Print edition for October 8, 2003

Arizona sanctuary worker bitten by tiger: Roy Horn is not the only Roy in the region who is recovering from a tiger attack.

Siegfried: 'We'll get through this together': Despite reports in a German newspaper quoting Siegfried Fischbacher declaring "our show will go on," local officials associated with Siegfried & Roy say the show is closed.

Extent of Roy's injuries won't be known for weeks: Although it is "all but miraculous" that illusionist and animal trainer Roy Horn lived through a tiger attack, his neurosurgeon said it will be weeks before the extent of the damage is known.

Gaming opponents cheer Schwarzenegger win: The election of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the office of governor of California has created an opportunity for gambling opponents nationwide, a leading opponent of the industry said.

Nevada consumer advocate formally responds to audit: CARSON CITY -- State Consumer Advocate Tim Hay said Tuesday the deceptive trade and anti-trust units in his office have been a moneymaker for the state and they should not be pulled out from under him.

Harter gets mostly good grades from respondents to survey: Jennifer Knight; Few UNLV faculty members responded to an invitation to evaluate their leader, university president Carol Harter, but of those who did participate in a campus-wide survey had mixed reviews.

DOE, Congress still locked in fight on naming nuke waste: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department will continue to push Congress for authority to reclassify radioactive waste despite a move made by lawmakers last week to prevent that.

Nevada politicians split on recall's effect: Dan Kulin; As Californians elected Arnold Schwarzenegger governor, Nevada politicians from both sides of the aisle headed to the Strip for separate fund-raisers Tuesday night.

Ralph Siraco's Santa Anita selections: 1st Race -- SPIRITED -- Draws good post for sprint opener, Krone atop O'Neill trainee, sans blinkers, backers hope for a Spirited graduation. MYSTERIOUS PEACE -- Draws outside post in maiden/claiming dash, Smith scales Hofmans trainee, Mysterious diploma brings Peace to connnections. Value Play -- CRAFTY BABE

Community briefs for Oct. 8, 2003: The Nevada Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International will hold its 2003 annual Walk to Cure Diabetes at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Calif. resident wins $10.7 mil.: This week, the Bakersfield resident kept his winning streak alive. Finn walked out of a Nevada casino $10.7 million richer after just five spins on a $1 slot machine.

Lecture schedule: "Poetry Reading." Alan Michael Parker, associate professor from Davidson College, will read from his book, "Love Song with Motor Vehicles," at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at Barrick Museum Auditorium.

UNLV women ranked fifth, but they have loftier goals: Steve Guiremand; DENVER -- UNLV Lady Rebels basketball coach Regina Miller didn't exactly sound pleased when asked to comment about the Mountain West Conference's women's preseason poll.

Attorneys argue against death penalty for woman: Heather Rawlyk; Attorneys for the mother charged with beating her children to death with a baseball bat hope that prosecutors drop consideration of the death penalty because of the woman's mental illness.

Federal plan called threat to state banking laws: CARSON CITY -- Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley said Tuesday that she opposes a proposed federal regulation that she says would prevent states from enforcing predatory lending laws against banks.

Columnist Jeff German: Cecola getting foot back in door: On March 9, 1998, following his federal tax conviction, Sam Cecola -- a man investigators believed had ties to organized crime in Chicago -- voluntarily agreed to surrender his license to run Club Paradise rather than go through an extensive revocation hearing.

VegasBeat -- Timothy McDarrah: A-list celebs sending prayers Roy's way: "I wish there was something I could do for Roy besides pray," Celine Dion told VegasBeat during a phone conversation Tuesday.

Thursday's horse racing entries: OAK TREE MEETING

Critics' dander up over pollution rules: Clark County adopted a raft of new air quality regulations Tuesday, but most people will notice little difference from the ones already on the books, officials said.

Thieves target casinos with phony credit cards: The Indianapolis Star reported today that at least $62,000 was swindled from five Lake Michigan casinos in northwest Indiana -- including more than $26,000 at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.

School District sees successful bond sale: By Emily Richmond; An optimistic outlook for the future of Southern Nevada's economy helped the Clark County School District sell $400 million in general obligation building bonds Tuesday.

LV clarifies policy on leave without pay: Sito Negron and Mary Manning; Assemblyman Wendell Williams was within city policy when he turned in time cards showing hours worked at his municipal job while he was on a leave of absence to serve in the Legislature, but that practice no longer will be allowed.

Citizens' group favoring casino: The 16,000-member citizens' action group was expected to announce its support for the project today.

Letter: Second-hand smoke is form of child abuse: As a libertarian, I cannot bring myself to ask that laws be passed preventing adult Americans from exercising what some deem to be a "right" to harm their children in this way. But I can ask you, my fellow citizens, to help prevent this form of child abuse. While it is not illegal to bring a child into the smoking section of a restaurant is it not morally reprehensible?

Editorial: Base fee on university's future need: The Board of Regents will debate the question at its fall meeting, which begins today and extends through Thursday. The regents debated the issue at length during their August meeting in Reno and approved the increase. But Regent Steve Sisolak has called for the approval to be revisited, so that UNLV students will have a chance to voice their opinions and consider the big picture. Sisolak isn't sure the students are aware that the rise in student fees over the next five years would occur simultaneously with scheduled tuition increases over the same period. The tuition and student-fee increases would ...

Task force offers UMC reforms: A citizens group presented its recommendations to the Clark County Commission for reforming the financially troubled University Medical Center system Tuesday, but many of the recommendations are already in place.

Letter: Death penalty should be banned: Too many innocent people have been executed. Who are we as human beings to judge whether a person, guilty or innocent, should live or die?

Obituaries for Oct. 8, 2003: Harry H. Asai, 78, of Las Vegas died Sunday in a local hospice. He was born July 10, 1925, in Honolulu. A resident for 12 years, he was a retired civil service engineer and a World War II Army veteran.

St. Rose facing vote on union: Michelle Swafford; Nearly 600 nurses from St. Rose Dominican hospitals in Henderson will vote on whether to unionize on Nov. 7 and 8.

Casino dispute at center of Wisconsin recall effort: Todd Richmond; MADISON, Wis. -- State Sen. Gary George asked a state appeals court Tuesday to stop or delay a recall election against him tied to the issue of controlling Indian casinos in the state.

News briefs for Oct. 8, 2003: The man charged with shooting his girlfriend to death outside a Las Vegas karaoke bar in August pleaded not guilty to murder and robbery charges in Clark County District Court Tuesday.

Sports briefs for October 8, 2003: Dany Heatley will be allowed to attend the funeral Fridday of the Atlanta Thrashers teammate whose life he is accused of ending.

LV union watching Calif. labor dispute: Alana Roberts; Members of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 711, which represents 7,000 grocery store workers in Nevada and Utah, still have a year ahead of them before their labor contracts expire.

Drivers won't be decisive in LVI: Adam Candee; Tiger Woods caused a sizable stir earlier this season by suggesting he knew of at least one player using an illegal "hot" driver and saying that more must be done to protect the integrity of the game of golf.

Governor says Lincoln Park needs new owner: Carcieri met Tuesday with Claes Hultman, chairman of Wembley PLC, the British parent of Lincoln Park and Aurora, Colo.-based Wembley USA, which is backing a ballot measure to add video gambling at Colorado racetracks.

Editorial: No deadline break for Yucca application: The license application must provide answers to hundreds of technical questions about how the Energy Department intends to safely bury high-level nuclear waste under the mountain. To date there are 194 questions that do not have an answer. Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency, estimates there will be more than 30 questions yet unanswered by July 2004. By federal law, the NRC will have four years to complete its license review. It should not start that clock until such time as the Energy Department has submitted its application properly, with a full six-month advance electronic filing.

LV officials hail office building: Sito Negron; Mayor Oscar Goodman and other city officials are hailing a multimillion-dollar office building as a prime example of what Las Vegas needs more of -- "infill" development.

Retailer closing 150 stores: The closings cover 13 percent of the retailer's 1,119 stores. The privately held company announced the moves to employees Tuesday but declined to specify which locations would be jettisoned.

Politicians split on effect of California governor's recall on Nevada businesses: Dan Kulin; As Californians elected Arnold Schwarzenegger governor, Nevada politicians from both sides of the aisle headed to the Strip for separate fund-raisers Tuesday night.

Pair indicted in fake check scam: Jace Radke; Two men were indicted Tuesday in Las Vegas on charges of passing $800,000 in fraudulent cashier's checks to the MGM Grand drawn from the same fictitious California bank branch that a Michigan man was using to create $12 million in counterfeit checks.

High court denies appeal of LV killer: CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the appeal of a man sentenced to death in 1989 for the hammer and knife slaying of a 71-year-old woman in Clark County.

Option presents challenge for Rebels: As UNLV prepares to open its Mountain West Conference season Saturday, it is considering its options.

Ex-missionary charged with fondling girls: Heather Rawlyk; A former Mormon missionary has been charged with fondling two girls who were in his care during a church service in May.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Ganassi expects big things from ex-Vegan Renna: During his 16 years as a team owner in CART and now the IRL, Ganassi has been responsible for identifying and developing such drivers as Juan Montoya, Bruno Junqueira and Scott Dixon. Montoya won a CART championship with Ganassi in 1999 and Dixon is tied for the IRL points lead going into the final race of the season. Junqueira, now with CART's Newman-Haas Racing, is second in points in that series with three races remaining.

Downtown Arts District finally becoming reality: Sito Negron; Despite years of talk and the slow pace of development, promoters of the downtown Arts District say their experiment is about to become a success.

Whistleblower suit settled: Matthew Whitley sued for wrongful termination in state and federal court in May. The suit accused Coke of rigging a marketing test three years ago to inflate the popularity of Frozen Coke at Burger King restaurants in Virginia.

Columnist Elizabeth Foyt: LV elite lend a helping paw to furry friends: Elizabeth Foyt; The combination pet auction/fund-raiser, co-sponsored by linen legend Pratesi, benefitted Lied Animal Shelter. The no-kill facility at 655 N. Mojave Road is scheduled for expansion soon, and more money is needed.

Recall petition of Guinn still going forward: CARSON CITY -- The efforts to recall Gov. Kenny Guinn are still going forward to collect 128,000 signatures by Nov. 25, a spokesman for the movement said today.

Nevada urges new data in education funding: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- Nevada lawmakers are continuing to push for federal consideration of newer population figures for certain education grants, a move that could bring millions of extra dollars to the state.

Galardi tries to sell strip clubs: "Galardi's attorneys have met with our attorneys and have told them that he (Galardi) is actively trying to sell the clubs," county spokeswoman Stacey Welling said.

City clarifies policy on leave without pay: Sito Negron and Mary Manning; In the wake of controversy over how Assemblyman Wendell Williams billed for time as a city employee, Las Vegas City Manager Douglas Selby sent out a memo on Friday explaining the policy to all department heads.

County proposes rules against fountain exemptions: The Strip's resorts would no longer have to apply for a special permit to keep their water fountains running under a proposed ordinance to be voted on later this month.

Regent fights land swap for airport: The legal battle between a member of the state Board of Regents and Clark County moved out of the courtroom and into the County Commission chambers Tuesday.

UNLV picked to finish in middle of pack: Steve Guiremand; Men 1. BYU (13)144

Henderson school wins fitness honor: Every year the award is presented to the three schools in each state that rank highest in the number of students who score at or above the 85th percentile on the President's physical fitness challenge.

Correction: Correction

Columnist Dean Juipe: Fryatt zeroes in on ending slump: Dean Juipe; It hasn't been a problem keeping track of Edward Fryatt's golf earnings this year.

Merger deal sealed: The terms of the deal announced today were largely unchanged from a preliminary agreement reached a month ago.

Police say mob gathered to 'get' teenager: About 20 associates of the 311 Boyz gang allegedly congregated outside a northwest Las Vegas home early Sunday and called out to two men who lived there and threatened to beat and stab them, police said.

Fabulous Forum: UNLV spans the globe in University Forum lecture series: There were the bogs and fields where Tolkien played as a child, the homes where the professor wrote his famous books and the cemetery where he was laid to rest.

Ensign bill sets rules on keeping big cats: Although a bill introduced earlier this year by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., would not ban exotic animals in shows such as Siegfried & Roy's, the legislation would make it harder to move pet lions and tigers between states, the senator said.

School opening in Henderson: The school will be on Paseo Verde Parkway near St. Rose Parkway in the Green Valley Corporate Center South office park. Classes begin in January.