Print edition for March 29, 2007

CONVENTION CRASHING: EXHIBITOR 2007: Simon Perutz walks around the show floor at Mandalay Bay and eyes his competitors' wares with cool detachment. He has, after all, been in this business for more than 25 years.

The new leader of the band: By Kristen Peterson; He has served for 14 years as music director for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and two years as music director for the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra in Texas. He is a frequent guest conductor with orchestras across the country and a composer whose works include an oratorio, "Exodus," which was narrated by William Shatner at its premiere.

Editorial: Empowering the schools: The governor's plan would create 100 empowerment schools, where principals and teachers would have more authority over what and how they teach. That sounds good, but Gibbons' plan - the cornerstone of his education policy - is largely based on buzzwords and vague thoughts.

John Katsilometes on the death of Bernie Barker, 66, a Las Vegas novelty and the world's oldest stripper, and an icy show from Russia: Instead, the message was a note from Amanda Barker, Bernie's daughter, with the sad news that Barker died on March 21 at age 66 at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Amanda Barker said the family learned he was stricken with cancer of the liver and the esophagus on March 18.

Letter: A state lottery would be a win-win situation: But the governor claims that running a lottery is not "a proper function of government," and that the state shouldn't be competing with our state's gaming industry. Mr. Gibbons' argument holds no water. He must feel that states now conducting lotteries are all wrong. The Powerball lottery alone is in 29 states, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands, not to mention other states that have local lotteries to raise funds for education and other needs.

Editorial: Protecting ordinary people: A report released Tuesday by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, a legal services and civil rights group, says an executive order issued by President Bush following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has allowed expanded use of Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control list without providing training for businesses that intend to use it or recourse for individuals who have wrongly been denied services.

Nevada governor tells agencies to cut $112 million from budgets: AP; CARSON CITY, Nev. - Saying he's concerned about weaker-than-projected tax revenues, Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons told state agencies Wednesday to chop nearly $112 million from their budget requests now being considered by legislators.

Gibbons always there for his friend Trepp: By J. Patrick Coolican, Jeff German; When eTreppid wanted a meeting with the National Security Agency, then-Congressman Jim Gibbons arranged it . When eTreppid, a company owned by Gibbons' friend Warren Trepp, wanted introductions to Defense Department officials or Asa Hutchinson, a top Homeland Security official, Gibbons obliged.

FLASHPOINT for Mar 29, 2007: What an honor for our own Rep. Jon Porter. According to documents uncovered by a blogger, Porter has made GOP strategist extraordinaire Karl Rove's "Priority Defense" list. Porter is one of three dozen GOP House incumbents who Rove believes needs to have the resources to defend himself against the inevitable assault in 2008. But Porter? What does he have to worry about? The Democrats took their best shot last cycle, and came up short, right? They have no candidates this time, right? Rory Reid won't do it. Neither will Andre Agassi lieutenant Perry Rogers, who was asked. Hey, what about ...

Ron Kantowski on the sad state of our ballpark and how Las Vegas might finally get a major league stadium for the minor league 51s: By Ron Kantowski; Sometime during Friday's Cubs-Mariners exhibition game at Cashman Field, before Kerry Wood or Mark Prior sneeze and reinjure themselves, a long queue of baseball fans will form on the concourse in the vicinity of the two restrooms.

Praying for luck and a voucher: By Timothy Pratt; Candace Cooper took a day off work this week to enter the lottery.

Letter: English as official language would work: Having English as our official language simply means that for the government to act officially, it must communicate in English. It means the language of record is English. Thus far more than half of the states have enacted laws making English their official language and a further 73 sovereign states and territories around the world have made English an official language.

Justice fails again and again, he spends 15 years in prison: Sam Skolnik; In 1993, a Las Vegas man named Robert Hays was convicted on eight counts of sexually abusing his 8-year-old daughter. Sentencing him to four consecutive life terms, the system declared: Case closed.

Using W-2s will prevent tax-season surprise: Audits weren't part of the bargain when the IRS and Las Vegas casinos agreed to estimate employees' tip income on the workers' W-2 forms, rather than rely on workers to track and report their tips.

Editorial: Honor the Tillman family: Would another investigation reach all the way to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld? The Tillman family believes it would and is calling for Congress to hold hearings.

Letter: Medicare should be system for everyone: To make this work, all systems - such as Medicaid, all government systems for its employees and elected officials, private and company insurance health systems, etc. - would be incorporated into the Medicare system.

League president agrees a new ballpark would be good for Las Vegas: Branch B. Rickey is inextricably linked to baseball history. His grandfather Wesley Branch Rickey helped break Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947 when - as president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers - he signed Jackie Robinson to a big-league contract.

Xania's Hot Spots: Xania Woodman; Light: Bounce brings sexy back with a female DJ showcase spotlighting DJs Kriscut, Neva and Shy (LA).

IRS tip: you made more, so you pay more: By Liz Benston; The Internal Revenue Service believes that more than $9 billion in tips go unreported nationwide, and that Las Vegas casino workers - perhaps the largest concentration of big-tip earners in the country - are partly to blame. And now it thinks that they're earning more tips than ever, and it's ready to collect.