Print edition for March 21, 2005

Columnist Ron Kantowski: NCAA tournament isn't perfect, but it's close: With regard to the NCAA basketball tournament, some people see things as they are and say why; one man dreams things that never were and says why not.

Morales open to fourth fight with Barrera: Time and again, Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao elicited deafening roars from the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena with furious exchanges of cleanly landed punches.

Deficit called greatest threat to economy: Courtney Schlisserman; The U.S. budget deficit poses the greatest threat to economic growth in the short term, ahead of terrorism and the current account gap, according to a National Association for Business Economics survey.

Four candidates vie for new judge post in Henderson: David S. Gibson Jr. Democrat Age: 30 Occupation: Private attorney focusing on civil and criminal litigation, Clark County Outlying Courts pro-tem Justice Court judge Web site: davidgibsonforjudge.com Endorsements: Las Vegas Metropoplitan Police Managers and Supervisors Association, Nevada AFL-CIO

LV plagued by rash of casino robberies: Stephen Curran; The armed robbery last week of a cashier at the Bourbon Street casino marked the ninth such crime this year and the second since 2003 for the off-Strip property, Metro Police statistics show.

News briefs for March 21, 2005: One person was killed and two others injured Sunday night in a head-on collision on U.S. 95 near Wagonwheel Drive.

Regents to lobby against elected status of board: Several regents argued that any denial of voters' rights to elect the Board of Regents would keep those voices from being heard.

Rescue mission shuts down kitchen again: By Timothy Pratt; For the second time in five months, the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, the only place in the valley that offers free meals seven nights a week, has shut its doors to the dining hall in order to drive away homeless men and women camping out nearby.

Beck back in starting lineup for Rebels: Steve Guiremand; Romel Beck lost his starting guard spot to Andy Hannan back in early February after missing three games with a sprained foot.

Editorial: Premature confidence: The five members of our congressional delegation -- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley, both Democrats, and Sen. John Ensign and Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, all Republicans -- are fighting Bush's plan. From the start, the delegation members declared unity on the point that none of the money from the federal land sales should end up in Bush's budget. The president wants the money to partially make up for his cut-taxes-and-spend policy, which has created a record federal deficit. But the money does not belong to the federal government. Under the provisions of the 1998 ...

Reid wants LV lawyer for post: Wellinghoff is a partner in the law firm of Beckley Singleton where he specializes in energy and consumer law. He also was Nevada's first consumer advocate.

Lawsuits delay supercenters: Jim Wasserman; SACRAMENTO -- As Wal-Mart Stores Inc. tries to plant dozens of new supercenters in California, lawyers aligned with a variety of opposition groups are using California's tough environmental laws to stall the nation's largest retailer.

Gaming briefs for March 21, 2005: DES MOINES, Iowa -- Ten communities hoping to land a casino will make their sales pitches this week to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

Letter: Wealthy are not paying fair share: Can it be that he wishes to borrow the surplus in Social Security to grant wealthier Americans a tax cut? The Republican plurality has admitted that privatization of Social Security will not be any more effective than the present contract in Social Security.

School police overtime costs decrease: By Emily Richmond; Overtime costs for school police are down 17 percent for the first six months of the academic year, a drop Clark County School District officials credited to an initiative that shifted some duties to specially trained campus security monitors.

Kerns seeks re-election against challenger Harter: Dan Kulin; Mat Harter

Cabot to lead firm's gaming effort: By Liz Benston; One of the gaming industry's top lawyers has joined another firm to lead that company's new gaming law practice.

Letter: Iraq may never have a solution: It reminds a person of the futile, senseless and bloody war in Iraq. Both of these wars have similarities.

Editorial: Peeping tomfoolery: Assembly Bill 90, a new and specific peeping Tom law, is being considered by the Legislature. This bill should be approved faster than you can draw your blinds.

Oregon struggles with rise in compulsive women gamblers: Brad Cain; SALEM, Ore. -- Maryann started gambling 10 years ago, playing video poker machines in hotels and restaurants in Oregon as she traveled for her job.

Early retirement offered to some nonunion workers: The offers were sent in the first quarter in hopes of speeding the "normal" amount of attrition the company usually has, said Toni Simonetti, general director of financial and international communications, in an interview.

Slow but steady stream of early voters turns out: David Kihara; Henderson early voting continues through April 1. The days, hours and locations are:

Sports books court thousands of tourney fans: David Kihara; On the second day of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, Tim Treanor of Atlanta was sitting in the massive sports book of the Las Vegas Hilton, beer in hand, cheering loudly.

Judge delays ruling in slaying: By Matt Pordum; With no witnesses able to say a 25-year-old Californian accused of killing a 51-year-old Las Vegas woman on Thanksgiving Day shot a gun or had a motive, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle decided Friday to fully review the case before issuing a ruling.

Robinson challenges incumbent Gibson: Dan Kulin; Jim Gibson

SEC turns attention to LV diamond firm: Kevin Rademacher; Las Vegas-based CMKM Diamonds Inc., which claims to be involved in diamond exploration in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, has run afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Decorated World War II Marine Browner dies at 80: For family and friends of decorated Marine Ralph Browner, the man behind the medals displayed a heart and soul that proved him a hero beyond World War II.

Letter: Wall Street really can't be trusted with safety net: The Bush administration keeps repeating that it won't touch the retirements of current senior citizens. That's an insult. Our own welfare isn't what concerns us. We are worrying about Bush's propaganda specialist, Karl Rove, convincing our offspring that Wall Street is as reliable as the U.S. government for overseeing retirement funds.

Investigations spell more trouble for Head Start: By Timothy Pratt; Children appear to have been left in harm's way at two Head Start centers in the Las Vegas Valley recently, leading a top federal official to decry what she said was a pattern of negligence at the nonprofit organization running the centers.

Hacker breaks into UNLV computer designed for tracking foreign students: UNLV officials are sending out warning letters to about 5,000 international students and scholars this week after an unidentified computer hacker breached a university server.

Exxon Mobil, rivals to invest $11 billion in new refineries: Joe Carroll; Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's biggest oil refiner, and rivals such as Saudi Aramco and Total SA plan at least $11 billion of refinery additions as worldwide demand pushes gasoline prices to a record.

Ready for 'Retirement': Kirk Baird; It's 11:30 Thursday morning and I'm standing in the middle of a film set inside the Rio.

The Joint is no place for Crue control: Spencer Patterson; Midway through Motley Crue's show at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on Sunday night, Nikki Sixx paused to reflect on his band's reunion.

Air Force probes crash of F-16 on Nellis runway: Stephen Curran; An Air Force safety board is expected to review Friday's crash of an F-16CJ fighter on a Nellis Air Force Base runway.

Obituaries for March 21, 2005: Estelle Mary Bartizal, 78, of Las Vegas died Friday in a local hospice. She was born May 14, 1926, in Chicago. A resident for 13 years, she was a homemaker.

Supreme Court briefs for March 21, 2005: The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld Q The Sports Club's revocation of the membership of a man for his cursing, bullying and harassing other members and staff.

Dylan keeps it lean at Aladdin: Spencer Patterson; Standing at an upright piano at stage left, Bob Dylan allowed fans to see only his right profile throughout Saturday's show at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts.

Jury rules for Harrah's in suit over Mongol's death: Jace Radke; A jury ruled Friday that Harrah's Laughlin was not negligent in its security planning and procedures for the 2002 Laughlin River Run, and that the gaming company is not liable for the death of a man killed in a melee between rival motorcycle gangs.

Columnist Susan Snyder: Rancher: Water plan is all wet: In recent years, he has passed along most of the responsibility to his three sons, who now run the Baker Ranches Inc. operation in eastern Nevada's White Pine County.

UNLV looks forward to similar scenario with different results: Adam Candee; UNLV coach Regina Miller already glanced through the script for next season and found that it looked strangely familiar to the one she read around this time last year.

Births for March 21, 2005: March 10:

Sports briefs for March 21, 2005: UNLV senior Ryan Moore became the winningest golfer in UNLV history after shooting a final-round 4-under-par 68 on Sunday to win the individual title at the Hall of Fame Invitational at 10-under for the tournament at Redstone Golf Club (par 72, 7,352 yards).

Oft-injured reserve bails out Villanova against Florida: Curtis Sumpter limped to the Villanova locker room with a knee injury with 7:51 remaining in the first half of the Wildcats' second-round NCAA tournament game against Florida.

Tibbetts released after trying to attack referee: Nick Christensen; Former Wranglers forward Billy Tibbetts was released by the Idaho Steelheads on Saturday, a day after he was suspended indefinitely by the ECHL for attempting to attack a referee.

Local endurance racing team gets final jewel of triple crown: Las Vegas-based Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing scored a convincing victory in the GT2 class at the 53rd annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and earned the third jewel in endurance racing's coveted Triple Crown.

Columnist Ralph Siraco: Weekend races feature 12 of sport's top 3-year-olds: Ralph Siraco; It's not just March Madness for college basketball -- Kentucky Derby hopefuls are going through their bracket eliminations, as well.

Wranglers look to future, trade goalie for all-star: Nick Christensen; As the Las Vegas Wranglers began the last of this year's three seemingly endless roadtrips, team management began what figures to be a busy week dismantling this year's team to prepare for the next.