Print edition for February 6, 2007

MOST INFLUENTIAL LAS VEGAS SPORTS FIGURES: Over the years, the Sun has ranked the area's sports movers and shakers.

John Katsilometes takes note of an Internet radio survey that shows little confidence in the Strip's new production shows: Internet radio listeners have given votes of "no confidence" to two productions that have barely hit town (one of which has not even opened). Posted on the podcast "The Strip" hosted by Las Vegas freelance journalist, podcaster and Fab LV frequenter Steve Friess and co-host Miles Smith (a producer at KVBC Channel 3) are results of a poll asking listeners, "Which of these is most likely to announce its closure next?" Listed are Danny Gans, "Folies Bergere," "Jubilee," Lance Burton, "Le Reve," "The Producers," "Monty Python's Spamalot," "Zumanity," and the critically acclaimed "Other." "The Producers," which opened just Wednesday at ...

FLASHPOINT for Feb 06, 2007: Ty Cobb was mainly known for two things during his Hall of Fame career: Lots of hits and lots of dirty plays. He had the highest batting average of all time, .367. But he was also known for sliding into opponents with his spikes up. This comes to mind after Monday's opening ceremony in Carson City, during which the Legislature's Ty Cobb performed the equivalent of a spikes-up slide on the new speaker, Barbara Buckley. Cobb already is being lauded in some partisan circles. But on this bipartisan day - OK, maybe the only bipartisan day - he was the ...

Editorial: Sex and the city: If not rejected, the sign will be a much larger advertisement for the Deja Vu-Little Darlings strip club on Western Avenue, between Charleston Boulevard and Sahara Avenue. It would reach 80 feet into the air, so that its messages would distract - er, attract - even more motorists on Interstate 15.

Editorial: Cutting is not the answer: Since the year 2000 more than 40,000 graduates of Nevada high schools have received the scholarship to go to college, and the percentage of Nevada high school graduates going to college has gone from 26 percent in 1998 to 46 percent in 2006.

Letter: Finding the keys to energy independence: These excess profits are now being used for new oil and gas development, which offers the only immediate solution to our dependence on foreign oil, other than conservation. The proposed redirection of these funds for research on renewable energy, while laudable, will not get us over the energy crisis in short order. A better way to fund these efforts would be to have additional taxes on gas, as is done in Europe.

Letter: Truck law would make driving safer: Our state and local legislators must pass a law like our neighbors in California have. Trucks should stay in the right lane and not exceed 55 mph within city limits. Last year we had several truck accidents within our cities, some resulting in death. I feel this law would help unclog our freeways and also make them safer.

Letter: States fighting for first not all different: Lou Garner; Beyond the fact that their names begin with "N," they are among the seven states that have no state income tax. (The others are Wyoming, Washington, Texas, Florida and Tennessee.)

Letter: Spreading freedom via military might ?: Jack Jurasky; Jack Jurasky, Henderson

Editorial: Why not just burn it?: There is only one encouraging fact about his budget request for this unsafe plan to bury high-level nuclear waste under the mountain 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas - it is a lower amount than he asked for last year.

Barbara McNair (1934-2007): By Ed Koch; Las Vegas entertainer Barbara McNair was all smiles on Dec. 14, 1976, as she performed at Chicago's Condesa del Mar nightclub.

Honeymoon is just beginning for Rulffes: By Emily Richmond; When Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes was hired a year ago, he said he intended to keep the post for about three years before retiring.

Chief legal counsel weighs in on regents, foundations: By Jeff German; The university system's chief legal counsel says the UNLV Research Foundation does not need Board of Regents approval to obtain a $125,000 loan to help pay for its upscale office move.

West warns Democrats: By Lisa Mascaro; WASHINGTON - The Democrats' 2008 presidential hopefuls played to adoring fans at the party's winter meeting over the weekend, but a sterner message was being sent from the Western states' caucus down the hall.

Pennies from heaven: By Timothy Pratt; PAHRUMP - Che McFadden, standing behind the counter at E-Z Cash Super Pawn, across the parking lot from the Pahrump Nugget, could recall only the customer's first name.

Tortoise may want vote on land deal: By Mike Trask; A plan to protect some Boulder City land from development - and in so doing help out the Mojave Desert tortoise - is going to take the political equivalent of a five-cushion billiards shot to achieve its twin purposes.