Print edition for August 15, 2007

FLASHPOINT for Aug 15, 2007: Is it plagiarism or message discipline? At 1 p.m. Tues- day, RNC boss Mike Duncan attacked Barack Obama: "It was bad enough when Harry Reid attacked our military commanders ... But (that can't) top Barack Obama's offensive statement in New Hampshire that our men and women serving in Afghanistan are just 'air-raiding villages and killing civilians' ... Obama owes our armed forces an apology - today." Hours later, this arrived from state GOP boss Sue Lowden: "It's unfortunate that Barack Obama has taken a page from Harry Reid's playbook by disparaging our brave men and women in uniform ... Barack ...

Jeff Haney runs down the main events of the National Poker League, which has just gained a base at the Venetian: The Venetian poker room will host two of the league's five events this year including its world championship event, a three-day, $15,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold 'em tournament scheduled for Dec. 3-5.

THE ELEVATOR: Who's going to the penthouse in local sports and beyond - and who's getting the shaft:

Love story ends well, for all of us: They met as students at Kansas State. She was on the dance team. He played the three main sports. She favored baseball.

ACT scores continue modest gains for class of 2007: AP; The national average ACT composite score rose from 21.1 last year to 21.2 - on a scale of 1 to 36 - extending a recent pattern of slight but noticeable increases.

Letter: Medicare, Medicaid are in dire condition: It is time for people on Medicare and Medicaid to get active and vocal by contacting their Republican senators to begin supporting a bill passed by the House to stop the bloodletting of Medicare. This is not a threat. This is for real.

New training aimed at keeping nurses from fleeing: By Marshall Allen; UNLV and the Valley Health System are launching a one-year nursing residency program to help retain nurses in Las Vegas by introducing them to the realities of hospital care with the help of mentors.

Letter: Disabled people already protected: Why is this disabled person (and the public) unaware that our current system provides that disabled people, regardless of age, start receiving early Social Security benefits?

Editorial: Teachers packing heat?: Such a proposal died in the Nevada Legislature this year. But in two stories by the Las Vegas Sun last week, school police officials from across Nevada, members of the State Board of Regents and retired police officers raised the issue again with informal proposals for training existing teachers as reserve school police officers or training retired police officers to teach classes.

$400,000 later, little to show for health work: By Timothy Pratt; A public agency created nearly two years ago by Nevada legislators to improve health care for minorities has spent almost $400,000 - with little to show for itself as it holds its first local public meeting today.

Editorial: Plain speaking: It is written in English and taken individually the words make sense. Taken together they defy meaning. Try to decipher what a "consolidated annual deferred energy account adjustment" is. That might as well be Latin.

Letter: More reasons than pay for teachers leaving: In the first paragraph, he mentions the challenge of retaining teachers. Unfortunately, the solutions he provided later in the article focused mainly on teacher pay.

Fewer gamblers play after smoke clears: By Ed Koch; Brian Slipock felt the blood drain from his face in November when voters overwhelmingly adopted a tougher anti-smoking law for businesses that serve food.

Editorial: All alone at age 18: A story by the Associated Press on Monday reports that members of the American Bar Association back changes in foster care laws, such as legislation proposed by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that would give states the option of allowing foster children to remain in the system an extra three years. Right now, more than 20,000 foster children a year are ejected from the system at age 18, whether they are ready to support themselves or not.

Serve food or allow smoking: Trendy spots may face choice: By Liz Benston; Some of Las Vegas' hottest nightclubs and lounges must ban smoking because they also operate as restaurants at other times of the day, health authorities have quietly concluded.

Jon Ralston on the disingenuous tactics Rep. Porter is facing: Iraq, of course.

UNLV's place in the sun: Christina Littlefield; Nearly two years ago former President Bill Clinton challenged an audience of Las Vegas business and civic leaders to take the fledgling alternative energy industry to the next level. No other region in the country, he said, is better positioned to capitalize on thermal, wind and solar energy.

Letter: It is getting too expensive to live here: Among the expenses that are far more costly than in New York are car insurance, car registration, water, electricity and gasoline.