Print edition for September 20, 2000

Clark County officials forced to surrender cell phone records: It took the Nevada Supreme Court's ruling that the records are public information under state law to force Tuesday's release of the documents.

Sierra Pacific eyes Southwest Gas as potential target: Nevada's dominant electric utility may be interested in acquiring Southwest Gas Corp. of Las Vegas.

Wynn reveals merger details: David Strow; LOS ANGELES -- What will happen next at the Desert Inn?

Guggenheim to open art gallery at Venetian: David Strow; Las Vegas' aspirations of becoming a fine art mecca took a major step forward Tuesday as the world-renowned Solomon Guggenheim Foundation confirmed its intent to open a gallery at the Venetian resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

Filling it up has never been more expensive: Triple-A said on Wednesday that the average cost of a gallon of self-serve unleaded in the Reno-Sparks area was $1.91, up 16 cents from just a month ago and a nickel more than the previous record high in April.

A U.S. pool party: SYDNEY, Australia -- It was sweet revenge for the U.S. swimmers at the Sydney Games while Team USA had another sour outing on the softball field.

Permanent Yucca work could start before it is licensed: The Department of Energy may begin building an unprecedented high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain before scientific evidence proves that it is safe to license, an advisory committee of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was told Tuesday.

New jury finds killer guilty of lesser charge: William "Chris" Shoels, 27, was charged in the Aug. 25, 1993, slaying of Gregory Hayes, who was shot to death in a dispute during a basketball game.

Mississippi lawmakers pleased with casino ban plan: Gina Holland; The Gaming Commission is expected to endorse on Thursday a regulation that will permit people to ask casinos to keep them from gambling there for two years.

Letter: Many casino workers lose jobs: How does that help the unemployed, as they are out of work through no fault of their own, but must now start all over again to earn vacations and medical benefits?

Nevada consultant warns of nuclear risks: The two-day meeting of the NRC's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste continues Wednesday.

Kaukauna approves Indian casino contract: In a referendum vote last week, residents rejected a proposal to outlaw casino gambling in Kaukauna.

Sunco facility promotes vine dining: Max Jacobson; His massive North Las Vegas facility, Sunco Ltd., is a half-million-square- foot (around 12 acres) greenhouse at 3950 N. Bruce St. that is devoted entirely to the cultivation and harvesting of tomatoes. These tomatoes are vine-ripened and hydroponically grown, harvested from October through June.

Columnist Elizabeth Foyt: Reception leaves guests dreaming of new homes: Elizabeth Foyt; Certainly all new homes carry a promise of dreams fulfilled, but Kaufman and Broad go more than a step beyond with Dream Home Studio. Manager Pat Sullivan and a small army of design consultants work with all Kaufman and Broad home buyers in Southern Nevada, helping them create a truly custom feel for each new property. The huge showroom (more than 15,000 square feet) is filled with designer options and home upgrades, including flooring, wall coverings, doors, media rooms, cabinetry, bath fixtures and more.

Man shot in the chest during struggle: The man was shot in the chest with a shotgun during a struggle over the gun around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at an apartment on the city's east side, said Lt. Wayne Petersen.

Savvy wine buy: Miner Viognier '97: Max Jacobson; Viognier is a white varietal from France's Rhone Valley that is one of the hottest grapes in the North America. Great wines are being made from this grape on the Central Coast, in Sonoma County, Calif., and also in Napa County, Calif., where this value priced Viognier comes from. It's a fragrant wine loaded with light spice, not as acidic as a Sauvignon Blanc, and far less heavily oaked than a Chardonnay. It's also fruity, a blend of honey, pears and peaches, all of which make it a nice late-summer sipping wine.

Jackson calls for major voter registration drive: Angie Wagner; Jackson said Tuesday that Nevada needs to initiate a major voter registration drive because so much is riding on who the state elects as its next U.S. senator - Democrat Ed Bernstein or Republican John Ensign.

Columnist Paula DelGiudice: Nostalgic essays remain valuable: Paula DelGiudice; The waning days of summer in Southern Nevada seem about as far away from the misty autumn daybreaks that Aldo Leopold wrote in his "A Sand County Almanac" as Sydney's Olympic Games.

Tuesday's prep results: BOYS SOCCER

Editorial: Local Olympians prove their mettle: Las Vegas gymnast Tasha Schwikert no longer is in the hunt for a medal, but her performance still has been outstanding. Just 15 years old, Schwikert scored a 9.675 on the uneven bars during Tuesday's team competition, her highest mark ever on that apparatus.

Columnist Jon Ralston: At least Gore's here, not ducking dump: Vice President Al Gore said the clear difference between himself and George W. Bush on an interim nuclear waste dump is that he is against the idea and his opponent is mute on it.

Editorial: Miracle in political season: Under the plan, Clinton will ask Congress to spend $2.8 billion on wildland protection programs, an amount that is more than twice the current $1.2 billion spent in this area. Also important was the recognition by the administration that many of the decisions regarding the health of forests should be made by state and federal officials who are locally based. It also helped that both the administration and governors agreed beforehand to temporarily set aside some of the more divisive issues, including whether timber harvesting should be used to maintain healthy forests. Nevertheless, it still was encouraging that the Clinton ...

Letter: Chilling thought: W. as president: Bush cannot run against Gore on Social Security and Medicare because he has no national experience on the issues. Bush cannot, in good conscience, stand before a veterans group, as he did recently, wearing a VFW cap. Bush did not serve in the regular military service. He did not volunteer to serve in Vietnam and did not go to Vietnam. Al Gore did both.

Census response improves: Nevada was one of five states that improved its response rate in the 2000 Census over 1990 by at least 5 percentage points, the Census Bureau reported today.

Commission asked to find disciplinary action unwarranted; appeal still to come: It said any suggestion of wrongdoing by the casino company relied on the testimony of Lazaroff, which the company characterized as "the half-truths of an accomplished liar with his back to the wall."

Dream On: Custom luxury homes in Henderson draw a massive audience: What: Street of Dreams tour.

Nevada getting $7.6 million in federal payments: "With nearly 87% of Nevada's public land controlled by the federal government, these funds are essential to help replace some of Nevada's tax base," Sen. Richard Bryan said on Wednesday.

Community news briefs for September 20, 2000: The first New Resident Information Fair will be 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at the Dula Recreation Center, 441 E. Bonanza Road.

Letter: NTS workers deserving of compensation: Let me recap the course of this legislation so far. During mark-up of the Department of Defense authorization bill, I authored an amendment that would have created such a compensation program, but it was stricken on procedural grounds.

Columnist Muriel Stevens: Shopping is Maine attraction: No visit to Maine would be complete without a day spent in Freeport. This once-sleepy little town has become a premium outlet center. It's surely the most charming of outlet destinations since the town is pretty much the way it was before it blossomed into a major outlet shopping destination.

BYU star safety beats rare disease: Steve Guiremand; BYU head coach LaVell Edwards doesn't mince words when talking about Cougar safety Jared Lee.

Mayor's call-in talk honored by national TV organization: The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Administrators awarded "Las Vegas Town Hall" a second place in the nationwide Interview Talk Show category.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Schedule deflates BYU, coach: Dean Juipe; In coaching vernacular, Brigham Young "overscheduled" this season.

Las Vegas among major U.S. cities threatened by earthquakes: Potential damage

Columnist Jeff Haney: 'Super teaser' bettors clobbered by late field goal: If there's one thing the public likes more than betting the favorite, it's teasing the favorite down.

Obituaries for September 20, 2000: Maurice J. "Maure" Acampora, 82, of Las Vegas died Tuesday in a local care center. He was born May 10, 1918, in Worcester, Mass. A resident for 44 years, he was a retired refrigeration technician at REECo, a World War II Army veteran and a member of the Elks.

Correction for September 15, 2000: Correction for September 15, 2000

Busch's father to sweat out race from LV: When Kurt Busch takes the green flag in his NASCAR Winston Cup debut this weekend in Dover, Del., the most nervous person in America won't be Busch or his car owner, Jack Roush.

Las Vegas area fishing reports: Anglers who were competing in the Nevada Striper Club tournament last weekend had fair success by downrigging for stripers at depths of 30-40 feet. Most of the fish that were caught ranged from two to three pounds with several weighing in at six pounds.

Columnist Peter Benton: Invensys ticket plans available: Peter Benton; Advanced admission packages to the PGA Invensys Classic, scheduled Oct. 11-15 at the Desert Inn, Southern Highlands and TPC at Summerlin courses, are available as follows:

Slot makers settle lawsuit, agree to cooperate: IGT, the world's No. 1 slot maker, said it and WMS will cross license intellectual property like patents and that they may jointly pursue the development of participation slots with IGT's Telnaes technology.

Icahn buying Stratosphere mall, taking resort private: Shareholders not affiliated with Icahn will receive $45.32 per share. Icahn's companies, other than AREP, will receive $44.33 per share. Stratosphere earlier this year rejected a $44.35 buyout offer from Icahn.

Harrah's New Orleans casino future doubtful without tax relief: For months, speculation had been not if, but when, Harrah's New Orleans Casino will go to the Louisiana Legislature for relief from its $100 million annual state tax.

Man dies from one-car crash: Edgar Artiga-Abrego suffered the fatal injuries when he lost control of his car near Maryland Parkway and Franklin Avenue Sunday, crashed into a tree in Circle Park and rolled, Metro Police said.

Air quality panel approval delayed: Jeffrey Libby; Clark County commissioners put off approval Tuesday of the formation of an interim committee that would work to establish a regional air quality agency, citing concerns with process and financing.

Local news briefs for September 20, 2000: Clark County commissioners authorized McCarran International Airport officials Tuesday to sue developers who illegally dump construction debris on airport land.

Teacher accused of racial slurs gets transfer: Terry Webster; Clark County School District officials confirmed Tuesday that a Charles I. West Middle School teacher accused of making racial slurs is now teaching at another school.

Delegates working to include Nevadans in compensation bill: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- Nevada's congressional delegation is scrambling to find out if ailing Nevada Test Site workers will be covered by a new federal compensation plan for laborers who built the nation's nuclear arsenal.

Poll: Bernstein closing on Ensign: Launce Rake and Benjamin Grove; A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee poll of 500 likely voters in Nevada showed that trial lawyer Ed Bernstein is rapidly closing on the front-runner, former Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev.

Board grapples for solutions to neighborhood cab problem: By Richard N. Velotta; The issue of how to better serve Las Vegas residential neighborhoods with taxi service continues to elude the Taxicab Authority, which agreed Tuesday to keep studying the matter.

LV firm gets $7 million contract to build garage: Greg Harman; A Las Vegas construction company was awarded a $7 million parking garage contract Tuesday by the Henderson City Council, despite allegations of flaws in the company's bid and objections by the Southern California-Nevada Regional Council of Carpenters over the choice of subcontractor.

Court briefs for September 20, 2000: The Las Vegas resident who authorities believe shot the wrong man in a botched murder scheme entered a plea agreement midway through his trial Tuesday.

Henderson news briefs for September 20, 2000: The Henderson Redevelopment Agency approved URS Corp. to design a major utility upgrade scheduled to replace buried water, sewer and electrical lines beneath and around Water Street next year.

Ethics review panel will make decision on hearing: Erin Neff; The Las Vegas Ethics Review Board will meet Thursday to determine whether it has enough evidence to conduct a full-fledged hearing into allegations of misconduct by City Councilman Michael McDonald.

DA would deal with four Binion defendants: District Attorney Stewart Bell said Tuesday he's ready to strike deals with the four remaining defendants in the Ted Binion murder case to avoid taking the cases to trial.

Las Vegas Showboat taking 'Castaways' name: VSS, which bought the Boulder Highway/Fremont Street property from Harrah's Entertainment Inc., said the Castaways name establishes ties with the casino property to "traditional Las Vegas" and it better reflects the new, seaside Spanish resort theme of the property.

Stock rises for Vegas 'B2B' company: The operator of Internet business-to-business purchasing sites was raised to "buy" from "outperform" in a report by analyst Patrick Walravens at Lehman Brothers. He expects the shares to reach $120 within a year, up from a previous estimate of $70.

Man killed by shotgun blast during struggle: Metro Police said Terry Scott kicked in a door of an apartment in the 700 block of East Flamingo Road and threatened the resident in a dispute over money.

Vegas firm's stock jumps 17 percent: The upgrade came amid indications Sierra, the largest health insurer in Nevada, will refocus its attention on its core Nevada market and continue to back away from its troubled Texas operations.

Independent power producers fighting Nevada electricity settlement: CARSON CITY -- The "global settlement" that permitted Nevada to open the electric market to competition and to allow continued rate increases to consumers is under attack from another source.

Washoe County still backing away from arsenic reduction: Commissioners say they can't support the proposed 5 parts per billion standard for arsenic until more studies on arsenic's health effects are done in the United States, preferably in the West, where the greatest concentrations exist.

Reno police lieutenant found guilty of misconduct: Police Chief Jerry Hoover isn't saying how he will discipline Bunker.

State line gas station first choice for fill-ups: Medeiros said it's the first time the station has reached the top spot after cracking the Top 10, then the Top 5.

U.S. has highest rate of teen pregnancy among developed nations: The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate among developed nations. Nevada has the fourth-highest rate in the United States.

Possible shooting in Sparks confirmed: Cheryl Scardina, 42, who described herself as his girlfriend, told police she fired her handgun at Moreno.

Murder trial ends with guilty plea: Defense attorneys Tony Sgro and Christopher Oram said prosecutors offered to let Steven Acosta plead guilty to conspiracy to commit murder.

Artist gave up law practice: His only formal training in the art came from reading about photographers, visiting some of them and seeing their work.

Water company sought by Reno, Sparks, Washoe: If the county refuses to go along with a three-way bid, the cities say they are prepared to submit their own joint bid. Sierra Pacific is putting its water system up for bid so it can concentrate on its electric and natural gas business.

Nevada's oldest saloon changes hands - but not its image: Brendan Riley; Final paperwork on the $625,000 sale of the Genoa Bar & Saloon was completed Tuesday, as the Carver family which has owned it since 1963 sold to local contractors Cliff Scott, Bill Webb and Shawn Hall.

Judge rules Pope can continue with education: Kim Smith; Teenage murder suspect Conan Pope won the right this morning to continue his education.

Jackson pushes voter registration: Jace Radke; Bouncing between soft-spoken humor and a preacher's tone laced with power and emotion, the Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to a group of Las Vegans Tuesday about the importance of voting and supporting the Democratic ticket in November's election.

UNLV swimmer narrowly misses medal: Seeding third for the finals, Romania (8:01.63) finished behind the Olympic record-setting U.S. (7:57.80), Australia (7:58.52) and Germany (7:58.64).

Indy's Gubanich excels in return to Cashman: Victoria Sun; It was quite a homecoming for Indianapolis catcher Creighton Gubanich.

Southern Nevada expects critical flu vaccine shortage: Jace Radke; With Southern Nevada emergency rooms already experiencing massive overcrowding, a looming flu vaccine shortage has emergency medicine practitioners thinking their situation could quickly go from bad to worse.

New taxis proposed for Summerlin: Stories about people waiting hours for taxis at their Las Vegas homes while hundreds of cabs pick up tourist after tourist along the Strip struck a chord Tuesday with two businessmen who want to put more cabs in the Summerlin area.

Chamber poll: Commission race close: A poll released Tuesday by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce shows that both local and national contests are tightening with seven weeks left in the campaign.

Gore visit likely to cost taxpayers: Keith Paul; Vice President Al Gore tried to sway local voters during a presidential campaign stop in Las Vegas, but when he left, those same voters were stuck with the bill.

Nevada death penalty portrayal disputed: CARSON CITY -- A study by a Columbia University law professor portraying Nevada as a place where a multitude of errors are committed in capital punishment cases and a state with an excessive number of people on death row is "flat wrong," the state attorney general's office says.

Self-defense raised in prostitute death: Kim Smith; Ronald Collins was fighting for his life the night Agnes Ready died, a defense attorney told jurors Tuesday, the first day in Collins' murder trial.

Firefighters keep vigil for captain: Keith Paul; A severely injured Las Vegas Fire Department captain was able to move each of his limbs slightly Tuesday, progress that lifted the spirits of firefighters providing an around-the-clock vigil for him in a hospital parking lot.

Five accused of manipulating price of LV company's stock: Grace Leong; Five men, including a former IRS attorney and a local stock promoter, were charged Tuesday with conspiring to defraud investors of more than $3 million through the sale of sham securities in what the government called a "boiler-room setup."

SEC accuses LV firm of running pyramid scheme: In a U.S. District Court lawsuit filed Wednesday, the SEC sued BryCar Financial Corp. and its president, Bryan J. Egan; along with Carol Egan, also known as Carol A. DeSalvio; alleging they ran a pyramid scheme where the defendants allegedly offered guarantees that their "risk-free" and "tax-free" investments in so-called "pre-IPO" stock and other securities would generate 500 percent returns.

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