Print edition for August 3, 2006

John Katsilometes gives the nod to an atomic bomb exhibit, whose opening will be attended by a Japanese survivor: Maruta will be on hand from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday during the exhibit's opening ceremonies. Additional appearances are set for 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday and 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday. Admission is free, but reservations are required (call 794-5123) . The museum is at 755 E. Flamingo Road, just east of Paradise Road and next to the Desert Research Institute.

Editorial: Credibility lacking in audit: Two Nevada university system regents have dismissed a recently released audit of UNLV's troubled Institute for Security Studies, saying the audit lacks credibility.

Editorial: Vacation at your own risk: Neighbors have a say when it comes to major changes on their streets, but in Clark County they had better make it quick.

Letter: School vouchers could work for others as well: This policy makes a lot of sense. It got me thinking that if school vouchers are working for this group of people, why not expand, on a broad basis, the program to other groups in our society that also lack the educational stability required to accomplish improved learning skills we are sorely lacking in many areas of our society?

Letter: Don't confuse livestock with family pets: When there are uninsured Americans and poverty abounding, how do you plan to feed the excessive number of horses that would not go to slaughterhouses for human consumption?

Protecting White Pine County: In addition to designating federal land for wilderness areas, private uses and the Ely Shoshone tribe, the White Pine County public lands bill introduced into U.S. Senate this week would:

Editorial: Taking one for the Gipper: We may never truly know whether U.S. cyclist Floyd Landis cheated to win the Tour de France.

Letter: Things aren't perfect but could get worse: However, take the illegal immigrant problem Richard brings up. We know what Democrats want to do on that one. In a recent election in San Diego, the Democratic candidate was urging illegal immigrants to vote!

GOP mailer dirty tricks as usual: It was 34 years ago that, as a young lawyer working in Washington, D.C., for a U.S. senator (John Tunney), I was dispatched to Southern California to try to track the money being spent by the soon-to-be notorious Donald Segretti, the so-called "head trickster" of the 1972 campaign of Richard Nixon. Segretti was a former military prosecutor and civil lawyer who ran a campaign of political sabotage against the Democrats during Nixons re-election campaign. Among Segrettis apprentices in that effort was a young Karl Rove.

Mash-Up: Las Vegas Weekly Staff; In a development anticipated by industry insiders, Beacher's Madhouse officially shut its doors at the Hard Rock on July 29. Many people credited Jeff Beacher's close friendship with Harry Morton, son of ex-Hard Rock owner Peter Morton, with not only bringing the New York impresario to Vegas but also keeping the crazed variety show running without an eye necessarily fixed on the bottom line (though it has to be noted that Harry was also one of the show's executive producers).

Wednesday at the main event of the World Series of Poker: AP; BIG NEWS: Daniel Negreanu, the affable Canadian known as "Kid Poker," made a big move late Wednesday to amass 154,200 in chips. Moments earlier he had just 71,000. "I've got these guys set up," Negreanu said. "I just need the right situation and I'm going to bust like three of them." Apparently, his plan was working. The day's leader, Dmitri Nobles, had 317,000 in chips.

Rule No. 1: Don't make a mistake: By J. Patrick Coolican; For Jim Gibbons, no matter how tempted he is to blurt out what he really thinks of Bob Beers, he must resist the urge when the Republican candidates for governor meet Friday for their first of two debates.

Passing out fliers spurs parking lot altercation: Attempts by a local community activist to distribute a controversial flier in a Division of Family Services parking lot Monday turned ugly when he later confronted the state employee who had ordered him to stop.

Critics say institute trying to shift heat: As UNLV's troubled Institute for Security Studies braces for some tough questions from the Board of Regents on Friday, it has gone on the offensive against some of its detractors.

Taking back their tips: Michael J. Mishak and Lisa Mascaro; Congress' minimum wage hike would stiff those in Nevada's tip-intensive industries

Make-or-break performance: By J. Patrick Coolican; Debates have often sealed a candidate's fate. Usually this is true for presidential races, where TV viewership is more substantial.

Apropos pest: Is the cockroach the enemy of the state, or is it the perfect insect symbol for Nevada?: By Brendan Buhler; Amazingly, Nevada does not have an official state insect.We have a state fossil (ichthyosaur) and a state tartan (blue with white, red and yellow stripes). But yet there are no honors for the insect that means Nevada: the cockroach, which is, as usual, enjoying the summer.

The U.S. national team has embraced media's role while training in Las Vegas: By Ron Kantowski; There were no practices scheduled that day. No press conferences. Downtown Indianapolis was deader than the bounce pass. Nobody hanging out in the lobby - not so much as a single Division II coach - looking for a job. Just two reporters, desperate for a story, waiting for the Duke bus to arrive.

LOOKING IN ON: MOTOR SPORTS: The winner of Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard will earn the same amount of points as if he had won the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway or Watkins Glen International.

FLASHPOINT for Aug 03, 2006: I have long lost my ability to get outraged about Yucca Mountain. The Screw Nevada Bill said it best 20 years ago and not much has changed. But what amazes me to this day is the brazenness of officials in states with nuclear waste. Take New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch. The Boston Globe reports that he sent a letter to Sen. Pete Domenici saying on-site waste storage at a couple of his state's power plants "is wrong for the health and safety of the citizens of New Hampshire." And, Lynch added, the choice has been made to send it to ...