Print edition for July 16, 2007

County wants bigger cut of room tax pie: Clark County is close to muscling Southern Nevada cities into a deal that would redistribute hotel room taxes among local governments.

Former UNLV star finds new life for Suns in NBA Summer League: Team: Phoenix Suns

Jeff Haney finds bargains hidden in the Bonds home run props: "A lot of people were coming up and asking for them," said Roberts, the sports book director at Sunset Station. "We thought, if they want to take a shot at it, we'd give them a chance."

Letter: Leaving Iraq now could be disastrous: If the Saudi royal family is overthrown and gas jumps to $10 a gallon, how happy will the "get out now" crowd be then?

Letter: If GOP is moral, what's immoral?: Of course, they believe abortion is immoral and it probably is for some women. But how about the death penalty?

Day off in the main event of the World Series of Poker: AP; BIG NEWS: Nine players made it to the final table of the $10,000 buy-in main event of the World Series of Poker. Philip Hilm, a 31-year-old Dane making a living playing poker online in England, was the chip leader with 22.07 million. Toronto poker pro Tuan Lam, 40, had 21.31 million and British poker player Jon Kalmar, 34, had 20.32 million. Others with a chance to make millions were Raymond Rahme (16.32 million), Lee Childs (13.24 million), Lee Watkinson (9.92 million), Hevad Khan (9.2 million), Jerry Yang (8.45 million) and Alex Kravchenko (6.57 million).

Editorial: Unlock cellular service: In a laudable proposal making its rounds, Martin is arguing that consumer choice be mandated for a frequency spectrum the government plans to auction off next year. Under this proposal, people could buy any cell phone or wireless device they choose, use it with any available service and download anything they want without having to buy the downloads from their service provider. That would be a 180-degree change from the way service plans work.

FLASHPOINT for Jul 16, 2007: I know it's fruitless, but I call for a moratorium. When a presidential candidate visits, can the opposition refrain from putting out an inane quote, usually sent by party HQ back East? And can we Fourth Estaters promise not to use the nonsense? The statements say nothing, such as the GOP attack on Barack Obama: "Barack Obama claims hes brought people together to 'get things done,' but his record shows an astonishing lack of accomplishment. This rookie candidate simply does not have the experience to lead our country and his short layover in Las Vegas will do nothing to convince ...

Editorial: The trauma of war: This is progress for the military, which in the past has been reluctant to accept that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental conditions that occur following military service in war zones are genuine.

Diversity takes hit for higher academic standards: By Christina Littlefield; UNLV and UNR administrators are flummoxed, trying to improve their campuses' reputations by raising academic standards without undermining campus diversity.

Letter: Bush regime similar to former USSR: Am I the only one who remembers the former Soviet Union also embedding political minders into every segment of government to make sure all of government spoke the party line?

Editorial: One barrel at a time: The automaker announced last week that the foam for seat backs and seat cushions in the 2008 Mustang will no longer be made from a process that uses pure petroleum.

Reforms streamline competency court, save money: Sam Skolnik; About 40 times a month, District Court hearings have to be held to determine whether criminal defendants are mentally competent to stand trial.

Letter: Republican rattlesnakes committing suicide: But now Indiana's Richard Lugar, New Mexico's Pete Domenici, Nebraska's Chuck Hagel, Maine's Olympia Snowe and a growing list of other Republicans in Congress are "wimps," according to House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio, for advocating a change of course in Iraq. It is indeed reassuring to know that seventh grade name-calling rules the day behind the doors of our mighty Congress.

Teacher void starting to fill: By Emily Richmond; The goal of staffing classrooms with full-time teachers before the school year begins - a chronic summertime struggle in Clark County - is suddenly looking more attainable.