Print edition for November 22, 2006

A special holiday treat from Mr. Entertainment: Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun; What: The Wayne Newton Holiday Show

Editorial: Good for the holidays: According to a report released earlier this month by Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging, a substance in red wine called reservatrol helped laboratory mice live longer. Further study by French researchers showed reservatrol in red wine also boosted the physical endurance of mice and protected them from obesity and diabetes.

Youths express passion on issues: Here are the results of an informal survey of 62 of the 828 high school students who attended the Sun Youth Forum on Tuesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center:

Letter: Idea of testing a bomb in Nevada is disturbing: Are we crazy? This bomb has the magnitude of a 3.0 earthquake. I wonder if James Tegnelia, the director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the federal agency in charge of testing the bomb, is going to be present in our state for any length of time to see for himself the effects of this bomb. Will his children live here and feel what happens to our children in the next few years when they are breathing the dust from this explosion?

Editorial: Dolphins earn new respect: The annual hunt, for which the Japanese government issues permits, is expected to result in the killing of 21,000 dolphins this year, The Washington Post reported Monday. Japanese officials call the hunt a "kind of cultural activity" that has been happening each fall and winter for centuries. But something has changed. Few Japanese still eat dolphin. So the meat that hunters and their communities once consumed is now used for pet food and fertilizer - uses that came more out of a need to find ways to dispose of the meat, rather than a need to feed people who need ...

LOOKING IN ON: CITY HALL: By Mark Hansel; Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said a previous ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the Fremont Street Experience is a public forum entitles all citizens to the same privileges.

Jeff Haney talks to an industry veteran about the effect on cardrooms of the recent online gambling crackdown: Will it chase online poker players away from their computers and into casino cardrooms, generating extra business for the brick-and-mortars?

LOOKING IN ON: GAMING: By Liz Benston; Set to open early next year at Excalibur, the live music venue appears to be a departure for Pure, known for swanky clubs hosting celebrity disc jockeys and a well-dressed clientele. But Pure Managing Partner Robert Frey says Dick's will serve an important niche for folks looking for a more informal hangout. Think Coyote Ugly, Pure's unrestrained, urban-meets-country bar and club at New York-New York. To drum up business, Pure will market the club to its e-mail database of at least 300,000 customers a number rivaling that of entire casinos.

FBI drops Porter case without talking to accuser: The FBI decided not to pursue an investigation into allegations that Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., made illegal fundraising calls from his government offices without talking to the main accuser, the former Porter aide who lodged the charges said Tuesday.

Letter: U.S. troops believe in their mission in Iraq: They both state the regrettable statistic that more than 2,860 brave American troops have paid the ultimate price. But that's still not as many as our enemy took out in one day.

Putting Gov. Guinn on the throne, wink wink: Click here for a printable graphic.

Summer, the season for fake baking: Renee Dawn has been tanning for, oh, about 10 years.

FOR LOVE OF THE GAME: At the speed with which most people read a comic book, Rancho wrestler Nick Jevons flips through his advanced calculus text. He occasionally looks up to see how his fellow wrestlers are progressing or when coach Gabe Gledhill repeatedly barks a command.

Letter: 'Big Al and Mr. T' were finest of men: I began work at the Stardust on June 4, 1971. Mr. Sachs and Mr. Tobman were indeed in charge. I have never met, nor have I ever worked with, two finer men. And that is the way they were - you worked with them, not for them. They both cared for the employees, including those from the back of the house to the casino manager. They were, simply put, super to everyone.

Youths express passion on issues: By Ed Koch; The Sun Youth Forum was established 50 years ago to give Southern Nevada teens a voice - a sounding board on issues of the day and a way of expressing concerns about their future world. It did not matter whether that voice came from the naive or the well-schooled, whether the kids said things adults wanted to hear or whether the opinions were - as they say today - politically correct.

Editorial: Rider is a real page-turner: According to a recent Scripps Howard News Service story, transit companies in Albuquerque; Anchorage, Alaska; and Rochester, N.Y., have launched programs in which children's books are placed in seat pockets on public buses in hopes children will become curious and start reading.