Print edition for July 12, 2007

Day 6 at the main event of the World Series of Poker: AP; BIG NEWS: Richard Weisman of Las Vegas was the chip leader with 485,000 Wednesday after 4 1/2 hours of play. He was followed by Ben Lamb from Tulsa, Okla., with 400,000 and Jeff Parker of Ocean Isle, N.C., was third with 394,000. Jeff Norman, who had been leading most of the day, had fallen to fourth place with 311,000.

Porter sticks on Iraq war, knowing the costs: WASHINGTON - As Washington again debates the Iraq war, no Nevada lawmaker is in a tougher position than Republican Rep. Jon Porter.

Chevrolets roar out of Turn 2: By Brian Hilderbrand; This much is clear now that the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series has reached the midway point of the 2007 season:

Psychic leaves mayor laughing, then hanging: Joe Schoenmann, Las Vegas Sun; Angela Kay, a 60-something-year-old psychic seeking Las Vegas City Council approval to do business, coyly dodged predicting the winner of a baseball pennant for one of the town's big sports gamblers, Mayor Oscar Goodman.

Editorial: Politics and public health: "The reality is that the nation's doctor has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget, and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas," said Carmona, who finished his four-year term in 2006. "Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried."

Letter: Recognize real heroes - while they're alive: Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a parade and awards ceremony for people when they are still alive and let them know that they are appreciated, instead of naming things after them after they die, saying great things at their funeral and sending flowers to the family?

Day 7 of the main event of the World Series of Poker: AP; BIG NEWS: Kenny Tran of Arcadia, Calif. was the chip leader with 1.05 million after the first three hours. He had a sizable lead over Hevad Khan of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., with 805,000, Gus Hansen of Monaco with 760,000 and Huck Seed of Las Vegas with 720,000. There were 639 players remaining at 71 tables after three hours of play, down from the 808 players who started play at noon.

Poverty may not be winning issue, but Edwards is taking it on tour: By J. Patrick Coolican; John Edwards is sounding themes similar to those of Robert F. Kennedy's in the 1960s. Like Kennedy, Edwards is embarking on a "Poverty Tour." Excerpts from two Kennedy speeches:

Letter: Why the teacher shortage? Compare the pay: If you want to know why, look at the starting salaries for college graduates. For accounting majors it's $47,975, for financial/treasury analysts it's $50,476, for project engineers it's $52,258, for management trainees it's $41,894, and for software design ers and develop ers, it's $54,624. For teach ers, starting salaries are $32,488.

Highlights of Nevada casino revenue report: AP; STATEWIDE: $1.14 billion win, up 1.5 percent.

7/7/07 did many weddings no favors: By Abigail Goldman; By the time Bryant Palazini's marriage was formally consecrated in the parking lot of a wedding chapel last weekend, he had been waiting outside for as many hours as his suit had pieces - three - and the brim of his wife's white hat had wilted and expired around her ears, like an exhausted upside-down doily.

Editorial: Will wonders never cease?: Now a person must clarify which list of seven wonders is meant - the one dating to the second century B.C., or the one dating to 7/7/07.

Editorial: A lesson in geography: With Las Vegas' incredible growth, the School District has the unenviable task of trying to hire 3,000 teachers a year to work in a state that has not supported schools very well. So recruiters have not only traveled across the United States looking for applicants, but as reported in Monday's Las Vegas Sun by Emily Richmond, administrators have traveled to the Philippines, Guam, Spain, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Letter: Supreme Court is eroding our rights: Mincing no words, Mr. Teepen thoroughly familiarizes us with more of the shrinking of our freedoms by the current court; I must add at least two other past court decisions to the list that affect our rights: the eminent domain ruling and the decision on a student's right to free speech. The latter is a poor lesson in how the court kowtowed to the government's anti-drug program, brushing aside students' First Amendment rights. Accordingly, I have several suggestions:

FLASHPOINT for Jul 12, 2007: Of all the stories percolating out there, one of the most important has gone without almost any media coverage. Only the Sun (and "Face to Face" this week) has done anything extensive on the proposed merger between local health care behemoth Sierra Health Services and national giant UnitedHealth Group. You have some very strange alliances here, too, with doctors and nurses linking arms to cry anti-competitiveness. And the Democrats have missed a political opportunity as the governor has been out there, too. The merged entity, though, has one of the best in the business - Jim Wadhams - as its ...