Print edition for February 28, 2001

State panel to hear protests of proposed North Las Vegas casino: Kris Hill; Neighbors of a proposed Station Casinos site at Craig Ranch Golf Course in North Las Vegas will get to air their objections before a little-used state gaming panel.

CCSN puts freeze on hiring: Jennifer Knight; The Community College of Southern Nevada announced a hiring freeze this week after learning that state funding could be $16 million less than expected because of lower enrollment, officials said.

Weather hurts Horseshoe Gaming earnings: The riverboat casino operator posted a net loss of $1.3 million for the quarter, compared to net income of $9.1 million for the year-ago quarter. Revenues rose 51 percent to $239.3 million, while cash flow fell 1 percent to $46.4 million.

Third victim in homicides ID'd: Pattison-Adric and her grandparents, Yoshio Kato, 82, and Sally Kato, 75, were shot to death about 10:45 p.m. in a house in the 1500 block of Valley Crest Street.

Columnist Victoria Sun: Rebel golf team seeks some new leading men: Victoria Sun; The term "rebuilding" used to mean something.

NCAA to testify at state hearing: CARSON CITY -- The NCAA, which twice rejected invitations to appear before the state Gaming Commission, has agreed to testify before the Nevada Legislature on its efforts to ban betting on college sports events.

Customers of defunct pool company given break in court: A judge approved a preliminary injunction Tuesday that put on hold foreclosures against homeowners who did business with the now-defunct Cascade Pools of Las Vegas.

Layoffs hit workers at struggling Aladdin: Lynn Holt, spokesman for the Aladdin, said about half of the laid-off employees were dealers and casino supervisors, while the rest came from housekeeping. The layoffs represented about 4 percent of the resort's staff.

Father of injured woman backs hike in cap on claims: Jeffrey Libby; A man told a legislative committee Tuesday that the Clark County School District has done little to help his daughter pay for her medical care after a school bus rear-ended the car she was driving.

Nuclear victim Myers dies: When Kathren Myers was growing up in Mesquite and Las Vegas, she and her family would go to the courthouse steps or other strategic but apparently safe sites to watch the mushroom clouds bloom from above-ground nuclear tests.

Library district scales back request: Adrienne Packer; A scaled down edition of the Clark County-Las Vegas Library District's proposal to build more libraries throughout the valley will be pitched to the county's Debt Management Commission on Thursday.

Nevada GOP leaders praise Bush tax cut plan: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- Nevada Republican leaders praised the $1.6 trillion tax cut President Bush outlined in his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Bush said the tax cut size was "just right" -- the best action to take with a national tax surplus.

Road rage incident turns to homicide as victim dies: David Sanchez, a passenger in a vehicle, and the driver, who was not identified, were traveling north on Maryland Parkway near Desert Inn Road about 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 18. They apparently merged with traffic and got into a dispute with another motorist, police said.

Review: James Gandolfini avoids the old Mexican standoff: Geoff Carter; Starring: Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and James Gandolfini.

Morgue visit called reality check for juvenile offenders: Jeffrey Libby; Assemblyman Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, introduced a bill Tuesday that would allow courts to order juvenile offenders to view corpses at county morgues to provide them with a "reality check."

Fed regulators level new allegations in alleged Las Vegas Ponzi scheme: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September sued Brycar Financial Corp. and its president, Bryan Egan and his wife, Carol Egan, also known as Carol DeSalvio, alleging they ran a Ponzi scheme. The SEC alleged the defendants bilked more than 500 investors in Nevada of millions of dollars by offering guarantees that their "risk-free" and "tax-free" investments in "pre-IPO stock" and other securities would generate 500 percent returns.

Boyd, Imperial Palace to gain from new Hawaii flights: Las Vegas newcomer Aloha Airlines will add a third scheduled flight to and from the Hawaiian islands later this year to serve growing tourism markets in both locations.

Silverman says goodbye to CCSN: Jennifer Knight; By late afternoon Monday the corner office inside the fuschia-colored building at the Community College of Southern Nevada was blank and clean. All signs of Bob Silverman had been removed from the bookcases and walls.

New Boulder City golf course approved: Jeffrey Libby; Boulder City residents could be teeing up on a second municipal golf course as soon as November 2002.

Court briefs for February 28, 2001: A Clark County jury will decide next week if a Las Vegas man should get the death penalty in connection with a May 1999 slaying.

Casinos nominated for award: UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- Academy of Country Music Awards nominees this year for casino of the year are the Horseshoe Casino, Robinsonville, Miss.; Isle of Capri, Lake Charles, La.; Reno Hilton, Reno; Sam's Town, Robinsonville, Miss.; Sunset Station, Henderson.

Columnist Rusty Wallace: Flying myself crucial with NASCAR's schedule: Rusty Wallace; With our hectic NASCAR Winston Cup schedule -- which got even more hectic now that we added two races this season -- flying personal aircraft has become a necessity for me.

Police wonder why teen got out of car with toy gun: Keith Paul; Police still did not know today why a 16-year-old was in a stolen car at a high school he didn't attend Tuesday morning and why he got out of the car with a toy gun in his hand when confronted by an officer.

LV casino executive promoting controversial project: But it appears the plan faces a difficult road, as a number of local officials are strongly opposing the proposal.

Bush sends tax cut plan to Congress: An outline of President Bush's 10-year plan for fiscal years 2001 to 2011.

Chairman launches takeover bid: Jeffrey Jacobs offered $11 per share, a 68 percent premium on Monday's closing price of $6.56. Black Hawk stock on Tuesday shot up $3.19, or 48 percent, on the news. Jacobs said the proposal would be withdrawn if a definitive agreement is not executed by March 19.

Man killed in NLV identified: Chiles was shot Sunday about 11:45 a.m. in the 2500 block of Raymond Avenue near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue. He was getting out of his car when another man came up and started talking to him, North Las Vegas Police said.

Reno cable TV system sold: The transaction will affect 156,000 cable customers in Northern Nevada. Charter spokesman Andy Morgan today said the company has no plans to venture into the Las Vegas cable market, which is dominated by Cox Communications.

Witness places Morse at scene of fatal crash: Jace Radke; A witness who prosecutors say can place Clark Morse at the scene of the accident that paralyzed Megabucks winner Cynthia Jay-Brennan and killed her sister, Lela Anne Jay, was scheduled to take the stand today. Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said Holly Sesock was out for a walk near the intersection of Boulder Highway and Indios Avenue on the night of March 11 and witnessed a Ford Explorer rear-end Jay-Brennan's Chevrolet Camaro, starting a chain reaction involving five cars.

UNLV officials give Mrs. Pitino guided tour of campus, Las Vegas: Steve Addy; When Joanne Pitino landed at McCarran Airport on a private plane Tuesday, Cirque du Soleil performers didn't greet her by high-diving through a basketball net.

Rebels get victory over Southern Utah: Courtney Hall earned the win for UNLV, pitching six innings and striking out six. Five Rebels had two hits apiece: Garett Shitanishi, Trent Kitsch, Jason Reuss, Ben Johnson and Brad Beasley.

Henderson ponders zoning for pawnshops: Jeffrey Libby; Public hearing on pawnshops.

Busch: Home at last: Sunday, March 4 has been highlighted on Kurt Busch's calendar since the day last September he first learned he would be driving fulltime in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series this season.

County agency OKs Strip projects: At its Feb. 22 meeting the commission approved Park Place Entertainment Corp.'s proposal to add a 30-story, 864-room tower at the Flamingo Road side of Caesars Palace. The expansion would include 320,000 square feet of additional retail, restaurant and meeting space, and would expand the hotel's room inventory by 35 percent. Park Place has already demolished the hotel-casino's Circus Maximus dinner theater and some older meeting space to make room for the expansion.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Survey puts Las Vegas in NBA hunt: Dean Juipe; Let's return to the subject of the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies moving to Las Vegas.

Union calls off Boulder Station organizing effort: On Feb. 12, the union filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent 25 engineers at the Station Casinos Inc. property. A hearing on the matter, the first step in scheduling an election, was set for March 26. The union currently does not represent any Station Casinos workers.

Legislature to seek more school funds: CARSON CITY -- Although the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that a teachers' initiative petition to impose a business-profits tax is unconstitutional, that won't stop legislative efforts to find more money for public schools.

Flight scare brought Lady Rebels together: Steve Guiremand; When Regina Miller's UNLV Lady Rebels basketball team landed at Denver International Airport late this morning, it was only natural that some of her players were thinking of the tragic plane crash involving Oklahoma State's basketball team.

Notebook: Skinner fills void in 'No Bull 5' promotion: Mike Skinner will replace the late Dale Earnhardt as one of the Winston "No Bull 5" drivers eligible for a $1 million bonus if they win Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Winston Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Rural airline shuts down: DES MOINES, Iowa -- AccessAir has shut down, just two weeks before it was to present a reorganization plan to keep the regional airline flying.

Community news briefs for February 28, 2001: The third annual "Cops and Lobsters" fund-raiser for Special Olympics will begin with officers taking customer orders 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and then from 5-8 p.m. Friday at the Red Lobster, 200 S. Decatur Blvd.

Strong economy boosts LV bank profits: Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation, parent company of Nevada State Bank, reported fourth-quarter earnings of $74.7 million, 85 cents a share, compared with $65.9 million, 76 cents a share, for the same quarter a year earlier.

Two Rebels still mulling transfers: Steve Addy; The Rebels will bid farewell to six seniors and probably most of their basketball coaches this week.

Neal calls for end of executions in Nevada: CARSON CITY -- Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, wants to commute the capital sentences of the 88 men and one woman on death row and abolish capital punishment.

Newly seated jurors get days off before opening statements: Kim Smith; Opening statements in the Margaret Rudin murder trial will begin Friday morning.

Showers keep valley's roads wet, stall traffic: Wet month

Lawmaker rips county's failure to audit air quality program: A move by the Clark County District Board of Health to forgo an independent examination of a controversial air-pollution control program is unacceptable, a ranking Democrat in the Nevada Senate said Tuesday.

Letter: Democrats run out of excuses for Clinton clan: Even the Tazmanian Devil must stand in awe as these poor people attempt to defend the Clinton/Rodham clan. They twist and spin so vociferously that they wind up cork-screwing themselves right into the ground. Even more so now that Dollar Bill has called on Hillary's brother to return the hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees he collected from a drug dealer and a scam artist, both of whom received Bill's get-out-of-jail-free cards.

Letter: Stop kissing up to Japanese: Your paper had a front-page picture of a Tokyo rally showing a sign reading, "HATE! U.S.A. FORCE!" There was also a quote in the same Feb. 22 edition by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukada, who said, "We take it as a grave matter and must take measures on our own."

Fiennes in for psychological thriller 'Spider': Ralph Fiennes will star for director David Cronenberg in the psychological thriller "Spider," scheduled to shoot in June and July in England and Toronto for MM Media Capital Partners.

Great food and values at local Asian buffets: Max Jacobson; Asian food lovers can rejoice in a selection of buffets centering on the varied foods of that continent. What's more, these prices are terrific.

Editorial: New adoption law to benefit children: This humane act of Congress allowed an estimated 75,000 children on Tuesday to be recognized as U.S. citizens. What a proud day it must have been for the parents and their children as they became U.S. citizens, a moment that so many from around the world dream of one day obtaining.

Savvy wine buy: '98 Domaine du Cayron Gigondas: Available at Lee's Discount Liquors, $16.99.

Las Vegas climate ripe for kite enthusiasts: Kimberley McGee; Danny Hunter Jr. had faith that his rainbow would fly.

Columnist Jon Ralston: Court leaves tax headache with Guinn: THEY CAN ALL come out now, all those quivering members of the Gang of 63, who had been cowering in the face of the prospect of actually having to take a stand on the teachers' union's tax initiative for a 4 percent business profits tax.

Columnist Elizabeth Foyt: NAH takes time to applaud volunteers' work: Elizabeth Foyt; Once again Ed Crispell, general manager of the Imperial Palace, served as generous benefactor for Nevada Association for the Handicapped as it presented its annual Volunteer Recognition luncheon. Coordinated by Angie Wallin, development director, the gathering in the hotel-casino's Royal Hall opened with musical entertainment by the Bonanza High School Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Shelley Berger.

Regulators ban compulsive gambler who ran Caesars: John Curran; ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The highest-ranking casino executive ever to admit being a compulsive gambler was banned from New Jersey casinos for five years Wednesday.

Reid says Ex-Attorney General Reno was no help on NCAA gambling: Scott Sonner; RENO, Nev. - The odds of Nevada's congressional delegation beating back a ban on college sports betting have improved thanks, in part, to Republicans, the Senate's second-ranking Democrat says.

Judge orders hearing in power rate-hike case: CARSON CITY -- District Judge Mike Griffin signed an order today directing Sierra Pacific Resources Inc. to show why it should not be stopped from levying a $311 million increase in electric rates in Las Vegas and Northern Nevada.

Editorial: Use some reason on land use: At a future meeting the commission will formally vote on the compromise, which will amend existing highway-frontage land use rules to allow restaurants with bars at such intersections. This proposal will keep restaurant-bars close to highway-frontage roads so they won't adversely impact the environment. This wasn't the best possible decision, but given the alternative -- a more intense commercial use that was proposed -- it probably was as good as could be expected with the current slate of commissioners, who frequently side with developers.

Letter: Where is the great uniter now?: Can you believe that Rep. Dan Burton is heading a congressional committee? He spent millions and six years on a manic-depressive's suicide (Vince Foster) after he and other Democratic haters drove Foster to it. Then to prove his own sanity, he took a high-powered assault weapon and shot a watermelon.

Obituaries for February 28, 2001: Phyllis Marie Barnes, 56, of Las Vegas died Monday in Las Vegas. She was born Dec. 22, 1944, in Peabody, Mass. A resident for 18 years, she was a casino marketing assistant.

Columnist Muriel Stevens: NM enjoys 20 years at Fashion Show: Happy anniversary to Nieman Marcus at the Fashion Show mall. This month marks 20 years of Nieman Marcus in Las Vegas. During those years the store has become a valued member of our community. Its generosity and support of local causes and charities are too numerous to count.

Allegations of child abuse exceed two dozen: Tom Gardner; RENO, Nev. - A worker at a daycare center allegedly molested 25 toddlers and the victim list was growing as police began to review hundreds of videotapes seized from the suspect's home, authorities said Wednesday.