Print edition for May 20, 2007

Editorial: A state of denial: Nonetheless, after Gibbons presented his inane and possibly illegal plan, state Sen. Bob Beers sent out an e-mail in support of the proposal. In it the Las Vegas Republican boldly stated:

Brian Greenspun shares thoughts about how civility shapes our future: Admittedly, Washington is part of a much broader community and Brookings, as the nation's oldest and most respected think tank, has never been associated with Las Vegas, although its significance to and involvement with our city will be made clear in time. Nevertheless, it is the quality of thinking that is the product of Brookings and the people with whom I am privileged to interact that make my work as a board member so rewarding.

WEEK IN REVIEW: CARSON CITY: By J. Patrick Coolican, Michael Mishak; CARSON CITY - A governor in trouble, a tax break gone awry, a downturn in the housing sector - add it all up, and it will certainly make for good theater during the Legislature's final two weeks, assuming lawmakers finish on time.

A MOMENT CAPTURED: As if skydiving once were not enough, 88-year-old Kay Garske, can't get enough. "I just love it up there, it's so beautiful. It's hard to even explain," she said while waiting to jump at SkyDiveLasVegas.com in Boulder City. She made her first tandem jump, a gift from her son and daughter, at 82. She had another hankering when she was 85.

Corruption tips flow in, Metro steps up: Metro Police have quietly taken on a series of public corruption cases in the past 18 months, devoting unprecedented resources to rooting out malfeasance in Southern Nevada.

Letter: Prescription drug plan is working well: First, the Medicare prescription drug program continues to provide large cost savings to tens of millions of seniors and disabled Americans. Unfortunately, the House Government Reform Committee's report cited in the editorial focuses on just a handful of medicines to draw sweeping conclusions.

Trust me: By the time the FBI was investigating Kevin Mitnick in late 1992, he had been in and out of trouble with the law for more than a decade. In the late '80s, he spent eight months in solitary confinement.

WEEK IN REVIEW: WASHINGTON, D.C.: WASHINGTON - Talk about a cram session. In the next few days Congress will try to:

Jeff Simpson on why Steve Wynn is happy to have a new neighbor on the Strip: Wynn had a few reasons for feeling good about Ruffin's $1.2 billion sale of the New Frontier and its 35-acre site to Israeli real estate baron Yitzhak Tshuva.

Tax break pulled 'out of the air' could cost state $900 million: CARSON CITY - Not as though it happens every day, but sometimes listening to National Public Radio can cost your state $1 billion.

Letter: How long will we be fooled by Bush's lies?: The records clearly show that, four years after our "macho" president claimed "Mission Accomplished," this war is a disaster. Yet in 2003 he said we were making steadfast progress, great progress. In 2004 he said we were making progress toward our goal. In 2007 he said there were signs of progress.

Editorial: Consumer safety for sale: And while the Senate debates whether lobbyist Michael E. Baroody should be enforcing laws against his former clients at the National Association of Manufacturers, the association has promised to give Baroody a $150,000 departing bonus if he gets the government job.

Letter: Wonder who cares about the soldiers' lives: This also makes me ponder about the incompetence, greed and special interests of the Bush administration in the failed prosecution of the war and how the resulting monies lost could have been used to meet the significant needs of this country, including increased veterans benefits and increased scientific technology to eradicate different diseases.

FLASHPOINT for May 20, 2007: I had an interesting conversation with a Republican legisla- tor during a capital sojourn last week. This lawmaker told me about the unfairness in Carson City and how a minority, such as the Republicans in the Assembly, has been treated unfairly this session and how Democrats who thought so have been muzzled. So, this legislator said, the Republicans may try to put an opponent in all 27 Assembly districts held by Democrats. Oh, they know some of them can't be won. But the plan would be to give no one a free ride and concentrate resources on knocking off Democrats ...

Editorial: Gibbons' needless meddling: But the governor will be hypocritical - to say the least - if he continues to pursue a request for $1.7 million in homeland security funds to establish in Carson City an anti-terrorism intelligence sharing operation known as a fusion center. Two centers, designed for use by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, are already being planned for Las Vegas and Reno.

Now that's a recess: If there's two things that Cox Communications School Day at Cashman Field recalls, the first is how splendidly brilliant the emerald green - with the exception of the yellow patch in front of the pitcher's mound - diamond looks at 10:30 in the morning.

Jon Ralston follows the finger-pointing as legislators scramble to undo the mess they've created with 'green' building tax breaks: As the great scramble for money begins in the Legislature's final fortnight, lawmakers are grappling with the potential loss of $1.4 billion in green over the next decade and a half because of their unanimous desire two years ago to go green.

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