Print edition for August 6, 2007

Jeff Haney offers recommended reading for intermediate-level sports bettors who are serious about learning how to play with an advantage: Author: King Yao

Ron Kantowski laments a sad and tragic week for Las Vegas' sports community: Actually, Cheryl Kosewicz wasn't a pirate. She only played one on TV.

Harry is really giving them hell: WASHINGTON - When Majority Leader Harry Reid took charge of the U.S. Senate, he promised longer days and longer workweeks with Democrats in charge.

Private firm's record keeping snags school that principal says is making progress: By Emily Richmond; In an office of the campus once known as West-Edison Middle School, stacks of blue three-ring binders spill out of cartons and onto the floor, telling quite a story.

Wheelchair was towed as woes piled up: By Timothy Pratt; You're on the streets. You get run over by an 18-wheeler. You wind up in a wheelchair.

Dealer who defied Wynn can't get new job: By Liz Benston; Cynthia Fields looks younger than her 39 years and has 15 years of experience as a highly rated dealer and casino manager at upscale casinos.

Letter: Ensign protects Nevadans' best interests: It's only because of the Bush tax cuts and great senators such as Ensign that help put the brakes on this spending spree that most of the Democrats would like to continue. Phil Ventura, in his Aug. 3 letter, worries that the poor children will not get proper health care. Well, talk to any medical professional and ask them the last time an individual was turned away from getting health care. Ever analyze your health care bill? A portion of that bill goes to the uninsured.

THE OPENING LINE: By Mike Trask; A couple of stories have been written recently about the greatness of Vin Scully, the legendary Dodgers announcer famous for his smooth voice and literary references.

Letter: White House abuses executive privilege: But "executive privilege" is not a blanket protection for any and all communication that takes place within the offices of the executive. It is a limited concept for certain special kinds of circumstances that should never be used to shield culpable individuals from investigation or prosecution, in the event that suspicious or highly questionable acts call for the revelation of facts and transcripts.

Editorial: Making doctor pay healthy: The New York Times reported last week that one of the rarely discussed issues in health care is how the system compensates doctors and whether it lends itself to unnecessary care and rising health care costs.

Letter: Personal income tax is immoral, tyrannical: This income is a fair trade: labor, skills, knowledge, abilities for a fair wage. Since that awful 16th Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1913, the government has been given unlimited power to intimidate, to steal assets, to increase its own power, and to keep the working person under control.

Editorial: Helping the poor: President Bush has promised to veto the legislation because it is about $1 billion (or about 1 percent) more than the president had proposed. The House measure gives $1.8 billion to the FDA for food safety efforts and $70.6 billion to mandatory Agriculture Department spending on such programs as food stamps and crop subsidies. The House approved it on a 237-18 vote, with most Republicans abstaining over a procedural matter.

Editorial: No more waiting: In a report released last week, the Government Accountability Office, the investigating arm of Congress, said it initiated the investigation because of recent and increasing criticism from Congress, the news media and the attorneys general of several states regarding the practices of companies that lend students money for college. College and university students took out more than $85 billion in federal and private loans to pay for school last year.

FLASHPOINT for Aug 06, 2007: Who says, except for Dina Titus and her parrot, Jim Gibbons, that we are at the bottom of all the good lists and the top of all the bad lists? Not so. Turns out Nevada looks down on all other states when it comes to bridge safety. The Reason Foundation ranked Nevada fi rst, with only 3.89 percent of the states many, many bridges defi cient. Minnesota, where that horrifi c collapse occurred, ranked pretty high, too fi fth, with 13 percent deemed defi cient. Now thats scary, isnt it? So now lets get back to the matter at hand ...