Print edition for June 5, 2007

He reached, Howard Hughes pulled back his empire: Ed Koch and Mary Manning; Bill Gay had Howard Hughes' vast empire within his grasp in the early 1970s, but before the end of the decade his reclusive billionaire boss was dead, and Gay had fallen from the Southern Nevada gaming picture.

State puts the screws to Clark County: Tony Cook and J. Patrick Coolican; CARSON CITY - There have been many losers this legislative session, but the most prominent teeth-gritting is coming from Clark County officials.

Editorial: Living for the moment: Taking their cue from Gov. Jim Gibbons, who focuses on the moment rather than the future, legislators finished their business without elevating the state in either of two priority areas, education and transportation.

And the survey says: Yes, problem gambling can be treated: By Liz Benston; "They saved my life."

Payday lenders, primed customers: By allowing people to pay utility bills at payday lenders, Nevada Power Co. and other utilities nationwide may be making them more susceptible to turn to the high-interest-rate operations for other financial matters, an advocacy group for low-income customers says.

Letter: Obama, with a political machine, could win: Every moment was choreographed. She even has her own staffer whose sole job appeared to be opening a bottle of water and pouring it into a glass for her. She looked like she had just stepped off of a page of a fashion magazine. It was the political machine at its finest.

Let us count the ways art pays: By Kristen Peterson; Americans for the Arts released its nationwide report on the economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture. The survey was conducted in 156 communities, including the Las Vegas Valley. It collected information from 6,080 arts organizations. More than 94,000 audiences were surveyed. Here's how it looks in Las Vegas:

Editorial: Immigration debate continues: We support tightening U.S. borders and creating a process through which the United States' estimated 12 million undocumented workers could earn legal status, but this Senate bill falls short of these goals.

Letter: Don't award illegal immigrants amnesty: No matter what excuses they have for breaking the law to get here, they are criminals. Every time an American breaks the law he or she is arrested and prosecuted. What makes illegal immigrants above the law?

Letter: Lack of money, power means a bleak future: With the middle class eroding and power being concentrated more and more within the upper 5 percent of all Americans, how does the future look?

Editorial: Halverson must go: But if she declines to show that much respect for the community and justice system, we hope the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline takes action against her.

FLASHPOINT for Jun 05, 2007: The vote on the transportation package had barely finished flashing on the Assembly board before the governor's office pushed the button to send the news release. It had obviously been ready to go for some time, ready for when the crowing by Jim Gibbons was nigh: "This is the result of hard work and compromise by many legislators of both political parties and by many interested organizations, and I commend each and every one of them for their commitment to finding a solution that would accomplish our goals without raising taxes." How that must have driven some lawmakers nuts to ...

Cricket, Las Vegas style: Billed as the second-most watched sport in the world, cricket can be a test to watch because, yes, test matches can last three to five days, at eight to nine hours a day. No wonder it has tea and lunch breaks. Sliced cucumber, anyone? Thankfully, the World Cup is played in an abbreviated form.

Human Resources highlights in Nevada budget: AP; OVERALL FUNDING - Nearly a third, or $2.24 billion, of the budget goes to human services, including Medicaid and mental health services. The biggest element in that category is Medicaid, which gets $908.5 million.

Education highlights in Nevada budget: AP; OVERALL FUNDING - Just over half of all general fund dollars are for K-12 and higher education. The K-12 budget will receive $2.3 billion from the state general fund, and the higher education system will receive $1.3 billion.