Print edition for March 12, 2001

Cancer support: Angela Soo; FORCE

Hard Rock featured in Playboy, posts improved numbers: The Hard Rock, in the meantime, is likely benefitting from a "Girls of the Hard Rock Casino" cover photo and inside photo package in April's Playboy magazine, which it calls the "Sex & Music" issue.

Births for March 12, 2001: March 3: A boy to Cheyenne and Jimmy Powell. March 4: A boy to Shauna and Joel Bradley. March 5: A boy to Tracey and Mark Stephens. March 7: A girl to Karen and Adam Henderson; a girl to Heather and Michael Kelley. March 8: A boy to Rebecca and Darrin Kaplan; a boy to Diane and Caesar Redoble; a boy to Carolina and Rothmans Rodriguez. March 10: A boy to Renee' Young and Daniel Hill.

Website devoted to Margaret Rudin's trial: Kim Smith; People who aren't getting enough of the Margaret Rudin murder trial on television and in the newspapers have only to turn to the Internet to get the latest updates on the case.

Second Las Vegas call center closing, 95 jobs disappearing: Lillian Vernon, a 50-year-old specialty catalog and Internet retailer offering household, kitchen, gardening and children's products, blamed the shaky national economy for the need to streamline the corporation.

Union performance debated after votes: David Strow; The first round of union votes in a labor organizing drive at Las Vegas Strip casinos is over -- and now the very mixed results are the subject of debate over which side really won and why.

Nevada unemployment rate slides down in January: CARSON CITY -- The jobless rate fell to 4.2 percent in Nevada in January, the same rate as the national average but lower than California, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported today.

Father describes events leading up to baby's death: Kim Smith; A Las Vegas justice of the peace watched a videotape Friday of a man re-enacting the blows that ruptured his 3-week-old baby's heart.

Former tenant describes meeting at unusual hour: Kim Smith; Carol Kawazoe thought it was odd that the first time she met her landlord's wife, it was 2:30 in the morning.

LV atmosphere continues to draw mah jongg tournaments: The Marjorie Troum Mah Jongg Tournament West makes its 17th appearance in 10 years in Las Vegas this week, and its founder attributes that longevity in part to the growth of Las Vegas as an international city.

Dry lake bed site chosen for public shooting range: Jeffrey Libby; Eldorado Valley is emerging as the likely site for a regional public safety shooting range.

Legislative briefs for March 12, 2001: A bill that would create a seven-member commission to hear construction-defect complaints has been introduced by Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas.

Bank operator buying insurer: ACO Brokerage is the parent of Acordia, a property and casualty insurer with more than $400 million in annual revenue and 112 offices in 29 states.

Rebels stay undefeated in conference play: The Rebels were down two runs, 9-7, heading into the bottom of the ninth. Jason Reuss led off the inning with a walk. John Cruz pinch-ran for Reuss and advanced to third on a Joe Jacobitz single to right field.

Officer named in shooting: The shooting occurred about 6 p.m. Friday as robbery detectives were conducting surveillance on a group of businesses near Flamingo and Mojave roads that had been the targets in a recent rash of robberies.

Legislature won't rush to redraw boundaries: CARSON CITY -- The census breakdown for Nevada is scheduled to be released this week, but don't expect any quick action by the Legislature on reapportionment.

Entertainment pavilion OK'd: Joe Billhimer, Grand Casino's general manager, said work will begin this week on the 38,000-square-foot pavilion. The structure will be built in front of the casino's parking garage and have room for 2,500 to 3,000 people.

Search for new CCSN chief starts over: Jennifer Knight; A search committee charged with finding a president for Community College of Southern Nevada has decided to scrap all four job candidates and restart the search, even though a Supreme Court ruling gave it the go-ahead to hire right away.

Zero tolerance urged for Yucca Mountain radiation: Environmental groups called today for standards that would prevent any radiation from escaping a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

Study: Vegas jumps 23 spots to rank No. 6 among 'wired cities': Kevin Ferguson; Las Vegas jumped 23 spots compared to last year to be ranked sixth among the nation's most "wired cities," according to the annual ranking by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine.

Prominent Southern Nevada attorney Fadgen dies at 62: Ed Koch and Kim Smith; John P. Fadgen, regarded as a top defense attorney in Las Vegas during the 1970s who won an acquittal for flamboyant silver king and ex-gubernatorial candidate James Ray Houston, died Friday. He was 62.

NASCAR-Busch Aaron's 312 results: Saturday

NASCAR-Cracker Barrel 500 Results: Sunday

Portuguese Rally Results: Sunday

Dayton Indy Lights results: Sunday

Newton takes on role of gaming advocate: By Jeff German; The casino industry has enlisted the help of entertainer Wayne Newton in the first nationwide, grass-roots campaign to bolster its political clout in Washington.

'Union busters' effective: David Strow; When the Transport Workers Union began gathering authorization cards from dealers along the Strip, the union appeared to have a huge majority of dealers backing it at the 12 properties where it filed for elections. But at most properties, that lead evaporated.

Firm told to stop selling dust-control chemical: The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, fearing that more of the rocket fuel booster perchlorate will get into Southern Nevada's drinking water, has asked Titanium Metals Corp. to stop selling a tainted dust control chemical.

Obituaries for March 12, 2001: Orris Eugene Clark, 76, of Henderson died Friday in Las Vegas. He was born Sept. 12, 1924, in Parowan, Utah. A resident for 50 years, he was a retired carpenter for a chemical company and a World War II Navy veteran.

Nevada faces shortfall: CARSON CITY -- A financial report released today shows that major state revenues of sales and gaming tax collections are lagging and that the Legislature might have to make some big budget cuts.

Vegas sports on TV/Radio: Vegas sports on TV/Radio

South Boston 200 Featherlite Modified Series Results: Sunday

BYU represents Mountain West in Tournament: Steve Addy; National Invitation Tournament at a glance

Lady Rebels earn bid to WNIT: Steve Guiremand; It was a nervous time for UNLV Lady Rebels coach Regina Miller for a while on Sunday night.

Reid calls for more federal aid to help cities: Reid used the event as a chance to promote several of his legislative initiatives: cleaning up urban polluted industrial "brownfield" sites and establishing better drinking water infrastructure in small towns.

Las Vegas News briefs for March 12, 2001: Mack Trucks has given the Clark County chapter of the Salvation Army a truck to replace one for which the agency paid $34,000 but never received.

CART-Monterrey GP Results: Sunday

Callaway Golf Las Vegas Intercollegiate: Rebels' Lander finishes in tie for eighth place: Victoria Sun; A final round 68 fired by UNLV senior Scott Lander wasn't enough to salvage the Rebels' disastrous weekend of golf.

UNLV finished fourth in the HEN Classic: The Rebels were defeated 4-1 by No. 34 Middle Tennessee in the event's third-place match. UNLV fell to 5-4 overall while the Red Raiders improved to 9-3.

Bill would let gambling addicts ban themselves from casinos: The state Assembly on Thursday voted 77-0 to approve a bill that would let gamblers put themselves on a list of people banned from casinos -- a list that includes mostly mobsters and card-counters.

CEO sells some shares in Las Vegas company: Maffie sold 15,508 shares March 2 at prices ranging from $20.90 to $21.10 per share, grossing $325,000, the filing indicated. The sales left Maffie with 62,160 shares of Southwest stock.

Icahn may buy, start airline: Jennifer Brown; WILMINGTON, Del. -- A federal judge today accepted a $742 million bid by AMR Corp.'s American Airlines for the assets of bankrupt Trans World Airlines Inc., pleasing TWA workers who feared their company might be acquired again by billionaire financier Carl Icahn.

Financier may be looking at bankrupt National Airlines: Investor Carl Icahn, whose bid to acquire TWA failed today, may have his sights set on Las Vegas-based National Airlines, an airline expert says.

Chad concerns expressed in bill: CARSON CITY -- A bill has been introduced in the Senate in an attempt to avoid the controversy that hit Florida over which ballots should be counted in the presidential election.

Good use of bond money revealed: Terry Webster; The Clark County School District is performing above average in its management of the 1994 and 1996 construction bond programs, according to a PriceWaterhouse Coopers audit.

Daytona 200 AMA Superbike Results: Sunday

Blood donations to be taken at many locations: Wednesday, 1-5 p.m. at Fairway Chevrolet, 3100 E. Sahara Ave.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Don't blame Cavagnaro or Harter: Dean Juipe; With things having gone so poorly for UNLV in its pursuit of a new men's basketball coach, it has been easy to get caught up in the Blame Game.

Editorial: U.S. at a crossroads on campaign reform: The Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle, has been effective in holding the Democrats together for campaign finance reform. Now that victory is within sight, he needs to rally his troops and tell them not to falter. In 1993, the last time there was such an opportunity, some Democrats advised the newly elected president, Bill Clinton, that reform should not be a top priority. It was bad advice, and it ushered in a period of terrible excesses by Democrats and Republicans alike. The coming debate will serve as one of Daschle's biggest challenges to date. But if he and the Democrats ...

Callaway Golf Las Vegas Intercollegiate results: 1 Georgia Tech 292 279 273 -- 844

XFL standings: EAST

Letter: When drivers are potential felons: I'm on a first date with a young lady who I'm greatly attracted to. In the course of the evening she whips out a joint and lights up. I'm trying to make a good impression, so I take a couple of hits and we have a fine time. Three days later I'm in my car, innocently waiting for a signal when some idiot rear-ends me, killing himself, totaling my car and injuring me.

Voices of Reason: Agency trains adults and youths to mediate conflicts: A small agency within the Clark County government has worked for the past 11 years to defuse volatile situations that could lead to tragedies, such as the one that happened at Santana High School in Santee, Calif., a week ago.

Letter: Democrats know budget makes sense: Bill Clinton was as surprised as the rest of his party that the budget went into surplus. But it was these same fiscally conservative principles that Bush is proposing that got us there and will keep us there. The last tax cut was on capital gains, and it created more tax revenues than anyone even guessed. Cut my taxes and I will put that money back into circulation here in Las Vegas, not in Washington, D.C., where it will be used to pay for another sea port in West Virginia.

Editorial: Bill would dilute the voters' say: The stated purpose of the bill is well-meaning, but the legislation also has the smell of politics attached to it. A joint sponsor of the bill is Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas. As Sun reporter Adrienne Packer noted in a story about the proposal, Goldwater is a friend of Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, who likely will run for a new congressional seat in Nevada. The bill would effectively knock out a potential Herrera challenger, Yvonne Atkinson Gates, who has two years left on her term. Herrera, meanwhile, would be exempt since his term would expire just two months ...

Columnist John Katsilometes: Happiness is not a warm gun: I've risen from sleep about 1,280 times in my life. Not once have I awakened thinking, "You know, I wish I owned a handgun."

Columnist Ralph Siraco: Gulfstream, Aqueduct: Harbingers of spring: Ralph Siraco; Signs of spring are in the air. And at the track, too.

Trends for March 12, 2001: Lisa Ferguson; Who doesn't pretend to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day? This year, though, you may be able to drop the charade.