Print edition for September 8, 2005

People in need can find HELP: During Thanksgiving last year, 3,109 families received food, and the holiday gifts program provided gifts and toys to 10,475 children. Rental Assistance was provided to 437 clients and 687 received utility assistance.

Columnist Susan Snyder: Charity more powerful than blame: Politicians who failed to act and people who think they live in safer places blame New Orleans' poor for not getting out, and for living below sea level in the first place.

Community briefs for Sept. 8, 2005: UNLV's Division of Educational Outreach will present its inaugural Senior Lifelong Learning Fair from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at UNLV's Paradise campus, 851 E. Tropicana Ave.

Pentagon hosts 9/11 tours: Dick Benoit; The Pentagon Memorial site and the America's Heroes Memorial located inside the building will be opened to the public for the first time since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT.

Good Woman: Laura Goodman's work a reflection of her colorful personality: Fried chicken? She wouldn't have it. Goodman, who died last year at 93, ate salads, fresh chicken breasts, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. She demanded variety and insisted that others looked at their own eating habits.

Regal Hotels pulls out of venture with Sands: Regal, which operates five hotels in Hong Kong and two in mainland China, said in a statement Wednesday that the two companies had failed to agree on the final details of the deal they signed in March. The plan was to build hotels, entertainment facilities and a casino.

Life Sciences listing postponed amid protests: Life Sciences Research Inc., the parent of Huntingdon Life Sciences Plc, was scheduled to begin trading at the Big Board Wednesday. The company's chief financial officer went to the exchange to observe the new listing before the NYSE told him it was cancelled.

City to pursue pro tennis event: Dan Kulin; Las Vegas' newest tennis complex could host a large professional men's tennis tournament in February 2006, which would be televised on the Tennis Channel cable network.

Pinnacle breaks ground on casino in St. Louis: Jim Salter; ST. LOUIS -- The mood at Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. is hardly festive given damage to its Gulf Coast casinos. Still, Pinnacle broke ground Wednesday for a new $400 million gambling complex in downtown St. Louis.

Charitable gambling declines: Revenue has steadily dropped since the high in 1994 for the industry that includes keno, bingo, pickle cards and local lotteries and raffles.

Valley anticipates spread of health crisis: J. Craig Anderson; The Las Vegas Valley will inherit a growing share of the widespread public health crisis caused by Hurricane Katrina as hundreds of hurricane survivors and rescue workers from the Gulf Coast begin pouring into the area.

Doctor in OxyContin case suspended: David Kihara; The state on Wednesday suspended the license of a Las Vegas doctor accused of prescribing potentially lethal doses of the painkiller OxyContin to men who did not need the drug for medical purposes.

Letter: Lack of planning is appalling: Our government officials' failure to adequately plan for a disaster in the areas they knew were going to be severely affected by the hurricane is inexcusable, at best.

Plan to fly victims to Vegas put on hold: By Timothy Pratt; The federal government called off flights Tuesday that would have brought at least 500 hurricane victims to the Las Vegas Valley -- even as the slow-moving, complex system needed to bring relief dollars to Nevada ground on.

High court rejects appeal in cab injury: CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the appeal of a man who was convicted of critically wounding a Las Vegas taxicab driver during a robbery in May 2003.

Sundevils' season off to rocky start: Nick Christensen; Eldorado's 0-2 record to start 2005 is well deserving of an asterisk -- or three.

Location of French Lick casino remains worry as work begins: Ryan Lenz; By Ryan Lenz ASSOCIATED PRESS

Letter: Oil industry is taking advantage: In Katrina's aftermath, all oil companies raised the price on gasoline, home heating oil and other petroleum products to record levels. The event has been reported, but not with the shame and disgust that was present in the Starbucks water incident. Instead, most news reports (and sadly most Americans) look at this national price gouging as just par for the course for the oil companies. Millions of lower- and middle-income people will feel the devastating effects of these rapid price increases, but the reasons for the rise seem to be begrudgingly accepted instead of questioned.

Letter: No match for force of nature: Certainly more federal and state money could have gone into strengthening the levees to withstand a Category 5 storm. Certainly the Barrier Islands could have been fortified. Certainly structures in the path of this storm could have met a different building code. Certainly an evacuation plan could have been in place.

Letter: Lagging response, selfish policies a national disgrace: How is it possible, four years after 9/11, that this administration was so ill prepared to handle a national emergency? Where was the Army and National Guard? The administration has left the homeland lacking in human resources for emergencies in favor of his $200 billion-plus war in Iraq.

Editorial: FEMA head should resign: Because Katrina's fatal force was demonstrated Aug. 25 as it swept across Florida and gained awesome strength over the Gulf of Mexico, because it was known as early as Aug. 26 that vulnerable New Orleans could be hit hard, and because the storm's power and direction were definitely known Aug. 27, we condemn the complete lack of preparation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency before the storm, packing 145 mph winds, struck the city of nearly 500,000 people early on Aug. 29. It is utterly dumbfounding that FEMA then went days without responding to the thousands of suffering residents along ...

Company recalls 978,000 SUVs, pickup trucks in U.S.: The recall covers 1989 through 1996 model 4Runner SUVs, as well as compact and T-100 pickups, the Japanese automaker's U.S. unit said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. The voluntary recall affects as many as 375,000 4Runners, 535,000 small pickups and 68,000 T-100s, spokesman Sam Butto said.

Median price of houses in valley rises to $309,000: The average house price in August was $364,999, according to the report.

Reid asked justice not to retire yet: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist this summer had confided in an unlikely friend -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid -- that he would remain on the bench, even as the Republican-appointee kept the rest of the nation guessing as to his intentions, Reid said Wednesday.

Board grants licenses to 7 Canadian pharmacies: RENO -- After getting repeated assurances that consumers would be safe, the state Pharmacy Board on Wednesday took a long step forward toward allowing Nevadans to purchase cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.

Editorial: Candidate's oil spill: Beers' plan isn't getting an enthusiastic response from Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, and Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas. Raggio told Sun reporter Cy Ryan that it first must be determined whether the higher gas prices, which now hover around $3 a gallon for regular unleaded, equate to a "fiscal emergency" or are just a "fiscal inconvenience." (For someone using 12 gallons a week, a moratorium's savings would translate into less than $20 over two months' time.) Buckley also is concerned about draining the state's rainy-day fund, in case the state gets hit by a major, costly ...

Grandfather of Reid intern dies in vets' home in New Orleans: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- UNLV student Ricky Gourrier's grandfather spent 30 years in the Navy and survived a World War II torpedo attack that left him clamoring in the water for his life. But he did not survive Hurricane Katrina.

Friday's horse racing entries: Post Time 10 a.m.

Sports briefs for September 8, 2005: A Los Angeles group declared its intention Wednesday to bid for the 2016 Olympics, but the future of a potential New York bid remained far from clear two months after the city's failed attempt to land the 2012 Games.

Obituaries for Sept. 8, 2005: Bund Bhagwat, 79, of Las Vegas died Tuesday in a local care center. He was born Jan. 11, 1926, in Poona, India. A resident for 14 years, he was a retired structural engineer in the aerospace industry.

Commissioners OK Gilcrease zone change: Forty acres of the Gilcrease Orchard will soon be a 100-home subdivision.

Dog track seeks to overturn gaming compacts: Attorney Stephen Morgan, representing Dairyland Greyhound Park, said a 1993 amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution voters approved outlawed casino-style gambling in the state and required the governor to terminate gaming compacts with the tribes.

Company pledges speedy rebuilding of Beau Rivage: By Liz Benston; The day after viewing their hurricane-damaged resort along the Mississippi's Gulf Coast, MGM Mirage executives said Wednesday they plan to "quickly" rebuild the Beau Rivage and will use displaced workers to help in the effort.

Goodman issues warning to City Council staffers: Dan Kulin; Some of the powerbrokers at Las Vegas City Hall appear to be having trouble getting along.

LV councilman, Nevada state senator aid hurricane victims on Gulf Coast: Dan Kulin; Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly and state Sen. Steven Horsford spent the Labor Day weekend giving what help they could to the victims of Hurricane Katrina while volunteering along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

Letter: Bush could open ranch to victims: I also wonder if the average middle-class citizen thinks as I do, that if this hurricane was headed for Florida, it wouldn't have taken this long for help to arrive.

Misdemeanor charges filed in bus stop deaths: The Las Vegas city attorney's office has filed criminal misdemeanor charges against a woman who drove through a bus stop, killing four people, despite Clark County District Attorney David Roger and Metro Police's controversial decision not to pursue criminal charges against the driver.

10,000 Katrina-related jobless claims filed last week: The Labor Department said today that the 10,000 figure was an estimate of the number of disaster-related claims based on spot checks with claims offices in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and neighboring states such as Texas who have agreed to accept benefit applications from workers who have relocated from the hurricane areas.

UNLV's Guice quickly gets over Division I growing pains: Steve Guiremand; It didn't take UNLV cornerback John Guice long to find out that having a big reputation in junior college doesn't mean much when you move on to Division I-A football.

Disney uses feng shui to build Mickey's kingdom in Hong Kong: Sylvia Hui; HONG KONG -- When Disney began designing its newest kingdom in Hong Kong, planners decided Mickey's magic wasn't enough for success. The park needed an extra boost from "feng shui."

Jury: Stewart must return cash to Rio: Ken Ritter; A federal jury decided Wednesday that rock star Rod Stewart should pay the Rio $2 million plus interest for a canceled show in December 2000.

Columnist Jeff Haney: De La Hoya: Barrera one of Mexico's greatest: The unofficial title of the greatest Mexican-born fighter in boxing history is usually awarded to Julio Cesar Chavez, who has transcended the sport and achieved the status of a national folk hero.

Lawyer wants transcripts closed in neglect-death case: A lawyer for one of the two people charged with killing a 2-year-old by starving her to death wants to keep the public from having acccess to the grand jury transcripts related to the case.

No telling when Superdome will be ready for Saints' return: In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Superdome became a symbol of relief efforts gone wrong, a scene of heartbreaking misery for thousands.

Landry's plans new downtown hotel tower at Golden Nugget: The future owners of the Golden Nugget hotel and casino are planning a new hotel tower in downtown Las Vegas.

Letter: Victims should be compensated: CAROLYN S. REEDOM

3 indicted in immigrant smuggling case: David Kihara; Three men were indicted in federal court on Wednesday for allegedly smuggling illegal immigrants from Mexico and harboring them in a house in Henderson, the U.S. attorney's office said on Thursday.

Judge allows state to intervene in casino lawsuit: U.S. Magistrate Thomas Thalken granted the request from Attorney General Jon Bruning's office on Tuesday.

Property gives new details of redesign: The remodeling process is expected to begin in October and be executed in phases so that it will remain open throughout the renovation process.

Letter: Prayer is better than bickering: When tragedy strikes this nation, where is there time for bickering and bad mouthing such as rapper Kanye West has done on national television? West boldly asserted "George W. Bush does not care about black people." West must think he knows the heart of Bush completely. Yet, we know that only God knows the hearts of men and that God will do the judging of hearts and thoughts on that final Day.

State failing to keep tabs on parolees: CARSON CITY -- Officers in the state Division of Parole and Probation are failing to adequately supervise potentially dangerous criminals, an executive audit says.

County suspends work on new golf courses: Stephen Curran; The Clark County Commission on Wednesday took the first step to retake hundreds of acres that had been leased to developer Billy Walters for a golf course.

Interest groups fork over $8.8 million on lobbying: Gambling interests alone spent more than $949,000, according to a report released Tuesday by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

Names in the game for September 8, 2005: Former Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach has been hospitalized in Washington, the Boston Globe reported.

Sale of North Las Vegas land owned by school district advances: Retail development continues to be a hot ticket in North Las Vegas.

Preps: Wednesday's results: Western 3, Eldorado 2: G: Edgar Guadardo (ELDO) 2, Ruben Geronimo (WEST), Pablo Omaya (WEST), Juan Batista (WEST).

Hughes confidant, aviation leader Jack Real dies: Aviation pioneer Jack Real enjoyed spending hours on the phone with reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes discussing their favorite subject -- flight.

Burglary suspect caught near Strip after car chase: Jen Lawson and David Kihara; A burglary suspect stole a Metro Police car and and then a van and led Metro Police on a chase Wednesday afternoon, smashing several other patrol cars and the vehicles of passersby before he was arrested in front of tourists along the Strip, police said.

Four-year deal for firefighters approved: The City Council voted 6-0 on Wednesday to approve the contract. There was no public discussion of the matter.