Print edition for December 18, 2000

First votes cast as Electoral College members vote for president: Robert Tanner; The Electoral College began casting what should be the final votes for president Monday, with members honoring their pledges and Tennessee - Vice President Al Gore's home state - giving its 11 votes to President-elect George W. Bush.

McDonald off one hook as recall petition falls short: Erin Neff; Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald cleared the first of three hurdles to his continued political career Friday when a recall petition came up short.

Top 5 unchanged; Utes join rankings: Chuck Schoffner; Utah was the lone newcomer today in the Associated Press women's basketball poll, which had Connecticut leading a top five that was unchanged from last week.

Two UNLV players, one team ranked: Two UNLV players, one team ranked

Laughlin's air may pay price for California's need for more power: CARSON CITY -- Residents of Laughlin may see a little more black smoke in the skies during the next few months because of the power shortage in California.

Columnist John Katsilometes: A revealing card from the Clintons: We here at the S.S. Accent receive gads of Christmas cards. There's a Caesars Palace card and a Twentieth Century Fox card and a card from the good folks at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Liberace's spirit graces holiday display: What: Liberace Christmas decorations on display.

Trends for December 18, 2000: Lisa Ferguson; In the stars

Birth announcements for December 18, 2000: Dec. 2: A boy to Melinda and Tai Riojas. Dec. 3: A boy to Christina and James Furst III. Dec. 4: A girl to Latoya Smith and Omar Atchison; a boy to Tracey and Michael Starrion; a boy to Maureen and Richard Femenella. Dec. 6: Ramirez. Dec. 7: A boy to Shanna and Jon Leavitt. Dec. 8: A girl to Reana Hatch and Brock Foster; a girl to Leslie and Patrick Erevia. Dec. 9: A girl to Elena and Frank Piersanti. Dec. 10: A boy to Griselda Hinojosa and Hector Valles. Dec. 11. A girl to Abeer Saab and Erik ...

City Council to decide hotly lobbied lobbyist contract: Erin Neff; One of the most intensely lobbied contracts in the city of Las Vegas this year will be awarded Wednesday with none of the three most active firms winning the bid.

Girls tournament at Centennial: The four-day event concludes with Thursdays championship contest, slated to begin at 3 p.m. All games will be played in Centennials main and auxiliary gyms.

Enjoying warm weather, Hogs have productive workout: Steve Guiremand; Following a spirited two-hour practice on Sunday morning at Desert Pines High School, Arkansas linebacker Quinton Caver had to shield his eyes to block the sun while answering questions from a reporter.

Lady Rebels hope to stay sharp vs. CSNU: UNLV women's basketball coach Regina Miller is more concerned about the Lady Rebels than Cal State Northridge going into Tuesday night's nonconference game against the Matadors at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Ex-coach was wrong about UNLV: Dean Juipe; The words were uttered by no less an authority than Bill Bayno, then the head coach of the UNLV men's basketball team.

Letter: Clark County schools deserve a bigger budget: I especially want to thank Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins for pointing out that Clark County is having trouble recruiting and retaining teachers. The current trend in this district is to bring teachers from out of state to fill our need here in this district. But our district is becoming a "training site" for new teachers. It is true that many new teachers come to Las Vegas for a year or two to get something to put on their resume and then go back to wherever they came from with experience. For our state to get and keep the best and ...

Program aims to keep teens from crime: Diana Sahagun; Michelle Henderson, 41, said she began a life of crime at age 8.

Gorman shooting to return to finals: Spencer Patterson; The gym was still emptying out after Bishop Gorman's recent 24-point win over Cheyenne when several Gaels players sounded a rallying cry that made their head coach cringe.

Officials hope sluggish ticket sales will pick up: Steve Guiremand; Las Vegas Bowl officials are keeping their fingers crossed that ticket sales will pick up dramatically in the next couple of days.

Good ponders changes after loss to Cincinnati: Steve Addy; If the Rebels don't make some fast, measurable strides under new coach Max Good, something will have to give.

Editorial: Preventing additional mistakes: Sun reporter Cy Ryan catalogued some of the library's shortcomings in a Tuesday story. The state Public Works Board, which has overseen the project that was supposed to total $58.2 million ($43.2 million came from the state and about $15 million came from the Lied Foundation), has had to transfer more than $500,000 from its furnishing and equipment budget to instead fund additional construction. Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, also said subcontractors have filed about $4.3 million in claims against the contractor, and another $1.3 million in claims could occur as well.

106th Congress leaves 107th a full in-basket: WASHINGTON -- The outgoing Congress that adjourned on Friday left behind a tall stack of unfinished business for the more evenly divided Congress that arrives in January.

Bush meets with Greenspan, Hill leaders: Tom Raum; WASHINGTON - Visiting the nation's capital for the first time since the election, President-elect Bush met with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, called on congressional leaders and stood by his $1.3 trillion tax-cut plan.

Culinary, gaming relations strained: THERE'S A SMALL crack in the much-ballyhooed cooperative relationship between the casino industry and its most influential labor group, the Culinary Union.

Park Place is seen as likely suitor for the Aladdin: David Strow; As one of the Aladdin's owners works to regain its financial footing, speculation is growing that the Strip's newest resort could be prime for a takeover, either through a sale or in bankruptcy court.

Yucca to be center of more attention: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- Nevada's congressional delegation and anti-nuclear industry activists on Tuesday plan to shine a brighter spotlight on an inspector general's investigation into whether the Department of Energy is already biased in favor a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.

Bayno asks regents to step in: Fired UNLV basketball coach Bill Bayno is threatening legal action if university regents don't conduct an emergency session to consider reinstating him.

Numerous Nevada projects are funded by Congress: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- A number of Nevada-related projects were included in the final budget package assembled by Congress last week before lawmakers packed up and went home for the year.

Obituaries for December 18, 2000: Lawrence P. Baldy, 60, of Las Vegas died Thursday in a local hospital. He was born April 2, 1940, in New York City. A resident for 11 years, he owned Spas Unlimited.

More cases of killings of children in jeopardy: Kim Smith; A Clark County chief deputy district attorney said the Nevada Supreme Court could overturn as many as eight more local child homicide convictions because of changes in the law, but it isn't likely.

Rudin attorney charges link between police, civil attorneys: Kim Smith; The attorney for a woman accused of killing her millionaire husband six years ago will put a Metro Police homicide detective on the stand Tuesday as part of his battle to get the charges against Margaret Rudin dismissed.

Veteran White House reporter Thomas to speak: Drawing from her 37-year journalism career in which she covered eight presidents, Thomas will give her perspective on the just-concluded presidential election.

Nevada electors to push Bush over top: CARSON CITY -- Nevada's four electoral votes were due to give Texas Gov. George W. Bush his presidential victory today.

Analyst starting coverage of casino debt issues: David Strow; In a first for Wall Street, Bear Stearns gaming analyst Jason Ader has picked up coverage of the bond market.

Beasley renegotiates deal: Beasley is buying three stations each in Las Vegas and New Orleans for $113.5 million.

Dealer sues gaming regulators over denial of work permit: Grace Leong; A former MGM Grand dealer, who was arrested in 1997 by Nevada Gaming Control Board agents on charges of cheating at gambling, is taking legal action to reverse a November decision by regulators to deny him a work permit.

BLM eyes purchase of land for parks: Comments

Convictions in killings of children overturned: Kim Smith; A Clark County chief deputy district attorney said the Nevada Supreme Court could overturn as many as eight more local child homicide convictions because of changes in the law, but it isn't likely.

Milk prices hearing set for Thursday: The Dairy Commission plans the hearing at 9:30 a.m., at the second floor conference room of the Bradley Building, 2501 E. Sahara Ave.

Trial set for Jan. 2 in Treasure Island robberies: Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle scheduled Reginald Johnson's preliminary hearing during a brief court appearance this morning.

Letter: So much for a civilized nation: More destruction of the environment, a nuclear dump, more immoral distribution of wealth, weakening of workers' rights, dismantling of Social Security, the weakening of our educational system, more societal divisiveness, etc.

Nevada Power submits monthly rate increase: CARSON CITY -- Nevada Power Co. filed its seventh rate increase request since July on Friday, though the latest request is about half the size of the last one, made in November.

Company tops magazine's IT list: The study, complied by InformationWeek and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, grades companies based on "innovative uses of technology to help companies move from reacting to anticipating customer needs -- perhaps even before customers are aware of those needs. The study examines innovation in customer service, data management, customer profiling, leading initiatives, "personalization" and comparisons to other companies in an industry.

Local news briefs for December 18, 2000: Metro Police homicide detectives continue to investigate the fatal shooting of a homeless man found lying in a parking lot in the 1900 block of H Street.

Climate part of water worries: A warmer climate predicted for the 21st century could affect the Colorado River, making it harder to manage water delivery to states such as Nevada, California and Arizona, a report says.

Columnist Ralph Siraco: Year was filled with triumphs, disappointments: Ralph Siraco; With Christmas one week from today and New Years two weeks hence, my next column will come a full week into 2001.

Congress finalizes its session: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- Retiring Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., was poised to take home one final legislative victory today with his effort to protect parts of Nevada's Black Rock desert.

GTECH posts decline in quarterly profit: WEST GREENWICH, R.I. -- GTECH Holdings Corp., the struggling lottery giant, posted a decline in third-quarter earnings.

Alibis raised in double murder: Kim Smith and Greg Tuttle; Defense attorneys for a Nazi skinhead accused of killing two anti-racist skinhead activists tried to strengthen his alibi Friday and gave jurors an alternate suspect.

Graduation day: Jace Radke; Retiring Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., and University of Nevada-Reno President Joe Crowley received the accolades due their positions Sunday at UNLV's winter graduation, but one of the loudest ovations of the day was saved for 77-year-old graduate Mickey Sharpe.

Court briefs for December 18, 2000: A 22-year-old man who was charged with murdering another man over a litter of puppies was sentenced to 50 years in prison Friday.

Letter: Supreme Court turns tyrannical: The triangulation of a conservative federal government has now been completed. The Congress, the judiciary and now the executive are firmly in the hands of conservatives. In this most recent episode, we see just how the tyranny of the majority works.

Lender wants cash collateral secured at bankrupt LV casino: Grace Leong; A Wells Fargo Bank subsidiary is seeking an order to sequester all cash collateral it claims the bankrupt Vacation Village hotel-casino in Las Vegas is using without authorization.

Jewish people prepare to celebrate Hanukkah: Stacy J. Willis; Many of the more than 75,000 members of the Southern Nevada Jewish community will celebrate Hanukkah beginning Thursday night.

Vegas gas prices decline, but overall prices increase: Despite the decline, local prices are well above the national average of $1.50, the auto club reported.

Kids research honorary names for West Las Vegas streets: Kris Hill; After weeks of preparation, students from four West Las Vegas elementary schools unveiled the honorary names they selected for the lettered streets A through N in a ceremony Wednesday at the West Las Vegas Library.