Print edition for August 16, 2007

Letter: 'Pay for performance' is an unworkable idea: If the district is underpaying teachers now - and suffering annual teacher shortages numbering in the hundreds - how does he imagine that "pay for performance" is the solution to this problem? How does he expect us teachers to buy in? What's more, as a 12-year veteran of the district, I resent the implication that teachers haven't been performing.

Letter: Current politicians do not inspire hope: Here is some of what I think should be done:

Commentary: Pat Mulroy explains how efforts to ensure water supplies for our area are paying off: Pat Mulroy; The drought that has plagued the Colorado River since 2000 has been more severe than anyone could have foreseen. In 2002 alone, the river's flows were more than 3 trillion gallons less than normal.

CONVENTION CRASHING: ASSOCIATED SURPLUS DEALERS / ASSOCIATED MERCHANDISE DEALERS: By Brendan Buhler; The Associated Surplus Dealers and Associated Merchandise Dealers convention, at least the bit of it at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Tuesday, is, basically, a stuff convention.

After 64 years, Virginia City sports football team: AP; The 1A Muckers, who will play eight-man football, open the regular season Aug. 24 at Carlin.

Letter: Frank Rich makes column hard to read: All of the following words were in his Aug. 8 column: sycophant, ubiquitous, soliloquize, Korffian, Nixon Kool-Aid, credulous, denouement, truculent, pro forma, disingenuous, proselytized, compendium, invective, jingoistic and pseudonymous.

Editorial: Learning to get along: Great idea, neighbors say - as long as district officials build it somewhere else. A story by the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday says people who live near the proposed site of the Northeast Career and Technical Academy, at Commerce Street and Dorrell Lane, are concerned that the 1,300-student facility will create traffic, noise and litter as teens travel to and from school.

Flag goes up, drama unfurls: By Brian Hilderbrand; Baseball might be mired in the dog days of August, but the past two weeks have been anything but boring for motor sports fans.

Bizarre allegations come to light: Sam Skolnik; By now, many of the allegations against District Judge Elizabeth Halverson are common knowledge: that she ordered her bailiff to massage her neck and feet, that she fell asleep on the bench more than once and that she spoke to juries outside the presence of the lawyers in the case.

FLASHPOINT for Aug 16, 2007: Did you see where ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is dropping some of his massive holdings so certain investments can't be used against him in his campaign? This from The Washington Post: "Among them were investments in gaming companies, including Ameristar Casinos and Harrah's Entertainment. Romney has been eager to present himself as the most socially conservative candidate in the field, decrying what he has said is the debasement of the culture." Is the Post implying - or worse yet, is Romney? - that gaming debases the culture? Has the newspaper reporter or the presidential hopeful ever been to the Strip? ...

Ron Kantowski shares some e-mails his spam filter missed: It was Monday when I determined that I can take or leave office e-mail.

Letter: Group museums off the Strip so kids can go: The single leading problem with Las Vegas' art collections is that none is centrally located. They are spread throughout the Las Vegas Valley . If all the collections were brought together, including private collections on loan, Las Vegas could easily have one of the finest art collections in the Southwest, if not the nation.

Editorial: Insulting hurricane victims: Although it escaped serious damage, Tuscaloosa is cashing in. There is a rush of condominium construction in and around Tuscaloosa, with the marquee projects near the University of Alabama's football stadium. Those projects are attracting more than the die-hard Crimson Tide fans. Investors from across the country see a golden opportunity, hoping to receive rich tax breaks for buying in what the federal government designated a hard-hit area.

Chip by chip, collectors hope to build a museum: After years of gobbling up cocktail napkins, lighters, matchbooks and chips and swapping them with like minds, members of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club are looking for a home.

Letter: Nonsmokers have cost people jobs: In my view, it is the nonsmokers who do not get it.

Editorial: Let the sunshine in: A story in the Las Vegas Sun on Saturday says homeowners association members for The Parks are weary of the $9,000 a month it costs to operate the gated community's 550 gas lamps and are considering retrofitting lamps with solar panels or switching them to low-voltage electric lights.

Q+A: Joe Esposito: Joe Esposito was the organizer in Elvis Presley's chaotic life.

Not what thieves thought: By Abigail Goldman; It must have seemed like easy money; steal two statues - both seemingly bronze - sitting outside Opportunity Village, then melt them down for the value of the metal.

Apprentice program is back - and better: The popular union apprenticeship program that had served 6,000 students a semester before getting booted from the College of Southern Nevada by its outgoing president will return for the new school year , stronger and bigger than ever.

Welcome to Vegas, welcome to teaching: By Emily Richmond; It's been a busy year for the Clark County School District, as it scrambles to find the more than 3,000 teachers it will need when classes begin in in less than two weeks. All figures are as of Aug. 13.