Print edition for April 17, 2006

Ron Kantowski knuckles down to write about a fading art in baseball and an oldtimer who wants to keep it alive: Dry spitter Flutterball Floater Dancer Butterfly ball Ghostball The Bug

Jeff Haney on the dime lines and three books - Imperial Palace, Palms, Stratosphere - that have gone a step further in best bets for baseball gamblers: This year, three Las Vegas sports books have gone a step further.

Blackjack taking shot at TV land: By Liz Benston; While poker basks in the glow of fame and fortune generated by multimillion-dollar tournaments and celebrity-fueled televised drama, that other old-fashioned casino game, blackjack, is a relative wallflower.

Letter: Willing to give up privacy for security: If we had the card, I wouldn't worry much about porous borders, because without the card you can't work, get a driver's license, cash a check, open a bank account, use public transportation, vote, register children in school or use any government services.

Editorial: Dream homes dream of water: According to a story in Friday's Las Vegas Sun, if residents believe what their subdivision names suggest, they dwell in sophisticated Italian villas, the rolling hills of Scotland, pine-spotted forests or on bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Letter: Straight talk on the rules of the road: 1. The left lane is not, and has never been, a fast lane. It is called a passing lane and if you're not passing, you shouldn't be in it.

Editorial: The rush for ethanol is on: It seems that nearly every magazine, newspaper, wire service and TV and radio station, not to mention the Internet, is reporting these days about ethanol and its probable future as a major substitute for gasoline in countries around the world. Additionally they are reporting about the surge in sugar and corn production. A recent radio report said Cuba is upping its sugar production in response to its new demand as a source of ethanol.

Accidents down for Las Vegas firefighters: Dan Kulin; The number of claims has been up and down since 2001, when there were 79 claims. In 2003 there were 73 claims, followed by 93 in 2003, 80 in 2004 and 65 in 2005.

Editorial: It's a small world after all: The joint poll by USA Today and Gallup shows 44 percent of Americans said the United States "should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along as best they can on their own." Just one-third of those polled three years ago felt that way, USA Today reports.

Letter: Losing faith in Bush and his policies: The blatant stubbornness, arrogance, ignorance and refusal to admit any errors by this president revive nightmare memories of Richard Nixon proclaiming, "I am not a crook." At least Richard M. Nixon had the decency to resign from office before his administration collapsed from total chaos.

Letter: Bush administration the worst in history: The Bush administration hates dissent. It doesn't really believe in the Bill of Rights and it does most everything legal and illegal that it can to discourage and stop those who speak out against them.

John Katsilometes on how ballooning Vegas ticket prices are becoming national news: "What happens to my $72, stays in Vegas," Debbie the Downer told her friends (including host Lindsay Lohan) during a bachelorette party, playing off the famous "what happens here, stays here" slogan. "Now I'll never see Barry Manilow."

Scholarships' unintended threat: Giving away money shouldn't be hard. Especially money for college.

Universal health care not a priority: Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie has a simple answer for why Nevada is unlikely to follow - at least not anytime soon - Massachusetts' lead in passing a landmark law requiring all residents of the state to have health insurance.

New NLV community, casino are raising questions: But while City Council approval of the development agreement, to be formally unveiled Wednesday, is expected in May, it will not come without questions about the project's density and potential opposition to building another casino in North Las Vegas.

Veterinarians have their dog days in LV: Veterinarian Kimberly Coyner measures her medical practice in salted peanuts and airport delays - the byproducts of a career in which the Arizona-based animal dermatologist flies to Las Vegas twice a week to treat the city's scratching, shedding, four-legged masses.