The City of Las Vegas is owed several million dollars in outstanding parking tickets. Because nothing's worked so far to collect that money, officials are trying something new.

Written notices, debt collectors and even the boot are not enough to make some parking violators pay. City Finance Director Mark Vincent says the city is currently owed nearly $10 million in outstanding parking tickets and penalties, going back more than ten years.

“But two-thirds of that $9.8 million is penalties,” he said.

And that's what Las Vegas city officials are willing to forgive during a six day parking ticket amnesty program — but not because the city doesn't need the money, “We view this as money we probably wouldn't get without the amnesty program.”

A simple parking ticket for an expired meter will cost you $20. But if you're caught parking in a fire lane or handicapped spot, that's a $250 fine. Then, late fees can double, even triple that amount.

Vincent says one elderly driver who was ticketed three times for parking in a handicapped spot didn't realize how quickly those penalties can pile up, “She ended up owing $2,250.”

City officials say previous moratoriums on traffic tickets have proven to be successful, so officials want to see if a parking ticket amnesty program will also work to collect on these old debts.

“It's an opportunity for people with old tickets or who lost a ticket to get it taken care of, get the penalties waived and clear up their credit record,” said Vincent.

But just like those parking meters, time is ticking away, and if you don't act soon, your opportunity to save some money and clear up your record will expire.

The amnesty program will be held July 29 to July 31, 2008 and again on August 5 to August 7, 2008. Parking tickets can be paid at 417 North 7th Street in Downtown Las Vegas.

Email your comments to Reporter Alyson McCarthy

With today's sluggish economy and Nevada's unemployment rate the highest in 14 years, finding a job isn't easy. But dozens of businesses from around the valley say they need people and are ready to hire.

The job fair started at 1 p.m. and is scheduled to end at 6 p.m. Eyewitness News saw a steady stream of job seekers coming in all day.

People had different reasons for why they were there, but one thing they all agree on is that these are tough times for many.

It was a line many have no choice but to wait in — some lifelong Las Vegas residents while others were newcomers.

“I actually just moved to Nevada seven days ago from Oregon. I live in Henderson, and I am looking for a job,” said Laura Stevens. She has her bachelors degree, and moved to the valley because of the better job opportunities here.

“It's pretty tough. It was worse in Oregon. The job market is probably every one for 1,000 people,” she said. She came prepared today.

“My resume, my college transcript, proof that I live here now, and all my reference information,” she said. Once inside, she didn't waste any time in filling out applications and talking to potential employers.

Neither did Justin Clark. The 31-year-old says he hopes his years of experience gives him the advantage over the hundreds of others there.

“The economy is bad right now. People are moving to find a second job, a third job, or just that one job that will make things positive to the negative,” he said.

So far so good for him. “Everybody is receptive, handing me cards left and right, applications, resumes – I got three for tomorrow. I'm doing well,” he said.

For both Clark and Stevens, it's now just the waiting the game, and holding out hope for a job soon.

Email your comments to Reporter Chris Saldana.

It's the first evening rush hour on I-15, and the southbound lanes are squeezed down to just two lanes. Big rigs on the road are leaving some people catching their breath as the construction continues.

It has been a slow process getting through the area all day. There have been a lot of cars. But the trucks in the lanes are more noticeable because it's a tight space and they are very large.

Merging into two lanes on Interstate 15 southbound highlights just how much traffic travels through this area.

“Whether it is a sacrifice or not, it's a needed purpose,” said George Scott. He drives Interstate 15 south to his construction job. He knows the lane widths will not change — just the space on either side.

He also realizes with the truck traffic, the squeeze to two lanes can be frightening. “I personally don't get nervous because I have driven big trucks, but I know it can be scary and confusing with the trucks moving with the wind and the lanes getting small and smaller. It seems the world is getting smaller and smaller but it's not.”

It sure seems like it for Maria Garcia. She lives in North Las Vegas and uses Interstate 15 to get to the City Centre Cafe downtown. “When you went — all the traffic squeeze? Oh Yeah. Yeah. Too much.”

“It is the main lifeline through Las Vegas, especially in that area for points north,” said Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman, Bob McKenzie. He says they reached out to truckers to educate them about the construction.

“North Corridor Constructors, who are putting the project together along with Las Vegas Paving and NDOT – they have a public outreach team that is out talking with truckers and the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority,” said McKenzie.

The team went to truck stops and talked with national trucking organizations. Scott knows trucks and cars will have to navigate these changes together.

“This city is at a point where we need to fix our old infrastructure and add to the new. And it all has to happen at some point,” he said.

So for now — go a little slower and leave extra time to safely navigate the construction. Think about this — if you speed through this area or cut a truck off, 188 trucks a day on the road here are carrying about 2,000 pounds of hazardous materials. So a serious accident here could have far reaching effects.

If you haven't found an alternate route yet or you want to see the details of the project, click here.

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence.

The Regional Transportation Commission outlined a plan Thursday to improve and speed up bus service around the city. The idea is to capitalize on a spike in ridership since gas prices reached $4 a gallon.

There are new planned express transit stops – most of them two miles from where we live in the valley. Anyone can park for free at the stop and then take an express bus into what they call the core of the valley.

The numbers are staggering. From January until today, there have been one million more riders on public transportation than the same time last year. The RTC believes by adding express transit service from the edges of the valley, even more people will take advantage of public transportation.

How long it takes to get anywhere on the bus is the number one complaint according to the Regional Transportation Commission. So we decided to see exactly how long it would take from the Northwest to Downtown. The journey began at 10:40 a.m. on a bus at Ann Road and Tenaya.

This line goes from the northwest to the downtown transfer station. Ashton Howard takes it every day to work at Wynn Las Vegas.

“I kind of rode it sparingly prior to $4 a gallon — $4 a gallon was my mark,” he said.

The savings for Howard outweighs what can be a grueling bus trip. Today there was not much traffic. It took about 14 minutes to get to Cheyenne and Rancho. The bus stopped about every block down Rancho.

This is where we really started to see more passengers get on. At the light at Lake Mead, it has taken about 24 minutes on the bus. The proposed express transit service would by-pass the local roads using the highway to speed past this stop and go trip.

“For it to take even a shorter amount of time, it would be great,” said Howard.

The bus is right on schedule – approaching Martin Luther King on Bonanza. It has been about 40 minutes. In a car it would half that. The trip is almost over — with a few more stops before the final destination.

It has taken about 50 minutes to get downtown — 13 miles. The bus stopped more than a dozen times, taking on passengers and letting passengers off. The RTC wants to cut this trip down. The new express bus service is designed to do that.

Cutting down trip times from where people live to where most people work is a direct response to the research. The first express bus service will start in the fall of 2009. The buses will use the HOV lane on 95.

The rest of the stops will be created over the next several years.

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence.

A funeral service will be held tonight for the second victim in the deadly Baskin Park shooting. Chris Luscombe, 19, died last week from his injuries from the June 9 shooting.

Police say 21-year-old Jesse James Cole opened fire in the park, killing 18-year-old David Miramontes and critically wounding Luscombe.

Cole is now facing two murder charges.

Luscombe’s funeral is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the David Funeral Home on Eastern and Patrick.

July marks the start of the flash flood season for Southern Nevada and flood control officials say residents should be prepared.

The Clark County Regional Flood Control District met Monday morning to talk about the 2008 flood season which starts July 1 and ends in September.

Las Vegas averages four inches of rain a year. During the monsoon we can get all of that in just an hour or two. The ground here can’t soak up all that water like soil does. It’s like pouring water on a table top.

So flood channels were built to keep the water away from our neighborhoods. But the flood control district says they still have 30 years left before it’s all completed.

The county has spent $50 million to build protection in the form of washes, channels and retention basins around the valley.

Floods have killed 31 people in Clark County history which is more than any other natural disaster that has hit Southern Nevada. The last significant flash flood was in 2003 and it caused millions of dollars in damages. Experts say any area of the valley is at risk.

“It’s weather conditions that are unpredictable that create sudden and intense thunderstorms and can drop a large amount of rain in a short amount of time. Last year, we had two storms that dropped three inches in rain in 90 minutes with no rain recorded at the airport,” said Gale Fraser, Clark County Regional Flood Control District.

In the past year, the flood control district has finished 11 projects, including retention basins, which direct flood water into Lake Mead. In addition, there are 24 more projects, at a cost of $150 million in the works.

If there’s heavy rain, you are advised to stay inside. If you are driving and the water around you rises, you should stay in the car to avoid being swept away.

Be sure to check out LasVegasNOW.com’s special section on Flash Flooding.

Kids are getting the chance to learn from the best when it comes to arts and entertainment. A local arts and music camp is bringing talent from the Strip to kids in the valley.

The arts and entertainment classes are becoming more and more limited for students. Funding has been cut back for programs across the valley. But this camp is for those who have a passion for the arts — to do and learn what's needed, when they hear,”lights, camera, action.”

Learning music from Las Vegas show entertainers is paving the way for some valley kids.

“How to sing and project and get on stage and do what you want to do,” said 9-year-old Tyler Urbano. He hopes to take center stage one day as a singer.

“It's really good to have these kind of people come in because you got to learn something new,” said Tyler.

Dancing is also part of the mix. A dancer from Follies Bergere showed them the Samba, even if it meant boys pairing up with the girls.

It's all part of the game, says aspiring actor Austin Ferguson. “Everyone else is like icky, but you're learning how to do it, and if you want to become that you have to learn.”

He admits he likes sports and video games, but arts and music is what has him here. “The fundamentals of dancing, how to sing. Not pretend but put your heart into it.”

Camp founder Nicholas Brooks, who also plays Sammy Davis Jr in the show, “The Rat Pack is Back,” wants this camp to keep growing.

“What this camp does is bridge the gap between the Las Vegas entertainment community, and the youth of Las Vegas,” said Brooks.

Youths like Tyler and Austin, some day may be gracing a stage on the Strip or somewhere else.

“This is about having fun and being who you want to be,” said Tyler.

“I just really want to act – if it's movies, plays,or anything,” said Austin.

The camp is a week long, with different entertainers from various shows in Las Vegas as guest presenters.

Metro police have arrested two men accused in a deadly stabbing overnight. Authorities say the victim and his friend were kidnapped late Monday night near Oakey and Commerce.

Police say the men responsible are 24-year-old Sergio Ramirez and 26-year-old Paul Morgan.

Investigators say the suspects attacked and repeatedly stabbed the male victim. Once they got away, the victim's friend called 911 and asked for directions to the nearest hospital.

The victim died at the hospital.

The suspects are being held without bail for murder, kidnapping and robbery charges.

Police are investigating two shootings in just two months at the same apartment complex. Residents hope to put an end to the violence with the help of religious leaders and police.

Police say they have the suspected shooter in the latest murder. 25-year-old Frederick Schinder is accused of shooting Antonio Mooney to death. But residents who live in the apartment complex near Martin Luther King and Balzar, where the two shootings happened, say it needs to be about more than punishing violence — it has to be about stopping it.

They hold hands in prayer and are thankful. This time, police officers were invited guests, instead of responding to another murder. Over the weekend, Mooney was killed after he found his girlfriend's apartment ransacked and an argument with neighbors got heated.

“Looked over and we saw the crowd and suddenly the voices escalated and I turned to go back into my apartment. Within five minutes the gentleman was shot,” said neighbor Melva Washington.

Police say Mooney was killed as he headed back upstairs — shot from across a sidewalk where children were playing.

“This four-year-old little girl that the bullet flew right over her head, it is just heart breaking and she was still traumatized,” said Pastor Troy Martinez with Safe Village.

Residents say they've seen too many lives taken right in front of them.

“The shooting that happened just a few weeks ago, before then the guy was shot, as he went past my bedroom window I looked out and literally saw him being shot,” said Washington.

Now they're saying enough is enough, and with the support of each other and police, they are taking back their neighborhood.

“Somebody has to say, ‘I am going to stick in and I am going to do my best part. I am going to try and make things better and I know it is not just me,'” said Washington.

Melva has lived here for three years and says she is about to sign another lease. She believes things can and will change, especially if parents start teaching kids what is truly right and wrong.

“I believe that our kids are born a blank slate, and we have the power to make them geniuses or we have the power to make them hoodlums,” she said.

Email your comments to Reporter Amanda Hernandez

The sale of the Hooters Casino Hotel just east of the Las Vegas Strip has stalled. An official with the buyer says Santa Monica, California-based Hedwigs Las Vegas Top Tier still hopes to complete the $225 million purchase and a $130 million hotel remodel. But officials say Hedwigs failed to make a payment on Friday.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)