Many contractors say they have the proper license to do the job, but the state contractors board says otherwise. This week, investigators conducted a sting operation to catch unlicensed contractors red handed.

An Eyewitness News undercover cameras were rolling during the entire bust — and asked the contractors some tough questions.

The law about unlicensed contractors says if your bid for any work is more than $1,000, from painting to tile work — you must have a contractor's license with the state.

First up, two bids, two men and by their own admission — no license to do the work. Here's what our undercover surveillance found.

Bill and Ken are working hard to fix a Henderson house. It needs some new carpet, tile and probably an air conditioner.

“One system for one side of the duplex. One system for the other side,” said Ken Peppley, Contractors Board Supervisor. But they aren't homeowners and “this old house” is actually 1600 square feet of bait.

“To solicit bids from unlicensed contractors,” said Peppley.

Bill Adamson and Ken Peppley are with the State Contractors Board. They've scoured advertisements and complaints to call up unlicensed contractors.

Eyewitness News was invited to observe the meetings. Our hidden cameras captured every moment.

“He'll be here at 10:30,” said Adamson.

Jaime Garcia just arrived to bid on painting the house.

“Whole building, okay?” asked Garcia.

From the beginning, there were already questions.

“How much cash do you have to spend, on the outside? What's your budget? Tell me,” said Garcia.

After checking the house, Garcia was ready to bid.

“So a total of $2,300?” asked Adamson.

“Inside and out,” said Garcia, whose main concern is getting paid.

“Do you want to do me a check or cash it?” asked Garcia.

With the bid on paper, state investigator Bill Adamson let's him in on the secret.

“I'm with the Contractors Board. You're not licensed,” said Adamson.

Garcia admits he does not have a Nevada license.

“I know that. I understand that,” said Garcia.

And his bid could mean a misdemeanor and a possible fine from $1,000 to $50,000. While Adamson is filling out the ticket, contractor number two shows up. From a quick look around…

“I give you the different items so that can figure out what you want to do,” said Guillermo Becerra of Ocean Pacific Construction. He gives his estimate. “$1,942.”

Then Adamson and Peppley ask for his license number.

“There's too many numbers,” said Peppley.

“This is from California,” said Guillermo.

“But you don't have a Nevada Contractors license?” asked Peppley.

“No,” replied Guillermo.

Peppley says it's a common problem. “If they're licensed in another state, they cannot bring that license and use it in this state. You're either licensed or not.”

Eyewitness News caught up with Becerra as he was leaving with his citation.

EN: Why do work when you don't know the rules?

He still had few answers the second time we asked.

EN: But it's illegal to do what you said you were going to do

“Now I know,” said Guillermo.

Now he knows — and he's going to have to answer for it in court.

The board only conducts these stings a few times a year. Eyewitness News was invited along only to be observers.

Peppley says Nevada law also requires all contractors put their license number in advertisements, so if you see a flyer or business card without a number — ask for one or turn them down.

You can also check the State Contractors Board website for company names and business owners.

Email your comments to Reporter Jonathan Humbert.

Henderson police are hoping the public can help locate a missing elderly man who was last seen on Wednesday, May 28th.

Eighty-two-year-old Robert Killen suffers from dementia. He is described as being 5'8″ tall and 150 pounds. He has gray hair and blue eyes. He was last wearing a blue and white shirt, gray pants and white shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to call Henderson Police Department at 267-4750.

The city of Henderson faces safety violations and fines in connection with an employee's death last February. The state Occupational Health and Safety Administration has completed its investigation of the fatal accident.

Edgar Malloy was a heating and air conditioning technician for the city. According to OSHA's report, Malloy responded to an alarm in one of the cooling towers at City Hall.

He climbed inside without shutting down or locking out the power. When Malloy re-set a switch, according to OSHA, the motor re-started – and his jacket became entangled in the equipment.

Malloy died from his injuries two days later.

OSHA found 12 serious safety violations related to the accident. Among them — the city failed to develop complete energy control procedures. Those relate to shutting down the cooling towers.

The city did not train employees on the proper energy control procedure. And overall, it did not maintain a work environment free from recognized hazards.

“What we found is that there are improvements we can make to our safety standards. We take their citations very seriously. Our concern is that we don't have a tragedy that occurs like this again,” said Bristol Ellington, Henderson Asst. City Manager.

OSHA proposes more than $5,600 in fines. Ellington said the city will not dispute the figure or the findings.

He says the city is working and has been since the accident to improve its safety policies and procedures. Malloy is the only city employee ever killed in a job-related accident. Everyone we spoke to had wonderful things to say about him.

Henderson police are investigating after a home invasion shooting last night.

Authorities say two armed men broke into a home about 11 p.m. in a gated community near Valle Verde and Horizon Ridge Parkway.

A 50-year-old homeowner was wounded before police arrived. One suspect was arrested after shooting himself a short distance from the home. The other was found in a nearby restaurant.

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

An explosion and fire at the Las Vegas boat harbor caused more than $1 million in damage early Thursday morning. Investigators are now trying to figure out what caused the explosion.

It happened about 6:30 a.m. No one was injured, but it only took a matter of minutes for fire to destroy three boats and parts of the marina.

On the other side of the caution tape, firefighters chop the dock to pieces to dig out pockets of heat.

The alarms rang out for hours as firefighters spent the morning fighting the flames and hauling out a charred hull to the shore. Eyewitnesses say it all went wrong very fast.

Alex Fletcher was there. “It was a pretty loud bang, and the engine compartment of the boat lifted up.”

While Fletcher didn't want to go on camera, he described what he saw. “All the windows busted out. It was something I had never seen before in person and never thought I would see.”

Marina owner Gary Gripentog tried to help fight the fire. “It is not like a fighting a fire where you can get all the way around it, and all of these boats have 200 gallons of fuel on them.”

But in just three minutes, three boats were gone.

“Fiberglass burns real hot and real black, lots of smoke and flames poking through it,” said Gripentog.

“It was going to be called Pocket Change,” said another victim, Deidre Taylor. She had a million dollar insurance policy on her boat.

Where's her boat? ”Apparently at the bottom of the lake at this time,” she said.

Thursday morning, she sorts through what's left of her memories in the water.

“Probably the first, probably one of the best times we had a lot of family – a lot of friends with us and went out on the lake for the first time and just had a really good time with all of the friends and family,” laughed Taylor.

Judy Nurse is one of her friends. “It's just hard to believe that it is here today and gone tomorrow. There is no evidence that it was there.”

It's just a memory reclaimed by the water.

The Las Vegas Boat Harbor was just moved to this location, and the new owners have only been here for less than a month. They are insured, but it's a real tough break for them.

Now that the smoke has cleared off the water, fire investigators are trying to figure out what happened. Eyewitness News did find out the owner of the first boat that exploded lives out of state.

Ordinary folks fascinated with police work are learning about law enforcement from the pros. Henderson's Citizens Police Academy is giving the public an inside look at what their job is like.

It's a condensed version of the actual police academy. Students learn about criminal justice and the police department gains another connection with the community. The class fills up fast and has a strict attendance requirement. The topics are very real.

“There are some photos. They might be a little bit on the gruesome side,” said student Jessica Royal.

The academy is a 13-week course on any and everything about police work. A presentation is on crime scene investigations, from the gadgets to the techniques, is what CSI is like in real life — behind the yellow tape.

“A lot more respect for law enforcement. They have the toughest job in the city, without a doubt,” said student Dominic Infante.

Infante has a newfound appreciation for police officers — from their work on the streets to the piles of evidence they have to process to build their cases.

The academy also visits the communications center. It's here where it all starts, with one call after the other.

“It's just unbelievable what they have to do. I don't know how they do it. But it was very, very interesting,” said student Vicki Walker.

The class learns how dangerous an officer's job can be, and what tactics cops have to use and when. It's not just a unique insight into wearing the badge, but the class is really about ever-lasting relationships and building bridges between the students and the Henderson Police Department.

“A policeman's job never ends. He's always on duty, 24-7,” said Infante.

The next class is graduation. After that, most of these students will start riding along with officers — seeing a little action on the streets.

The next citizens' academy will start on August 26, 2008 and have its graduation on November 25, 2008. The classes are held on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. The department will start accepting applications for the Fall Citizens' Academy on July 1, 2008.

For more information regarding the next class, please call (702) 267-4850. Applications can be picked up at the Main Station at 223 Lead Street, the Green Valley Substation at 300 S. Green Valley Parkway or at the Community Relations Bureau in the Galleria at Sunset Mall.

Email your comments to Reporter Aaron Drawhorn

Some peacocks ran a “fowl” of the law in Henderson. The two wayward birds were apprehended Tuesday morning outside of the Vegas.com building on Green Valley Parkway and 215.

View Slideshow of Peacocks

Actually they were peahens — females, which is a good thing. Henderson police says city code makes it illegal to have any male fowl in Henderson because they're too loud.

So when and if the owner comes forward, there probably won't be any fines.

Much has been said about the positive effects of an active senior lifestyle. But canasta, crocheting and crosswords are out these days. The old reliable standards are back. And some local seniors are making some pretty sweet music.

With tunes that stand the test of time – to the students just as timeless.

“I'm 79 the 23rd of this month,” said Brady Buchanan, a new musician.

Pull up a bench and enjoy a class in the musical old school.

“I loved the sounds on that organ,” said Nola Cox. She and her classmates are learning the ins and outs of the electric organ — a mass of keys, pedals and buttons.

At first…

“It just looks so hard,” said Cox.

“I'll do well just to play the notes,” said Lila Chambers, another new musician.

Now, after a few lessons from Lynette Mitchell…

“I thought it would be fun today if we had several students play,” said Mitchell.

Blue skies — are all that they see.

“Some days when I sit down and play my organ, the tears roll out of my eyes, for the simple reason that I say to myself, did I just play that?” said Cox.

It's the same for Brady Buchanan. “It never ends. There's an accomplishment up in the next level constantly,” he said.

Brady hadn't picked up his old violin since high school — in 1944. Now so many years later, he's got the bare necessities down pat. Just days from birthday number 80 — he says age, sore hands and weak eyes shouldn't ever get in the way.

“I said my God, I was 74 when I started this thing. I said that's a lousy excuse!”

It's just the rhythm of life where classic songs and classic musicians make time stand still — if only for a moment.

The seniors learn and play at Keith Jorgensen's Music Center in Henderson. They offer classes for all skill levels, from beginners to want-to-be virtuosos.

Email your comments to Reporter Jonathan Humbert.

For the third time in just over a day, an abandoned building in the valley has caught fire. The old Alystra Casino on Boulder Highway and Sunset went up in flames Tuesday night.

The fire started a little before 7:00 p.m. Flames could be seen shooting out of the building and the smoke from the fire could be seen for miles. Firefighters say they haven't had a big blaze like this in quite some time.

Ladder trucks continue to douse hot spots as a cloud of smoke rises from the rubble.

Reporter Aaron Drawhorn will have the rest of the story tonight at 11.

The three year search for a Henderson woman who disappeared in 2005 has come to a sad end. After extensive DNA testing, police in Illinois have confirmed that partial human remains they found in the central part of the state are that of Lindsay Harris.

Illinois State Police say they found the legs and pelvis of a woman back in May of 2005. A DNA profile was created and entered into the FBI's database. The investigators then began looking for missing women from around the country.

Investigators tested the DNA profile against a toothbrush taken from Harris' Henderson home and a match was made.

Harris was last seen on bank surveillance cameras making a deposit. Her car was later found at the Luxor Casino.

Officers say they are working closely with Henderson Police, who investigated the case as a missing person until the DNA match was made. The case is now being investigated as a homicide.