Police, tragedy and local history: David Wilson’s top stories of 2023

Covering breaking news in Las Vegas, I get a chance to write about a little bit of everything. That variety was embodied in the five stories I selected as my best from 2023. They touch on local history, police accountability and the people dealing with life altering tragedies.

Refurbished downtown icon

A rare foray outside of the crime and public safety beat took me to another passion. Local history and culture. A local developer has been working on refurbishing the Huntridge Theater. A downtown icon at Charleston Boulevard and Maryland Parkway that has gone through several iterations before closing for years. In the lead up to the relighting of the marquee, I spoke the group behind the theater’s rebirth and why it’s more than just an old building.

Apartment fire

A June fire at the Tides on Charleston apartment complex at Charleston Boulevard and Torrey Pines displaced 18 people and left a 26-year-old resident dead. Months after the blaze, residents of the affected buildings had received little to no support from property managers and some had not been allowed back to retrieve their belongings.

Metro ceases accountability report

In 2021, the Metropolitan Police Department published its first internal affairs accountability report, which documented complaints against officers and the outcome of internal investigation. The report, still found on the department’s website, said it would be released annually going forward. We noticed there had been no reports published since and asked why. After several inquiries went unanswered, the department responded saying the decision to no longer produce the report was made by the previous administration and that creating the report did not suit the department’s “business needs.”

Metro’s citizen oversight board

The Clark County Citizen Review Board is made up of 25 volunteers who review complaints made against Metropolitan Police Department officers and internal investigations. Earlier this year, a five-person panel recommended that a corrections officer be fired by the department after he allegedly made an inmate face a wall for more than an hour and then was found to have lied during an internal review.

Longtime dealer remembered

Tinh Sequeira’s loved ones described the 72-year-0ld longtime Palace Station dealer as the “most giving person.” Sequeira died in July after a speeding driver crashed into her Buick LeSabre as she drove to the casino for her overnight shift. She moved to the United States from Vietnam and met her future husband Bob Sequeira on a blind date in Tuscon, Ariz., in 1976.

Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com.