Print edition for June 16, 2004

Palo Verde student who scored perfect ACT will attend UNLV: Recent Palo Verde High School graduate Thomas Kaiser doesn't need to brag.

Defense denied cop's psychological report: By Matt Pordum; Before the start of the trial of a man accused of the attempted murder of a Metro Police officer, District Judge Donald Mosley Tuesday ruled the defense would not have access to a psychological report about the officer.

Three still sought in double killing: Johnny Etimani, 20, and Van Dabney, 34, were shot to death at 12:30 Tuesday morning outside the Rancho Mesa apartment complex in the 2800 block of Rancho Drive. Neighbors told police the two men were shot more than 20 times, Metro Homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said Tuesday.

Bill paves way for rural water: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- A bill introduced today that allows Lincoln County to benefit from the sale of 87,000 acres of federal land within its boundaries also paves the way for Clark County to build a network of pipelines to transport water from the rural area for urban use.

Combined MGM MIRAGE, Mandalay vow to grow: By Liz Benston; The boards of MGM MIRAGE and Mandalay Resort Group on Tuesday voted to approve MGM MIRAGE's proposed $7.9 billion offer for competitor Mandalay, a deal that -- if finalized -- will create a gaming titan with the means to develop multiple resorts along the Las Vegas Strip as well as expand existing casinos.

Mayor's remarks rile homeless advocates: By Timothy Pratt; Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and homeless advocates are at odds again.

City settles lawsuit over pepper-spray incident: Dan Kulin; A woman who was allegedly pepper-sprayed by Henderson Police while handcuffed and then left without medical attention for so long that she has permanent eye damage, will receive $224,000 in a settlement approved Tuesday by the Henderson City Council.

Commissioner calls for new airport lease policies: A Clark County commissioner has proposed an overhaul of the county's handling of leases on land owned by the Aviation Department two weeks after the existing policies sparked a land-use controversy.

County panel calls for trauma system: Dan Kulin; A Clark County Health Board subcommittee on Tuesday endorsed recommendations from a task force that call for creating a trauma system and asking the state for the power to control trauma care matters in the county.

Review board to hear claims against cops: Jen Lawson; An allegation of racial profiling against two Metro Police officers will go before the department's Citizen Review Board hearing panel next week, according to findings released Tuesday.

Sanctions against regents explored: CARSON CITY -- The chief attorney for the Nevada Legislature said today she has been asked to examine what possible actions or sanctions can be taken against the university regents for violating the open meeting law.

Columnist Jeff Haney: Bettors inching back toward Woods: May 12 -- Understanding baseball's dime line May 19 -- Sabermetrics and the wagerer May 26 -- Betting the new ballparks June 2 -- Booksrooting for the Lakers June 9 -- Casinos and the Super Bowl Today -- The U.S. Open golf championship Next week-- Week 1 in the NFL

Removal of trees angers residents: Lynn Doan; Residents of the Westwood Village neighborhood in Henderson were greeted by an unwelcome surprise Tuesday, when trees that stood between their back wall and Windmill Parkway were cut down, courtesy of their homeowners association.

Obituaries for June 16, 2004: Abraham "Jack" Combs, 63, of Las Vegas died Monday in Las Vegas. He was born Oct. 22, 1940, in Albany, Calif. A resident for eight years, he was an automobile mechanic.

Expanding Netflix opens Vegas center: Citing stiff competition from the likes of Blockbuster, Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix would not disclose the square footage of the local center -- located at 3811 Renate Drive near Valley View Boulevard and Spring Mountain Road -- or the number of employees at work there.

Deal draws mixed reaction from tourists, casino workers: News of the biggest marriage Las Vegas has ever seen -- MGM MIRAGE's $7.9 billion buyout of Mandalay Resort Group -- drew mixed reactions from tourists and workers this morning.

Twelve candidates in Ward 2 raise $380,000: Sito Negron; These polls for early voting for the special election to fill the Ward 2 seat on the Las Vegas City Council will be open:

Man, 68, on scooter hit by car: Heather Rawlyk; A 68-year-old Las Vegas man was in critical condition this morning after he was struck by a car while riding a motorized scooter on Bonanza Road near D Street.

Police seek man in death of retired major: Police this morning were again looking for an ex-convict who is charged with two weeks ago beating a 51-year-old retired Air Force major into a coma.

Sprint cutting another 1,100 jobs: Sprint Corp., the third-largest U.S. long-distance telephone carrier and the main local phone company in Las Vegas, today said it will cut as many as 1,100 jobs.

Ruling clarifies state statute on gathering petition signatures: Molly Ball; In extending the deadline for a group trying to gather signatures for two ballot initiatives, District Judge Kenneth Cory provided a much-needed interpretation of Nevada's unclear statute on petitioners' rights on public property, parties on both sides of the issue said on Tuesday.

News briefs for June 16, 2004: Metro Police and wildlife officials teamed up on a hunt for a 3-foot-long mountain lion that was spotted sitting on top of a cinder block wall behind a shopping center at Eastern Avenue and Pebble Road about 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Pro's tip -- Trouble with trees? No need to chop: Adam Candee; Editors note: As part of its expanded weekly golf page, the Sun will present occasional tips from local pros.

State: Yucca rail would go through LV: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- Nuclear waste destined for Yucca Mountain will still move through the Las Vegas Valley, as an Energy Department plan to use a rail route through Caliente won't prevent its shipment through the state's most populous region, state officials claimed.

Truesdell: Ethics charge humorous: Haynes filed the request based on two votes Truesdell made as chairman of the Las Vegas Planning Commission.

Trial begins in drive-by killing of mother of 6: By Matt Pordum; Prosecutors told a jury Tuesday that they have the opportunity to hold a Hillside gang member accountable for the killing of a North Las Vegas mother of six and wounding of an 8-year-old girl while they were mourning the death of a relative.

Snapshot at the window -- Matchups and props for Shinnecock Hills: A sampling of a few of the matchups and props related to the 104th U.S. Open golf championship at Shinnecock Hills ...

Three initiatives likely to spur debate: Kirsten Searer; This year's initiatives are already shaping up to be hot-button topics -- and they haven't even qualified for the ballot yet.

VegasBeat -- Timothy McDarrah: Letter has Goodman feeling withdrawn: Much to his dismay, his complaint about Las Vegas will be staying in Las Vegas.

Guilty verdict could close club: Stephen Curran; A misdemeanor prostitution case that could cost a Las Vegas strip club its tavern license now hinges on whether an exotic dancer at the club was coerced by undercover officers into offering sex for money.

Gaming briefs for June 16, 2004: RENO -- International Game Technology, the world's biggest maker of slot machines, today said it will buy back all its senior notes due in May 2009 and expects to write down as much as $90 million in the fourth quarter because of the move.

Columnist Adam Candee: A slow go for Oh in pro debut: Adam Candee; Sunny Oh's summer work paid her $69 for her first three days of work. Jobs like that usually come with a nametag, a paper hat and a case of rampant acne.

Thursday's horse racing entries: Post Time 1:20 p.m.

Columnist Peter Benton: Shinnecock Hills will test pros' accuracy: Peter Benton; The 6,996-yard, par-70 Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., is the site for this week's 104th U.S. Open.

U.S. industrial production increased 1.1 % in May: Carlos Torres; U.S. industrial production increased 1.1 percent in May, the most in almost six years, as utility output surged and companies made more electronics and business equipment, a report from the Federal Reserve showed today.

Metro honors cops, citizens for service to community: The men contacted security, and later authorities discovered the baby was born in a vehicle about seven cars from where he was found. Both baby and mother were taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, and now the boy is OK and the mother has been charged for leaving him.

Sports briefs for June 16, 2004: The founder of a Bay Area lab at the center of a steroid scandal is seeking President Bush's help in negotiating a plea that would keep him out of prison and could implicate potential U.S. Olympians.

Letter: Yucca decision made long ago: Don't be fooled by Berkley's commentary, folks. The Yucca decision was made long before President Bush came into office. Why would the government spend millions of dollars to study, explore and dig tunnels, if it wasn't going through with this program?

Bleu Plate Special: Cordon Bleu College students skills on the menu at Cafe Bleu: By Kristen Peterson; So far, he said, "They haven't dropped a thing."

Letter: Blame Democrats for 1980s deficits: Back in 2000, while campaigning against Al Gore in the Democratic primaries, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley said that if every Democrat had voted as he did for the budget cuts requested by Reagan, there would have been no deficits.

Newspaper's circulation overstated for years: Hollinger International didn't elaborate on the circulation figures, which newspapers use to set advertising rates, and said it has stopped the practices that led to the erroneous reporting.

Do the clothes make the student?: By Emily Richmond; Two new regulations aimed at improving the health of students and employees are expected to get final approval Thursday from the Clark County School Board.

Mandalay accepts offer: Bloomberg News; Mandalay Resort Group said today it accepted MGM MIRAGE's sweetened $7.9 billion takeover offer, creating the world's largest casino resort company with half of the hotel rooms on the Las Vegas Strip.

Letter: Gibbons is wrong to give miners more access: Although Placer Dome takes millions of dollars of gold from these mines each year, the mineral value of these lands would be specifically excluded from the appraisal of the land.

Osborne makes return trip to LV: Nick Christensen; Last month, 51s pitcher Tanyon Sturtze was traded to the New York Yankees to shore up New York's starting rotation.

Some bylines missing: Bylines appeared on some stories today; overseas reporters for the Journal are not covered by the union and several managers also write regularly for the paper.

White House official touts 10-year plan to aid homeless: In a meeting Tuesday with the Las Vegas Sun editorial board, Philip Mangano, the White House point man on homelessness, said the Bush administration has the right strategy to eliminate chronic homelessness.

Consolidating student loans can be complicated: By Christina Littlefield; Recent UNLV graduate Daniel Spath has commercial mailers from federal student loan consolidation companies plastered across his refrigerator.

Columnist Elizabeth Foyt: Nevada Ballet Theatre fund-raiser has big turnout: Elizabeth Foyt; Rolling out the red carpet for supporters were committee members and volunteers, including Lynn Cremen, Margee Purdue, Marilyn LaRocque, Lee Medick, Annette Calhoun and chairwoman Debra Myers. Many of the committee wore vintage designer gowns lent by Larry Hart, creator of "Sisterella," who also led the live entertainment for the preview party. Le Cordon Bleu provided the fine foods and serving staff for the gathering.

House panel to study bill to reclassify fees: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- A House subcommitee will evaluate a bill today that could allow the Energy Department to tap into about $750 million a year for the Yucca Mountain project, without going through the usual budgeting process.

Ted Williams' kin end custody battle: The fight is over for Bobby-Jo and Mark Ferrell. The daughter and son-in-law of Ted Williams told Florida Today Tuesday night that they will no longer attempt in any way to get the baseball great's remains out of an Arizona cryonics facility.

Columnist Muriel Stevens: Pop for a great gift on Father's Day: -- George Herbert

Community briefs for June 16, 2004: For the past three summers, Bureau of Land Management staff have taught Las Vegas residents about bats at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Probation given teen who shot sister: Beth Slovic; A 16-year-old boy who said he accidentally shot his sister to death while playing with his brother-in-law's gun was sentenced in Juvenile Court on Tuesday to probation and 200 hours of community service.

Editorial: ... And about that 35 days: Judge Cory's own decision states that "individual estimates of (petitioners') man-days lost were extremely difficult to quantify." Nevertheless, he concluded that, because of the "recurring nature of the incidents," the petition drive's leaders lost "literally months of time." He also concurred with the petitioners' testimony that scores of volunteers were driven off by the harassment and that, despite this obstacle, they were closing in on the required number of signatures. We would have wanted to see that testimony backed up with solid proof.

Editorial: Save time, save trouble; obey the law: On Monday District Judge Jackie Glass ruled that the Board of Regents in November illegally fired Ron Remington as president of the Community College of Southern Nevada. Their action was illegal because it violated the Nevada open-meeting law, Glass ruled. So now we have three presidents of CCSN -- Remington again, an interim president from Florida who took over after Remington's firing, and a new president the board hired away from a Wisconsin school who is due to begin work Aug. 1.

County gives Nevada Power small cut on recycled water: The Clark County Commission, acting as the board of the Clark County Water Reclamation District, revised its charges for recycled effluent water Tuesday -- and gave a break to its largest consumer of the recycled water, Nevada Power.

Education center to replace closed St. Jude's thrift store: Beth Slovic; The moment a blessing turns into a curse can sometimes be hard to pinpoint.

Security studies serious matter at UNLV: Jace Radke; Learning about homeland security has come through on-the-job training for Sheriff Bill Young.

Four plead not guilty in Whaley killing: Shane Myers, 18, Cody Myers, 18, Stephen Stringfield, 19, and Matthew Baker, 18, all pleaded not guilty to charges of murder with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon and robbery with use of a deadly weapon.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: LV's Jaskol makes first trip to victory lane: Matt Jaskol, a 19-year-old Las Vegas native, scored his first Formula BMW USA Championship victory of the season before a crowd estimated at 100,000 Sunday in Montreal.

CineVegas continues run: For ticket information, go to: www.cinevegas.com or call 992-7979.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Agassi guilty of passing on misleading message or two: Dean Juipe; Andre Agassi dropped out of the Wimbledon tennis tournament Tuesday, citing a lingering hip injury that has sabotaged his career for the past two months. Yet a mere three weeks ago he told a reporter he was in perfect health.

Reid amendment would speed up disability payments for veterans: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- Retired veterans with a 100 percent disability rating may not have to wait until 2014 to get their retirement and disability payments, if the Senate approves an amendment by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.,

Initiatives, not qualified for ballot yet, likely to spur debate: Kirsten Searer; This year's initiatives are already shaping up to be hot-button topics -- and they haven't even qualified for the ballot yet.