Print edition for December 31, 2005

Letter: Conservation not necessarily at risk: History shows that the Central Caribou Herd, which uses the North Slope of Alaska, was in decline (less than 5,000 in the mid-'70s) before the drilling and pipeline construction began. Upon development of the North Slope, the Central Herd reversed the decline and now number over 32,000. It turns out the Caribou cows (and other wildlife) like to use the warm drilling platforms and pipeline to calve.

Looking In On: Soccer: And Loyola Marymount sophomore forward Vitor Boccardo, a Rio de Janeiro native, did not disappoint after his basketball team got pounded by UNLV on Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Editorial: Dealing with virtual violence: The latest law to be blocked by the courts is one passed in California that was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. A federal judge was more swayed by attorneys from the video game industry than attorneys for the state. He issued a temporary hold on the law and will decide in the coming weeks whether to make the hold permanent.

Next tour of rock art scheduled for Jan. 14: Ancient people traveling across Southern Nevada left behind their marks.

Settlement reached in teen death: North Las Vegas has reached a tentative settlement with the family of a 16-year-old who was shot and killed by a police officer in February 2001 after allegedly brandishing a toy gun.

New law driving down car donations: Charity doesn't begin at home, it begins with a tax break.

Editorial: Bloodshed on our roadways: A large truck, towing a fishtailing trailer, entering from the Stephanie Street on ramp at an unsafe speed. Slowing a bit to control his trailer, the driver heads directly for the opposite shoulder, where he has a work crew waiting. The driver pays no heed to fast-moving oncoming traffic, which includes a commercial truck the size of a cement mixer bearing down in the center lane. The commercial truck and cars in both the right and left lanes hit the brakes hard to avoid a pileup. Horns blare, and drivers coming onto the beltway from the ramp swerve or halt ...

Columnist Jeff Haney: On boxer Zahir Raheem, the missing man when Jan. 31 rolls around at Thomas & Mack: The new year's first big boxing event takes place Jan. 21, when Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao square off in a rematch of their sensational fight last March.

Pets praised in essays: After suffering a major stroke a little more than a year ago, Las Vegan Doug McIntosh felt he had little left to live for.

Where I Stand -- Michael Rucinski: Much was learned about school issues: I had the opportunity, with about 40 to 50 other students, to talk about education issues that affect almost all of us.

Letter: Drilling doesn't have to harm environment: Drilling for the oil in this coastal plain would not result in "massive environmental damage." All one has to do is visit Alpine, the most recent oil field to be developed on the coastal plain. You may have a difficult time even finding this oil field because of the very minimal footprint created for the oil production. No roads, no visible pipelines, no refuse dumps.

Jews for Jesus stir up community: By Christina Littlefield; Oscar Goodman, a Jew for Jesus?

Best of intentions: By Emily Richmond; Perhaps the biggest reason visitors make New Year's resolutions in Las Vegas is, well, what happens here doesn't stay here. It goes home -- around midsections, on credit cards, in hangovers.

Editorial: Supermarket seen as priority: The news lately, though, has been encouraging. The Edmond Town Center at H Street and Owens Avenue, site of the old Vons supermarket that closed, is expected to open in the spring. Owner John Edmond says he expects to have a supermarket in his center by the end of 2006.

Letter: Putting faith in the scientific method: If the description of the "overwhelming majority of humans" offered by Mr. Musaraca in his apology for faith is correct, then we have evolved into a race of beings who, only with great difficulty, are capable of grasping the simplest facts, entertaining basic concepts and exercising the most rudimentary powers of reason.