Print edition for August 28, 2002

Creditor is critical to National Airlines' future: It's crunch time for financially troubled National Airlines, which is continuing do-or-die negotiations with a creditor that may hold the key to whether the airline keeps flying.

Rule to be enforced on police cameras: Jeffrey Libby; After a Boulder City Police camera failed to record the injury of an elderly man during a traffic stop, officials said Tuesday that police officers will no longer be allowed the discretion to turn off video cameras when responding to emergency calls.

Testing company agrees to pay students' parents: CARSON CITY -- Harcourt Educational Measurement, fined $425,000 for making mistakes in grading 736 high school proficiency tests, has agreed to repay parents who sent their children to summer school after they were erroneously told the children failed.

NLV officer wounded in shootout: Keith Paul; A North Las Vegas Police officer was wounded in the shoulder Tuesday night when two officers came under fire, police said, marking the second time this month a Las Vegas Valley cop has been shot.

14 Metro officers honored for outstanding service: Keith Paul; Sheriff Jerry Keller recognized 14 Metro Police officers Tuesday for outstanding and brave actions, including four officers commended for their efforts at ground zero in New York City after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Boulder City briefs for August 28, 2002: Boulder City's first lighted par-3 golf course should open to the public by May.

Cory, James big primary spenders: Erin Neff; The Republicans vying for Erin Kenny's County Commission seat obviously believe the race will be decided in the primary.

Area schools won't ban vending machines: Officials say individual campuses rely heavily on vending machine sales to pay for everything from extracurricular activities to field trips to special assemblies.

Lawyers: Perjury is hard to prove: Kim Smith; Whether it's on TV or in a real-life courtroom, it's a moment of great solemnity.

DA candidates in money duel: Erin Neff; The two Republicans running for Clark County district attorney have spent more than $600,000 to win next Tuesday's primary, leaving little money left for the winner to take to the general election.

Residents push for job plan at furniture mart: A grassroots effort to rally Southern Nevada residents who need jobs and training for permanent work at a wholesale furniture mart ignited a call for action at the next Las Vegas City Council meeting.

Family seeks answers in man's death at bar in gambling capital: John Curran; MAYS LANDING, N.J. -- It was a bachelor party that ended in tragedy. Now, the family of Peter Westra is worried someone will get away with murder.

Walters' attorneys have two weeks to file motions: Chief District Judge Mark Gibbons said he would hear arguments on the possible dismissal Sept. 24. If the charges are not dismissed, Walters and his co-defendants will be arraigned then.

Editorial: Proficiency exam snafu to be costly: The Board of Education warned the company Monday that all of its educational contracts with Nevada would be terminated if the company commits a similar mistake in the future. If that were to happen, the company would lose a total of $4.6 million annually. No matter what steps the company takes to try to prevent another foul-up from happening, state educators should start looking around now for other companies that can do a better job.

PCL box: Las Vegas - Nashville: Time-- 2:51. Attendance-- 2,421. Umpires: HP-- Pasch; 1b-- Armendariz; 3b-- Ashwege.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Rebels face some serious Badgering: Dean Juipe; The people of Wisconsin are neither bullies nor bad mannered. But they can get a little uppity about their football, which should be evident this week as they do their best to bring both the game and the party to Las Vegas.

Thursday's horse racing entries: Post Time 2 p.m.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Vasser to compete in the Baja 1000: With his open-wheel career winding down, 36-year-old Jimmy Vasser has expressed an interest in moving to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and trying his hand at stock cars.

Letter: Complex issue of gambling often misunderstood: The Nevada prevalence study completed several months ago included two dramatically different sets of estimates for the prevalence of problem and pathological gambling among Nevada adults. If you rely on the number derived from a screen the author herself discredited as a research consultant to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, about 3.5 out of 100 Nevada adults could be considered current "probable pathological gamblers." The other screen -- based on a more current understanding of the diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling -- determined that three out of 1,000 Nevada adults could be considered current pathological gamblers.

Obituaries for August 28, 2002: Clemon Alexander, 68, of North Las Vegas died Monday in North Las Vegas. He was born April 1, 1934, in Delhi, La. A resident for 59 years, he was a dealer and an Army veteran.

Community briefs for August 28, 2002: Rehearsals for the Boulder City Community Chorus will start at 7 p.m. Thursday at the LDS chapel, 1550 Buchanan Blvd.

Editorial: Budget cuts need to be done fairly: As the Sun's Cy Ryan reported Monday, 3 percent cuts will translate into 6 percent cuts in those programs that rely on matching federal funds. And although Guinn and the Legislature have increased the funding to mental health agencies after severe cutbacks were made during the early 1990s, it's not as if the agencies have been living it up. For example, the Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities already has had to save money by implementing a hiring freeze and eliminating some programs that relied on one-time funding that weren't built into the ongoing budget. Cuts in mental health ...

51s' fans, players 'strike' accord: Victoria Sun; Two days from now, major league baseball parks will be empty if the players go through with their purported strike.

Lobato receives 100 years in mutilation slaying of man: Kim Smith; A Panaca woman who said she was 200 miles away when a Las Vegas homeless man was beaten and sexually mutilated was sentenced to 100 years in prison Tuesday for his murder.

Columnist Elizabeth Foyt: ASU supporters hear message of sportsmanship: Elizabeth Foyt; Hosted by ASU's athletic department and the Sun Angel Foundation, the inaugural dinner meeting of the Clark County Sun Devil Club was made special by the presence of legendary football coach Frank Kush (1958-1979) and Gene Smith, ASU director of athletics.

Columnist Victoria Sun: Wish comes true for Leadbetter: Victoria Sun; UNLV beat Oklahoma State and Texas in the Andy Leadbetter Sweepstakes.

Applying the Freas: Steve Guiremand; NEXT UP

Savvy wine buys: '99 Christian Moueix Merlot: Christian Moueix is a partner in the famous Chateau Petrus, one of the world's best and most expensive wines, the principal owner of California's Dominus, and a producer of many other fine labels.

Fish story: Sushi buffets plentiful in Las Vegas area: Max Jacobson; But all three are different, and each one has its charms.

Letter: Safety system could save lives: Indian Springs has a wide band of round white markers embedded in the highway at both ends of town to alert people to slow down. There are speed limit signs as you approach the community, but just in case drivers ignore them, the bumpy band in the highway gets their attention.

Letter: More highway barriers needed: My daughter was right behind the jeep and she swerved also. But she was the inexperienced driver and lost control of her car. She fish-tailed and slammed into the concrete barrier four times at 70 mph.

Ralph Siraco's selections for Thursday's races at Del Mar: Thursday's card

Company plans golf center: Greens Worldwide Inc., Las Vegas, plans to build The Greens of Las Vegas on 20 acres on the northwest corner of Paradise Road and Tropicana Avenue.

Video poker chain expands in Las Vegas: The restaurant, at the corner of Ann Road and Simmons Street, features a "rustic lodge" theme with logging artifacts and forest murals.

Big mortgage lender expanding with purchase: Seattle-based Washington Mutual will pay $1.3 billion in cash for HomeSide Lending Inc. and will assume $735 million of debt, said Alan Gulick, a company spokesman. The purchase will bring an additional 1.4 million customers to Washington Mutual, which is a player in the Las Vegas banking market.

Neal criticizes $10,000 in Enron donations to Guinn: Erin Neff; Gov. Kenny Guinn has raised almost $3 million for his re-election campaign, but it's $10,000 in donations from Enron that a cashless Democratic opponent is questioning.

Vegas company loses bid to find Internet posters: Mikohn, a Las Vegas-based casino supplier, said its efforts to take legal action against the individuals operating under the screen names of "thechosenoneee" and "rich-the-loser" were blocked by message board host Yahoo!'s refusal to release information on the individuals' identities -- including the IP addresses of their computers -- without a valid subpoena.

Ensign follows Reid's role in fund-raising: Erin Neff; Sen. John Ensign is backing up his support for fellow Republicans by dumping $158,500 to Nevada candidates and starting a tradition for his party similar to the one that Democrats have enjoyed with Sen. Harry Reid.

UNLV plans $75 mil. engineering building: CARSON CITY -- UNLV officials outlined plans today for its proposed $75 million science, engineering and technology building, the most expensive project proposed by state agencies for the new biennium.

Casino operator seeks deal for speedway: Trump said the proposed racing park would be a theme park similar to Disneyland and could become one of the top destinations for Nascar fans, the paper reported.

State's nuke dump attorney sure of victory: RENO -- The lead lawyer in Nevada's fight to stop Yucca Mountain is so confident of victory that he's willing to accept a fee only if the state wins.

UNLV to cut classes to meet Guinn request: Jennifer Knight; Faced with cutting millions of dollars from the university's budget, UNLV President Carol Harter has decided not to fill more than 150 positions and cut class sections next year, officials said Tuesday.

Wording of marijuana ballot question released: The wording for the November ballot question that would make possession of small amounts of marijuana legal in Nevada has been released by the secretary of state's office.

Wording unveiled for pot ballot: The wording for the November ballot question that would make possession of small amounts of marijuana legal has been released by the Secretary of State's office.

Ensign PAC gives $158,000 to Republican candidates, groups: Erin Neff; U.S. Sen John Ensign is backing up his support for fellow Republicans by dumping $158,500 to Nevada candidates.

News briefs for August 28, 2002: A Las Vegas man has reached a plea agreement that will require him to pay $457,500 in restitution to the elderly victims of a securities fraud scheme.

Berkley touts Medicare prescription drug plan: Stephen Curran; For many Southern Nevada seniors, monthly financial choices are clear-cut, if tough: pay for prescription drugs that keep them healthy or pay the rent.

NLV police officer hit in shoulder during shootout: Keith Paul; A North Las Vegas Police officer was wounded in the shoulder Tuesday night when two officers came under fire, police said, marking the second time this month a Las Vegas Valley cop has been shot.

Valley schools won't ban vending machines: Edward Goldman, superintendent of the district's southeast region, said this morning he recognizes students are a "captive audience" when it comes to campus vending.

Mandalay Resort Group sees revenue, profit fall: By Liz Benston; Mandalay Resort Group reported a decline in earnings for the second quarter and missed Wall Street expectations by a hair.