Print edition for August 30, 2006

What was Paul Adams thinking?: Michael J. Mishak and J. Patrick Coolican; With the traditional Labor Day kickoff to the fall campaign season only days away, state Democrats have received a political gift from an unlikely source - Nevada's Republican Party chairman.

RED TAPE CHRONICLES: By Marshall Allen; A newsroom phone rings and the American Civil Liberties Union is on the line with a tantalizing news tip: Advanced Technologies Academy, a magnet high school in Las Vegas, seems to be violating the rights of students who don't want to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Editorial: The invisible population: The Nevada Highway Patrol arrested Warren Steed Jeffs, leader of a sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as he was driving on Interstate 15 just north of Las Vegas. Jeffs, formerly of Colorado City, Ariz., was wanted on sexual abuse charges stemming from marriages that authorities say he arranged among minors, including one between a 16-year-old girl and an already-married 28-year-old man. Eight other members of the sect, based in a community that sits on the Utah-Arizona border, also face charges.

Letter: Katrina could not have been prevented: Had the Federal Emergency Management Agency's employees been any closer, they, too, would have faced destruction by the hurricane. Had the National Guard been on site, it would have faced destruction. Had the federal government's admonishment been adhered to by a Democratic governor, there might have been faster relief, but the destruction would not have been prevented!

Jeff Haney on the poker community's reaction to any ban of the online game: Groups monitoring the legislation include privacy advocates, Texas hold 'em sit-n-go tournament junkies and diehard Let It Ride loyalists.

Letter: Here's hoping PISTOL gets whipped: If Question 2 passes, taxpayers will be faced with billions of dollars in lawsuits by individuals who choose to take advantage of the language. Terms such as "just compensation" are thrown about when, in reality, anyone who wants to build a strip club or gravel pit in their neighborhood may do so. If your elected officials attempt to stop them, they can sue for damages at taxpayer expense.

Traffic-stopping overture for Jerry's kids: It was a bizarre request - even for Las Vegas.

Editorial: Change, but without chaos: The Clark County Commission, and in particular, Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, has taken a strong stand against the question - a stand we fully support. On Tuesday the commission will discuss sensible alternatives to the question, which is misleadingly known as the People's Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land.

Editorial: No master plan for bird flu: The Research Triangle Institute International, a nonprofit group based in North Carolina, studied the pandemic plans posted on the Web sites of 49 state health departments (Louisiana's wasn't posted) and found inconsistencies in identifying and containing outbreaks.

CCSN gets pitching help from pro prospect: The pitcher and the coach had been verbally jousting for two weeks.

School District's innovative use of funds too much for state: By Emily Richmond; Saying they were committed to elevating student achievement, state legislators in 2005 promised to dole out $78 million to promote innovative school programs.

Letter: Setting the record straight on energy: He speaks of the massive amount of government funding that these energy sources have received. If he knew very much about the history of energy development, he would find that nuclear, for one, has received several times more than all of the alternative energies he mentions combined.

Plaintiffs hunt Coyote: Contractors are continuing to carve out a golf course and lay out the roads for a massive housing development 55 miles north of Las Vegas, but a pair of environmental groups hope to throw an obstacle in the path of the desert bulldozers: a lawsuit filed in federal court Monday in Reno.