Print edition for January 8, 2002

Fund finally kicks in to help victims of bad construction: CARSON CITY -- Homeowners who are victims of shoddy workmanship by licensed contractors finally can recover their losses under a 1999 law.

Letter: Position on consolidation was misconstrued: In fact, it was my suggestion offered at the city's planning retreat of Dec. 3, 2001, that a "sunset provision" be added to the language offered by Clark County that aimed to prevent members of the Las Vegas City Council -- present and future -- from ever pursuing consolidation of services. At our recent City Council meeting, Mayor Oscar Goodman expressed concerns that by supporting the interlocal agreement it would prevent consolidation from ever being considered in the next five years (the time associated with the sunset provision). I responded that if a group of citizens or a third party ...

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Winston Cup, Busch drivers to test at LVMS: Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Las Vegas native Kurt Busch and Kerry Earnhardt will be among the 45 NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series drivers taking part in a four-day test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Jan. 28-31.

Donations: The blanket drive will be located at 101 Convention Center Drive, Suite 700. The firm will pick up blankets to bring back to the office.

Tripling college tuition proposed: RENO -- University officials on Monday responded to suggestions that student tuition be tripled and that Nevada schools place added emphasis on catering to private industry.

Price cut for Mexico wires: The price undercuts the rates charged by the dominant financial wire services, Western Union and Moneygram. The market leaders collect a $15 fee on a comparable wire transfer of up to $300 and charge as much as $50 for sending $1,000 to Mexico. In some cases, Moneygram charges a flat fee of $15 for any amount.

Columnist Kate Maddox: Hard Rock learns with Stern: Kate Maddox; An official deal with the Hard Rock has yet to be signed, but Stern is already talking about his travel plans on his morning radio show. Last year's visit from the King of All Media (a title Stern has bestowed on himself) brought record crowds to Peter Morton's hipster hotel.

Dealer, players arrested: A pai-gow tiles dealer and three players were arrested and charged with colluding to cheat the casino. Control Board officials said there was no indication anyone else was involved in the alleged scam.

Entertainment chief out: Susan Lyne, the chief of ABC's movies unit, was named ABC entertainment president. She'll report to Lloyd Braun, who was co-chairman of ABC entertainment with Bloomberg.

New South Carolina lottery puts pressure on neighbor: Paul Nowell; FORT MILL, S.C. -- Lee Davis, who lives just inside North Carolina, stopped for lunch Monday at the Times Turn Around convenience store and decided to take a chance on South Carolina's new lottery.

Four LV hotels, six restaurants honored by ExxonMobil: The top finishers in the travel publication were the Bellagio's Picasso restaurant and the Mirage's Renoir restaurant, which were designated the state's only five-star restaurants. Only 14 restaurants in the country received the guide's top ranking, which the two restaurants have now received for three consecutive years.

Tribe expanding, replacing casino: The old It'se Ye Ye Bingo and Casino closed last month and the current building -- the former Nez Perce Express convenience store -- has undergone a $1 million renovation since August.

Editorial: Brand-new stadium is a bad idea: Still, officials said in July that Southwest Sports Group, which specializes in developing stadiums, would have to conform to the city's vision and forget about the ballpark. "If they're not interested in doing the project without baseball in it, then we'll go to our backup," Mayor Oscar Goodman pledged. Well, over time the city's stance has grown weaker than the rag arm of a washed-up pitcher. In September the City Council gave the developer a green light to explore whether a baseball team could succeed as part of the downtown redevelopment project. Even though the mayor reiterated his support for ...

Community briefs for January 8, 2002: The Lied Animal Shelter is offering free rabies shots with any pet license or microchip ID purchases made throughout January.

Letter: Only rich can save economy: Why, but of course!

Pennsylvania has high hopes for Powerball: Martha Raffaele; HARRISBURG, Pa. -- During the Pennsylvania Lottery's earlier days, Marina Cugino could count on hordes of customers clamoring for tickets on a regular basis at her family's suburban Philadelphia newsstand.

Test in the West schedule: Monday, Jan. 28

Columnist Ron Kantowski: Riley may go after more attractive jobs: If new UNLV athletic director John Robinson is genuinely interested in hiring his buddy Mike Riley to replace him as Rebels football coach at some point, he may have to take a number.

Rebel recap: UNLV subs contributed to win: the numbers; COLORADO SPRINGS -- Recapping UNLV's 66-54 win over Air Force on Monday night:

Workers join forces to rally against rising hospital costs: By Emily Richmond; A coalition of firefighters, police officers, teachers, construction workers and Culinary Union members says its members face large increases in the cost of hospital visits next month if stalled negotiations with area hospitals aren't jump-started.

Letter: Daschle tells it like it is: President Bush's tax bill was a major contributor to wiping out the Clinton-era surplus. Congress needs to retroactively wipe out the Bush law -- not accelerate it as the Republicans propose.

Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Unreal Clinton bashing: The headline said, "Buddy never had a chance." The article took a personal tragedy and tried to make more political hay in an effort, I assume, to prolong the bashing of Bill Clinton that so many people did so well during his presidency. What this Gorin woman really did, though, was use the death of a family pet to make that hay. And that just doesn't sit well with me and, I hope, most decent American families.

Columnist Susan Snyder: Just take our words for it: The term is among the year's newest words, according to the Random House Webster's College Dictionary. (Webster's name is passed around dictionary titles like a bad Internet joke. There's even a volume of Webster terms featuring Garfield, the cartoon cat that ceased being funny before the last Webster's edition was printed.)

Editorial: First big convention for city in new year: This week's convention also marks the debut of the $150 million, 1.2 million-square-foot expansion of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's Convention Center, an expansion that CES strongly supported. Right now it might seem strange to talk about the benefits of a convention center expansion when attendance is down at the big shows. But the competition among cities to lure conventions will continue to be intense, likely more so during an economic downturn when everyone is scrapping to give their economies a boost. That expansion very well could give Las Vegas the final advantage in bringing conventions here, which ...

Obituaries for January 8, 2002: Max K. Barton, 81, of Las Vegas died Friday in Las Vegas. He was born Dec. 22, 1920, in Milford, Utah. A resident for 47 years, he was a truck driver, an employee of the iron mine in Cedar City, Utah, and opened Las Vegas Diesel Service and Las Vegas' first drive line service company.

Homeland Security chief cancels tour of Nevada Test Site: AP; Ridge canceled Wednesday's tour of the vast test site with Nevada Sens. Democrat Harry Reid and Republican John Ensign, Ridge's spokesman said Monday.

Gates kicks off CES with look at home technology: Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates introduced "Mira" to the world Monday night.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Impatience may haunt the mayor: Dean Juipe; As he delivered his State of the City address Monday night, mayor Oscar Goodman naturally spent some time looking ahead.

Former mortgage broker ordered to pay $4.2 million: Grace Leong; David Ferradino, the former operator of insolvent Interstate Mortgage of Las Vegas, was sentenced Monday to five years of probation and ordered to pay $4.2 million in restitution to some 90 investors after he pleaded guilty to theft.

Nuke blasts may resume at Test Site: WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration plans to "raise the possibility" of resuming underground nuclear bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site, the Washington Post reported today.

Box Score: UNLV-Air Force: Percentages: FG .525, FT .818, 3P .545.

State college to use high school sites: Jennifer Knight; State college President Richard Moore doesn't know whether he has enough college students to fill classrooms, but plans to boost opening enrollment by adding high school students to the list.

News briefs for January 8, 2002: A man was found shot to death this morning in a stairway of the Moulin Rouge hotel.

Mayor cites need for medical center: Diana Sahagun; Tom Wiesner, a member of the Board of Regents, could be resting in a local hospital with his family as he receives treatment for a deadly form of leukemia.

Suspect in killing faces more mental tests: Vornelius Phillips, 26, is accused of beating Ivy Jean Miller to death April 21 and then, later that day, running down and critically injuring Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Robert Kintzel during a high-speed chase.

LV convention center expansion complete: Lisa Snedeker; Las Vegas tourism officials hope a new year and more exhibit space will boost the number of conventioneers, who are needed to fill the city's more than 124,000 hotel rooms during slower weekday periods.

Jobless claim decline seen as good news for Nevada economy: CARSON CITY -- New claims for unemployment benefits by Nevadans dropped for the fourth consecutive week, indicating the economy is stabilizing.

Bad geography spoils 'Bright Idea': Jace Radke; Sprint's self-proclaimed "Bright Idea Pages" in its new phonebook turned into little more than the bright red of embarrassment.

One killed, two injured in apparent altercation: Jace Radke; One man was killed and two other men were injured Monday night in what Metro Police say appears to be a fight that led to a delivery truck driving through a block wall.

College master plan proposed: RENO -- University officials Monday waved off a suggestion that student tuition be tripled and heard ones that Nevada schools place added emphasis on catering to private industry.

Rebels squelch Falcons' tricks: Steve Addy; COLORADO SPRINGS -- It was a victory devoid of style points, but the Rebels cherished it like few others this season.

CES offers chance for congressional recruiting: Erin Neff; Politicians flocking to this year's Consumer Electronics Show to view the nation's largest technology exhibition are also interested in Nevada's congressional races.

Anti-terrorism package readied for Legislature: Cy Ryan and Jeff German; Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa unveiled a series of legislative measures Monday to beef up the war on terrorism in Nevada.

Southwest Gas says potential damages limited in suit: Southwest Gas is embroiled in litigation with two former suitors for the company: ONEOK Inc. of Tulsa, Okla., and Southern Union Co. of Austin, Texas. After an unsolicited bid by Southern Union was rejected by Southwest in 1999, Southern Union sued Southwest and ONEOK, raising charges of regulatory manipulation. The charges prompted ONEOK to withdraw its $1.8 billion offer for Southwest in early 2000, and all three companies ended up suing one another.

Guinn told decision on Yucca near: Gov. Kenny Guinn said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told him Monday that a decision was "imminent" on whether to recommend Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository, but Abraham said he had not set a deadline.

Gibbons to run for re-election: CARSON CITY -- Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons, R-Reno, said today she would run for a third term in a switch of plans by Republican Assembly members.

America West stock falls: America West Airlines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. are among the U.S. carriers that may fail in the next two or three years following a decline in air travel, Barron's reported this week.