Print edition for April 1, 2007

Atkinson Gates campaign paid son six figures: By Marshall Allen, Tony Cook; Though nothing is certain in politics, Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates' 2004 re election was as close to a lock as it comes.

Reid puts dibs on Nevada's share of pork: WASHINGTON - Republicans have been badgering Democrats for weeks over the $20 billion in pork slipped in the Iraq war bill, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was unbowed. No sooner did the legislation pass the Senate than Reid broadcast the gains for Nevada.

Tropicana at 50: By Sam Morris; To escape Cuba in 1961 after spending months in a concentration camp, Jose Dominguez signed over his plantation and all his belongings to Fidel Castro's Communist government.

WEEK IN REVIEW: CARSON CITY: By Joe Schoenmann; CARSON CITY - During a hearing last week on a bill to prevent business owners from collecting and controlling tips, Sparks Assemblyman Bernie Anderson abruptly ended the proceedings after one man kept mentioning Wynn Las Vegas.

Editorial: Lack of credibility: Despite his denials, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was clearly involved in the administration's ham-handed cover-up of the hatchet job. He and the Bush administration have misled the public and Congress.

Editorial: Identifying a bad bill: The 4-3 vote last week approving Senate Bill 385, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, was divided along party lines, with opposition from all three Democrats on the Legislative Operations and Elections Committee.

Jon Ralston on the jaw-dropping audacity of Nevada's new governor and first lady: Jim and Dawn Gibbons have become a certifiable freak show, a nationally exposed embarrassment, a first couple without the first clue of how to conduct themselves. At a time when Nevada is touting itself as a presidential sweepstakes powerhouse and rapidly maturing state, we have an inept Richard Nixon and an addled Marie Antoinette. The Jim and Dawn show, live from Gibbonsville, plays almost daily, with unending policy silliness and ethical transgressions.

FLASHPOINT for Apr 01, 2007: Lawmakers do some dumb things. This we know. But the Gang of 63 will be hard-pressed to top the bill introduced last week supposedly to make oversight of the county hospital better. This is the Rube Goldberg legislation they concocted - try to follow along: The County Commission appoints 35 members to a blue-ribbon panel, which creates a nominating committee of nine members, which appoints 11 residents to be the hospital board of trustees. Really. That's what it says. Does this make any sense to anyone reading this? If so, have I got a new career for you. You, too, ...

Letter: Middle East leaders still have trump card: The two powers with the greatest influence over what would happen are Iran and Saudi Arabia. They are not threatening war in support of their respective constituencies, the Shia and the Sunni. Instead, they are talking about ways to stabilize the situation, while our two-carrier task force in the gulf is rattling sabres and beating its breast in an attempt to frighten Iran.

Letter: Legislation needed to protect pedestrians: Many streets in this city do not have crosswalks and they are poorly illuminated/advertised. Drivers often do not yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Stop lights are few and far between and often have inordinately long wait times.

Fabulous Las Vegas: But Cordell is not playing a traditional trumpet. He's blowing into a custom-fashioned Spamahorn designed specifically for the production at Wynn Las Vegas. The instrument is used just once in the show, at the moment when a gun is fired offstage and Cordell's notes spiral downward.

Brian Greenspun on a journalistic tradition worth saving in the changing world of higher-speed communications: We are constantly being challenged in the news business with new ideas about what the proper role of journalism should be in a community. Most of the new ideas are not actually new, just different takes on old ideas used to get around journalistic traditions.

Gibbons goes for the best when hiring his lawyer: WASHINGTON - The federal investigation into gifts that Gov. Jim Gibbons received from a defense contractor is not a story followed closely by legal affairs reporter Nina Totenberg. But the moment the National Public Radio correspondent heard that Gibbons had hired defense attorney Abbe Lowell, she knew what to expect.

TOWN FIRED UP: By Phoebe Sweet; To David Sims, the desert valley outside this sleepy Northern Nevada town seems the perfect place for a power plant. There are water, train tracks to carry coal, only one nearby ranch and no pesky bogs or rough terrain to get in the way of construction.And it's close enough to civilization to make it an attractive place for workers to settle, but not so close as to rile the neighbors.

566635184.html: But Cordell is not playing a traditional trumpet. He's blowing into a custom-fashioned Spamahorn designed specifically for the production at Wynn Las Vegas. The instrument is used just once in the show, at the moment when a gun is fired offstage and Cordell's notes spiral downward.

Jeff Simpson sits down for a talk with George Maloof about what's next after creating the Palms brand: I met with the Palms owner last week for a 90-minute interview at his hip Flamingo Road property, and Maloof said that while the hotel's new Fantasy Tower was under construction he had little time to consider new opportunities.

Letter: Atlantic City drafts fair smoking model: This action seeks to appease the pressure placed on the casinos from the public and their employees. Other industries make every effort to protect the health and welfare of their employees. Casino employees are not protected from the damaging effects of smoke.

Editorial: A toll, toll world?: If a plan for covering the shortfall is not forthcoming from the current legislative session, necessary work on major projects will be delayed. This would almost certainly mean that the state's major thoroughfares will experience near gridlock by 2015.

WEEK IN REVIEW: D.C.: WASHINGTON - The Senate surprised Washington last week when 50 senators voted for a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq, setting up a showdown with President Bush, who has vowed to veto the legislation.