Print edition for February 24, 2007

Reno laughs at 'Reno 911!': J. Patrick Coolican, Las Vegas Sun; There are fortuitous events in life, like a kid watching Reggie Jackson hit a Yankee Stadium home run at his first ball game, or being in Vermont for the weekend of Phish's final shows.

Editorial: Drunk at 35,000 feet: But drunken passengers can create real safety risks - and not all of them materialize in flight. Earlier this month US Airways, Frontier and Northwest airlines were ordered to stop serving alcohol on flights into and out of New Mexico because they lacked the proper state-issued licenses.

LOOKING IN ON: UNLV BASKETBALL: The Runnin' Rebels have been transformed into the Blockin', Contestin' and Defendin' Rebels. They're winning and their growing fan base is getting more vocal by the game.

Letter: Border, ports control should be No. 1 issue: One could say, and be correct, that our Congress and our president have put all Americans at "great risk" because of their inability to enforce laws that are already in the books or pass additional laws to protect the citizens of America.

There's a new temple in town: Even as Rabbi Sanford Akselrad prepared for the grand opening of Reform Congregation Ner Tamid's new temple in Henderson this weekend, he was dreaming about ways he could further nurture the growing Jewish community in Henderson and beyond.

Letter: Salaries would stop abuse of overtime: Let me see how that adds up. Most employees work 40 hours a week and, excluding vacation, 50 weeks a year. Gee, that's 2,000 hours for a full-time employee. It seems like 30-year veteran Carl Nelson must be living at work. That is over 16 hours a day for 50 weeks. I guess no one else can do that job.

County taking its time to implement reform at UMC: Tony Cook and Marshall Allen; Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins was not bothered by an unprecedented conflict of interest involving the chief of staff at University Medical Center - even though, as a commissioner, he oversees the struggling public hospital.

School District to measure its success: By Emily Richmond; Click here for a printable graphic.

Collins' decision prevents Democratic Party fight: Michael J. Mishak; Tom Collins averted a likely power struggle within the Democratic Party when he decided this week to step down as state party chairman, officials confirmed Friday.

Editorial: Vilsack drops out of the hunt: "It is money, and only money, that is the reason we are leaving today," Vilsack said at a press conference in Des Moines.

FLASHPOINT for Feb 24, 2007: When the Gang of 63 was cobbling together a melange of tax increases in 2003, the policy behind extracting money from banks went something like this: "They can afford it. They don't pay squat. And we can do it." But that was then. Now, the bankers have managed to stay out of the poorhouse, and have purchased enough influence with the governor to have him recommend the bank tax repeal. And that brings me to an early contender for legislative quote of the session from Democratic Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce: "I look at the state of Nevada and I say to ...

Letter: Bush team chooses to go down in flames: Here is my analogy: A very wealthy man discovers that he has bats in the attic of his very expensive home and realizes that he must do something about it. Without asking the experts, he tries a strategy he heard about one time: Make a little fire up there and the smoke will drive the bats out of his attic. He does this and, sure enough, the bats are driven away.

Letter: Iraq fiasco on heads of all politicians: First, ask yourself why Al Gore and John Kerry aren't in this presidential race. Now, stop rolling your eyes and remember that in the past two elections, they were.

TAKE FIVE: PRIDE 33, 'THE SECOND COMING': Main event: Dan Henderson (12-5 mixed martial arts) vs. Wanderlei Silva (22-3-1)

Letter: Too much focus on what goes wrong here: As a nearly lifelong citizen of Las Vegas, and one who has proudly raised my family here, I take abhorrent exception, however, to the views expressed by columnist Jon Ralston on Feb. 16, in which he makes the comparison of our current city to that referred to by Gilman Ostrander some 40 years ago as the "Great Rotten Borough." His barrage continued with attacks and insulting references to several of our elected officials, particularly our newly elected governor.

Editorial: A numerical nightmare: According to the review by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, nearly all of the terrorism-related figures the department reported from 2001 through 2005 were either too high or too low. In fact, Fine's examination shows that only two of the 26 sets of figures reported during that period were accurate.