Print edition for June 8, 2006

Spielberg influenced Las Vegas filmmaker: Josh Meeter is a native Las Vegan and an aspiring filmmaker.

Not bowled over: Two years ago, Rick Reilly, the esteemed Sports Illustrated back-page columnist, penned a glowing tribute to Arena Football, in general, and the ArenaBowl, in particular.

Lights leave parents worried about kids' safety: By Emily Richmond; And Principal Elmer Manzanares grabs a homemade, construction paper "yield" sign taped to a wooden ruler and steps cautiously onto Russell Road to halt the traffic so his young charges can safely cross the street.

Hometown filmmakers are needed: When Francisco Menendez joined the UNLV faculty 16 years ago, there were seven students in the film department.

Editorial: Cruel and unusual policy: According to the Los Angeles Times, although no final decision has been made, Pentagon officials propose to omit the previous directive that says the military will "comply with the principles, spirit and intent" of the Geneva Conventions' Article 3 in its treatment of detainees. Pentagon officials say adhering to those standards will make it too easy for al-Qaida members to withhold information from interrogators, so they favor a new Army Field Manual that allows harsher treatment of those considered unlawful combatants, such as terrorism suspects.

John Katsilometes sits in on a memorable give-and-take with the comedy legend at the Orleans, where Lewis announced the return of his Labor Day Telethon to Las Vegas and chided young entertainers: Lewis held court - there is no other way to describe his session with media types - Tuesday at a ballroom at the Orleans. At once mentally acute and physically fit (having shed all that weight after halting his use of the steroid prednisone to fight pulmonary fibrosis), Lewis careened from topic to topic and took off when he was finished.

Editorial: Protecting our resources: The act, under which a president does not need congressional approval to create a monument, offered the first general legal protection of places based on their cultural or natural resources.

Pardons Board reduces sentence: By an 8-1 vote Wednesday, the state Pardons Board reduced Marcus Dixon's sentence for the 1998 fatal shooting of Daryl Crittenden from 40 years to life to a minimum of 15 years.

Letter: Stop unnecessary criticism of Bush: Sen. Reid says that President Bush's moves to protect marriage between a man and a woman are wrong! Reid, as well as the majority of his constituents, are against gay and lesbian marriage. Even Sen. Reid's own church is against gay/lesbian marriage. Why is Sen. Reid so intractable, so very wrongheaded? Vote in civil unions and leave marriage alone.

Letter: Constitutional right that has been lost: The one constitutional right I would suggest we lost in the last 10 years was freedom of speech. There has been a "chilling effect" perpetrated by the present administration through memos, directives and wiretaps, all in the name of the Patriot Act.

Letter: Gay marriage ban an insult to Americans: We wake up every day without a glimmer of hope that this administration can do anything to end the violence in Iraq, provide health coverage for 45 million uninsured Americans, catch the terrorists that attacked our country on 9/11, provide tax relief for the middle class or enact an energy policy that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil. With so much else gone wrong since he took office, why was a constitutional amendment to define marriage a priority for the president?

Habitat plan mired in red tape: Houses sprout in the desert like toadstools in the dark. Desert tortoises, burrowing owls, rare animals and plants are pushed aside for development. An agreement between federal and local governments is supposed to mitigate what would otherwise be a grim calculus for desert wildlife.

CineVegas edges up on other festivals: By Jerry Fink; Cannes, which began in 1939, is the most prestigious, while Toronto's film festival (1976) is the largest for major motion pictures. And Sundance, created in 1978 as the Utah/U.S. Film Festival, is the largest and most important festival in the world for independent filmmakers.

Victory no sure thing: Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., once considered a virtual lock against a 30-year-old who has never held elected public office, is now thought to be in a race so tight that both parties have targeted it as one of the closest in the nation.

Kyle Busch learns his lesson: Kyle Busch says he is going to start acting more like Carl Edwards.

Editorial: A hit: The Henderson code: They also have a right to believe that if an appliance, fixture or outlet stops working, or that if basic infrastructure begins to badly deteriorate, the landlord will promptly order repairs.