Print edition for March 19, 2000

Letter: Negative flier on commissioner goes unclaimed: Perhaps Mr. Malone will want to consider that we are not the only people he has upset with his spineless and directionless behavior. I can only speculate how those closest to him might express their displeasure with his idiotic actions, and I suppose they might want to remain anonymous. Certainly, I think they may have a hard time telling him how they feel and actually being heard over Erin Kenny's loud nagging about how he ought to do what she tells him to do.

Columnist Susan Snyder: Vegas and America inch ever closer: A new book by local sociologists Claudia Collins and David Dickens says the rest of the country is becoming more like Las Vegas and Las Vegas is becoming more normal.

Columnist Jeff German: Del Papa faces big court test: The fireworks are about to begin in the courtroom of District Judge James Mahan.

Betting, revenue up as Woodlands officials deny closure speculation: General manager Allan Meyers said betting was up 15 percent on dog races and 17 percent on simulcast horse races.

Kennel owners take in millions thanks to electronic gambling: At Lincoln Park, wagering on greyhounds fell for the 11th straight year in 1999. But owners of 15 kennels that operate at the track split more cash than they had in at least a decade: $10.4 million.

Q&A: Flyin' the Coop: Pat Cooper's comedy is rapid fire, like an Uzi, and just as deadly.

As state backs Indian casinos in California, two counties harbor hopes of rejection: Don Thompson; After her unsuccessful push to get California voters to reject a ballot measure permitting state gambling compacts with Indian tribes, Schmit has reconciled herself to a tribe's plan to build a casino nearby. She is now trying to get as much protection as possible for surrounding communities.

Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: A letter that tells all: Gee whiz, some of the officials running Elko County have been telling the world that Gloria Flora had overblown the seriousness of the situation in their area. She was the forest supervisor who quit to get the attention of her superiors about the problems her Forest Service employees were facing in Elko County. Now it appears that Flora's antennas had picked up every vicious nuance the anti-government forces were peddling.

Tribal chairman says no fraud occurring at Wisconsin casino: "Some people want to send a message out there that Lac du Flambeau is not a viable casino and things are going out the door and that is not so," he said. "We have had workers that have taken chips. They were caught and handled properly through the court systems. We have had maybe a tech take coins out of a machine, get caught on camera and be terminated."

Battling rezoning: Rodney Helm's new next-door neighbor is likely to be a 130,000-square-foot Home Depot store. And he's not happy about the prospects.

Letter: NRA has lied to Americans: Recently, in response to gun control issues, a woman wrote in a letter to the editor that we should put the Ten Commandments back into the classroom as her solution to gun violence. I chuckled at first. But then I thought, perhaps she had a point. We could give each kid a slate inscribed with the Ten commandments that they could strap to themselves as protective vests against those "guns (that) don't kill."

Casino gambling debate heating up in Rhode Island: One bill before the committee would ban gambling within a mile of a school. The Narragansett Indians want to build a $250 million casino within 500 feet of the Greenbush Elementary School.

Letter: Group's stance far from logical: I want to take this time to implore any PETA member to renounce your membership, and by all means quit trying to push your idiotic opinions upon others.

Columnist Kate Maddox: Shania gets shorn in Las Vegas: Kate Maddox; Singer Shania Twain turned up here last week to vacation with her sister and she stopped in for a haircut at one of Vegas' high-end hotel salons.

Tribes willing to consider changes to compact with New Mexico: Deborah Baker; Johnson's office received a letter Friday from the tribes requesting to meet with David McCumber, the governor's lawyer and negotiator, no later than Wednesday.

KISS' farewell tour may be premature: Geoff Carter; Take, for example, the KISS Farewell Show, March 17 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center - a distinctively male rite of passage. The band of the hour had just blazed through a loud, tough version of "Firehouse" - the show was the loudest I've yet heard at Mandalay - and I made a quick trip to the men's room to - well, you know. It was St. Patrick's Day.

Columnist Sandra Thompson: Las Vegas legal aid facilities growing: Sandra Thompson; It may be the beginning of a new era for legal services in Las Vegas.

Columnist Jon Ralston: Ensign kicks off media campaign: The story has proven selling power: A scion of a mining family emerges from a hardscrabble childhood to become a tireless and independent elected official.

Cashell to run for Washoe County Commissioner: Cashell, general manager of the Ormsby House casino in Carson City and owner of the Alamo truck stop in Sparks, pledged to run a positive, issues-oriented campaign.

Gambling, tourism increasing sales of condos along the Gulf Coast: "We're going out and marketing in the same areas that the casinos market for people looking for secondary homes," said Richard Landry, a spokesman for the New Orleans-based Beau View development, which is planned between Eisenhower Drive and DeBuys Road. "We want to come in this market before it gets priced out."

Letter: Make Detroit pay for pump prices: Las Vegas could set the way for the rest of the country. Just say no to any auto purchase.

Tapes portray friendship between Edwards and DeBartolo Jr.: Natalie Gott; That's because the former governor and six others have been on trial for 11 weeks now, accused of carrying out a series of schemes to manipulate the riverboat casino licensing process. The alleged schemes occurred before and after Edwards left his last term in office in 1996.

Editorial: Pill splitting isn't a promising trend: Last year Nevada's state Board of Pharmacy was on the verge of passing rules curbing pill-splitting, but backed off after it found out it didn't have the power to regulate HMO practices. HMOs certainly are feeling the pressure from rising drug prices, but they shouldn't force patients to split their own pills, especially since doctors have legitimate concerns that not only could dosing errors occur but also that some drugs lose their potency when split.

Editorial: Lands bill is a step forward: Most environmental legislation creates sharp divisions, but this bill has nearly 300 co-sponsors. Still, the bill hasn't been met with universal acclaim. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., whose congressional district encompasses all of rural Nevada, agrees with several parts of the bill, including more money for wildlife restoration and dedicated funding for urban parks. Overall, though, Gibbons opposes the bill.

Downtown Brookings bar owner wants video lottery restriction trashed: It's not possible to get the issue on the regular city election ballot April 11, and the earliest a special election could be held is May 2, according to city officials.