Print edition for April 22, 2007

Letter: Virginia Legislature dropped ball in 2006: Once again the Sun comes down on the wrong side of an issue by blaming the ready availability of guns for the actions of a deranged individual at the Virginia Tech campus.

FLASHPOINT for Apr 22, 2007: I have waited more than two decades covering Harry Reid to hear him utter a four-letter word. And with all the possibilities out there, who would have guessed that word would be "lost?" But judging by the reaction to the Senate majority leader's attachment of that label to the Iraq war, he might as well have used the four-letter epithet Vice President Dick Cheney used to address Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. With all the outrage expressed by salivating Republicans and the right-wing blogosphere, and the expected backtracking by Reid, people have to wonder how the senator could have been ...

Editorial: Women's rights disregarded: The Supreme Court's decision last week means that doctors who perform partial-birth abortions could face prosecution, fines and even prison time. The 2003 law had been blocked from being enforced because of lower court rulings that the Supreme Court overturned in its 5-4 decision on Wednesday.

Letter: Sick society breeds sick individuals: In my middle-class neighborhood lives a young homeless man. He walks the area rummaging through trash containers. He talks to himself and pounds his head occasionally as he walks in a world of his own.

WEEK IN REVIEW: WASHINGTON D.C.: WASHINGTON - The Senate appearance by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales captivated Washington last week, but local issues still got their 15 minutes of fame.

A LONG WAY GONE, A LONG WAY TO GO: By Joe Schoenmann; Life is no longer an abstract concept for Tom Urbanski.

Shifting politics, Senate gig reduce BOB to just Bob: By Joe Schoenmann; CARSON CITY - Four years ago Bob Beers was an original.

WEEK IN REVIEW: CARSON CITY: By J. Patrick Coolican; CARSON CITY - Assemblymen Marcus Conklin and Ruben Kihuen are young Democratic up-and-comers from Las Vegas who made a case for a state lottery this week with a cogent presentation, whatever one thinks of the merits.

Letter: This is not what our forebears envisioned: He also makes an analogy to cars, asking whether we should make cars illegal. I doubt that anyone begins his morning commute with the specific intent to mow somebody down. Columnist Bonnie Erbe's position that weapons are all too widely and easily available is correct. That is what needs to be addressed.

Letter: Being well-armed can prevent tragedy: And let's not forget Columbine, the Beltway snipers, Charles Whitman and countless other twisted souls who killed randomly.

'We're offering action, not just words': In an effort to shift attention from this administration's failed policies - and I say that in the plural - the president and his allies have repeatedly questioned whether I and my fellow Democrats support our troops. No one wants us to succeed in Iraq more than the Democrats. We've proven that time and time again since this war started more than four years ago. We take a back seat to no one in supporting our troops, and we will never abandon our troops in a time of war.

Empty words or empty house: When Gov. Jim Gibbons and his wife moved into the Governor's Mansion in Carson City, they were shocked to find, in their words, a largely empty residence.

Letter: It's long past time to end war in Iraq: The GOP Congress approved $25 million for a "victory celebration" in Iraq, for what? What will be the victory? How will it be defined (or disguised as such)?

Editorial: Answer war critics directly: It was sounded again Thursday after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid remarked that the war in Iraq "is lost."

Jon Ralston knows better, but still hopes against hope that the small-thinking governor and Legislature can come up with answers to Nevada's big problems: The harshness of that assessment aside, this longtime observer was referring to the mind-numbingly familiar avoidance behavior exhibited by the Gang of 63, the frequency of which occurs in inverse proportion to the number of days remaining in a session.

Jack Sheehan cruises through books by men who showed us a Las Vegas that's long gone: This sprint of ours toward becoming a megalopolis can be exhausting. I would imagine even Paris Hilton tires of all the pestering paparazzi and Strip nightclub openings and occasionally feels like kicking off her Manolo Blahniks and text-messaging for a while.

Editorial: Teachers in short supply: Las Vegas Sun education reporter Emily Richmond reported Friday that district recruiters, who have been fanning out across the country since September, have interviewed 3,700 prospective candidates in their quest to hire more than 1,600 teachers.

Brian Greenspun tells how fitting it is that a school should be named for one who gave all for children: That would be Sandra Lee Thompson Elementary School, which celebrated its official dedication Wednesday night. And that is what the first Student Council president, Monte Soderquist, said in his message for the Thompson Times. "I think everyone should join the Student Council and experience our school's motto: Service, Challenge, Excellence. Thompson Rocks!"

Jeff Simpson tells how the Molasky office center may get gold for going green: The Molasky Corporate Center is almost ready to open, and its developers expect the 16-story project to be named the valley's first LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) office complex, and believe they'll get the gold level of certification, the second-highest level awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council.