he's been with them since 2010. he's worked for the department of interior since 1993. of leavitt's office in boulder city being raided as agents take out items from inside the government building. we did not find anyone there who would talk to us about what's happening there. and agents were also at another this one belonging the ll bradford cpa firm... fbi agents on site told 8 news now that this raid is connected investigation. coming up at 5, a neighbors reaction to what happened here this morning...and our i-team's george knapp will connect the pieces of the puzzle in this ongoing investigation back to you. ((denise valdez)) have we tried

house? ((patranya bhoolsuwan)) we did see someone leave...and our crew went up and knocked on the door...but no one answered. authorities also told us to stay off the premises. /// toss to weather >peak gusts today up to 70 in the mountains and 60's in some areas this morning between 10 a-m to 1 p-m today. highest in kyle canyon and red rock. summerlin at 60 even later doay with high gusts in centennial hills and nellis. henderson with gusts up to 45 in anthem and seven hills. ............................... ............ wind expected to relax more this

the 20's this evening down to the more the teens later evening. then single digits and light by late night. ............................... ................ hour by hour shows temps cooler than yesterday. 63 by 7 pm and 50's through the evening down to 55 by 8 news now at 11. ((denise valdez)) > it seems no one is off limits when it comes to donald trump... he's now taking on the pope. ((paul joncich)) the republican frontrunner called out pope francis... claiming the holy father called out trump first. while in mexico... the pope said -quote- "a person who thinks only about building walls and not of building bridges... is not a christian." that's in reference to trump's repeated calls to build a wall to keep

((donald trump: "for a religious faith is disgraceful. if and when vatican is attacked by isis.. i can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that donald trump would have been president )) ((paul joncich)) it's not clear if the comments will have an effect on trump's numbers. the latest c-b-s news national poll shows donald trump with a two- to- one advantage over ted cruz./// ((denise valdez)) > hundreds of people spoke their minds on the back and forth... salena says "being a religious figure the pope should never speak on who is or isn't a christian, it isn't his job to determine that!" don says "there is a wall around the vatican not a bridge, holy father. oh and by the way, stay out of our politics." alice disagrees "trump says the pope should not question anyone's religious faith, but then calls president obama a muslim..

just go to our 8 news now facebook page./// ((paul joncich)) > making sure your emergency calls are answered quickly. ((denise valdez)) metro runs through the four ways they're protecting against a 9-1-1 call center outage... like they experienced earlier this month. plus... /// (( what we're interested in is people who aren't afraid anymore )) ((paul joncich)) a valentine's day murder remains a mystery 20 years later: as the i- team's george knapp shows us, detectives have a strong feeling on a suspect... and your information could help

announcer: you're watching 8now at 4 with denise valdez and paul joncich. the news of southern nevada is now. ((denise valdez)) > apple is getting support from google in its phone encryption battle with the fbi. the ceo of google says apple is right to defy a judge's order to help unlock the iphone used by one of the san bernardino killers. the u-s magistrate judge ordered apple to disable the i-phone's auto erase feature, which wipes out all of its data, if the

times. apple c-e-o tim cook says they don't have the technology and that developing it would create a "backdoor" to not only that i-phone...but millions of devices. as the war on terror and the right to privacy collide, c-net's dan ackerman says apple and the f-b-i both have "compelling yet competing interests." (( dan ackerman/editor, cnet, "apple is saying even if you promise you are only going to use it once it's going to get used again and again. )) ((denise valdez)) > the head of google... sundar pichai posted a series of tweets yesterday... siding with apple, saying "...we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders..." "but that's wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices & data." in the two months since farook and his wife killed 14 people in san bernardino terror attack, the fbi has been poring over history. they've discovered evidence that the pair sympathized with isis

/// ((paul joncich)) > guns will soon be allowed in classrooms at the university of texas at austin and the decision has the student body split. university president gregory fenves reluctantly approved the firearm guidelines this week that comply with a state law. the law allows concealed handgun license holders to bring their weapons into classrooms. fenves says he does not believe handguns belong on campus...but state law requires public universities to allow the handguns beginning august first. there is a deep devide among students. (( katherine morosky/graduate student, "i feel very strongly that campus carry will endanger the lives of people at the university of texas and maybe in the austin community in general." michael newbern/students for concealed carry "i challenge any one of those professors, faculty, staff members, anybody. point to an instance where a licensee has done the things they're saying on campus. it just hasn't happened." )) ((paul joncich)) u-t banned concealed carry in the dorms... saying with students living in close quarters there's a high

or misuse a gun. /// ((denise valdez)) > a battle with nature in the land down under. ((paul joncich)) the exhausting hours homeowners are having to put in every day... as they dig their way out of a massive tumbleweed problem./// announcer: now nevada's first

one of the areas that i've been particularly interested in is the area of children. we intend to be sure that everybody in this room

no matter where they're born, no matter to whom they are born. i want to make sure that every child has a chance to live up to his or her god-given potential. i've spent my life fighting for children, and i'm not stopping now. i'm hillary clinton,

((denise valdez)) > the 350- thousand square foot ikea store is taking shape. set to open this summer -- we took a hard hat tour through the construction site. it's a bee hive of activity. walls are up and you can start to see where the showrooms will display furniture and accessories for your living -- dining rooms -- kitchens and baths. one thing customers will not see -- is this vast solar system on the roof. more than 5- thousand panels up here will help offset nearly half of the store's power. when you drive past -- the big blue building looks practically finished -- but there is a lot to do before opening day: ((amy jensen: the building is almost finished and sealed. .. electrical .. and then we'll start bringing our ikea product in and our co

of the 10-thousand articles that we have in this building.)) ((denise valdez)) isn't it nice to know the employees have to assemble the same stuff we do! ikea is still looking to fill it's 300 job openings -- which you can only apply for online. ((paul joncich)) > a fast growing tumbleweed burying one town in australia. take a look at this. the pesky plant is called hairy panic and it's a real pain for people living in wangaratta. while townfolk are no stranger to the prickly menace... this season is exceptionally bad. hundreds of thousands of the fuzzy, yellowish plants have swamped the entrances of homes, driveways and backyards. (( cheryl lengrand, wangaratta, "i spent eight hours yesterday cleaning up the tumbleweeds and this is what i've got today." jason perna, wangaratta resident, "it is frustrating, you know, that you have a good couple hours of work ahead of you and that's always sorta displeasing." )) ((paul joncich)) for some people... the tumbleweeds piled up so high... they can't even open up their

((paul joncich)) toss to weather < tedd florendo >big winds hit the region today with some of those winds uprooting trees. we had numerous pics sent to our newsroom showing those winds knocking down trees and throwing around debris. the good news is the wind decreasing a lot more than what we had earlier today. ............................... ....... skies have cleared and we're way cooler than yesterday by almost

still some breezes this afternoon and gusts up to 22. local winds still in the teens through many parts of the valley and higher for those in the southern sections of town. ............................... ........ regional winds also still blowing around in the afternoon for mesquite down to laughlin. we anticipate all areas to see a decrease in those winds through the evening. ............................... ......... current temps in the high 60's and below the 70 degree mark. 81 yesterday and we barely reached 70 today. cooler up in kyle canyon, they picked up 2 inches of new snow in the ski resort. while the lodge mainly rain. ............................... ....... regional temps also cooler in the high 60's this afternoon from mesquite all the way down to laughlin still mild today in the mid 70's. cooler in the central part of the state. ............................... .............. rain has moved out. did that about 1 p-m today picked up a trace of rain at the airport. skies are clearing and we'll have high pressure move in from

for the weekend. ............................... ............ windcast show some breezes for friday in the teens to 20's. but not enough for wind advisories. saturday should be a lot calmer before some breezes return on monday and tuesday. ............................... ............ tonight 48 and chilly. not as windy. evening breezes 5 to 15 mph. 70 tomorrow mostly sunny with some southwest breezes around. ............................... .............. mount charleston breezy 49 with red rock 65. warm breezes for lake mead at 74 for the high and warmer in laughlin. ............................... ................ extended forecast shows more sunshine. plenty of sun with near record temps again early week and above

((paul joncich)) > a valley intersection got a little safer today... thanks to a new traffic light. it was installed at tenaya and warm springs... and became active this morning. the traffic signal was just part of the project... on warm springs. the road also recieved drainage improvments... new pavement and a sidewalk around the intersection. the project was funded in part by the fuel tax. /// ((denise valdez)) > water runs through this north las vegas intersection, and it's driving you crazy. demetria obilor got involved, and now the las vegas valley water district is on the job. she shows you the problem and explains how you can report water waste in the valley. (( )) demetria obilor: linda says, "every day there's water running

there's all this water we have to drive through on a daily basis." the las vegas valley water district handles water waste issues, so that's who i contacted. the water district says it will investigate and get back to me with the results. waste can be reported online or by calling the southern nevada water authority's conservation helpline. in your reports, be as detailed as possible. investigators can only cite waste, if they see it happening. we'll have that information posted on our website for you. it might feel like spring, but we're still in the winter watering schedule until the end of the month. that means, you can only turn the sprinklers on once a week, on your assigned day. hey! what's driving you crazy? send your traffic question to traffic eight at las vegas now dot com. ((paul joncich)) > a popular cheese product is being pulled from store shelves. ((denise valdez)) the ingredient that's being used as a filler.. that has many people..

((denise valdez)) > the parmesan i've watched as the house across the street has sat empty for over six years. i've watched good friends have their homes foreclosed on. people are still really suffering, and they're looking for somebody that is going to create bold change. wall street gave bad advice and bad loans over and over again, and nothing happened.

because they know that he's not beholden to wall street. we need someone like bernie sanders that's going to fight for the middle class. we have to fix things now. sanders: i'm bernie sanders,

cheese you're picking up from the store... may contain more than you thought. companies use a diverivitive of wood pulp... to keep it from clumping.. ((paul joncich)) but it turns out some manufacturers also use large amounts of it as a filler. c-b-s news reporter michelle miller visited arthur schuman's cheese - a real cheese maker who is warning consumers about the fakes. whether sprinkled on pasta... shaved on salads... or grated onto pretty much anything... americans' appetite for cheese has been heating up for the last four decades. but experts believe some of the parmesan eaten by cheeselovers isn't real cheese...and its costing them (neal schuman / ceo

americans are probably consuming close to a hundred million pounds annually." neal schuman says cellulose, which is made from wood pulp, is a big culprit. while 2 to 4% is acceptable within the industry... bloomberg business found considerably more in 2 brands it tested. essential everyday 100% grated parmesan cheese, made by jewel-osco, was actually 8.8% cellulose... while wal-mart's great value 100% grated parmesan cheese came in at 7.8%. (lydia mulvaney/bloombe rg commodities reporter) you're getting ripped off. it's not what you bargained for. wal-mart would not comment for this story, but jewel-osco told cbs it "...has pulled the essential everyday parmesan cheese from our stores as we continue to investigate the matter." (michelle miller/cbs news/fairfield, nj) to help consumers figure out which products are made of real cheese versus those that are loaded with fillers, schuman's has

they will be putting it on their products and are working to get others to adopt the seal as well. michelle miller, cbs news, fairfield, new jersey ((paul joncich)) the f-d-a says it takes economic fraud seriously. in 2013 the agency warned a pennsylvania cheese maker that its product did not actually contain any parmesan cheese. the company later went bankrupt. /// ((denise valdez)) > a local non-profit that helps hundreds of families each month is in risk of shutting down. ((paul joncich)) the desperate need paradise ranch is in... so they can continue to serve ///

choat 4" ((paul joncich)) > a unique... local non profit that helps hundreds of families each month... needs your help. ((denise valdez)) paradise ranch uses rescue animals in it's therapy sessions... to help patients ranging from autistic children to veterans with p-t-s-d... and it's at risk of closing. the founder... paul rogers... has tried to keep up rent payments on the ranch near rancho and vegas drive... but have fallen behind. after three years at the current location... the lease is about to expire. rogers says the property owner has been very flexible when it

but to get another lease... paradise ranch needs to come up 25-thousand dollars by the end of the month. according to rogers... these animals are making a big impact on the lives of nearly 500-local families every month: (( paul rogers/paradise ranch, "we know that interacting with animals, especially horses, is very therapeutic. we're not in an office somewhere, in an office setting therapy. you know, where integrating the )) ((denise valdez)) one client at paradise ranch is ed wright. he's a veteran who served in two tours in iraq. while there... he suffered injuries in two i-e-d blasts... and broke his neck during a fall. he says he feels a real connection... to the rescue animals... especially one in particular. (( ed wright/veteran, "i like working with leo, the horse, himself has been disabilitied, you know blind, so i like to think we help out each other and it kind of puts me at ease working with him."

((denise valdez)) > now if you can help paradise ranch stay open... go to las vegas now dot com. there's you'll find out how you can donate... just look under the links we mentioned tab -- and we'll have more on this story tonight at 11:00. /// ((paul joncich)) > today metro police announced steps to make sure its 9-1-1 service doesn't fail again. earlier this month... something they called a broadcast storm caused the system to be overloaded with 9-1-1 calls. the outage lasted more than six hours. now the department is putting in several new lines of defense... to prevent something like that they include... upgrading hardware to increase the speed of how quickly calls centers... adding a back- up telephone line located in the main communications center should the first set of telephone lines fail... setting up a satellite emergency phone center that may be used as

center. metro says its also changed its best practices and protocols to better protect the 9-1-1 system. all of the protocols are currently in place, with the exception of the additional call center, which is expected to be /// ((denise valdez)) > a winter storm is causing havoc on the freeways in the sierras. ((tedd florendo)) at least two inches of snow has fallen near blue canyon just west of reno. take a look at this video. this is in el dorado county califonia. the snow was so bad... a school in the area decided to close for the day. last night... due to dangerous road conditions /// ((denise valdez)) > we'll we see any snow like that in our

peak gusts today up to 70 in the mountains and 60's in some areas this morning between 10 a-m to 1 p-m today. highest in kyle canyon and red rock. summerlin at 60 even later doay with high gusts in centennial hills and nellis. henderson with gusts up to 45 in anthem and seven hills. ............................... ............ wind expected to relax more this evening from double digits in the 20's this evening down to the more the teens later evening. then single digits and light by late night. ............................... ................ hour by hour shows temps cooler than yesterday. 63 by 7 pm and 50's through the evening down to 55 by 8 news now at 11. ((paul joncich)) > las vegas fire and rescue battled a pretty big fire overnight at a vacant home. pretty big fire overnight at a vacant home.

near charleston and lamb just before 11. firefighters were able to get everything under control in about 20 minutes and no one was injured. they're still trying to determine what caused the fire./// ((paul joncich)) > this is the same home that caught fire last november.. it was the scene of an arson and homicide investigation. two people died.. and there were also other victims tied up in and near the home. several others were taken to the hospital for injuries... including one person who was trying to help the victims./// ((denise valdez)) > a single mom is on a mission... to run a marathon on every continent... in just one week. ((paul joncich)) how she's making the ambition dream a reality. /// <

now at 4 with denise valdez and paul joncich. the news of southern nevada is now. ((denise valdez)) > a single mom from massachusetts is really pushing the limits... becoming the first ameecan woman to complete "the world marathon challenge." becca pizzi trained non- stop for the grueling test of human

she had to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. the 35- year- old spent more than 27 hours running... covered 183 miles on foot... and flew roughly 23- thousand miles from antarctica to chile, florida, spain, morocco, dubai, and australia. that seventh marathon was extra special: (( i was in a lot of pain. i never counted myself finished until i actually crossed the finish line. i thought, "you're not done until you've actually finished." and when i crossed the finish line, i had crossed the last--from mile 25 to 26, just tears of joy. my boyfriend was holding the finish line tape. and i had got wrapped in an american flag. and it was one of the best days of my life.)) ((denise valdez)) eleven men and four women competed in the challenge. pizzi - who stands at just 5 foot one - finished third overall. ///

city tv station has the first commercial news drone. weighing in at about 5 pounds.. it uses a mounted camera that can give you and eagle eye perspective the news choppers could never achieve. in tight corners... like between trees.... get lower to the ground....and can even fly blind. (( "you can hit this return home button and it will shoot up to its altitude and come back to where it started from.")) ((paul joncich)) only a certified pilot can fly the aircraft commercially. but the f-a-a is now considering whether to drop the requirement that an actual licensed pilot must operate a drone for commercial use./// ((paul joncich)) > if you own a drone... tomorrow is the last to register it... under federal law. you'll need to register if you're a recreational drone user... and purchased the dron before december 21st of last year. if you don't register...

dollars in civil penalties... 250- thousand dolalrs in criminal penalties and 3 years in jail. it cost 5-bucks to register and you can find out how to do that go to las vegas now dot com and look under the links we mentioned tab. /// ((paul joncich)) > a pregnant woman shot dead in front of her fiance 20 years ago... ((denise valdez)) detectives have a pretty good idea who did it and hope that the changes of the times will bring forward witnesses. george knapp shows how you can next. ///

choiceat 4.

murder that occurred on valentine's day 20 years ago is now a top priority for two veteran homicide detectives who've come out of retirement to work cold cases. ((paul joncich)) a young woman who was 6-months pregnant was gunned down in front of her fiance' during his shift at a convenience store. police think the incident was the culmination of a bloody spree involving as many as five other murders, and they have a strong idea who did it, but they're asking for help from the public... the i-team's george knapp has the story. < george knapp valentines day 1996. justin snyder had to work the graveyard shift. his pregnant fiance sarah decided to keep him company. they were young and in love and hoped to spend the rest of their lives together. but two killers dressed in drag changed everything. dean o'kelley/metro cold case detective: they got away with, we believe, 50 dollars and left a trail of money going out the door.

detectives, the double murder by the drag queen killers is difficult to absorb. dean o'kelley and ken hefner chose this case from the hundreds of unsolved murders stacked in binders from floor to ceiling at metro. the entire tragic sequence was recorded on video cameras. two armed men, dressed in women's clothing, entered the store at pecos and bonanza just after midnight. one gunman stayed beside sarah, who was seated at a poker machine. the other suspect focused on justin, the clerk, but was angered because so little cash was in the two registers. dean o'kelley: he tried to get justin to open the safe and is told only managers can do that, which is a reality. he's very angry about that.... the robbers snatched a measly 50 dollars or so and started to leave. one of the drag queens walked out the door. but the second paused momentarily beside sarah, who was crouched down trying to avoid eye contact. voice of dean o'kelley

he's walking out, just almost as an afterthought, he turns and fired one round into sarah. that bullet struck her in the shoulder and then went across her body and in through her unborn son. gk: so it's two murders? okelley: yes it is. there was no reason for it. there was absolutely no reason for it after the killer casually strolled out the door, a distraught justin leapt to sarah's side, then scrambled to call for help.... . the images are gutwrenching. paramedics struggle to save sarah's life, but she's gone. doctors later determine the unborn child would have been viable but was killed by the same bullet that took sarah's life. the story galvanized the public and was later featured on america's most wanted. 7- 11 offered a 25,000 dollar reward. this artists sketch of the shooter was circulated...it bears a striking resemblance to a then- notorious gang

police suspect brock in a string of bloody crimes in the same neighborhood that culminated with the valentine murders. about 4 months earlier. a gang member friend of brock's was killed in a shootout...tipst ers told police that brock and his crew wanted revenge and went on a rampage...33 year old roy kelly was guinned down on november first....4 days later, 98 shots were fired in a gunfight next to the same 7-11, killing billy floyd and wounding two others....3 days later, 20 year old rodney green was murdered on the same street where roy kelly died.... ken hefner, the homicide cop who was working the string of slayings then, is today one of the two cold case detectives still looking for answers. dean o'kelley says the prime suspect kareem brock, felt

wanted to scrape up enough money to get out of town. that's one reason he might have gone to the 7-11. police say brock strongly resembles the suspect caught on video but they still need help. back in 1996, witnesses who had information were afraid of brock and his gang. that was then. o'kelley what we're interested in is people who aren't afraid anymore, that they would come forward and give some justice, especially to sarah, who was sitting with her fiance on valentine's day...completely innocent, not doing anything in the world, and to have her killed in such a casual callous way...it was senseless.. george knapp standup: kareem brock was sent to prison for a number of years because he shot at police when they tried to arrest him. but neither he nor anyone else has ever been charged with the murder of sarah snyder and her child. 7-11 says a cash reward is still

that leads to an arrest and conviction. george knapp 8 news now. > ((paul joncich)) on our website, we've posted a link and a phone number for anyone who wants to contact the cold case detectives with information about this case or other unsolved homicides./// toss to weather < tedd florendo > ((paul joncich)) > one of the > one of the biggest retailers in the u-s...

retailers in the u-s... is giving raises to more than a million workers. ((denise valdez)) how much more walmart employees will make... and the huge sum of money it will cost the company. /// ((paul joncich)) a rash of auto thefts in the valley.

where these thefts are happening and how you can protect your vehicle./// ((paul joncich)) > a texas couple is accused of hmm hmm hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm-hmm let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together [ cheering ] i've got some real estate here in my bag counting the cars on the new jersey turnpike

[ cheers and applause ] all come to look for america all come to look for america all come to look for america

special-needs son. kaufman county deputies say christi howell and casey

techniques on the boy, after they discovered he inappropriately touched a dog's rear-end. deputies say shackleford grabbed the boy by the hair and pinned him down to water board him. this arrest affidavit shows the couple bound his testicles with a rope and then pulled. the victim also told police his mother and shackleford would force him to do pushups. police say the couple would hit him in the back, butt, and elbows with a stick if he didn't show proper form./// ((paul joncich)) > president obama will do something no u-s president has done in nearly 90 years. ((denise valdez)) he is making a trip to cuba. the white house says president obama and the first lady will travel to cuba on march 21st and 22nd. the obama administration formally reopened ties with cuba in 2014 and since then travel restrictions to the country have eased. the last president to visit cuba was calvin coolidge in 19-28. /// ((paul joncich)) > officials say a natural gas well blowout near

the state department of conservation says the southern california gas well that spewed climate- changing methane for 16 weeks near porter ranch is no longer leaking. the 60-year-old well was plugged with cement, and several tests showed no more gas was leaking. it was reported in october, and nearby residents complained of headaches, nausea, dizziness and nosebleeds. the utility has paid to relocate 6,400 households. with the leak capped, many of those displaced will have a week to return home. ((paul joncich)) > more than one million walmart workers will get a raise on saturday. ((denise valdez)) the company says it will boost its minimum wage to ten dollars an hour from 9- dollars. the change applies to virtually all of walmart's hourly workers, including some supervisors. those effected make up the majority of the company's 1- point-4 million workers. the changes do not come cheap. the payraises will cost the company an additional one- point-five billion dollars this year. ///

denise valdez 8 news now at five starts after this. don't forget.. we're always on at las vegas now dot com, on facebook and twitter.

of corruption after the f-b-i raids three locations in the valley. what we're finding out about the person at the center of the investigation. ((paula francis)) the political spotlight is shining bright in the valley tonight. the stumping happening here in last vegas as two presidential hopefuls prepare for tonight's town hall meeting. ((dave courvoisier)) a rash of auto thefts are on the rise in the valley. the hot spots where police say it's happening the most.... and what you can do to make sure you don't wind up being a victim./// < ((voice over: "now, nevada's first choice for news. this is 8 news now at 5.")) > ((dave courvoisier)) > many questions surrounding a series of f-b-i raids in the valley. thanks for joining us i'm dave courvoisier. ((paula francis)) and i'm paula francis. agents from the las vegas fbi public corruption unit, the i-r-s, and the federal interior department's office of inspector

the 3 raids center on rick leavitt.. a financial manager for the bureau of reclamation. authorities raided his home in henderson.. as well as the bureau of reclamation office where he worked in boulder city. and an accounting firm in las vegas near sunset and durango. patranya bhoolsuwan joins us now live from leavitt's home in henderson near horizon ridge parkway and horizon drive. ((patranya bhoolsuwan)) we have been at this house all day ... no one has been coming in and out of this afternoon. but this morning, a much different story...at this property belonging to a man by the name of frederick or rick leavitt, one of the top dogs on the financial side of the bureau of reclamation. our cameras caught federal agents going into the house and taking out boxes containing unknown items. all the f-b-i would tell us at this point is that this is a corruption investigation. we did see someone leaving the house, we later went to knock on the door but no one answered.