Print edition for September 9, 2007

LOOKING IN ON: CITY HALL: Short tempers, disgust or maybe it's simply heat exhaustion - all will calm down once daily temperatures finally dip below 100.

FLASHPOINT for Sep 09, 2007: All aboard! Gov. Jim Gibbons is taking us for a ride. No, I don't mean figuratively, folks. He is going to be the "honorary engineer" aboard the Nevada Southern Railway at the state Railroad Museum in Boulder City on Friday. You can't make this stuff up. And the state actually put out a news release on this. And guess what? It's free. You can ride the train free with the governor! But you have to get a ticket in advance, so get on that right away. I hope no one is ridin' that train high on methamphetamine, or Jim and ...

Letter: Nothing inspiring about Bush's puppets: In the photograph accompanying the column I was struck by the striking resemblance between Gonzales and Edgar Bergen's Charlie McCarthy. I think this is fitting because Gonzales, like so many Bush appointees, acted as a puppets (i.e., dummy ) of the Bush administration in attempting to make this a nation of men and not of laws.

Letter: Mayor's leadership is ahead of its time: Your paper, and Messrs. Ralston and Herbert, cite the detestable exploitation of women, abuse of minors and human trafficking associated with the sex trade in lambasting Mayor Goodman's proposal to have legal brothels in Las Vegas.

Letter: Republicans all talk when it comes to terror: Whose watch was it on when 9/11 took place? Whose watch was it on and which party poorly planned and executed an ill-conceived war in Iraq? Whose watch has it been on that has stretched our military so thin that we would find it difficult to defend ourselves anywhere else in the world?

Jon Ralston wonders whether rampant gambling, prostitution should be part of the image that Las Vegans want to create: But a discussion, maybe even an argument worth having, is what kind of community we strive to be and whether we are content to tell a tale of two cities. One is where Goodman, a Dickensian character if ever there were one, sets the tone, a place where anything that's legal is just fine, where taste is optional, where no sin is too sinful. The other is a wholly different venue, one where parents are proud to raise their children, where culture, sophistication and erudition are prized, where family values refer to something other than mob mores.

Dubai takes a lesson from Vegas on how to become a resort destination: By Liz Benston; Even though the Islamic-steeped government of Dubai rejects gambling, there are striking similarities between Las Vegas - specifically the Strip - and Dubai, one of seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirates.

The check's not in the mail: By Brendan Buhler; When Nevada (thoughtfully) provides a searchable list of unclaimed property and you've found out you don't have anything coming to you, there's only one good use for it: snooping on your betters.

GAMING ROOTS, NONGAMING AMBITIONS: By Liz Benston; When MGM Mirage in 2004 said it would build CityCenter, a resort complex with multiple hotel and condominium towers, it was announcing more than just the country's most expensive privately funded project and one that would change the paradigm for future resorts along the Strip.

Dubai takes a lesson from Vegas on how to become a resort destination: By Liz Benston; Even though the Islamic-steeped government of Dubai rejects gambling, there are striking similarities between Las Vegas - specifically the Strip - and Dubai, one of seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirates.

Letter: Tactical errors ensure survival of terrorism: However, using their analogy, we have been fighting the war on cancer with the knife, radiation, and chemotherapy, and we are no closer to victory now than we were 70 years ago. Our attempts to destroy it obviously do not work - even if our doctors and pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to concede the facts. Nor have such brute force methods been any more successful in eliminating terrorism. For every one we kill, two more are ready to strap on bomb vests.

LOOKING IN ON: HIGHER EDUCATION Word spreads nationwide after Rogers cancels gift: Chancellor Jim Rogers and the elected Board of Regents have taken quite a beating in the press since news broke in August that Rogers would not be donating any more money to UNR because he was upset about a regent's evaluation of him.

Jeff Simpson on the recent attention to the local sex trade: New York Times columnist Bob Herbert sharply criticized Mayor Oscar Goodman for suggesting that legalized brothels might be a good idea in Las Vegas, which Herbert said set a tone of "systematic, institutionalized degradation" of women.

Tropicana wants to change benefits union sees as sacred: By Michael Mishak; The Culinary Union and the major Las Vegas casinos may have agreed on new contracts, but that doesn't mean labor peace just yet.

Brian Greenspun: Toxic toys are a long-term problem, especially for those who ignore the news: There was a column last week in the International Herald Tribune written by Elizabeth Graver. It was one mother's experience cleaning out her house - with her 4- and 7-year-old girls - of recalled toys made in China.

NEVADA'S NEW HUE: Michael J. Mishak and Alex Richards; ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS MORRIS

Editorial: Family needs answers: Family members in Pahrump, however, are outspoken about what they think contributed to the death of the 19-year-old soldier.

Regulator defends subprime lending: By J. Patrick Coolican; Joe Waltuch, the new head of the Nevada Mortgage Lending Division, defended the subprime mortgage industry and downplayed the foreclosure crisis in his first interview.

Reid knows to cover his rural bases: WASHINGTON - This year at the Elko Democratic Party annual dinner, the nation's top elected Democrat told a story to the dozens of guests.

Editorial: Gutting consumers' safety: A story by The New York Times last week shows that Bush administration budget and staffing cuts at the commission, the agency's lack of regulatory power and a philosophical shift that favors industry over consumer safety has left the agency largely unable to adequately monitor goods imported into the United States.

Insurance merger faces tougher obstacle: Justice scrutiny: By Marshall Allen; A state regulator's approval of a monumental health care merger asks Nevadans to accept many things on faith - including whether a national insurance giant will fulfill promises to look out for local interests.