Print edition for November 23, 2005

Station Casinos sees a future near north end of the valley: By Liz Benston; Station Casinos -- already the largest owner of casino-zoned land in the Las Vegas Valley -- recently paid $47 million for vacant land in North Las Vegas with the intention of someday developing a hotel there.

Christmas comes to NLV neighborhood: In 1995 as local developer Brett Torino was putting the final touches on his sprawling outdoor holiday display in western Las Vegas, his father, Francis, told him he was eager to see it illuminated for the first time on Thanksgiving night.

Editorial: Treat bird flu as urgent: While there currently is no pandemic flu in the world, it is quite possible for the virus now ravaging poultry flocks in Asia to mutate. Already able to jump with deadly effect from birds to people in contact with them, the virus could change into a form enabling it to jump from person to person. How soon this could happen is unknown. But it is known that if it does happen, pandemic flu could spread throughout the world within months, as it can be passed quickly by people who are traveling as well as by migrating birds.

Pharmacy fiasco led to reform: Federal indictments announced Tuesday could send a Las Vegas developer and his son to prison for decades, but the issue that brought the charges has already had an impact that goes far beyond the individuals.

Leaders of tomorrow: By Ed Koch; Regardless of why the United States decided to fight the war in Iraq, it would be a mistake to pull American troops out too soon, local high school students said Tuesday when they gathered for the 50th anniversary of the Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum. About 1,000 of Southern Nevada’s best and brightest young minds — juniors and seniors from 47 public and private schools — discussed a number of thorny issues at the forum at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Support for Yucca softens a little more: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- A key senator who was once a strong advocate of Yucca Mountain offered some of his harshest words yet about the proposed nuclear waste repository.

Boulder City, Henderson officials on collision course over freeway projects: It's not exactly road rage, but Boulder City and Henderson could wind up honked off at each other in a budding dispute over which of two freeway projects should be built first.

Tom Gorman gives thanks for Las Vegas' many gifts: Let us bow our heads and pray in thanksgiving:

Editorial: Digging a hole for wildlife protection: Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., conducted an October hearing of the Senate Appropriations Interior subcommittee into whether the Bureau of Land Management should relax restrictions that prevent drilling in certain regions during winter and spring. These "seasonal stipulations" are to prevent stressing wild animals when winter food is scarce and to protect the sage grouse's habitat in spring.

Columnist Jon Ralston: On party donations, Hunt's bid for governor and the GOP Web site: It's the day before Thanksgiving, so here are some appetizers before the big feast ...

Robby Gordon leaves his bad luck in Baja: Here's a switch: Robby Gordon actually had a better run in his NASCAR Nextel Cup Series car this past weekend than he did in Friday's Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race in Mexico.

Letter: Don't let irrationality guide conclusions: Straw men are easy to burn down. Mr. Chambers asserts that evolution is a fact. He then goes on to state that natural selection, which is a theory, helps explain the "fact" of evolution. Theory and fact are not the same thing. It is quite impossible for theories to unequivocally establish facts, though it is quite possible that facts can help build theories.

Columnist Jeff Haney: Looking into the dark side of televised poker tournaments -- grandstanders showing off for the cameras, bugging oldtimers: By Jeff Haney; The influx of new players into poker -- many of them young and influenced by TV coverage -- is breeding two varieties of bad behavior at the tables, professional gambler Alan Boston says.

Letter: U.S. should get out of the U.N.: I think that the real concern for the American people should be that President George W. Bush already has gone even further in pushing for a world army and police force than did the U.N. in this document. The Bush administration publicly proposed the creation of an immense U.N. military force in April 2004. The Bush proposal, named the Global Peace Operations Initiative, pledged some $600 million -- mostly from the cash-strapped U.S. Defense budget -- to train and equip roughly 75,000 foreign military personnel in peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations over five years.

Editorial: Education is now a hot topic: As chancellor, Rogers heads the system's two universities, four community colleges, Nevada State College and Desert Research Institute. For years now, in accordance with a national trend, state funding has not been increasing enough to alone allow for any sudden leaps forward. How, then, does the system improve itself rapidly, rather than over a long period of time?

Fallen U.S. Troops: Army Spc. Michael J. Idanan, 21, of Chula Vista, Calif., died in Bayji, Iraq, on Saturday when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV dur-ing combat operations. Idanan was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.

Letter: Freedom and religion don't mix: English history is replete with examples of religious persecution. Practically every time they changed monarchs they changed religions, and many people died as a result.