Print edition for November 9, 2005

Jackson to push voter registration, efforts to help poor: The Rev. Jesse Jackson views Nevada as a swing state and hopes to influence electoral politics here with his Rainbow/Push Coalition.

Slot on national soccer team on hold: Then the Galaxy advanced to Sunday's MLS Cup against New England in Frisco, Texas, by beating Colorado in Denver last Saturday night.

Flashpoint for Nov. 9, 2005: He's so excited. And he just can't hide it. Rep. Jim Gibbons, the frontrunner for governor, sent out an e-mail to supporters Tuesday declaring, "ELECTION YEAR HAS BEGUN!" Yes, exactly one year from Tuesday, Nevadans will elect a new governor. And Gibbons wants more money (he has more than $2 million), more volunteers (he has more than 500 folks on the Gibbons Ground Crew), and more endorsements (others are "not far off," the missive gushes). Well, congressman, what about what I want? I want more debates -- Gibbons and his almost anagrammatic counterpart, Jim Gibson -- don't want as many. ...

Letter: Tougher licensing for construction needed: As a retired contractor, I know that construction defects will continue forever as long as construction companies hire unlicensed workers.

Letter: Put offenders to work -- with their thumbs: Now, I'm not a violent man, however, often in anger, I've railed against the taggers by telling friends that there should be a bounty on them, that the offending digits on the tagging finger should be removed.

Columnist Tom Gorman: On getting some value out of life during retirement years and not just sitting around getting bored with it: I met another neighbor the other day, a fellow named Chick. He came over to introduce himself while we were having a garage sale. He was quick with a smile and handshake.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: Ichabods preferred to Marathon Men: Is it too late to bring back Marathon Oil?

Columnist John Ralston: Orwellian business as usual at City Hall: John Ralston; All deals with Las Vegas are equal. But some are more equal than others.

Reid puts GOP senators on defensive: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- A week ago Republicans derided Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada for pulling what they said was nothing more than a cheap "stunt" designed to politicize the issue of pre-war intelligence.

County toughens regulations on pet population: J. Craig Anderson; Clark County officials have resolved to crack down on irresponsible pet owners who let their fertile animals roam and breed.

Banking on Las Vegas: Kevin Rademacher; In 1993 Boyd Gaming Corp. Chief Executive Bill Boyd and President Don Snyder met at the Las Vegas Country Club.

Inmate will leave prison with $50,000 of state's money: CARSON CITY -- A 50-year-old state prison inmate will have walking-around money when he completes his 20-year term on Christmas Eve.

Former councilman's past haunts him: Dan Kulin; So are the feds taking aim at former Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald or not?

Editorial: Patriot Act's probing problem: The Patriot Act, a hastily crafted law rammed through Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, broadened authority of the FBI to use "national security letters." The letters were created in the 1970s to allow federal agents to obtain information on suspected foreign spies. The scope of these letters was, by design, narrow.

Woman, 86, fights county on land deal: CARSON CITY -- An 86-year old Las Vegas woman is asking the Nevada Supreme Court to grant her a new trial, but if her appeal is rejected, she will have to repay Clark County $1.9 million.

Editorial: Honor with actions: The president said the United States is at war with an enemy "that lurks and plots and plans and wants to hurt America again." Agreed. Terrorist organizations have long represented a serious threat to American civilians and troops abroad, and, since 9/11, they have represented a serious threat to us here at home. In our view, the war on terrorism would have been justified if it had been declared three decades ago, and it is certainly justified today.

Editorial: Yucca is falling from grace: Today it is doubt, not certainty, that characterizes the prospect of Yucca Mountain ever getting built as a permanent, underground burial facility for high-level nuclear waste. Owing to the fight that Nevada has waged over the past two decades, a fight that has exposed the multiple health and safety flaws of the project, Yucca Mountain opponents are the ones who have reason for confidence these days.

Down and out: By Timothy Pratt; In the eight years Arthur Crowder has been off the streets of Las Vegas, one apartment burned down on him, another was bought out from under him, and, as of last week, yet another was declared unfit to live in.

Letter: Goodman should be ashamed: Mayor Goodman ought to be ashamed of his hypocritical, self- righteous remarks. He has brought negative national media attention to a problem in Las Vegas that few tourists see. Not only that, he's advocating the permanent mutilation of our youth for a juvenile offense he most likely participated in.

Letter: Our trade policy on Cuba makes little sense: Presumably this policy follows a knee-jerk response to a toothless communist regime which, by U.S. standards, makes life intolerable for the Cuban people. Yet few in our government seem to care that maintaining a 44-year-long embargo on the island, imposing tighter visitation restrictions and excluding it from an economic union will result in even greater hardship for Cubans, all in the name of punishing Fidel Castro and appeasing a Miami Cuban voter base.