlan Melendez to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Melendez has been chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony for 14 years. He is the second American Indian to be named to the commission.

"Arlan is an active leader in Nevada and a forceful advocate for the interests of Native Americans," said Reid. "I know he'll serve the commission well and be just as strong an advocate for people around the country."

The commission investigates allegations of civil-rights violations and reports to the Congress and the White House. It has eight members split between Democrats and Republicans. The President appoints four, and the four House and Senate party leaders each appoint one member.

Commissioners serve six-year terms.

State

Transportation services enforcement chief named

Gerald Antinoro has been named manager of transportation and chief of enforcement for the Nevada Transportation Services Authority.

TSA licenses and regulates limousines, buses, tow companies and moving companies throughout Nevada plus taxicabs in Clark County.

Antinoro has more than 20 years experience in law enforcement in Utah and Nevada, including 10 years as assistant police chief in West Wendover.

Mortgage division fines Las Vegas company over loans

The state Mortgage Lending Division fined a Las Vegas company $40,000 and ordered it to stop advertising mortgage loans to borrowers.

Nancy Nash and Palace Worldwide Enterprises are not licensed to act as mortgage brokers, according to division officials.

State officials charge Nash encouraged borrowers to pull the equity out of their homes and invest with Palace Worldwide Enterprises or other affiliated companies. They advertised that she could also provide investors in private mortgages with earning returns up to 16 percent.

Deputy Commissioner Sue Eckhardt said people who have substantial equity in their homes - which includes large numbers of seniors - should be careful about taking a loan against that equity to invest the cash. She said if the investment goes bad, they could lose their homes.

Vegas mayor faces ethics complaints

(AP) - Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has been hit with another ethics complaint over his involvement in issues affecting Southern Nevada golf course owner Billy Walters.

Two longtime critics of the mayor, Bob Rose and former City Councilman Steve Miller, filed the complaint with the state Ethics Commission, alleging Goodman violated ethics laws in 1999 and in 2005 by making motions and voting on matters affecting Walters - a former criminal defense client.

"At no time during the public hearings did Goodman disclose his attorney-client relationship with Walters in the 1980s," the complaint states.

Rose and Miller contend that Walters acquired 160 acres of land from city taxpayers for $894,000 in 1999 to use as a golf course. But now, they say, he wants to convert the property to residential property "automatically raising its value to over $50 million."

"Mayor Goodman - without disclosing his ties to Walters - is participating in all discussions and actions involving this matter," they state in the complaint filed Monday.

The mayor's office on Tuesday released transcripts of an April 19, 2000, City Council meeting in which Goodman disclosed his past relationship with Walters, and City Attorney Brad Jerbic said he could vote. The vote concerned billboards at the Desert Pines Golf Course.