Print edition for October 8, 2007

Pacquiao ready for bigger, better things: By Jeff Haney; No longer the slip of a lad who made his professional debut at 106 pounds and fought for years at flyweight (112 pounds), Manny Pacquiao is poised to leave behind the 130-pound division and take on the world's best at lightweight.

THE OPENING LINE: They have been trying to hit the cutoff man, mostly in vain, since before Tinker, Evers and Chance were even born, and that's a long time ago. But although they have existed since 1870, the Chicago National League ballclub, known as the Cubs since 1902, has only made it to the postseason in 21 of those 137 years.

THIEVES GO TO THE DOGS: By Mike Trask; Las Vegas is ranked at the top of places you're most likely to get your car stolen. It's a city where thieves literally yank the copper wires out of street lights and pawn them off to recycling yards.

Wearing GPS, sex offenders light up map: By Abigail Goldman; Green dots shudder across a computerized map of Clark County. Look, this one blips around the parole and probation office. This one stops at a high-rise condo construction site. This one travels north on Rancho Drive at 43 mph.

WEEK IN REVIEW: CLARK COUNTY: Clark County commissioners took a pass Tuesday on implementing development impact fees. They did, however, ask staff to come back with other ideas.

So far, track is clear for Station to go private: By Liz Benston; Station Casinos bosses are taking the company private.

Jeff Haney calculates the chances that the New England Patriots will go undefeated this year to determine whether we're being offered good value on a proposition wager: Another, at Wynn Las Vegas, allows bettors to wager on whether any team will finish the NFL regular season either undefeated or without a victory. If either of those outcomes occurs, gamblers who bet the "Yes" side of the prop cash tickets. Otherwise, bettors who played the "No" side cash.

THE NEW GAME SHOW WITH THE MOST: NAME THAT HOST!: By Jerry Fink; What: "The $250,000 Game Show Spectacular"

FLASHPOINT for Oct 08, 2007: By Jon Ralston; I really don't think state Sen. Bob Beers is the kind of guy who gets worried. If there's anyone who truly enjoys politics and the spotlight, it's the senator who wanted to be governor and now (for the time being) just wants to be a senator again. But with all this talk of him being the No. 1 target of the Democrats in '08, I'd guess he's getting geared up. I noticed a couple of pieces of evidence last week: He's revving up his Web site with a new service. And he's on the speaking circuit, trying to get the ...

Editorial: Protecting the truth: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure 15-2 Thursday, which means it is headed for the full Senate. The House Judiciary Committee approved similar legislation in August, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised a full House vote on the bill by year's end.

Editorial: Mammoth ethical dilemma: More is being learned all the time about how a woolly mammoth or other ancient animal could be brought back to existence through cloning.

Letter: Don't blame bars for toothless smoke ban: Terry E. Peele; The law she is referring to, Question 5, was poorly written. Ms. Miller seems to have forgotten that the law only prohibits smoking and dining in the same area. Taverns that chose customers who smoke over those who eat can still allow smoking.

Letter: Illegal immigration burden is overstated: Compare this to a tax return filed by a low wage earning American who is often qualified for "Earned Income Credit," generating a refund of several thousand dollars even though little or no tax was actually paid! The rest of us pay for that "benefit."

Letter: Only fuzzy math will show economic gains: Overall unemployment in all sectors is up to 4.7 percent, and up to 8.1 percent for blacks and 5.7 percent for Hispanics. Job growth for the first quarter of the year was reported at 142,000, for the second quarter at 126,000. The rate is slowing.

Letter: Why Columbus Day should be celebrated: It is much easier to be politically correct and condemn the discovery of America by Columbus than to celebrate the positive contributions of European cultural advancements on the American continents. European explorers, colonists and settlers are portrayed by history revisionists as greedy, evil, cruel and sadistic conquerors against Native American inhabitants; the native tribes are always portrayed as peaceful, gregarious, gentle, kind and without human vices.

Letter: 'Green' tax break rips off state's taxpayers: There is nothing wrong with capitalists making lots of money on the products and services they provide to people who willingly buy them. But they should have their hands crushed anytime they reach into the public treasury "cookie jar" looking for corporate welfare, which is all the "green" tax breaks really are.

Editorial: Why all the secrecy?: Still, the situation is "not at crisis proportions," Gov. Jim Gibbons declared Thursday after emerging from a closed-door meeting with lending company executives and other housing experts. Rather, it is an "individual" problem that will have to be addressed "one loan at a time," Gibbons told the Associated Press.