Print edition for November 1, 2006

Letter: It's time to bring our troops home: Iraqi deaths are reported to range from about 32,000 to about 650,000. We have spent millions of borrowed dollars on this war of presidential choice. I think most will agree our soldiers are now adding to instead of reducing the violence.

Jeff Simpson shares some final Stardust thoughts with Bill Boyd: When he discusses memories from his two decades-plus as owner of the Stardust, he doesn't shed crocodile tears. But there's no mistaking his appreciation of the property that took him into the casino industry's big leagues - most notably his affection for Stardust employees, folks he considers family.

Editorial: A phone call in time ...: An estimated 600,000 people whose health insurance is provided by Sierra Health Services could be affected by the impasse, as their doctors have privileges at hospitals within the Sunrise Health group.

Jon Ralston on this election season's Top 10 performances: You don't have to dwell on the governor's race - and if just for this space in this brief moment, I will not - to find shamelessness the defining feature. It's clogging your mailboxes and polluting your televisions every day - I often wonder how many people during this time simply pull out all the political mail and toss it, or push the "mute" button when they hear someone about to approve a message.

Editorial: Stardust memories: Closure and demolition of the longtime Las Vegas icon will make way for Echelon Place, a $4 billion megaresort that Boyd Gaming will begin building in June. That project is part of the new Las Vegas, for which the Stardust and other old-time casinos have had to move aside. In the not-so-distant past, Las Vegas also bid farewell to such staples as the Desert Inn, Sands and Dunes.

FLASHPOINT for Nov 1, 2006: Have you ever seen more schadenfreude than the Gibbons- Mazzeo saga has spawned? Its as if all of the pent-up envy and/or disdain that has accrued over the years toward Jim Gibbons and his guru, Sig Rogich, is pouring out over the last few weeks. Republicans who have been amazed that Gibbons was poised to become the partys standard-bearer for years are snickering and tossing out I-told-you-sos. Imagine what the Bob Beers supporters are saying these days. And Rogichs detractors, many envious of his success and self-promotion, are piling on with a vengeance. They are writing his epitaph, lambasting his ...

Letter: More than two options for Iraq: For the past several years, we have been told our choices in Iraq were to "stay the course" or to "cut and run." How stupid is that? Even a 7-year-old would know that there must be many other options, all of them better than the first two.

DULY NOTED: It has been said that boys will be boys. But unfortunately, when it comes to boys playing high school football, men sometimes will be men.

One degree of separation among players around surveillance tapes: Jeff German and Sam Skolnik; Click here for a printable graphic.

Behind the wheel of a thrill ride ride: Matt Towery drives a three-year-old Ford pickup truck and wants to move his wife and four children into a bigger home. The Bakersfield homebuilder plows his profits back into land.

Editorial: Just say no ... for adults?: According to a recent USA Today story, adults ages 19 to 29 will be the new focus in 2007 of a federally funded campaign that funnels millions of dollars into grants to public and private programs that promote sexual abstinence until marriage. The program once focused only on youths younger than 18.

Democrats' TV ad capitalizes on allegations against Gibbons: In a tough new television advertisement, the Nevada Democratic Party seeks to capitalize on the controversy over Rep. Jim Gibbons' alleged assault of a woman by saying that "Nevada is waiting for answers" to "lingering questions" about the incident.

911 call from sister of Mazzeo surfaces: Barry M. Horstman; A fourth 911 call dealing with the Rep. Jim Gibbons-Chrissy Mazzeo incident surfaced Tuesday, one in which Mazzeo's sister frantically inquired whether Mazzeo had yet called police to claim that she had been assaulted by Gibbons.

Tapes worth little without proof of their authenticity: Sam Skolnik and Jeff German; The parking garage surveillance tapes that have become critical evidence in the Gibbons-Mazzeo incident will be difficult to authenticate because they could have been faked fairly easily, security experts said Tuesday.

British tourist dies after going home: British tourist Terry Brace, whose surgery and prolonged recovery at University Medical Center left more questions than answers for his family, has died after returning home - stoking a Las Vegas mystery that may be solved for the family by medical experts in England.

Letter: Public education in America at a crossroads: Parental involvement is crucial. However, it still cannot raise every kid to the "well above average" level of proficiency on state standards indicated by an "A." Without standards, grades are meaningless. With them, we expect a bell curve of grade distribution.

How do you close a casino?: Liz Benston, Las Vegas Sun; Tony Taeubel, until recently the general manager of the Stardust, can reel off the names of many of the historic property's longtime employees, casino games and property quirks, such as the time capsule buried somewhere beneath the parking lot decades ago that still hasn't been found.

Jeff Haney on one gambling author's disillusionment: He recalls sitting across the table from greats of the game such as Johnny Moss and Jack Straus in the 1980s, when downtown Las Vegas - rather than the Strip - was the place to play poker.