Print edition for October 6, 2006

Las Vegas loses its 'first lady': An ailing Toni Clark struggled to stay awake at 2 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2001, to watch the televised implosion of the Augusta Tower of the Desert Inn with her longtime companion and future husband Larry Finuf.

For patients willing to pay, doctor is always in: By Marshall Allen; Jerry Rakower woke up nauseated Wednesday morning, called his physician at 9 and saw the doctor before noon.

Yuck, a mountain of trash for Nevada: Launce Rake, Las Vegas Sun; A California garbage company has taken over a Nevada landfill, positioning itself to transport trash by railroad through Las Vegas to its final burial grounds.

It's a good time to seek price breaks: The housing market slowdown has prompted builders to seek price cuts from contractors in a bid to make new homes more affordable.

Editorial: Rewarding mediocrity: The School Board is to vote next week on a measure that calls for purchasing flags for 248 schools - 182 for schools that have met the federal requirements and 66 for those that haven't passed federal muster but have shown at least a 5 percent improvement in academics. The flags would be one of six colors, depending on the level of achievement. About 70 schools would not qualify for any banner. Total cost for the flags is expected to be $7,600 to $48,250, depending on the type of banners chosen.

Editorial: Straw that broke the elephant's back: Gulugian-Taylor's resignation is just the latest trouble the Republicans have had under state party Chairman Paul Adams.

Jon Ralston on Porter's laughable attack on Hafen: The public's right to know is paramount: Asked about those cutthroat ads he is running against native Nevadan Tessa Hafen, Rep. Jon Porter this week had a solemn answer for NewsOne's Jeff Gillan.

Letter: Voters look other way when others sacrifice: When President Johnson realized that we could not win in Vietnam, he did not run for re-election in 1968. When Richard Nixon succeeded Johnson and took office, he gave us three years of Henry Kissinger, in Paris, having secret meetings with the Viet Cong.

Jeff Haney offers some tips on betting on the new NHL season: By Jeff Haney; For bookmakers, enticing sports gamblers to bet on hockey has always been a much dicier proposition.

John Katsilometes notes the odd but strangely appropriate pairing of events on Oct. 28 that will close the venerable Stardust: But not simultaneously.

Yukking it up along the Strip: Here's the schedule of comedians who are in town or coming soon:

Letter: Sense of fear replaces sense of reason: You can expect politicians such as John Ensign, Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter to disregard this evidence and to continue their support of President Bush while avoiding discussions about the war. It's harder to explain why 40 percent of those in a recent poll still rated Bush favorably. Perhaps it was because the White House's war on terror has engulfed them with such a sense of fear that they lost their sense of reason.

Editorial: It's their party: The funding measure, which was tagged onto the defense spending bill Congress passed last week, was introduced by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. According to The New York Times, McConnell promoted the bill because those who returned from fighting in Vietnam "had to sneak back in and were spit upon." So money was set aside for a "commemoration for success."

FLASHPOINT for Oct 06, 2006: At this point, no matter how annoying some people might find it, it is not more irritating than hearing people talk about it. Especially when they say they can't vote for a candidate for the state's most important office because of it. It is state Sen. Dina Titus' heavy Georgia accent, still intact after all these years. I cannot tell you how many people mention it - in a negative way. It's a real issue. Which is incredible. I understand people respond to the shallowest stimuli in campaigns - demagoguery about voting records or platforms. But an accent? How can ...

Letter: Suggestions to curb gang violence in schools: These may be very aggressive steps for security, but something has to be done that can be witnessed by the public. Adding more school police is not the answer. Let's open our eyes and make some changes that can be seen and not just heard.