Print edition for October 29, 2004

Spanish Springs running back gets record 537 yards: Nick Christensen; Spanish Springs running back Mike Kanellis ran for a state-record 537 yards as the Cougars defeated South Tahoe 56-37 Thursday in Reno.

2-point stop saves Silverado: With Green Valley High threatening to cap a thrilling late comeback against Silverado on Thursday night, Skyhawks linebacker Benjamin Jacobs took the air out of the home crowd by stopping a two-point conversion.

Columnist Jeff German: A vote for Kerry can stop Yucca dump: WEEKEND EDITION

Dancing up a Storm: By Jerry Fink; Burlesque queen and pinup star Tempest Storm is 76 years old and still stripping.

Letter: Driving, biking, walking must be made more safe: October 30 - 31, 2004

Influential high school celebrates 50th anniversary: Eric Leake; WEEKEND EDITION

Columnist Jon Ralston: A partly cloudy crystal ball: WEEKEND EDITION

Letter: Homeless vets deserve better: October 30 - 31, 2004

Time of recognition: October 30 - 31, 2004

Columnist Susan Snyder: My vote is not for cell: WEEKEND EDITION

Giants preparing to go to Minnesota without Toomer: The Minnesota Vikings would be formidable enough even if New York Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer were his durable old self.

Judge told not to aid spouse's campaign: CARSON CITY -- A judge in Clark County should not be helping her husband's campaign seeking re-election to the Family Court bench, a state committee says.

Earnings fall in third quarter: Clear Channel said today that it earned $261.2 million, or 44 cents per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, down from $636 million, or $1.03 a share, in the year-ago period.

FBI: No credible terrorist threats to Nevada: Jace Radke; There are no credible or specific terrorist threats against Nevada according to an FBI threat assessment released to the Nevada State Homeland Security Commission on Thursday.

Heller says no organized voter fraud found: Sito Negron and Cy Ryan; A state investigation found no evidence of organized voter fraud, although there have been some cases where individuals faked voter registration forms in an attempt to earn more money, Secretary of State Dean Heller announced Thursday.

Sports briefs for October 29, 2004: Atlanta Braves hitting coach Terry Pendleton on Thursday became the seventh candidate to interview for the Philadelphia Phillies' managing vacancy. Former major-league manager Jim Leyland will be No. 8 when he meets with the Phillies on Monday, and no other candidates are scheduled.

Prices jump for care at assisted-living homes: Michelle Swafford; The monthly cost of residing at an assisted-living home in the Las Vegas Valley rose nearly twice as fast as the national average in the past year, a new insurance study reported this week.

SW Gas narrows loss for quarter: Kevin Rademacher; Record growth and favorable rate case decisions in California and Nevada cut third-quarter losses at Las Vegas-based Southwest Gas Corp.

Stabbing injures woman outside Wal-Mart: Heather Rawlyk; A woman was stabbed in the neck in the parking lot of a southeast Las Vegas Wal-Mart Thursday night in a seemingly random attack, Metro Police said.

County officials unsure when next shipment of flu vaccine will arrive: Stephen Curran; A 2,000-dose shipment of the flu vaccine that was supposed to arrive at the Clark County Health District early this week has not yet reached the state's warehouse, the agency's nurse manager told the district board Thursday morning.

Insurer's rate hike request denied: CARSON CITY -- Nevada Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman rejected the Progressive Corp.'s request to raise auto rates in Nevada by an average of 5.3 percent.

Kickapoos hope luck improves with casino opening: The choice of Thursday as the grand opening date was no accident: Two years ago on Oct. 28 the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas ousted tribal chairman Raul Garza, along with four other leaders and casino manager Isidro Garza, accusing them of fiscal mismanagement and neglecting tribal needs.

Columnist Steve Guiremand: Brimmer getting noticed by NFL draft scouts: Steve Guiremand; His team isn't going to win the Mountain West Conference title.

Gaming briefs for October 29, 2004: ELTON, La. -- U.S. Senate investigators looking into lobbying for Indian reservation casinos have asked the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana for audio tapes of tribal council meetings spanning five years.

Columnist Sal Defilippo: Bush vs. Kerry? Redskins will settle it: Sal Defilippo; Iused to think the whole concept of early voting was merely intended to be another American convenience. Avoid long lines. Get your civic duty out of the way ahead of time, so you can focus on more important things, such as the 19 consecutive days of nationally televised major college or professional football that began Thursday. I'll vote for that proposition any time.

Columnist Jeff German: Cab ruling sounds like a bad idea: But this could turn out to be just a big April Fool's Day joke if the state Taxicab Authority Board doesn't fix its just-adopted camera regulation.

Preps: Playoff matchups: Sunset Region Quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 5 Western (SW4) vs. Palo Verde (NW1) Shadow Ridge (NW3) vs. Bonanza (SW2) Sierra Vista (SW3) vs. Cheyenne (NW2) Cimarron-Memorial (NW4) vs. Bishop Gorman (SW1)

Columnist Ron Kantowski: Winning no longer an original idea: To show you how long I've been around, when I moved to Las Vegas in 1987 there were only 10 high schools and football games were played on Friday afternoon. Because there were only five games, the Sun used to staff all of them, and when Basic was on the road the guy who drew the short straw usually got stuck covering Eldorado because it was the longest drive from the office.

Pro Stock champion Anderson making quick work of records: ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

ACLU sues in school attire dispute: By Emily Richmond; The Clark County School District has been sued over a decision to throw out a Liberty High School student who refused to swap her religious-themed T-shirts for attire approved by the principal.

Man found guilty in casino parking lot slaying: Molly Ball; Frederic Dixon, who claimed self-defense in shooting a man multiple times through the windows of his car in a parking lot at the Palms, was found guilty of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon early today.

Jury finds woman guilty of extorting Angelil: Molly Ball; Yun Kyeong Sung was convicted late Thursday night of extortion for trying to get millions of dollars from the husband of Celine Dion to hush up a rape allegation.

Palo Verde comes up big: Steve Guiremand; Listed in the program as standing 5-foot-4 and weighing 140 pounds, Palo Verde senior wingback Anthony Smith was by far the smallest player on the field in Thursday night's Northwest Division title decider against visiting Cheyenne.

Political parties make final weekend push: Kirsten Searer; A van sporting a Kerry/Edwards sign created quite a stir Tuesday when it drove through a West Las Vegas neighborhood blasting James Brown music and cutting in periodically with a booming voice to say, "Don't forget to vote!"

Attitude, growth are factors in state of local philanthropy: Kevin Rademacher; In the world of philanthropy, Las Vegas' biggest asset might also be its most significant roadblock.

Union: Casinos bullying strikers: ATLANTIC CITY -- The union representing 10,000 striking casino and hotel employees accused casinos Thursday of threatening and harassing rank-and-file workers in a bid to break the three-week walkout.

Barrick Gold plans to reopen Ruby Hill mine at Eureka: The announcements came this week as Barrick reported third-quarter earnings of $32 million, or 6 cents per share, compared with $35 million, or 7 cents per share, in the third quarter of last year.

Vermin scares up attention at his Gallery Au-Go-Go: "I think I'm in love with it," said Vermin, standing before the "Monster Mantra," which will be part of Vermin's "Noche de las Calaveras" or "Night of the Skulls" exhibit opening Saturday at Vermin's Gallery Au-Go-Go.

Sun looking for past participants in Youth Forum: sheila@lasvegassun.com; October 30 - 31, 2004

Wildcats derail Valley's title march: Nick Christensen; Marcus Cotton plodded, pleaded and yelled. He paced the sideline when his team was on offense, and stalked Southern Nevada's leading rusher, Las Vegas' Eric Jordan, in a fourth-quarter stand that almost kept the Vikings in contention.

New home for Broadbent family is as easy as ABC: A mother battling cancer and her three adopted AIDS-afflicted daughters said goodbye Wednesday to their drafty, cramped, run-down North Las Vegas home knowing that when they return from vacation Thursday, it won't be there.

Cancer foundation honors children: Melanie Castillo, 11, and Megan Jones, 13, who both overcame life-threatening illnesses, were named Children of Courage. Brianne Waitman, 17, received the Teen Spirit Award as an inspiration to others as they fight disease.

Gorman has bigger plans: Adam Candee; Bishop Gorman coach David White does not want the Gaels' third Southwest Division title in three years to turn out like the first two did.

Fishing report: Boaters getting most of the action: On a positive note, NDOW creel census clerks have noticed an improvement in the body condition of stripers that are coming from Las Vegas Wash. In recent weeks many of the stripers coming from that part of the lake were skinny.

For casino workers, study accents hazard of secondhand smoke: John Curran; For casino worker Joan Zarych, there's no escaping the smoke. It surrounds her at work, it follows her home on her clothing, it aggravates the asthma she says she got from working around cigarette-smoking gamblers for 20 years.

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: 'Unknown' Langston has 'Gong'-ed on to simpler life: Lisa Ferguson; Of course, when you go onstage wearing a paper bag over your head, that's entirely the point. As the Unknown Comic, Langston became an instant celebrity, hiding his face amd spewing corny one-liners on television's "The Gong Show."

Antagonism between victim's daughter, Murphy told: By Matt Pordum; Prosecutors attempted to convince jurors Thursday that Sandy Murphy tried to isolate Ted Binion's daughter from her father and that Murphy's greed could be seen in her actions on the day after his death.

Editorial: Rule marked by terrorism: Arafat has been able to cultivate an image, especially in Europe, of being a freedom fighter, but it's all a lie. The reality is that Arafat is a terrorist. Arafat never has been interested in obtaining a permanent peace in the Middle East, refusing even a generous land-for-peace offer made in 2000 by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Soon after the negotiations collapsed, Arafat gave his blessing to a terrorist campaign that was waged by Palestinians against Israelis. He did nothing to stop the suicide bombings that have maimed and killed innocent Israelis. Indeed, he has encouraged such attacks, whose ...

Datebook for October 29, 2004: Amy Paige will sign copies of her books at 7 tonight at Pride Factory, 953 E. Sahara Ave. Admission is free. 444-1291.

Halloween Events: The Karaoke Club at the Imperial Palace will host a "Scary-Okee" Halloween karaoke party from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday. Admission is $10. Costumes are optional. 794-3114.

Champ Car circuit returning to LVMS: 2005 Champ Car World Series April 10 - Long Beach May 22 - Monterrey, Mexico June 4 - Milwaukee June 19 - Portland June 26 - Cleveland July 10 - Toronto July 17 - Edmonton July 31 - Silicon Valley, Calif. Aug. 14 - Denver Aug. 28 - Montreal Sept. 24 - Las Vegas Oct. 16 - Korea Oct. 23 - Australia Nov. 6 - Mexico City

Saturday's horse racing entries: Post Time 9:55 a.m.

Letter: Burrowing owl needs local help: The problem comes as we develop the land that has been their habitat. Those that survive the construction process find fewer and fewer suitable places to live.

Projects benefiting from land sales: $9 million to secure right-of-way in Henderson for a project using railroad land to connect the city to a spot just north of Lake Mead Parkway. Another $27.5 million would go toward construction of the 5-mile corridor.

High school principal wins national awards: Robert A. Gerye is the founding principal at Spring Valley High School where he has placed students in smaller learning communities. The school opened in August.

Peel fell for Fall -- and so can you: Spencer Patterson; The music world lost a grand champion on Monday, when famed British disc jockey John Peel suffered a fatal heart attack at age 65.

Will they still love us on Wednesday?: Kirsten Searer, Ed Koch and Benjamin Grove; WEEKEND EDITION

'Zumanity' remains a study in kinetic energy: Erotic?

Columnist Jerry Fink: Dusk to dawn at Hilton: By Jerry Fink; Jazz vocalist Matt Dusk riled friends of Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and singer Dennis Bono earlier this year when the 25-year-old entertainer made some unflattering remarks during the taping of "The Casino," a reality series that aired on Fox (KVVU Channel 5) during the summer.

Columnist Barb Henderson: Drawing for opening-day slots starts rush to waterfowl season: Barb Henderson; With the current weather conditions, I am sure there are waterfowlers all geared up and excited for this weekend to arrive.

Federal land sales to pump another $100 million into area: Sito Negron; More than $100 million gathered from the sale of federal lands in Southern Nevada will go to local entites to be used for a series of projects announced by Interior Secretary Gail Norton Thursday.

Feds to monitor election in Clark, Washoe counties: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Justice Department plans to send civil rights lawyers and staff to Clark and Washoe counties on Tuesday to monitor the election.

America's day at the races: "We conduct the races just like anything else," said Breeders' Cup spokesman Jim Gluckson. "It's just like football."

'Conspiracy' claimed in firing of school police chief: By Emily Richmond; The head of the union representing Clark County School District police officers said Thursday that Elliott Phelps wasn't fired from his job as chief because of a failure to meet state certification requirements but because of a "personally motivated conspiracy."

Winnemucca statues will sit in U.S., Nevada Capitols: Artist Benjamin Victor of Aberdeen, S.D., is completing the first statue of Winnemucca, which will be placed in the Capitol's National Statuary Hall in Washington.

'Bed' time at Black Box Theatre: You're a Broadway composer. Your career is in jeopardy, your wife just left you and you have this dream. In the dream, your bed talks to you, your wife visits you, as does your boss and your fantasy.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Bud-Miller peace treaty will let Dixon compete in $100,000 all-star race: Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon received a second chance from a very unlikely source to race for $100,000 this weekend.

News briefs for October 29, 2004: A 26-year-old Las Vegas woman is missing and Metro Police are seeking the public's help to find her.

Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Yucca lives or dies on Tuesday: WEEKEND EDITION

Lawn watering goes to one day: Dan Kulin; To find out which day you are allowed to water, go to the Southern Nevada Water Authority Web site at www.snwa.com or call 258-7283.

Third-quarter GDP growth rate slower than expected: Carlos Torres; The U.S. economy grew at a slower-than-expected 3.7 percent annual rate in the third quarter, held back by a record trade deficit and slowdown in inventory building, a government report showed.

Political fliers add to the burden of mail carriers: David Kihara; Each year mail carrier Sylvia Goodwin knows that she will be busy during certain holidays. With Mother's Day and Valentine's Day come the cards; during Christmas season, she delivers holiday packages.

Another ethics complaint filed against Maxfield: A complaint, the second in as many months, has been filed against Clark County Commission Chairman Chip Maxfield with the state Ethics Commission.

Winning 'Smile': Spencer Patterson; For nearly four decades, the Beach Boys' "Smile" reigned as rock 'n' roll's most legendary unfinished album.

Voter information for Election Day 2004: AP; Q. When can I vote?

Performing Arts for October 29, 2004: Horn quartet

Community briefs for October 29, 2004: Batteries in smoke detectors should be changed this weekend along with clocks. Some things to remember about smoke detectors:

Editorial: Sun offers its choices: October 30 - 31, 2004

Editorial: Test all parking garages that pre-date new code: After the first accident, Paul Wilkins, director of Las Vegas' Building and Safety Department, ordered the Golden Nugget to provide his office with a report, prepared by professional engineers, on the structural soundness of the protective concrete panels. The hotel-casino, however, produced only a preliminary report, which stated that the garage met all the building codes that were in effect when it was built in 1985. A final, more detailed report would have revealed the amount of stress the 6-inch concrete panels could withstand before breaking. Changes to the building code in 1994 required the concrete panels in new parking ...

Relatives of Guardsmen stationed in Iraq gather to make videotapes: Dan Kulin and Jace Radke; In a videotaped message, Sgt. 1st Class James B. Phillips II probably won't see until he gets to Iraq, 12-year-old Casandra Phillips tells her father she'll miss him, not to forget her and to come home safely.

Columnist Jerry Fink: Greece is the word for partiers at Romy's: As the two powerful singers perform songs from their native Greece, inspiring fans to crowd onto the small dance floor, dollar bills rain upon them and plates are shattered at their feet.

Grant to help lab better track dangerous diseases: Stephen Curran; A laboratory poised to become Southern Nevada's primary testing site for dangerous diseases and bioterrorism agents received a much-needed grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to buy a high-tech cataloging system.

Kerry has edge in newspaper endorsements: Benjamin Grove; WEEKEND EDITION

School Board member Barber comes under heated criticism: By Emily Richmond; Clark County School Board member Shirley Barber was handed a stinging -- and very public -- rebuke Thursday by a member of a parent action group who suggested Barber had shirked her elected duties.

Columnist Muriel Stevens: All-star chef lineup delights at Rosemary's: Rosemary's chef/owners Wendy and Michael Jordan joined Chef Tim Love, who owns the Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Texas, and devised a dinner that was exceptional.

Columnist Spencer Patterson: Evolving Alter Bridge is filling in the gaps: Spencer Patterson; The quartet had yet to determine how they intended to fill out a full live set, given their entire catalog stood at one 11-track album.

Preps: Today's schedule: Thursday's results Boys' Soccer Bonanza 8, Western 0: G: BNZA - TJ Bombard 3, Nick Zozaya, Travis Slade, Matthew Lavelle, Robert Gianoulakis, Jonathan Paiz. Shutout - Mathew Lavelle / Nick Zozaia Palo Verde 5, Mojave 0: G: PV - Luke Atwell 2, Jordan Hart 2, Luis Flores. Shutout - Eric Garcia. Bishop Gorman 3, Durango 2: G: BG - Brent Young 2, Skyler Perez; DURA - Andrew Friel, Steven Mendenhall. Chaparral 4, Rancho 1: G: CHAP - Ulises Sanchez 2, Mauro Macias, Luis Moreno; RNCH - Andres Campos (PK).

Obituaries for October 29, 2004: Johnye Lou Banks, 74, of Las Vegas died Tuesday in Las Vegas. A retired bookkeeper in the oil industry, she was born March 25, 1930, in Dallas.

40 nations represented in women's forum: The four-day event carried the theme "The Future of Change."

Letter: Unbridled greed is a pervasive, awful influence: The greedy insurance and pharmaceutical companies and the greedy doctors and lawyers place a burden on the American public that leaves us so beleaguered that I have become insensitive to their rhetoric. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not ready to break out the violins for any of them.

Trump Hotels names new president: Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. named Scott Butera president and chief operating officer after he helped broker an agreement with bondholders to restructure the company's debt.

On Display for October 29, 2004: The Halloween art show "Noche de las Calaveras" will be displayed from 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday at Gallery Au-Go-Go, 4972 S. Maryland Parkway. Admission is free. 419-5681.