Print edition for August 1, 2006

Editorial: Clearing the air, sans Bush: The entire global warming debate has been lost on the president and his administration - including the agency charged with keeping the air clean.

Road rage turns into pit punches: Brian Hilderbrand and Ron Kantowski; INSIDE THE ROPES: On lap 52 of Sunday's San Jose Grand Prix, Paul Tracy missed a turn and drove his car into a runoff area. Instead of waiting until the track was clear before returning to the course, Tracy drove into the path of Alex Tagliani's car, resulting in a crash that removed both from contention.

FLASHPOINT for Aug 01, 2006: For many years, Hispanics in Politics, or HIP, was consid- ered a viable force in local politics. Breakfast meetings at Dona Maria's on East Charleston were filled with candidates pandering to the Latino vote. But this year, what has been long feared has been confirmed by the group: It is a joke. Consider its list of endorsements sent around over the weekend. I won't waste time with the obvious ones, including Rep. Shelly (sic) Berkley. But it is the group's chosen candidate for lieutenant governor that amazes and saddens: Bob Stupak. Yes, the man who had a goofy party at ...

Team USA: More bang for the basketball buck: By Rob Miech; Before a U.S. national basketball team practice last week at Cox Pavilion, coach Mike Krzyzewski moseyed up to one of his players to gingerly ask what he did the previous evening.

Letter: Column had it right on support of Bolton: Greenspun and I are not in agreement on many political issues, as I normally support the Republican viewpoint and he often supports a more Democratic view.

LOOKING IN ON: HIGHER EDUCATION: Nevada State College at Henderson officials got a double dose of good news last week: The start-up school received the go-ahead to pursue full accreditation and settled an estate dispute that will net it $1.7 million.

Letter: Capitalism suffers if its diet is too rich: First, the rich cannot make anything without labor and the people to buy their products. Second, uncontrolled capitalism produces poverty and corruption. Most democracies have some form of socialism that provides for health care and other basic needs. That is less true of the United States, where a class war is going on and the rich are winning. The political tendencies have been for fewer social programs while shifting the tax burden to the poor and middle class.

Monday at the main event of the World Series of Poker: AP; BIG NEWS: Defending champion Joe Hachem was up to 19,500 in chips after four hours of play. He improved his stack significantly when his pocket aces knocked out a player with pocket queens. "If I think they're getting out of line, then I make them move all-in. If I'm right, I'm right, and if I'm wrong, then I've got to shut up shop," the Australian said.

Nice kitty ... please, nice kitty: The leopard has been snarling and pacing since you arrived. Your palm is pressed against the chain-link fence.

John Katsilometes on how Nicolas Cage's plans for his next film are being received at the Liberace Foundation luptat, vent nullasadf: "I have heard nothing from a production company. We know as much as you know, but we're excited about any renewed interest in Liberace's life and legacy," Hollingsworth said Monday afternoon. "We'd love to collaborate with him, as long as it doesn't defame the image."

Editorial: Politics trumps critical bill: Congress is now on a five-week break. Another break is coming up in late September that will last through the general election. It is highly unlikely that during the precious little time left to Congress this year, including a lame-duck session after the election, any progress will be made toward an immigration bill.

Another look at institute's books: The first of several audits of UNLV's embattled Institute for Security Studies was dismissed as lacking credibility by two university system regents, one of whom called Monday for an independent financial probe.

Editorial: Penalty for the poor: The measure, which passed Saturday, calls for increasing the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over the next three years and also would allow the wealthiest Americans to receive a substantial estate tax cut that amounts to almost $300 billion over the next 10 years.

LOOKING IN ON: GAMING: By Liz Benston; The 37th annual World Series of Poker kicked off its main event Friday at the Rio to the richest prize pool in history - more than $75 million, with a top prize of $10.8 million.