Print edition for July 6, 2006

LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION: By Emily Richmond; The destination Thursday is the University of California campus in Irvine, a city where the median home price hovers near $700,000 and faculty housing is at a premium.

Editorial: Hasty retreat by Bush?: According to a Wednesday story by The New York Times, sources inside and outside the White House say Bush may be willing to negotiate with House Republicans who support putting strict border enforcement programs in place before establishing working rights or paths to citizenship for people already living in the United States illegally.

Editorial: Paying the piper: According to The New York Times, the FTC received 66,627 complaints against third-party debt collection agencies last year, an amount six times as many received in 1999. The FTC is charged with enforcing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a 1977 law that prohibits bill collectors from using deceptive, abusive or unfair tactics.

LOOKING IN ON: MOTOR SPORTS: When Bill Elliott announced in 2003 that he would run a limited schedule beginning the next season, it was his plan to compete in about a dozen NASCAR Nextel Cup Series races a year.

Jeff Haney talks with gambling author John Gollehon about his concern over the effect of poker's growing popularity and success on young players and the need for better controls: Obviously most of them are fooling themselves, or at least trying to, gambling author and publisher John Gollehon says.

City folk crowding in: Mel Jackson had rolled in through the front door of the Pahrump Western shop naturally - a cowboy hat perched on his ears and chaps slung loosely over tight jeans. Jackson, who clinks when he walks, says that he was searching for new spurs, rounding an aisle when his friend noticed a clerk shadowing them with a gun, "you know, behind his back."

New look at old idea could be a rainmaker: Researchers believe that "seeding" clouds with chemicals may be a way to increase precipitation and augment depleted Colorado River reservoirs, the main source of Las Vegas' drinking water.

Letter: There's no treason in protecting free speech: The New York Times did not reveal "military secrets" as stated by Conary. No troop movements or invasion plans were revealed. What was revealed in the recent bank monitoring story was known to the enemy and the information was also published in The Wall Street Journal. Conary even includes the Las Vegas Sun in the "anti-America crowd." What the New York Times and the Las Vegas Sun are concerned about is the unchecked administrative power that becomes a threat to our constitutional freedoms.

Stardust memories: Carl Lindstrom's milky baritone voice warms the room as he breaks into "La Vie en Rose" on request. Wearing a tight-fitting shirt, jean shorts and brown sandals, he grabs the hand of his wife, Henriette, and they begin to dance.

Letter: If you want more teachers, pay more money: Compare this to our police recruits with a high school diploma who start at $45,000, while our teachers need a bachelor's degree to get their meager salary.

John Kastilometes details reports about plans for the theater that was once home to 'Hairspray' at the Luxor: kats@lasvegassun.com; Apart from the podcast, we're hearing that extreme illusionist Criss Angel will front the Cirque production. Angel, the star of "Mindfreak" on A&E, has been rumored to be in the Luxor's long-term plans and has been spotted at a bevy of Las Vegas events (particularly those with red carpets leading to the entrance) over the past several weeks.

Letter: U.S. flag burners just don't get it: Being a veteran with my flag flying out in front of the house, somewhere in my disgust I felt sorry for those flag burners. They just don't get it, do they?

Editorial: A pathetic cry for attention: Their instincts were proven correct as the starving, communist nation ruled by Kim Jong Il chose July Fourth, minutes after the launch of the space shuttle Discovery in Florida, to announce its defiance with a test of seven missiles, including one supposedly with a long range that malfunctioned 42 seconds after takeoff.

What's in a name? For streets, who knows?: It was sort of an inside joke, a tribute to a friend that came with stipulations. In the end, it immortalized them - whether anyone knew it or not.