Print edition for February 27, 2000

Letter: Area homeowners deserve better: I applaud Vickie Fort and all the other distressed homeowners for their effort. I also applaud the Sun for its objective reporting and obvious concern for its residents. I am a board member of a national effort to wipe out construction defects, Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings. It is our mission to hold cities and builders accountable.

Sierra motorists slowed by up to 2 1/2 feet of new snow: Martin Griffith; Chains were mandatory Sunday on all three major trans-Sierra passes: Interstate 80 over Donner Summit, U.S. Highway 50 over Echo Summit and Highway 88 over Carson Pass.

Columnist Kate Maddox: Basinger, Baldwin auction off goodies: Kate Maddox; Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin were the celebrity hosts at a fund-raising dinner Thursday night at Spiedini's Ristorante at the Regent Las Vegas in Summerlin. Basinger and Baldwin were on hand to lend support to PAWS, the Performing Animal Welfare Society, which cares for neglected animals at its facility in Galt, Calif.

Organizations offer information, help for Internet gamblers: The following organizations offer information about Internet gambling:

Editorial: Hypocrisy isn't very endearing: One of the defining moments in South Carolina was Bush's controversial appearance at Bob Jones University, a school that bans interracial dating and marriage among students. But a broadside by Bush that didn't receive as much coverage -- yet is of huge interest to Nevadans -- were his comments about the gaming industry.

Easy access, sophisticated sites create potential for compulsion: Tom Verdin; Internet casinos, more than 700 of which operate worldwide, lure players with snazzy graphics, real-life features like the sound of coins cascading from winning slot machines and the type of come-ons that are customary in the ever-expanding gambling universe.

Letter: Drug makers earn Gibbons' backing: All socialized medicine in this world is subsidized by the American consumer, who pays the price of drug research. When we do not protect these companies, the world will not have the new drugs needed to battle today's and tomorrow's diseases. Perhaps the rest of the world should enter the "free market of medicine" and relieve us of these terribly high drug prices and the burden of paying for a world of medical research. We must never have the government provide and control health care, or all is lost.

Editorial: DOE gets sobering news on nuke dump: As the Sun's Mary Manning reported, the NRC claimed that the DOE failed to assess the cumulative impacts of a repository, a critical provision in federal environmental law. For instance, the DOE didn't consider the future use of ground water at Yucca Mountain in light of growing local cities. Although the NRC's criticisms aren't as harsh as those from Nevada officials, if the NRC says the DOE has problems, then we should be alarmed. The DOE should accept the advice from Nevada officials: Junk this flawed document and start all over again.

Q&A: Long, Tall Susan: Kirk Baird; Susan Anton made a name for herself in the late '70s after winning the Miss California crown and tying as first runner-up Miss America. It wasn't long before the leggy blonde with the radiant smile was everywhere in America: on TV, with a short-lived variety series on NBC in '79; in teenagers' rooms, via the ubiquitous bathing suit poster; and in the tabloids, due to a relationship to the considerably shorter comedian/actor Dudley Moore.

Columnist Jeff German: Tabish pal has many tales to tell: It turns out that Jason Lee Frazier knows a lot more about Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy than prosecutors thought.

Despite opposition, Internet gambling grows into billion-dollar industry: Tom Verdin; Then, two years ago, the Cranston, R.I., got hooked. She discovered she didn't have to drive the 40 minutes to the Foxwoods Resort Casino in neighboring Connecticut.

Neal relishes lone wolf role: Stacy J. Willis; State Sen. Joe Neal likes to tell political war stories. Most of them go like this: An injustice exists, and the establishment isn't doing anything to change it. So Neal goes to battle to right the wrong.

Prosecutors expected to quiz witnesses about Edwards' finances: Natalie Gott; Testimony is expected to revolve around the large sums of cash that Edwards allegedly used to pay for expensive items - including jewelry and part of his house.

Summerlin surpasses promises: Ten years ago it was a giant tract of empty desert on the far western reaches of Las Vegas.

New lead reopens car bomb mystery: Kim Smith; The scene is seared into Beecher Avants' memory.

Columnist Susan Snyder: Dedicated to a clean Red Rock: Gray morning clouds heavy with mist hung low and hid Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area's craggy peaks.

Seven months after New Orleans shutdown, number of machines makes slight comeback: Alan Sayre; On June 30, the lights were turned out on the machines in parishes that decided to outlaw video poker in local-option referendums held in November 1996.

Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: Hardball theopolitics: Despite an attempt by most Americans not to mix politics and religion, the recent Republican presidential primary in South Carolina showed a heavy mixture of the two. This is often true for both political parties when campaigning in the so-called Bible Belt.

Columnist Sandra Thompson: Kids' prescriptions are often just a quick fix: Sandra Thompson; What does a drug dealer typically look like? A shady figure on a street corner; a rotund man in a white suit who runs the Colombian drug cartel?

GOP sees foundations as the menace in federal land restrictions: John Hughes; But now the lawmakers are taking aim at a new target they see as an increasingly powerful menace: foundations.

Columnist Jon Ralston: Spring Valley flap brings sham of a law to light: The scene could unfold today, tomorrow and beyond:

Letter: Money won't resolve valley's flooding threat: So who are the biggest fools in the Las Vegas Valley? Is it the flood control district for assuring residents it can stop valley flooding with another billion dollars, or the residents for forking over sales tax dollars while standing knee-deep in muddy floodwater nearly every time it rains?