Print edition for January 9, 2008

What’s the point of primaries, caucuses?: Neva M. Herr; As we get set for Nevada’s presidential caucus, I have a few thoughts about the whole thing.

Hotels shooting themselves in foot: The hotels’ price gouging of Consumer Electronics Show delegates, described in Richard N. Velotta’s Saturday story, is merely the tip of the iceberg. This shows that the hotel magnates are willing to wring every last penny from a customer, even if it means losing a staple of Las Vegas convention bookings the CES. Other shows have moved on, including the West Coast Professional Golfers of America show (which I attended).

Schools Outcry: By Jon Ralston; Education officials and activists are joining lawmakers in a chorus of protests to proposed budget cuts. Will Governor Gibbons opt to dip into the Rainy Day fund rather than implement cuts of almost five percent? Jon talks with experts about options ranging from a lawsuit against the state to a recall effort aimed at Gibbons.

Francis Khamis and his family fled Sudan in 1997 and eventually made their way to Las Vegas. He want

In America, a field of dreams: By Rob Miech; Francis Khamis slouches, stares at the ground and slinks off the soccer pitch by McCarran International Airport. A cold wind whips his Latin United No. 14 jersey.

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Now we’re the epicenter: By J. Patrick Coolican; The presidential campaign moved to Nevada on Wednesday, as Democratic operatives rushed to the state, money flowed to TV stations for advertising, and staff and volunteers fanned out in search of votes for the Jan. 19 caucus.

News

Journalism 2.0: PAGE 1; By Charlotte Hsu; Some of the most exhaustive local coverage of November’s Democratic debate at UNLV came not from veteran reporters at Las Vegas newspapers and TV stations but from a band of young students wielding cell phones, digital recorders and, perhaps most important, an open mind about how journalists should gather and disseminate news. These students in UNLV lecturer Charlotte-Anne Lucas’ class on digital storytelling posted thoughts, photographs and videos on a blog devoted to the event.

In the Clinton campaign’s Las Vegas office on Tuesday night, press assistant Katie Hurlbut and oth

Clinton’s surprise win sets up Nevada scorcher: PAGE 1; By J. Patrick Coolican; Sen. Hillary Clinton’s victory over Sen. Barack Obama in the New Hampshire Democratic primary means the next contest, the Jan. 19 Nevada caucus, will be an intense battleground in the fight for the Democratic nomination, as each tries to capture momentum going into South Carolina and then the 22 states with primaries Feb. 5.

SEIU rises above chaos for Obama: PAGE 1; By Tony Cook; The Service Employees International Union Nevada endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday night, a tortured decision after a series of fumbles and internal strife that continued to the end. The chaotic selection process and deep division within the union’s ranks will likely diminish the endorsement’s weight. The decision came after a teleconference among 34 of the union’s 44-member executive board Tuesday.

Clinton communications staff checks New Hampshire primary results Tuesday from the “war room” at

In Nevada, Clinton’s team shoots from stoic to jubilant: PAGE 2; By David McGrath Schwartz; The scream heard throughout the office complex came as the vote in New Hampshire showed that Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign wasn’t dying. After a day of stoicism and low expectations, Clinton’s Nevada campaign headquarters erupted into shouts, hugs and high-fives on Tuesday. “The game is tied, baby,” one Nevada staff member shouted. “Bring it here.”

Tick, tick, tick, Culinary will finally pick: PAGE 2; By Michael Mishak; Culinary Workers Local 226, Nevada’s largest and most politically active union, had hoped the New Hampshire primary would provide some clarity to its tortured presidential endorsement process. It didn’t. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s victory over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday - despite polling that suggested Obama was comfortably leading on election day - leaves officials of the Culinary’s international parent Unite Here with a tough choice: Endorse Clinton, the early front-runner and leader in Nevada, or Obama, whose Iowa victory propelled him to threaten Clinton in New Hampshire, a state she had figured was a lock.

Las Vegas quits group that backs a nuclear Yucca: PAGE 2; By Jeff German; In an about-face, Las Vegas has given up its membership in a pro-Yucca Mountain group that critics say has undermined the state’s fight against the high-level nuclear waste dump. Bob Loux, the state’s top Yucca Mountain watchdog, hailed the city’s decision to pull out of the Nevada Alliance for Defense, Energy and Business, an organization he describes as a “rogues’ gallery” of dump supporters.

Halverson must go: PAGE 4; A special prosecutor this week filed a 14-count “formal statement of charges” against suspended District Judge Elizabeth Halverson. Lodged before the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, the statement is replete with documented allegations of personal and legal misconduct.

The Comeback Kid II: PAGE 4; Heading into Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, pundits had already started to write the obituary of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and were assuming that Sen. Barack Obama would win in a blowout. Well, not so fast.

Reid, Chertoff: Enemies, Friends: PAGE 5; By Jon Ralston; What a difference a disaster declaration makes. Almost exactly two years ago, Sen. Harry Reid was calling for Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff’s resignation after Las Vegas was taken off a high-risk target list.

Jon Ralston gives White House hopefuls five helpful rules for campaigning here: PAGE 5; By Jon Ralston; What follows here is New Hampshire-result neutral. That is, no matter what happened Tuesday (yes, infernal deadlines preclude me from knowing results as I type), this primer for those presidential candidates about to bivouac here is essential. Let’s hope that those within the Clinton campaign who considered abandoning the state have lost that argument, and let’s pray that some of the Republicans actually can find the state on the map.

Sandquist laments the loss of historic homes such as this one, pictured in 2005.“It was built in 1

Before it’s too late: PAGE 7; By Kristen Peterson; Allen Sandquist sips his coffee in a booth at Careful Kitty’s Cafe in the El Cortez. New Year’s balloons float above slot machines and downtown prepares for the city’s annual big bash. But Sandquist is staying in. As an underground archivist and freelance photographer, he knows all the sweet spots and approaches the streets with a sense of duty, rather than debauchery. Tourists will celebrate the year to come. His focus is on the past perpetually.

Jeff Haney tells where your $8 bet on the Patriots to win it all would win you a buck, plus which houses have the good bets: PAGE 8; By Jeff Haney; With eight NFL teams trying to complete a three-leg parlay that would culminate with a Super Bowl victory Feb. 3 in Glendale, Ariz., the New England Patriots remain the bettors’ choice in Las Vegas sports books. Odds on New England to win the Super Bowl range from as low as 1-8 (risk $8 to win $1) at the Palms or Station Casinos to a more attractive minus-160 (risk $1.60 to win $1) at the Plaza. Two of the better sports books to track the Patriots’ fortunes are the Wynn and the Cal Neva joints, because each offers a yes/no proposition ...

Former UNLV basketball player Kaspars Kambala, right, spars with Michael Hunter, an Olympic heavywei

Exchanging a hoop for a ring: PAGE 8; By Rob Miech; Only when his foes multiplied did Kaspars Kambala sprint through the cobblestone alleyways of Riga, Latvia. Most often, the former UNLV basketball player pushed his peers around the hardscrabble neighborhood in which he was raised. “Sometimes you have to defend yourself,” he says. “You don’t think about it.”

Yes, high prices could drive trade show away: PAGE 9; Dean Anderson; In response to Richard N. Velotta’s Saturday story “Hey, Vegas: Don’t gouge us”: It is indeed possible that the organizers of the Consumer Electronics Show will move the largest convention held here to a location less costly to exhibitors and attendees. If enough exhibitors back out of reserving exhibit space because of attendees driven away by the increasing costs, we will soon see the tipping point reached.