Print edition for May 3, 1999

Man killed when car strikes four vehicles, light pole: Witnesses told police the victim's car was traveling westbound in the left lane when the vehicle sideswiped a tractor-trailer that was in the center lane.

Bill giving DMV ability to issue plates dies in Assembly: Kiley Russell; SB67 was originally voted down 19-21 Friday at the urging of Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins, D-Henderson.

Sophia Loren a hit as new $1.5 billion Venice-themed resort opens: Robert Macy; "We love you, Sophia," a bearded construction worker yelled Monday as the famous Italian star toured The Venetian with resort Chairman Sheldon Adelson, trailed by some 400 media from around the world.

Nearly 200,000 call about jobs at Paris: During the first 24 hours of the marathon recruiting program on April 5-6, about 92,000 calls were received from applicants wishing to schedule a job interview, hotel officials said Monday.

Southern 4A Zone Baseball Tournament schedule: Wednesday's games

Her Mother's Keeper: Lisa Ferguson; Sunshine London-Caso doesn't look like most breast cancer survivors.

LV slot company's profit falls: PDS said it earned $134,000 or 4 cents per share, compared to net income of $449,000 or 12 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Family sues funeral home: Norman Willis, a Texas resident, filed the suit in District Court on behalf of his family against Harrison-Ross Group Inc., 2071 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Santa Fe dissident allowed to vote at today's meeting: John Wilen; On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson denied Santa Fe's request for a preliminary injunction to block Hudson Bay Partners LP and its general manager, David Lesser, from voting the 33.2 percent of Santa Fe preferred stock they own in favor of two special company directors.

Mob attorney tries to put past behind in bid for Vegas mayor: Tim Dahlberg; His main opponents in Tuesday's primary election had a tougher task - convincing voters that they're not responsible for the traffic jams and dirty air fouling the quality of life in this booming desert city.

Controls on mortgage brokers pass Assembly: Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, said Friday Assembly Bill 64 gives the state Financial Institutions Division and the state attorney general the authority to investigate mortgage brokers and agents who must now register with the state.

7-year-old dies after accident: The girl was crossing a street in Sun Valley with a friend when she was struck by a vehicle driven by Perry Robinson, 30, of Sun Valley.

Expert to look at cause of blast: "There's a high probability there was a natural gas explosion," Farr said.

April was cool and wet in Nevada: Sandra Chereb; "Totals for the water year range from 125 percent of normal in the eastern Sierra and northeast Nevada to near normal in the east and central areas of the state and 60-80 percent in the extreme south," James said.

He's back: Gordon posts victory after struggling in recent weeks: FONTANA, Calif. -- A sense of normalcy returned to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series as Jeff Gordon resumed his dominance of the sport by returning to victory lane Sunday at California Speedway after a five-race slump.

Lake Tahoe couple fined $400,000 for building violations: "The cost, delay and corrective actions that were imposed here should make everyone think twice about departing from TRPA-approved plans," said Jim Baetge, executive director of the bistate agency.

Reconstruction project targets Boulder City streets: The Boulder City Council unanimously approved a bid for this year's pavement reconstruction project. A dollar amount was not available because the council insisted on adding streets that were ready for micropaving, or patching, to the reconstruction list.

Editorial: Fair share argument cools off: The debate about the level of funding had focused on the differences between the two universities in the system and had almost ignored the community colleges. But one of the study's most significant findings was the size of the disparity that existed for the Community College of Southern Nevada. MGT of America, a Florida-based research organization, found that the funding gap for students at CCSN was $1,291.

Law to protect kids from unscrupulous Internet sites: One issue was the amount of personal information collected from children on children's websites.

Business people: Stephen Stoney, director of buildings and grounds for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, received the Facilities Management Administrator professional designation from the Building Owners and Managers Institute International.

Columnist Melissa Schorr: A long way from May to December: Melissa Schorr; You could say we have an understanding -- he buys me presents; I tell him I love him.

Box score: Trappers 8, Stars 6: Las Vegas

New voting chief looking for smooth balloting in mayor's race: Lomax is following a registrar whose first election was a near disaster but rebounded to earn praise for installing a smooth system that includes electronic voting machines.

Three NHP troopers receive agency's Medal of Valor: Gyll also was presented with a Purple Heart because of injuries he suffered in February 1998 when he shot and killed a Kansas man who tried to run over him following a car chase in Gardnerville.

Box score: Trappers 17, Stars 6: E--Luuloa, Matthews, Newhan 2. DP--Las Vegas 1, Edmonton 1. LOB--Las Vegas 7, Edmonton 9. 2B--Hutchins, Luuloa, Charles, Prieto. 3B--Williams, Matthews. HR--Herrick (1), Pritchett (2). SB--Williams. SF--Decker.

Workshops on nutrition set: The "Grocery Shopping Smarts" workshop will be conducted by a registered dietitian and will include instructions for reading food labels, ways to save money on grocery buying and discussions on foods not to buy.

Box score: Stars 4, Cannons 1: E--Newhan, Matthews. DP--Calgary 1. LOB--Calgary 7; Las Vegas 8. 2B-Clapinski, Millar, Newhan, C.Garcia, Charles. S--Tolberg.

Passenger on bus that crashed on school trip sues: The driver, Charlie Burger, died from injuries sustained in the crash along Interstate 15. There were no other fatalities.

Columnist Ralph Siraco: Victorious Antley is no stranger to rough rides: Ralph Siraco; LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The last Kentucky Derby of this century will go down in history as a Derby of almost records, heartwarming comebacks and a good old Kentucky re-creation of the Charge of the Light Brigade.

Immunizations: NORTH LAS VEGAS PUBLIC HEALTH CENTER: 3262 Civic Center Drive, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Obituaries for May 3, 1999: She is survived by one daughter, Alta Miller of Las Vegas; three sisters, Josephine Pruett of Virginia, Mary Tabor of North Carolina and Elizabeth Lynch of Florida; one grandchild and three great-grandchildren.

Interest shown in LV Springs license plate: Gov. Kenny Guinn on Thursday signed Senate Bill 204 to allow the Las Vegas Valley Water District to raise money for the restoration of the area called the "Birthplace of Las Vegas." The state must have 250 requests for the special license plates to begin making them.

Lawmakers start ironing out budget differences: Brendan Riley; During the brief meeting, Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means members resolved a handful of differences over minor items in the proposed $3.2 billion spending plan for the next two years.

Committee tells DMV to get better organized: The committee Friday rejected a proposed department reorganization that would have given managers up to a 10 percent raise while other employees received no pay increase. The committee also rejected the plea from the department for an additional 50 new employees.

National Wrestling Championships results: Freestyle Medal Matches

Lawmakers repay, report cost of lobbyist-funded trip to Vegas: GOP Sens. Mark James of Las Vegas and Bill Raggio and Randolph Townsend of Reno reimbursed lobbyist-jet ride organizer Harvey Whittemore, so the cost of the ride didn't show up on their March expenditure reports.

Prep schedule: May 3-8: Baseball

Circus to change name to Mandalay Resort Group: Shareholders will vote on the proposal at the annual meeting on June 17.

Gas boycott doesn't attract motorists: "A boycott like that isn't going to work," he said. "By not buying their gas today, they'll buy it tomorrow."

Las Vegas community briefs: The Mexican Patriotic Committee will host the 18th annual Cinco De Mayo Celebration 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday at Freedom Park, featuring live entertainment throughout the day, food from different regions of Mexico and circus acts, including the world-famous "Flying Indians."

Rebels finally receive commitment from Kelly: Steve Carp; For a while, it was looking like it was going to be basketball recruiting's answer to Al Capone's vault -- one big hoax.

Picking up mail, food: Local letter carriers are again asking Las Vegas residents to leave food in or near their mailboxes next Saturday.

Goodman: Backfiring negative ads are aiding him: Erin Neff; "My mood is very, very upbeat," Goodman said this morning after a weekend spent calling voters. "There's a tremendous excitement in the community, and I'm very hopeful we can win this thing tomorrow night.

Venetian scrambles to open on time: Gary Thompson; Venetian owner Sheldon Adelson vowed this morning that his $1.5 billion hotel-casino will open to the public sometime tonight as planned.

Smooth municipal election day predicted: Adrienne Packer; Not only are turnouts for municipal elections smaller than federal races, but the cities' debut Early Voting Program was deemed a success and that means fewer voters will be at the polls Tuesday.

Stars blow early lead, lose 8-6 on the road: Jump out to an early lead and then watch hopelessly as the bullpen blows it down the stretch.

North Las Vegas library loses round: Lisa Snedeker; Mayor Michael Montandon and County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates came up with a proposal earlier this year in which the county would have given the city $5 million -- $2 million of which was a loan that the city would have paid back -- toward construction costs of a branch library in the city's fast-growing northwest area.

Debate over lewd ads continues in Legislature: Jennifer Coleman; AB282, by Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, would amend Nevada laws to require an "opaque covering" over womens' breasts depicted in the ads.

Television newsman at UNLV Greenfield: After 14 years as a political and media analyst with ABC News, Greenfield moved to CNN in January 1998 and now serves as co-anchor with Bernard Shaw of "NewsStand: CNN & Time." He also guest hosts "Larry King Live" and is a contributing columnist for Time magazine.

Study finds little link between gambling, white-collar crime: Laurence Arnold; The study counters one popular criticism of gambling -- that the proliferation of casinos encourages compulsive gamblers to steal and cheat to support their habit.

Witness describes being a rat for mob: And a thief. And a liar, a counterfeiter and Mafia associate.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Channel 3 gets radical, ousts sports: Dean Juipe; It always seemed like the weather, if anything, would be the first to go and the least missed.

Truck driver whose rig flipped faces criminal charges: White was headed southbound through the Washoe Valley about 4:30 a.m. Monday when he lost control of his 50-foot trailer and rolled into the dirt median, the Nevada Highway Patrol said.

Las Vegas news briefs: A man identified as Dean Robin McCoy was found dead in the front door of the bar in the 500 block of East Sahara, police said.

Gaming supplier looks at listing stock: Spintek, which makes products like the coin-counting AccuSystem, said it will report more than $5 million in sales in the fourth quarter -- up from $3.2 million during the first nine months of its fiscal year.

County to hear union's requests for UMC changes: Art Nadler; The commissioners also act as the hospital's board of trustees. They will meet at 2 p.m.

Nuke official to take Nevadans' concerns to D.C.: Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Greta Dicus heard the concerns of state and local officials and environmental representatives behind closed doors Friday and then promised to take their nuclear waste objections to her fellow commissioners.

Prep baseball playoffs feature wide-open field: Spencer Patterson; For the first time in seven years, the prep baseball playoffs begin this Wednesday without a clear-cut favorite in the Southern Zone Tournament's field of eight.

Upcoming events: Starting a small business -- Workshops offered by Service Corps of Retired Executives Association and the Small Business Administration. Ongoing. 388-6104.

Seminar set on future of keno: The speakers are Ron Heinz, director of keno at Fitzgerald's hotel-casino; and Vic Salerno, chief executive of American Wagering Inc.

Contractors board revokes licenses: X L A Group, which held a residential and small commercial contractors license and an ornamental metal and prefabricated steel structures license, was cited for several violations of state law.

Jarrett calls fifth-place finish a pleasant surprise: FONTANA, Calif. -- Based upon his performance this season, it should come as no surprise that Dale Jarrett scored a top-five finish in Sunday's California 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race at California Speedway. But it came as a big shock to Jarrett.

Candidates talk about blend, but few offer plans: Erin Neff; Las Vegas remains one of the largest -- and the fastest-growing -- metropolitan areas nationwide with such a dichotomy of governments, elected officials and services.

'Star Wars' fever hits: 'Phantom' toys vanish: After waiting up to two hours, nearly 200 people rummaged through the shelves of Toys R Us, 4550 Meadows Lane, to grab "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" merchandise that went on sale at 12:01 a.m. today.

San Diego State hands Rebels 4th straight loss: Tim Graham; UNLV's baseball team set a few goals for its Sunday afternoon game against San Diego State:

Boxers' medical records could be kept confidential: Jennifer Coleman; AB467, discussed in the Senate Judiciary Committee, came about after former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson's medical records - public Nevada Athletic Commission records - were posted on the Internet.

LV company expands Mississippi resort: The 314-room hotel has 40 suites, a swimming pool and fitness center. Its opening was accompanied by the addition of new food and beverage outlets, including the Doe's Eat Place restaurant, a regional brand; and remodeling of the existing Rhythm & Blues Hotel.

Mental health, drug programs to get additional funds: A recent state Department of Education survey of Nevada students showed that use of cocaine and tranquilizers is increasing at all grade levels but that use of alcohol and other illicit drugs, including marijuana, appears to be leveling off.