The year is barely a month old and already there has been five accidents involving cars crashing into homes. The latest happened Monday night near Lake Mead and Fifth Street.

The accident happened around 10:30 p.m. when a red Honda which was being driven northbound on I-15 suddenly went off the shoulder, through a chain link fence, and into the bedroom of an apartment.

The man living inside had just gone to sleep when the car came crahsing through his bedroom wall. Neighbors who heard the crash at first couldn't figure out what happened.

“It was a big, shattering noise. I thought they were trying to break into the apartment, but no,” said Nancy Torres-Bueno, neighbor.

The Nevada Highway Patrol says preliminary information shows that drugs or alcohol did not play a role in the crash. Both the driver of the car and the man in the apartment were taken to the hospital.  

A lot of people are asking if the country is headed towards a recession. Politicians are trying to come up with ways to stimulate our economy and one proposal is a tax rebate check.

Congress and President Bush both agree that something needs to be done. There's been talk of sending out rebate checks to consumers but they are still debating who gets it and how much.

On Martin Luther King Day, a lot of stores are offering deals to entice shoppers to spend money — which is always good for the economy. But the question is, is it working?

Gary Sams is a man on a mission. He is determined to shop and plans to cover the entire Galleria Mall by 9 o'clock.

“I don't get out much so whenever I get a chance, I do take advantage of the sales,” he said.

And with all the holiday sales, he's off to a good start, “$8 for a pair of dress pants. $8 for a dress shirt.”

But he says the uncertainty of the economy is fresh on his mind. “I am not out there spending on any high ticket luxury items. I am trying to not get into any debt.”

As Sams and other shoppers found out, stores aren't shy about their sales. You don't even have to go in the store to see the markdowns.

“I've seen a lot of 70-percent and there are good sales out there,” said shopper Robin Giese. She's shopping with her daughter and grandkids today. And while they are looking for jewelry, she says she's being very careful about what she buys.

“I am probably not spending as much as I usually do — waiting to see what happens,” she said.

While the stock market was closed for the holiday, foreign markets took a dive because of fears of a possible U.S. recession.

Experts are anxiously waiting to see what plan President Bush and Congress come up with, how soon it will be implemented and whether it will jumpstart the economy.

Email your comments to Reporter Colleen May

A Cheyenne High School student was arrested after a shooting at a Friday night basketball game.

According to police, the student attempted to shoot another student outside the gym. The student was not hit by the gunfire.

There were two school police officers at the game and they took the 16-year-old suspect into custody.

North Las Vegas Police found a body inside an SUV Saturday morning. Police say the man died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The body was discovered in a deserted neighborhood near Cheyenne and Commerce. Police say the victim was an African-American man and was shot at least once.

Witnesses told police the vehicle the victim was found in had been parked on the street for some time.

No suspect has been identified yet in this case.  

A suspected car thief was killed Saturday morning during a police chase.

A North Las Vegas police officer was responding to a call about a stolen vehicle when he spotted the car in question near Camino el Norte and Craig. When the officer tried to pull the car over, the driver took off and then crashed at the intersection of Centennial and Losee.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

Nearly 60 firefighters were called to the scene of a warehouse fire today.

It happened at a wrecking yard on Smiley Road just east of the Women's Correctional Facility in North Las Vegas.

Part of the building collapsed so firefighters had to bring out the heavy equipment to fight the blaze.

Fortunately no one was hurt.

According to its mayor, the City of North Las Vegas is young — and growing. Mayor Michael Montandan gave the annual State of the City address Thursday afternoon.

Montandan says the city is committed to engaging young people in government. It's just created a youth council for 14 to 19-year-olds and is recruiting members.

Mayor Montandan says there are more young people in North Las Vegas than anywhere else in Nevada.

Mayor Michael Montandan said, “And we have more youth than any other large city in Nevada with over a third of our population under 18. Comparatively, Las Vegas has only 27-percent and Henderson has only 22-percent. Clark County as a whole has 26-percent. So North Las Vegas holds the title of the city with the most youthful population in Nevada.”

Mayor Montandan said North Las Vegas is the choice for so many families because of a combination of jobs, attainable housing, and a good quality of life.

To read the full text of the speech, click here.

Some tense moments at the North Las Vegas Airport as a small plane made a crash landing. At about 12:45 p.m. the pilot called the tower saying there was a landing gear error light on.

The plane, a Moody Encore single engine plane, crashed in the middle of the runway. The pilot lives in Kanab, Utah and was leaving Las Vegas after a visit.

The error light came on after she took off, so she lowered the landing gear and did a fly-by at the tower. The gear appeared to be okay so the pilot tried the landing, just to be sure.

North Las Vegas Airport Assistant General Manager Cecil Johnson says the front and right wheels collapsed and the plane skidded to a stop.

“Fortunately, there were not any injuries — there was no fire. This is due largely in part to the expertise of the pilot which avoided personal injury,” he said.

According to Johnson, the preliminary cause of the crash was a mechanical malfunction in the landing gear. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence

For the first time here in Southern Nevada, people are going to be required to spay and neuter their cats and dogs. The North Las Vegas City Council passed an ordinance Thursday that makes owning an unsterilized pet a misdemeanor.

Even before it was an ordinance, Johnnie Allen felt it was a crime not to spay or neuter your pets. “I think it's cruel, honestly, not to spay or neuter because they continuously just keep on reproducing without the food or the water. It's just inhumane not to fix them.”

Her North Las Vegas neighborhood was overrun with stray cats. “The neighbors passed away, and they had a couple of cats that were just never fixed and they just keep breeding and breeding and it's awful,” she said.

The over population of cats and dogs in Allen's neighborhood and the rest of North Las Vegas could soon become less of a problem. Thursday, the city council passed an ordinance requiring pet owners to spay or neuter their cats and dogs. It's now a misdemeanor crime if they don't.

North Las Vegas Animal Control Officer Dale Smock said, ”We do get a lot of citizens from our community asking us to do more.”

Every day, Animal Control officers like Smock pick up stray cats and dogs. Smock is forced to deliver nearly 200 cats and dogs that end up at Lied Animal Shelter.

“And they're healthy unwanted animals that are destroyed, and this ordinance that we passed is to reduce the number of animals that we bring into the shelter from being euthanized,” he said. 

Smock says first they want to educate the public and give people a chance to comply with the law. But repeat offenders could face a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail. Dog fanciers are exempt from this ordinance. North Las Vegas does not issue breeder ordinances.

Anyone who needs help with the cost of getting a pet sterilized should call Lied Animal Shelter or the Humane Society.