Print edition for December 8, 2006

Editorial: A long wait for the doctor: As Cy Ryan reported in Tuesday's Las Vegas Sun, the state opened a 150-bed mental health hospital this year in Las Vegas and wants to expand it with 40 more beds, but it is having trouble recruiting the two psychiatrists needed to do so. And the Board of Medical Examiners hasn't helped.

Union design unfolds: By Marshall Allen; When the Service Employees International Union reached a standoff with Valley Health System this week, the hospital company was the first to blink in a very public showdown mediated by elected officials.

FLASHPOINT for Dec 08, 2006: The New West Project. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? And, yes, we Nevadans are part of this new West. What is it? The Associated Press reports that the endeavor, to be unveiled Dec. 18, "would outline strategies for reaching Western voters and the issues critical to them." The story says that "prominent Western Democrats who have snatched Senate seats and governorships from Republicans in recent years are joining forces with the hope of spreading their party's success to the White House." Sen. Harry Reid, whose state got the early caucus, and Sen. Ken Salazar, whose state ...

House calls alert leukemia patient: Emily Richmond, Las Vegas Sun; It was 1:15 in the morning when firefighters pulled up to Larry Mason's house and rang the doorbell, jarring him awake. "Is there anybody here who has leukemia?" they asked Mason, a 12-year veteran of the Clark County School Board.

Editorial: Crossing out the 'no': But a District Court judge's decision means smokers can puff away in restaurants, taverns and at the slot machines in grocery stores for at least another 15 days.

Again, hospital lacks out clause: Only two months after being faulted for not having an adequate termination clause in a major hospital contract, University Medical Center administrators were prepared to move ahead last month with a $1.8 million contract that also lacked such standard business deal language.

Town again invites controversy: By Timothy Pratt; Michael Miraglia, the Pahrump Town Board member who introduced the now widely known ordinance that made English the language for all town business, wants to require illegal immigrants to register with the local government within 24 hours of arriving in town.

Letter: Time to make every vote count: In his Dec. 6 letter, Clarence Lanzrath contends the liberal left wishes to amend the Constitution so as to abolish the Electoral College, thus creating an egalitarian society. Why shouldn't there be an egalitarian society when it comes to electing the president of the United States?

Letter: Alcohol at airports worse than smoking: When are they going to ban alcohol at airports? I have never heard of a passenger having a couple of smokes and then getting on a plane and creating a scene, becoming agitated or attacking an attendant.

Changing sounds of metal: What: Fear Factory with Suffocation, Hypocrisy and Decapitated

Jon Ralston on how Las Vegas Mayor Goodman knows what's best for his own city - at least in his own mind: So imagine what happened Thursday when Alana Roberts, a special publications reporter for In Business Las Vegas (a sister publication of the Sun), had the temerity to try to ask the mayor a question. Goodman seemed hardly in the holiday spirit and added to his priceless catalog of Nixonian utterances.

Editorial: War policy cannot linger: The study group's report, released Wednesday, was a scathing criticism of the Bush administration's war in Iraq. It found fault with nearly every major strategy and tactic. In addition to its bleak assessment, the report offered 79 recommendations for improving the war's outlook enough so that major withdrawals of U.S. forces could begin by 2008.

Judge Herndon thrust into the spotlight: District Judge Douglas Herndon, who on Thursday put the state's new smoking restrictions on hold, has handled a good share of high-profile cases.

LOOKING IN ON: ENTERTAINMENT: Get into the holiday spirit by attending the performance of the musical "Christmas Stories" this weekend. Proceeds will go to Have a Peaceful Heart Foundation (haveapeacefulheart.org), an organization dedicated to peaceful co-existence.

Letter: Children's health only part of Question 5: Those complaints are all fine and dandy, but what really gets my goat is when people use the argument that Question 5 was only to "protect the children" from secondhand smoke, and kids shouldn't be in bars. Yes, part of Question 5 was about restaurants, schools and day care centers that children are in, but that's not the only thing Question 5 was about.

CONVENTION CRASHING: INTERNATIONAL FAIR AND EXPO: By Brendan Buhler; A bejeweled treble clef lapel pin catches the light as he turns to gesture at the toads, three of them, obese and green, like miniature zombie sumo wrestlers.

Philharmonic's Weller gets into swing of holidays: The Las Vegas Philharmonic's season subscribers have noticed a mysterious addition to Row M at the last couple of concerts.

John Katsilometes on an amazing show to celebrate Kennedy Center Honors: Earlier this year Larry Ruvo was named to the Kennedy Center's Presidential Advisory Committee. Over the summer Steve Wynn was selected to the center's Board of Trustees. President Bush and first lady Laura Bush make the final call on who will serve on those committees and invited the Wynns and Ruvos to a weekend filled with powerhouse events, including Sunday's taping of the "29th Kennedy Center Honors," to be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 26.