Print edition for November 12, 2005

Flashpoint for Nov. 12, 2005: Like their counterparts across the country, flush with the news of plummeting presidential polls and GOP grumblings, Nevada Democrats are excited. This week, the party sent out an email crowing about the recent balloting where Democrats "kicked some elephant in elections nationwide." Cute. The election, the missive pointed out, "is less than a year away!" Indeed. And that exclamation, while reason for the Democratic ebullience, also is cause for pause. The Republicans also have a year to get well - or at least better. And the Democrats here have to overcome being underdogs in every statewide race because of the ...

Editorial: Frustrating lack of accountability: The comment outraged American Indian activists including Blackfeet tribe member Elouise Cobell, whose ongoing 1996 lawsuit against the federal government has laid bare mismanagement of more than $100 billion in payments owed to American Indians since 1887. In that year, Congress assigned American Indians portions of land and ordered the Interior Department to manage leases for the land's natural resources, which now include mining, timber harvesting, grazing and oil and gas development. The agency was also to pay the Indians any royalties associated with the activity.

Letter: Plans for rural water just another quick fix: I am a degreed geolgist, and a land surveyor by trade. I have watched Las Vegas grow from less than 250,000 people in the 1970s to nearly 2 million today. The Las Vegas Valley Water District ran out of water in the 1970s. They gambled, borrowing from the future, and began pulling water out of Lake Mead.

Editorial: Smoking a costly habit: The national trend against smoking is not limited to state laws. Businesses and government agencies have for years been coming up with policies on their own to clear the air. The latest national example is a surcharge being assessed on employees who are smokers. The surcharge, generally ranging from $10 to $50 a month, is added to the premiums that smokers pay through work for health insurance.

Letter: Bible used correctly can be a good guide: Thankfully, humanity is a work in progress. We now have seminarians studying every book written about Jesus. Turns out, he was quite the radical. His mission was to "free" humanity from the petty rituals of oppressive and regressive beliefs. The true Jesus resented religion that was behavior-controlling, power-seeking and intimidating. Instead, he embraced human empowerment and a continued search for truth. Time and again, his parables taught that actions that diminished the being of another were nothing less than the expressions of sin.

Letter: Longtime residents being shortchanged: Thousands are being forced out by sale or conversion, taken over by eminent domain. Progress is understandable, but many of the residents -- who have lived in the same place for decades -- are given short shrift, without sufficient remuneration.

Aviation Nation may just be the beginning: By Richard N. Velotta; Military aircraft will be in the spotlight at this weekend's Aviation Nation air show at Nellis Air Force Base.

Editorial: Gasoline prices a mystery: Elected officials find themselves in a predicament whenever gasoline prices suddenly escalate and voters turn to them for answers. The problem is that whether they are members of Congress or members of local governing boards, most do not know anything more about gasoline pricing than do their constituents.

State's representatives split on spending cuts: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- Nevada's two House Republicans are mum on the controversial spending cuts bill likely to surface again next week.

Foul stench returns, but not from storm drains: Dan Kulin; There's a bad smell visiting downtown Las Vegas again, and this one isn't wafting from City Hall.

Inmate won't get all of $50,000 award: His lawyer, Carter White, said Thursday that Epstein must pay $12,000 in court costs and he has made a generous donation to the civil rights clinic at the University of California-Davis that handled his case free of charge.

Senator says state collecting too much in taxes: CARSON CITY -- State Sen. Randolph Townsend, one of the major architects of 2003's $833.5 million tax increase, now believes that the state is collecting too much money -- and that business taxes should be reduced in 2007.

Pediatric centers will open in December: Pediatric centers will open in December

Duly Noted: UNLV, NASCAR, and feedback: It's usually a big development when a head coach from one of the school's revenue-producing sports takes time out from his busy schedule to come out and support one of the non-revenue ones.

The high cost of sprawl: Launce Rake; A book being released Monday calls Las Vegas the 15th most sprawling metropolitan area in the country and says residents will pay billions to live in a community in which homes are increasingly farther from jobs and retail businesses.

Some T and M relief: By some estimates, the cancellation of tonight's heavyweight championship fight between Vitali Klitschko and Hasim Rahman at the Thomas & Mack Center will deprive Las Vegas of about $10 million in nongaming revenue.

Granting of cable franchise irks Cox: Cox Communications, the cable provider that serves the Las Vegas Valley, is getting competition in Henderson -- and crying foul.

Golf: The UNLV women's golf team completed its fall schedule without winning a tournament but head coach Missy Ringler said the tune up for the all-important spring season was anything but a failure.

Tardy filling causes EOB to be cut out of contract: By Timothy Pratt; The money was part of a first-ever $4 million appropriation from the state Legislature to help get the chronically homeless off the streets.