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A memorial barbecue for Lawrence Rex Caldwell, 60, a 29-year-resident of Minden, will be 3 p.m. Saturday at Heritage Park in Gardnerville.

A memorial service for Maxine Carolyn Thyr, 77, a 10-year resident of Minden, will be 2 p.m. Saturday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Carson City.

A memorial for Allen Lowell Wicks, 82, a Gardnerville resident for the past 10 years, is at 3 p.m. Monday at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1480 Douglas Ave., in Gardnerville.

Evelyn C. Becerra, 88, a Carson City resident for the past three years, died Sept. 12, 2007 in Carson City. No services will be held.

A funeral service for Ruth E. Wade, 64, a 19-year Dayton resident, will be 2 p.m. Saturday at FitzHenry's Chapel of Faith.

During the course of my life, I have traveled all across this country. I have set foot in 41 of the 50 states and lived in three times zones.

Yet after all my visits, there is one thing that I have noticed about Nevada. One particular facet " or quirk, if you will " that in my experience is rampant in the Silver State.

A suspect in the stabbing death of Incline Village resident Judy Calder is in custody in a Mexico City jail, police said Tuesday.

Sparks Police Commander Steve Asher received a call at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday that a man called Ricky Barge had been arrested on a provisional warrant by Mexican officials.

Barge's actual name is still in question, Asher said. Barge has been known to use Mohammed Kamalaudeen and Omar Burak as aliases in the past.

"Right now about all we know is that it is this Barge that is in custody, and beyond that we haven't had much information," Asher said.

Calder, a 30-year resident of Incline Village and former professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, was initially reported missing by her husband James Aug. 19.

Police believe she was stabbed to death in Reno Aug. 18. Carlos Filomeno, who is in Washoe County Jail for a parole violation, said he saw Barge stab Judy Calder twice, Asher said. Filomeno said he and Barge then loaded her body into a white van, Asher said.

"We can't confirm what Filomeno said until we have Barge in custody for questioning," Asher said.

Police believe Barge allegedly drove the van to rural Elko County and dumped Judy Calder's body East of U.S. Highway 93, about 40 miles north of Wells, Nev.

The body was discovered in some brush off the highway by two hunters Aug. 26, Asher said. The body was identified Aug. 30 using dental records because of the body's decomposition.

Washoe County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Greco is working with Mexican officials to extradite Barge, Asher said. Calls to Greco's office were not immediately returned.

A Fernley woman died in a four-vehicle crash on Highway 50A Tuesday

night in the construction zone just west of Hazen.

Raquel Lopez, 47, was a passenger in a white GMC pickup heading eastbound on

the highway.

According to a release from the Nevada Highway Patrol, Lopez's truck, driven by her husband Sergio Lopez, veered to the right in order to avoid a collision with a maroon Toyota that drifted into the oncoming travel lane.

The left front of the Toyota struck the left front of the pickup, which then struck a concrete jersey wall. The pickup rotated clockwise and the right side of the truck was struck by a Chevrolet van, causing injuries to Raquel Lopez. The white van rotated clockwise, crossed into the westbound travel land and rolled onto its top in the dirt north of Highway 50A.

A green Pontiac heading westbound veered to the right to avoid the crash and drove into a ditch off the north edge of the road.

Sergio Lopez, the van's driver and the van's passenger were transported to Renown Regional Medical Center by Care Flight with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the Pontiac was taken to Renown by ambulance with severe injuries. The driver of the maroon Toyota was not injured in the collision.

Investigation of the accident continues today by the NHP.

RENO " Washoe County commissioners have agreed to revive a task force to try to reduce problems with bears.

Commissioners instructed staff Tuesday to implement training for parks and animal control staff to respond to bear calls and draft an ordinance targeting control of garbage.

Problems are particularly acute in neighborhoods along the Sierra Front, where commissioners said they want residents to stop putting out their garbage the night before pickup and to use bear-proof containers.

Commissioners also discussed possible ordinances imposing fines on people who don't take measures to discourage bears.

Experts say keeping a lid on trash is key to keeping bears out of residential neighborhoods.

Wildlife Director Ken Mayer asked the board for $50,000 to help defray the agency's cost for responding to bear calls.

"Sooner or later, a (bear) swat is going to kill somebody," Mayer said.

Wildlife biologist Carl Lackey said the department received 4,792 calls about bears in Washoe and Douglas counties and Carson City in July and August, 1,000 more than last year.

Lackey said drought and wildfires have driven bears closer to humans to scrounge for food while more people move into bear habitat in the foothills.

With more development coming to the fringe and a forecast of drought for several years, experts said the problem is only going to get worse and won't go away in the winter when bears should be hibernating.

Once bears get a taste for garbage, Lackey said they'll wake up every week to feast on garbage left out for pickup the next morning.

When bears are moved, they find their way back, he said. And if a bear is killed, another takes its place within a few weeks.

The Regional Transportation Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. today in the Sierra Room of the Community Center, 851 E. William St.

On the agenda is a plan to help residents in the Quail Run Senior Resort Community. The city would provide up to $5,000 to each homeowner with a dwelling next to Fairview Drive so each could make improvements to lessen traffic noise. The street is going to be widened to accommodate extra vehicles that would be getting on and off the Carson City Freeway and traveling along Fairview.

Also scheduled: Results of a rider survey regarding travel to and from Douglas County.