Mailroom shut down because of suspicious envelope

The state mailroom and adjacent Department of Education building were evacuated today after a suspicious envelope was found by mailroom workers.

Chief Scott Jackson of the Nevada Division of Investigation said the envelope was similar to the one which arrived at the Las Vegas state mailroom earlier today. He said similar envelopes have been received today in numerous other states as well, generally addressed to the governor.

And Cpl. Randal Smith of the Capitol Police said governors in 37 states have now received similar envelopes but, in this case, the 4-by-5 inch manilla envelope was addressed to Gov. Kenny Guinn, former governor of Nevada.

Jackson said the Carson City hazmat team was doing an on-site analysis of the contents to determine whether it contains a harmful substance such as the poison ricin or anthrax.

"It we get a presumptive positive, that sets in motion other things such as decontamination of employees," he said.

Jackson added that the other letters have been found to contain baby powder.

"But we're not taking any risks," he said.

Smith said mailroom workers were warned to be on the lookout for the envelopes earlier today after the Las Vegas envelope was discovered. Jackson said the Carson City envelope was very similar to that found in Las Vegas.

And he said all were mailed from the same area in Texas and, in this case, bears a return address. He declined to be more specific.

Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.