Print edition for November 13, 2005

A city's growing pains: By Brian Wargo; The third-fastest-growing city in the country, North Las Vegas also is, in many respects, two separate communities.

Success of Youth forum is celebrated: As Brian Greenspun was preparing for fall classes at Georgetown University in 1969, his father, then-Las Vegas Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun, phoned him and asked him to hop on a plane to Georgia to receive something special.

Letter: Intelligent design not smart for school: Intelligent design (also known as creationism), with its many contradictions, should be taught in a religion or philosophy class. The majestic proof of evolution is derived through a convergence of empirical evidence from such diverse fields as geology, chemistry, paleontology, bio-geographic, comparative anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, genetics, astronomy, mathematics and many more.

519654682.html: Ed Koch Las Vegas Sun; The Sun Youth Forum had been selected as the American Legion Auxiliary's Golden Press Award winner as the nation's best local newspaper program for youths, an award Brian accepted at the group's national convention in Atlanta.

Columnist Hal Rothman: Why it's important to stay off TASC: Hal Rothman; Colorado's recent suspension of its Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (TABOR) is the first sign of common sense in a public vote in a long time. Like Proposition 13 in California, passed in 1978, TABOR is a slick manipulation of a gullible, fearful, self-interested and uninformed public. Simultaneously, it is an unmitigated public policy disaster.

UNLV's oldest building to be partially razed: By Cy Ryan; CARSON CITY -- Maude Frazier Hall at UNLV, the first structure on campus, is going to be partially demolished, rather than renovated.

Oversized vans still used by prisons: David Kihara; The Nevada Department of Corrections continues to use 15-passenger vans to transport inmates despite concerns that the vehicles are prone to rolling over.

Business is booming in NLV: Kevin Rademacher; In the 1980s James York saw builders set their sights on both North Las Vegas and Henderson, two cities with strong industrial roots.

Homes now hot commodity: Jennifer Shubinski; Twelve years ago most of Realtor Jennifer Pitterle's clients would tell her they didn't want to live in North Las Vegas.

Columnist Jeff German: On the delicate balance that must be struck between the American people's right to privacy and the government's need to take extraordinary measures in order to protect us: There's no easy formula for deciding how far the government should go when gathering information on Americans to root out terrorists.

Editorial: Managing a mountain of a job: Members of the groups told the Las Vegas Sun last week that traffic-choked roads up Kyle and Lee canyons, hikers trespassing on private property, damage from off-road-vehicle use in unauthorized areas and a lack of information about the Forest Service's plans are just a few of the problems facing the popular peaks northwest of Las Vegas.

Editorial: Stop monkeying around: In deciding that the intelligent design concept is not all that smart, the electorate voted in a slate of Democrats and ousted eight Republicans who in October 2004 required that all Dover public school biology classes include an up-front disclaimer saying Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is "not a fact." Teachers also were to tell students that intelligent design provided an alternative theory and point them to a book in the library on the topic.

Columnist John Katsilometes: How Miss (Senior) New York topped the competition at the Miss Senior America contest: Helen Halpin McCarney and Ross Perot were both born on June 27, 1930. The similarities appear to end there, as Halpin McCarney was sporting a sash and tiara Saturday night and Perot (to our knowledge) was not.

Columnist Jon Ralston:What happens when we take too much initiative: CARSON CITY, February 2015 -- Gov. Barbara Buckley's State of the State speech this week lasted only eight minutes -- two minutes under a time limit passed by voters who enacted the Shut the Governor Up Initiative in last year's elections.

Off-road vehicles face a minor new regulation starting Jan. 1: Cy Ryan Sun; CARSON CITY -- Nevada has hundreds of thousands of off-road vehicles and motorcycles, and virtually no regulation.

Columnist Jeff Simpson: Why Lanni's legacy may be diversity: By Jeff Simpson; One of MGM Mirage Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Lannis lasting legacies will be his industry-leading efforts to diversify the company's management ranks, contractors and vendors.

Editorial: NFL star's antics do him in: Owens subsequently apologized to the Eagles for his conduct, but the Eagles were right in not buying it. Still, let's put this in perspective. Owens hasn't been charged with a crime. There are plenty of NFL players today whose run-ins with the law haven't stopped their owners from letting them suit up for games. And let's also not forget that it was the Eagles that sought Owens' services in the first place. The Eagles knew what they were getting: Owens has had a history of showboating and failing to get along with other teammates.

Letter: Let's crack down on unpaid traffic fines: Furthermore, far too many people live and work in Nevada and refuse to register their vehicles here because of cost -- and we let them get away with it. Arizona once cracked down and warned those who didn't register that they would be fined $500 and their vehicles impounded. In a matter of days, hundreds of vehicles suddenly got registered.

NLV economic boom isn't universal: Timoth Pratt; On a recent balmy afternoon, James E. Johnson was spreading fertilizer in his front yard as he has every autumn for years.

Letter: Outstanding fines a failure of justice: What a fine fix we're in -- taxpayers that is. The amount of dollars reported by Matt Pordum's story on unpaid traffic fines is disgraceful. The justice courts should all be ashamed, and their administrators fired for lack of economic sense.

Columnist Tom Gorman: A living time machine: By Tom Gorman; I visited the Clark County Museum the other day to brush up on local history, and for an added dimension I asked Vielet Tracht to join me. We paused at a display about the old mining town of Searchlight, birthplace of Sen. Harry Reid. "When my mother died," Violet said, "Harry Reid's grandmother cared for us for a couple of days."

Forum's birth year listed as 1955 for good reason: "The Sun Youth Forum put me in front of my peers and taught me that I had something to say and that others would listen. I attribute much of my professional success to that seed that was planted 25 years ago."

Letter: Our public schools are doing great work: With very few exceptions, the teachers, administrators and counselors in the school district have been intelligent, dedicated, well-prepared, effective, accessible and responsive to my children's educational needs. There are many variables besides teacher ability that affect learning outcomes.