Print edition for February 6, 2006

What makes it super in Vegas?: Alberto Godoy and Kyle Green, in town from Los Angeles, spent part of the weekend contributing to that lofty figure - five bucks at a time. Or, in the NFL's rather self-important Super Bowl parlance, V bucks at a time.

NLV to get more for housing prisoners: The U.S. Marshals Service has agreed to pay North Las Vegas about a $1 million more a year to house federal prisoners, apparently ending for now the city's threat to terminate the contract.

John Katsilometes checks in on the final Super Sunday at the famous Stardust race and sports book: kats@lasvegassun.com; Sunday marked the last Super Bowl for the history-laden Stardust sports book, which opened amid much fanfare in 1975 (a priceless photo of a pair of showgirls pulling a horse through the hotel to mark that occasion is nailed to a wall near the men's room). By the end of this year the Stardust, which opened in 1958, will be closed; in its place eventually will stand the $4 billion Echelon Place.

Torino looking to make mark on Strip: "I have more than $5 million in this bank, so why are they charging me $3 for something called a noncheck safe keep fee?" he asked several staff members.

Ron Kantowski, a Cubs fan, finally gets a chance to talk with one of the heroes of his youth, Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks: By Ron Kantowski; BAM!

Letter: Put nuclear waste in your own back yard: But I have an idea that could possibly help. How about building a new repository about 100 miles from the president's ranch in Texas. Plenty of open spaces there!

Editorial: Putting parole in sunshine: A Las Vegas Sun story last week revealed that the Parole Board can change its agendas without notice, can examine evidence in private, and that inmates are not always allowed to know what evidence the board has considered or why parole was denied. And the board's hearings are not recorded or transcribed.

Bench bar set up for Supreme Court: With an increasing caseload making it more difficult for the state's high court jurists to keep abreast of legal trends, the court has asked a group of lawyers to help.

Jacksons influenced bassist: Although his father was a bass player with such renowned band leaders as Earl "Fatha" Hines and Fletcher Henderson in the 1940s, 55-year-old Jerry Brookings says he didn't get serious about music until he met Tito and Jermaine Jackson in junior high school.

Editorial: You've got mail - and spam: According to a recent Knight Ridder Newspapers story, the Internet's 60 million Web sites and many times more e-mail users are operating within a risky environment where hackers with enough patience and skill could obtain everything from personal identities and financial information to classified government data. Today's Internet is a crazy quilt of programs, codes and security patches. "It's like there's a lot of duct tape holding it together," one computer expert told Knight Ridder. And computer security experts and federal officials fear a breakdown is imminent.

Letter: Demanding answers from representatives: The stench of their self-serving partisan loyalty will hover over Nevada and take its toll.

Editorial: Give BC bypass vote a chance: In his State of the City address, Mayor Bob Ferraro proposed selling a 1,531-acre city-owned parcel and using the funds - possibly $400 million or more - to speed up construction of the 10-mile bypass. As it stands, because of federal budget constraints, the highway project is not scheduled to begin until 2025. This portends a major problem - a new bridge over Hoover Dam is set for completion in 2008, and projections show another 8,000 vehicles a day will be using U.S. 93 through Boulder City as the immediate result.

Many in Nevada are not citizens: By Timothy Pratt; About one of every nine people living in Nevada is not a U.S. citizen, the second-highest percentage in the nation, according to a recently released Census Bureau report.

Lack of information cited in babies' deaths: David Kihara; Foster parents caring for two prematurely born infants who died had not been given enough information about their fragile condition to watch over them properly, according to medical records and Metro Police.

Tougher child molestation law sought: Molly Ball; Tougher laws are needed to keep child molesters in prison and prevent them from committing more crimes, according to a newly formed local chapter of a national group that hopes to get legislation passed in Nevada in 2007.

Domestic violence court to get funding: Nicole Moon, public information offi- cer for the attorney general's office, says it is currently working to make $60,000 available to assist in funding the court. She said while the money might not be enough to solely fund the court, the attorney general's office hopes the county might chip in to help establish it.