Print edition for August 10, 2006

FLASHPOINT: So how big a joke is it that Nevada candidates get to go eight months without disclosing their campaign contributors? It is nothing short of outrageous and it is an incumbent-protection anachronism. I have been saying for years that all candidates should have to post donations within 24 or 48 hours on the Web. And now, state Sen. Randolph Townsend has a bill draft that would force the secretary of state to adopt a software program to make this happen. My guess is Townsend's pal and traditionalist Bill Raggio won't be thrilled. But if it gets out of the Senate, ...

Teacher with a badge: After 11 years of teaching middle school in Milwaukee, Dorinda Allen, center, came to Las Vegas to pursue her dream of being a police officer. Wednesday she realized that dream as she sat with 53 other recruit officers during Southern Desert Regional Police Academy's graduation at the Orleans showroom. "(Being a police officer) is similar to being a teacher in that you're helping people and making a difference. It requires many of the same values," said Allen, who will work for the North Las Vegas Police Department. For her the draw of police work lies in the excitement, the joy ...

Editorial: Targeting teen depression: According to a Las Vegas Sun story Monday, the tests are designed to examine whether a student may be at risk for depression, which in some cases can lead to suicide. While not to be construed as a diagnosis or treatment tool, these tests may help determine whether students and their parents should seek professional evaluation and help.

Ron Kantowski changes his tune about improvements made to the speedway: Then again, many in the motor sports industry believe getting race fans in and out of the parking lot isn't a problem at all. They look at it more like passing time while counting your money.

John Katsilometes reveals a different sort of phantom that occupies the Venetian theater at ty th: And there has been seat No. 38 in Section 2, Row C.

LOOKING IN ON: MOTOR SPORTS: Will Ferrell's NASCAR-themed movie, "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," packed theaters during its opening weekend and was first at the box office with more than $47 million in ticket sales.

Letter: Story has reader recalling her own poverty: When I was in fifth grade, in the 1940s after World War II, my mother and father could not find any suitable or affordable housing. They were forced to place my siblings and I in a home in Illinois named "St. Joseph's Home of the Friendless." In those days even the name of an institution could leave a stigma on a young child for life.

Editorial: What's in a blog?: But that has changed with Internet Web logs, or blogs, that allow people to conceal their identities while attacking candidates with unproved rumors or vicious lies. According to a story by the Las Vegas Sun on Wednesday, bloggers here have falsely accused political candidates in Nevada of being racist and addicted to gambling, among other scurrilous charges.

Reid saw what Lieberman missed: By J. Patrick Coolican; The rules of the political game have changed for Democrats - as evidenced by Tuesday's primary in Connecticut. And Sen. Harry Reid could see it coming 18 months ago.

Water plan suffers setback: The state engineer has reaffirmed his responsibility to examine environmental issues in a decision affecting a rural ground water export plan coming up for crucial hearings in September.

Jackrabbits, sagebrush and loyal Republicans: Republican candidates for governor are hunting for votes in places with few people. Places such as Eureka County (population 1,428).

Highlights of FY06 revenue report on Nevada casinos: AP; -STATEWIDE: $12.2 billion win in fiscal 2006, up 10.8 percent. In June, clubs won $921.1 million, down 3.5 percent.

Letter: With estate tax, you pay tax man twice: Mr. Teepen wrote about the estate tax portion of the bill, "The administration's attempt to give money to the people who least need it ..." If you think about this statement, it says that all earned money belongs to the government, and if you get to keep any of it, that is a gift from the government.

Consider it shaken: Politicians outnumbered chairs at a Chinese restaurant on Spring Mountain Road on Saturday, where a free lunch-and-stump affair found waiters pushing food carts among candidates who came to deliver speeches capped at 60 seconds.

Las Vegas leery of hillside blasting: Dan Kulin; As Las Vegas grows into the surrounding mountains, city planners are drafting rules for building on hillsides that could take the explosiveness out of the issue - literally.

Editorial: A lesson from Connecticut: Nevertheless, the three-term senator did lose by 4 percentage points to a political newcomer in a race dominated by controversy over his faith in George W. Bush as a competent war president.

Letter: Taxi's bad driving has reader sick: While heading east on Russell Road, I was stopped at the light at Eastern Avenue, waiting to go through. A cab in the right turn lane (to go south on Eastern) suddenly turned on his left turn signal, and when the light changed, he shot in front of three lanes of east-bound traffic, squeezed in to the right of left-turning traffic, and flew north up Eastern. He narrowly avoided causing a horrific rush-hour accident. Where are the police when these things happen?