Print edition for March 18, 2007

Turning out the lights on Yucca Mountain: By Lisa Mascaro; WASHINGTON - One mile deep into Yucca Mountain, lights are being turned off. The train that carries visitors into the cavernous hole in the mountain will run no more. Layoffs are possible.

Brian Greenspun on how our votes matter, even if sometimes mistakes are made and we get another chance: It is easy to understand why I haven't been able to find many people in Nevada who will admit to voting for President George W. Bush in 2004. No one wants to admit that they could make such a huge mistake and, more important , no one likes to be made the fool.

'Dust to dust: By Liz Benston; As a chronicler of casinos, it's my job to remember the old and usher in the new. Attending my first implosion and watching the past crumble firsthand triggered complex emotions that can only be described as a mix of sentiment and excitement at this icon of the past disintegrating against the rush to modernize.

Editorial: Shed light on documents: The documents are part of a federal civil lawsuit filed in Reno in February 2006 by Dennis Montgomery, a former executive of Reno-based e-Treppid Technologies. The man behind this company, Warren Trepp, has been described by Gibbons as an old and close friend.

'Dust to dust: Liz Benston; As a chronicler of casinos, it's my job to remember the old and usher in the new. Attending my first implosion and watching the past crumble firsthand triggered complex emotions that can only be described as a mix of sentiment and excitement at this icon of the past disintegrating against the rush to modernize.

Letter: Pace's prejudice not unusual, but ignorant: But that mainstream view is changing, albeit slowly. My guess is that Gen. Pace has no openly gay friends or family members - if he did, he probably couldn't maintain his knee-jerk homophobia. Prejudices, like war plans, tend not to survive contact with the enemy.

Marine 2nd Lt. James J. Cathey: After Caroline Cathey's son told her he was heading to Iraq, she couldn't shake a recurring vision. When she thought of her son, she saw three men dressed in green coming to the door of her Reno home.

Letter: Gonzales' version of truth as bad as a lie: Given that this planning happened before President Bush decided Mr. Gonzales was the man he wanted to run our Justice Department, what does this say about Mr. Bush? Why are we not surprised?

Q+A: David Ashley: By Christina Littlefield; David Ashley is not one to hurry an opinion. He is cautious and methodical. When he arrives at a decision, he makes it with confidence based on his research.

Editorial: Hear those cars a-honkin': This was confirmed in a report released last week by a national nonprofit group specializing in road analysis. Congestion was given a D grade and road safety and funding were given F's.

Legislators feeling budget crunch: J. Patrick Coolican and Cy Ryan; CARSON CITY - A sense of gloom has settled on Carson City, as tax receipts have come in $40 million to $50 million less than expected. It's a small sum in a $7 billion budget, but with many legislators clamoring for new programs, such as an expansion of all-day kindergarten, negotiations will be that much tougher in the coming weeks.

FLASHPOINT for Mar 18, 2007: You may have heard by now that Democratic presidential candidates will be pandering at, er, attending a Culinary Union contract rally on the eve of a forum on health care. The rally at Culinary headquarters likely will attract hundreds, if not thousands of hotel workers . But these candidates might have to watch what they say as they try to suck up. Yes, there will be many potential voters - those who are registered - in that crowd. But contract negotiations can be dicey, and have these White House hopefuls forgotten the barrels of campaign cash available on the Strip ...

Jon Ralston on how legislators trivialize the issue that means so much to Nevadans: In case you have missed it, the sophisticated debate in the capital over lower education has come down to whether empowerment schools or all-day kindergarten will salve what ails the public school system. This meaningless juxtaposition and the hopelessly partisan taking of sides once again threatens to trivialize the issue most Nevadans put at the top of the list.

Letter: Read on to find best way to end the Iraq war: First, I wonder what will make the gang members change their activities once they are in Iraq? Doesn't it seem logical that they will simply join the insurgency and keep doing their business just as they do here? They are, after all, criminals. Wouldn't they just become another headache for our troops?

Marine Pfc. John Lukac: When Jan Lukac served in the Czechoslovakian Army in the mid-1960s, his primary job was to guard a checkpoint on the Austrian border.

Ron Kantowski on a Rebel revival that won't have UNLV fans comparing this group to the early '90s teams, but at least sparks memories of them: At about half-past 11 this morning, five offensive tackles with "WISCONSIN" sewn on their school's basketball jerseys will slap palms with four little guys and Gaston Essengue with "UNLV" inscribed on theirs. Then a referee will toss the ball in the air and the biggest Rebels basketball game in 16 years will be under way.

The long, long war: Mary Manning and Ed Koch; Nevada parents who lost children in the Iraq war are frustrated and question the conduct of the war by the United States, but most say the nation needs to persist - and win.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: WEEK IN REVIEW: WASHINGTON - Despite all the attention the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's firing of U.S. attorneys received last week, the real action for Nevadans in Washington occurred in House office cubicles.

Anti-war protesters march in Reno to mark Iraq anniversary: AP; Chanting "Impeach Bush" and "USA-Out of Iraq," about 150 activists gathered for peaceful rallies at both the start and end of the one-mile walk from Pickett Park to the federal building in Reno.

John Katsilometes on a new club with potential but for now still seems like work in progress: The multifaceted 30,000-square-foot club is an adventurous trip through time, but seems a bit short on decor and personality. Only one of the four themed sub-clubs, the namesake Polly Esther's with its happy 1970s motif, seemed finished during Friday night's opening party. The room offers a vintage lighted dance floor, mirrored disco ball, dozens of 1970s-era photos (including a shot of Reggie Jackson in a Baltimore Orioles uniform, which is rare in that he played just one season for the O's), and a "Brady Bunch" display with Alice's middle square open for photo ops. Polly Esther's power to drive the ...

Editorial: Four years later: Since the Iraq war started four years ago today, almost 3,200 troops have died - 28 of them Nevadans - and more than 20,000 have been wounded in President Bush's incompetently waged war in Iraq. And, as stories in today's Las Vegas Sun show, families of these troops continue to suffer as well.