Print edition for June 7, 2007

Vegas.com call center among world's best: While the phones at many American companies are answered overseas, Vegas.com is winning awards for its homegrown call center.

Budget juggling gives state's courts much of their wish list: Sam Skolnik; Related Story:

Keep me in for the ballgames: By Mike Trask; Mark Juraschka is one of the biggest Yankees fans in the Las Vegas Valley. His Nevada license plate - NYY 23 - is a tribute to Don Mattingly.

Judges win again and again: Sam Skolnik; Budget juggling gives state's courts much of their wish list

Art scene looking up downtown: By Kristen Peterson; America's carnival is taking place under the Fremont Street Canopy. Every bad stereotype about Las Vegas is being lived out. Yes, there is a woman with a fanny pack embroidered with cats, a guy wearing a 3-foot drink strapped to his body and babies in strollers being wheeled out of the smoky casinos so their parents can get a better look at the show above them.

LV industries worry flow of immigrants will dry up: By Lisa Mascaro; WASHINGTON - At a recent shareholders meeting for MGM Mirage, chief executive Terry Lanni was asked the company's position on immigration.

Editorial: Government cuts: County officials are bracing for the worst when the final tally is taken from the legislative session because the county budget was an attractive target for state lawmakers. Although it is not unusual to see lawmakers try to dip into local government accounts, the efforts usually don't turn into reality. But this year was different.

Letter: Voters should not fall for lies from the left: Their congressional representatives have repeated these claims so often and so loudly as to make their followers believe them . In fact, the last election resulted in a defeat for the president's party. The Democrats claim a "mandate" to set forth their agenda. Well, what have they done? In a word, nothing!

Check that meat before you eat, Lucky and Albertsons warn: Ed Koch and Mary Manning; Las Vegas' four Lucky stores have been added to the list of grocers in 10 Western states that sold potentially tainted meat that is being recalled, a spokeswoman for Lucky's parent company said Wednesday.

Busch sibling rivalry goes from zero to 60 in one car wreck: In January 2005, as Kyle Busch was preparing for his rookie season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, older brother Kurt Busch was reminded of the nasty sibling rivalry between Brett and Geoffrey Bodine that spilled over onto the track a decade earlier.

Letter: Judge Halverson is getting a bad rap: If you were in Halverson's position, how would you like to be elected judge, only to have the presiding judge breathing down your neck? You know, the one who fired you? The press and letters to the editor keep throwing out that Judge Halverson is paranoid.

Editorial: Empty ballot boxes: The reason to switch elections from spring to fall, when people typically think about voting, is to increase interest and turnout.

TAKE FIVE: COMPARING FIRST FRIDAYS: By Kristen Peterson; The day of networking and lectures behind them, Americans for the Arts members headed downtown. Six bus loads ended up on Fremont Street for Jenny Holzer's public art display. Three buses headed to First Friday.Karen Mobley, arts director of the Spokane Arts Commission, opted for First Friday, an event in which she is well versed. Mobley is part of First Friday Art Walk in downtown Spokane, Wash., and has observed the trend of First Friday festivals in other cities.

Editorial: Schoolhouse blues: This is important to note in light of a story by the Las Vegas Sun on Sunday about Rosanne Winter, a seasoned educator and school administrator who moved to Las Vegas from Florida in 2006 but has since left because she couldn't find a job in Clark County's schools.

FLASHPOINT for Jun 07, 2007: Talk about a match made in heaven: Jerry Bruckheimer and Las Vegas. Sports Business Daily is reporting the producer is talking to the NHL about bringing a franchise here. The man who specializes in huge productions, often done to excess, coming to the city that specializes in huge productions, often done to excess? Perfect, is it not? Might the team be named the Las Vegas Pirates, after Bruckheimer's success with the Johnny Depp-led franchise? Let's just hope it's less like "Armageddon," one of the worst big movies ever made and more like "Con Air," his mindless but entertaining Nicolas Cage-helmed ...

Letter: Fixing immigration takes time and work: Don't have the resources to deport them all? Gear up to randomly round up 250,000 per year, perhaps. Make it clear that no lawbreaking illegal is immune from deportation. At the same time, gear up to audit businesses for compliance with proper screening procedures and to prosecute them if necessary. Ultimately it is their greed that feeds the problem. Insist they pay a living wage for the services they seek, so as to attract some of the 4 million to 5 million unemployed Americans .

Ron Kantowski on a TV contract that costs the MWC much more than money: By Ron Kantowski; Frustrated by the Mountain West's inability to cut a satellite TV deal, Brigham Young and Utah have retained a lawyer to, as a story in the Salt Lake Tribune delicately put it, "explore" broadcasting options.