Updated: 9:43 PM The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and supporters of a failed proposal to ease the state's marijuana laws have filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to revive the measure in time for this year's general election.

Updated: 9:41 PM A suicide car bomb tore through a downtown street Wednesday, killing 68 Iraqis and turning a bustling area of shops and fruit stalls into charred corpses, twisted metal and burning cars — the deadliest attack in the month since U.S. authorities handed sovereignty to an interim government.

Updated: 9:38 PM The state Board of Examiners plans a special meeting Friday to vote on an emergency $2 million appropriation for a temporary 30-bed psychiatric hospital in Las Vegas to handle mentally ill people now crowding hospital emergency rooms.

Updated: 11:21 PM A fire started by teenagers playing with fireworks on a dry hillside destroyed three homes on the north side of Reno Tuesday night, but scores of firefighters quickly snuffed out the blaze and no one was hurt, fire officials said.

Updated: 11:16 PM Two Nevada lawmakers who opposed tax increases favored by Gov. Kenny Guinn in 2003 have made a long-odds request that the governor call a special session to cap property tax increases.

Updated: 11:14 PM A state prison guard union plans to rally at the Nevada Capitol on Monday to call attention to its complants that prison staffing levels are dangerously low.

Updated: 4:32 PM A report on damage caused a wildland fire that destroyed 15 homes in Nevada's capital city will be presented at an "open house" meeting Tuesday.

Updated: 10:35 AM While horse owners can vaccinate their livestock against West Nile Virus for around $20, the state's 18,000 wild horses are on their own.

Updated: 10:32 AM Keeping national security at the front of the presidential campaign, John Kerry called Tuesday for extending the life of the Sept. 11 commission to help ensure that its recommendations are enacted as soon as possible. "The stakes are too high," he said.

Updated: 10:28 AM A federal appeals court was urged Monday to let a Reno lawyer intervene on a next-friend basis in an effort to block the scheduled Aug. 12 execution of Terry Jess Dennis for strangling a woman in Reno in March 1999.

Updated: 10:27 AM Petitioners trying to repeal a record $833 million Nevada tax increase and bar government workers from serving in the Legislature passed an initial test in efforts to get on the November ballot, Secretary of State Dean Heller said Tuesday.

Updated: 10:11 PM Three dead birds found in the Reno area have tested positive for the West Nile virus, health officials said Monday.

Updated: 3:52 PM Little Leaguers rounded the bases on a chalked infield and backers of the Sierra Nevada Baseball group gobbled peanuts and Cracker Jack near the Sparks Marina Monday where plans for a Triple A minor league ballpark are moving closer to reality.

Updated: 3:48 PM Unified and hungry for a return to the White House, Democrats opened their 44th national convention on Monday while John Kerry told Republicans and independents to "stop and think" before casting their votes this fall.

Updated: 3:42 PM Reno police have released the names of three officers who were involved in Thursday's shooting death of an armed drunken driving suspect.

Updated: 3:40 PM Nevada's secretary of state is complying with a court order to qualify two more questions for the November ballot - and he's also criticizing those who questioned why he left them off in the first place.

Updated: 3:37 PM It will cost about $15 million to bring the water that flows into homes and businesses in the Reno-Sparks in compliance with new federal standards for arsenic, and officials say that's a bargain - thanks to the Truckee River.

Updated: 10:29 PM With 100 campaign days remaining, Sen. John Kerry sought votes in the quintessential battleground state of Ohio on Sunday while thousands of Democratic National Convention delegates converged on a citadel of liberalism to nominate him for the White House.

Updated: 10:27 PM A flock of sheep grazing on the outskirts of Reno could hold the key that one day ends the anguish of people waiting for organ donors and provides a new way to treat genetic defects in unborn children.

Updated: 10:24 PM President Bush probably will move within days to adopt recommendations made by the Sept. 11 commission, a senior administration official said Sunday as lawmakers pressed for speedy action.

Updated: 10:21 PM The presidential race in Nevada has tightened significantly and is beginning to reflect its national status as a battleground state, according to a statewide poll of likely voters conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Updated: 10:13 PM Emergency crews have begun work to reduce the danger of mudslides and floods in case heavy rains fall on the more than 8,700 acres charred by the Waterfall fire.

Updated: 10:11 PM John Kerry narrowly trails President Bush in the battle for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, as he makes his case at the Democratic National Convention this week to topple the Republican incumbent.

Updated: 10:08 PM A lawyer jailed this week after allegedly appearing in court drunk had been suspended from practicing law more than a year ago by the state bar, according to records obtained by the Nevada Appeal.

Updated: 10:05 PM An investigation into the fatal fall of a Silver Legacy Resort Casino employee earlier this month has found the casino did not violate safety standards, according to a report by the Northern Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration.