Newborns in intensive care at a local hospital are getting some special attention from their siblings — as part of a program that tries to alleviate the fear-factor.

Seeing a newborn brother or sister in intensive care can be startling for a child. But a new program at Sunrise Children's Hospital helps them know in advance what they can expect to find.

Julia Stengel, 9, from Reno has come to Sunrise Children's Hospital to be with her newborn brother, Joshua — who's been placed in intensive care. To soften the impact of what she'll see in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, Julia, along with other family members went through a new program that helps them understand what's going on.

“We learned about the stuff we might see in there,” said Julia.

“It's a very scary thing to be at the hospital as the patient or as a sibling. So we try to alleviate some of that fear. We try to make them feel more comfortable about being here,” said Riann Garbett — a child-life-specialist at Sunrise. She says the NICU Sibling Program is for children as young as 5.

In a group setting, she uses visual aids to describe what they'll see.

Joshua's mother, Shelley Stengel says it helps relieve anxiety for everyone in the family, knowing what all the equipment is for.

“They can understand what all the tubes are for, and why he's hooked up to everything. I think it's wonderful that they can do that. And it's been really good for our older daughter and our little one – she got a lot of information,” said Shelley.

“They just want to see baby brother, baby sister – hold them if possible. And know more about why they're here and when they're going to get to go home. We really want the whole family to be a part of this child's life as early as possible,” said Garbett.

Newborns can be in the NICU anywhere from a few days to several months. Siblings are allowed to return for visitation as often as they like.

A similar program is also available for children visiting adult intensive care units.

Some children are still frightened when they see their newborn brother or sister for the first time, because there's still a lot of anxiety. But nurses are there and can reassure the children, and help explain what's going on.

A preliminary hearing was set for the man accused of murdering his daughter. William Redman is scheduled to go back before a judge May 5.

The incident happened at the Roadrunner RV Park on Boulder Highway north of Flamingo. Eyewitness News was told it was a very graphic crime scene.

Police say Redman told officers he killed his 12-year-old daughter March 12 after seeing God.

Neighbors said the man was mentally challenged and worked painting cars for the carnival. The family mostly kept to themselves, but we're told the girl played with all the children in the park.

He's been charged with murder with a deadly weapon.

The apparent Republican nominee for president, John McCain was in Las Vegas Friday. The senator spoke at a fundraiser at the Venitian, talking about what he can do for Nevada as president.The fundraiser was a $1,000 lunch at the Venitian. $2,300 got you a picture with the senator. No media was allowed into the luncheon, but afterward the presidential hopeful talked with Eyewitness News. (more…)

The next time Metro Police arrest a prostitute, officers will look for the pimp pushing her to work. That’s exactly what happened earlier this week. Police documents show that Jacob Canto and Kristin Stillman ran a small prostitution ring.

Police have not yet arrested Canto, but Thursday Stillman made her first appearance in court, charged with forcing underage girls to work as prostitutes.

The arrest warrant shows the prostitution ring worked the major casinos. It lists Imperial Palace, the Flamingo, Bally’s, MGM, Caesars Palace and Mandalay Bay by name. That does not surprise UNLV professor and researcher Alexis Kennedy.

“You are going to work where the crowds are. You are going to work the Strip. Sometimes you will be standing on the Strip and see the pimp standing up on the walkway yelling at the girl as she is walking up and down trying to make contact,” she said.

Kennedy co-wrote a report detailing the growing problem of teenage prostitution. She says the relationship between an underage girl and pimp is like that of a domestic violence victim. Kennedy adds the average age of a girl getting into prostitution is 14-years-old.

“What you can offer a 14-year-old? A chance to leave home and go away somewhere glamorous, fancy clothes and cash lifestyle. That is not impressive to a 28-year-old,” she said.

In this latest arrest, the girls involved were between 15 and 17-years-old. Kennedy says she is glad police identified the pimp.

“A lot of them are psychopaths and have psychopathic tendencies. They are going to be out at the next bar and next mall picking up the next girl as soon as the girls are arrested,” she said.

She says the solution rests in law enforcement and help for the girls.

The recent report on teenage prostitutes shows Las Vegas has no place for young girls to turn. Right now there is only one program here in southern Nevada and it is designed to help adult prostitutes get out of the business.

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence

Cross-country cyclists ended a 650-mile trek in Las Vegas Thursday to draw attention to a disease most of us know nothing about. It can leave a person disabled at a very young age.

Among the cyclists, a young man named Kyle Bryant, who isn't letting Friedreich's ataxia slow him down. Bryant led the way, as 21 cyclists pedaled up to the Flamingo, ending a ride that began in Sacramento two weeks ago.

Although Bryant's legs have limited movement, a specially designed bike allows him to go great distances — with the purpose of getting the word out about ataxia.

“It directly affects me and my whole family. And we feel very strongly that this disease deserves attention, and it effects a lot of really great people that we've met over the years,” said Bryant.

Bryant was diagnosed with Friedreich's ataxia about 10 years ago. The debilitating disease often occurs between the ages of 5 and 15. It affects muscle coordination and sometimes leads to heart failure in its young victims.

The disease affects people differently. But neurologist, John Day says most cases have at least one thing in common.

“Often times, their muscles are strong but they just can't coordinate them well. So they can't walk because they're going to fall over, because they can't move the way they intend to,” said Dr. Day.

Ataxia can be hereditary or brought on by another disease such as Multiple Sclerosis. By going the extra mile on several occasions, Bryant has helped raise more than $100,000 for ataxia research and education.

“We're just having a whole lot of fun, doing something really cool for a good cause,” said Bryant.

A global conference on ataxia is taking place this week at the Flamingo. Experts from around the world have come here to share information.

For more information, click here. And to read Kyle Bryant's blog, click here.

Police are investigating a crash that took the life of a juvenile and sent another to the hospital.

At about 8:00 p.m., police say two juveniles, riding on one bicycle, attempted to cross Las Vegas Boulevard near Baltimore when they were struck by a pickup truck.

The truck was traveling about 20 mph when it struck the kids.

One juvenile, who was riding on the handle bars of the bike, died while being transported to UMC. The other juvenile is currently at UMC Trauma in critical condition.

The juveniles were not wearing helmets.

Metro's Fatal Detail is investigating the crash and hasn't charged the driver of the vehicle at this time.

There will be no citations issued for the Monte Carlo Hotel fire. The Clark County Fire Department says the fire was started accidentally by welders on the roof of the property.

Six thousand people had to be evacuated once the fire started.

The property was closed for three weeks for remodeling.

MGM Mirage — which owns the Monte Carlo — says the damages and the shutdown cost the company about $100 million.

A famous Mexican musician was in a Las Vegas court room Tuesday, accused of breach of contract. Juan Gabriel is an international artist with a huge fan base.

A courtroom is not the venue fans are used to seeing Juan Gabriel at. But Tuesday, rather than taking the stage for a performance, the singer was here for allegations of costing a local promotion company more than $10 million in losses after he was a no-show at a concert.

Juan Gabriel is admired by fans from all over the world. His concerts sell out in minutes. But Tuesday, the Mexican icon was anything but performing on stage.

Maurice Rind was hired by a local promotion company for a Cinco de Mayo concert which he was suppose to headline but he never showed. “Just all of a sudden Mr. Gabriel isn't appearing. He isn't here.”

Gabriel sat and listened to Rind describe what happened the day of the concert.

“Did Juan Gabriel or his manager or his agent ever attempt to contact you as a managing producer of this event to try and work out any issues that he had with event?” asked Kevin Hanratty. He is the attorney representing the local promotion company, and says Gabriel has yet to give a reason for being a no show.

“We have never gotten an answer to that question. And he never even appeared for a staging of the event,” said Hanratty.

Promoters are seeking damages from expenses like a private plane to get Gabriel here from Mexico for the concert, to rooms at the Bellagio. Hanratty says they don't even think Gabriel was in Las Vegas during the time he was scheduled to perform.

“That is what we believe – that he was never in Las Vegas. We have requested copies of his passport documentation that he came in on any day prior to the event. They have been unable to produce that,” said Hanratty.

Juan Gabriel has not given a clear reason as to why he did not show up for the concert after he agreed to be here. The case is expected to wrap up on Friday. He has yet to take the stand but is expected sometime this week.

Clark County building officials are checking permits and work done at five more Strip hotels. Specifically, the county will look at Bally's, Caesars Palace, The Imperial Palace, Paris Las Vegas and Bill's Gambling Hall.

All of the properties are owned by Harrah's, and all are being inspected after the county found out inspections at other Harrah's properties were not done properly.

Harrah's says it is complying with the inspections.

Billionaire Steve Wynn received $11.2 million in compensation as chief executive of Wynn Resorts Ltd. in 2007, a year the stock price rose 19.5 percent but net profit fell as the company expanded in Las Vegas and Macau.

Wynn's compensation included $3.2 million in salary, $7.5 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and about $573,000 in other compensation, mostly for personal use of company aircraft, according to a proxy statement the company filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wynn was not granted any stock or options in 2007 and owned a 21.1 percent stake in the company. A 21.6 percent stake is owned by Kazuo Okada, the founder of Japanese pachislot and pachinko machine maker Aruze Corp.

Wynn Resorts shares rose from $93.85 on Dec. 29, 2006, to $112.13 on Dec. 31, 2007.

That made Steve Wynn's 24 million shares in the company worth about $2.7 billion.

For all of 2007, Wynn Resorts' revenue was up 88 percent from 2006 to $2.69 billion, but net profit was down 59 percent to $258.1 million, or $2.34 a share.

The company finished a major expansion of its Wynn Macau resort in late December, increasing the number of table games by 40 percent to 380 while nearly doubling the number of slot machines to 1,270.

It also is building a $600 million Wynn Diamond Suites in Macau, a 405-room luxury offering to open in the first half of 2010, and is awaiting approval from the Macau government to develop another site on 52 acres.

In Las Vegas, the under-construction $2.1 billion Encore property is set to open in December with 2,034 suites.

The Associated Press' total pay calculations include executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy
statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
   
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)