Columnist Jon Ralston: Young has hitched himself to Keller’s star

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001 | 8:29 a.m.

A POTPOURRI of nuggets from the political notebook:

* The Anointed One? Deputy Chief Bill Young, who is being assisted by the consultant cadre that elected Gov. Kenny Guinn, came across as earnest and determined on a recent taping of "Face to Face." He has unabashedly tethered himself to popular incumbent Jerry Keller, essentially hinting at a campaign slogan: More of the Same.

Young isn't as voluble as Keller -- who could be? But he has the sheriff's views on most issues, including racial profiling (don't release the officer names on reports mandated by the Legislature), coroner's inquests (the process works) and the civilian review board (he was opposed to the idea, but believes it could be working).

Young clearly will be the Establishment candidate and I wouldn't be surprised to see Keller help him raise money -- especially because the same guys who helped the sheriff are helping Young.

* A good use of taxpayer dollars: Remember all those old horror stories about wasteful Pentagon spending? None can compare to the one reported this week, although not as such, by national AP reporter Laurence Arnold, whose lead read thusly:

"The Defense Department has concluded that the thousands of slot machines on overseas U.S. military bases pose no significant harm to the morale or finances of American troops."

No kidding. Stop the presses.

Arnold reported that the Pentagon spent more than six months (!) studying the issue for a report ordered by -- take a guess -- Congress. And the startling findings: "Investigators acknowledged 'isolated instances where slot machine use has had a negative impact on specific individuals.' "

And then this: "But the report said military personnel stationed at overseas bases that offer slot machines actually experience fewer instances of financial problems than do those stationed in the United States. The report offers no theory as to why that is the case."

The wire report says that the Pentagon operates 8,000 slot machines at 94 bases and posts and that military and civilian types gambled $1.2 billion in 1999. So you want to know -- where does the money go?

Only the Pentagon could give this answer: The $127 million retained by the machines is kept by the military as revenue for its "morale, welfare and recreation" activities. I wonder what those are.

* Fall of an energy giant: A national player in federal politics -- and one that has established a presence in Nevada -- has been the subject of much attention lately. Enron, a diversified company that operates power plants and recently announced a merger with another energy goliath, Dynegy, has been a huge GOP contributor over the years. The company also has been the subject of conflict of interest allegations, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a probe of the company.

In a recent study by the Center for Responsive Politics, which found that Enron gave $2.4 million during the 2000 election cycle, one of Nevada's own was shown as being one of the top recipients of the troubled company's largess.

Sen. John Ensign, with $7,500 from Enron, ranked 16th among current senators in campaign contributions received from the Texas-based conglomerate.

The Texas senators, Phil Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison, obviously were the largest beneficiaries, with more than 10 times what Ensign received. (I wonder if Enron knows that Harry Reid, the other Nevada senator, is important in the Club of 100.)

Enron has had a presence in Carson City the last couple of legislative sessions, hiring veteran Sam McMullen to push their interests in various bills, especially those dealing with electrical deregulation. Dynegy established a presence this last session, retaining the likes of Bill Gregory and Mark Brown to lobby on the same issue, where billions of dollars are at stake in the construction of new power plants.

Now, with the merger, Dynegy could become a major, ahem, power broker here.