Print edition for January 20, 2003

County asks Vandever to resubmit sick time: Judy Odierna; Clark County officials say they are asking former county recorder Judith Vandever to reconsider her request for $19,143 in sick leave.

Popular shortcut will get bumpy: The Las Vegas City Council will consider a proposal on Wednesday that would discourage drivers from using what has long been a popular cut-through street.

Gambling boats raided by feds: FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. agents investigating the president of the company seized six boats and raided company offices.

Carson City briefs for Jan. 20, 2003: Gov. Kenny Guinn said he favors a 5 percent bidding preference for Nevada firms who bid on contracts with state government.

Guinn to outline huge tax-increase plan: CARSON CITY -- With the state treasury nearly depleted, Gov. Kenny Guinn will outline his plan tonight for the biggest tax increase in state history.

Goodman to talk tourism at meeting of mayors in D.C.: Judy Odierna; Oscar Goodman will join 300 of his fellow mayors from across the country in Washington this week to talk about ways to increase the lifeblood of the Las Vegas economy: tourism.

Court briefs for Jan. 20, 2003: An FBI agent ordered to reveal whether he knows of any evidence that could clear Rick Tabish of the murder of Ted Binion filed a sealed affidavit with U.S. District Judge James Mahan last week.

Editorial: Caps on juries ignore insurance companies: We say: Not so fast. Remember, medical malpractice was not an issue until the bottom fell out of the bond and stock markets, where insurance companies invested their money. Suddenly, insurance companies raised their premiums, including those for medical malpractice. Just as suddenly, doctors and insurance companies began pointing their fingers at juries, as if high awards to people who have suffered medical malpractice are the sole culprits. Although we're skeptical of it, caps on jury awards, either state by state or nationally, might indeed be part of a solution. But that solution will never be complete until insurance reform ...

Council campaign spending detailed: Erin Neff; Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald used campaign money to pay his defense attorney and dipped into the campaign funds to reimburse his city staff and himself for unspecified expenses.

Local sports calendar: MONDAY

Nevada traffic deaths on rise: Jace Radke; Pinpointing a cause for the rising numbers of traffic accident fatalities across the state is next to impossible, but officials agree that wearing a seat belt would trim the number of deaths.

Firm looks to fund acquisition: The notes, which carry an interest rate of 10.75 percent, are due in 2008.

Adelson proposes Rhode Island resort: Adelson, also a convention industry magnate, and his company Las Vegas Sands Inc. have previously expressed interest in developing casinos in Omaha, Neb., and in Massachusetts should those states expand gambling.

Former Playboy exec to launch LV magazine: The former president of publishing for Playboy Enterprises Inc. will launch a publication for the Greenspun Media Group aimed at driving tourism to Las Vegas, the company announced today.

Housing authority director faces funding challenge: Dan Kulin; The greatest challenges facing the new executive director of the Las Vegas Housing Authority will have less to do with the agency's troubled past and more with anticipated trouble in the future.

Predictability sought in county's master plan: Jeffrey Libby; Even as golf course magnate Billy Walters negotiates to save a proposed shopping center, Clark County commissioners are drafting new regulations intended to strengthen predictability in planning.

News briefs for Jan. 20, 2003: A California man was killed early this morning when he lost control of his pickup truck on Russell Road near Broadbent Boulevard, Metro Police said.

Hearing set on riverboat deal: The majority owner of Bally's riverboat casino in New Orleans has agreed to a $21 million buyout that would end a lengthy dispute with the gambling hall's operator, Park Place Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas.

VegasBeat -- Timothy McDarrah: The Rio's rock photos cause a shutter: That said, there are still some pretty glaring omissions.

Henderson operation expands, state assistance granted: In Business Las Vegas, a sister newspaper to the Las Vegas Sun, reported the company will receive an $80,000 grant under the state's Train Employees Now program following a unanimous vote of the Commission on Economic Development at a meeting earlier this month.

Rural lifestyle fading as city grows west: Jeffrey Libby; The way Francis and Arlene Stringer see it, developers can't arrive soon enough to bulldoze their 2 1/2-acre Henderson homestead.

Editorial: LBJ speech has lesson for Bush: In 1961 President John Kennedy ordered that federal agencies and federal contractors take "affirmative action" to ensure that hiring and employment policies were adopted without regard to anyone's "race, creed, color or national origin." Kennedy's order was issued about five years after King had taken the lead in raising the national consciousness about the extent of discrimination being suffered by black Americans. The term "affirmative action" stuck and its meaning evolved. We wish President Bush had taken to heart the words of another president from Texas, Lyndon Johnson, before launching his attack on affirmative action.

Developer asks city, county to give up land: Judy Odierna; A private developer is asking Las Vegas and Clark County to relinquish a 20-acre parcel of land in the northwest part of the valley for private development.

Couple jailed in Angelil extortion case: Jen Lawson; A California couple were in the Clark County jail Friday on charges that they tried to extort $13.5 million from the husband of singer Celine Dion.

Builders' convention returns to Vegas after nine years: Jennifer Shubinski; Just a week after one of the largest International Consumer Electronics Shows ended at the Las Vegas Convention Center, two major conventions -- one returning to Las Vegas after a nine-year hiatus and the other ending a three-year run in the city -- open this week.

Obituaries for Jan. 20, 2003: Madison William Crosby Sr., 68, of Las Vegas died Jan. 12 in Las Vegas. He was born March 7, 1934, in Texas. A resident for four years, he was a Korean War Marine Corps veteran, a graduate of Morgan State College, a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and the Masons.

Birth announcements for Jan. 20, 2003: Nov. 22:

Tuscany unveils casino: Sun Staff; The Tuscany hotel celebrated the opening of its casino Friday.

State nixes video proposal: A spokeswoman for Gov. James E. McGreevey said no decisions have been made. But legislative and administration sources told The Press of Atlantic City and The Star-Ledger of Newark the proposal is dead for now.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: No ambulance for Laughlin winners this year: LAUGHLIN -- Dale Ebberts exacted a measure of revenge in capturing the overall and Class 1 victories Sunday in the ninth annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.

Utah invades Mack tonight: Steve Guiremand; NEXT UP

Sales growth on track for discounter: Same-store sales generally refers to stores open at least a year.

Columnist Ralph Siraco: Eddie D. retires with grace and dignity -- like he rode: Ralph Siraco; Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye left the sport of horse racing last week in the same manor in which he participated for more than four decades.

Sun Lite for Jan. 20, 2003: When it comes to fad diets, you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't been to The Zone (and back again); said "See ya later" to carbohydrates; or broke little more than his or her spirit while trying to bust sugar.

Teacher assistants to meet stricter standards: By Emily Richmond; For more than a decade Phyllis Smith has worked in Clark County's most impoverished schools, helping teachers with young students in the pre-kindergarten programs.

Hearing delayed in fatal robbery: Police say Maxey Taylor, 23, and Robert Nusbaum, 34, of Palmdale, Calif., robbed a Bank of America branch at 801 Nellis Blvd. on New Year's Eve. Nusbaum was shot and killed by police officers in the pursuit.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Don't take NFL ban too seriously: Dean Juipe; Provincialism is an inescapable trait that affects each of us. When something hits too close to home we rise up in what often amounts to an exaggerated protest.

Real-ing 'em in: Reality shows eager to push risk factor in Vegas: Judy Odierna; Peters' Las Vegas experience earlier this month was unusual; it has been shared by only four other people, all fellow contestants on TV's stun-driven reality contest "Fear Factor."

Review: Updated Doors survive specter of Morrison: Spencer Patterson; Singer Ian Astbury stammered while making the announcement, as if he -- like so many in the sold-out crowd at Rain in the Desert at the Palms -- could not fully embrace the notion of the Doors playing without Jim Morrison.

Nellis mission: Get Raptor pilots ready for the hunt: Jace Radke; Twelve years ago Lt. Col. David Rose was flying missions over Iraq during Operation Desert Storm in an F-15 Eagle when he was forced to back down from a MiG 29 Fulcrum fighter jet.

Closing of club hits a sour note for musicians: Spencer Patterson; Joe Lano was preparing to play the third of six scheduled nights at Blue Note Las Vegas when the jazz guitarist received an unexpected phone call from Bob Collins, the club's production manager, on Wednesday.

LV considered easy target for jewelry heists: Jen Lawson; Jewelry thefts According to the Jewelers' Security Alliance, which receives reports from police, FBI, insurance companies and other sources, there were seven crimes involving stores selling jewelry between September and December. More than $2 million in jewelry was reported stolen. Between September and December, the following jewelry crimes were reported in Clark County:

Columnist Susan Snyder: Grubb is good in Pahrump: He's used to the drive, and the town officials are used to him.

Two more conventions heading for Vegas: Separately, the insurance industry trade groups LOMA and ACORD announced plans to merge their technology conferences next year. The ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum will be held at Paris Las Vegas May 23-26, 2004. The separate conferences this year are in San Antonio and Orlando.

Letter: Benefits of organ donations overwhelming: I had advanced-stage liver disease and the only hope for me was a liver transplant. I suffered for more than a year with all the symptoms: fatigue, nausea, anaerobia and, the worst of all, the loss of desire to communicate with friends and loved ones.

Goodman's campaign donations top $750,000: Erin Neff; Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman collected just under $500,000 for his re-election bid last year, led by big donations from gamers, strip club owners and others who have business with the city.

Letter: Our politicians are ignorant: The politicians we have in Washington now, for instance, were well informed in money-raising, politicking and propaganda needed to get in office. Their fields of ignorance are history, international relations, diplomacy, war and economics.

Airline maps plans for growth: Chew Choon Seng capped a three-decade career at Singapore Airlines Ltd. by becoming chief executive. The timing could have been better: Airlines lost $19 billion on overseas routes in two years, fuel prices are surging and cut-price rivals are thriving.

Nongaming hotel in Las Vegas sold: By Liz Benston; An investment group has purchased the 149-room St. Tropez All Suites Resort Hotel, located about two blocks east of the Las Vegas Strip, from MeriStar Hospitality Corp.