Print edition for March 11, 2007

Letter: Hypocrisy clouds focus of 'Plamegate': What was the scandal about again?

Evolution or devolution?: By Joe Schoenmann; A defining moment in sports history occurred last week.It flew across the media spectrum, in view of the entire country. But it was so subtle that few people noticed.The Associated Press sports wire reported that Nevada had sanctioned a looming Ultimate Fighting Championship bout. The fight was reported not as an oddity. Not as a wink-wink, nod-nod, look-what-the-fringe-whackjobs-are-doing story.But as news.

Editorial: Blocking a power play: Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, told members of the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee on Wednesday that the legislation is designed to prevent the repeat of a Nevada Power rate increase in 2006. That increase was caused by a Nevada Supreme Court decision that allowed the utility to charge customers for $180 million of $922 million in fuel purchases that it made during an energy crisis that hit the West a few years ago. That crisis, some may recall, resulted in rolling blackouts and allegations of shady market dealings by such companies as the now-bankrupt Enron.

Editorial: Giving some credit: Members of a Senate panel on Wednesday lashed out at credit companies for imposing ever-increasing penalties on balances that consumers were trying to whittle down. The industry was chastisted for confusing and seemingly arbitrary interest rate increases, some of which credit card companies have imposed when consumers fail to pay other creditors on time.

566612081.html: That demographic - men, specifically - will loom large in the show's success. Python's satirically tasteless brand of humor makes guys laugh, especially the devotees on opening night who were positively abuzz in the moments leading to the opening scene. If I were to take the guys I play softball with to a show on the Strip - fat chance, that - it would be "Spamalot." It's smart, but it (passes gas).

Letter: Military health care can be among the best: Mr. Gliddon alleges in his letter that military health care is bogged down with "red tape," and adds, "Ask any Army brat how his/her medical care was while growing up." But as a 30-year retired military member whose three kids were all born in Navy hospitals and grew up supported by military medicine at stations all over the world, all I can say is that my family and I received the best care that one could ask for, with no more problems than we encountered in private health care situations later after leaving the military.

The man who started it all: By Emily Richmond; New York City educator Eric Nadelstern, one of the reasons Nevada is considering allowing principals more autonomy in running their schools, is watching the Silver State's progress with interest.

Brian Greenspun finds answers, raises questions on the golf course: I owe whatever business and other success I have to the game of golf. At least, that should be my mantra after years of listening to my father justify his occasional sojourns from the office to his wife and, then, my doing the same thing to my mother. It was our way of rationalizing where we wanted to be with the place we thought our wife and mother wanted us to be. The long and short of that conversation is that my mother played more golf than either one of us did and was only looking for someone to be ...

Jeff Simpson on how the El Cortez is quickly becoming downtown's feel-good story of the year: By Jeff Simpson; The numbers are dizzying, and I'll confess to having to think twice when I add nine or more zeroes to a number to quantify the scale of investment.

Gibbons' stance puzzles global warming activists: WASHINGTON - Global warming activists were thrilled to hear Gov. Jim Gibbons was launching a climate change task force in Nevada - until they learned that the starting point for discussion would not assume that global warming exists.

A YEAR GONE BY: By J. Patrick Coolican; Las Vegas is one of the few places where the sunset can be as beautiful in the east as in the west. Shadows and a tangerine dusk settle on Sunrise Mountain. Driving east on Interstate 215, bending around that curve onto U.S. 95, the Boulder Strip glimmers.

Editorial: Why were prosecutors fired?: This is what happened on Dec. 7. Included among this mass firing (altogether, eight federal prosecutors were fired in 2006) was Daniel Bogden, Nevada's U.S. attorney.

FLASHPOINT for Mar 11, 2007: I had to chuckle when I saw the headline in the Nevada Appeal, the capital newspaper: "Ethics training proposed for Nevada officials, lobbyists." The headline was over a story about a bill that mandates rookie legislators, appointees and lobbyists be inculcated in ethics. This is so silly and so typical of the faux effort by elected officials to demonstrate they are ethical. A course in ethics? Taught by the Ethics Commission? You must be joking. Ethics cannot be taught, nor can common sense be instilled. I can see it now - lobbyists and legislators sitting side by side in a ...

Will Rulffes be feeling empowered?: By Emily Richmond; Here's the problem: If the Clark County School District wants to allow more schools greater autonomy in the coming academic year, the planning must begin now. But it won't be known until June how much money, if any, the Legislature will approve toward such an endeavor.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: WEEK IN REVIEW: E-mail describing threats among week's bombshells

Letter: Outsourcing to blame for poor health care: As reported widely in other newspapers, Walter Reed's administrative services have been outsourced by the Bush administration. Care to guess to whom? A company called IAP.

Jack Sheehan on how card dealing is not as easy as the good dealers make it seem: The former skill was taught to me by my mother, but not before I'd put the requisite blisters on my fingertips and melted an expensive silk shirt to the consistency of week-old bacon grease. The latter art I learned under the tutelage of my friend Hughie, a floorman in the "21" pit at the Riviera.

Jon Ralston wonders how many state and federal laws Jim Gibbons can break before he reaches the breaking point for his time in office: The question is how many laws he has violated - state and federal - and what the consequences will be. There is no escape from this mousetrap of his own construction. Jim Gibbons is caught, and while he and his sycophants may squeak about partisan bludgeoning and media jihads, he cannot escape the facts.

Letter: Parents' involvement critical to education: Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Otherwise, recently proposed state legislation encouraging parental involvement would never even be considered. Getting involved is a very inexpensive and highly rewarding solution to what ails many Las Vegas Valley children.

Letter: Candidates should take a timeout: Please be advised that the general election is 20 months in the future. We voters were subjected to the marathon electioneering during 2004, and John Kerry still lost!