Print edition for December 7, 2006

Stand-up comedian gets comfortable with his material: Who: Rodney Carrington

FBI leaves nothing to chance at new office: Sam Skolnik; From the street, the three-story red-and-tan structure looks like any other new Las Vegas office building.

FLASHPOINT for Dec 07, 2006: So how many politicians does it take to get a union and a hospital company to cool off? The answer, apparently, is four. Let's remember that for future reference. It took Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons, Speaker-elect Barbara Buckley, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and County Commission Chairman Rory Reid to get it done this week. Did they all need to be there? Doubtful. Did they all get face time on TV? Of course. I'd say two of them didn't need to be there - any guess which two? The real back story here is that this week marks the beginning of ...

Fans of fake luxury goods out of luck after police raid: Shopgirls at Gucci and Louis Vuitton unlocked their jaws upon learning that Metro Police seized more than $3 million in counterfeit goods last weekend - purses that sell for $500, police said, faked in pleather and priced at $39.95.

Letter: Sun's coverage offers needed balance: Without the Sun's reports, some people could be led to think that the lack of evidence affirming that Mr. Gibbons accosted Ms. Mazzeo proves that no "incident" occurred. Actually, there is no evidence supporting Mr. Gibbons' account, either (namely that he helped Ms. Mazzeo as she slipped outside of the parking garage).

Letter: Tests necessary to find best recycling method: I am a member of the Southern Nevada Recycling Advisory Committee, and the proposed plans for residential curbside recycling are test programs only. The participants will be volunteers. If a citizen does not wish to participate, he will not be required to do so.

John Katsilometes on the world tour of Fred Nassiri, who's promoting world unity through song: Las Vegas wholesale clothing magnate, real estate developer and occasional recording artist Fred Nassiri continues to spread his flavor of goodwill with the recording of his self-financed CD "Love Sees No Color," set for release next year. As a vocalist, Nassiri won't make anyone forget Johnny Mathis, but he has spent considerable time and resources traveling the globe and meeting with such world leaders as Pope Benedict XVI, Nelson Mandela and Shimon Peres in an effort to promote world peace.

Letter: Litany of Bush's failures is endless: For 10 months prior to the attack, anti-terrorism specialists within his administration were frustrated by the lack of concern shown by Bush's closest advisers to their warnings of an imminent attack. His apathy toward terrorism prior to 9/11, and his reckless, bumbling invasion of Iraq are not the reasons for no new attacks.

Growing pains in Pahrump: By Timothy Pratt; Alonso Flores didn't know what to expect on a recent early evening in a parking lot behind a Mexican restaurant in this fast-growing town about an hour west of Las Vegas.

How politicians resolved impasse: J. Patrick Coolican and Tony Cook; Before David Bussone, group director of Valley Health System, met with Nevada elected leaders Tuesday to discuss his company's contract dispute with 800 nurses, he brashly announced that he expected little to come of the talks.

Editorial: Back to the bargaining table: Republican Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons and Democrats Barbara Buckley, incoming Assembly speaker; Oscar Goodman, mayor of Las Vegas; and Rory Reid, chairman of the Clark County Commission, met with hospital officials at the county building for more than four hours.

Ron Kantowski finds himself surrounded by cowboy hats and meets some friendly folks in town for National Finals Rodeo: That's how I met Bill Tomich and his wife, Mary, a retired couple who tonight will see their first National Finals Rodeo performance at the Thomas & Mack Center. On Tuesday night they were watching a live feed at Sam's Town, along with about 125 others who had crammed into Roxy's Saloon, where admission is free and the worst smell in the air is that of stale cigarettes.

Editorial: True state of Iraq exposed by study group's report: At nearly every appearance, radio broadcast, interview or press conference where the subject of Iraq has come up, Bush has spoken piously of his own policies, optimistically about the progress of the war and dismissively toward those who asked if the carnage reported daily from Iraq wasn't proof of a much darker scenario.