Print edition for June 18, 1999

Kyl bill ready for final Senate action: The proposal cleared the committee in a 16-1 vote and will next go to the full Senate. No timetable has been set for that vote.

NOW president expects more subdued visit: The last time National Organization for Women members brought their president Patricia Ireland to town, they picketed a car dealership and hosted a panel about prostitution and other sexually oriented business ventures.

Jury hears tape of suspect's statement to police: Bill Gang; A District Court jury that must decide Sikia Smith's fate over the execution slayings of four young men heard the defendant almost casually admit he was part of the deadly plot.

Riverboat damaged, set to reopen: The world's largest riverboat casino has been closed because of silt buildup at its dock along the Ohio River 15 miles from Louisville, Ky. The boat also has undergone repairs after being struck by a barge.

Letter: LVMS doesn't need 2nd race: Maybe Bruton Smith should fix the current problems before thinking about another race.

Letter: Ticketless fans fighting mad: I'm having a real problem with the way Mandalay Bay is selling those tickets. In fact, I called last night. Not only did they say the price was $3,000, but that it was sold out.

Gaming execs, analysts blase about fed study: Gary Thompson and John Wilen; Gaming executives and analysts today reacted favorably to the federal study that, in general, reflected favorably on the industry.

No surprises in report: WASHINGTON -- The National Gambling Impact Study Commission today released its report on a difficult two-year examination of one of the fastest growing industries in America.

Letter: Racing chiefs too powerful: Those fans are what made NASCAR what it is today.

Judge blocks casino credit card ban: Polk County District Judge Robert Hutchison said Iowa's casino industry is likely to prevail in its lawsuit against the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

Letter: Minor sports, major city: Like many before, these folks from the new leagues will try but find out what history has taught us: Build your own facility on or near the Strip and you have a chance.

Nevada delegation calls study 'worthless': WASHINGTON -- Echoing the words of the casino industry's most widely known executive, three of the four members of Nevada's congressional delegation called the National Gambling Impact Study Commission's report a waste of time and money.

Public defender moves to stop hearing broadcast: Bill Gang; A bid by the Las Vegas 1 cable news channel to broadcast live the June 25 preliminary hearing of the man charged in the Albertson's supermarket massacre will be challenged at a hearing Monday in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Circus Circus holders clear name change: Gary Thompson; Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. shareholders approved changing the company's name to Mandalay Resort Group Thursday and gave a warm response to an upbeat address about future growth prospects.

Letter: Boxing fans should boycott: If no one would buy the pay-per-view and boycotted boxing all together, maybe these promoters and HBO would appreciate the fans. But I know that will never happen.

UNLV players on GTE team: Anderson, who was a third-team selection last year, was named to this year's second team.

UNLV women name two assistant coaches: Knapp comes to UNLV from Auburn University, where she served as an assistant coach since the summer of 1996. At Auburn, Knapp was primarily responsible for the coaching of the post players and team travel. She also assisted with recruiting and scouting.

More funds sought for new teachers: Las Vegas regents Steve Sisolak and Mark Alden intend to push for more money so the state's university system can produce additional teachers for the Clark County School District.

Regents criticize lawmakers' action over proposed college: CARSON CITY -- Some university regents say the Legislature may have overstepped its authority in setting up a special committee to conduct a $500,000 study of the feasibility of creating a four-year state college in Henderson, rather than allowing the regents to do it.

Panelists agree: Gambling addiction problem growing: WASHINGTON -- They had deep differences about the benefits of gambling, but the members of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission shared concerns about those addicted to games of chance.

Win caps unlikely comeback: Spencer Patterson; Lying in his hospital bed in November, 1997, David Evenson never imagined he'd hold another golf trophy again.

HIV/AIDS group looking for help: Call Sandra at 732-8579 for details.

Birth announcements: Tiara to Charlotte Magnuson and Jerry Noland; Ignacio to Rosalia Galindo and Alfredo Gomez.

Taco Shop founder Robledo dies at 70: Roberto Robledo, who survived an impoverished childhood in central Mexico that killed 14 of his siblings to become the founder of Roberto's Taco Shop, which today has 21 Las Vegas locations, has died in Henderson. He was 70.

Obituaries for June 18, 1999: Lucy Lucas Ambrosio, 84, of Las Vegas died Wednesday in a local hospice. She was born Feb. 23, 1915, in New York state. A long time resident, she was a social worker.

Spouse employment spurs regents' debate: CARSON CITY -- A New York woman has been hired as president of the Western Nevada Community College in Carson City, but the Board of Regents couldn't decide Thursday if her husband should get job preference in the system.

Bomb hoax evacuates Excalibur: The discovery of what appeared to be an explosive device outside the Excalibur Hotel today led to an evacuation of several floors of the Strip resort, a shutdown of its monorail system and the rerouting of morning commuter traffic.

Strip resort adding trapeze act: The Commission also approved an application by Grand Plaza LP to extend its permit for a resort hotel-casino on Koval Lane between Harmon and Rochelle Avenues for two years.

Regent says inequity in college funds bad as ever: CARSON CITY -- UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada got shortchanged again when the Legislature handed out extra money for library books and this is just another example of widespread disparity in the system, Regent Steve Sisolak complained Thursday.

Freeways raise real estate values: It used to be that Las Vegas' boomtown mentality would draw companies to almost any office and industrial location in town.

Casino collectibles, chips on display at LV convention: Eric Feigenbaum; Some gaming chips and tokens are more valuable when you don't cash them in.

Casino industry struggles to find, train workers: John Wilen; One of the biggest issues faced by today's fast-growing casino industry is finding enough qualified employees.

LV firm avoids paying disputed jackpot: Gina Holland; JACKSON, Miss. -- A year and a half after thinking she was a millionaire casino jackpot winner, an Alabama woman was told by the Mississippi Supreme Court that she is not entitled any money after all.

Box score: Stars 7, Sidewinders 6: Tucson

The puck rolls here: Steve Carp; Duane Wolf had a prime seat, right behind the goal at the Santa Fe Ice Arena. Cost him all of 10 bucks.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Lakers luck into solution to problems: Dean Juipe; It is one of the most glamourous franchises in all of professional sports.

Phone company invests in LV company: PurchasePro, an Internet-based business procurement company, is owned by Charles "Junior" Johnson, who has several business ties to Southern Ohio.

Davis headed for all-star appearance: Steve Guiremand; The honors keep rolling in for Las Vegas Stars catcher Ben Davis.

Former Rebels consider taking IBL shot: Steve Carp; No local investors have taken the plunge. The team is still without a name. No players have been signed, though a few are interested.

Kroger flexes muscles with earnings: Kroger said the first quarter results were 20 percent more than estimated combined earnings of 45 cents per share from the same period a year ago.

Courthouse security increased after slaying suspects threatened: Bill Gang; There has been a heightened state of security at the Clark County Courthouse since authorities learned that a friend of the victims in a quadruple murder case wanted to avenge the killings.

De La Hoya-Trinidad news conference on TV: Both fighters along with their promoters, Bob Arum (De La Hoya) and Don King (Trinidad), will speak in anticipation of the much-awaited Sept. 18 welterweight championship bout scheduled for the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: A wise court decision: AS NEVADA Struggles with the courts over control of the literary garbage handed out to people along the Strip, the U.S. Supreme Court has told Chicago its anti-loitering law is unconstitutional. It was the most aggressive anti-gang measure in our nation and gang-related homicides dropped 26 percent in 1995, the last year it was in force. It worked, but left much to be desired in the eyes of the majority of justices, who ruled against it 6-3.

Anti-graffiti volunteers to paint town: A new graffiti elimination program utilizing volunteers -- Southern Nevada Paints the Town! -- kicks off Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, and North Las Vegas City Hall, 2200 Civic Center Drive.

Saturday at Golden Gate: 1st race 5 fur 4YO & up F&M Clm: 1 Spectacular Jenna (Gonzalez) 118; 2 Hit The Deck (Tohill) 118; 3 Five Letter Woman (Radke) 113; 4 Ink Spot (Castro) 118; 5 Madaboutboystwo (Castanon) 118; 6 B. Magic's Touch (Warren) 118; 7 Candi Lee (Gonzalez) 118; 8 Top Result (Carr) 118; 9 Muy Bonita (Lopez) 118.

Saturday at Hollywood Park: 1st race 5-1/2 fur 3YO & up Alw: 1 Toga Mania (Nakatani) 116; 2 Darling Zippy (Pincay) 119; 3 Dusty Heather (Pedroza) 116; 4 Money In The Sheet (Alvarado) 122; 5 Beat The Devil (McCarron) 119; 6 Sandor (Enriquez) 117.

Columnist Muriel Stevens: The Jordans celebrate neighborhood dining at Rosemary's: When Chef Michael Jordan, former executive chef at Emeril's in the MGM Grand, and his wife/partner, Chef Wendy Jordan, opened Rosemary's Restaurant at 8125 W. Sahara Ave. in the Promenade shopping center, they gave new meaning to neighborhood dining. Michael is the executive chef; Wendy, also an accomplished culinarian, is the chef de cuisine and has an upscale catering business.

Nevada senator says sale of IMF gold reserves will not happen: Scott Sonner; "It requires congressional approval. It ain't going to happen," Bryan, D-Nev., said today from Washington.

The impact of LV-bound Rammstein's music, favored by the Littleton killers, stirs debate: Kimberly McGee; By Kimberly McGee LAS VEGAS SUN

Las Vegas news briefs for June 18, 1999: Two men have been ordered to stand trial on murder charges in the shooting death of Leonard Harvey, 35, at an apartment complex in the 100 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Saturday at Belmont Park: 1st race 6 fur 3YO & up Mdn Clm Alw: 1 Windswept Blues (Davis) 112; 2 Sammy Dude (Chavez) 119; 3 Doomsday Defense (Bridgmohan) 116; 4 Sins Of My Youth (Luzzi) 114; 5 Cellular Joe (Gryder) 114; 6 Monivea (Castillo) 112; 7 Midnight Red (Nelson) 121; 8 Double Conquest (Lopez) 112; 9 Danish Gold (Velazquez) 116; 10 Dolfmeister (Migliore) 114.

Las Vegas Founders' Legacy junior golf tournament final scores: BOYS

Senate panel votes to ban Net gambling: Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the bill's sponsor, noted that online gambling revenue has doubled in just one year.

Redevelopment agency seeking $300,000 loan to settle Riverside: City officials at the time said they would appeal the jury's decision, but lawyers are now recommending the city settle the issue by paying $3.5 million. The amount includes $300,000 in interest and attorney fees.

Slim rocks the crowd at the Joint: Geoff Carter; Twenty minutes into Fatboy Slim's intense set Thursday night at the Hard Rock Joint, I put my notebook into my back pocket and only retrieved it twice.

Ralph Siraco's selections for Saturday's races at Hollywood Park: 1ST RACE:

Express is delayed, but the mail goes on: Stepien, a patrol officer with the Capitol Police, said his biggest worry was riding on busy U.S. 395 through the center of town.

Sun Life datebook: Director and producer Jeff Lester of Big Picture Studios will lead a class on acting for the camera from 1-5 p.m. Saturday at UNLV's Alta Ham Fine Arts Building, Room 206. The fee is $40. Call 226-5620.

Disclosure code to be toughened: Erin Neff; Responding to campaign criticism about the financial disclosure process, the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board decided Thursday to tighten part of the requirement.

Righteous Brothers' gig packed with hits: Joe Delaney; The Righteous Brothers, Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley, are not brothers, but their sound is righteous, "blue-eyed soul," and their fans faithful, making the duo one of the few acts to play the state-of-the-art Orleans showroom successfully two and three weeks at a time. They sounded even better this week with the showroom's new sound system.

NCAA supports report's call for ban on betting on college sports: Saum also renewed the NCAA's call for media outlets to stop publishing point spreads on college games.

Letter: Spanking does not constitute abuse: When that happens, CPS can dedicate more time and attention to the true cases of abuse instead of being logjammed with spanking-equals-abuse charges.

Report on gambling faces steep odds in political arena: The commission submitted a massive report on the costs and benefits of legalized betting to Congress, the White House, governors and tribal governments.

Columnist Joe Delaney: Popular, country, local acts packing in crowds in Ireland: Joe Delaney; Blondie was also standing-room-only Tuesday in the 6,000-seat Pointe Theatre, once a railroad roundhouse, just north of the River Liffey. ... B.B. King sold out his May concerts in Belfast and Dublin, visited with his U2 buddies and took time to send us a card. ... B.B., a friend for 50 years, now signs his mail, "Riley B. King, Senior."

Editorial: Don't bet the house on new tax: But that hasn't stopped Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., from shifting into hyperbolic overdrive. Wolf, who authored the legislation that created the federal gambling commission, made a lot of noise this week when he said he might introduce legislation that would seek a 1 percent federal tax on gaming revenues to fund gambling addiction treatment. Just the mere thought of additional taxes will send shivers down the spines of casino executives and tourism officials in Las Vegas, but the reality is Wolf's proposal to seek more revenues has little chance of becoming law.

House GOP seeks better relations with casinos: WASHINGTON -- House Republican leaders were to meet today with MGM Grand Inc. Chairman Terry Lanni in an attempt to improve relations with the casino industry.

Dial File -- Steve Bornfeld: Shame, Shame, Shame: "It's a shame the way you hurt me. ..." -- The Spinners' Motown classic,

Fire season declared in Nevada: Sandra Chereb; "We're facing the potential for explosive and rapid spread of wildland fires through grasses, light vegetation and layers of dead vegetation and debris from previous years," state Forester Roy Trenoweth said.

Topping off ceremony for first megaresort of 2000: Robert Macy; "This is another great moment in the making of Las Vegas history," Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt told construction workers gathered in 100-degree heat to watch topping out ceremonies for the new Aladdin Hotel-Casino. "The genie is out of the bottle and the Aladdin is the megaresort of the new millennium."

Sound Check -- Geoff Carter: Finding quality music in a Huff: "I started making an album about a year and a half ago," Mark Huff says. "It was recorded, and just about ready to go. And I scrapped it."

Letter: Status of hero is sometimes too easily awarded: George Bush's bio was recently on the Discovery Channel wherein the program made him to be a big hero as a Navy pilot.

LVMS hires short-track manager: Stetzer comes to LVMS from 600 Racing in Concord, N.C., where he served as general manager for more than six years. Before that he developed the track rental department at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Chassis switch may give Hearn edge in '00: Just once, Richie Hearn would like to start a CART FedEx Championship Series season on an even footing with his peers, rather than playing catch-up.

Letter: Complaint to state got no satisfaction: In other states, the various commissions treat complaints seriously and hold licensees accountable.

Movie Guys: Animated 'Tarzan' vigorously swings onto the screen: Grades: Jeff, B; Dave, B.

Columnist Scott Dickensheets: Hitchens' book makes a convincing case against Clinton: Scott Dickensheets; He was, for a while, my guy. Before Travelgate; before Paula Jones; before the health care debacle; before his cold-hearted welfare "reform"; before the gutless evasion of "don't ask, don't tell"; before Asian soft money; before that woman and the cigar and the blue dress of shame; before the bushel of principles compromised for the sake of political expediency; before all the lies, lies, lies, Bill Clinton was, for a while, my guy.

Work under way to save life on Colorado River: Major projects are under way to protect plants and animals as Southern Nevada continues gobbling up water and land to accommodate its rapid growth.

Editorial: Remove hindrances to vote on HMO bill: While it was encouraging to see comity prevail on health care coverage for the disabled, unfortunately the Senate GOP leadership refuses to allow a vote on health care reform for all Americans. In response, Democrats said Wednesday they want a patient's bill of rights debate scheduled for this month. If it isn't, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said Democrats will try to attach their legislation to unrelated bills.

Uptown Downtown Artown a month long with endless variety: Scott Sonner; A variety of cities around the world boast the largest opera festivals, blues festivals, ballet festivals, film festivals, theater festivals, folk festivals, etc.

Harrah's Entertainment buys two closed casinos in Reno: Harrah's currently is developing a master plan for the property with a Las Vegas developer, Marnell Carrao Associates, he said.

Carlin man arrested on felony child abuse: Tanner Lynch was found unconscious when police arrived. He was taken to Elko General Hospital, then transferred to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Harris said.

Cemetery raises new Elko fight with federal officials: Scott Sonner; RENO -- For nearly a century the people of the remote mining town of Jarbidge have buried their dead in a 2-acre parcel of land inside a national forest in the northeast corner of Nevada.