Print edition for September 26, 1999

Columnist Sandra Thompson: Best interests of child finally given due priority: Sandra Thompson; TODAY THE CHILD is the winner.

Hometown racer wins Vegas.com 500 in dramatic fashion: Las Vegas resident Sam Schmidt passed Kenny Brack with two laps remaining and held on to win the Pep Boys Indy Racing League Vegas.com 500 Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Editorial: Bungling a gamble to secede: At an editorial board meeting with the Sun last week, Metro Police's fiscal chief said there is "no way" the city could realize such savings. Comptroller Lois Willis noted that the personnel costs alone for a city-run police department would nearly match what the city is contributing to Metro now, which is about $73 million. Assuming the city broke away and had a ratio of two police officers for every 1,000 residents, that would mean the city would need 900 police officers. The average salary and benefits for a Metro police officer is about $80,000, according to Willis, bringing the ...

Montoya earns seventh pole of season: Mike Harris; HOUSTON - There's nothing conservative about Juan Montoya.

Tracy wins as points race tightens: After being handed the trophy - a gold-covered cowboy boot - for winning Sunday's 100-lap race, Tracy said, "I'd hate to say any place owes me one, but I'd have to say I stuck that boot right there in my rear last year."

County braces for another January 1997 deluge: "The river's in better shape than its ever been in modern times," said Dick Mirgon, chief of emergency services for Douglas County.

NLV airport taking off: Diana Sahagun; When Jim Helfrich lands his Cessna 210 at the North Las Vegas Airport, he sees something far different from what was an oasis nearly 40 years ago.

IRL-CART talks in serious trouble: Mike Harris; HOUSTON - Little hope remained Sunday for a possibile unification of the Indy Racing League and Championship Auto Racing Teams open-wheel series following negative comments by IRL founder Tony George.

Wallace won't be showing off: Dick Brinster; DOVER, Del. - When the green flag drops Sunday to start the MBNA Gold 400, Rusty Wallace might take off and establish a substantial lead.

Schmidt wins first IRL race on hometown track: Schmidt averaged 124.936 mph in his G-Force-powered Oldsmobile Aurora on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He completed 208 laps in 2 hours, 29 minutes, 50.204 seconds, .617 seconds ahead of Brack. Brack, third-place finisher Robbie Buhl and Scott Sharp, who was fourth, all finished on the lead lap.

Vegas.com 500 results: 2. (3) Kenny Brack, G Force-Aurora, 208, $115,550

A.J. Foyt column: A crash-filled race: Up until the wreck, Billy had been driving very well. He qualified ninth yesterday and was competitive right up until the crash. The Harrah's car was running just the way we wanted it to, but there was nothing we could do to control what happened. Had the disabled car not experienced mechanical problems at the time it did, there's no telling how well Billy would have done. Billy did everything right, but there was simply no way for him to avoid the collision. I'm just glad he's all right, as wrecks at such high speeds are extremely dangerous.

Street Vibrations bikers find themselves on not-so-candid camera: "When we have issues like this, we like to document the problem by camera or video to ensure we make better plans should an event like this be taking place in the future," Reno police Lt. Jake Wiskerschen told KOLO-TV.

Martin breaks drought with Dover victory: Dick Brinster; DOVER, Del. - After winning a career-best seven times in 1998, nobody figured Mark Martin would still be looking for his second victory this season in September.

Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Duo daring to dream: IN MAGIC nothing is impossible. In America, your impossible dreams can come true.

Pilot classes soar in popularity: Stacy J. Willis; Brad Krell flies a single engine airplane to 6,500 feet and then, in midair, he stalls it.

Editoria: Deregulation gets off to a rocky start: Existing monopolies argue they need this extra money to prepare for competition. While three new electric companies plan to offer residential service, so far just one has gotten state approval -- even though competition begins March 2000. Some already may be yearning for the good old days of regulation where excess profits were returned to customers in the form of lower rates.

Douglas Official: Time for state to set lands policy: "There's no sense of urgency," Hadfield said after last week's meeting. "People have to understand this is a war, and we don't have many allies on our side."

Columnist Jeff German: Bernstein draws closer to taking first step: WITH DEMOCRATS now pinning their hopes on his candidacy, Ed Bernstein says he's 90 percent sure he'll run for the Senate in 2000.

MBNA 400 results: 1. (8) Mark Martin, Ford, 400, $115,710.

Letter: 'Rat Pack' suit sparks outrage: I am outraged that they have the nerve to sue the Desert Inn. But then, isn't everybody suing someone nowadays? Would the Sinatras rather nobody remember their father and the group he helped make famous? How would they then feel every time they heard an Elvis impersonator? Or see someone doing Marilyn, Judy, or Bogie. Would they then wish that we would remember their father and sing his songs?

European GP Results: 1. Johnny Herbert, Britain, Stewart-Ford, 66, 1 hour, 41 minutes, 54.314 seconds.

Letter: Public disfavors deconsolidation: Their detention man is the highest paid law person in Nevada -- he makes more than Metro's sheriff or the sheriff in Northern Nevada. Where is the equity here? Why not look at their staffing for cost-cutting?

Agassi benefit concert raises almost $4 million: "This is an awesome time," Agassi said during Saturday night's fifth annual concert at the MGM Grand Garden.

Letter: Wal-Mart debate goes beyond what is 'deserved': Does the average 12-year-old boy or girl working in a sweatshop in Guatemala "deserve" the 10 cents an hour that they earn? Over and over again Wal-Mart executives swear they don't knowingly buy the goods that those children produce. Never mind that one of the reasons for Wal-Mart's tremendous success is that they were at the forefront in developing the most sophisticated purchasing network in the world.

Herbert wins European GP, Hakkinen leads standings: Nesha Starcevic; NUERBURGRING, Germany - Johnny Herbert of Britain earned his third Formula One victory Sunday, taking the European Grand Prix which began with a crash and ended with many top drivers on the sidelines.

A cornucopia of Elvis items come up for auction at the MGM Grand: Lisa Ferguson; Elvis Presley auction

DOE to hear public on Yucca: To find out the times and exact locations of the scheduled hearings, call 1-800-967-3477. Or go to the DOE's website: www.ymp.gov

Sun earns seven first-place newspaper awards: Grove, now the Sun's Capitol Hill reporter in Washington, was named Journalist of Merit for his work as the Sun's reporter covering the Clark County School District.

Letter: Don't mess with Metro success: Metro has always done the right thing, without regard for what politicians may want. Metro being a separate government entity has allowed it to be more objective in its service to the public.

Letter: Power at heart of Metro issue: Fiefdom is hardly the word, sir. Kingdom, ruler and subjects come quickly to mind. The words ringing throughout the land will shortly become, "I grant thee wishes, bring me gifts."

Letter: Congress needs to look ahead: Forget their story that the Democrats will spend it foolishly; after all, the Republican control Congress. They can prevent any such programs from getting off the ground.

Letter: Store should be selling American: When I see big companies like Wal-Mart that are paying low-scale wages to part-time help and want to put in big box stores to undercut the stores that have union help, it makes me wonder why big corporations can absolutely take over everything in our wonderful country and are allowed to get away with making money on the backs of cheap labor.