Print edition for August 3, 2007

Ron Kantowski on how the diversion of sports disappears when we hear about something important, such as Kruger's operation: That's not the way it should be, just the way it is. And you have to admit that a home run chase or a big ballgame can act as insulation from the real world; a proverbial drink of water and a tucking in from mom in the middle of the night after a bad dream.

Overtime total jumps again: By Jeff German, Mike Trask; Overtime total jumps again

Trying to uncork one: By Mike Trask; In a New Jersey garage Michael Fiess is doing the unmentionable. He's taking a drill press to the business end of Rawlings bats, stuffing the lumber with cork and shipping the merchandise around the country.

Letter: GOP candidates should face the truth: My interest goes to the current crop of Republican candidates vying to become their party's nominee: Will you use this picture, which shows our warrior president in a true facsimile as is, or will you treat this photo as if it never existed?

Editorial: Going nowhere fast: U.S. Transportation Department statistics show that 26 percent of the nation's flights were late or canceled during the first five months of this year - the worst record since 1995. Officials from FlightStats, a private company that tracks air travel data, told The Washington Post in a story on Wednesday that 20,000 flights were canceled in June, and only 69 percent of June's flights arrived on time.

Letter: Ensign has priorities out of whack: It is embarrassing that 20 percent of the population of the world's richest country is without health care coverage. It is loathsome that children make up a large portion of that 20 percent. A recent UNICEF study showed that the United States ranked 20th out of 21 countries in a survey of child welfare among wealthy nations.

FLASHPOINT for Aug 03, 2007: Oscar Goodman is like Sisyphus. Or so he said Thursday. Of course the mayor was not referring to his fellow promoter of commerce's avarice and deceit. He was making the more well-known reference to the mythic Greek rolling the boulder up the hill - downtown, in this case - and then having it roll back over him. The only way to stop that boulder from crushing Goodman, he said, is to always be supportive of his grand, certainly un-Sisyphean schemes: "I'm not going to allow people around me to bring their bad karma I don't have any time for any ...

Jon Ralston on campaign money, Yucca Mountain: If I told you that this same elected official, only a few weeks after accepting the money from this outfit, was pummeling another Nevada pol for his lack of purity on the repository, you might think I was taking the joke too far.

Editorial: Placing the blame: This week the military announced it was reprimanding senior Army officers, including a retired three-star general, for essentially covering up the fact that Tillman's death in April 2004 was caused by friendly fire. Initially the Army said the former NFL star turned Army Ranger was killed by insurgents in a battle in Afghanistan and posthumously awarded Tillman the Silver Star.

Letter: Teachers' needs not being addressed: Thank you for your support of teachers. The public needs to know that teachers are getting the shaft again. Sadly, the state legislators we teachers helped to elect abandoned us.

CONVENTION CRASHING: THE WORLD SHOE ASSOCIATION: Espadrilles. They're the only type of women's shoe I can remember - and only because of an informal, at-home lecture series titled "Espadrilles: Theory and Practice" - and all I know about them is that whatever they are, they are called espadrilles.

Sellers offer shortcut to games' hard-earned perks: Joe T. is a budding black market entrepreneur. For $800 under the table, the 22-year-old can outfit you with a virtual army. This is a criminal bargain, people. And Joe will finance.

Judge in ad for firm is off its case: Sam Skolnik; For judges, little is more important than their reputation for rock-solid impartiality. It's an age-old rule: Don't play favorites in the courtroom - and make sure not to allow for the appearance of bias.

Editorial: Children's health insurance: The Senate has been debating a five-year extension of the program, which now covers 6.6 million poor children. The Senate's proposal boosts current spending by $35 billion and would add 3.2 million children to the program. The bill would pay for the increase by raising the tobacco tax.

Art that's all around you: Kristen Peterson, Las Vegas Sun; You can't argue the visibility. Thousands traipse the Clark County Government Center's rotunda each week.