Print edition for July 9, 2003

Clerk plans to take harassment complaint to feds: Erica D. Johnson; A District Court clerk who filed a sexual harassment complaint against a judicial bailiff says she plans to take the issue to a federal agency in preparation for a lawsuit.

Governor asked to appeal casino decision: Last week, U.S. District Judge Tom Coffin upheld the right of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians to put a casino on a 98-acre stretch of land called the Hatch Tract. It was the second time a federal court has done so.

Hells Angels member arrested on charges of gun trafficking: Jace Radke; A member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang who is under investigation in connection with a 2002 gun battle in a Laughlin casino that killed three people was among those arrested in Arizona Tuesday on charges of gun and explosives trafficking.

Pig farm owner now has one year to ease odors: Dan Kulin; A revised plan to make a pig farm in the middle of North Las Vegas less stinky gives its owner, Robert Combs, a year instead of six months to have his operation smelling as good as possible.

Law firm forms gaming unit: Dorn is the former chief of the securities division of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. His practice will have an emphasis in regulatory matters. Prior to serving as legal counsel for the board, Dorn served as Deputy Attorney General for the Nevada Attorney General's Office, where he oversaw a variety of disciplinary matters and gaming tax disputes.

Police search for missing girl: The 15-year-old was last seen leaving her home at 4:45 p.m. She was wearing red velour pants with a red, white and blue tank top and carrying a gray and pink small backpack.

Charter firm to offer LV-Pennsylvania flights: Southeast Airlines, which operates as part of Southeast Vacations on charters between the Midwest and several Florida cities, will operate two flights a week to Las Vegas beginning Saturday.

Sports briefs: Hoping to better balance the Division I men's basketball tournament bracket, the NCAA selection committee has proposed doing away with predetermined matchups for the Final Four.

Schlossnagle takes TCU job: By Rob Miech LAS VEGAS SUN

What's good for the students ...: By Emily Richmond; With two Henderson elementary schools poised to join a pilot program requiring students to wear uniforms, the Clark County School Board is considering expanding the dress code requirements to the teachers as well.

Girlfriend of slain man claims Metro is covering up incident: Jen Lawson; Damien Morton of Denver came to Las Vegas to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend, but a wrong turn on a downtown street sparked a chain of events that led to Morton's death at the hands of a Metro Police officer, according to Morton's girlfriend, April Wellington.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Henderson may take the 51s: Dean Juipe; The Henderson 51s.

3 gaming companies face new shareholder lawsuits: By Liz Benston; Three gaming companies are the target of lawsuits by disgruntled shareholders filed in Clark County District Court alleging that the companies' boards of directors failed in their fiduciary duties to shareholders by either approving or preventing deals to acquire the companies.

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

Meeting yields hint of progress: CARSON CITY -- A warmed-over plan to impose a service tax on professionals such as engineering, advertising and accounting, has been revived in an attempt to break the stalemate in the Nevada Legislature.

News briefs for July 9, 2003: A Las Vegas woman charged with driving drunk and causing a collision that killed two people pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts Tuesday in District Court.

VegasBeat -- Timothy McDarrah: News flash: Authenticity invades Strip: As our old high school English teacher, Frank McCourt ("Angela's Ashes") used to say, "nothing like a bit of the drink" -- Guinness in particular -- to cure what ails you.

Sale of Aladdin moving forward: Judge Robert C. Jones approved a 120-page disclosure statement after attorneys negotiated settlements with two creditors that had lodged objections to the plan.

Visitor center to shift to Primm: The LVCVA board of directors on Tuesday approved a lease agreement with Talisman LV Fashion LLC, operator of the Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas mall in Primm, a town at the California/Nevada border on Interstate 15 some 35 miles south of Las Vegas.

Lawyer says FBI probe includes some developers: A defense lawyer in the FBI's political corruption investigation said this morning that he believes the probe in Las Vegas has broadened to include ties between local developers and Clark County commissioners.

Columnist Jeff German: French return in triumph: After a 14-week ban, the French flag once more is flying over Paris Las Vegas, the French-themed megaresort on the Strip.

Lawmakers hope to trim record budget for Yucca: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- A House panel has approved what would be the biggest annual Yucca Mountain budget ever -- a proposal to spend $765 million next year on the 20-year-old nuclear waste repository project.

Ensign's bill fails; issue may be revived: David Espo; WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats won their fight today to bottle up legislation limiting damage awards in medical malpractice cases, all but dooming a measure sponsored by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., that President Bush made a priority.

Thursday's horse racing entries: Post Time 10 a.m.

Profit improves for bank: "We have made a conscious effort to enhance our operations and service delivery," said Tod Little, chief executive of Silver State Bancorp. "Those efficiencies are now providing tangible results to our shareholders."

Las Vegas could regain river water: Las Vegas could regain access to billions of gallons of Lake Mead water cut off in January by the U.S. Interior Department under a proposal presented today by Southern Nevada water officials.

Water board considers turning off tap for new LV homes: The Southern Nevada Water Authority staff is studying a controversial question in a time of rising water rates and use restrictions: how cutting off permits for new homes would affect the community.

Prisoner may be linked to local crimes: A man being held in Elmira, N.Y., may be the key to helping police solve shootings in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and other cities across the country, officials said.

Firefighters battle two blazes in north Las Vegas this morning: No one was home by the time firefighters arrived; the two occupants left the house after it filled with smoke, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Sheriff: Bryant accuser is 19: Colleen Slevin; EAGLE, Colo. -- The 19-year-old Colorado woman who accused Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant of sexual assault will come home from a family vacation to what Eagle County Sheriff Joe Hoy described as "mind-boggling" media attention.

Record number of teachers are turning down job offers: By Emily Richmond; Nearly a quarter of the teachers offered contracts to work in Clark County classrooms have turned the offers down, a record rejection rate that school district officials are blaming on the legislative budget stalemate.

Colmnist Brian Hilderbrand: IROC date adds to busy year for Outlaws racer: As if being embroiled in a tight points battle and running five O'Reilly World of Outlaws Series races in seven days weren't enough to keep him occupied, Danny Lasoski plans to squeeze in an IROC race on Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway.

Strip club workers ordered to testify in probe: A string of ranking employees who work for two Las Vegas strip clubs owned by Michael Galardi have been subpoenaed to testify before a San Diego federal grand jury investigating possible political corruption.

Thousands head for Arizona border in search of riches: Will Oremus; WHITE HILLS, Ariz. -- Odds are none of the more than 1,000 people who lined up at Rosie's Den on Tuesday will win tonight's $250 million Powerball lottery drawing.

Report: Illegal bookmaking rings resemble corporations: Jay Cohen; CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- They have a corporate structure, incentive programs and a systematic way of setting prices for their customers. But they're not Fortune 500 companies or even regular businesses.

Williams' trial on hold pending court decision: Erica D. Johnson; A new trial for Jessica Williams, the woman convicted of driving with drugs in her system and killing six teenagers, was put on hold Tuesday while the Nevada Supreme Court decides whether her acquittal will stand.

Indiana moving toward 24-hour riverboat casinos: INDIANAPOLIS -- The state's 10 riverboat casinos could get approval on Friday for offering around-the-clock gambling.

Bail increased for man suspected in UMC stolen rings: The bail for Eduardo Licon, a University Medical Center worker charged with stealing rings off the fingers of a cancer patient, was increased by $21,000 to $57,000 in the wake of sexual assault charges being filed this week.

Editorial: Just more games from Hettrick: On Monday Hettrick showed some leg by letting a reporter from KLAS Channel 8 look at the list, but Hettrick refused to let him make a copy of it, forcing the reporter to commit key sections to memory. Proposed reductions included cuts to the university system and a prescription drug program for seniors. Draining the state's rainy day fund also is under consideration.

Letter: Supply-side theory all wrong: After $2 trillion in tax cuts have been distributed to the top 2 percent of taxpayers, purportedly to stimulate the economy (which was getting along fairly well before the cuts), the unemployment rate is higher than it has been for nine years. Soon you will earn more by keeping your dollars under a mattress than by leaving them in the bank.

Columnist Elizabeth Foyt: Council looks forward to season of entertainment: Elizabeth Foyt; Slated for Oct. 10 to Oct. 12, "Taming of the Shrew" will, for the first time, feature a blended cast of seasoned professional Shakespearean actors and gifted students at the Las Vegas Academy of the Performing Arts under the direction of Academy instructor Jerry Born.

Editorial: Don't worry, be happy: The Clark County School District has put off hiring 1,000 new teachers needed for the coming school year because of the uncertainty that the Legislature will provide enough funding to pay their salaries. Although 411 teaching specialists will be transferred to regular classrooms to help alleviate the situation, that still leaves a huge hole to fill. And for the applicants who had accepted a job offer prior to the district's ending its nationwide search for new hires, a record number of them are now backing out -- 24 percent of the 918 offers have been rejected. Teachers, just like any ...

Letter: With facts he had, Bush acted correctly in Iraq: President Bush acted on the same information that the United Nations, the world and Clinton had to work with. All the aforementioned believed that Saddam had and had used weapons of mass destruction. All of the information over the last 15 years could not have been wrong.

Obituaries for July 9, 2003: Charles S. Benjamin, 86, of Las Vegas died Tuesday in a local hospital. He was born April 4, 1917, in Brocton, N.Y. A resident for five years, he was a retired U.S. Postal Service clerk, a World War II Coast Guard veteran and a member of the American Legion.

Jazz trumpet player Mullins dies at 77: He played first trumpet on the Las Vegas Strip with entertainers such as Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Lena Horne, Judy Garland, Jimmy Dean and Wayne Newton.

Columnist Peter Benton: SouthShore CC team wins Inter-Club event: Peter Benton; The SouthShore Country Club team of professional Wes Weston and his amateur partners -- Larry Buckley, Gary Perkins, Jim Hildebrand, Barrie Carter, John Thomson, Tony Vitale and Mark Andrus -- won last week's monthly Las Vegas Inter-Club event with 230 points.

Laugh 'til it hearse: Mobile 'Wacky Wake' serves up hijinks at Gold Coast: It's possible, if Larry Taylor's interactive dinner theater catches on. Taylor is the creator and director of "A Wacky Wake," a fanciful musical production that takes place at an Irish wake.

Plans for solar plant clear hurdle: Dan Kulin; A sea of crescent-shaped mirrors could cover hundreds of acres in Boulder City's Eldorado Valley in less than two years if plans for a solar power plant come to fruition.

Community briefs for July 9, 2003: Wellspring Church of All Nations will host its "Walking in the Light" summer vacation bible school from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through July 18 at Mount Crest Neighborhood Park, 4701 N. Durango Drive.

Letter: Bush reminiscent of King George: "... and realize that King George got into trouble with the colonists by imposing too many rules, regulations and unilateral decisions on the colonists, not because it was right but because he could. And that, together with what seemed like an unbridled power grab, was his undoing."