Print edition for June 3, 2004

Man found shot to death: Residents of the Wood Lake Villas in the 4700 block of Pennwood Avenue called police about 5 a.m. after hearing gunshots outside.

Nevadan out of spelling contest: WASHINGTON -- A word that means dispersal of organisms such as seeds by the wind spelled the dismissal of Nevada's lone entry in the Scripps National Spelling Bee today.

Ban on new-car sales on Sunday made official: Clark County adopted a similar ordinance about two years ago, said Gary Ackerman of the Gaudin Automotive Group, who is president of the state's new car dealers association. He said the next step is to seek a similar rule for Henderson.

Construction worker killed: Jose Luis Martinez Jr., 29, died about 2:10 p.m. Wednesday, the Clark County coroner's office said.

Wal-Mart OK surprises county commissioners: Clark County commissioners were stunned Wednesday when they learned they had apparently already approved a controversial proposal to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter on airport-owned land.

Wynn wins vs. Adelson in resort battle: By Richard N. Velotta; Chalk one up for Steve Wynn in his battle for Las Vegas Strip supremacy with fellow casino titan Sheldon Adelson.

State college's fund-raising a failure: Despite Nevada State College advocates' promises that the new school would raise $10 million to construct its first building, the university system's interim chancellor and the college's lame duck president plan to ask taxpayers to foot the bill.

Young adults find it tough going: Clark County and state officials say they are taking steps to address the needs of young adults who are not in school, not working and have no college degree.

Teen cleared of all charges: By Matt Pordum; The only alleged member of the 311 Boyz to go to trial in the maiming of a 17-year-old boy was acquitted Wednesday.

D-Day jumpers pursue renewed date with destiny: Plans for eight World War II paratroopers to leap from a plane over Normandy, France, on Monday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day are "99 percent set,"an official for the parachutists said today.

LV water request worries rural residents: Indian Springs residents say they are worried that their wells could dry up if the state agrees to ship nearby groundwater to thirsty Las Vegas.

Fed report: EOB not doing job: By Timothy Pratt; The Economic Opportunity Board could not show it was helping the chronically homeless in two taxpayer-funded Las Vegas housing projects and kept sloppy books on the program, according to a federal review.

BLM land auctioned for $557 million: Jennifer Shubinski; More than 1,900 acres of land that attracted no bids at last year's federal auction because of what some said were unreasonable restrictions by the city of Henderson sold at auction Wednesday for more than half a billion dollars -- double the appraised value -- after at least one of those restrictions was lifted.

Boyd-Coast merger, United Coin deal win preliminary approval: CARSON CITY -- A $1.3 billion merger between the Gaughan and Boyd families' gambling operations to create the fifth largest casino company in the United States won preliminary approval of the state Gaming Control Board on Wednesday.

Regulators divided over suitability of Goldman Sachs: CARSON CITY -- The state Gaming Commission will consider a waiver application on June 17 of the investment firm Goldman Sachs & Co., which was sharply criticized by a gaming regulator Wednesday.

Gaming news briefs for June 3, 2004: ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The horse racing industry and gambling companies paid more than $1.6 million to lobbyists who represented them in the protracted battle over slot machines during the 2004 legislative session.

Bank expanding with Summerlin headquarters: Kevin Rademacher; Business Bank of Nevada announced plans today for a headquarters complex in Summerlin.

Consumer news briefs for June 3, 2004: NEW YORK -- Enron Corp., the world's largest energy trader before an accounting fraud caused its collapse in 2001, asked a judge today to approve a plan that would allow it to exit the second-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Foreign exchange students graduate: Heather Rawlyk; When 17-year-old Zuzanne Pundova of the Czech Republic was assigned Las Vegas as her foreign exchange destination for the school year, she knew she was in for a major change in lifestyle.

Speakers critical of gas rate hike: Kevin Rademacher; Despite a mounting series of rate increase requests made on behalf of Southwest Gas Corp. of Las Vegas, attendance at a consumer session Wednesday on a proposed $18.9 million -- or 6.2 percent -- boost drew a mere six speakers.

VegasBeat -- Timothy McDarrah: Thrilling thoughts put Penn to paper: The guy has a headline gig at The Rio, an Emmy Award-winning television show, is an oft-quoted free-speech advocate and a regular and tireless presence at all kinds of Las Vegas fund-raising and charity events, was a presenter at the Country Music Awards last week and is a regular panelist on various CNN chat shows.

Yucca documents might be missing: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- Nevada's attorneys want to know how at least 24 million pages of Yucca Mountain project documents seem to have fallen off the Energy Department's radar screen.

Proposal on Yucca's budget gives little relief: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- Funding levels set in the House Wednesday will not offer much relief for the Yucca Mountain project's looming budget crunch.

Plea agreement made in child molestation: By Matt Pordum; A man charged with molesting four juveniles in his mobile home and videotaping the encounters entered a plea agreement on Wednesday that could ultimately put him in prison for life.

NLV Police seek teen suspects in shootings: Stephen Curran; North Las Vegas Police were still looking this morning for three teens wanted in connection with two drive-by shootings Wednesday that police suspect were gang-related.

Arraignment of teens in slaying rescheduled: By Matt Pordum; The arraignment of four teenagers accused of murdering their high school friend and burying him in a shallow grave in the desert last year was rescheduled on Wednesday because of a possible conflict of interest involving District Judge Donald Mosley.

Wire rope carrier system being replaced at dam: When crews at Hoover Dam are lowering a several-ton transformer to the power plant deck, they rely on a cable system that dates back to the very beginning of the world wonder that was built in the early 1930s.

LV sets guidelines for workers who are elected: Sito Negron; The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday approved a long-debated policy on handling employees who are elected officials or campaigning for elected office.

News briefs for June 3, 2004: A man in his 20s was shot and killed this morning in an apartment complex near Decatur Boulevard and Desert Inn Road, Metro Police said.

Woman critically hurt in hit-and-run accident: Stephen Curran; A Las Vegas woman was in critical condition this morning after being struck by an unidentified car downtown late Wednesday night.

Hydrologist: Monitoring of rural water needed: Although Southern Nevada could put extra water to use for growing Las Vegas, it is a social decision on how to share the scarce desert resource of groundwater within the state, a scientist said Tuesday night.

New appeal filed over tax-hike vote: Kirsten Searer; Legislators have filed yet another appeal challenging the Nevada Supreme Court decision that could have allowed state lawmakers to approve a tax increase without constitutionally mandated two-thirds vote.

Ex-FBI official say Vegas natural terrorist target: Jace Radke; The former director of the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center, while giving a speech in support of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to Las Vegas first responders, said that Las Vegas is a natural target for terrorists.

Injunction sought to halt widening: U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro dismissed the Sierra Club's lawsuit in March. The suit alleged that the government's environmental impact study for the $370 million project does not take into account health risks caused by certain pollutants, and that the Federal Highway Administration made arbitrary and capricious decisions in approving the project

Protested NLV development scaled down: Dan Kulin; A controversial plan for 33 homes in a North Las Vegas rural preservation area has been scaled back.

Shooting case of mistaken identity: A 52-year-old man, whose name was not released, was shot through the window of his apartment in the 1000 block of Center Street about 8 p.m., Henderson Police spokesman Shane Lewis said.

Nomo's appearance to bring fans, hoopla: Nick Christensen; When Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo makes his rehabilitation start tonight in Las Vegas, the scene at Cashman Field will be anything but normal for a Thursday night.

Maloof: Team in LV would work: As an owner of a Las Vegas hotel and casino and a National Basketball Association team, and a longtime Vegas resident, George Maloof Jr. is uniquely qualified to comment about the city some day landing a major professional sports team.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rebels become So. Nevada's team: There's more than one reason to cheer -- provided you're not in the media, of course -- for the Rebels against Stanford in Friday's NCAA baseball regional in Palo Alto, Calif., and it's not just because they will need all the help they can get against the nation's top-ranked college baseball team.

Sports briefs June 3, 2004: Kept out of the NFL draft by the courts, wide receiver Mike Williams will ask the NCAA to let him return to college football.

51s win in 9th: Nick Christensen; Nick Theodorou's single in the bottom of the ninth drove home the winning run in the 51s' 5-4 win over Edmonton Wednesday at Cashman Field.

Moore remains hot at NCAAs: Adam Candee; To hear his coach tell it, Ryan Moore's ability to envision his shots and invent ways to get out of trouble on the golf course is one of his best assets.

Friday's horse racing entries: Post Time 7:05 p.m.

Tale of two 'big' fights: Dean Juipe; While Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Sturm admit to a mutual respect, Bernard Hopkins and Robert Allen are far less friendly.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Lazcano hopes Goossen's focus will pay off: Dean Juipe; Trained by Freddie Roach through the bulk of his career, Juan Lazcano reaches the biggest fight of his life with a new man in his corner. And Joe Goossen is there because he can give Lazcano his undivided attention.

R&R flights for military in Iraq expected to resume this month: Dick Benoit; Some families of soldiers serving in Iraq may again hope for a home visit by their loved one with the resumption of military contract rest and recuperation flights, which were suspended in early February. The Army plans to resume the flights to the United States on or about June 15, according to officials.

Letter: Who can you call? Not Wendell: Letter: Who can you call? Not Wendell

Letter: Uniforms even playing field: In a day when money is tight and some people are finding creative ways in which things might actually improve, why do some people impede progress? These are the same people who will complain about the test scores being low.

Letter: Teachers feel alienated by administrators: Unfortunately, our school district power brokers have established a "My way or the highway" mind-set, which appears to have been adopted by most of the district's administrative cadre. Our annual electronic message of praise during Teacher Appreciation Week, and the Christmas card enclosed with our December paycheck, seem to have lost their special motivating touches.

Editorial: Crackdown is overdue: As it is now, too many motorists drive carelessly, which includes speeding, weaving in and out of traffic and running red lights. Also, if even normally law-abiding motorists see other drivers speeding all around them, and there are no police or troopers around to pull over drivers and issue them tickets, it has a contagious effect, causing them to break traffic laws as well. And, as is too frequently the case, reckless driving that results in a wreck causes innocent passengers in other cars or pedestrians to receive serious injuries or even be killed.

Obituaries for June 3, 2004: Lillie M. Barlow, 84, of Las Vegas died Friday in Las Vegas. She was born Feb. 12, 1920, in Stanton, Neb. A resident for 41 years, she was a homemaker.

Editorial: Expand the 'cooling-off' ethics laws: All routine, except -- John Simmons worked 23 years for the city of Henderson. When he retired this past February, he was the city's construction manager. No one is saying that Simmons did anything illegal or unethical, but the recently retired city construction manager winning a competitive bid on a city construction project creates the appearance of a conflict. Adding to the appearance is that the Simmons/Hall bid was $900,000 higher than the competitor's. Also, he had only one committed tenant, as opposed to the competing bidder's three. Additionally, unlike the competing bid, the Simmons/Hall proposal requests $1.4 million in ...

Community news briefs for June 3, 2004: The Clark County Parks and Community Services Cultural Division, in partnership with the Nevada Arts Council, is providing a free workshop from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive, for artists wishing to enter the expanding field of public art.

Town Hall: Theater the hub of entertainment in stately Boulder City: "We have this kind of jewel -- Boulder City," said the 51-year-old Arnaz, son of one of the world's most celebrated couples, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. "In my mind it's Brigadoon, or a 'Lost Horizon.'