Thursday, April 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
SUN STAFF REPORTS
Is Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren taking credit where credit isn't due?
In a letter date April 17, Hammargren informed attendees to a ceremony naming a stretch of Highway 375 the Extraterrestrial Highway that he "founded the Motion Picture Commission."
Not true. Sort of.
Then-Gov. Richard Bryan, shortly after his election in 1982, created the Commission on Economic Development, which includes the Motion Pictures Division, said division deputy director Robin Holabird.
Also in the early '80s, the division created a Film Advisory Committee, comprised of business leaders who help promote the state's advantages to motion picture companies.
In recent months, however, Hammargren renamed the advisory committee, calling it the Motion Picture Commission.
Hammargren, who is considering running for governor in 1998, was unavailable for comment.
* House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., is set to speak Monday at 7:30 a.m. at The Mirage.
Gingrich is on a West Coast swing to support Republican House candidates and is stopping in Las Vegas to appear at a fundraiser for Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev.
Tickets are $100, but for $1,000, attendees can have their picture taken with Gingrich.
* Assemblyman Dennis Allard, R-Las Vegas, will not seek re-election. Allard said two factors contributed to his decision: His wife, Cheryl, is expecting their second child, and his contracting company, Iron Specialists, has doubled its business.
"I have an obligation to my family and to my employees," he said.
Allard becomes the sixth Republican not seeking re-election to the Assembly, which had an equal number of Democrats and Republicans during the 1995 legislative session. One Democrat has also decided not to run again.
* Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn is set to address Nevada Republicans at the party's state convention in Reno on May 2.
The theme of the convention is "Salute to the Gaming Industry."
Wynn, a registered Democrat, has contributed heavily to Nevada Republicans and hosted a $5,000-a-plate dinner in 1995 for GOP presidential candidate Sen. Bob Dole. Wynn, who disagreed with President Clinton's since-abandoned plan to impose a national tax on gaming revenues, has said Clinton is trying to divide the nation into haves and have-nots.
Maureen Reagan, daughter of former President Reagan, is also scheduled to address the convention. She will discuss international relations.
* The Republican convention will also feature a game of political musical chairs.
Former Nevada Treasurer Patty Cafferata has entered the race to succeed her mother, retiring Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, R-Nev., in Congressional District 2.
Meanwhile, Vucanovich has announced she wants to replace her daughter as national GOP committeewoman for Nevada. Cafferata's term expires May 1.
Vucanovich, who will leave Congress in 1996 after seven two-year terms, has notified party officials she would like her daughter's job.
Joe DiLonardo, co-chairman of the nominating committee at the convention, said Vucanovich so far is running unchallenged.
"It would be difficult to run against her," he said "It's a done deal."
Also up for re-election will be state GOP Chairman John Mason of Douglas County and GOP National Committeeman Tom Wiesner of Las Vegas. Neither has a challenger.
* State Sen. Bob Coffin, running against incumbent Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., has criticized Ensign for backing out of a television interview.
Ensign canceled his scheduled appearance Friday on "Nevada Week in Review" after learning that SUN reporter Jeff German would be on the interview panel.
Ensign has said he doesn't respect German, who has written about Ensign's intervention in a land deal to benefit a casino for which Ensign's father is a top executive.
In a prepared statement challenging Ensign to a debate, Coffin said, "I'm ready to face him anytime, anywhere, and I don't care who asks the questions."
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