Southern Nevada softball teams falter at state tournaments.
 
Southern Nevada softball teams falter at state tournaments.

Southern Nevada teams did not have the best run in the state tournament. First Basic lost to Douglas Thursday. The Wolves were eliminated by Shadow Ridge on Friday. Shadow Ridge lost a three-run lead in the seventh to Spanish Springs on Thursday, then got bounced by Douglas on Friday. Boulder City and Pahrump Valley were both eliminated from the Class 3A tournament Friday. Needles and Laughlin were eliminated from the 2A tournament. Indian Springs got bumped form the 1A tournament. Pahranagat Valley is the only team still alive entering Saturday.

Questions surround future of Pahranagat Valley football coach
 
Questions surround future of Pahranagat Valley football coach

Coach Ken Higbee was charged on 225 counts, including theft and forgery. His future with the Pahranagat Valley football program and as principal of C.O. Bastian High School is unknown. (Elaine Wilson/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Las Vegas morning update for Wednesday April 19
 
Las Vegas morning update for Wednesday April 19

1. Pahranagat Valley football coach Ken Higbee is facing dozens of forgery and misconduct charges after authorities accused him of stealing about $122,000 from the Lincoln County School District. Higbee was charged April 10 with a 225-count criminal complaint that includes one count of theft, according to records from Meadow Valley Justice Court in Pioche. According to the criminal complaint, Higbee was entrusted with a debit card, credit card and checkbook to spend for the benefit of students at C.O. Bastian but instead used them to deprive the students of funds. No warrant has been issued for Higbee’s arrest.

2. After serving Las Vegas for 33 years, the Dealer’s Choice Lounge is closing for good after a last-ditch effort to revive the business ran out of time. The bar has struggled post the financial crisis as competition in the area increased. Nevada Restaurant Services Inc., the parent of Dotty’s, has applied to open a second Red Dragon Sports Bar at the location, according to a screen shot of a Gaming Control Board application. The Red Dragon would inherit Dealer’s Choice right to operate 15 poker terminals. The Red Dragon will also occupy the massage parlors on either side of the Dealer’s Choice.

3. Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence for a murder conviction and just days ago was acquitted of a double murder, died after hanging himself in his prison cell early Wednesday, according to Massachusetts prisons officials. The once New England Patriots tight end was pronounced dead at UMass Memorial-HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster about an hour later. Hernandez was in a single cell in a general population housing unit in the maximum-security state prison. He hanged himself using a bed sheet that he attached to a cell window. Massachusetts State Police remain on the scene investigating the death. (Gabriella Benavidez/Las Vegas Review-Journal)