Print edition for April 27, 2007

'Nasty' is in no hurry to get home: Wranglers reserve goaltender Kevin Nastiuk has proven as dependable as the rig he steered from Edmonton to New York to Florida and then to playoff success in Las Vegas.

TAKE FIVE: UNLV FOOTBALL: His players won't report for training camp for three more months, but you get the impression that UNLV head football coach Mike Sanford wishes he could open camp next week.

Mosaic couch comes to rest in great outdoors: By Kristen Peterson; About six years ago San Francisco Bay Area artist Sofie Siegmann came to town to create a mosaic couch. The commissioned project, a piece of functional art created for the Lied Discovery Children's Museum, was completed with the help of a couple of local unions and volunteer youth groups.

John Katsilometes happens upon Pamela Anderson, who might not be moving into 'Pamorama' after all: During her stint with the production, which starts May 24 and should last at least three months, Anderson will flop at a Planet Hollywood suite. So I asked her when she would move into Panorama Towers - or, "Pamorama" as she likes to call the high-rise project on Dean Martin Drive just west of the Strip.

FLASHPOINT for Apr 27, 2007: Harry Reid probably thought Dick Cheney's fusillade was the harshest. But not so. The vice president's assault on the Senate majority leader over the "war is lost" imbroglio was nothing compared with punditry dean David Broder in The Washington Post this week. Broder compared Reid to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as "a continuing embarrassment , thanks to his amateurish performance." Broder even compared the various defenses of Reid to Bill Clinton's famous parsing of the definition of "is." Now that is harsh. Broder concluded that the Democrats "deserve better" and the "country needs more" than Reid as the Senate leader. ...

Jon Ralston on the politics being played out after the county's late but noisy arrival to the debate over flight path's right turn: The county's coy silence and Switzerland impersonation during this manufactured controversy has been surpassed only by the pandering party and cynical campaign at Las Vegas City Hall. The city has brandished an erratic blunderbuss, which has fired at noise, safety and air quality when convenient. The county has donned a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil and especially speak-no-evil mask to conduct its charade of non-intervention.

Editorial: School-snack attack: The institute, an arm of the federal government's National Academies, created the standards at the request of Congress, which noted the rising obesity rate among youngsters. Recent figures show that about 30 percent of U.S. people ages 6 to 19 are overweight.

Editorial: Institute reaches out: The institute is starting to move in the right direction and, as Jeff German reported in Wednesday's Las Vegas Sun, will today hold a seminar on limiting terrorism risks in Southern Nevada. That is an important step forward, given the institute's past. After receiving millions of dollars in federal grants, the institute fell far short of expectations and faced questions from federal officials who wanted to know what the institute was doing.

Letter: Bush's hypocrisy too blatant to ignore: "I'll veto a bill that restricts our commanders on the ground in Iraq, a bill that doesn't fund our troops, a bill that's got too much spending on it ... We stand united in saying loud and clear that when we've got our troops in harm's way, we expect that troop to be fully funded; and we've got commanders making tough decisions on the ground, we expect there to be no strings on our commanders; and that we expect the Congress to be wise about how they spend the people's money."

Letter: Nevada could use more volunteers: As professionals in the field of national and community service, we're responsible for promoting and developing our volunteer programs: AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and VISTA, which were not measured in the report. These programs generate thousands more volunteers who serve throughout Nevada. Yet, while the report may not tell the whole story of service in the state, it still begs some questions. Does Nevada value the economic, civic and altruistic benefits of volunteering? Do we invest in public policies that support volunteering, an investment that is capable of returning much more than it costs?

Letter: Now is the time for real action in Iraq: I agree that the Virginia Tech incident and our soldiers' deaths are tragic, and I feel extreme sorrow for all the families involved. But most Americans seem to overlook the biggest tragedy of all, the deaths of innocent people in Iraq.

Editorial: Not bowing to pressure: Refusing to buckle to threats of a presidential veto, the House and Senate approved a $124 billion war spending bill that includes an Oct. 1 deadline for phased withdrawal of combat troops.

Speedy bus on the way: Vegas-Henderson on the map: By Mike Trask; Retiree Ron Nocei waited patiently for a bus, reading the newspaper and sipping water.

New fields still a dream: By Mike Trask; Former UNLV baseball player Tim Johnson knows a lot about the game. One of the most basic things he knows is that players need a place to play.

Letter spells it out: Dems back Reid: WASHINGTON - Supporters of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid mounted a defense over his "war is lost" comment Thursday, responding to critics whose ranks grew to include veteran Washington Post columnist David Broder.

State shortfall grim and grimmer: CARSON CITY - The state is expected to receive tens of millions of dollars less in taxes and fees than predicted over the next two years, leaving legislators and Gibbons administration officials facing the politically unpalatable prospect of budget cuts.

Judge out of order, ethics claims say: Sam Skolnik; Former Nevada Supreme Court Justice Nancy Becker is under fire from defense lawyers claiming she may have committed ethics violations during her recent transition to the Clark County District Attorney's Office.