Print edition for August 13, 2006

John Katsilometes takes a trip back to Plains, Ga., with Jack Carter: "There was the class we saw on TV, and the rest of us," Carter said with a chuckle during a phone interview Thursday before a fundraiser at Jim Rogers' Sun Belt Auto Collection near the KVBC Channel 3 studios in Las Vegas. "But when Dad got elected in 1970, I started to meet these people I'd only seen on national TV and that perception started to change."

Letter: Voting is pleasant even if candidates are not: Second, the bad news. I've been reading columnist Jon Ralston, et al., exhorting me to vote on Election Day and not before since I will not have had adequate time to become familiar with all the candidates and their positions. I will be out of town on Aug. 15 and voting early was much easier than having to go through a proxy ballot process.

Cancer victims' mecca: When Jim Stone survived a bout with testicular cancer in 1980, he had every reason to believe he had dodged a bullet.

Jeff Simpson offers some common-sense behavior guidelines for casinos: Although most longtime Las Vegans understand how to behave in a casino, it's clear that some don't. With thousands of new valley residents arriving each month, many of them new to the casino's unique position as a cultural hub, I'd like to share a few do's and don'ts for casinogoers.

Aficionado extraordinaire Duffy lands first Daumier over phone: By Kristen Peterson; It was an intense 45 seconds, but 20 years after seeing his first Daumier, Duffy owns one.

A look at five Las Vegas collections:: Lee Ann Groff-Daudet considers herself a lifelong collector.

Jon Ralston provides his predictions on who will win Tuesday's primary elections and live to see November: Never before in all the years I have donned my oracle's garb have I encountered such bizarre and close races.

Editorial: Intolerant school policies: According to a story by USA Today, the American Psychological Association said zero-tolerance policies should be reserved for only the most serious threats to students' safety, yet they are being too widely applied, too often.

New money, people drive arts scene: By Kristen Peterson; Diana Judson heard the quips when she moved her art business to Las Vegas 12 years ago. "Oh, that's great, an art-handling company in a culture-free zone," Judson recalls hearing from friends.

FLASHPOINT for Aug 13, 2006: I was heartened to see that not all states are so unconcerned about the evils and idiocy of early voting. A Maryland judge ruled Friday that early voting in that state is illegal because the state constitution only allows one day of voting. Now heres an initiative I could get behind. The arguments in Maryland against early voting were fear of fraud. But here in Home Sweet Nevada, never has a year demonstrated more why you should wait. Late revelations about Jerry Airola and Barbara Lee Woollen are only the beginning. Three governors race debates occurred in the last week. ...

Editorial: Looking for work: The report, prepared by the Pew Hispanic Center - a nonpartisan research group that doesn't advocate policy positions - says there is no evidence to indicate that the increase in immigration has consistently taken jobs away from American workers.

Hal Rothman on what might be a better way to hold elections: Nevada is always an interesting place to follow politics. Where else could you find two people with bankruptcies running for state treasurer? Dead people have won elections in other states. This year a recently deceased candidate has more than a fighting chance to win the Republican primary for state treasurer. And, of course, we have the usual array of carpetbaggers, people with short histories in the state who typically have made money and seek to turn it into political office.

Jack Sheehan on perils of summer, from the heat to not-so-attractive tourists: But we don't have an abundance of hound dogs or rocking chairs or whittlers out here in Las Vegas. So it might be more fitting to call this stretch of interminable heat and vapor "cicada days," in honor of those oversexed little insects with membranous wings that attempt to mate constantly by screeching urgent one-liners from one limb to the next with absolutely no concern for human auditory canals.

Commentary: Erik Olsen on the window America has to fix its health care plan: Because of today's spiraling health care costs, more than half of Nevada's 297,000 AARP members who are not eligible for Medicare, along with hundreds of thousands of other Nevada residents, are becoming increasingly afraid of losing their health coverage - if they have any.

Letter: Mental health test makes good sense: My response is yes, yes, yes to administer the Columbia TeenScreen questionnaire as a tool to evaluate an adolescent's mental health.

Letter: Not enough good news being reported: While the need to know is valid as claimed by the members of the Fourth Estate, it does not transcend their obligation to bring to us many of the good deeds these brave young men and women have done or are doing.

Editorial: Inspect all oil pipelines: Earlier this year, in March, federal regulators ordered BP to begin inspections after an environmentally damaging leak in another of its Alaskan oil field pipelines. It was this order that led to the discovery of the 16-mile section of corrosion, along a network of pipes that feed oil to the main Trans Alaska Pipeline. BP acknowledged that these particular pipelines had not been cleaned of corrosion-causing sludge since 1992.

An electric idea: By Launce Rake; Nevada has plentiful, but mostly untapped, resources to power future

Buddy, can you spare a buck?Pros and cons: Ed Koch, Las Vegas Sun; Here are some pros and cons of raising the minimum wage that have been raised in the debates on the issue:

PRECINCT 3351 LOOKS LIKE PRIME STUMPING GROUNDS.: By Marshall Allen; The residents on Terrace Green Avenue and Bridge Creek Street seem like prime pickings for a politician on the prowl. They live in an affluent neighborhood. They're bright, diverse, successful, and voting records show they're faithful to the ballot box. And they're on top of major issues facing the country: illegal immigration, homeland security, the war in Iraq.