Print edition for October 31, 2005

Amazing Johnathan hosts a Halloween treat: The Amazing Johnathan really knows how to throw a party.

Flashpoint for Oct. 31, 2005: This Friday, a guy most Nevadans have never heard of is coming to town. Unlike like most visitors, Richard Pombo is a guaranteed winner. Why? Pombo is the chairman of the House Resources Committee and is coming to raise money for his PAC. He also has been touted as a pal of Rep. Jim Gibbons, who serves on that committee. Gibbons has said Pombo is on the state9s side in the battle to keep money from federal land sales in Nevada in Nevada. The Bush administration wants to snare some of those millions to help balance the budget. There's a ...

Columnist Jeff Haney: Card counters and the surreality of the professional blackjack players' ball: By Jeff Haney; Casino bosses liken blackjack card counters to bloodsuckers, or evil creatures dying to plunder and pillage their table games.

Editorial: Screening efficacy analyzed: Results of the study, funded by the National Cancer Institute and published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, also shows that none of the popular methods for detection and treatment contributed to the decline as significantly as has been reported.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: The new Little League: Can soccer replace baseball's traditions?: Based on everything I've been hearing, children's soccer is the new Little League, only without the bubble gum cards.

Washington Notebook: Sen. Reid aghast at nationwide fuel prices: Benjamin Grove and Suzanne Struglinski; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid last week opened his remarks at a press conference by noting a conversation about gasoline prices that he had with fellow Searchlight residents Judy and Dick Hill.

Leaders of car industry descend on Las Vegas as three shows converge: Automotive aftermarket industry leaders will celebrate America's love affair with its cars this week at an event that has accelerated into the Las Vegas convention fast lane.

Editorial: Sheryl Swoopes' coming-out party: Voted the WNBA's Most Valuable Player last month, Swoopes told the magazine that she is "tired of having to pretend to be somebody I'm not."

Who wants the 51s?: Nearly eight months after retaining a New York-based company to broker a possible sale, the Las Vegas 51s are no closer to an ownership change, according to team President Don Logan.

Letter: In honor of the dishonorable: The first should go to "great work, Brownie." Talk about a no-brainer! Nothing speaks to how much Bush is on top of things than the praise he gave to hapless Michael Brown, who was quickly sacked as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency but remains on the FEMA payroll, which proves he is not another crony.

Conservationists hope plan to protect blue butterfly takes flight: A California environmental group is asking federal agencies to move immediately to stop habitat destruction affecting a tiny blue butterfly in the Spring Mountains.

Columnist John Katsilometes: What might have been behind Jim Rogers' 'Lincoln' comment: In introducing former President Bill Clinton at the Nevada Development Authority dinner at Bellagio, Chancellor Jim Rogers drew one of the event's biggest laughs.

Editorial: Showing initiative on housing: Many owners of mobile home parks in Clark County have either sold their properties to developers, or are considering a sale. This is because land values in Southern Nevada have increased dramatically over the past several years. Some owners have been able to make more money by selling their land than by continuing to earn rent from mobile-home owning tenants. Generally, the buyers are developers interested in building pricey, single-family homes or high-rise condos.

Letter: Tears for the fallen: The body bag industry grins from ear to ear ... while the rest of us cry.

A crucial role for businesses: Alana Roberts; Employers should take an active role in assisting workers who are victims of domestic violence, experts say.

Medicare & Who?: Michelle Swafford; Las Vegas residents Bob Fabbri, Charles Coutteau and Lorna Taylor are confused about the new Medicare drug benefit that will begin in January.

Psychiatric department expanding in Las Vegas: Train them and they will stay.

Letter: Quick fixes aren't always the best fit: Not only will a pipeline to bring water from rural counties cost an estimated $2 billion to $6 billion, have we considered what effects this will have on rural counties as well as neighboring states, Utah in particular? We take their water, dry up agriculture, and destroy habitat for wildlife where the pipeline is built.

Health officials set for rat race: After more than two years of not rooting out roof rat colonies in the valley, the Clark County Health District has scheduled its second major roof rat surveillance program planned for January.

BLM asked to scale back land auction: The Sierra Club has called on the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw 2,300 acres in North Las Vegas from a Nov. 16 land auction, saying the agency is endangering rare plants by allowing development to go forward.