Print edition for May 9, 2007

Poles apart on health care, with a gulf between: Patrick J. Coolican; CARSON CITY - A glimpse inside a legislative hearing room Tuesday suggests how hard it can be for Nevada to take even baby steps in improving health care. A joint Assembly and Senate committee was discussing a program to give pre natal care to 1,000 working women who don't have health insurance.

Editorial: Making the wrong turn: Despite council rhetoric about safety, the environment or the noise, this is a classic, and costly, case of NIMBYism. The City Council is acquiescing to the politically powerful enclave of Summerlin , where many residents are upset that the FAA approved a so-called "right turn" flight path that sends planes over western Las Vegas.

Extended play, no holds barred: Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun; Extended play, no holds barred

Jon Ralston on the different shades of green in Carson City: In this version, with the help of regulators implementing legislative policy and lobbyists trying to influence those regulators, the goal to go green has been turned into a different kind of green by casinos that have discovered their environmental sides.

Letter: Who exactly is the enemy in the Iraq 'war'?: We must have the worst generals in the history of warfare for the same thing to be happening repeatedly daily for years unless, of course, that military leadership is not allowed to lead because it is the politicians who are doing all the ordering. Politicians who have never been in the military and know nothing about being in combat. The orders are to the effect, "You are not allowed to win but must not lose."

Following in the (alternative) footsteps of Garth Brooks: Who: Cross Canadian Ragweed

THE ELEVATOR: Who's going to the penthouse in local and regional sports - and who's getting the shaft:

Jeff Haney on how a 24-year-old Canadian plans to use a $505,176 windfall to enter other tourneys: 1. Cory Carroll, Halifax, Nova Scotia, $505,176

A fascinating quiz about illusionist Criss Angel: Julie Seabaugh; Though promo banners have hung in Mandalay Place for months, it took the Luxor until last week to confirm the summer ’08 opening of a new Cirque du Soleil show featuring the love child of David Copperfield and The Crow, Criss Angel.

Letter: Winners, losers clear in cost of gasoline: Oil companies can't say they're spending billions on new oil refineries, because they haven't built a new one in more than 30 years. With record profits of more than $39 billion last year for Exxon Mobil, it's plain to see we are getting it put to us.

Editorial: Enlightened energy effort: According to a story in the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal, the new rule probably would be a two-stage standard that would require bulbs that use 30 percent less electricity than current bulbs in five years and those that use 75 percent less electricity in 10 years. The proposal could be included in energy legislation that the Senate is to consider at the end of the month.

FLASHPOINT for May 09, 2007: It brought a tear to my eye Tuesday in Carson City when the late Assemblyman Marvin Sedway was honored. Several lawmakers gave tributes, including a moving speech by Ways and Means Chairman Morse Arberry in which he recalled Sedway's admonition: "If there's no penalty for doing it wrong, there's no incentive for doing it right." Judiciary Chairman Bernie Anderson recalled Sedway's "heartfelt feeling toward kids, education and the common man." Indeed, Sedway was one of a kind - a kind Carson City sorely misses, the kind of lawmaker who wasn't afraid of political repercussions, who wasn't afraid to fulminate when ...

Letter: Lack of respect for teachers shows in pay: How pathetic and shortsighted of these people who control the financial resources of education. The problems of the educational system can be easily resolved with a small amount of taxes levied on the vast resources of the gaming industry, but this resource is left largely untapped.

Letter: Teachers left out of recipe for success: Why is it then that they conveniently seem to forget the most important ingredient in our children's educational recipe for success - the teachers?

Editorial: New pitch on Iraq: With a new poll by Newsweek magazine showing President Bush's approval rating at 28 percent, a new low even for him, Republicans know they must distance themselves from the White House or face political annihilation at the ballot box.

Letter: Republicans should stop backing Bush: The Republicans in office need to wake up to the facts and stop riding with W., or they will be in the unemployment line after the 2008 election.

Mud's flying fast and furious in Ward 5: In the April primary, the 10-candidate Las Vegas City Council race for Ward 5 was the largest field in any local campaign, which kept mudslinging to a minimum. With so many candidates - and potential targets - such tactics are generally less effective.

Soccer brings homelands closer: By Timothy Pratt; It was too cold for shorts, a long way from home in Sudan.

Shades of gray abound in green law: Joe Schoenmann and Cy Ryan; CARSON CITY - Unable to unravel a web of confusion over tax breaks on buildings that are environmentally friendly, Gov. Jim Gibbons is asking the state's attorney general to help.

Smoking casinos qualify for breaks as 'green' environments: J. Patrick Coolican and Liz Benston; CARSON CITY - The typical casino, with its tobacco-tainted air, might not seem likely to earn the label "environmentally friendly."

Terror fight takes shotgun approach: A plan by Gov. Jim Gibbons to set up an anti-terrorism intelligence-gathering hub in Carson City is threatening to disrupt a broader and delicately balanced effort among local, state and federal law enforcement officials in Southern Nevada.