IN BRIEF

FINES MORE THAN DOUBLE

Parking near LV fire hydrant gets expensive

The city of Las Vegas has more than doubled the fines for illegally parking near a fire hydrant or in a designated fire lane.

The new fines, which are now in effect, raise the penalty from $100 to $250, according to the Las Vegas Fire Department.

It is illegal for a citizen to park within 15 feet of a fire hydrant. Citizens also are not allowed to park in designated fire lanes.

Jace Radke, a spokesman for the city, said the fines were increased to better deter people from parking near fire hydrants and fire lanes and to bring the fines in line with other municipalities"

ELY STATE PRISON

34-year-old inmate found dead in cell

A 34-year-old inmate at Ely State Prison was found dead in his cell Monday night, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections.

Prison officials said Justin Slotto was found in his single-occupancy cell at about 9 p.m. The local coroner’s office ruled his death a suicide, according to the prison.

Slotto was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and had been in prison since 1994. He pleaded guilty to killing 36-year-old Reno businessman Bill Mertz, according to news reports.

SERIAL KILLER

Pizza deliveryman gets death sentence in L.A.

A pizza deliveryman was sentenced to death Tuesday for murdering 10 women and a fetus during the 1980s and ’90s in Los Angeles neighborhoods.

A jury in May recommended the death penalty for Chester Turner, and Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders agreed Tuesday.

Turner, 40, showed little emotion when he was sentenced and declined to say anything after several of the victims’ relatives spoke.

The case will automatically be appealed.