Print edition for January 16, 2000

Growth puts BLM in 'critical situation': Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- A population surge in the American West is trampling the Bureau of Land Management's ability to tend public lands, officials say.

Metro targets dancers' permits: Erin Neff and Keith Paul; Sun reporter Bill Gang contributed to this report.

Seminars get you in touch with an angel: Stacy J. Willis; The ad said "Contact Your Angels."

Letter: Casinos paid price for their greed: I hope the appallingly selfish hotel-casino industry learns a hard lesson from this. People have better ways to spend their hard-earned dollars than to waste them on exorbitant rates charged by a greedy industry.

Editorial: Privacy victory nice, but it's not enough: It was encouraging to see the Supreme Court keep these restrictions in place, but the assault continues on the privacy rights of Americans. While Congress took the right step in curtailing the release of DMV records several years ago, it is lamentable that last year it didn't pass legislation protecting the medical privacy rights of Americans. In addition, when Congress last year overhauled the laws governing the nation's financial institutions, it failed to mandate that newly affiliated companies -- especially banks and insurance companies -- must first get the consent of consumers before they swap sensitive data. The bottom line ...

Unloaded pellet gun leads to arrest: School officials said a teacher noticed the boy walking down the hall with the gun Friday afternoon. The teacher asked the boy for the gun, and it was turned over without incident.

Columnist Jon Ralston: New home, same view, more options: So this is what it feels like to flip-flop?

Letter: Amtrak's role as tourist carrier should be expanded: We've all seen video of the endless stream of cars on Interstate 15 at strategic times, taking up to 6 or 7 hours each way. This way the visitor could relax, even enjoy the trip. The downtown has a train station already in place at the Plaza. The various properties could arrange to pick up the luggage and deliver it to the person's room, and the transport buses could take anyone to their respective hotel that didn't want to take the stroll down Fremont. I think this could bring a lot of good business into downtown, revitalizing downtown by the ...

A Schuur Thing: The two-time Grammy winner will be making her second appearance in two years at Boulder Station's Railhead on Friday, performing two concerts, one at 7 p.m. and one at 9 p.m. (tickets are $24.50, plus tax).

Columnist Susan Snyder: Dying Vegas man needs a connection: Anybody out there know Gil Carlton Myer?

Audit urges city to spend $40,000 to improve police programs: Although the audit points out the law enforcement agency's weaknesses, it also highlights what the department is doing right. The department operates well with less managerial staff than that of other medium to large policing agencies, says the audit by Hughes, Perry & Associates.

Megabucks jackpot $32 million and growing: When someone lines up all three Megabucks emblems with a $3 bet, it will be the largest slot jackpot in history, surpassing a payout of $27.6 million won Nov. 15, 1998, by an anonymous Las Vegan at Palace Station.

Letter: Gay marriages are human rights issue: Just how does a marriage certificate between two loving people of the same sex threaten opposite sex marriage? Let's call the coalition's petition drive to make gay marriage unconstitutional in Nevada what it really is -- another thinly veiled attempt to deny basic human rights to a particular group in our society. Shame on Ziser, his coalition and his supporters.

Editorial: Relentless fight over nuke waste: Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has made no secret of his desire to do whatever it takes to send nuclear waste to Nevada. And Sens. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, are expected to again push for measures to weaken the scientific standards that assess Yucca Mountain's suitability to store man's deadliest waste for thousands of years. "What we want is to make sure that the measuring is under a regulation that allows waste to go to Yucca," Murkowski told the Sun's Washington correspondent, Benjamin Grove, in a December interview. So much for science. Rather than selecting the ...

Herrera is coming of age: Adrienne Packer; He was viewed by many as a young savior who could salvage a Clark County Commission tarnished by ethical blunders and petty conflicts.

Storm brings snow, rain to Tahoe: Martin Griffith; By Saturday evening, the storm had dumped up to a foot or more of snow on elevations above 7,000 feet and drenched lower elevations in heavy rain.

Jones romps in Music Hall: Ed Schuyler Jr.; So there he was Saturday night, strutting with the Rockettes and then beating up David Telesco in the first boxing show in the history of Radio City Music Hall.

Columnist Jeff German: Murphy says she's not a 'rat' for the FBI: IT'S CRUNCH TIME in the high-profile Ted Binion murder case, and tempers are flaring.

Columnist Sandra Thompson: Alienation vs. abuse poses custody dilemma: Sandra Thompson; SEVERAL STATES are considering expanding the definition of child abuse to include witnesses of domestic violence.