Print edition for January 18, 2006

Editorial: Personal space in a public venue: Through such Internet sites as MySpace.com and Xanga.com, teens are creating personal Web pages where they post photos and reveal their thoughts about romance, teachers, life in general and, yes, even their parents.

Back yard: Icing on the cake: As soon as winter started icing Mississauga, Ontario, Mark Dzieduszycki hosed down every square inch of his spacious back yard. All the neighborhood kids had a place to play hockey, but Dzieduszycki's own frozen pond served a greater purpose.

Nevada to miss federal deadline: CARSON CITY -- Nevada will not meet a federal deadline by the end of this school year that requires every public school teacher to be designated "highly qualified."

Letter: U.S. should vote on states' issues: I had written in a Dec. 23 letter that we in the lower 48 shouldn't go meddling in the affairs of the Alaskans' desire to drill for oil. Mr. Bostick believes, since the U.S. government purchased Alaska with tax dollars (a truth), we should all be able to meddle in Alaskan affairs.

Editorial: Growth holds no surprises: Even then the question was dubious, as many projections in the 1970s and 1980s warned about the migration of Rust Belt residents to Southern and Southwestern regions, and of its coming effect on Nevada.

Letter: Where there's smoke, there's a casino: I went to the opening night of the South Coast Casino and was shocked that this new establishment, just within hours of opening the doors to the public, already smelled like the bottom of an old ash tray. This vice is almost as fatal as being a pedestrian in Las Vegas.

Board to visit Nadelstern's New York: By Emily Richmond; Clark County School Board members flying to New York this week to evaluate superintendent candidate Eric Nadelstern scurried Tuesday to find ways to depart from the guided tour they asked him to arrange.

Domestic violence court revisited: Matt Pordum; The idea of creating a special court to curb the soaring number of domestic violence cases in Clark County is being pushed by members of the justice community -- again.

Editorial: Lobbyist reports in shambles: When Democrats proposed a stricter law in 1995, they envisioned detailed lobbying reports and strong enforcement of them by an independent body. A Republican-led filibuster, however, quashed that idea in favor of having lobbyists file reporting forms with a congressional records office whose auditing power is next to nothing.

Columnist Tom Gorman: Offering food for thought on some important missing elements in urban living: By Tom Gorman; Nancy Williams has advice for the thousands of people who are expected to occupy those new downtown high-rise condos: Pick up the milk and bread on your way home from work because there may not be any markets within walking distance.

Scholarship squeeze is on: Several thousand Millennium Scholars will either have to pay $300 to $400 more this semester or reduce their course loads because of a new limit on the number of credits covered by the scholarship.

Henderson leaning toward Strip resorts: Six decades after the first casinos were built on what would become the Las Vegas Strip, Henderson is ready to pronounce that gambling is appropriate on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Columnist Jeff Haney: On a new GSN show, the $100,000 lost in one hand by one player and a million-dollar buy in for another: When GSN was filming "High Stakes Poker" -- a big no-limit Texas hold 'em cash game -- at the Golden Nugget in November, several developments had a handful of onlookers buzzing.

Flashpoint for Jan. 18, 2006: "No. No. No. Maybe." That was an almost gleeful Bob Beers on Tuesday reciting the positions taken by his gubernatorial opponents on his tax and spending initiative. "This drives politicians nuts," Beers chuckled. Well, maybe not nuts, but it does turn many of them to mush. Especially fellow Republican. Jim Gibbons, speaking at the same event, insisted he could not take a stand because he had not read the latest incarnation. Loves the idea, though, but maybe not. Lorraine Hunt commended Beers for his efforts but said she was wary. "All good ideas should be heard," she equivocated. So it's ...

Reid to lead push for honesty: Benjamin Grove; WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats appear to be backing away from an all-out assault on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito and throwing the full force of their caucus behind an effort to blast Republicans for a "culture of corruption" in Washington.

Columnist Jon Ralston: On how Titus just may have put herself at the top of one gubernatorial list: It was only a snapshot. But if the picture was worth the thousands of words spoken Tuesday morning at the Stardust, the caption would read: Dina and the Four Dwarfs.

Letter: Smokers don't need more advice: In the first place, one should be cognizant of the fact that there will be smoking within the casinos in Las Vegas ... this is "Sin City," for crying out loud!