Print edition for June 13, 2002

Tropicana unveils Chicken Challenge: Tropicana unveils Chicken Challenge

Vigoa hearing postponed: Kim Smith; Attorneys on both sides of the Jose Vigoa case this morning agreed to indefinitely postpone his preliminary hearing on attempted jail escape charges.

Energy assistance grants to be raised: State Welfare Administrator Nancy Ford Wednesday approved a revised regulation that will mean the average grant will rise from an annual $250 to about $500 starting July 1.

Old probe of business practices at IGT revealed: By Liz Benston; A controversy erupted in Australia Wednesday that exposed an investigation into the business practices in the early 1990s of International Game Technology of Reno, the world's largest maker of slot machines and other gaming equipment.

Internet gambling measure delayed: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- The House Judiciary Committee today again set aside a bill that would ban most forms of Internet gambling.

Exec named to Internet post: Cairnes, 36, will oversee Playboy.com's Internet gambling operations. Those include PlayboySportsBook.com and PlayboyCasino.com, Playboy ventures with Ladbrokes eGaming Ltd., a U.K. online wagering company.

MGM launches website: The site, www.mgmmiragediversity.com, contains a database of vendors that purchasing departments companywide will use to solicit bids. It is intended to level the playing field for smaller vendors, which don't have the capital to compete with larger firms, executives said.

Financial results restated: Earnings were not affected by the move, the company said.

Credit line granted: The company said it plans to use the $70 million loan to retire $62 million in bonds and a $5 million working capital loan.

Barbary Coast, Culinary near deal: Barbary Coast owner Michael Gaughan said Wednesday he's close to signing a new five-year contract with the Culinary Union.

News briefs for June 13, 2002: A 22-year-old man wanted in connection with the January slaying of a Las Vegas man was arrested Wednesday in Louisiana.

Regulators win order against LV businessman: Stockett, the owner of defunct cement plant operations, The S.I.N.C.L.A.I.R.E. Group Inc., its affiliate Hightec Inc. and its subsidiaries U.S. Cement Inc. and Basalt Fiber Industries Inc., was accused by the SEC in U.S. District Court of disseminating misleading financial statements about the companies to induce investors to buy Hightec stock.

Business briefs for June 13, 2002: The Federal Trade Commission sued the owners of a Las Vegas vending machine company, alleging they are running a business opportunity scam that has victimized thousands of consumers.

Labor council backs bus drivers: The Southern Nevada Labor Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to ask the Nevada AFL-CIO to oppose a proposed $2.7 billion tax package that would support road and transit improvements in Clark County.

Ensign urges colleagues to block Yucca vote: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- With his battle to persuade Republican senators to oppose Yucca Mountain all but lost, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., has shifted strategies and is now trying to rally them behind an effort to block a Yucca vote from happening at all.

Residents work on plans to rejuvenate Circle Park: Diana Sahagun; At the historic circular park near downtown Las Vegas, homeless people are a more common sight than children playing on the grass.

Five in running to be new leader of regents: Jennifer Knight; Nothing ever seems easy with the Board of Regents -- and the process of choosing a new chairperson is no exception.

Judge to rule on possession of bomb plugs: A federal judge will decide on Friday whether the United States can take back safety plugs used in the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima from the former Army Air Corps lieutenant who has held them since 1945.

Funds for LV workers slow in coming: Diana Sahagun; Five months after a promised cash infusion to help laid-off Las Vegas workers, government officials say $1.75 million in federal funds has been delayed by bureaucratic rules.

Tropicana kicks off Chicken Challenge: Tropicana kicks off Chicken Challenge

Vegas sports on TV/Radio: Thursday

Conflict of interest issue arises: The situation gives rise to conflicts, say the companies' creditors, adding that it is the inevitable result of banks' increasingly diverse roles, particularly in the two years since legislation eliminated the separation between investment banking and commercial lending.

Microsoft discloses flaw in website software: Ted Bridis; WASHINGTON -- Microsoft Corp. acknowledged a serious flaw Wednesday in its Internet server software that could allow sophisticated hackers to seize control of Web sites, steal information and use vulnerable computers to attack others online.

Transportation plans unveiled: Planned projects

Iowa high court strikes down law on casino tax: Mike Glover; DES MOINES, Iowa -- A split Iowa Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a state law that taxes land-based casinos more heavily that floating riverboat gambling operations.

New law will test Hispanic students: By Timothy Pratt; A group invited by State Superintendent Jack McLaughlin Wednesday to give ideas for legislation to help students who speak English as a second language has its work cut out for it -- especially since a new federal law is going to put these students under scrutiny as never before.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: UNLV, T&M partnership much needed: It looks like the UNLV athletic department and the Thomas & Mack Center are trying to kiss and make up. Again.

Columnist Paula Del Giudice: Campers must be aware of fire danger: While wildfires burn in many spots in Colorado, destroying homes, wildlife habitat and threatening human life, we may be relieved to know they are not happening here and relax our caution.

Bull rider's success is a tale of the tape: Victoria Sun; At a glance

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Larry Dixon looks for record-setting weekend in Ohio: Larry Dixon is positioned to join some elite company when he rolls his Miller Lite Top Fuel dragster into National Trail Raceway for this weekend's Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.

Las Vegas Area Fishing Report: Anchovies lead to striper success: Striped bass fishing continues to be good in the Boulder Basin while largemouth bass and channel catfish are being caught in the Overton Arm at Lake Mead.

Dreams coming true for entire Bell family: Spencer Patterson; Growing up in a family that included father Buddy Bell and grandfather Gus Bell -- a pair of former major leaguers -- brothers David, Ricky and Mike Bell always assumed they'd also find themselves in the big leagues one day.

Bedard appeal dismissed: CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Wednesday rejected the appeal of Scott H. Bedard, convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a janitorial service owner during a burglary at the Templeton Plaza in Las Vegas in 1997.

Claims of civil violations cost state $1 million a year: CARSON CITY -- The state has paid out an average of $1 million a year to people who claim their civil rights have been violated, the most costly among them sexual harassment cases by state workers.

Obituaries for June 13, 2002: James Rex Battles, 58, of Las Vegas died Monday in a local care center. He was born Feb. 28, 1944, in Mulberry, Ark. A resident for six years, he was a security guard for TSI Security.

Prosecutors assigned in case of elderly woman's slaying: Kim Smith; Attorneys specially trained to handle death penalty cases were assigned Wednesday to the case of a 29-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting and killing an elderly woman last year.

Teen indicted in alleged crime spree: Kim Smith; A Las Vegas boy who turns 17 next week has been indicted in connection with a crime spree that left two people dead and a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper shot.

Man arraigned on charges he threatened Reid: Milton Thomas Black is named in the five-count indictment that charges mailing and faxing threatening communications from October to December of 2001.

Woman enters no contest plea in burning death: Kim Smith; A Las Vegas woman who set a homeless man on fire because he finished off her beer could spend the next three years in prison after pleading the equivalent of no contest Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter.

Bill would overturn bar, casino smoking ban: Randall Chase; DOVER, Del. -- Less than two weeks after Gov. Ruth Ann Minner signed one of the toughest anti-smoking measures in the nation, a legislator introduced a bill Wednesday to water down the new law.

Landowner granted part of Sandy Valley water: CARSON CITY -- A ruling by state Engineer Hugh Ricci may put a crimp in the plans of Vidler Water Co. to pipe water from Sandy Valley to serve the fast-growing Primm area.

Flag Day takes on new symbolism after 9/11: American flags no longer flutter in every other window, and people standing on corners waving Old Glory are rarely seen anymore, as they were in the weeks after Sept. 11.

Nevada mayors to lobby against Yucca at conference: Diana Sahagun; Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will join Reno's mayor in Madison, Wis., at the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors to help lobby for a resolution urging the Senate to postpone a decision on Yucca Mountain.

Urologist leaves UMC because of malpractice insurance: A Las Vegas urologist fed up with rising medical malpractice insurance costs has resigned from his on-call duties with University Medical Center's trauma unit and its other departments.

New wireless system improves agencies' communications: A wireless message system, part of a new $18 million project to link government agencies, debuted today at the National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Operations Office.

Reforms in death penalty likely to include DNA rules: Erin Neff; The Sub-Committee to Study the Death Penalty and Related DNA Testing will meet Friday at 11 a.m. in the Legislative Building in Carson City. The meeting can be seen live in Las Vegas in room 4401 of the Sawyer State Building, 555 E.Washington Ave., or heard live on the Internet at www.leg.state.nv.us by clicking on the listen to live meetings icon.

Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Website exposes facts: So far, the United States government, through the Congress and the Department of Energy, has done just that as it relates to the transportation of 77,000 tons of nuclear waste to our Yucca Mountain. Our government has tried to keep U.S. citizens in the dark, preferring to give them the old "trust us" line in the hopes that before we know what is bad for us it has already happened.

Protective Services visited home where boy died: Keith Paul; Clark County Child Protective Services was investigating allegations of neglect and drug use by the mother whose 5-year-old son died after being found inside a hot car over the weekend, officials told the Sun Wednesday.

Eldorado High grad honored by Army Reserve: Dick Benoit; Sgt. 1st Class James McIntyre Sr. has been named Transportation Corps Noncommissioned Officer of the Year for the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard. Earlier this year the 1983 Eldorado High School graduate was selected as Army Reserve Transportation Corps Regimental NCO of the Year. He successfully competed against the best in the Army National Guard to achieve this ultimate honor in his specialty.

Community briefs for June 13, 2002: Nathan Adelson Hospice will host a day of golf at 8 a.m. Wednesday at Stallion Mountain Country Club, 5500 E. Flamingo Road, to benefit the new Nathan Adelson Hospice community program, "Silk Butterflies," which provides care to terminally ill children of all ages and their families.

Ralph Siraco's selections for Friday's races at Hollywood Park: Friday's card

PCL box: Las Vegas - Salt Lake City: HBP--Branson (by Wise).

Editorial... but not on books: Guinn says a budget shortfall means the state can't afford the textbooks, but that reason isn't good enough. The state can find the money elsewhere -- if it wants to. For instance, last year state government paid out $34.4 million in overtime to its employees. If the state did a better job of managing these costs, there would be plenty of money available for math textbooks. Elected officials talk a good game about giving students the tools to succeed. The Board of Examiners should make sure this is more than empty rhetoric, though, by approving the request for new algebra ...

Editorial: Learning curve for all of us ...: We see the advantages of the law, which in Clark County affects four elementary schools and one middle school. We understand the reasoning of the 100 parents who so far have signed up for it -- they're concerned enough about their children's futures to try a program that might have a highly positive impact. At another school their children may be exposed to better teaching methods, more friends whose influence could brighten their outlooks, newer classroom equipment -- an altogether new and possibly better educational and social environment. Although public schools theoretically are equal, there obviously are wide discrepancies. People ...

Letter: RTC must start fining ATC: I waited an hour-and-a-half for the 204 Sahara bus westbound, over an hour for the 101 Rainbow bus northbound and almost an hour for the 210 Lake Mead Bus westbound. That's almost four hours to travel about 14 miles, normally a 20-minute drive.

Letter: Boggs McDonald capable candidate: Goodman previously stated that he would be neutral in the congressional race, but when Mrs. McDonald announced that she would be a candidate on the Republican ticket, the Democratic mayor decided to back the Democratic candidate. Did we expect different? How the voters of Las Vegas elected this sad excuse for a mayor, I'll never understand. Talk about an unqualified person holding office -- as Mr. Lipman stated concerning Mrs. McDonald -- look what we have now!

Letter: Take control of power company for public good: Since I do not believe that the people who bought Nevada Power are stupid, I must assume that there was some other motive for their actions. That motive was profit. The speculation and risk involved with the energy contracts they bought was a huge gamble and they lost.

Friday's horse racing entries: Post Time 1 p.m.

Welcome to Nevada: Dean Juipe; Most fighters get into the game out of desperation, or, in more ideal settings, to pursue fame and a world championship. Few, if any, do it on a whim.

Sun boxing ratings: Heavyweights (195+ pounds)

Columnist Dean Juipe: Morales shaping up for Barrera bout at MGM Grand: Dean Juipe; World Boxing Council featherweight champion Erik Morales has never been in better shape and is prepared to deliver the fight of his life June 22, said his manager, Fernando Beltran.