Print edition for August 10, 2005

Wood-powered prison approved by state panel: CARSON CITY -- Despite air pollution concerns of neighbors of the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, a state panel approved a $6.5 million contract for a wood chip-fired power plant at the prison that proponents say will eventually save state taxpayer money.

Roddick ousted; Sharapova tested: Paul-Henri Mathieu's 14th ace finished off third-seeded Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3 Tuesday night in the first round of the Rogers Cup at Montreal.

Columnist Peter Benton: Singh should be favorite to win: Peter Benton; On paper, Tiger Woods, with victories in this year's Masters and the British Open, plus a second-place finish in the U.S. Open, appears to be the man to beat at the PGA Championship, which starts Thursday. However, my personal odds and selections are as follows:

Names in the game for August 10, 2005: President Bush intends to reappoint seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong to a panel that monitors cancer research.

Columnist Jeff Haney: Over-the-counter tips on courteous sports wagering: Football handicappers aren't the only people in the sports betting world gearing up for the coming season.

Firearm charge leads to 9-year sentence: U.S. District judge Roger Hunt sentenced Harry "H Bomb" Kondiles to serve 115 months plus time served as a result of Kondiles pleading guilty in May to felony possession of a firearm, said Natalie Collins, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office.

Deal would limit building in Eldorado Valley: Developers won't be allowed to build high-density subdivisions in unincorporated Eldorado Valley over the next 10 years, according to a proposed agreement under consideration by Clark County and Boulder City.

Rebels off and running: Steve Guiremand; Lost in the excitement over the recent transfer of USC quarterback Rocky Hinds to UNLV is a more urgent question surrounding the Rebels football team.

Two area teams compete in Legion tourney: Nick Christensen; Western Regional

Frequent-flier program altered: Changes announced today would enable program members to accumulate points for two years instead of one to earn free travel on the airline that has the largest presence at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport.

Sports briefs for August 10, 2005: At Camp Pendleton, Calif., No. 3 ranked IBF lightweight Julio Diaz knocked out Russell Stoner Jones in the first round Tuesday night.

Busch, Roush to part ways: Mike Harris; Busy Kurt Busch found enough time to head for Wrigley Field, hoping to forget about NASCAR for at least one night.

New Eagle Scouts join the ranks: Joshua Matthew Abel, 18; Pierson R. Baldwin, 16; Adam McGregor Blasco, 16; Joseph Scott Bradford, 18; Luke William Chase, 16; William Harrison Hinsdale, 18; Robert Benjamin Holland,18; Jeffrey Kristopher Lytle, 15; Andrew Albert Maffey, 18; Dustin Charles Mazar, 17, all of Las Vegas.

Hours extended for kids' shots: The extended hours, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, should make it more convenient for working parents to keep vaccinations up to date, health officials said.

Macau Week makes splash in LV: Three Las Vegas resorts and the Fashion Show mall have rolled out the red carpet for a large contingent of artisans and government and business dignitaries from Macau hoping to show Southern Nevadans that the city isnt just Asia's premiere gaming destination.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: Hinds has made a believer out of me: As I left the first day of UNLV football practice Tuesday and drove by the Thomas & Mack Center box office, I noticed a fan striding up to the window and reaching for his wallet.

Alliance postpones its earnings report: Las Vegas-based Alliance Gaming Inc. postponed the release of its fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday, citing an incomplete auditing process.

Company signs strategic deal with wireless operator: Ameranth Wireless Inc., San Diego, offers wireless table reservation systems that are used in poker rooms as well as in restaurants and other retail outlets that have waiting lists.

News briefs for August 10, 2005: Metro Police arrested a 30-year-old man Tuesday night at Green Valley Ranch Station after he drove through Las Vegas at speeds reaching 120 mph in a stolen car.

Cintra says firms vying for AeroMexico, Mexicana: Those groups, including Mexican and foreign investors, that qualify will participate in a second round, Cintra said in a statement to the Mexican stock exchange. Cintra declined to name the investors and didn't say whether some of the groups expressed interest in both AeroMexico and Mexicana.

Letter: Troops need a break from Bush: Hey, you say, the job is stressful and he needs a break to clear the cobwebs and get refreshed. Never mind the fact that he lied and exaggerated the facts in getting us into war with the wrong county. Just think, if all of our forces and firepower had been concentrated in the right direction, we might have actually caught Osama bin Laden. Notice how Bush never talks about him or weapons of mass destruction anymore. Now it's all about democracy.

Letter: Ruling may allow city to condemn Lamb State Park: Walking through the park recently, I noticed an awful lot of shotgun BBs lying on the ground among what seemed to be Bear Poppies. In some places the shot was so thick that you could not see the earth below. I had thought for years now all gun ammunition was required to use only steel projectiles but this shot had no rust; perhaps it is an alloy.

Officials hope to reopen boat closed because of water: The riverboat casino was closed late Sunday after low water levels created unsafe walking conditions between the gaming boat and a barge grounded on the bank of the Ohio River.

Attorney: Court erred in dismissing lawsuit: Chris T. Nguyen; LOS ANGELES -- An attorney for ousted members of a casino-rich California tribe said Tuesday an appeals court misinterpreted federal law when it dismissed their closely watched civil rights lawsuit.

Unit files for IPO: San Antonio-based Clear Channel has previously said it plans to spin off around 10 percent of the unit.

Earnings meet expectations: For the quarter, which ended July 31, the company reported sales of $6.6 billion, compared with $5.9 billion for the same period a year ago. Net income, excluding one-time gains and losses, was $1.6 billion, or 25 cents a share, compared with $1.5 billion, or 21 cents, a year earlier.

Medicare drug premiums will be lower than estimations: Kevin Freking; WASHINGTON -- Most participants in Medicare's new prescription drug benefit will spend about $5 less per month in premiums than originally anticipated because of competition among private plans bidding to offer the benefit.

Corrections: Corrections

Columnist Muriel Stevens: Spice catalog is worth your thyme: Chervil and French thyme of this quality are rarely found locally.

Trial of two men in slaying outside topless club on hold: By Matt Pordum; The fate of two men charged in a fatal shooting outside the Sapphire topless club was put on hold Tuesday so a ballistics report on the alleged murder weapon could be completed.

Columnist Elizabeth Foyt: Palermo holds court in new Gallery P downtown: Elizabeth Foyt; Featured in exhibit at Gallery P were pieces by Polish-born artist Hannah Iglikowska, who attended the wine-and-cheese party with husband Witold Iglikowski. Seen with the couple were Jerry Polis, Las Vegas Art Museum board member, and wife Lottie.

Jury foreman: 911 tape led to murder conviction: By Matt Pordum; A jury foreman said the 911 tape made by the murder victim in the minutes prior to being shot and not a damaging jailhouse journal detailing Jim Holden's life as an alleged hit-man is what led to his conviction Tuesday.

Super Summer Theatre presents 'Dolls': Nathan Detroit, a gambler who runs an illegal floating craps game in New York, needs a location to run his next game. To get the site, Detroit needs to find some money by winning a bet that he wagers with his partner-in-crime, Sky Masterson.

Editorial: A miracle -- overnight: The original radiation standard was a proposed maximum amount of radiation that would be allowed to escape from the repository each year over a period of 10,000 years. The standard was created by calculating how well the waste would be protected from the outer environment once it was buried under the mountain's thick rock in man-made casks. A federal court, basing its decision on a recommendation by the National Academy of Sciences, ruled last year that the proposed daily maximum amount of escaping radiation should be in place far longer than 10,000 years.

Judge gives man convicted of killing wife 10 years to life: By Matt Pordum; A judge called a man who claimed he accidentally shot his wife in the head while he was cleaning his gun "a drunk and abusive guy all his life" and then sentenced him Tuesday to 10 years to life in prison.

Editorial: 'Truly spectacular': The first words from Mission Control upon their touchdown at Edwards Air Force Base early Tuesday were, "Congratulations on a truly spectacular test flight. Welcome home, friends."

Man gets probation in beating: By Matt Pordum; A judge on Tuesday told a 21-year-old man that punching and kicking a man he found sleeping in his car wasn't an example of "how you take care of things" as she sentenced him to five years' probation.

Parents arrested in death of girl: David Kihara and Matt Pordum; The parents accused of killing their 2-year-old daughter through neglect were arrested by Metro Police as the couple was driving to a custody hearing at Family Court on Tuesday.

It's a low, it's a high, it's the record lowest high: The thermometer topped out at 86 degrees by 23 minutes after midnight, eclipsing the record lowest high temperature of 87 degrees set on Aug. 9, 1989, said Brian Fuis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Saudi prince visits Nellis for Red Flag war exercises: Eric Leake; Close ties between the American and Saudi governments were evident Tuesday as a member of the Saudi royal family visited Nellis Air Force Base to view his country's participation in the Red Flag military exercises.

L.A. Times editor joining Sun: Tom Gorman, a Los Angeles Times editor, will join the Sun in September as a general interest columnist.

Researchers take to sky to study air pollution: Researchers are taking to the skies to study pollution above the Las Vegas Valley.

Official: LV won't use tax money for concert: A ranking Las Vegas official says the city will not use taxpayer dollars to reimburse Clear Channel Entertainment $627,209 for what the company claims were unexpected costs related to producing the July 2 free Red Hot Chili Peppers concert.

Oil firms hoping to tap Nevada: The confluence of $64-a-barrel oil, a discovery of huge amounts of oil in Utah and claims of untapped potential in the Silver State is getting Nevada pumped over petroleum.

EPA proposal gives Yucca a boost: Benjamin Grove and Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency gave Yucca Mountain a burst of momentum on Tuesday when it issued a revised radiation-release rule that Nevada officials say is dangerously lax.

Group: Groundwater pumping puts desert wildlife refuge at risk: The Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex is one of the six most threatened wildlife refuges in the country because of groundwater pumping to sustain Las Vegas, a national conservation group said today.

Columnist Jeff German: Tightening the reins on LVCVA: But that's basically what the San Francisco-based Morrison & Foerster law firm told the LVCVA board Tuesday in an investigative report critical of the way the LVCVA dealt away its most popular advertising slogan, "What happens here, stays here."

Missing victim, witnesses result in release: By Matt Pordum; A missing victim and missing witnesses in an attempted murder case are resulting in the early release of a man who had been convicted in the notorious 1986 "Show and Tell" murder.

Columnist Adam Candee: The last (and least) major: Adam Candee; Multiple credible sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have confirmed to the Sun that there will be a major championship contested this week among PGA tour professionals.

Scientific Games selected to provide lottery games: Jim Scroggins, executive director, said the value of the contract awarded to Scientific Games is estimated at _$6 million, with an option to renew for up to six years.

Groundbreaking a 'dream come true' for Indianans: Ryan Lenz; FRENCH LICK, Ind. -- Residents believing that a new casino will pump life into southern Indiana's Orange County began arriving an hour before a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, many carrying cameras and the hopes of a decade.

BLM to hold public meeting on oil, gas leasing: The agency is preparing an environmental assessment of oil and gas leasing and its potential impacts on public lands in the state.

Obituaries for August 10, 2005: Dorothy A. Cunningham, 73, of Boulder City died Monday in a local care center. She was born Jan. 22, 1932, in Minneapolis. A resident for 18 years, she was a retired classroom assistant.

Thursday's horse racing entries: Post Time 2 p.m.

Dodgers, Cubs trade with Boston: The Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday acquired veteran outfielder Jose Cruz Jr. from the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named.

Gibbons stands firm on commitment to not announce governor candidacy: Stephen Curran and Mary Manning; U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R.-Nev., is sticking to his self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline for launching his candidacy for governor, but it continues to appear obvious that he is running for the job already.

Ralph Siraco's Del Mar selections: 1st Race -- DANCING GENERAL -- Draws good outside post for Cal-bred maiden sprint, Baze aboard Becerra trainee, Dancing in winners circle for General graduation? TEMPTING DATE -- Part of Johnston-owned & Warren-trained coupled entry with REBELLIOUS, Espinoza here, Court there, double diploma threat. Value Play -- YEARLY ATTITUDE

Governor pledges to work with tribe on casino: "It generally works with areas with huge population bases," Freudenthal told a conference discussing topics affecting the Wind River Indian Reservation on Tuesday. "As a matter of state policy, I never thought it made sense here."

51s' rally too little, too late: DES MOINES, Iowa -- Nate Frese contributed three hits and two RBIs, leading Iowa to a 6-5 win against Las Vegas on Tuesday at Principal Park.

Budget director Comeaux to retire: CARSON CITY -- John Perry Comeaux, who has prepared the last six state budgets under Govs. Bob Miller and Kenny Guinn, is going to call it quits in January.

State legislator renews push for slot machines: State Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, said he was pre-filing a plan that would allow Kentucky to have up to 21,000 slot machine terminals. Horse tracks and certain hotels would be allowed a share of 10,000 slot machines.

School District strikes deal for newsletter distribution: By Emily Richmond; The Clark County School District's annual Back to School Reporter newsletter will arrive in the mail later this month in new packaging: tucked inside Nevada Family Magazine.