Print edition for July 19, 2006

Letter: There is a limit to freedom of choice: Why smokers want to put their health and lives in jeopardy is beyond me when medical science knows the dangers of smoking - yet smokers persist.

Editorial: No trumpets for schools study: In fact, a recent story by The New York Times notes, Education Department officials released the results of the study last Friday afternoon without the usual news conference or comment. That the report was released in this manner suggests that federal education officials were less than thrilled with a study that undermines the Bush administration's support for charter schools and taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.

Jeff Haney on the best way to handle three stooges trying to cheat: Collusion occurs when two or more players work together as a team to win more money from their opponents . It's costly and unfair to the honest players.

Letter: Mayor has harmful attitude about homeless: It only took a few weeks before he made the statement in the Los Angeles Times that he wanted to run them out of town "like the old Wild West sheriff." About a month later he was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun as saying, "Las Vegas has gained a reputation as having a heart that reaches out to the homeless, and that is unacceptable to me. The homeless are coming here in droves. We have to stop that."

Editorial: Shouldn't be a hard cell: Stem cells - the type drawn from human embryos - offer scientists some of the most promising methods of treatment for paralysis, Alzheimer's disease and other conditions in which cells that regenerate themselves have the potential to be used to grow new tissues or organs.

Driving in I-15's fast lane: Sgt. Dan Solow doesn't like speeders. They're selfish, they're a danger to themselves and others, and sometimes they even cry at him, as if that'll do any good.

New Orleans' loss is area's gain: By Emily Richmond; In the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, in the days before Hurricane Katrina, Jewdeia Olmsted could look out at her herb garden, citrus trees and luxuriant lawn.

Letter: Crusade against smoking goes too far: Even the learned Carmona plays loose with his conclusions from studies found in JAMA. The erroneous statements, which are then reported inexactly and incorrectly by writers like Wickham, cause, at a minimum, stress to even nonsmoking readers.

Neighbors claim they're being pressured to sell: Dan Kulin; Or else they will be surrounded by the rubble of their neighbors' homes - torn down after the sales go through.

Top of the barrel: Rob Miech, Las Vegas Sun; As Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" roars on the jukebox, Stacy Bromberg gently rubs an Oakland Raiders pendant that hangs from her necklace and insists that they will return. Don't get her started about silver-and-black glory days. Over the twang of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "That Smell," she explains how law school taught her to despise the legal profession. "Mexican Radio" jangles as she details the ever-expanding open aviary behind her Summerlin home. The weird lady with the birds, neighbors call Bromberg.

Judicial conduct panel in hot spot: Sam Skolnik; The courtroom incident so affected Clark County Public Defender Phil Kohn that he downloaded a video of the episode and has kept it on his computer desktop.

Editorial: We must heed the warning: This season we have reports from many sources that the wildfires are almost certainly linked to global warming.