Apr 11 - 17,  2004 edition

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LV R-J

Spotting the creeping crab grass

It has long been the expected role of newspapers to sound the klaxon in times of immediate threat -- terrorist attack, pending storm or flood waters, major legislation, Election Day and the like.
   No less should be the expectation for spotting the creeping-crab-grass threats -- droughts, crumbling infrastructure, devolution of the culture, stagnant student test scores -- that have not yet overwhelmed but surely will if ignored.
   That is the category in which I'd place the recent news stories by Review-Journal reporter Adrienne Packer -- as well as our subsequent editorials -- on the burgeoning salaries of county employees.
   Of course these have resulted in the usual squeals from those who are the beneficiaries of all that taxpayer largess.
   You can't compare public employee salaries to those in the private sector, they retort. That compares the salaries of dealers, ditch-diggers, barbacks, construction workers and lawn mowers with the salaries of law enforcement officers, firefighters, regulatory analysts, program administrators and those who handle complex statutory or regulatory programs ... and who are ever in danger of really serious paper cuts. That's comparing apples to oranges. (If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that old saw ... )
   The public employees conveniently forget that the private sector salaries we cite also include lawyers, CEOs of casinos and banks, doctors and various highly trained professionals, as well as the kid who sacks groceries.   more

Victim disarmament traitors at it again

Sure enough, the traitors to the Constitution who currently occupy so much of the U.S. Senate now threaten to turn S.1805 -- a simple Senate bill designed to ban frivolous lawsuits intended to bankrupt firearms manufacturers -- into a Victim Disarmament Trojan Horse.
   Since October 1998, 33 cities and the state of New York have brought lawsuits against gun makers and retailers seeking to hold the companies responsible for the misuse of their legal products. These suits have been substantially funded by George Soros and the Brady Campaign (formerly Handgun Control).
   "The goal has not been to win these legally weak cases but rather, with so many simultaneous suits, to bankrupt these companies through massive legal costs," write Grover Nordquist and John Lott Jr., the latter a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of "More Guns, Less Crime," reporting last week for Fox News.
   "Unfortunately, despite most of the city suits having been knocked out on pretrial motions, this strategy has had some success," Nordquist and Lott write. "Litigation fears helped discourage venerable companies such as Colt from continuing to produce handguns, and K-mart, along with other retailers, have stopped selling handgun ammunition."
   And so the Senate appeared poised to pass legislation to rein in many of those lawsuits. (The proposed legislation would, of course, not end lawsuits against defective products that cause harm or injury.)  [more]

The Passion: Worthwhile, But Disappointing

THE CONTROVERSY swirling around Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” continues unabated, but after having seen the film, the controversy is much ado about very little. 
    The overall impact of the movie is excellent; the whole western world is discussing the life and times and the reality of Jesus Christ, and this stimulus cannot help but be positive in outcome. Is it worth seeing? Yes. But it’s not what I expected. 
    I watched it at the Sparks Cinema on opening day and quite frankly it was a bit of a disappointment. Frankly, I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the plot based on the last 12 hours of Christ’s life seemed to focus on the wrong things. 
    I’m very familiar with the New Testament and the accounts in the four gospels describing all the events leading up to His crucifixion, none which dwell almost wholly on the physical suffering of Jesus Christ. 
    Yet, the movie focuses almost entirely on that, with seemingly unending scenes of Christ getting beaten, whipped and scourged by everyone from the Sanhedrin’s police force to the Romans to the populace lining the path to Calvary. Gibson also had an excessive number of slow motion scenes of Jesus passing out and tumbling to the ground, generally face first. [more]

LV R-J
Taking (civil) liberties

By Steve Sebelius

A tough, principled campaigner came to Las Vegas at the tail end of last week. He was here to talk about the issues, and to take the Bush administration to task on a number of fronts. A veteran of Washington, D.C., politics, he knows he faces an uphill battle against a well-financed incumbent president. But he knows that the more people hear the truth, the more will come to his side.
    That's why I relished the chance to sit down for a few minutes with former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. (Who did you think I was talking about?)
    Barr has been at the forefront of one of the oddest confluences in American politics: The convergence of left and right in opposition to the erosion of civil rights in the name of the war on terror. Talk to Barr for even a few minutes, and you'll find things are far worse than just the USA Patriot Act.  [more]

CARSON CITY -- A 6-1 Nevada Supreme Court decision last year invalidating the voter-approved two-thirds requirement for the Legislature to raise taxes has jeopardized the separation of powers and overlooked the importance of procedural rules in the American legal system, a Harvard Law Review article says.

Las Vegas Sun
Water grab fuels
White Pine recalls 

Rural Nevadans fear SNWA plan
could dry up vast areas

For more than a decade, the Southern Nevada Water Authority and its sister agency, the Las Vegas Valley Water District, have planned to draw water from White Pine, Lincoln, Nye and rural Clark counties.

Elko Daily Free Press
Newmont manager:
Nevada's future golden

As gold prices headed back up Tuesday, the general manager of Newmont Mining Corp.'s eastern Nevada operations, Trent Tempel, said he is optimistic about gold prices and the future of the gold industry in Nevada.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Harrassment 
allegations denied

Regent's accusers close to demoted Cummings

CARSON CITY -- University Regent Jack Schofield, in a statement released Friday through his attorney, said the sexual harassment allegations made against him are the result of his vote to demote a college official.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Guinn's point
lost on crowd

Gov. Kenny Guinn's speech at the Stardust convention center Wednesday left many in the audience at a loss to understand what Guinn was trying to say. 

Elko Daily Free Press
BLM bids for water
rejected by Nevada

ELKO - In what was the first test of Nevada's new law concerning stockwater rights, a number of applications for permits submitted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management have been denied by the state engineer.

Associated Press
State near bottom in 
high school grad rate

RENO, Nev. -- Nevada ranks 39th nationally for its high school graduation rate and dead last for the number of students who go directly to college after graduation, according to a report.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
High stakes
down ballot

Election likely to be noisy, important

While the Battle Born state is considered a battleground for the presidency, numerous candidates are already fighting it out in down-the-ballot races. The high stakes and keen competition promise to make this election year one of the noisiest, and many argue, one of the most important in history.

Elko Daily Free Press
Elko leads fight
over wild horses

Elko County Commissioners are planning to take the lead role in a battle with the federal government over wild horse populations in Nevada.

Las Vegas Sun
GOP chief: Nevada 
'ground zero' for '04

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie went on the offensive in Nevada on Thursday, saying that Democrats have made it clear they plan to run one of the "dirtiest campaigns in modern politics."

Reno Gazette-Journal
Sodomites get
straight allies

Students at a second Washoe County high school are forming a gay-straight alliance — part of a network of clubs starting in schools across the nation and one that some local students, teachers and gay activists said has helped promote tolerance on campuses.

Nevada Appeal
Funding sought for
wild horse roundup

RENO - Gov. Kenny Guinn is pressing Congress for funding to thin wild horse herds in Nevada, saying their large numbers endanger the state's wildlife and ranching.

Las Vegas Sun
Reid stirs up
Yucca dust 

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to call and write letters to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Environmental Protection Administrator Mike Leavitt this week to air his concerns on dust dangers to workers at Yucca Mountain.

Las Vegas Sun
But state says 
no such problem 

CARSON CITY -- The state Division of Environmental Protection said Friday an investigation at Yucca Mountain Thursday showed there were no violations of blowing dust regulation.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Tax-funded poverty board 
wasted thousands on trip

Can't account for $2.1 million

The financially troubled Economic Opportunity Board paid tens of thousands of dollars to send 10 people on a five-day trip to Puerto Rico last year, documents obtained by the Review-Journal show.

Elko Daily Free Press
Free Press owner
names publisher

ELKO - Rhonda Zuraff, a nationally honored circulation and marketing manager for Lee Enterprises, has been appointed publisher of the Elko Daily Free Press.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ex-Agassi teachers,
activists complain

Teachers who've been fired or resigned from the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy publicly question whether the school is operating outside the laws addressing special education students, test security, and the expenditure of federal grants.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Regents set to
discuss demotions

The university Board of Regents has scheduled a special open meeting for later this month to discuss community college officials who were demoted following a controversial closed meeting late last year.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Arrested investigator
got pardon in 1989

CARSON CITY -- A Clark County investigator arrested this week by the FBI had supporters in high places when he received a full pardon in 1989 on his conviction in connection with an $8,000 casino theft

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Report: Eight priests
accused in 45 years

Eight of 521 Catholic priests who worked in Nevada from 1950 to 1995 were accused of sexual abuse of a minor in connection with 13 victims statewide, according to the Las Vegas Archdiocese.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Dead man's sons
file federal lawsuit

Three sons of a man who died during a February 2002 struggle with Las Vegas police filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday in federal court.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Reno judge okays
shafting taxpayers

RENO -- Rejecting a request by a group of Incline Village property owners upset over soaring property taxes, a judge has ruled a Washoe County board can continue to hold tax appeal hearings.

Valley activists:
Leading the call

From varied backgrounds, government critics based in Southern Nevada formulate methods to take on establishment

Knight Allen prefers privacy

But he stands at forefront of effort to 
ban public employees from Legislature

Although he's become the man leading the movement to ban public employees from the Legislature, Knight Allen doesn't relish the public role.

Dan Burdish is unrelenting 
against government growth

Dan Burdish is difficult to label, a former executive director of the Nevada Republican Party, he opposes most tax increases and the growing government bureaucracy they finance.

George Harris is
unwavering against taxes

George Harris was incredulous. His disbelief wasn't about the record tax increase approved by the Legislature or the moderates in his Republican Party who approved the levies.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada banks hit 
hard by payroll tax

Levy may be disaster for many small businesses

The payroll tax that the Nevada Legislature enacted into law last year is an annoyance to some big employers but a disaster for some small ones.

Las Vegas Sun
Building lease will
cost state millions

State Treasurer Krolicki 
chairs firm that gets contract

CARSON CITY -- With its first lease-purchase of a new building, Nevada will wind up paying $71.5 million, once the figures are adjusted for inflation, for the structure that is expected to cost nearly $24 million to build.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Hard numbers: Tax
hikes were unneeded

Critics of Guinn, , tax-and-spend politicians proven correct

CARSON CITY -- Spending by Nevada consumers and tourists greatly exceeded officials' expectations for the first four months of the fiscal year, with sales tax revenue growth more than doubling what was projected for the budget.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Court tosses 
bogus charges

Corrupt Las Vegas Metro police, state gaming agents help casinos bully winning gamblers

A district judge threw out a conviction against an advantage gambler and professional personal trainer who was convicted earlier this year of disorderly conduct for allegedly resisting arrest while being detailed, handcuffed and roughed up at the El Cortez.

Associated Press
Supreme questions detaining gambler

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Execs knew of Mirage's lawbreaking

Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada Gaming
Control: Crooked

Gaming control officers, Metro cops help Nevada casinos kidnap, intimidate players who win legally

Steve Bernier is terrified every time his doorbell rings and he has been ever since Gaming Control Board agents interrogated and threatened him in his own home.

Money laundry rules reviewed