Print edition for December 29, 2003

Florida arrests could affect LV clubs: The arrests of six people at four Tampa, Fla., strip clubs last week further cloud an already uncertain future for two now-closed topless clubs in Las Vegas.

Editorial: Eye on gas guzzlers: With larger vehicles now a top choice among consumers, whether they're needed or not, the federal government is finally waking up to the fact that they should meet federal fuel economy standards, which are imposed on regular cars. Most SUVs and pickup trucks are exempt from any standards for gas mileage.

Sports briefs for December 29, 2003: "George has been telling people that he expects everyone to be back at work on Monday, and he expects to join them," Howard Rubenstein, his publicist, said hours before Steinbrenner's release from Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Hospital on Sunday night.

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Sun Lite for Dec. 29, 2003: Lisa Ferguson; Time to take care of some last-minute business before 2003 comes to a screeching halt.

Youths to get skate park of their own: Dan Kulin; After years of watching skateboard parks sprout up elsewhere throughout the Las Vegas Valley, North Las Vegas skateboarders will finally getting a skate park in their hometown.

Victim seeking return of stolen money: Erica D. Johnson; A Las Vegas man says Clark County has not returned money stolen from him during a home robbery, even though a majority of it was later recovered by police.

Rebels dispose of Bradley with ease: A day after Christmas, Bradley suffered a major loss when leading scorer Phillip Gilbert, a senior guard, sustained a stress fracture in a leg that will sideline him for a few weeks.

Birth announcements for December 29, 2003: Dec. 16:

Columnist Dean Juipe: UNLV enjoys a tasty after-Christmas treat: Dean Juipe; It was a feast, a time to fatten up in the spirit of the holidays. And for the UNLV men's basketball team, it was the first of at least three consecutive games at the trough.

Columnist Susan Snyder: Small town possesses a big heart: Experts predict the Las Vegas Strip's $500,000 New Year's Eve fireworks display will be the nation's largest.

Lady Rebels stay unbeaten at home: After spending the early season beating up on more lesser-knowns than you could shake a peppermint stick at, UNLV's Lady Rebels took a significant step up in class Sunday against Mississippi State, a No. 3 seed in last season's NCAA tournament.

New laws take effect Jan. 1: CARSON CITY -- New taxes, increased benefits for those injured on the job and tighter restrictions intended to thwart terrorists are among the new laws that become effective Jan. 1 in Nevada.

New briefs for December 29, 2003: Metro Police are investigating the shooting death of a woman who was found dead in a room at a Fremont Street motel about 2 a.m. today.

Pop Goes the Year: Kirk Baird; Sometimes to look ahead you have to look to the past.

Obituaries for December 29, 2003: Bernard J. Burkin Jr., 61, of Las Vegas died Wednesday in Las Vegas. He was born Sept. 12, 1942, in Detroit.

Columnist Ralph Siraco: Reflecting on the past year in the Sport of Kings: Ralph Siraco; As we ring in the new year on Thursday, pause for reflections of 2003 are in order.

VegasBeat -- Timothy McDarrah: Siegfried's career perspective is 20/20: Roy Horn is home, and Siegfried Fischbacher has accepted that nothing will ever be the same for the legendary duo.

Downtown stench stirs city to action: Sito Negron; A combination of grease, trash and urine in downtown alleys is raising a stink that Las Vegas city work crews hope to tackle with a bacteria-eating enzyme sometime next year.

Letter: Protect Red Rock from Station plan: Currently it is a good gradual transition from the high-rise downtown and the Strip to less than 100 feet in height for commercial and residential buildings and then on into Red Rock. Let's not bring high rise to the edge of this national treasure. A Green Valley Ranch Station Casino would be appropriate for the area, but no more!

New Year's no-fly zone is sought above Strip: Jace Radke; Temporary flight restrictions around the Las Vegas Strip on New Year's Eve remain a possibility to help safeguard the 300,000 tourists expected to celebrate in Las Vegas, according Sheriff Bill Young.

A look at predictions made for the year 2003: Kirk Baird; At the end of every year, newspapers and newscasts are filled with predictions from wanna-be psychics. Trouble is, they never reveal if they were right or wrong in their prognostications.

Officials say meat recalled in Nevada poses no health risk: Although meat from a Holstein with mad cow disease has reached stores for distribution to consumers in eight states, including Nevada, it does not pose a health risk, federal officials said Sunday.

Editorial: Look north for better drug prices: The Canadian government regulates the prices of prescription drugs, saving millions for its citizens. Lacking the same protection from their own government, many United States citizens want the legal right to buy their prescription drugs from Canada. The interest has spread to state governments, which realize they could also save millions by filling prescriptions for their workers and retirees, prison inmates, and Medicaid recipients through Canadian outlets. The latest governor to push for this right is Rod Blagojevich of Illinois. If Illinois could cover its state workers and retirees with prescription drugs bought from Canada, the Democratic governor calculated that ...

Wranglers set for road trip: Nick Christensen; Maybe the best thing that could have happened to the Las Vegas Wranglers this weekend was a loss.

Landmark Las Vegas restaurant closes: For nearly half a century the Venetian Ristorante was Las Vegas' little piece of Italy, noted for its home-style cooking and frequented by everyone from the biggest stars to ordinary families.

Dam bypass construction forces closure of area roads: Kingman Wash Road is closed to motor vehicle travel, hiking and other recreational uses, as are Kingman Wash South Mine Road, Kingman Wash North Mine Road, and Fortification Hill Road.

DOE seeks to lock up BLM land: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department wants more than 300,000 acres of public land to be removed from drilling or mining for 20 years as it prepares to build a rail line to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site.

Columnist Dan Geary: Energy bill really does push Yucca: Dan Geary; In a recent Las Vegas Sun article ("Environmentalists target Ensign" by reporter Launce Rake), Sen. John Ensign's spokesperson, Jack Finn, described the notion that the Senate's energy legislation is a vote in favor of Yucca Mountain as laughable. Really?

Family: Mechanical failure caused crash: Mary Manning and Dan Kulin; Relatives and friends of the six people who died in the Christmas Day plane crash at North Las Vegas Airport believe mechanical problems caused the crash.

Meat sent to Nevada may be tied to mad cow: Emily Gersema; WASHINGTON -- Investigators and retailers in eight states and a territory are scrambling to recover meat that may have come from a Holstein stricken with deadly mad cow disease.

Letter: Zoo should not be built at serene Lamb State Park: Why allot untold amounts of money for this project when we have schools, homeless shelters, public transportation, police agencies and other worthwhile programs that are underfunded?

Calif. pipeline reopens; LV 'dodges bullet': The deadly mud slides that washed out a church camp near San Bernardino, Calif., and killed several children also washed away the soil protecting a 300-foot section of pipeline carrying gasoline from California to Nevada.

Former CEO faces charges in fraud at food giant: Tanzi was picked up late Saturday in Milan, after having slipped out of the country as the criminal investigation intensified into the near-collapse of the company he founded in 1961 in what is being dubbed as "Europes's Enron."

Casinos use controversial database to catch cheats: Adam Goldman; Moments after Kevin Lewis sat down last summer at a high stakes blackjack table inside an Atlantic City casino, the pit boss got the word: Lewis was a card counter.

'Famous Dave' becomes top BIA regulator: Renee Ruble; EDINA, Minn. -- Dave Anderson said he just kept cooking ribs while awaiting confirmation to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Muslims juggle their faith around Christmas culture: By Timothy Pratt; A day after millions nationwide celebrated a holiday rooted in the birth of Christ, hundreds of Muslims in mosques around the Las Vegas Valley said their weekly prayers to Allah.

Gaming news briefs for December 29, 2003: ATLANTIC CITY -- A blackjack dealer and two players have been charged with defrauding Park Place Entertainment Corp.'s Caesars Atlantic City casino out of more than $72,000, authorities said.

America West planning to hire Vegas-based workers: When 1,000 new employees are hired by America West Airlines in the months ahead, many of them will be based in Las Vegas, the airline said.

Snow, wind make for hazardous driving in northern Nevada: AP; Chains were mandatory in the Sierra on both Interstate 80 and U.S. 50 over Donner and Echo summits and chains or snow tires were required on all other mountain highways.