Print edition for October 15, 2002

Five firms bid on prison contract: CARSON CITY -- Five companies including the present operator have submitted bids to the state to run all or part of the state women's prison in North Las Vegas.

Green Valley girls take Sunrise crown: Adam Candee; The dream season continues for the Green Valley girls golf team.

Money sought for crisis triage center: A study of drunks and mentally ill patients overcrowding hospital emergency rooms calls for the county and local municipalities to chip in $1.27 million to help fund a regional crisis triage center.

Housing chief gets no reports of worker threats: Adrienne Packer; The Las Vegas Housing Authority's top administrator has received no responses to a memo penned more than a week ago encouraging employees to report threats they received in relation to a controversial public relations contract.

Obituaries for Oct. 15, 2002: Cora D. Andrade, 62, of Las Vegas died Friday in Las Vegas. She was born May 18, 1940, in Oklahoma. A resident for 28 years, she was a secretary for the government.

Station Casinos settles fine over political flier: CARSON CITY -- An out-of-court settlement has been reached between the state and Station Casinos and one of its former executives over unsigned campaign fliers against former County Commissioner Lance Malone.

Letter: One Bush avoids trip to Las Vegas: As George Bush Sr. visits Las Vegas this week, I believe his second or third visit in the past year, why hasn't his son, the above's leader, our leader, visited Las Vegas in say four to five years or ever? Never during his election run of 2000, nor during his past two years in office!

UNLV men in fourth place at Alabama tournament: At four-under, UNLV is tied with Wake Forest for fourth place and eight shots behind top-ranked Clemson for the team lead.

Poll suggests few have enthusiasm for stocks: Will Lester; WASHINGTON -- Almost two-thirds of Americans, including a majority of investors, say it's a bad idea to make a substantial investment in the market, says an Associated Press poll taken at a time the market has dropped to its lowest levels in years.

News briefs for Oct. 15, 2002: A Las Vegas man has filed a lawsuit against the Merryhill Schools and one of its principals over alleged harassment of his son over his Jewish identity.

Eagle Scout honors go to several teenagers: Steven Richard Berry, 18, of Las Vegas; Matthew Benjamin Brown, 15, of Henderson; Steven Carter, 15, of Las Vegas; Eric Lyle Cheney, 18, of Las Vegas; David Jon Chendy, 16, of Las Vegas;

State Supreme Court rejects appeal of killer: CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court today dismissed the appeal of Tam C. Nguyen, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a Las Vegas man in what police called a love triangle.

Letter: Charge foreign visitors more to visit parks: Prior to moving to Las Vegas 11 years ago I spent three years as a tour guide taking small groups of foreign tourists from one national park to the next. One reason I moved here was to have easy access to places like Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon and Death Valley, all of which I enjoy on a regular basis. In all my visits to national parks I have never overheard a conversation about the excessive cost of the entrance fees. The conversations I do overhear on a regular basis I don't understand. They are in Japanese, French, German, Dutch or ...

ACLU representing protesters: Justice of the Peace Bill Sullivan of Beatty set eight separate trials over four days beginning in mid-November to hear the cases, ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein said on Monday.

Number of joints possible with 3 ounces of pot debated: Dan Kulin; The organization leading the push for the decriminalization of 3 ounces of marijuana in Nevada is trying to use its opposition's words against them.

Boeing loses big European order: The long-awaited deal is a snub to The Boeing Co., which has long been the preferred supplier to low-cost operators in Europe and the United States. EasyJet is only the second low-cost carrier, after JetBlue Airways Corp., to order Airbus planes.

Johnson beginning to shine at receiver: Steve Guiremand; Earvin Johnson arrived at UNLV last fall with as much fanfare as any wide receiver recruit in Rebel football history.

Strip steak: Mad cow delegation moovin' on in: Siegfried & Roy were half-decked in a warehouse on Industrial Boulevard.

Columnist Susan Snyder: Some pink charities think green: Products, credit-card companies even grocery stores are trying to lure sales by offering to donate portions of purchase prices to breast cancer research and services.

Editorial: Washington should help the neediest: The state receives the federal TANF funds and it distributes them to Nevada's 17 counties. Nevada's $22 million reserve of welfare funds is expected to be depleted by June. In order to keep the state's program from going into the red, state officials will have to cut Clark County's portion by 75 percent so that the state can keep providing some of the basic services -- food and shelter. Everything seems to run downstream when the economy turns sour, and welfare funding is no exception. The federal government's miserly formula means that Clark County government will have to dip into ...

Delaware vows to fight Maryland expansion: But Delaware lawmakers say they'll fight to retain their Maryland customers by launching a gambling expansion that could eventually include legalized sports betting and a floating casino on the Delaware River.

LV website to sell travel packages to Europeans: Firstream is based in France and has offices in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Spain. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Foes of Q2 get heavy support: Miss Nevada, Teresa Benitez, teamed up with two political powerbrokers Monday night in a grass-roots effort to defeat a ballot question seeking to guarantee marriage in Nevada can only be between a man and a woman.

Democrats close voter gap in new House district: Erin Neff; Voter registration totals for the general election released Monday by Clark County show Democrats with a 32,810 edge over Republicans.

Profits surge for big Nevada banks: Wells Fargo & Co., the largest bank in Nevada, today said third-quarter earnings rose 10 percent as more homeowners sought low-rate loans from the biggest U.S. mortgage lender. The bank also set aside less for bad loans.

Blood supply critical: Nevada's blood supply is in critical condition.

LV firm reports higher operating earnings: By Liz Benston; Slot machine manufacturer Alliance Gaming Corp. on Monday reported a 44 percent increase in operating earnings per share for its first fiscal quarter -- beating Wall Street's average estimates by 1 cent per share -- primarily due to a strong performance in the company's slot machine unit and chief growth engine, Bally Gaming and Systems.

Columnist Jeff German: Pro-pot forces smoking opposition: JOHN WALTERS did his best last week to rally the anti-marijuana troops fighting Question 9.

Wednesday's horse racing entries: OAK TREE MEETING

Police led on chase in Kyle Canyon area: Jen Lawson; A 52-year-old man attacked a Metro Police officer with a knife at Mount Charleston Monday morning and then led officers on a chase that ended at the house where it began, police said.

Teamsters chief to rally Vegas airline, school workers: The national head of the Teamsters union is coming to Las Vegas Wednesday to rally America West Airlines customer service workers and Las Vegas-area school district employees who want Teamsters' representation.

Candidates represent different philosophies: Erin Neff; Merritt Ike Yochum

$500,000 set aside for snacks after school: The Las Vegas City Council is expected to approve Wednesday a request for more than a half-million dollars for its Department of Leisure Services to buy healthy snacks for an elementary after-school care program.

Union head faces probes: United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America President Douglas McCarron is President George W. Bush's closest ally in the labor movement, the newspaper said. He and other labor leaders, who are directors of the Ullico insurance company serving labor unions, are accused of profiting at the expense of their unions and the union pension funds, the newspaper said.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: LVMS seeks new date for truck race: In an effort to boost attendance for the annual NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race here, Las Vegas Motor Speedway general manager Chris Powell is exploring moving the date.

Observers hopeful about new downtown attraction: Erica D. Johnson; Francine Shaw, a Las Vegas resident for 45 years, spent her day off Monday playing video games and Skee-Ball with her family at Jillian's, downtown Las Vegas' newest entertainment complex.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: Let's hope Buick drives Tiger here: Forget about a quarterback who can throw a spiral, a receiver who can catch one, a couple of offensive linemen who can get in somebody's way, a defender or two who can tackle a scrawny third-string walk-on quarterback or a game plan that shows creativity or is suited to the talent on hand.

Other candidates raise third-party awareness: Erin Neff; While two women have the spotlight in the lieutenant governor race, that isn't stopping two men back stage from trying to become Nevada's second in command.

Editorial: Of regents, records and reasons: She has admitted looking through the personnel and student records of Yvonne Atkinson Gates, who serves on the County Commission. Gates is also a part-time employee of UNLV, having filled a position for which Howard had also applied. Howard claims she was looking at Gates' personnel file because people had questioned whether Gates had received any special treatment in her hiring, salary and benefits. Howard has tried to justify looking at the student files, saying she wanted them for comparison purposes while evaluating proposals to raise student admission standards.

Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Mayor's words relevant: Mayor Oran Gragson; The subject in 1965 was consolidation. It is still not done, although some strides have been made, and the public is still the loser. Oran Gragson's voice has been stilled, but his words scream out for the attention they deserved then and still, decades later, deserve now.

Defense calls state's case a house of cards in shooting, beating: Kim Smith; The case against John Steven Spisak is a slam dunk, defense attorney Chris Oram told jurors Monday. Until you take a closer look at the evidence against him.

Casino operator claims deck is stacked for Indians: Isle of Capri Chief Executive John M. Gallaway told the editorial board of The Sun Herald newspaper of Gulfport/Biloxi that the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians doesn't pay any taxes on casino earnings and has a monopoly on the Philadelphia, Miss., market.

County urged to take Yucca stand: Two Clark County advisory committees recommended that the County Commission support the state in its effort to stop a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain without negotiating for benefits.

Correction: Correction

Councilmen want LV to help fund middle school athletics: By Emily Richmond; When Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly was a student at Hyde Park Middle School in 1976, his afternoons were spent shooting hoops and running drills as a member of the basketball team.

School planned in Thompson's name: By Emily Richmond; Clark County School District officials plan to name a new elementary or middle school after Sandra Lee Thompson, a longtime child rights advocate, Las Vegas Sun columnist and executive who was killed in a car wreck this summer.

Ralph Siraco's selections for Wednesday's races at Santa Anita: Wednesday's card

Community briefs for Oct. 15, 2002: Classrooms on Wheels, a free, bilingual preschool and drug prevention program with parenting classes will hold its sixth annual COW Stampede and One-Mile Milk Run from 7:30 a.m. until noon Saturday beginning at Imprints Day School, 8185 Tamarus St.

Monday's prep results: Sunrise Region Tournament

Vegas company settles with California airport: National attorneys, in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing in Las Vegas today, said that in exchange, the airport would withdraw its objection to a $30 million debtor in possession loan that is part of a financing package to keep National flying.