Print edition for May 30, 2007

Letter: Prewar intelligence ignored by Bush team: Well, guess what. They're liars. Prewar intelligence reports and summaries released Friday by the Senate Intelligence Committee lay out how Bush's war Cabinet was warned that ousting Saddam Hussein would:

Locals leave mark at Indy: Southern Nevadans were more prevalent at this year's Indianapolis 500 than marginal celebrities in the pit lane suites. Here is a recap of how they did, according to finishing position:

Letter: Hiking Carpenter's pay is waste of money: Although I admit my ignorance because I am not aware of how much of that salary is coming out of the taxpayers' pocket at present, I am sure the day will come when most of it will.

Arm twisting adds a late touch to '07: J. Patrick Coolican and Joe Schoenmann; In the end, it was probably not worth going into a special session and turning the state budget over to the likes of Sen. Bob Beers, especially with so little money at stake.

Nevada Assembly works on its own highway funding measure: AP; The state is expected to be short $5 billion by 2015 on funds for road projects, partly due to high inflation rates on construction materials.

Letter: Politics has taken over Supreme Court: Even though the Supreme Court was not in session, we were permitted to visit its chambers, and I still, to this day, remember this awe-inspiring experience.

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THE ELEVATOR: Who's headed toward the penthouse on the local sports scene - and who's getting the shaft.

Editorial: Go with the little guy: Hopes were lifted a couple of times that another large grocery chain might open a store in the community, but the years dragged by with no action, leaving many residents with just one viable option - Mario's West Side Market.

LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: By Tony Cook; Some local property managers say Republic Services is not living up to its end of the deal the two groups struck in December regarding fees for overflowing trash containers.

Letter: Don't let apathy invalidate dress code rules: The numbers are clear. Out of the 220 parents of Quannah McCall Elementary School students who were eligible to declare their support or objection to uniforms, only 16 responded with 13 in favor of the uniforms. Because the rule states that the dress code will be adopted if supported by at least 55 percent of the ballots returned, the school will adopt the dress code.

Editorial: Turmoil in the courthouse: As Sam Skolnik reported in Tuesday's Las Vegas Sun, Halverson has been accused of falling asleep on the bench, talking with a jury outside the presence of attorneys on the case, berating attorneys in the courtroom, yelling at staff members and calling them names like "idiot" and "anti-Christ , " and making her staff rub her back and feet.

Letter: Birthplace shouldn't guarantee citizenship: The 14th Amendment states in the first sentences of Section 1: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." This amendment was ratified in July 1868. It was meant to ensure that all former slaves were granted citizenship, not to make children of illegal immigrants citizens of the U.S.

FLASHPOINT for May 30, 2007: The legislative session is over. Oh, the 63 lawmakers are still there. But, for all intents and purposes, it is over. The budget deal announced Tuesday by Gov. Jim Gibbons and legislative leaders ensures that the process now just needs to work itself out. Bills need to be printed, lobbyists need to sneak in a few more trinkets for their clients, hiccups need to be resolved. But it is over. Oh, there is that small issue of transportation funding. But don't worry - that issue is over, too. The governor's bill is dead. Business lobbyists who supposedly had come to ...

Ron Kantowski on how women have come a long way, baby, since Janet Guthrie climbed into her bag of bolts: I think it was the first time either one of us had driven without adult supervision on the interstate highway system. I know for sure it was the first time a woman had set foot in Gasoline Alley, at least with the express purpose of driving in the race.

Jon Ralston explains that what state lawmakers say they did and what they actually accomplished aren't always the same thing: This is the way most legislative budget fights end, not over major policy issues but over pennies, with the overwhelming imperative to go home obliterating any high hopes of the Legislature's beginning. But most pressing as the end nears is the chance for a bipartisan photo op, to offer insincere blandishments to the opposition, to lavish public praise dissonant with the private cursing - the play's the thing!

Editorial: Kickbacks from brothels: A story by the Las Vegas Sun's Abigail Goldman on Sunday told of strip clubs giving drivers hundreds of dollars in cash, DVD players, flat-screen televisions and even free nights at legal brothels outside of Clark County in exchange for the drivers bringing tourists to their doorsteps. The practice is legal in Clark County as long as the drivers don't intentionally divert a passenger from going to a business that does not offer drivers such tips or rewards.