State briefly Aug. 12

Miller asks for funds for Nevada special election

(AP) - Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller is asking for $539,000 from a legislative contingency account to reimburse counties for the cost of next month' special election.

The special election will fill the vacancy in Nevada's sprawling 2nd Congressional District created when Republican Rep. Dean Heller was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

The district encompasses 16 of Nevada's mostly rural 17 counties, as well as a slice of Clark County in Southern Nevada.

The Board of Examiners, made up of Sandoval, Miller and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, will consider the request Monday.

It would then go to the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee on Aug. 31.

Voter registration deadline looms in election

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Saturday is the last day to register to vote in Nevada's Sept. 13 special election without having to go to an election department office.

Until then, eligible voters who live in the northern Nevada district may register to vote at any city clerk's office, department of motor vehicles outpost or by mail.

Residents who don't make the Saturday deadline and still want to vote will have to register in person by Aug. 23.

The race between Republican Mark Amodei and Democrat Kate Marshall will fill the vacant house seat created when Republican Dean Heller was appointed from the House to the U.S. Senate.

Officials ID uninjured driver in I-15 truck crash

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Authorities are identifying a man who was uninjured when the gasoline hauler truck he was driving exploded and shut down part of a major interstate for half a day.

Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Loy Hixson says 37-year-old Phillip Behnke (BEAN'-key) of Las Vegas was taken to the hospital as a precaution and released shortly after the 3:45 a.m. accident Wednesday on Interstate 15.

Hixson says Behnke passed a sobriety test at the scene. Behnke's passenger was also unharmed.

Officials are still investigating why Behnke lost control of the truck near Lake Mead Boulevard. The vehicle toppled and burst into flames that took two hours to extinguish.

Southbound traffic was diverted around a five-mile freeway stretch as crews mopped up the spill and evaluated the structural integrity of the roadway.