Print edition for February 18, 2006

Letter: Gehry's design is one of pure shock: I must say that Mr. Gehry's design has some good qualities to the building-block design of the main medical building, but that's where it ends. No matter how you define the rest of the checkerboard shell of steel lattice, it will never be as exciting or playful as Mr. Gorman says.

Letter: Congress should look to past to guide future: And he further said, "The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."

Editorial: Power customers make power play: That is especially true of Nevada Power Co. customers who, President Pat Shalmy said in a Las Vegas Sun story this week, have sent e-mails and made phone calls "saying they absolutely don't want their information used to summon them for jury duty." The calls and messages started, Shalmy said, as a result of stories by the Sun that show Clark County's pool of potential jurors needs to be more diverse.

Should the voters pick their judges?: The Nevada Bar Association is taking a proposal to the Legislature next year to change the Nevada Constitution, creating a judicial selection system that would start with all judges being appointed.

Heritage takes another hit: lrake@lasvegassun.com; The "hacienda" was once an isolated outpost in the desert south of town, a one-of-a-kind ranch home hand-built with local pieces of history - the Southwest's Tecopa metal mines and the original El Rancho hotel, lost to fire in 1957.

County wants talk with Chertoff: J. Craig Anderson; The County Commission is expected to sign a resolution Tuesday requesting an audience with Chertoff to learn more about the secret formula used to determine which cities can receive future Urban Area Security Initiative Grant funding. County officials complain that the formula is "dangerously flawed."

Editorial: A miner's farewell to family: According to Bloomberg News, family members of some of the 12 miners who died read aloud their loved ones' final words during a meeting earlier this week organized by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. Democrats, who were the only ones to participate in the meeting, have accused the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration of failing to prevent dangerous mining practices.

Racial fights becoming problem at county jail: David Kihara; The disputes within the Clark County Detention Center have a similar root cause as those in Los Angeles, where thousands of inmates throughout the county jails remain in lockdown after deadly clashes broke out, largely between black and Hispanic inmates.

Leading Toros' charge: Rob Miech can be reached at 259-4087 or at miech@lasvegassun.com.

Editorial: Inhale smoke, exhale dollars: Since that time, the warnings have become stronger, tobacco advertising has been banned, cigarette companies have paid billions to state governments to settle health care lawsuits, ordinances against smoking in public buildings have become commonplace and the smoking light on airlines has become a thing of the past.

Letter: Constitution shuns religious labels: Thomas Paine, the man who sparked the American Revolution, stated, "All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no more than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit." He was a deist, as were many of our founding fathers, believing in a god that had nothing to do with the Christian god. I'm sure most of the people of that time believed in some form of god or another, as to claim to be an atheist would probably have been hazardous to your health.