Print edition for March 29, 2002

LV bishop speaks out on sexual-abuse issue: Stacy J. Willis; In keeping with an increasing number of U.S. Catholic bishops, Las Vegas Bishop Joseph Pepe issued a statement Thursday night addressing "stories of sexual abuse of children by some priests throughout the country."

Andersen vote called off: Harrah's board had recommended Andersen as the company's auditor, and shareholders were to vote on that selection at Harrah's annual shareholder meeting May 2. But on Wednesday, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission ordered all Atlantic City casinos and their parent companies to sever ties with the accounting firm by May 15.

MASH Village pulling out of Vegas: Diana Sahagun; The city's main homeless provider said this morning that it will pull out of Las Vegas because it hasn't found the financial support it needs.

Homeless people take advantage of Call First agency's offer of help: By Timothy Pratt; Twenty-two of the homeless men and women recently driven from a homeless camp in downtown Las Vegas took a nonprofit agency up on its offer of a roof and a job Thursday.

'West Wing' episode could help in fight against dump: Benjamin Grove; A popular television drama may be Nevada's best chance of publicizing the real-world dangers of shipping nuclear waste and building support against the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump, Nevada officials said.

National gets OK from judge for airplane lease: Judge Linda Riegle told attorneys at a status hearing Thursday that she would consider the next two requests April 11.

Mandalay pulls out of AGA: David Strow; In a sudden move, Las Vegas-based casino giant Mandalay Resort Group has pulled out of the American Gaming Association, the gaming industry's national lobbying organization.

Governor faces Yucca battle: Erin Neff; In his effort to boost Nevada's efforts to fight Yucca Mountain, Gov. Kenny Guinn faces major political and legal hurdles to find money the state's senators say they will need to stop the nuclear waste dump.

Classical Mystery Tour founder embraces Beatles legacy: Kirk Baird; What: Classical Mystery Tour.

Embattled auto warranty firm files for Chap. 11: The Seattle-based company, which sold extended warranties for older automobiles to customers in several states, on Wednesday filed voluntary petitions on behalf of Las Vegas-based affiliates Cambridge Risk Management Inc. and Members Network Inc.

Report signals strength: The Commerce Department reported toay that spending by consumers, which accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States, increased 0.6 percent last month after jumping 0.5 percent in January.

News briefs for March 29, 2002: A new special agent in charge of the Las Vegas field office of the FBI has been named.

Nye County loses $66 million suit: CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Thursday rejected Nye County's claim that the state shortchanged it $66 million in federal mining and oil leasing money.

Homeless task force concerned about lack of gaming interest: By Timothy Pratt; More than a year after Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman created a task force to devise a regional plan to address homelessness, the board's members are concerned that a seat at the table set aside for the gaming industry remains empty.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Phone call changed life of racer Wilson: Gene Wilson was at home earlier this month, preparing to begin defense of his International Hot Rod Association Pro Stock championship, when the phone rang.

Political notebook: Yucca fight gets help in prime time: Erin Neff; Nevada can be thankful it's NBC and not CBS calling attention to the dangers of transporting nuclear waste.

UNLV women's win streak ends at six: UNLV women's win streak ends at six

Thursday's prep results: BASEBALL

AG files motion on Yucca water: CARSON CITY -- The state Attorney General's Office today moved on two fronts to stop the U.S. Department of Energy from using water at Yucca Mountain for a proposed nuclear waste repository.

Businesses disappoint Guinn: "I wish the businesses would step up to the plate," Guinn said. "We need to bring as much financial resources as we can to help Sen. (John) Ensign and Sen. (Harry) Reid in their battle to collect 51 votes to sustain my veto of the president."

Mojave National Preserve placed on most endangered list: Mojave National Preserve, about 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas, is one of the 10 most endangered national park service sites because of encroaching growth, according to an environmental group.

Casinos cash in on NCAA basketball championship: Lisa Snedeker; Sports fans call the NCAA men's basketball tournament March Madness. Las Vegas casinos just call it profitable.

PUC to vote on power rate hike: The state Public Utilities Commission will vote today on a recommendation from the chairman that would raise the monthly bills of Nevada Power Co. customers one-half of 1 percent beginning Monday.

Controversial LV home renter bankrupt: Grace Leong; The entrepreneur who fought an upscale neighborhood near the Las Vegas Convention Center over his controversial vacation home rental business now wants to liquidate the business and has placed it in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Arbitration demanded in suit against Dion's spouse: Kim Smith; A woman who claims the husband of singer Celine Dion raped her at the Imperial Palace two years ago should be forced to sit down with a third party to settle the dispute, attorneys for Rene Angelil said.

Sun wins top award for business, gaming coverage: The Sun this week was named a Best in Business winner by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Other winners in the Sun's category of up to 125,000 circulation were the Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press-Democrat and the Waterbury Republican-American in Connecticut.

Museum groups works of late artist Francis: Kimberley McGee; What: "Remaking the World: The Art of Sam Francis, 1950-1992."

For old times' sake: By Jerry Fink; Who: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Supplier sues over patent: Shuffle Master, which said it owns a patent for a machine that shuffles multiple decks of playing cards, wants a court order to stop the defendants from continuing to sell the shufflers. The VendingData subsidiaries sued were Casinovations Inc. and Casinovations Sales Inc.

Speedway offers legal venue for street racers: Jace Radke; The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is extending an invitation to illegal street racers to fulfill the drivers' need for speed in the controlled environment of the track's drag strip.

Columnist Jerry Fink: Dynamic Darro can be found all around town: I recently dropped by the House of Blues Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay, where Cigar Smoker magazine was having a social gathering. Playing background music for the affair was Joe Darro on keyboard.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Tyson's purse will be next to nothing: Dean Juipe; From a distance, the issue seems to be settled. The contracts are signed and the fight has been formally announced by a morally bankrupt state willing to do its part to undermine the Association of Boxing Commissions and tempt the federal government to get involved in pro boxing.

Affordable apartment complex going up downtown: Diana Sahagun; A Reno developer will break ground on a 300-unit apartment complex downtown next week, marking the first time in two years a residential complex is being built in the heart of Las Vegas.

Ralph Siraco's Santa Anita selections: 1st Race -- Potra Girl - Argentine-bred draws outside box in small field at mile opener, Pincay sits another Spawr trainee, productive team. Mickey's Hot Stuff - Draws alongside top pick, Garcia aboard Abrams trainee in claimer, adds blinkers for this outing. Value Play -- Continental Miss

Icahn again taking hotel-casino private: The $44.3 million deal, first proposed in 2000, would give the Stratosphere's outside shareholders $45.32 per share. Nybor L.P., a company completely owned by Icahn, would receive $44.33 per share.

PUC likely to reject firm's attempt to leave power grid: Malcolm Hall; In the first test of a new Nevada law that lets large companies buy power from sources other than the state's two major utilities, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada today is likely to reject an application by Barrick Goldstrike Inc. to leave the Sierra Pacific Power Co. electricity system.

VEGAS SPORTS ON TV-RADIO: VEGAS SPORTS ON TV-RADIO

Casino accounting issues raised by gaming analyst: David Strow; Though highly unlikely, there's no guarantee a repeat of the Enron debacle won't occur in the gaming industry, a prominent gaming analyst said in a report released Thursday.

'Oklahoma' settles in for Summerlin run: What: "Oklahoma!"

Lo Duca has risen to the top in LA: Victoria Sun; The day that Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca signed a three-year, $7.25 million contract in February, he went home and had a Halle Berry moment.

9 more boys join accusers of DEA agent: Keith Paul; Nine more teenage boys have come forward to accuse a local DEA agent of tossing notes to them offering money for sex.

Explosion prompts decision to hire more fire inspectors: Adrienne Packer; A five-year gap between inspections at the AeroTech plant destroyed by fire in October prompted Clark County Manager Thom Reilly to request money to hire four additional fire inspectors.

Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: Land, air, water in danger: THEY KEEP BITING THE DUST while ranchers, miners and wealthy energy executives cheer. Who are they? About any federal public servant assigned to protect our environment who insists on doing his or her job in a responsible manner.

Man sentenced in murder-for-hire case: Kim Smith; A Las Vegas man who still proclaims his innocence was sentenced to two to eight years in prison Thursday in connection with a murder-for-hire scheme that failed on three different occasions five years ago.

Columnist Jon Ralston: Utility suffers shock to system: What does a governor and Gang of 63, who green-lighted hundreds of millions of dollars in power purchases a year ago and then forgot to switch to amber before going straight to red, do now?

Obituaries for March 29, 2002: Lawrence Aldenhoevel, 78, of Las Vegas died Wednesday in Las Vegas. He was born Jan. 1, 1924, in Chicago. A resident for 32 years, he was executive director and department manager of public relations at Caesars Palace, a World War II Army veteran who earned two Bronze Stars, a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars and was named honorary chief of Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

Renoir, Picasso lauded by Mobil: Renoir at The Mirage and Picasso at Bellagio were two of only 14 restaurants nationwide to receive the highly regarded distinction.

Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: President's tough talk: Dr. Norbert Vollertsen, a German who worked in North Korean hospitals from July 1999 to December 2000, recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal:

Editorial: Get ready for a safe American Graffiti: But the public streets are not the place for shows of engine muscle. When it comes to safety versus peer pressure, it should be no contest. Often, however, the urge is too great and the race is on -- at great peril to the public. That's why we like what the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is doing with its experimental "Midnight Mayhem" events. They're an open invitation to those with heavy feet and hot cars to race under controlled circumstances at a place that's out of the way and safe. Drivers must be at least 18 or have a consent ...

Review: 'Rookie' hits home run: Geoff Carter; You could view Walt Disney Pictures' "The Rookie" a dozen times and never find a dirty word. You won't even find anything soiled. This baseball picture, based on a true story, is as clean and wholesome as our idea of baseball itself.

Columnist Muriel Stevens: Celebrity chef Lagasse kids around: Get there early for the Emeril Lagasse book signing at Borders Books Music & Cafe, at West Lake Mead and North Rainbow Boulevards in the Best of the West center on April 12. Lagasse will autograph copies of his new cookbook for kids, "Emeril's There's a Chef in my Soup" (HarperCollins, $22.99) from 2-4 p.m.

Columnist Benjamin Grove: McCain sure to take up sports betting ban again: Benjamin Grove; But the Senate passed the bill this month and President Bush signed it, leaving McCain casting around for something to do. Nevada's four members in Congress hope he doesn't turn first to his crusade to ban betting on college sports in Nevada.

Letter: Oversight needed across the board: Some other recent examples of self-regulation are: Ford/Firestone, airline security and nuclear power security. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has allowed at least 10 million illegals into our country, so even the government needs oversight.

Easter: Celebration of rebirth: Stacy J. Willis; Hopping down the trail this Easter in Henderson is the Easter Bull -- an affable if capitalistic symbol of Christ's resurrection.

Letter: Let's get money, water, for storing nuclear waste: There are those of us who either have worked on the project or know the people who do and have toured the site and have seen the scientific studies being conducted there. We have talked to some of the country's best scientific minds and have had our questions and concerns addressed.

Columnist Susan Snyder: Taking a step for safety: Could the end be near for the "universe of one"?

Editorial: Why the secrecy on energy?: A history of questionable policies can be more easily accepted if today's leaders are learning from the past and adjusting current policy. Unfortunately that's not happening under the Bush-Cheney administration. Same old, same old is the expression springing to mind. Documents relating to Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force, which met secretly last year, were released last week, and all 11,000 pages showed an unchanged devotion to the views of oil and nuclear industry representatives. The documents included policy statements submitted by environmental groups such as the Wilderness Society, but none of their representatives had a chance to meet ...

Tree will honor Henderson man: The 2 p.m. tree-planting ceremony for Wade Snowden, a 1978 graduate of Basic High School, where he excelled in athletics, will be at Morrell Park, a short distance from the baseball field where he played as a youngster.

Community news briefs for March 29, 2002: Catholic Charities will host its third annual "April Foods Day" food drive beginning 8 a.m. Monday through April 8, at several Las Vegas hotels and casinos, benefiting the homeless and working poor of Las Vegas.

High court orders look at appeal: CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Thursday ordered a hearing for convicted killer Joseph M. Smith to determine if his attorney refused to file an appeal.

McGuire Sisters' mother, Lillie, dies: The Rev. Lillie McGuire-Long, the mother of the McGuire Sisters singing group and a frequent visitor to Las Vegas since the 1960s, died March 21 in a Miamisburg, Ohio, convalescent home. She was 92.

Huston testifies killing of his wife was accidental: Kim Smith; An 82-year-old Sandy Valley resident told jurors Thursday he accidentally shot his wife in the head when she grabbed for the gun during an argument over expensive car repairs.

Judge hands stiff sentence to man who attacked cop: Kim Smith; A California man who shattered a Metro Police officer's face with a cutting board and stabbed a police dog was sentenced Thursday to nine to 24 years in prison.

Editorial: Parklands drawing attention: Destry Jarvis, executive director of the National Recreation and Park Association, told Sun reporter Jeffrey Libby that Southern Nevada park planning is now a model for the nation. "Everywhere else in the country where population centers are still growing, development occurs first and open space is an afterthought. In Southern Nevada, it's a forethought." This is not a statement that could have been made 10 years ago. It's nice to know that the valley is now exerting some control over its growth and that urban planners are gaining some victories.

Nevadans hope to spread anti-Yucca message nationwide: Erin Neff; Nevada's fight against the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump is playing out in a chain of official processes -- Gov. Kenny Guinn's expected veto, a congressional vote to overturn the veto, and the courts in which the state is suing the government over the issue.

Editorial: Too many people still lax on security: One would think that a new culture of heightened alertness would have happened automatically, but, stunningly, Sept. 11 hasn't gotten through to many people upon whom others depend for their safety. Another story out of Norfolk, Va., this week drives the point home. An inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization service violated new regulations by allowing -- without first checking with a supervisor -- four Pakistanis who were crewmen aboard a Russian freighter to go ashore. The crewmen are still missing. Congress has launched an investigation into how this could possibly have happened.

Rail project gaining support: A proposed monorail extension from the Strip to downtown Las Vegas appears to be gaining public acceptance, contractors and Regional Transportation Commission officials said Thursday.

Letter: Nevada Power will ruin state: First, the company is run by people who don't have any idea of sound business practices. If I ran a business like Nevada Power I would be out of business in a hurry. But I don't have the PUC to bail me out whenever the need arises.

Review: 'Panic Room' reminiscent of Hitchcock: Geoff Carter; Late in "Panic Room," divorcee Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) sets up some traps for three brutal home invaders. "Why are you doing this?" a character asks. "Because it will come to this," she says, grimly.

DVD Review: Howard's 'Willow' broke ground in effects: Geoff Carter; In these not-so-enlightened times, it's good to remember that Ron Howard, recent winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture ("A Beautiful Mind") and the most powerful Opie in the world, entered the realm of blockbuster filmmaking by directing "short actors." And from a George Lucas story that makes "The Phantom Menace" scan like "Heart of Darkness" in comparison.

Retooled Holmes production packs a punch at Harrah's: Joe Delaney; Bravissimo, bravura, tour de force: All three superlatives apply to the performance of the "new," completely in control Clint Holmes in his newly named theater at Harrah's. Just beginning his third year in a contract that extends him at the property to 2006, Holmes was hot when he opened there two years ago. He has come light years since.

Letter: Energy secretary has it all wrong: Mr. Abraham accuses anti-Yucca forces of employing scare tactics when he himself does that very thing. Terrorists are not restricted to the United States for nuclear wastes. As a matter of known fact, the countries of the old Soviet republic are prolific sources of bomb and nuclear warhead wastes.

Letter: Legalization of migrants has a negative impact: But what about the long-term best interests of the state of Nevada? Mexican immigrants are sending more than $10 billion dollars back to Mexico every year. This is $10 billion dollars that is lost to local American businesses in the communities where immigrants reside. And while this money is draining out of American communities, the costs of educating immigrant children and the costs of building the infrastructure that created the jobs these immigrants are taking is paid for by the American taxpayer.

Warm Easter weekend expected: A low pressure system moving eastward from Baja California caused the disturbance in the sunny Southern Nevada weather pattern, National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Nemeth said.

Review: 'Smoochy' destined for classic status: Geoff Carter; The best black comedies live in sealed universes -- worlds that have no link to ours.

Columnist Sandy Thompson: National policy on youth makes sense: Sandy Thompson; One policy proposal in particular -- the Younger Americans Act -- is not getting as much attention as it would otherwise, according to the Child Welfare League of America.

Letter: Yucca is not our biggest problem: Gov. Guinn and our state politicians are talking about calling a special state legislative session. This is to authorize the expenditure of $10 million from the "rainy day" fund to fight the Yucca Mountain project. At the same time we have a crisis that may cost us Nevada's only Class 1 medical trauma unit. We also face the loss of many fine medical professionals due to the malpractice insurance crisis.

Columnist Joe Delaney: Revisiting friend's long-ago holiday message: Joe Delaney; This column is one we have featured on Good Friday each year since Duke Ellington's death in 1974 ... It is from a Christmas card he sent us in time for Easter one year, telling the story of "The River," or "The Heavenly Anticipation of Rebirth."

Power of ownership: Rate decision leaves critics calling for public utility: WEEKEND EDITION

Columnist Jeff German: Culinary, casinos ready for showdown: Collective bargaining talks between the Culinary Union and Las Vegas casinos are expected to get under way within two weeks, and the union on Wednesday is giving us a prelude to the difficult road that lies ahead.