Print edition for January 10, 2008

Expect it to rain less but when it does, watch out: By Phoebe Sweet; Residents of the Southwest have heard the refrain that droughts caused by global warming will worsen the region’s already serious water shortage. It also will mean stronger, albeit less frequent, storms.

Tom Ridge visits Vegas: By Jon Ralston; It may not have been as overtly interesting as attending the Culinary Union’s endorsement news conference or analyzing the New Hampshire primary results, but an amazingly eclectic group of locals gathered with ex-Homeland Security boss Tom Ridge in Las Vegas on Wednesday to talk about global engagement.

UNLV needs to fill five fundraiser jobs: By Charlotte Hsu; UNLV officials are trying to fill five crucial fundraising jobs as the university enters the home stretch of a $500 million campaign scheduled to end this year.

Cost has driven away conventions before: That the Consumer Electronics Show is considering dropping out of Las Vegas may not be just a threat. Exhibitors and attendees are hurting from aggressive rates for floor space and hotel rooms, even with an overabundance of both. All the while the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spends (wastes?) lots of room tax money advertising Las Vegas’ facilities.

Aflutter over Nevada: Nation is all over the map on how important or not our caucus is: By Steve Kanigher, Mike Trask; The endorsement of Nevada’s “powerful Culinary Workers Union” earned Illinois Sen. Barack Obama headlines across the country Wednesday.

Pure arrogance: Gov. Jim Gibbons was slowed in his budget-slashing crusade Tuesday by Secretary of State Ross Miller, who has raised important questions about the process. At a meeting of the state prison board, Miller said he was “deeply troubled” by the “veil of secrecy” surrounding the governor’s planned budget cuts. Gibbons had planned to make $24 million in budget cuts without the authorization of the prison board. Gibbons says he has that authority, but Miller, who sits on the board with Gibbons and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, disagrees.

Whichever side you’re on, just go caucus, Reid says: By David McGrath Schwartz; The Nevada Democratic Party launched a TV ad Wednesday in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged Democrats and Republicans to attend their respective caucuses.

Vegas’ new draw for out-of-staters: Help candidates take the caucus: By David McGrath Schwartz; Cars parked in a lot Wednesday on Tropicana Avenue had license plates from the following states: Washington, Michigan, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Ohio, California, New Hampshire, Michigan, Oregon, New Jersey, South Carolina, Indiana and from Washington, D.C. Las Vegas gets many tourists, but these drivers hadn’t come for entertainment. They were volunteers and staff working in one of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign offices.

Vegas is owed millions: Who knew that errant motorists could owe so much for violations committed when their vehicles were not even moving? Las Vegas officials have ordered an audit to examine the problem of parking tickets that have gone unpaid since 2005 and now total $8.1 million a situation that has not significantly improved despite a more strict collections process that went into effect in July, the Las Vegas Sun reported Sunday.

Yucca tie rightly cut: Las Vegas has dropped its membership in a business group that promotes the federal plan to bury the nation’s high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. This is a welcome change from last summer, when it defended its association with the Nevada Alliance for Defense, Energy and Business.

Insurer to cough up a record $1 million: By Cy Ryan; Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has agreed to pay a $1 million penalty to the state for failing to properly handle claims from Nevadans.

Voter IDs needed for immigrant influx: Regarding the Las Vegas Sun’s Jan. 1 editorial “Overrule voter photo ID”: Voter fraud is an especially alarming issue. Because the United States now plays host to more than 20 million illegal invaders, we need to be especially watchful that they do not have access to the election process.

Cross Canadian Ragweed: By Jerry Fink; When we last spoke to Cross Canadian Ragweed the Oklahoma-bred, Texas-based alternative country/rock band it was putting the finishing touches on an as yet untitled album. That was in May. The album, eventually titled “Mission California,” was released in October, debuting at No. 6 on Billboard’s Country Chart and at No. 30 on the Billboard Top 100 Chart. Cross Canadian Ragweed will perform at the House of Blues on Sunday.

Station turns free blues down a notch: By Jerry Fink; Santa Fe Station won’t be singing the blues. The casino has discontinued free blues entertainment on Wednesday nights at its club, Chrome. “Santa Fe just needed a change,” said Joe Santiago, vice president of entertainment for Station Casinos. “We will have free blues concerts there from time to time, mixed in with paying concerts.” Blues guitarist Walter Trout will perform at Chrome for free Feb. 22.

Ron Kantowski on the cancellation of a car race that’s always deadly dangerous, but this year was too much so: By Ron Kantowski; Part of the reason the Indianapolis 500 is known as “the ultimate test of man and machine” is that there are so many things that can put you out of the race.

Caucuses, primaries further democracy: Neva Herr’s Wednesday letter “What’s the point of primaries, caucuses?” has raised questions about our political process that deserve answers.

News

Stand-up, by seat of his pants: PAGE 7; By Jerry Fink; If George Wallace’s routine looks a little like Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats, it isn’t because this is the political season.