Print edition for April 14, 2005

Report urges feds to keep 10,000-year radiation standard: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- Federal officials should keep the original 10,000-year radiation standard in place for the Yucca Mountain nuclear dump and should consider allowing a higher dose limit for the time frame beyond the 10,000 years, according to a report released Monday.

MotorCity Casino bid OK'd: Sarah Karush; DETROIT -- State gambling officials on Wednesday approved Marian Ilitch's bid to buy out her partners in MotorCity Casino and become sole owner of the venture, which takes in more than $400 million in revenue annually.

Family of homeless man loses suit against hospital: David Kihara; A Clark County jury unanimously ruled on Wednesday night that Sunrise Hospital was not responsible in the death of a homeless man despite refusing to treat him and forcing him out of the emergency room 10 years ago.

People's litter turns thing of beauty into ugly mess: The Bureau of Land Management is doing a cleanup of areas in and near the Sloa' Canyon National Conservation Area Saturday. For information, call Jim Cribbs,' BLM volunteer coordinator, at 515-5234. For information about Sloan Canyon or the new management plan, contact the BLM at 515-5000.

Cash 'n' carry: Adam Candee; Golfers and money do not grow in Nebraska.

Columnist Jeff Haney: Film details tragic story of Paret's death: It was one of the darkest moments in boxing history.

McClure, who escaped POW camp during WW II, dies: James McClure liked being where things were hot.

Young Lucas maturing fast: Although he turned 21 last November and finally can sample all the nightlife that Las Vegas has to offer, you won't see NHRA Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas out on the town during this weekend's NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Sanford finds playmaker for spread option offense: Steve Guiremand; Mike Sanford said he didn't know very much about wide receiver Donell Wheaton when he took the UNLV head coaching job last December.

Ex-county official cleared in ethics case: Stephen Curran; Former public administrator Jared Shafer did not violate state ethics rules when he signed onto a potentially lucrative wrongful death case just days shy of his final hours as an elected official, the state Ethics Commission found Wednesday.

Nevada's taxpayers carry a heavy load: Drop-off sites

Gambler sues casino over his depiction on reality TV show: By Liz Benston; A professional gambler has filed suit against Green Valley Ranch Station Casino, claiming that he has been banned from other casinos and gambling tournaments because he was depicted as a cheat on a reality show profiling the Henderson property.

Minor charge for crushed legs questioned: Eric Leake; The wife of a North Las Vegas city employee whose legs were amputated after they were crushed by an apparently careless and unlicensed driver said Wednesday that the driver ought to serve prison time for the crash.

Panel OKs greater access to meetings: CARSON CITY -- A bill giving the public access to more government meetings was approved by the Senate Government Affairs Committee Wednesday.

University of Pittsburgh proposes medical center: Dan Kulin; The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has offered a wide-ranging vision of a downtown academic medical center that would include everything from an emergency room to organ transplants, according to a proposal released Wednesday.

Ralph Siraco's Santa Anita selections: 1st Race -- SEA KRIS -- Solis scales Sadler trainee, draws good box for mile maiden special weight opener, Sea Kris graduate? KEEP ON PUNCHING -- P. Val on one-of-two Saavedra-trained 'hidden entry', needs crafty trip here, adds blinkers for this diploma try. Value Play -- NICOLA TROPEZ

Lawsuit alleges condo complex discriminated: Alana Roberts; The mother of a developmentally disabled woman has filed a lawsuit against a Las Vegas condominium complex saying the complex denied them a condo because of the daughter's disability in violation of federal fair housing law.

Governor taking staff to LV for lectures on casinos: Besides Owens, staff members invited on the trip include chief of staff Bob Lee, spokesman Dan Hopkins, legislative lobbyists Chris Castilian and Rachel Nance, and budget director Henry Sobanet. All were given commercial airline tickets and accommodations at the Venetian, a swank hotel on the Las Vegas strip.

News briefs for April 14, 2005: A 17-year-old driver of a 1992 Mazda died and his passenger was in critical condition Wednesday after the car crashed into a wall in the 4000 block of Posse Avenue and Sandhill Road in northeast Las Vegas, Metro Police said.

Proposed law aims at cruise industry pollution: John Pain; MIAMI -- The cruise industry has gotten so big that all its ships together could hold each of Miami's 360,000 residents with room to spare. And just like cities, cruise lines have to deal with a nasty problem: the millions of gallons of sewage those people produce.

Tax holidays proposed to share surplus: Kirsten Searer; CARSON CITY -- Legislators are pondering several different ways to refund the projected surplus this year, and Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, made his pitch Wednesday.

Senate OKs tougher kid-in-vehicle law: CARSON CITY -- A bill making it a crime to leave a child unattended in a vehicle was approved by the Senate on Wednesday.

New facility training medical practitioners: Michelle Swafford; Henderson is quickly becoming a hotbed of medical educational opportunities -- the latest of which is attracting doctors worldwide.

Developer wants controversial deannexation provision dropped: A development company asked state lawmakers Wednesday to drop legislation it sought to give Boulder City the power to deannex property.

Southwest earnings soar in first quarter: Southwest Airlines did it again, reporting today that first-quarter earnings nearly tripled over the same period a year ago, easily beating analysts' estimates.

Exec says there may have been another data breach: The disclosure at a Senate hearing came a day after London-based Reed Elsevier, which owns LexisNexis, revealed that criminals may have breached computer files containing the personal information of 310,000 people since January 2003.

Developer asks for BC measure dropped: A development company asked state lawmakers Wednesday to drop legislation it sought to give Boulder City the power to deannex property.

Friday's horse racing selections: Post Time 3 p.m.

Preps: Softball Top 10: Compiled by the Las Vegas Sun and the Sparks Tribune

Preps: Results: Centennial 17, Mojave 0: W: Salazar. L: Not available. 2B: Mattie (CENT), Knerr (CENT), Friend (CENT). HR: Mattie (CENT). RBI: Mattie-3 (CENT), Knerr-2 (CENT), Friend-3 (CENT).

LPGA Tee Times: Tee No. 1

LV teacher wins national award for math, science: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- A Las Vegas teacher has been awarded one of the nation's highest math and science teaching honors.

More travel funds might be allowed: Southern Nevada legislators could soon get more money for travel expenses under a bill considered Wednesday by the Senate Finance Committee.

Beers introduces bill to curb spending: Kirsten Searer; CARSON CITY -- Sen. Bob Beers unveiled his proposal Wednesday for a Nevada law to curb government spending. It mirrors one in Colorado.

Obituaries for April 14, 2005: Patrick C. Boysza, 57, of Las Vegas died Tuesday in a local hospital. He was born Sept. 6, 1947, in Green Bay, Wis. A resident for 10 years, he was an air conditioning laborer and a Vietnam War Navy veteran.

Sports briefs for April 14, 2005: Jerome Johnson, a powerful 6-foot-8, 235-pound post player from Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., officially became the sixth member of Lon Kruger's 2005 recruiting class on Wednesday.

Jury Appreciation Week proclaimed by judge: By Matt Pordum; Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Nancy Becker proclaimed the first week of May as Jury Appreciation Week during a visit to the Clark County Courthouse on Wednesday morning.

Legal worries hush talk about proposed casino: The previous commission voted in December to approve the agreement, which barred future commissions from opposing the casino in any way.

Suicide a reminder of system problems: Molly Ball; The 16-year-old girl who hanged herself Monday in the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center was a tragic reminder of the Las Vegas Valley's lack of mental health services for children, officials said Wednesday.

GOP lawmaker says federal land plan unlikely to 'dramatically' affect Nevada: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- Nevada will likely continue to reap massive profit from sales of federal land in Clark County, a key House lawmaker said today.

LV, Pahrump women not linked in finger case: Christina Littlefield and Jen Lawson; San Jose Police said Wednesday that the Las Vegas woman who found a portion of a finger in her chili at a Wendy's in San Jose is not the main focus of their investigation into how the digit ended up in the food.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Racers' colors give nod to centennial celebration: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Committee OKs special casino fee: CARSON CITY -- The Senate Judiciary Committee today approved a bill to allow casinos to charge an entry fee to such events as swimming pool parties where there would be slot machines or table games.

Brothel lobbyist says new tax could help his industry: Kirsten Searer and Cy Ryan; CARSON CITY -- Brothels could pay an extra $2 tax on each customer under Assembly Bill 317, heard Wednesday by the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee.

Griego mows down Wildcats: Nick Christensen; Maybe it was that she was hitting her elbow on her hip, slowly wearing down her hard-to-beat arm. Or maybe it was that a good softball team was finally starting to figure out her pitches after five innings of getting smoked.

HSBC alerts customers of card security breach: HSBC, Europe's biggest bank by market value, has told some of its customers they should get new cards, Richard Lindsay, a spokesman for the London-based bank, said in a telephone interview today. The security breach affects holders of General Motors Corp.'s GM MasterCard, which is issued by HSBC, Lindsay said.

New monkey species named for GoldenPalace.com: GoldenPalace.com paid $650,000 for the naming rights in a March 3 online auction. The proceeds of the auction were to benefit Madidi National Park in Bolivia, where the species was discovered by a Wildlife Conservation Society scientist last year.

Arena League will pay tribute to fallen player: NEW YORK -- The Arena Football League is memorializing Al Lucas, the Los Angeles Avengers lineman who died after a game last Sunday.

Speaker addresses life -- and the right to die: Each of the 45 people who listened to William Colby, a lawyer who represented the family of Nancy Cruzan in removing her feeding tube in 1990, had their own tragic stories about family members dying.

Letter: Nation's capital is true Sin City: President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are riding the high side of the teeter-totter now, but as more and more people get off the other side ... well, you get the picture.

Editorial: Stop bashing poor people: This is evident in the House version of Bush's proposed 2006 budget, which would cut up to $20 billion from Medicaid and billions more from other programs that assist the poor, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, foster care, food stamps and Supplemental Security Income. The cuts are not being proposed because these are examples of bloated programs that cannot demonstrate their need. No, they're being proposed to bail this supposedly "conservative" president out of his reckless tax cuts and profligate spending, which has sent the projected federal deficit for this year soaring past $400 billion. Bush believes it's perfectly ...

Columnist Susan Snyder: Time away can make a camper happy: Spinach. Your MP3 player. The books you were supposed to "read over the summer."

Moapa refuge looks for help: Volunteers will help restore habitat at the refuge by removing invasive species of plants that have altered the native habitat that the Moapa dace, a small minnow-like fish, needs to survive.

Letter: Workers should be here legally to attain benefits: The truth is that legal residents are against only those who believe that it's OK to break the law to receive all the benefits and opportunities here in the United States.

Editorial: Janet Smith, 1928-2005: Active in Democratic politics, she was an integral part of the O'Callaghan administration, running his Southern Nevada office when he was governor during the 1970s. O'Callaghan, former executive editor of the Las Vegas Sun and the most popular governor Nevada has ever had, championed public education and fought to protect equal rights and the environment. Janet Smith was right there with him, helping turn much of his progressive agenda into a reality. Additionally, she was a great mother, a quality that too often gets overlooked in today's world. She raised six children, including one of our colleagues, John L. Smith, ...

More Eagle Scouts added to roster: John Nishan Avdoian, 18; Christopher Wayne Barton, 18; Christian Matthew Childs, 18; Landon Andrew Drabant, 18; Ryan Thomas Foytik, 18; Cameron Fraser Grant, 18; Evan Michael Kalani Gubler, 15; Jacob Boone Hall, 18; Christopher Richard Keele, 18; Zachary Vance Martin, 16; William Nile Meservy, 18; Christian Clark Michel, 16; Cory James Peterson, 18; Donald Hyatt Romeo, 15; Randall John Sgamma, 18; Sean Michael Wilson, 15; Nicholas Edward Ballard, 16; Kenneth Franklin Booth, 18; Aaron D. Christensen, 16; Nathan Richard Danley, 16; Sean Thomas English, 16; Tenny Hamilton Fau, 18; Alexander James Hart, 17; James Paul Jaramillo, 17; Kyle Christopher Kravetz, ...

School to host Rebelmania Day: The program is designed to encourage students to plan for college.

Airmen with Las Vegas roots honored at Texas air base: Dick Benoit; Two airmen with ties to the Silver State are apparently setting a shining example for their peers at a Texas Air Force base.

Seminar focuses on suicide prevention: National youth suicide rates from the National Institute of Mental Health from' 2000 and 2001, the latest years available: