Print edition for March 30, 2007

LOOKING IN ON: MOTORSPORTS: Paul Tracy has been around open-wheel racing long enough to know what to expect from next weekend's inaugural Vegas Grand Prix.

John Katsilometes reminisces with Wayne Brady about MGM theme park: By John Katsilometes; I mean, Wayne Brady.

Jon Ralston on the 2007 Legislature and its cutting and studying ways: Now we know what to call the 2007 Legislature: The Session of Cut and Study.

Editorial: Helping the homeless: The bill would give local governments $20 million over the next two years to help find housing to move homeless people off the streets and provide other services during the transition. Officials in Clark and Washoe counties support the bill.

Letter: Carter's compassion should be applauded: However, I radically dissent from his conclusions and general tone regarding our former president, particularly regarding his allowing the former shah of Iran to obtain medical care in the United States.

FLASHPOINT for Mar 30, 2007: Crazy talk of a gubernatorial recall started where all crazy talk generally starts - on partisan blogs. It soon reached into the mainstream media and into the Legislative Building. And now it is in the national media. Governing magazine, a well-known periodical, has a discussion of the possibility on its blog and under the headline: "The Most Intriguing Election of 2007." Writes Josh Goodman: "It isn't scheduled and might not happen at all." It concludes that a recall "is highly unlikely. Of course, I would have said the same thing about (ex-California Gov. Gray) Davis four years ago." You can ...

Letter: Reid, Ensign can help pave way to new roads: The primary reason for new and better roads is population growth. If Nevadans want more and better roads look no further than the 1998 BLM land sales agreement, the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA). To date there have been $3 billion in public land sales here to support population growth, and even more will be coming down the road. All that is needed is for the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, Harry Reid, to alter this agreement and divert the bulk of these funds from the current requirement of parks and trails expenditures to roads and bridges.

Editorial: The president as monarch: While corruption and arrogance among Republican lawmakers played a role, most analysts say November's election swung control of Congress to the Democrats largely on the strength of voters' growing opposition to the Iraq war.

Letter: Credit Giuliani for his leadership: The mayor and his administration inherited a city in chaos. His administration went forward making the city safer, cleaner and more law-abiding. Sept. 11 was a prime example of his ability to take a disaster and guide it through to a successful finish. He also made New York City livable again. I know, I resided there.

Editorial: Hardly a taxing decision: While the Assembly is debating a bill that would open commission hearings to the public, the Senate is considering a bill that would allow the commission to keep meeting - and deciding - matters in private.

LOOKING IN ON: GAMING: By Liz Benston; When Glenn Christenson joined Station Casinos in 1989 as chief financial officer, the company operated a single casino and then-President Frank Fertitta III had big dreams of creating a chain of properties across the valley.

Jeff Haney on a more profitable strategy for betting this weekend using parlays of money line wagers instead of odds set by sports books around town: Georgetown-Ohio State

New life for Tod: When the Tod Motor Motel opened in 1962, it offered a stunning neon sign and a folded-plate roof on its porte-cochere. Nothing fancy, nothing too simple, it was just one motel among many in a dense stretch of neon.

Attention, shoppers: So when Rudy Giuliani pulls the retail politics stunt in which Man of the People Buys Shampoo Just Like You Do, and he does it at a Target store in Summerlin, an important question presents itself:

Number makes them count: By Timothy Pratt; Hugo Neira and Martha Parra sat before a computer screen, poised to obey a federal law, despite having broken another federal law, partly to get in the good graces of a federal law that may someday exist.

Gears turn, chew up Obama: By J. Patrick Coolican, Michael Mishak; After a Las Vegas health care forum last week, Obama was deemed a disappointment by a national magazine writer, and the theme multiplied: Los Angeles Times, The Politico, the Associated Press, CNN.

Side jobs come under scrutiny: The attorney for the Nevada System of Higher Education questions whether college employees should be allowed to moonlight for college-hired contractors, because of potential conflicts of interest.

Issues out the window as race gets testy: By Steve Kanigher; The Ward 1 race pitting Las Vegas Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian against challengers Laurie Bisch and Shawn Spanier is devolving into a mudslinging affair that would make a World Wrestling Entertainment promoter envious.