Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.
So by now I am sure you are close to sated - with holiday calorie-busting delights, New Year's festivities and, of course, the raft of Top 10 lists from 2006. But as you pored over the shocking news that the governor's race and the G-Sting convictions were amid the prominent local news stories of '06 - who knew? - did you ever stop to think about a Top 10 List of Stories We Wish Had Been the Top 10 Stories of last year?
I did:
10. On Election Night, Sen. Harry Reid is spotted at Sen. John Ensign's victory party exchanging high-fives. "Thanks for helping me raise all that money," Ensign is overheard saying. When the news of the clandestine arrangement is disclosed, Harry Ensign denies it ever occurred.
9. Private investigator David Groover is hired by Gondolier Numero Uno Sheldon Adelson to prove Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates is not living in her district. When Groover captures video of Gates at her palatial Summerlin home, she cries racism, saying Groover was supposed to be following Lynette Boggs McDonald, her African-American colleague.
8. District Judge Douglas Herndon declares that the smoking ban not only goes into effect but in a startling snub to the Nevada Resort Association's Pearl Harbor brief in the case, he asserts that the ban also applies to hotel rooms. The NRA insists it will appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, where the industry has never lost a case.
7. After a night of partying downtown, including an expletive-filled tirade hurled at Neonopolis, Mayor Oscar Goodman is found sleeping at Circle Park by activist Gail Sacco. When Sacco offers His Honor some bread, she is immediately arrested by city marshals, who escort Goodman home in the same vehicle.
6. Moments after a doctor has declared her legally dead, the indefatigable Kathy Augustine miraculously revives and resumes her run for state treasurer. She defeats Mark DeStefano in the primary by running ads about his business practices and then squeaks by Kate Marshall by airing commercials calling her a "liberal feminist who will steal your money." But four days after the election, state lawmakers call a special session for the unprecedented move of prospectively impeaching her for using a video editing machine in the controller's office to produce the ads.
5. In a shocking development during the G-Sting trial of Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, Lance Malone appears to testify for the prosecution. When asked by prosecutor Daniel Schiess why he had cut a deal to testify, Malone replied, "Dude, I got time off my sentence. Why else?" Under a withering cross-examination by Herrera attorney Jerry Bernstein, Malone eventually sighed, "Dude, all I have is my word. And you know what that is worth now."
4. During a debate between gubernatorial hopefuls Jim Gibbons, Bob Beers and Lorraine Hunt, Beers and Hunt seemed to be conceding the race to Gibbons, raising the specter of collusion and sparking a secretary of state's probe. The controversy came after Beers and Hunt viciously attacked Gibbons and he responded by saying, "You don't really mean all of that. And I know what you both really want is not to be governor but to be on my transition team. Trust me, you both will be. There will be plenty of room in that big tent."
3. Developer Bill Walters sues the city of Las Vegas for "failure to perform" and "malfeasance in office" after the council entombs his supposedly done deal to lift a deed restriction so he can potentially reap tens of millions of dollars. In court papers, Walters asserts that "if this deal is not consummated, the very underpinnings of how local government should operate - i.e., juice - will crumble." For some reason, the case, which is pending, is assigned to Judge Douglas Herndon.
2. The Tax and Spending Control Initiative stays on the ballot but is shockingly defeated after a campaign in which voters are told that it undermines the fundamental tenets of the republic. The anti-TASC campaign is co-chaired by Gov. Kenny Guinn and Jim Gibbons.
1. During a series of unstructured debates between gubernatorial contenders Jim Gibbons and Dina Titus, the candidates presented clear visions of where they want the state to go and what their policies will be as governor. It was uplifting, substantive and stimulating.
Ah, what might have been.
On Friday, what will be, as I dust off my crystal ball ...
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