Print edition for August 21, 2007

Editorial: Get tough with Rizzolo: Henry, whose injuries were inflicted by club employees, eventually sued Rizzolo and was awarded $10 million. The beating, the latest in a long list of unsavory activities at the club, also invigorated an ongoing federal investigation of Rizzolo and his staff and operations.

LOOKING IN ON: ENTERTAINMENT: By Jerry Fink; Concerts at Jillian's in the ill-fated Neonopolis may be something akin to fiddling while Rome burns, but the musicians play on while owners and politicians strive to save the $100 million retail center.

Editorial: A missed opportunity: A story by the Las Vegas Sun on Saturday says School District officials pulled the plug last week on plans to build the 1,300-student career and technical school in North Las Vegas after council members in that city insisted that the district pay for a traffic light and for widening the road next to the school.

Letter: Californians should have stayed there: Well, Elmer, I moved away from California 17 years ago to get away from people like you. But now look what you and others have gone and done - followed me here.

Letter: Ignore the media, vote for integrity: One might wonder how many polls and numbers the media spoke of when Washington, Lincoln or the Roosevelts campaigned . Were they admired by voters for how long they ran for election, or how much money their families had, or how many millions they collected from special-interest groups for their campaign, to be "paid back" later?

Unions hold keys, some bigger than others, to caucus: By J. Patrick Coolican; CulinaryCulinaryCulinary. It's all you ever hear from political watchers these days, as everyone anticipates the 60,000-strong union's endorsement in Nevada's Jan. 19 Democratic presidential caucus. The leading candidates are going to the union hall and promising to march with workers if they go on strike against MGM Mirage after a vote next month. The national press is writing profiles of Culinary chief D. Taylor. The thinking is that the caucus won't have a big turnout, and the candidate with Culinary Local 226 in its corner will have an army of get-out-the-vote volunteers with a proven track record, at least in ...

Chasing gold in Vegas: By Rob Miech; The U.S. national basketball team has not played in the past three major international finals, a first since the FIBA World Championships started in 1950 in Buenos Aires, Argentina .

For 'Stony,' the farewell is fitting: Sam Skolnik; Most court bailiffs don't rate lavish retirement ceremonies in the glass-roofed "canyon" lobby of the Regional Justice Center, complete with farewell toasts from the Clark County sheriff, the district attorney, the chief judge of District Court and a Las Vegas councilman.

Letter: Way of life ruined by planes taking off: Do you remember the fracas about zoning changes when a casino or even a pharmacy was allowed into a residential neighborhood? The growling and grumbling of those jets every minute from 6 in the morning until sometimes even 2 the next morning seem to me much worse than a neighborhood location of a pharmacy or a casino.

CORRECTIONS: In Friday's story on judicial elections, it was incorrectly reported that two Henderson justices of the peace and one North Las Vegas justice of the peace would be facing reelection in 2008. In Henderson, one justice of the peace is running for reelection, and there will be an open election for a newly created seat. In North Las Vegas, the justice of the peace race will be for a newly created seat.

Money vs. message on Yucca: Jeff German and Steve Kanigher; Las Vegas has been one of the fiercest forces in Nevada's longtime fight against the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

Letter: After tragedy, it's time to fix infrastructure: Was I shocked by the seemingly lack of positive action by the administration and Congress? No, because that is their usual response after such an incident in lieu of taking appropriate corrective measures. Procrastination, complaining about the enormous costs, empty rhetoric, blaming others, talk of raising taxes - all part of the normal reaction these days .

FLASHPOINT for Aug 21, 2007: For Jon Porter, the congressman besieged by anti-war activists and targeted by national Democrats, it's a potentially winning move. Bringing in Phil Speight, who I think has been Henderson city manager since WWII, as his chief of staff, Porter is trading a non-Nevadan for one with deep roots in the place where the congressman needs them to be planted: his district. Porter's current top aide, Mike Hesse, is headed home to Colorado, which is fortuitous for the congressman and Speight. The city manager has a ton of relationships after all his years in local government, relationships that may be able ...

Editorial: Who's kidding whom?: The network took 40 children between the ages of 8 and 15 and put them on a New Mexico movie ranch, tasking them with forming a society in the re-created ghost town Bonanza City - without the interference of adults. Some critics, including the mother of a child who was on the show, say the network skirted child labor laws and exploited the children, charges the network disputes.

At UNR, no escaping D.C. chatter: Michael J. Mishak; RENO - A Republican forum in Reno on Monday was billed as an opportunity for presidential candidates and foreign policy experts to debate substance five months before the Nevada caucuses.

STEPHEN J. ROMEO: 1952-2007: Stephen J. Romeo, a local high school sports hero who carved out a three-decade career as a Nevada veterinarian, died Thursday at his Las Vegas home after a lengthy illness. He was 54.