Print edition for February 2, 1999

California man charged with slaying: Netherby, 59, a self-employed former miner, was shot to death in the living room of his mobile home on Jan. 13 or Jan. 14, Skinner said. The two apparently had been living together temporarily, he said.

Big horn sheep released to boost population: Six of the big horns were fitted with radio telemetry collars provided by the Foundation of North American Wild Sheep.

Richardson bulks up DOE budget for Nevada: Defense programs, such as subcritical weapons tests and training law-enforcement staff for countering terrorism threats, could receive $245.3 million of the total $659.4 million federal budget for Nevada requested Monday by the Clinton administration.

Casino operator pitches hotel tax: "Does it take a rocket scientist to know if we bring citywide conventions ... it will (positively) impact every business in this community?" Farahi said.

Sparks council supports equestrian center: The center would cover about 190 acres in the Wingfield Springs development. Part of the project is contingent on the city obtaining about 450 acres of land from the Bureau of Land Management.

Man faces charges after arrest at Phoenix Open: Mel Reisner; PHOENIX -- Although an armed man was wrestled to the ground within yards of Tiger Woods, investigators don't believe he was stalking the PGA superstar.

Siraco's Selections for Santa Anita: Wednesday's card

Editorial: Senate should open impeachment debate: Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., have been at the forefront in calling for the impeachment debate to be conducted in public, noting that the 19th-century rules were established when much of the Senate's business was done in private. Both of Nevada's senators, Democrats Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, also believe the debate should be in the open.

NHP arrests love on the run: Karen Zekan; Marriage, it seems, is at the root of the couple's problems.

Rough start for Clark County at Legislature: After pomp and ceremony, the Assembly and the Senate adopted new rules for the shortened 120-day session. Deadlines were set for introduction and passage of bills in order to complete business by May 31.

Thunder puts 6-game win streak on line: Steve Guiremand; The Las Vegas Thunder puts its season-best six-game winning streak on the line tonight when it hosts the Southwest Division leading Houston Aeros at the Thomas & Mack Center at 7:05 p.m.

Letter: Give tax break, but not to rich: The rich/poor gap has reached historic widening. The big widening began with the Reagan fiscal policy.

Excitement builds for Paris-Las Vegas' September start: Gary Thompson and John Wilen; The year's last big new resort opening doesn't occur until September. Yet when Paris-Las Vegas finally opens its doors, all but the most snobbish Francophiles will say it was well worth the wait.

Pitlock appointed to PUC: Kenny Guinn to the three-member

Constable to fight fine, seeks new hearing: Lisa Snedeker; Brown's attorney, Frank Cremen, has filed a petition with the commission asking that his client be given a new hearing so that two points that were not brought up in Brown's defense can be heard.

Letter: Simple idea for budget surplus: Maybe our representatives should also pledge not to borrow from this account again since we are rapidly approaching the time in which most people will need these funds.

Aztar extends Tropicana purchase option: Gary Thompson; Aztar Corp. said today it negotiated an extension of its option to buy the 50 percent stake it doesn't own in the Las Vegas Tropicana, giving the company more time to assess development options for the resort.

Lawmakers OK rules to finish work in 120 days: But in the Senate, Minority Leader Dina Titus,

Editorial: Shelter OK is right call for the area: They are upset that the valley's homeless shelters -- while located in Las Vegas -- are short walking distances from North Las Vegas. During the day many homeless loiter in the streets of North Las Vegas, contributing to what North Las Vegas politicians contend is a negative image for that city.

Nevada's government no standout across nation: The grades for all 50 states were released Monday, the same day Nevada's Legislature began its 1999 session.

Judge becomes center of attention in family's action against city: Bill Gang; The district judge hearing a lawsuit over the property where the Fremont Street Experience garage now sits has been asked to step down from the case because he took campaign contributions from downtown casinos that benefit from the garage.

Brief: Economic indicators rise for third month: The index stood at 123.15 in January, up 0.24 percent from December and up 1.01 percent from January 1998.

On the air up there: Kimberley McGee; Baby boomers around the West are twisting the night away as local oldies radio station KQOL-93.1 F.M. is spreading its brand of boogie to six western cities.

NBA 1999 schedule: Friday, Feb. 5

Figure Skating: Las Vegans in Nationals: The Las Vegas pairs figure skating team of Jered Guzman, 17, and Amanda Magarian, 14, will compete in the U.S. National Pairs Figure Skating Championships Feb. 11-21 in Salt Lake City.

Monday's Prep Results: Bishop Gorman 84, Palo Verde 68

Animal sanctuary goes before Boulder City Council: Lisa Snedeker; The founder and executive director of Keepers of the Wild, a nonprofit, exotic animal sanctuary in Las Vegas, and his entourage made a presentation to the City Council during a workshop Monday.

Getting ready for terrorism: Faced with the reality of terrorism throughout the world, Nevada authorities are preparing emergency personnel for the worst.

Rebels are sitting pretty at midway point: Steve Carp; Who's Left

Justice Department sues over disabled access at LV apartments: The suit involves nine Las Vegas properties -- eight apartment complexes and a condominium -- and was filed Monday in Las Vegas.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Don't look for Tyson to be jailed: Dean Juipe; e may not have the finest legal talent money can buy, but Mike Tyson seemingly has an attorney in every city. And his Rockville, Md., representative thought it was in the fighter's best interest back on Dec. 1 to enter a no-contest plea to a pair of lingering assault charges.

Mountain West on ESPN: The newly formed Mountain West Conference has reached agreement with ESPN to have its football and basketball games televised for seven years beginning with the 1999-2000 academic year.

Gates files suit against ethics panel: Adrienne Packer and Bill Gang; And Atkinson Gates has launched two counter-attacks.

Overturned cement truck leaves mess on U.S. 95: Karen Zekan; Quentin Aspinall escaped injury in the 9:15 a.m. crash, which slowed traffic for more than four hours as clean-up crews and a crane moved in to clear the roadway.

Columnist Scott Dickensheets: Readers weigh in on heavy backpacks: Scott Dickensheets; I usually respond with a polite note or amused chiding (people generally die first, then rot in hell, but either way it beats living in Ohio), but it's been a while since I saw fit to air reader mail in this space. However, I've gotten a fair amount of mail on an unexpected topic: heavy backpacks at school, subject of a recent column.

Obituaries for Feb. 2, 1999: He is survived by his wife, Carrie; five sons, Rick, Roberto, Kim and Eric, all of Las Vegas, and Tonita of Panama City; two daughters, Annette and Patricia Barrett of Las Vegas; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends; 17 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Brief: Louisiana casino sues LV travel agency: The suit says Kaplan agreed to arrange for a 50-passenger plane to pick up customers in San Antonio, Texas, on May 7 and transport them to Lake Charles. Four Caprel checks totalling $52,800 were allegedly written in January and February 1998 to cover costs and Kaplan signed a $115,000 promissory note, the suit says.

Cop accused of lewd actions facing disturbing peace charge: Jace Radke; Store clerks at the 7-Eleven at 870 N. Rainbow Blvd. told police that Officer Kendell Walker, 26, entered their store about 4 a.m. on Jan. 20 and harassed them.

Brief: AA pilots threaten work slowdown: American says it intends to integrate Reno's 25 jets and 300 pilots into its system. But the union fears American's real agenda is to maintain Reno as a separate low-cost carrier with lower-paid pilots.

Official: Police acted properly during Denver riot: Sandy Shore; DENVER -- Police acted appropriately in using tear gas and other measures to break up an unruly crowd of revelers during post-Super Bowl celebrations, a city official says.

Atlanta celebrates astounding season: Justin Bachman; ATLANTA -- No team has ever played in the Super Bowl with its city as the host, and Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Reeves says that's exactly what his organization plans next season.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: The truth was a slippery concept for Horton: How appropriate that Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly would devote a column to coaches and athletes who lie in print during the same week that former UNLV football coach Jeff Horton fibbed twice -- once to each local newspaper -- that he was not interested in an assistant coaching vacancy at Wisconsin.

Rebels land more top prospects from Mississippi junior colleges: Steve Guiremand; If new UNLV football coach John Robinson is able to turn the Rebel football team around next season, he'll owe the state of Mississippi a large debt of gratitude.

Columnist Jeff German: R&R Advertising scrutinized in bidding war for LVCVA: But will the state's largest and most politically connected advertising firm make it to the finish line without getting banged up?

LVMS, CART negotiating deal to bring race to Las Vegas in 2000: Las Vegas Motor Speedway is moving closer to living up to its self-proclaimed title as "the motor sports capital of the world."

'Three-peat' to help entice Broncos in '99: Lynn DeBruin; By Lynn DeBruin DENVER ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

Letter: Giving away land for golf course is a mistake: I have played many of the Las Vegas courses, often with dealers and other casino workers who need recreation of this choice just like anybody else. Now where can they afford to play? Doesn't anybody care?

Letter: Seeing through 'smoke screen': The attack on writer Frank Perna's contributing opinion to your letters page with the ridiculous threat that the "voters will not forget come next election," is itself a pathetic smoke screen to defend the indefensible if there ever was one.

Brief: Prudential clients invest in LV firm: The acquisition, disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, represents 5.44 percent of Sierra's common stock.

NDA, LV chamber get political at Legislature: The Nevada Development Authority is jumping into the lawmaking process for the first time and plans to make a pitch for economic diversification to the Nevada Legislature.

Brief: Suit filed after chips not cashed: In his suit, Russo said he attempted to cash in 14 $5,000 casino chips -- called "chocolate chips" because of their brown color -- but the casino would not cash them.

Columnist E.J. Dionne: This may be GOP's start of something bad: It's said of the Chicago Cubs that every team has a bad century. For California Republicans, this has been a bad decade. In the 1990s, the only Republican who has been successful at the top of the ticket is former Gov. Pete Wilson -- and he is now blamed for an anti-Republican backlash among the state's Latino voters.

Brief: Jaguar building 260 slots: Jaguar said it is negotiating final terms of a "firmly committed" $500,000 debenture financing, and has received interest for an "off balance sheet" purchase order financing of up to $750,000.

Baseball's All-Star game going to Seattle: SEATTLE -- How's this for a return on an investment? The price tag of Seattle's Safeco Field keeps escalating and is currently at $498 million.

Murder suspect just quit job at Boys and Girls Club: He gave a week's notice last Thursday because he "couldn't handle little kids," said Maureen Woolsey, the club's executive director.

Brief: Downgrades for Anchor, Four Seasons: Farley downplayed any lasting impact from reports of a rift between game makers and casino operators over revenue-participation agreements, which have prompted some operators to consider designing their own games.

Magician, pickpocket, comedian Revello-Dunn dies at 69: Through the years he came to hold titles such as "The Torture King," "America's No. 1 pickpocket" magician, comedian, juggler and clown.

Tyson's attorney claims prosecutor violated deal: Nancy Zuckerbrod; WASHINGTON -- Boxer Mike Tyson's attorney and Montgomery County's new top prosecutor sparred Monday, arguing about a plea agreement reached by the two sides in November.

Lack of suspense hurts television ratings: Jeff Goodman; NEW YORK -- There was nothing super about the Super Bowl TV ratings.

Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: Some good news, some bad news: Sure enough, the Department of Energy's plan for bringing nuke waste to nearby Yucca Mountain calls for the expenditure of $358 million during Fiscal Year 1999. Green Scissors calls for a stop to the project pending an external review because there are new findings that suggest it won't qualify for a high-level nuclear waste repository. Seismic activity and new evidence of water traveling through the mountain much faster than initially believed are two of the latest environmental threats the waste dump could cause.

Democrats calling for tax reform: Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, told the opening legislative session that the House would "examine how to raise money to address structural problems" in Nevada.

UNLV 80, Colorado State 77: 3-Point Goals: 11-23, .478 (Goodwyn 1-2, Sivesind 2-7, Palacio 6-9, McKanstry 1-2, Smith 0-1, Patik 1-2).

School officials consider random gun checks: Police confiscated a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, ammunition, pellet gun, metal pipe, brass knuckles and a baseball bat fashioned into a club.

Budget has millions for state: Mark D. Preston; Clinton's proposed $1.77 trillion budget delivered to Congress Monday includes funding for Nevada programs ranging from bulletproof vests for local law enforcement agencies to transportation projects throughout the state.

Man faces up to 12 years in boating accident that killed four: "I was driving too fast for the conditions of the night," Yost told Mohave County Superior Court Judge Richard Weiss. Yost ran his 47-foot speedboat aground near Burro Point on the Arizona side of the lake during a midnight return from Hoover Dam on March 22.

New $1.5 billion resort captures a taste of Venice: Robert Macy; Developer Sheldon Adelson is betting $1.5 billion he can capture the essence of Italy's most romantic city in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Legislature summary for Tuesday, Feb. 2, 1999: New Measures

Legislature schedule for Wednesday, Feb. 3: 7:30 a.m. - Senate Commerce and Labor on trademarks, cosmetology, barbering and medical assistant licensing, fireworks.

Radiation source in stolen metal box sought: The radioactive material is not considered a threat to health or safety as long as it remains in its protective lead-lined box, officials said.