Print edition for April 19, 2007

Editorial: Emergence of a true hero: Construction worker Wesley Autrey displayed that trait in January when he put his life on the line as he jumped into the path of an oncoming New York City subway train to save a young man who had fallen off the subway platform after suffering a seizure. On Monday at Virginia Tech several other heroes emerged. One who stood out was engineering and math lecturer Liviu Librescu, who sacrificed his life to save the lives of students who escaped the campus massacre.

FLASHPOINT for Apr 19, 2007: I'd love to be at the Clark County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner tonight - and who wouldn't? Presidential hopeful John McCain will be there for a quick speech. He will even make himself available to the media - unlike many politicians, McCain is pretty accessible and loves to chat up the Fourth Estate types. I am sure he is ready for the question: If you have such a high-powered Nevada campaign team, including Sig Rogich and Robert Uithoven, why did you raise hundreds of thousands less in the state than Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney? Or maybe: Don't you ...

Letter: Real enemy is in Afghanistan: Our enemy was in Afghanistan, and possibly in some other countries, not Iraq. We drew the enemy into Iraq like a magnet. Leaving Iraq would remove that attraction and our enemy would most likely leave. They know the Iraq people don't like them any more than they like the United States.

John Katsilometes relates a war story from a decorated WWII vet known to most of us as a venerable comedian: Not widely known is that the recent Gold Coast headliner, who just started a series of dates with his wife, Karon Kate Blackwell, is a decorated veteran of World War II. Allen, still punching away at age 85, possesses a Soldier's Medal for bravery for helping stop a fire that threatened a B-24 heavily loaded with bombs. The incident occurred in 1944, when Allen was stationed with the 15th Air Force in Foggia, Italy. He was a member of the ground crew loading a B-24 for a bombing raid on the Romanian oil fields of Ploietsi, a 1943-44 campaign that ...

Editorial: A lack of trust: President Bush has promised to veto the legislation because of provisions that would require his administration to give Congress a detailed report about CIA prisons, interrogation methods and funding amounts for the so-called "black budget." Still, Senate Democrats aren't giving up on the legislation, hoping that with further negotiation they can gain its passage.

TAKE FIVE: CCSN SLUGGER TYLIEN MANUMALEUNA: Leaving home, in St. George, Utah, for the first time was almost too difficult for sophomore slugger Tylien Manumaleuna.

Letter: Take responsibility for your own life: Before any aid is given to anyone, an analysis should be made to determine how many of the subprime loans were taken out by people who took out loans (lines of credit or mortgages) on their existing homes to finance speculative properties, hoping to strike it rich in the short term.

Letter: Tragedy shouldn't alter right to bear arms: Normal human emotions all, in light of the feeling of helplessness in our ability to cleanse the world of any and all atrocities such as this. Bonnie Erbe's commentary in the April 18 Las Vegas Sun states, in part, "As long as weapons are widely available these massacres will continue unabated." Before being consumed by our own disgust, blaming the wrong perpetrator and attacking our constitutional rights over this, I submit that a reality check is in order.

In mixed company, g-word now off limits: Timothy Pratt, Las Vegas Sun; It's the g-word.

LOOKING IN ON: CARSON CITY: CARSON CITY - Newly purchased hybrid vehicles may be exempt for five years from smog checks in Clark and Washoe counties under a plan being reviewed by the Senate Finance Committee.

The Most Beautiful People in Las Vegas: Las Vegas Weekly Staff; Our entirely non-scientific, completely infallible list

Family violence: The ties that bind: By Abigail Goldman; Geng Ozaki's brother set him on fire .

Letter: Nothing gained with McCain's trip to Iraq: Asserting that the capital of Iraq is now safe for shopping was unbelievable by anyone's standards. He was surrounded by armed soldiers, the head general in Iraq and most likely Blackwater personnel who are hired to protect the high and mighty who visit Iraq.

'Outstanding work' in 2005, fired in 2006: By Lisa Mascaro; WASHINGTON - A Justice Department official involved in discussions about replacing U.S. attorneys sent a letter praising Nevada's top prosecutor, Daniel Bogden, for "outstanding work" 18 months before he was fired.

Letter: Has Bush ever done anything positive?: After all of these years as our country's leader, there must be at least one good thing he has done. So please, if there is, let us know.

Letter: Shooting shows we need to do better: The shooter at Virginia Tech was known to be mentally ill and suicidal. He also had a record of stalking two women. Certainly he was no candidate for gun ownership, but he had no felony record. I don't see how Second Amendment supporters can argue that mentally ill, aggressive and suicidal people should be permitted to be a part of "a well-regulated militia."

Editorial: Water ruling brings hope: A long-standing request from Southern Nevada officials to draw water from Spring Valley, a rural area in White Pine County - about 350 miles north of Las Vegas - was approved Monday by State Engineer Tracy Taylor.

Letter: U.S. has no strategy to win in war in Iraq: If the stakes are really that high, then the president and the previous Republican-run Congress seem to have been dragging their feet for the past five years. Certainly, far more could have been put into this much sooner, and many advisers had been suggesting just that (and long before the current Congress took control). If we haven't put our all into it by this time, and we're still not doing so, then it isn't just the current Congress that should be chastised in this whole mess.