Print edition for September 13, 2005

Slayings defendant claims tape tampering: A 25-year-old man who will defend himself at his retrial in the execution-style slaying of four young men in August 1998 said prosecutors are "up to their dirty tricks again."

Officials probing cause of sewer spill: Large rocks and other debris blocked a sewer line in Henderson over the weekend at a time when the city's dealing with illegal dumping in its waste treatment system.

Hurricane victim stays to take kindergarten teaching job: J. Craig Anderson; Barbara Mason had expected a few days' rest in Las Vegas before heading back to New Orleans to grapple with the tragedy of losing her home and job to Hurricane Katrina.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: Sanford pays due disrespect to UNR: I spent part of Monday afternoon in the office of the football coach from the school in the south.

Clark County Health District urges preparedness: The Health District's campaign, "Can It," encourages all local residents to assemble a kit of essential items that will help them survive initial days following a disaster.

Sun seeks records of 2-year-old who died of malnutrition: The Las Vegas Sun filed suit Monday against the Clark County Department of Family Services and Child Protective Services in order to gain access to social services records of a 2-year-old girl who the coroner determined died of malnutrition and neglect.

Pooh & Co. to visit the Orleans Arena: Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore will take audiences on a musical journey Wednesday through Sunday when the premiere of "Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh" hits the stage at the Orleans Arena.

Editorial: On a dangerous path: Utah state officials plan to appeal the decision in the courts, so it could be years away from becoming a reality -- if ever. Nonetheless, Nevadans should be concerned by the decision to go forward with the repository in Utah, especially since the agency that granted the license -- the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- is the same one that will decide Yucca Mountain's fate. But this isn't an issue affecting only residents of Utah and Nevada. Indeed, all Americans, particularly the tens of millions who live along the routes that the waste will be shipped, will be placed in danger ...

Community briefs for Sept. 13, 2005: The second annual Harvest Festival will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Lied Discovery Museum, 833 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Ensign bill aimed at reducing slaughter of horses may be close to Senate vote: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- Legislation aimed at curbing horse slaughter introduced by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., could be considered as early as this week.

Letter: Response was too little, too late: In the current crisis, the ineptness of this administration began with the appointment of a political crony to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Company to increase hybrid output, cut vehicle's cost: "That's the level we may be able to barely reach, stretching our capacity," President Katsuaki Watanabe told analysts and investors at a conference in New York Monday. "Through those means of stretching our activities, we may be able to reach 400,000."

Letter: Facts support evolution of man: In his tired arguments against evolution he again cites the fossil record by stating that there are only about 5,000 protohuman fossils. I find that number remarkable since fossilization is a rare event in nature, especially in the warm moist parts of the world in which human evolution occurred. I have the greatest admiration for the paleontologists and biologists who were able to uncover so many. On the other hand, if humans had arisen by some sort of divine creation, the number of protohuman fossils would be exactly zero.

Immunization schedule for Sept. 13, 2005: HENDERSON PUBLIC HEALTH CENTER: 129 W. Lake Mead Parkway, Building A, Suite 10, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., through Friday.

Mini-empires rise from video poker landscape: Lawrence Messina and Vicki Smith; By Lawrence Messina and Vicki Smith ASSOCIATED PRESS

Man accused in beating death wants new lawyer: A man accused of beating to death a retired Air Force major in a Wal-Mart parking lot asked for a new attorney Monday, claiming his current lawyer is "in cahoots with the district attorney's office."

Local FEMA director recalls challenges: Jen Lawson; As one of the first federal emergency officials to arrive in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina stormed through, local FEMA director Paul Bailey surveyed the destruction from a helicopter and was struck by the number of arms that were sticking out of holes in roofs.

Correction: The Sun corrects its errors. If you find a mistake, call 385-3111 to report it.

NRC advisory panel to meet in LV: The committee has scheduled meetings from 9:45 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. on Sept. 21 and from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 22.

519348756.html: I hear that new bus-stop shelters may soon be built. That is good news, but there is a problem with many existing shelters: they're not.

Sports briefs for Sept. 13, 2005: No criminal charges will be brought against the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a college student at a raucous celebration by Red Sox fans last fall, prosecutors said Monday.

U.S. considers WTO action on China for counterfeit products: U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said in an interview Monday with USA TODAY that government lawyers were collecting data needed to support a WTO filing.

Letter: Bus shelters don't adequately protect people: What is it that people waiting at bus stops are supposedly being sheltered from? Inclement sun, rain and wind. A superficial look might suggest that such sheltering is being provided. But anyone who closely examines, and certainly everyone who uses, these so-called shelters soon will find serious design flaws that defeat their purported purpose. Some of them have translucent tops so that the noon-time sun is not blocked. These should be replaced with opaque tops.

Coach stokes flame in rivalry: Steve Guiremand; Mike Sanford admits he blew it.

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

Airlines continues push for labor concessions: The move came as Northwest Airlines, which is seeking more cuts from employees to try to fend off its own bankruptcy filing, considered giving permanent jobs to some substitute mechanics starting on Tuesday.

Lottery equipment maker attracts acquisition offer: Gtech spokesman Robert Vincent said the company's board of directors is taking the nonbinding offer seriously, but he would not say who had made the offer. The West Greenwich-based company said its board hired Citigroup Global Markets as an adviser to help review the offer.

Columnist Susan Snyder: Even here, tragedy is inescapable: "You know, it's terrible to say, but I'm a little sick of hearing about Katrina," one of them said.

Letter: Creationism is symbolic story: The word theory does not mean that evolution is just a guess. In science, it means a set of ideas based on observations about nature that explains many facts. It does not mean we believe we are apes, as one letter writer suggested.

Names in the game for Sept. 13, 2005: An Australian professional football player plans to have one of his fingers amputated in an attempt to improve his game.

Editorial: Plans need fair review: Goodman's action stimulated Nevada's hospital administrators and doctors to wonder aloud about the potential for improving health care here without shopping for out-of-state expertise. In June they promised to offer a plan to use local facilities and homegrown medical talent and late last week they released it. The plan calls for greatly improving the University of Nevada Medical School by expanding its programs, tripling the number of positions in area hospitals for medical students and doctors who are in training and slowly developing the brick-and mortar infrastructure that may, over time, become an academic medical center.

Easley eyes his future after lottery victory: Gary D. Robertson; RALEIGH, N.C. -- Since taking office in 2001, Gov. Mike Easley has pulled government out of a $1.6 billion shortfall while at the same time persuading lawmakers to pay for class-size reductions and his More at Four preschool program.

Obituaries for Sept. 13, 2005: John W. Powers, 74, of Henderson died Friday in Henderson. He was born March 14, 1931, in Chicago. A resident for four years, he was a retired real estate agent and a Korean War Navy veteran.

Jury selection delays Schiff trial: David Kihara; Jury selection in the tax fraud case of anti-tax advocate Irwin Schiff was stalled Monday after potential jurors who were waiting outside the courtroom said a man tried to talk to them about the case.

Letter: Era of gasoline guzzling is over: It will also mean the re-emergence of public transportation as a primary means of travel for most people as reserves of fossil fuels continue to dwindle in spite of conservation and attempts at providing alternative sources in sufficient volume.

Michigan coach confident QB will learn from mistakes: Chad Henne took his medicine Saturday.

Experts: Nevada must encourage cultural interaction to succeed in global economy: Two state leaders say Nevada's success in the global economy may depend on the state's willingness to invest in programs that encourage Nevadans to interact with people of other countries.

Greektown drops plan to build new Detroit casino: The company opened what at the time was called a temporary casino in Detroit's Greektown entertainment district in 2000.

Walker, Jenkins lost to knee injuries: The Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers already have serious injury problems after one week of the season.

Mayor: Hornets not coming here: Dan Kulin; Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Monday the NBA's New Orleans Hornets will not play any home games here, citing the NBA's aversion to gambling on its games as the reason.

Letter: Steep increase in troops per gallon: It's about the oil, stupid! Had Bush told the truth in the beginning, many Americans would have gone along with the war without all the stuff about WMD and terrorists. We get so upset when our gas prices go up. The demand was going up and Iraq had oil. Saddam was of no use to us anymore, so we had to take him out to get the supply. American companies would privatize Iraq's treasures, of course, but that's only right because we'd be giving them democracy.

Clerk's error blamed in permit being issued to man convicted of DUI: CARSON CITY -- Officials on Monday blamed a District Court clerk for the mistake that allowed a man convicted of a fatal DUI to get a permit to drive before he would normally be allowed to under state law.

Columnist Jeff German: 'Project from hell' is opening: More than 3 1/2 years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget, the 17-story Regional Justice Center downtown, the "project from hell," is ready to be occupied.

School testing incidents up from last year: By Emily Richmond; Incidents of testing irregularities at Nevada's public schools increased 20 percent in 2004-05 over the prior academic year, a new report shows.

FEMA shifts focus on Katrina: WASHINGTON -- Michael D. Brown, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who had become a symbol of the government's faltering performance in the Hurricane Katrina disaster, resigned Monday.

Fed task force arrests two on drug charges: David Kihara; A federal task force arrested two men last month for allegedly trying to distribute five kilograms of cocaine and 8,000 tabs of the club drug Ecstasy with an estimated street value of more than $500,000.

Nevada Power gets OK on plant deal: Kevin Rademacher; The staff of the state Public Utilities Commission, Nevada Power Co. of Las Vegas and the state Bureau of Consumer Protection have reached a stipulated agreement on the electric utility's proposed $210 million purchase of a Southern Nevada power plant.

LV video game firm signs deal with Sega: Jennifer Shubinski; Local video game company Petroglyph has signed a deal with Sega Partners to create a series of military and sci-fi themed computer games.

News briefs for Sept. 13, 2005: A young woman was killed early this morning near Dumont Boulevard and Maryland Parkway when she got out of a moving pick-up and went under the wheels of the truck, Metro Police said.

Experts: Table games need attention to attract affluent younger crowd: By Liz Benston; While televised poker continues to bring hordes of young, novice gamblers into casinos, properties are doing little to teach them how to play other table games or cultivate repeat business, one expert told a group of casino managers at a conference today.

Finalists chosen for names for 5 schools: In the last year there has been a groundswell of support for naming a school after Perkins, who despite clashes with some educators and community members, is credited with strengthening the district's academic requirements and increasing the number of minority and female administrators. He is currently associate vice president of academic affairs at Albany State University in Georgia.

Lincoln County OKs developer's water plan: The Lincoln County Commission last week approved an agreement that appears to allow a powerful Nevada developer to use a Las Vegas water agency's planned pipelines to move water about 130 miles to his new development.

Yucca waste talks likely facing delay: Suzanne Struglinski; WASHINGTON -- A crowded congressional calendar may slow down talks on a government plan to move nuclear waste somewhere before Yucca Mountain would open, but House Appropriation Committee aides are happy that the discussion is expected to eventually take place.

Death shocks sorority sisters: The death of a UNLV sorority member on Saturday has left her Delta Zeta sisters and fellow students mourning the loss of their friend and pondering their own mortality.

Griffin book producer files for Chapter 11, citing suit: By Liz Benston; The company that produces the Griffin book claims it's broke.

Sexual harassment by Nevada tourism panel leader alleged: The head of Nevada's overseas tourism initiatives has been named in a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former employee.

Furniture market boosts July tourism: Convention attendance rose 36.9 percent to 353,264 people, driven by the debut of the World Market Center furniture mart in downtown Las Vegas. Convention-goers spent $433.6 million on non-gambling activities, up 40.8 percent from a year earlier.

Board members appointed to America West-US Airways: America West Holdings Corp. shareholders voted in favor of the merger this morning, with 96 percent of the shares supporting the deal, the company said in a statement today.

Guinn says no special session to consider killing gasoline tax: CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn said Monday he would not convene a special session of the Legislature to consider suspending the state's tax on gasoline to give some relief to Nevada motorists.