Print edition for November 21, 2007

For Love of the Game: In flip-flops instead of cleats, with a jersey instead of shoulder pads hanging off his shoulders, Moapa Valley junior Ben Paul does all he can do from a wheelchair as his team pulls away from Virgin Valley in the 3A championship game.

Jon Ralston on who will be giving thanks for what as they sit down at the table: Here's what some notables will be giving thanks for Thursday:

Jeff Haney on the New England Patriots and the highest betting line of the modern NFL era: New England, 10-0 straight up and 9-1 against the point spread, opened as a slightly shorter favorite Monday at several Las Vegas sports books, including the Hilton and all Station Casinos properties, after thumping the Buffalo Bills 56-10 Sunday.

Frazier is more than just a name on a building: By Charlotte Hsu; The name that graces UNLV's first building is that of Maude Frazier, the local educator who pushed state leaders to build a university in Las Vegas decades ago.

Editorial: An Internet tragedy: Her world crashed suddenly, within the course of a day, as even her friends joined in on the cyber dumping, trashing her on the social Web site MySpace.

Editorial: Unacceptable safety record: The inspector general's report, released Friday, says the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration doesn't have enough inspectors. Furthermore, those it does have didn't document whether "critical inspection activities" were completed in 15 percent of the nation's 731 underground coal mines.

Teens know their stuff: By Emily Richmond; Here are the winners of $1,000 scholarships at the Sun Youth Forum, including name, high school and the college they plan to attend:

FLASHPOINT for Nov. 21, 2007: Talk about a perfect storm: The economy is forcing Gov. Jim Gibbons to ask for budget cuts, which he has now increased to 8 percent. Advocates, especially for education, are lamenting the state of funding for basic services in Nevada. And at least two initiatives designed to ameliorate that problem have been proposed that would boost the gross gaming tax. The cuts, when they are cemented early next year, will make the need for more money to fund these services only more apparent. So as conservatives fawn over Gibbons for cutting and liberals fret about the service cuts, where is ...

Letter: Reid right about fires and global warming: The velocities of Santa Ana winds have been measured for 100 years. If these data were compiled and analyzed, the correlation between global warming and wind velocity could be calculated. And there is another way to determine the effect of global warming on wildfire intensity.

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

Having dug in, Porter now sees shift on Iraq: By Lisa Mascaro; WASHINGTON - From the time he took office, Nevada Republican Rep. Jon Porter has not wavered in his support for the war strategy in Iraq.

Letter: Where are the leaders when we need them?: What about traffic/transportation issues, fire department responses, lagging health care and inadequate social services? It seems everyone supports better education, better transportation, more affordable health care, better fire and police response and a more responsive social services system.

Editorial: What a smelly deal: But Republic Services' contract with the county says the company - not its customers or Clark County - is responsible for paying for closure of the landfill, which broke open during a 1998 rainstorm, five years after the landfill was closed and improperly sealed. The storm washed a portion of the landfill's trash into the Las Vegas Wash, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Clark County and Republic to clean up the mess and properly reseal the landfill.