Print edition for November 25, 2003

On Las Vegas visit, Bush lauds Medicare reform: SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS; President Bush, in his first visit to Las Vegas as president, praised the Senate today for passing the massive overhaul of Medicare.

LV lender delays note sale plan: The firm in March filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking authority to sell $500 million in notes to fund additional mortgage operations around the country.

High school player died of blunt head trauma: Mary Manning and Adam Candee; Las Vegas High School football player Edward Gomez died of blunt force trauma to the head, the Clark County coroner ruled on Monday following an autopsy.

News briefs for Nov. 25, 2003: Two people were killed in an 8 p.m. rollover on U.S. 95 near Valley View Boulevard Monday, the Nevada Highway Patrol said.

Casino sues website operator: The federal lawsuit was filed Nov. 17 against YH Technology, which is a company Mirage Resorts officials believe is based in Australia, said the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that YH Technology's website, www.goldnuggetcasino.net, infringes on the trademark rights of Mirage's Golden Nugget hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas.

14 years later, 2nd tragedy pains father: Adam Candee; Allow LeRoy Manning to manipulate time for a spell, if only because life owes him a small gesture.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: Fire and ice -- and insects -- in the NHL: It was one degree below zero with a wind chill of minus 15 when they dropped the puck for Saturday's Heritage Classic, a throwback hockey game held outdoors in an Edmonton football stadium, where the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers played in front of an NHL record crowd of 57,157 icicles disguised as spectators.

Chavez enjoys underdog role in upcoming bout with Morales: Dean Juipe; The promotional company that helped Jesus Chavez become a world champion is the same promotional company that may cause his reign to be a brief one.

Arum backpedals, sets another LV card: Dean Juipe; Upset with the scoring Sept. 13 after Shane Mosley defeated Oscar De La Hoya by decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, promoter Bob Arum said at the time that he would never put another fight card in Nevada.

Cold War monuments sought for local sites: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- An area of Mount Charleston and the Nevada Test Site may get designated national historic landmarks if the House follows the Senate's lead.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Gaughan still in picture as No. 3 Penkse driver: NASCAR team owner Roger Penske finally addressed the rumors surrounding his fielding a third car for Las Vegas' Brendan Gaughan next season in the Nextel Cup Series.

Krolicki rings in stock exchange session: Before the opening, Krolicki met with John Reed, chairman of the stock exchange, and other officials on the overhaul of rules to prevent a repeat of the scandal that plagued the $7 trillion mutual fund industry.

Nevada senators vote against Medicare bill: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- President Bush was expected to address the Senate's approval of the major Medicare bill when he speaks in Las Vegas today, despite the no votes of Nevada's two senators.

Washington Mutual consumer finance unit sold: Washington Mutual Finance, based in Tampa, Fla., provides direct consumer and real estate loans through its 409 offices in 25 states, primarily in the Southeast and Southwest states. The company had more than 2,300 employees and total assets of $4.1 billion as of Sept. 30, Citigroup said.

Immunization schedule for Nov. 25, 2003: HENDERSON PUBLIC HEALTH CENTER: 129 W. Lake Mead Drive, Building A, Suite 10, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Tough seat belt enforcement continues: The state Office of Traffic Safety, a division of the Department of Public Safety, is alerting motorists to the seat belt law with ads airing statewide.

Union protests Medicare measure: The union said it was unhappy with the Medicare bill passed by the Senate today, and says Bush does not have a plan to make health care affordable.

Brown was among CCSN founding faculty: Thomas Brown, named temporary acting president of the Community College of Southern Nevada on Monday, was one of the 10 founding faculty members of the school more than 30 years ago.

Driver charged after girls' deaths: More than a month after the accident that took the lives of two 13-year-old girls, the driver who hit them was charged with two traffic violations that could bring maximum fines of $800 each, Metro Police said.

Shelters let homeless come in from cold: By Timothy Pratt; With night temperatures near freezing, the three major shelters in the so-called "homeless corridor" downtown have made room for more than 100 people to come in from the cold.

LV metro area listed among most dangerous: By Timothy Pratt; The Las Vegas metropolitan area ranks as the 12th most dangerous in the country, according to a study released today.

Ex-Rebel assistant Thomas taking his lumps at WIU: Charlie Spoonhour told protege Derek Thomas that there would be games like the one Thomas endured last Tuesday, when Western Illinois got whipped, 96-67, by Tennessee-Martin.

Democrats rip Bush stance on Yucca: Jace Radke; Yucca Mountain isn't likely to be a big part of President Bush's agenda during his 3 1/2-hour fund-raising stop in Las Vegas, but Democratic leaders are making the president's strong support for storing nuclear waste in Nevada an issue.

Legislature studying Vegas taxi, limo competition: CARSON CITY -- The atmosphere between competing taxicabs and limousines, some of them operated by rogue drivers, has become explosive in Clark County but so far nobody has been hurt, a state taxicab official says.

Sports briefs for November 25, 2003: Warren Spahn stood up to Casey Stengel when he was 21 and fought against Germany a year later. Then, he returned to the major leagues and won 363 games after his 25th birthday.

Casinos donate $100,000 to economic development center: MGM MIRAGE's Beau Rivage Resort and Casino and Park Place Entertainment Corp.'s Grand Casinos have donated the money to the USM Foundation's permanent endowment for the Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship.

Lawmakers plan to address handicapped access issues: By Steve Kanigher; A legislative panel that is studying disability issues plans to address access problems in state-funded public buildings after fielding complaints about two sports facilities at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Some say Michigan could be hitting capacity for gambling: Alexandra R. Moses; LANSING, Mich. -- The number of casinos, slot machines and lottery games in Michigan has skyrocketed in recent years, giving gamblers plenty of chances to spend their money and send some of it to state coffers.

Rebels may get stuck playing in the snow: Steve Guiremand; UNLV coach John Robinson has an idea on how the Rebels can survive what could be very cold and snowy conditions during Saturday's season finale at Wyoming.

Columnist Jeff German: Sidewalks belong to the public: The folks at Green Valley Ranch Station Casino, who went to the extreme last week to protect the privacy of their celebrity guest, Michael Jackson, the world's most famous accused child molester, apparently don't share that opinion.

Capacity expanding at two UHS hospitals in Las Vegas: Michelle Swafford; Universal Health Service's Valley Health System is adding beds and services to two of its Las Vegas Valley hospitals to accommodate more patients, easing the backlog at valley hospitals.

CCSN faculty berates regents: Jennifer Knight; In an emergency meeting Monday, the Community College of Southern Nevada's Faculty Senate unanimously voted to ask the state Board of Regents to rescind a vote that ousted President Ron Remington.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Your father's Rebels no longer play here: Dean Juipe; You've seen the score and maybe you saw the game. Even this many hours later, it isn't easy to take.

VegasBeat -- Timothy McDarrah: White House plays hail to the chef: Former Venetian Executive Chef Georg Paulussen will be cooking breakfast and lunch for the ink-stained wretches -- and their broadcast counterparts -- in a McCarran International Airport hangar, which is also serving as the press room for the president's visit.

LV City Council must OK firings by manager: Sito Negron; Las Vegas City Council has a number of policy issues to consider at its special meeting today, but it ultimately may end up deciding a more direct issue -- whether to fire Sharon Segerblom and Assemblyman Wendell Williams.

Jurors deliberate penalty for convicted killer Antonetti: Erica D. Johnson; Jurors could begin deciding as early as this afternoon whether the North Las Vegas man convicted of gunning down a 20-year-old woman should be executed for his crime.

Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: President should act now: Let's take a look at our shameful acts following World War II. Our diplomats sold the rights of the American POWs to sue Japan after being held for more than three years and being used as slave laborers. The few thousand who survived and came home were rewarded with $1 a day for pay. Even today the less than 5,000 remaining survivors have been blocked by our White House, Department of Justice and Department of State from suing the wealthy Japanese corporations that used them. Yes, the same corporations that sell Americans billions of dollars of their goods every year.

Metro says questions on Bush protest not 'sinister': Jace Radke; A coordinator of today's protest during President Bush's visit to Las Vegas said she felt intimidated by a call from Metro Police asking about the protest.

Obituaries for Nov. 25, 2003: Hilda M. Artiga, 24, of Las Vegas died Wednesday in Las Vegas. She was born April 18, 1979, in El Salvador. A resident for seven years, she was a food preparer.

Letter: Medicare reform may hurt some: The law against age discrimination prohibits companies from having a different health plan for those who are retired and 65 or older. The Medicare reform act removes the age discrimination act; thus employers can drop the health benefits for the retired employees 65 and older. There is another provision that states that if an employer maintains the same health benefits he will receive a tax credit. In today's world no CEO will take a tax rebate instead of total removal of an expense to enhance the bottom line.

Letter: Bush's 'photo op' on aircraft carrier was premature: Since the above events occurred, the number of deaths in Iraq have continued to mount almost daily. It has not been just Americans -- the numbers also include Iraqis, Poles and Italians.

Fired bus drivers vow to take case to federal court: Three bus drivers fired by the company operating the regional system say they will take their case to federal court.

Editorial: Revisit the two firings at college: If Remington and Cummings are to be the subjects of a discipline hearing, the hearing should be fair and free from the valid questions now being raised about the board and the process it chose to take such drastic action. The board acted with no regard for due process, which in our view makes its decision fatally flawed from that standpoint alone. Neither Remington nor Cummings had a chance to offer any explanations or put any of the allegations into context. The public also has very little information about what motivated the board's vote.

Community briefs for Nov. 25, 2003: The Starbucks Holiday Angels Toy Drive, in which gifts will be collected for seriously ill hospitalized children served by Starlight Children's Foundation, runs through Dec. 25.

Holiday Closings: President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, proclaimed the holiday for the last Thursday in November. In 1941 Congress changed the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November. The day after Thanksgiving Day is called "Family Day."

Columnist Susan Snyder: Fans still in step with Jackson: "He's totally innocent," Brittanie Vasquez said as she marched down the Strip Saturday night with a knot of Jackson faithful.

Grand Designs: Stefanou brings passion (and size) to displays at Fashion Show, Bellagio: His dreams are big. His passions are big. When it comes to the holidays, his designs are copious.

Letter: Lack of respect causes accidents: There are laws against all of the above situations and still deaths occurred. Do people really think making a law prohibiting newly licensed teens from having groups of other teens in their cars will be respected any more than the other laws already on the books?

Artist, civic leader Schwartz dies: Reva C. Schwartz, a Las Vegas artist who created award-winning pieces using the ancient Indonesian art form of batik and practiced the centuries-old craft of designing Judaic chuppahs, died Thursday at her Las Vegas home. She was 84.

Senate passes Ensign's cat bill: The Senate merged legislation from Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., with a similar bill offered by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and passed the combined measure Monday. It bans shipments of large felines across state lines to anyone other than zoos, exhibitors and those certified to handle and care for the animals.

County to get bigger share of gasoline tax: CARSON CITY -- Clark County will get a bigger share of the local gasoline taxes next fiscal year. An advisory committee on local government taxes and finance agreed Monday that Clark County has the responsibility of maintaining 375 miles more of roadway than in past years.

Longtime drama coach Behar dies: By Ed Koch; Joe Behar, a local drama teacher who long operated the Las Vegas Community Drama Workshop and the Comedy Corner that helped launch the career of comedian Drew Carey, died Monday at Nathan Adelson Hospice. He was 70.

Editorial: Taking back their bar: Within the past year, drug dealers and gang members began congregating at their bar and intimidating the staff. Where once Barbra Streisand shot pool, crack was being sold and weapons were being brandished. The couple turned to Metro Police, whose community policing team responded. "We were days away from a shooting inside this bar," Metro Sgt. Eric Fricker told Sun reporter Jen Lawson.

Wolf Pack stuns Rebels: UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour gazed into the eyes of his players Monday night and cringed at what he saw.

Wednesday's horse racing entries: Post Time 12:30 p.m.

Ralph Siraco's Hollywood Park selections: 1st Race -- DEALINWITHINSANITY -- Draws good spot in sprint opener, Fogelsonger atop Baffert trainee for owner Pegram, Deals-foes-insanity-with-a-victory. JESSE'S GONE WEST -- Martinez on co-owner O'Neill trainee, draws alongside top pick for dash claimer, Jesse's Gone West of finish line here? Value Play -- GHOST MEMO