In jail. Dave Courvoisier three separate trials could come out of the group of defendants charged in that 2014 armed confrontation on the bundy ranch. Cliven bundy and other defendants lost a bid for individual trials. The 17 defendants will likely be split up into three separate ones. With the first one starting february sixth. Thats when bundy and his sons ammon and ryan bundy. Along with two other codefendants are set to be in court. The second trial would start in may. With a third starting in august. Denise Valdez confirm three people died from drug overdoses. At a Music Festival over the summer. All three accidentally overdosed on ecstacy at julys hard summer Music Festival in fontana. The Los Angeles Times reports there have now been 28 drug related deaths nationwide since 2006. At concerts organized by Los Angeles Area companies. Six of those were at edc right here in las vegas. Denise Valdez and next year. Nevadas Recreational Marijuana jump on board. For now. Many employers seem to be sticking with their drug testing and personal conduct policies. Meaning they likely wont hire you. Or will fire you for using pot. Thats not against the law. Employers are still legally allowed to test for marijuana and keep zero tolerance policies in place. Some advocates say employers should rethink those policies. And treat off the job use of marijuana the same as it would with alcohol. Dave Courvoisier theres a new class of streets and protect the valley. Today. A fresh group of men and women took the oath to protect our city. The recruits were recognized for their dedication and passion to serve the community. After more than six months in police academy. Sheriff joe lombardo says theres still a lot more room for the new officers to grow joe lombardo, Clark County Sheriff when you graduate college or grad school or trade school you think that youve reached the pinnacle. Youve graduated youve gone out and youre gonna do your thing. Today theyre halfway there. They go into Field Training after this they have 26 weeks of Field Training so its and theyll rememember it their entire life but they still have those butterflies in their stomach that theyre gonna deal with when they have their first day on the job. Dave Courvoisier thanks to the more cops tax which raises the local sales tax. Metro will hire 600 new officers over the next two years. That means theyll graduate 80 person academies four times nx Denise Valdez more than 70 Million People watched the final president ial debate. Which took place on the campus of unlv. According to the university. All those eyeballs means a ton of free publicity in fact. The debate between now president elect donald trump and Hillary Clinton resulted in about 114 Million Dollars in publicity it cost about seven Million Dollars to produce. So the payoff seems pretty hefty the University Also says Dave Courvoisier the creators of the jersey boys will have to pay millions after losing a Copyright Infringement lawsuit. The long running show recently ended after being on the strip for years. It was based on the life story of the band the four seasons. The widow of one of the bands members says large portions were lifted from his unpublished biography. And a las vegas jury agreed. The other band members were initially named in the lawsuit. But because they did not know the creators used material from the book. The jury has not yet set the damages the widow will be awarded. Denise Valdez the fremont street experience is turning red tonight. In support of world aids day. From eight to nine pm. The viva vision canopy will turn red to mark the day. Red has become the color to symbolize the push to spread awareness about the fight against hiv and aids. And to honor those who have passed away. Dave Courvoisier only on 8 news now. A 71yearold woman meets her biological family for the first was there for the emotional encounter. sisters hug each other karen castro a tearful encounter. But these are tears of joy. Katherine Lee fisher reunited with blood sisters im so happy. Its so surreal. What a great christmas present. karen castro this is the first time Katherine Fisher is able to hug her biological sisters. Who arrived at Mccarran International airport on different flights. The trio share the same mother. The 71yearold was adopted as an infant by a couple who placed an ad in the newspe reunited with blood sisters when i was a little girl, i had this empty feeling. karen castro her sister, sonta henderson, has kept the original ad in a bible that belonged to their late mother. sonta henderson reunited with blood sister mom use to talk about her baby girl that she given up on Saint Patricks day. karen castro a baby girl who was hard to trace. Fisher was never legally adopted and her birth certificate had inaccurate information. After decades of fruitless efforts, her granddaughter stepped in to help. Katherine Lee fisher amiee sands granddaughter im still in shock. karen castro amiee sands began her investigation nine years ago, spending multiple days a week searching the internet. amiee sands granddaughter i was just searching the censuses, the phone books, the years books, the military records. karen castro she eventually turned to dna for answers and she got them. amiee sands granddaughter went straight over there after work and sat her down and said um, were gonna, were gonna call your sister cause i found your sister. karen castro a call that would change the sonta i feel my moms presence with us so or our mom. Katherine yes, our mom. Karen Castro Karen castro, 8 news now. Dave Courvoisier the visiting sisters are staying in town through early next week. The trio says they have a lot of catch up on. Denise Valdez drivers just arent sure about their mechanics feel them out and make sure theres not, yknow, something shady going on. Denise Valdez up next on the valleys news leader. Where the distrust stems from keep our cars running. And dont forget. Were hoping to fill as many fiats as we can with brand new toys. Were partnering with towbin fiat at sahara and jones to collect toys for the casa foundation. You have until sunday to donate. news music voice over youre paul joncich the mechanic isnt a place many people normally like to go. Mainly because you usually walk away with an expensive bill but a new survey from triple a shows there might be more to it. Chris martinez found out why most drivers simply dont trust their mechanics. Nick lamwagoner spends a lot of time and money doesnt trust repairs to just anyone. nick lamwagoner car enthusiast its usually by referral and even then when i meet them i gotta see if i like their vibe, we chat a little bit, kind of feel them out and make sure theres not, yknow, something shady going on. For many drivers, finding a trusted mechanic is tricky. A new survey by triple a found two out of three drivers dont trust auto repair shops in general. Among those surveyed. Unnecessary services and 73 percent believe mechanics overcharge for work. Many drivers also worry the work wont be done correctly. jeffrey spring aaa spokesperson but on the other hand, the survey also found that a majority of the drivers had found a trusted mechanic so even though in general they dont trust repair services or shops, they did find a trusted mechanic. Chris Martinez cbs news los angeles triple as survey found age is a factor in whether drivers trust repair shops. Older drivers are more trusting than younger drivers. jeffrey spring aaa spokesperson older drivers have had more experiences with repairs and theyve been taking vehicles to repair shops for a much longer time triple a suggests doing some research and asking for recommendations from family and friends before committing to a repair shop. nick lamwagoner car enthusiast i do have a lot of friends calling and saying is this a good price, or is this necessary. A quick call like that could save you time and money. Chris martinez, cbs news, los angeles. Denise Valdez said negative past experiences was another reason they dont trust repair shops. Dave Courvoisier the temperatures have been getting pretty chilly here in the valley. And next week its going to be downright cold. But thats not keeping people from visiting in fact. Trip advisor released a survey today. Showing las vegas is the second most popular winter destination this is for people planning trips for next winter. Number three was cancun. While Orlando Florida was number one. tedd florendo chilly weather this morning as temps dropped to near freezing through many neighborhoods. Well have some cold lows again overnight but not enough to prompt any freeze warnings. Highs today stayed in the 50s and chilly. Lows dropped to 37 in the morning with areas like nellis, highlands, boulder city all dropping to at or just a below freezing this morning before sunrise. Check out the record on this date. 79 degrees way back in 1980. Were below average for this time of year and will be near average by the weekend. Neighborhood by neighborhood temps in the 50s and milder for the east part of the valley where were lower in elevation. While areas to the far west colder and just below freezing afternoon. Regional temps also stayed colder for the southern great basin and of course searchlight. Still unseasonably cold in the 50s also for mesquite down the Colorado River valley to laughlin and death valley where they were milder, but still chilly for this time of year. Satellite and radar show some high clouds pushing through but still staying mostly clear. Stay near ely and elko again along with the bitterroots and the wasatch. Next trough digs deep in utah and brings another shot of colder air and breezes heading into your weekend. Then colder next week from the next system that barrels through as well. Tonight expect temps in the mid to high 30s by morning. No freeze warning issued. Well have mostly clear skies and light winds. Tomorrow expect a high in the mid 50s under mostly sunny skies. Winds remain light for tomorrow as well. Extended forecast shows a slight breezy though by tomorrow night and friday with a little cooler air. Moisture starved system prevent us from getting any rain, but we get colder next week only in the high 40s in some spots with lows dropping to the 30s and even 20s. Those loud noises from the strip this afternoon is an indication nascar has rolled into las vegas. Denise Valdez 16 drivers making their way down the strip and then having fun for the fans. Chris Maathuis two things nascar fans love. Their drivers and the smell of burning rubber. And they got both today. Its the annual burnout on the strip. And Something Special for kyle busch. Plus. Finals rodeo. Jon tritsch is standing by with a nevada cowboy whos ridin for big bucks. Thats next here on channel 8. i wanted the same plan that my mother had. Senior dimensions. If youre eligible for medicare, you need to take a look at the plan that offers you more than original medicare. Senior dimensions members pay a zero dollar monthly premium. Senior dimensions members pay a zero dollar copay for primary care doctor visits. And, our members pay a zero dollar copay for specialist visits and a zero dollar copay for hospital stays as well. I wanted a plan thats been here as long as we have. And our plan offers many tier one preferred generic drugs for a zero dollar copay at most local neighborhood pharmacies. I like that i have plenty of doctors and specialists to choose from. Senior dimensions offers a Broad Network of local providers including southwest medical associates, one of the largest and Fastest Growing multi specialty groups in nevada. Its what i want. And she gets what she wants its that time of the year. The most talented cowboys and cowgirls along with thousands of rodeo fans ride into las vegas with their eyes set on riches. The worldest riches rodeo kicks off tonight. Thats where we find jon tritch tonight. Hangin out with the cowboys at the thomas and mack. Jon. Chris Maathuis thanks jon. More on the Opening Night of the more on the Opening Night of the nfr tonight at 11. Lets turn our attention to nascar. Lots of fans in town this weekend. Some of them are here for nascar champions week. And the highlight of their few days is the drive down the world famous strip. Theyve been doing this for the strip to see their favorite driver. The champion and all the others have fun with the fans by spinning the tires and doing donuts at the Spring Mountain intersection. Prior to the drivers making their way down the strip, the myers brothers awards show was held inside the wynn hotel. This has been goin on for decades. Individual awards being handed out and this years driver of the year is las vegan kyle busch. kyle busch driver of year;yeah we did have a great year, top 4 got to homestead and had a chance to go race for a so successful year all around, we had some wins won brickyard, contended and did what we needed to do and look forward to next year. There not awards you set out for and look to. The only ones you set out for and look forward to is that championship. Nascar officials were toasting a brand new title partnership. Old timers will remember when nascars premier series was called the winston cup series. Then sprintp sponsor. And it just so happens that las vegan kurt busch drives the monster engery number 41 car and he feels Monster Energy will bring a little more fun to nascar. kurt busch driver Monster Energy; its what they do at track to activate what to do at the midway. You may not see a lot of fans in the stands 20 minutes before the race because there will be tons of things going on beyond what the track is going to provide. So itll be fun to see what they do to build on the finally ufc fight fans are gearing up for this weekends card that features a flyweight championship fight between Demetrious Johnson and ulitmate fighter season 24 winner tim elliott. Johnson will be looking for his 9th straight title defense. Hes considered the sports best pound for pound fighter. Yet doesnt get the respect he should. d. Johnson fighter; im not worried about it, its been taken away from before and i gained in back. Im not going to stress of put effort into something where somebody is behind a computer screend perfect its done im going to put effort or stress into that. Dave Courvoisier as jon tritsch said. The rodeo gets started in a matter of minutes. But well before it got underway. Minutes. But well before it got underway. The doors of the las vegas Denise Valdez we sent Michael Stevens there to check out all the action. Earlier, we checked out the stables. And animals at the thomas and mack. But now weve moved over to the south hall of the convention center. Where cowboy christmas just opened to the public. For those not familiar. It started back in 1986. And brings in over 4hundred vendors from across the country and canada to las vegas. Think about it. This entire floor 4hundred and 40thousansq were talking boots. Spurs. Furniture. Art. And of course hats. Hundreds of people will pack this floor for the next 10days. Then head over to the rodeo just down the street at the thomas and mack annie aznarez cowboy christmas our goal is to shop all day and rodeo all night. So this is what we want our nfr fans in town or live here to spend their day their afternoon here at cowboy christmas from 9 to 5 and make their way to the rodeo at 6 45 for the next 10 days. Michael Stevens in addition to all the for the fans. Like the coors rodeo saloon. The wrangler rodeo and the nfr social arenas. Now lets get you some information. Cowboy christmas runs today thru the 10th. At the Las Vegas Convention center from 9 to 5pm. Its open to the public and free for everyone. Dave Courvoisier 8 news now at 6 30 starts in about three minutes. Lets check in with paul joncich to see whats coming up. paul joncich people in a popular tennessee resort town. Waiting to get back in their homes after a devastating wildfire. Whats keeping them out. Even though the immediate threat has passed. And donald trump. Already working to keep jobs in the us. How he was able to negotiate a deal to keep a factory open. And why not everyones job is safe. Despite the deal. news music agenda. Has a new man in charge. We talk exclusively with aaron ford about what he has in store for 2017 up in carson city. Dave CourvoisierSevere Weather and deadly wildfires. Hit the southeast united stated. Where cleanup is underway after twisters hit. And how dolly parton is helping her hometown. After fires ravaged the area. tedd florendo tracking the return of strong winds. We have numerous alerts for your friday. Well break them most accurate weathernow forecast