State briefs

Carson City

Consumer advocate warns about ID theft

The Nevada Consumer Advocate has issued a warning about identity thieves who pose as banks or other legitimate businesses to get personal information through the Internet.

Adriana Escobar Chanos said the scam is called "phishing," and takes the form of an e-mail message that appears to be from a bank, Internet provider or other legitimate company with which the recipient does business. The message typically asks for personal information for some urgent reason.

Some of the messages even provide a link to a company Web site that looks like the official company site but is also phony. The phony Web page then asks the individual to enter his or her personal data to "validate" or "update" their account.

The purpose behind the scam is to get people to give the thieves personal account information. The phony Web pages include eBay, PayPal, CitiBank, US Bank, among other major corporations.

Chanos warned people not to send personal account information in response to those types of mails.

More information is available from the National Fraud Information Center at www.fraud.org or 1-800-876-7060.

Rhyolite

Mining company donates land to expand Beatty-area museum

The Goldwell Open Air Museum has announced that Barrick Gold Corp., former operators of the Barrick Bullfrog Mine near Beatty, has donated a 1.8-acre parcel with a 2,250-square-foot "Red Barn" for development into a community arts center.

The Red Barn is near the museum's 7.8-acre sculpture site in the ghost town of Rhyolite. The museum is best known for its life-size, ghostly sculptures by the late Belgian artist Albert Szukalski.

Museum officials plan to renovate the facility into several art studios and a large multipurpose programming space over the next 18-24 months. The museum plans to offer short- and long-term residencies to professional artists, writers and filmmakers, as well as workshops and exhibitions for the general public.

Elko

Ex-Elko DA, judge dead in an apparent suicide

ELKO (AP)- Former Elko County district judge and district attorney Tom Stringfield was found dead Tuesday in Lamoille Canyon, an apparent suicide.

Elko County Sheriff Neil Harris said he was contacted by a worker in Stringfield's law office after Stringfield failed to show for a court date.

Harris said Stringfield's vehicle was found at the base of Lamoille Canyon. Deputies followed his footsteps for about a quarter mile and found the attorney dead, a handgun at his side.

The sheriff said there was no note.