MGM worker tuition aid set

Plan reimburses for online study

The state’s largest employer and the Nevada System of Higher Education are coming together to open up the doors of college opportunity for more people.

NSHE unveiled the MGM College Opportunity Program in May, and the two parties hope to formalize the arrangement at the September state Board of Regents meeting. The program would cover the cost for MGM employees to enroll in distance education programs at any of the state’s seven public schools.

“To our knowledge, this is the first time a major corporation has partnered with a major system of higher education,” said NSHE Chancellor Thom Reilly, adding that the program will be open to MGM employees nationwide. The partnership takes a nod from the Starbucks College Achievement Program, under which Starbucks employees can take courses at Arizona

State University and be reimbursed.

“The state benefits from having a better-educated community,” said Michelle Ditondo, chief human resources officer for MGM. “Long term, I think it’s a good thing for Nevada and all of the states we operate in as well.”

Eligibility requirements for the program include a minimum amount of service to MGM both before and after the completion of a degree program, and it will only be available to MGM employees who do not have a degree at the level they are seeking. NSHE is also offering a 10, 15 or 20 percent discount to MGM

MGM

back, was unresponsive and had a gunshot wound to his stomach.

Three 9 mm bullets and three cartridge cases were found at the scene, according to Richards’ arrest report.

The witness who was assaulted told police that she and Contreras went to the house to smoke methamphetamine, the report said.

The witness told police that Richards, known on the streets as “Keys” or “Keith,” knocked on the door. He then went to Contreras, pulled out a gun and told him to hand over “the stuff,” the report said.

Contreras handed over his drugs, the report said. Richards then pointed the gun at the witness and said, “What do you have to give?”

At that point, Contreras looked at her and told her to run.

Contreras then lunged at Richards and started fighting with him, she told police. She heard gunfire as she ran out out the door.

Stanton explained how a week later, the witness to the crime — whom the Review-journal is not identifying because she is a victim of sexual assault — was held captive and beaten for hours by multiple people.

She was shot three times in the back of the head with a pellet gun, once on the back of her right shoulder and another time on her inner

left thigh, according to another arrest report.

She was also handcuffed and forced to perform a sex act on one of the men, the report said, and the group threatened to kill her if she told police “about anything.”

Richards’ defense attorney, Roy Nelson, begged jurors to “please keep an open mind.”

“Mr. Stanton didn’t talk to you about forensic evidence, because there wasn’t any,” Nelson said. “There was nothing that tied Kurtis to the scene.”

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @brianarerick on Twitter.