Print edition for June 9, 2006

Facing a shortage of funds for roads: Nevada faces a $3.8 billion shortfall in highway funding, leaving Southern Nevadans facing an unpleasant choice: higher taxes or gridlock on most major Las Vegas Valley freeways within a decade.

Teacher's emotional last day: By Emily Richmond; "I had to tell the kids, 'Don't say anything, because I'll lose it,' " said Peters, who's wrapping up a 36-year teaching career - all at Bridger.

Editorial: Complaints stacking up: According to a Las Vegas Sun story Wednesday, the ombudsman's office in the state Real Estate Division is taking months to resolve issues between residents and homeowners associations - if the cases are resolved at all. As the Sun reported, 36 cases remain open in Northern Nevada; in Clark County 100 cases remain open, three-quarters of which have been pending for at least four months.

John Katsilometes gears up for CineVegas, which honors Sly Stallone (among others) at the Palms' Brenden Theatres: "We're paying tribute to that anniversary and to Sly as a superstar of film, someone who has a huge box-office pull," CineVegas Director of Programming Trevor Groth said Thursday. "People might wonder why we're honoring Sylvester Stallone at this time, but it's not like we're just bringing in celebrities for the sake of celebrity. We are paying tribute to real actors and filmmakers. 'Rocky' was such a landmark film, and it came out of nowhere we might have some 'Rockys' here this year."

Letter: House immigration bill is lesser of evils: First of all, I agree with Mr. Conner when he says that illegal immigration is a crime. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. The 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants presently living in the United States are lawbreakers. Regardless of how long they have been here, they are breaking the law each and every day. Pure and simple.

Jon Ralston on the embarrassing state of Nevada's judicial system: For the local judicial system. For the valley's media. And for Southern Nevada.

Letter: Smokers have no right to kill nonsmokers: For 20 years I was one of those smoke inhalers. I quit cold turkey after a close friend and fellow smoker died from lung cancer. I had a chest X-ray after I quit and was shocked at what I saw. The doctor told me my lungs would take a year to clear up - he was right.

Editorial: Better chance now for Iraq: For all of al-Zarqawi's past atrocities, including beheadings, roadside bomb attacks and mass executions, and for all of the violence and hate he was preparing to unleash in the future, we are glad that those bombs found their mark in the village of Hib Hib northwest of Baghdad.

Editorial: DUI checkpoints save lives: The American Beverage Association, however, has long opposed the checkpoints on the grounds that restaurants and bars will lose business because people will be so scared of checkpoints they won't stop for a beer after work or order a drink with their meals. The lobbying group supports the slogan, "Drink responsibly. Drive responsibly," over the more common advisory, "Don't drink and drive."

Now showing, Martin Mull: Martin Mull is standing outside the Las Vegas Art Museum, smoking a cigarette, when a bright-eyed woman carrying a bag of books to the neighboring library stops and asks, "Are you who I think you are?"

Five Burning Questions: Chicago, playing its fifth consecutive road game, played its way into the championship game despite sporting a dismal 5-9 record six weeks ago. It is Chicago's first ArenaBowl appearance after losing in the conference championship game three times in the past four years.

Liberal view grows online: By J. Patrick Coolican; After news broke last week that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid had accepted free ringside boxing tickets from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, a Web site immediately attacked the reporting.

LV blogger exposes hoax: By J. Patrick Coolican; Taylor Marsh, a local blogger at taylormarsh.com, found the story suspicious. She began digging and soon, thanks to her reporting, the whole thing unraveled. The former Broadway actress, artist and talk-radio dabbler, working on her computer from home, managed to spear an international story.

Letter: Use of escrow could solve rent dispute: One possible approach, when a tenant has complained of a significant problem that remains uncorrected as of a rent-payment date, would be to deposit the rent into an escrow account, controlled by the local government in Henderson. The landlord would be notified of the deposit, "reminded" of the tenant's complaint and required to credit the tenant with timely payment.

Jeff Haney gets wise to public betting trends forming at sports book windows for the 2006 World Cup, where the United States and Iran have been hot picks: On one side are recreational gamblers, sports fans looking to make the game a little more interesting by placing a wager. They traditionally bet favorites and popular, so-called "public," teams.

Temperance play premieres at Asylum: Titled "The Devil, the Damsel and Demon Rum," Asylum bypassed an adaptation by Irish playwright Tom Murphy in favor of a collaboration by local lyricist Mike Corda, the late Raymond Hull and Sarah O'Connell, the company's artistic director.

Tests can mean extra income, new cures: Like many people, the 40-year-old Las Vegan had heard the ads promising hundreds or even thousands of dollars for people willing to take part in medical research. He admits to some reservations:

Q+A: Bruce Mertz: Bruce Mertz got a kick out of hearing that two NBA teams, Dallas and Miami, will be making their first appearances in a championship series against each other.

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