Print edition for September 7, 2006

TAKE FIVE: VOLLEYBALL LEGEND Karch Kiraly: What: Gods and Goddesses of the Beach Tournament

Editorial: Take heart in the future: Previous artificial hearts, such as the Jarvik, were designed as stop-gap devices until transplants could be performed. Most were either much larger or performed only part of a heart's function, and they required recipients to be hooked up to an external power source at all times.

Rock rules: Is the county playing an old-fashioned tune?: Ever since Ian Gillan got a cold, you've needed a license to rock in Clark County.

Letter: Grateful Iraqis more prevalent than shown: The gratitude shown by the vast majority of Iraqis, who want desperately to live in peace and safety, touched their sons deeply. And the Iraqis also were near unanimity in their belief that, despite Islamic fascist actions, conditions were far worse under the rule of Saddam Hussein.

Over-the-top summer theater presents a timely message: By Kristen Peterson; It's the opening of Sam Shepard's "The God of Hell," a sci-fi political dark comedy, at the Community College of Southern Nevada. The cast just rehearsed a segment of the one-act, 70-minute attack on the Bush administration delivered in the wacky, over-the-top format of absurdist theater.

Investigating the unthinkable: Clark County coroner investigator Bill Gazza stands in a dark room with a remote in his hand.

Letter: Brainwashing of American public stops now: The Bush administration lied to the American people from Day One concerning the war and the reasons for going to war. The Bushites had no plan to win the peace in Iraq, and never listened to our military in terms of how to conduct the war. It has become very evident that we have not had enough boots on the ground since Day One of our invasion.

Drug study aimed at Hispanics: A clinical trial under way in Las Vegas brings to light not only the increased rate of Alzheimer's disease among Hispanics but also the challenges in getting Hispanics to participate in such trials.

Letter: Harris wants to fix what's not broken: The United States was founded on secular principles, affirmed in the Constitution by forbidding a religious test as a qualification for office, reaffirmed and strengthened by the free exercise and establishment clauses of the First Amendment, re-emphasized and explained in wide-ranging correspondence among the Founders (most notably the letters of Thomas Jefferson), and reiterated in such internationally binding documents as the Treaty of Tripoli.

Half a million reasons not to worry: Sam Skolnik; His fundraising list reads like a Who's Who of Las Vegas luminaries: Andre Agassi gave him $1,000. So did boxing promoter Bob Arum and former Desert Inn President Burton Cohen. Peter Eliades, owner of the Olympic Garden topless club, ponied up $5,000.

Editorial: Horses reflect our heritage: But the measure, which is backed by most of Nevada's congressional delegation, is long overdue and should be passed quickly. It calls for banning the slaughter of horses and other equines, such as burros, for human consumption.

FLASHPOINT for Sep 07, 2006: The parade has begun, folks. Tune in tonight to see former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, seen by many as the centrist Democratic solution to Hillary Clinton, on "Face to Face." Warner has studied the homeland security issue and was here to show off his bona fides and stump with local candidates. All these folks will be asked about their record on Yucca Mountain, and Warner seemed puzzled when I refreshed his memory about being one of three governors to sign a 2005 letter hyped by the Nuclear Energy Institute that advocated finishing the dump by 2010. Warner, of course, now ...

Editorial: Seeking political security: Port security measures, money for domestic security programs, legislation to authorize President Bush's terror surveillance program and creation of military tribunals for terror suspects are expected to be the issues du jour for Congress, while immigration reform fades into the politically safe background.

Q+A: JERRY SCHILLING: In "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead," playwright Tom Stoppard focuses on two minor characters and uses Shakespeare's "Hamlet" as the background of the story.