CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian and Sudanese troops rescued an abducted 19-member European tour group in an assault on the kidnappers in the remote Sahara borderland, officials said. The tourists and their Egyptian guides returned safely to Cairo on Monday.

An Egyptian security official said they were rescued in a joint operation near the Sudanese-Chadian border late Sunday or early Monday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Egyptian Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi said "half the kidnappers" were killed in the rescue operation, according to the state news agency MENA, but the report did not give a precise number or give details on the rescue.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini suggested Italian and German special forces were involved. He told the Sky TG24 news channel that Sudan and Egypt carried out "a highly professional operation" with the "intervention of Italian intelligence and experts from the special forces" from Germany and Italy.

The break in the hunt for the tourists came Sunday, when Sudanese forces engaged a group of the kidnappers in a gunbattle in northwest Sudan who had been sent out to get gas and food, the Egyptian security official said. Six kidnappers were killed in that fight, and two captured. The two told the authorities where the rest of the kidnappers and their captives were hiding, the official said.

The Sudanese and Egyptian militaries, using two helicopters, then launched the assault that freed the captives, two security officials said. One said there was an exchange of fire and that the hostages were freed inside Chadian territory, but there was no confirmation of where exactly the assault took place. Many of the borders in the desert region are unmarked and easily crossed.

The official said the tourists, who include two Italians in their 70s, were "feeble" but in good health. MENA reported that none of the captives was hurt in the rescue.

The freed captives, who included five Germans, five Italians, a Romanian and eight Egyptian guides and drivers, were brought by a military plane to Cairo on Monday, greeted at the airport by officials bearing bouquets of flowers. They were then taken to a military hospital for checkups.

"Our compatriots and the other hostages in Egypt have been freed," Frattini was quoted as saying by Italy's ANSA news agency. "It is the result of international cooperation for which we have to be really grateful to the authorities of other countries that have been working with us."

Frattini said no ransom was paid.

The kidnappers had reportedly been asking for up to $15 million. German authorities had been negotiating with them by phone, according to Egyptian officials, while Sudanese and Egyptian forces working with Germany and Italy were searching the deserts for the abducted group.

The kidnappers were believed to be armed desert tribesmen. Tour operators working in Egypt's Western Desert have reported several robberies of tourists in the area by heavily armed gunmen in SUVs and expressed fears the violence could be a spillover from the conflicts in eastern Chad and Sudan's war-torn Darfur.

The tour group was abducted while visiting the Gilf al-Kebir, a desert plateau famous for its prehistoric cave paintings. It is one of the most remote, little-visited sites in Egypt, lying in the country's far southwestern corner near the Sudanese and Libyan borders.

Eastern Chad and Darfur lie about 200-250 miles away across largely unguarded desert terrain. Both areas have become notorious for carjackings and other robberies by armed bands.

Source: Yahoo World

MEXICO CITY - Abraham Leon was getting a checkup when he found out he had high blood pressure and was at risk of developing diabetes.

The project is one of several new efforts to fight obesity in Mexico, which is on track to catch up with the United States within a decade as one of the world's fattest countries, according to the Mexican government. Nearly half of Mexico's 110 million people are overweight, and the number of fat children has climbed 8 percent a year over the last decade.

"The longer we carry this excess weight, the more serious the problem becomes," said Dr. Samuel Flores Huerta, director of the Department of Community Health at Children's Hospital. "Obesity is costing this country a lot of money."

Mexico is working to mandate more physical education in public schools and encourage employers and unions to give workers time for exercise. The administration of President Felipe Calderon says it has built or renovated more than 800 public sports facilities around the country. The National Institute of Public Health is promoting food education and healthier choices in schools, such as fruits and vegetables instead of chips and soda.

Mexican cuisine has always been high in fat and carbohydrates. But for decades, people living in small villages could not grow enough crops to eat a lot and had to travel long distances to gather more food.

Now, as the middle class grows and more people move to cities seeking work, diets have become laden with processed and fast foods. At the same time, doctors say, Mexicans spend more time in sitting in cars or watching TV.

The country has the disease rates to prove it. According to government statistics, new cases of high blood pressure increased 24 percent in Mexico in just six years, from 2000 to 2006. New cases of Type 2 diabetes, believed to be linked in part to obesity, jumped 31 percent during that time.

Companies spend a lot to market unhealthy foods in Mexico, said Margarita Safdie, an investigator at the public health institute. In one so-called health-conscious promotion, a company offered a free bottle of water to anyone buying two soft drinks.

"It should be the other way around," Safdie said. "It's not that healthy food is much more expensive. What happens is that calories have become cheaper."

At Alvaro Lozano's taco stand in downtown Mexico City, customers line up every day for a choice of fatty meats on two corn tortillas washed down with a sugary soft drink. He said his customers are more concerned about money and time than about health.

Mexicans have also developed a taste for fast food.

"The food is good, and sometimes I don't feel like cooking," said Ana Lopez, 35, a Mexico City homemaker dining at Kentucky Fried Chicken on the Zona Rosa pedestrian mall.

"Vamos Por Un Million de Kilos" came out of a promotional campaign by the Televisa media company, launched after its sports department noticed a certain irony.

"Some of our sportscasters were talking about fitness while they themselves were obese," said Rafael Bustillos, Televisa director of sport. "It was after that that we decided to start creating awareness about this issue."

Advertisers sponsored spots encouraging viewers to eat healthier foods and showing easy and free ways to exercise in a country where few can afford gym memberships. Then the Mexican Institute of Social Security signed on, recruiting clinic patients like Leon for the weight-loss challenge. The campaign reached its goal in just four months with 2 million people.

"We only recommend that people lose a half to a full kilo (1 to 2 pounds) a week," said Dr. Ernesto Krug, a public health unit director. "More than that is not healthy."

The campaign is now starting a second phase, "Vamos Por Mas Kilos" (Let's Lose More Kilos), targeted more widely, including at adolescents.

Leon, 39, has dropped 40 pounds since May. Before his checkup, he ate tacos, burgers and whatever his wife prepared, and didn't exercise. Now he has learned to cook so he can choose healthy ingredients. He takes the stairs at work and walks at least twice a week with his wife. He also tries to be a role model.

"I have tried to tell my brother to do what I did. He's overweight," Leon said. "But he won't listen to me."

Leon plans to lose 20 more pounds. But already he worries less about heart disease and more about how to replace his baggy wardrobe.

"I think that it has paid off," he said. "Physically, I feel great and more secure with myself."

Source: Yahoo Health

Is it too late to nominate Donny and Marie for President?

OK, then. But what about president of Las Vegas?

Think about it: America’s First Brother and Sister are running on a pro-lively, antidepressant, universally entertaining platform. They’re pretty much scandal-free. We’ve all seen them grow up on television. They work the stage and screen like lifelong politicians, and no one alive — not even Bill Clinton — can grin, wave, point, wink and make eye contact like they can.

The toothsome twosome surely smile even while sleeping.

They’re installed for a six-month run at the Flamingo, but they could easily reign for four years — and be reelected by a landslide for another term.

The 90-minute show — it’s simply called “Donny & Marie,” because that’s exactly what it is — revives and revitalizes the idea of the classic performer-based Vegas revue.

Sure, there are eight energetic dancers, a nine-piece band with horns, light-up staircases, video montages and all the now-expected stuff on the showroom stage. But every effect serves solely to enhance the endearing and enduring duo.

It’s a money’s-worth show: The stars (he’s 50, she’s 48) look great, sound swell, and in the Flamingo’s human-scaled showroom you’re guaranteed a good look at them wherever you sit — if you’re seated anywhere near the sage, you’re more than likely to be able to touch them.

As solo artists and as a duo they don’t have the bottomless catalog of hits that Strip headliners Elton John and Cher enjoy, and it’s unlikely anyone would sit still for 90 minutes of either one of them separately. But together they’re irresistible. Corny, but irresistible.

After a round of duets, Marie gets a solo spot, nodding to her country-pop hits with a snip of “Paper Roses.” She rocks out Janet Jackson-style, flirts with the audience a bit, races through a sort of random Broadway medley, and indulges her recent interest in opera by prettily warbling Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Pie Jesu.”

Then it’s Donny’s turn, and he storms out, giving his “rock” hit “Soldier of Love” the full George Michael treatment. And he clearly enjoys paying tribute to his idol Stevie Wonder on a few numbers.

Donny knows what’s required of him, and he does his duty manfully, addressing his teen idol legacy with unplugged-style renditions of “Go Away Little Girl” and “Puppy Love” with affection and dignity. More than a trace of that youthful croon remains in his warm baritone. There’s a bit of his Broadway hit, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (with video of a buff Donny rocking a loincloth), and funks it up a bit at the piano on the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing.”

Marie rejoins him for more bratty banter (“I couldn’t get any sleep, my room is so bright — they put me behind Marie’s teeth,” Donny says, joking about the “little poster” that wraps around the front of the Flamingo), and the inescapable “A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Rock and Roll.”

Entertainers since conception, these two are all-pro, all the time, and they’re really beyond concepts of sincerity or authenticity of interpretation. But they’re not robotic or on autopilot. They don’t overreach for hipness. Their bickering feels loose and spontaneous. They get winded, and work up a sweat. They flub lyrics (Donny flashed an adorably sheepish look when he missed a cue).

In a hilarious nod to Marie’s recent appearance on “Dancing With the Stars,” they work out their sibling rivalry with a climactic dance-off, comically set to the Sharks vs. Jets theme from “West Side Story” and tunes from “Grease.”

By the end of the evening, it’s hard not to get a lump in the throat or a tear in the eye, when they roll a montage of their entirely televised lives, with a galaxy of stars including just about everyone who has ever played Vegas.

Best of all, Donny & Marie sit right there onstage and watch themselves on TV with us.

They’ve got my vote, and not just because Donny fist-bumped me.

source: lasvegassun.com

The television advertising wars between Jon Porter and Dina Titus started off like the first round of most boxing matches: a few light jabs, with not many punches landing.

Porter, the 3rd Congressional District’s GOP congressman, started on Sept. 3 with an ad touting his promotion of solar energy. A day later Titus, a Democratic state senator, ran a spot with her mom at her side, noting some of her legislative accomplishments and having a laugh about her lingering Southern accent.

That lasted about a week.

The ads sponsored by both campaigns, and their “independent” proxies, have turned largely negative.

Porter has taken the lead.

The early negativity is an indication that the candidates think it’s a tight race, political consultants say. A Democratic lead in voter registration adds further incentive for Porter to go on the attack.

Two recent ads from Porter’s campaign have accused Titus of being a self-serving politician who has used public service to enrich herself, a dedicated tax-raiser and someone who consistently sides with “special interests” as opposed to regular Joes and Janes.

Titus’ campaign manager, Jay Gertsema, says the playing field is tilted in favor of Democrats this year because of one of the biggest issues, — the economy — and the higher number of registered Democrats in the district.

That gives Porter fewer ways to try to eke out a win, he said.

“He’s really only got one direction, which is to attack,” Gertsema says. “It’s sad that he wants to drag this down to a personal and ugly level. It shows how desperate their campaign is.”

Porter campaign spokesman Matt Leffingwell said the objective of the campaign’s ads is to connect with voters. “We want voters to understand the contrast between the two (candidates) on these important issues,” Leffingwell said.

Polls have shown the race to be close, often within the surveys’ margin of error, though Titus’ newest internal poll, released Thursday, showed her with a 9-point lead.

In Titus’ favor: Two years ago Porter defeated his opponent, Tessa Hafen, by less than 4,000 votes. Hafen was less well-known than Titus, a former gubernatorial candidate who has been in the state Senate for 20 years. And there are about 29,000 more Democrats registered to vote in the district than Republicans. In 2006, Democrats’ voter registration advantage was about 2,800.

Porter’s first negative ad came out Sept. 10. The Titus ad that started the next day — about her stance on energy-related issues — lasted only a day before she responded to the attack.

Titus accused Porter of spreading the same lies about her that Gov. Jim Gibbons used against her in their race two years ago. “And look where that got us,” she said, referring to Gibbons’ troubled governorship.

She then went after Porter for voting “in lock step” with President Bush. That ad is still running.

On Friday both sides released new ads, including Titus’ toughest spot yet. In that ad, titled “Enough,” she attacks Porter for repeatedly “smearing” his opponents, for letting oil companies keep gas prices high and for backing the relaxation of regulation “that created our financial crisis.”

At the same time, Porter released his latest attack ad, again going after Titus as a habitual tax-raiser. With the Wall Street crisis at hand, the narrator says, “the last thing Nevadans need is another tax-and-spend politician in Washington. The stakes are too high.”

Both sides also have outside groups attempting to influence the election with negative ads.

A spot being run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington attacks Porter for accepting campaign donations from insurance, drug and oil companies, and then giving them tax breaks.

A pro-Porter ad, from a group called Freedom’s Watch, mocks Titus’ Southern accent and attacks her on taxes.

Those “independent expenditure” ads are sponsored by groups that are not supposed to coordinate their efforts with the candidates’ campaigns.

The negative ads may be distasteful, two local political consultants said, but they’re often effective — especially in tight races.

Dan Hart, a locally based political consultant, said it isn’t surprising that Porter has been aggressively negative in his ads.

“He’s done that consistently in his campaigns,” said Hart, who is not affiliated with Titus’ campaign but usually works with Democratic candidates. “None of that should be a surprise.”

Going negative could have an added benefit this election, Hart said. Because of the heightened interest in the presidential race, voter turnout is expected to be higher than normal, he said, possibly 85 percent or higher.

A steady influx of new residents has swelled Porter’s district to about 1.1 million people — 400,000 more than the average congressional district.

That means lots of newer, potentially less-informed voters, who typically are more susceptible to negative ads because they have little underlying knowledge to put them in context.

Reno-based Republican political consultant Pete Ernaut agreed. The ultratight nature of the race means the candidates don’t have the luxury of taking the high road, he said.

“When you’re sitting on a 10-12 point lead, you can be a counter-puncher. When it’s this tight, that just won’t work,” said Ernaut, who has previously done policy research for Porter but is not working for him.

“If you’re explaining, you’re dying,” he said.

source: lasvegassun.com

One of the most interesting developments of the football season as it steams toward the halfway point is that UNLV is competitive again, Saturday night’s 49-27 cannon-izing by rival UNR notwithstanding.

The second is that Chancellor Jim Rogers has called Rebels coach Mike Sanford not once, but twice, to congratulate him. Did it after the Arizona State win and again after the Iowa State win. In fact, Rogers said he called Sanford twice last year — after a competitive loss to Wisconsin and one another one he couldn’t remember. Rogers said Sanford thought that was strange, because the Rebels lost, and you’re not supposed to congratulate coaches when they lose.

Rogers and Sanford aren’t exactly best pals, because a couple of years ago Rogers wrote this memo to the higher-ups at UNLV saying that although Sanford wasn’t the problem with the football program, the program had problems he couldn’t fix.

That these two have achieved gridiron glasnost shows how competitive UNLV had become before Saturday night. At least Rogers won’t feel compelled to place another congratulatory phone call to Sanford this week, freeing the chancellor to write more memos to Gov. Jim Gibbons, in the hope Gibbons will write a check that will enable UNLV to have an English department next year.

Sanford also should write a memo. Maybe he can contact Frank Broyles, the old Arkansas coach, and ask him how to defend the option.

The Rebels made Colin Kaepernick, the UNR quarterback, look like James Street and J.C. Watts all rolled into one, which isn’t far from the truth, considering those guys were both about 5-foot-9 and Kaepernick stands 6-6. But he has a stride like Secretariat, and when the Rebels left the barn door open, it looked like the 1973 Belmont, with the exception that UNLV actually led by 10 points early.

By the fourth quarter, however, Kaepernick and the Wolf Pack were 31 lengths in front. Like Big Red, Kaepernick was running like a tremendous machine. He finished with 240 rushing yards — 416 altogether — and five touchdowns. It looked like James Street against Rice or Baylor, with the exception that Kaepernick also passed for 176 yards, completing 11 of 16.

Kaepernick was just leaving the starting gate when a colleague asked what I thought after a first quarter in which UNLV built a 17-7 lead.

“If you’re asking if I think it’s over, the answer is ‘no,’ ” I said, because unlike him, I was old enough to remember the Texas and Oklahoma wishbones and I could tell the Rebels were having great difficulty dealing with UNR’s version of the triple-option offense. Heck, the two people sitting alone in the top row on the UNR side of the field could see that.

Afterward, Sanford said UNLV practiced against the option ad nauseam and we’ll have to take him at his word, because practice at UNLV is closed. But I believe him, because even if you spend half of practice working against the option, when it’s being run by a walk-on quarterback, it isn’t the same, even if the walk-on is J.C. Watts’ second cousin.

So after taking two big steps forward in the past two weeks, the program took a giant step backward, because losing to your biggest rival for the fourth time in a row — at home, in front of a big crowd, no less — in a game in which defensive shortcomings are exposed like an old roll of film is never encouraging.

Before the UNR game, Frank Summers, the star UNLV running back who was stuffed like a pizza crust by the Wolf Pack defense, said if the Rebels didn’t beat UNR, those three wins coming in wouldn’t mean anything. This is why reporters shouldn’t write down everything players say, especially before a rivalry game, because UNLV could have lost 100-0 to UNR, and the win at Arizona State would still count for something. And I still think at the end of the day — or season — the victory against Iowa State will count for something, too.

Anyway, wide receiver Casey Flair had a different spin after the game. “It might take a little bit (to swallow the UNR loss), but that’ll all be long gone once we’re in a bowl game, and that’ll take that away,” he said.

“We have the capability, we have enough talent on this team, we just have to turn this around and keep it going in the right direction.”

Check, check, check ... and check.

Afterward, Sanford said there were still a lot of opportunities for the Rebels to make this a real nice season, that there still was a lot of football to be played. Check and check. Of the seven games remaining, there are probably only 1 1/2 (BYU and TCU) UNLV can’t win, although it wouldn’t surprise me if Air Force reverts to its old triple-option attack when the Rebels return home Oct. 18.

This week UNLV has an excellent chance to put the UNR debacle in the rearview mirror against a middling Colorado State team that Cal left at the rest stop, 42-7, on Saturday.

The Rams don’t run the option.

If the Rebels are 4-2 at the halfway point, Sanford might even receive another phone call from the chancellor’s office.

source: lasvegassun.com

Huge ‘plume’ traced to business under bankruptcy protection

A massive plume of pollution under acres of homes, roads and a golf course in central Las Vegas is the worst of 28 sites in the valley contaminated by the same chemical.

At some point, someone winds up footing the bill for cleaning up those sites, and the Las Vegas National Golf Club case is turning out to be a local test of federal regulations outlining who pays when the polluter has filed for bankruptcy protection. In this case, the party in bankruptcy court is Al Phillips the Cleaner.

The gas-like mass of perchloroethylene, PCE, also known as tetrachloroethylene, or TCE, is emblematic of the intersection of older, less regulated Vegas — indeed, the entire nation — with a world of science that discovers dangers in commonplace practices of years past.

The “Maryland Square site” — the name given to the golf course plume of the potential carcinogen by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection — is also the starting point from which to examine a list of PCE-contaminations pockmarking the Las Vegas Valley.

The sites identified by the Nevada Environmental Protection Division include two at Nellis Air Force Base, three at casinos and 19 at current or former dry cleaning businesses.

The chemical is widely used for metal degreasing as well as for dry cleaning fabrics. Inhalation of its fumes can cause neurological, liver and kidney problems, according to the EPA. Studies have found that prolonged exposure increases the risk of cancer. The EPA is currently reassessing its potential carcinogenicity.

Perchloroethylene remains in use in the dry cleaning industry, though other solvents with less harmful effects are also being used. Dry cleaners are now asked to take special precautions against site contamination to prevent PCE from getting into drinking water. In 1991, California declared perchloroethylene a toxic chemical, and its use will become illegal in that state in 2023.

Dante Pistone, public information officer for the state environmental protection agency, said the degree of contamination of most local sites other than Maryland Square is “minimal.” But six of those are considered serious enough to be in the various stages of a remediation process.

Those six sites are another Al Phillips location at 3754 E. Desert Inn Road; Cantrell Cleaners, 1015 E. Charleston Blvd.; Las Vegas Hilton/Convention Center, 3000 S. Paradise Road; Regency Dry Cleaners, 4575 S. Procyon St.; Ultra 1 Day Cleaners, 316 S. Decatur Blvd., and Vogue Cleaners, 550 S. Decatur Blvd.

“None of the sites even approach the magnitude of the Maryland Square site in terms of cleanup,” Pistone said.

He also said using the word “toxic” to describe the pollution is “alarmist.”

“The concentrations we’re talking about are such that they’re not acute at all,” he said, adding that the ground water contamination is 10 to 20 feet below the surface, “and shallow ground water doesn’t affect anybody.”

More worrisome, however, are the vapors from PCE that “can come up through the soil and potentially get into some of these houses” or other buildings that sit atop contaminated land, Pistone added.

The Maryland Square site is large and sweeps east from a former Al Phillips the Cleaner business at 3661 Maryland Parkway, north of Twain Avenue and west of the Boulevard Mall. The building that housed the dry cleaning business was demolished in 2006.

Pistone said the NDEP is not sure how PCE, a chemical used in the dry-cleaning process, leached or leaked from the site. He added that the number of sites of contamination in Las Vegas is hardly unique in the nation.

“It’s fairly common across the country,” he said. “There weren’t very tight operating procedures in the past,” so most, if not all, of the sites were contaminated years ago.

Two things about the Maryland Square site, however, distinguish it from the others. For one, a large contingent of concerned residents have hopes that, ironically, the underground chemical might actually help them preserve their quality of life.

The other is that the company responsible for the contamination is not likely to be forced to spend millions to clean it up, because of its bankruptcy filing.

Pistone said the Environmental Protection Division is watching the bankruptcy proceedings “to see how much we can get out of that.”

Barring a payout from the Al Phillips dry cleaning business, federal regulations require going after the land owner.

“It’s just the way the regulations are written,” Pistone said. “Somebody has to be responsible and if you own the land, you’re responsible for what goes on that land.”

That’s why the Herman Kishner Trust, which owned Maryland Square LLC and leased to Al Phillips, has set aside some money in case responsibility ultimately falls to it to pay for the cleanup, said Las Vegas attorney Al Marquis, who represents the trust.

“Al Phillips agreed they were responsible and that they would remediate the site,” Marquis said. “But with the filing of the bankruptcy ... it appears the ball is back in our court.”

He added, “We believe Al Phillips still has primary responsibility here and we intend to pursue that claim in the bankruptcy court.”

The state’s environmental agency hasn’t determined a cost for the cleanup yet, Pistone said. “Until we get actual cleanup plans in place, it’s pretty tough to estimate the cost.”

Marquis said the Kishner Trust estimates the cleanup will cost “millions of dollars.”

As part of the effort, the state environmental protection agency is taking water samples from 33 wells in the residential area under which the plume rests. The agency has also identified “about 15 homes,” Pistone said, where the amounts of PCE vapors exceeds “the health protective level.”

The state agency has contacted a contractor and talked to homeowners, and some remediation systems are about to be installed.

These systems can involve sealing a home’s foundation, then depressurizing the soil to prevent vapors from seeping indoors. Costs of these “subslab depressurization systems,” according to state agency’s Web site, can range from $2,000 to $20,000 per home.

The cost will ultimately be borne by whomever is forced to pay for the cleanup, Pistone added.

The agency estimates it could take five to 10 years to clean up the Maryland Square site.

Homeowners surrounding Las Vegas National Golf Club hope the contamination will somehow kill any plans by the golf course owners to build about 485 homes on the 130-acre site.

Actually, Pistone said, developers could build in the area as long as they follow environmental guidelines to ensure the health of anyone living there.

“There’s no regulation saying ‘until this is cleaned, you can’t do anything,’ ” he added. “We’d simply work with the developer as part of the developer’s due diligence, and if they decided to move forward, we’d do some additional monitoring wells as part of our due diligence.”

John Knott II, one of the investors who bought the golf course in August 2007, said before they bought it, the golf course was thoroughly tested for contamination.

“And we don’t have an (environmental) problem there,” said Knott, executive vice president of the CB Richard Ellis real estate brokerage. “There is a plume of PCE but it is in trace amounts and below all standards set by the federal government.”

source: lasvegassun.com

Lil Jon spins at Prive; Ashley Olsen’s romance heats up

By Robin Leach · September 24, 2008 · 5:54 PM

Ashley Olsen and "National Treasure" actor boyfriend Justin Bartha

* Ashley Olsen and "National Treasure" actor boyfriend Justin Bartha watched the Beatles "Love" musical by Cirque du Soleil. To avoid distracting the audience and causing a fan-scene, the hand-holding twosome arrived just as the show began and made a quick, quiet exit as the performance ended. Ashley and Justin had a romantic dinner afterward at Stack in the Mirage, enjoying shared plates of yellowtail sashimi, spicy wings, black cod miso lettuce cups and tomato soup with mini-grilled cheese. They then joined seven friends, including Justin's co-star, Zack Galifianakis from "What Happens in Vegas," for a night of partying at the neighboring Jet nightclub. Spies said the young couple drank Patron tequila with Red Bull and Grey Goose vodkas, and were arm-in-arm, dancing together in the VIP section until 2 a.m. Justin is in Vegas shooting a comedy movie "The Hangover."

Hard Rock

Carey Hart and Jess Rooke ride into Wasted Space.

* More than 150 motorcyclists met at the southwest valley warehouse of stuntman Carey Hart -- the ex-husband of pop-singer Pink -- then rode in a pack to the Hard Rock led by Carey and pal Jesse Rooke. It was to kick off Ride Night at Carey’s “Wasted Space” rock lounge and the riders got an enthusiastic greeting from an energetic crowd waiting their arrival.

* Local legend Brandon Roque held his birthday party at Prive in the Planet Hollywood resort and rapper Lil Jon turned up after dinner at the Strip House steak restaurant to play guest DJ for the dance party celebrations. Joining in the fun was Tito Ortiz celebrating the news -- with Grey Goose vodka mixers -- that he and galpal Jenna Jameson are expecting twins. She remained home safely in bed.

* A live-stage version of the hit "America’s Got Talent" TV show will be staged at MGM Grand Garden Arena for one night on Friday, Oct. 17. Jerry Springer will host the stage show as he does the NBC-TV production, in addition to featuring several of this year's Season 3 talent marvels and the soon-to-be-named winner.

Denise Truscello

Singer Cisco Adler and rapper Shwayze pump up the crowd at Blush.

* Singer Cisco Adler, frontman for the band Whitestarr, which appeared on VH1's "The Rock Life," rapper Shwayze and DJ Skeet Skeet were a lively trio at the Blush boutique nightclub in the Wynn. First, Skeet took over the turntable-twisting from resident regular Mighty Mi, then Cisco and Shwayze jumped onto the bar for an intimate impromptu performance. They sang their hits, "Corona & Lime," "Buzzin" and "High Together," and got their fans to join them in the sing-along.

* Kim Kardashian will zip in and out of Vegas on Oct. 24 to celebrate her birthday at the LAX nightclub in the Luxor.

Jenna Jameson sits front row at ‘Zumanity’; DJ AM recovering

By Robin Leach · September 25, 2008 · 6:02 PM

Cirque du Soleil

Jenna Jameson and Tito Ortiz go backstage with the Zumanity cast.

* Now that she’s expecting twins, don’t expect to see former porn princess Jenna Jameson out on the town too much. She’s been ordered to bed rest. Before the confirmation of the dual stork arrival, which we first reported this week, she and dad-to-be boyfriend, UFC champion Tito Ortiz, had one last night of hi-jinx earlier this week on the Strip. They snuggled up close in one of the front-row signature love sofas at the sexy adult-themed "Zumanity" Cirque du Soleil show in the New York New York resort casino. They shared popcorn drizzled with white truffle oil, but while Tito sipped a margarita with salt, Jenna stuck to a non-alcoholic frozen cosmopolitan. Following the performance, Jenna and Tito went backstage to meet the erotic exotic cast and told them "we couldn’t have picked a more perfect show."

* A shroud of secrecy has been wrapped around Adam Goldstein, also known as DJ AM, and Blink 182's Travis Barker’s treatments at a Georgia burn clinic. But we can confirm that Travis already has undergone "multiple surgeries" and skin grafts related to his second- and third-degree torso burns. Good friend Bill Nosel, who is a spokesman for Barker’s Famous Stars and Straps clothing company, said "Travis is trying to stay upbeat." He has started a memorial fund for donations for Travis’ personal assistant, Chris Baker and Travis’ bodyguard, Charles Sill, who died in last weekend’s plane crash in South Carolina. No word yet on any progress or medical treatments for Adam, who is a partner at Pure’s Lax nightclub at the Luxor.

Erik Kabik/Retna

Actress Dania Ramirez hosts at Jet.

* Actress Dania Ramirez was the picture of perfection when the "Heroes" star hosted at the Jet nightclub in the Mirage.

* UFC champion Randy Couture, along with wife, Kim, Playboy talent scout Lorris Baker and Miss Washington 2007 Elyse Umemoto will judge more than 30 girls expected to parade down a pageant runway in their bikinis and cocktail outfits at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile tonight.

* Couple Ashley Olsen and Justin Bartha cuddled up for the blockbuster "Jersey Boys" musical at the Palazzo. Then Ashley, in a grey cashmere summer sweater and blue jeans, went off with her new beau for dinner at the Yellowtail Sushi Restaurant & Bar at the Bellagio. They sat in a romantic corner table set away from the main room and enjoyed an assorted sashimi platter along with Black River sake. Spies reported the pair were affectionate and held hands at their 90-minute feast.

Harrah's

San Antonio Spurs forward Bruce Bowen signs "the wall."

* Three-time NBA championship winner and San Antonio Spurs forward Bruce Bowen signed the "celebrity wall of fame" at Steve Martorano’s restaurant in the Rio. Bruce loved the music so much that the manager made him a copy of the tunes that played throughout dinner.

* Boxer Zab Judah was spotted watching the football games on the big-screens at Hawaiian Tropic Zone inside Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile.

* The stars continue to make their home at the new Lavo restaurant club at the Palazzo. "Live A Thousand Years" author Giovanni Livera performed magic for hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari when they dined at separate tables. Giovanni, who authored the "Amazing Cigar" book of tricks, also blew 50 consecutive smoke rings in less than 60 seconds from the outdoor patio hookah pipe. Tito Ortiz was solo on his visit to Lavo for its industry night party.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Gracie Claire Sauer participated in her first graduation ceremony Sept. 12, not from a Boulder City kindergarten or preschool, but from the Napa Center, where she received a three-week barrage of therapies intended to help her cope with neuromuscular disabilities.

The accomplishment was no easy chore, though, for the 21/2-year-old girl who suffers from an undiagnosed illness that has stumped doctors for the past 20 months and has affected her neurological and motor skills.

Gracie's Napa Center professional team put her through an agonizing and exhaustive pace of four hours of intensive therapy and 90 minutes of auditory stimulation every Monday through Friday for three weeks, as well as twice-a-week biofeedback sessions.

It was no wonder that with but a few days left in her grueling, 15-day therapy program, the little girl who usually wears a happy smile would pout and cry, seemingly wanting, but unable, to ask when all of this would come to an end.

Even with the long, sad faces, a slight grin would emerge now and then as a therapist worked away on her fragile and sometimes rigid body, making it do things Gracie had never done before -- things her doctors and therapists believe she is capable of doing routinely with a little daily training.

"She's made a lot of progress, but she can make more progress if she wasn't so petite," said her physical therapist Rafael Munoz. "This week, you're going to look at her and she's tired, she's going to fuss and she's going to complain. She's not in any pain at all. She's probably saying, 'What's this guy doing to me?' 'Why am I here?' 'What do my parents want me to do?' 'I don't know why I have to do this.' So it's all resonating."

Accustomed to a moderate therapy regimen back in Boulder City, Gracie had little time during her six-hour daily sessions at Napa to recuperate from the strenuous routine Munoz and his aide, Kelly McGee, put her through that left her tired and sore at the end of each session.

From 8 to 9 a.m. each day, Gracie started with inhibition techniques -- forcing newly used muscles to work while restraining muscles she normally uses -- and soft-tissue techniques employed to loosen her up.

For another hour, until 10 a.m., Gracie would go through a pattern of therapy that would stretch, reach, twist, pull and push her tiny muscles, followed by a 15-minute break.

At 10:15, she'd be back in the therapy room, this time donning a special suit -- a NeuroSuit developed by the Russian space program and adapted for therapeutic use by Napa Center co-owner Trisha Gonzalez -- that had numerous ties and adjustments used to isolate the work needed to be done by a muscle or group of muscles.

Then at 11, Gracie would go to the "spider cage," so called for the four or eight bungee-like cords that attached to the NeuroSuit and held her in an upright position, giving her legs support like she never had before.

Then, at 11:30, it was standing in a special walker designed without a seat, which required Gracie to stand tall and move forward using her legs while McGee sat nearby.

A lunch break came at noon, then at 12:30 it was time to report to Geni King, 51, an auditory trainer, who used the Tomatis Method of listening improvement that played Mozart, Gregorian chant music and children's stories to Gracie to improve the use of the vestibule of her ears, which control various bodily functions.

King calls the vestibule, or the central part of the ear, "the battery to the brain" because it affects much of a person's everyday activities.

The Tomatis Method was named after Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a French-born ear, nose and throat specialist who studied occupational noise problems after World War II and made the discovery that poor learning is associated with poor listening.

As if putting on a set of oversized earphones weren't enough, Gracie also laid on a special electronic mat Tuesdays and Thursdays so Michael Galvan, a 31-year-old biofeedback technician, could register stress points in her body.

While the daily routine was fast-paced and strenuous, the intensity of it all seemed to pay off, Gracie's therapists said.

"The biggest change, I would say, is her trunk control in any position," said Munoz, 26, a University of Southern California graduate with a clinical doctorate degree in physical therapy. "Her mom reported the second or third day that she could sit at the dinner table without her chest harness on, which was a big deal for her because she couldn't do that before, and now she can sit through a whole meal without a chest harness on without being afraid of her falling over and hitting her head. That's a huge, huge difference we've seen.

"Another change is her initiating movements. When she came in, she's never been pushed so hard to do a lot of these tasks, so initiating certain movements with a lot of different activities, developmental activities, that's greatly improved. (What's) also (improved is) her ability to reach with her hands across her body. She would not reach across her body at all when she came, and she does that now with her right hand.

"She's demonstrating protective reactions also with her arms; as she falls toward the mat, she'll fuss and throw herself back. Now she'll throw herself to one side and have an arm to catch her. She's not catching herself yet, but at least it's out there. She's starting that step. There's a lot of subtleties, like the way her hands open, the way her feet are placed," Munoz said.

Gracie's mom, Jennifer Sauer, said she, too, noticed similar improvements in her daughter, giving credit to the use of the NeuroSuit while noting the difference in the therapy routine Gracie gets at home from physical therapist Jason Derryberry.

"I think it's just the intensity," she said. "The big thing here is the suit, and just having the suit on her automatically makes her sit up bigger. I can't really explain what the suit does, but when you put it on her body, suddenly her tone kicks in, she's sitting up bigger, that's the main difference. Jason is great, but I think as most therapists do, they get into a routine and tend to do the same things. Not just with Gracie, but all kids. Here, because what they're doing is geared to Gracie specifically, it just catapults the results forward. You saw her supporting her body weight on her hands and knees; that's huge because she wasn't able to do that before."

When it came to staying the full three weeks in California, Gracie's dad, Scott Sauer, wasn't as fortunate as his wife in that he had home inspection appointments to meet in Southern Nevada. That resulted in him having to commute by air when he could.

As a parent, Scott spoke about what it's like to sit there and watch Gracie go through the rigorous therapy, given the fact that a noted geneticist at the University of California, Los Angeles last year told the Sauers he believed it was unlikely Gracie would live to see the age of 4.

"You know what, when you're at UCLA and they tell you to take your child home and you have no hope, this is a happy time. It's a positive step," he said. "Obviously, when we came here, we knew this was the start of a long journey. We didn't expect anybody to fix her on this trip. Her progress is clearly going to be determined by the amount of therapy she has and the quality of that therapy ..."

Jennifer had similar thoughts.

"A year-and-a-half ago, to have a geneticist at UCLA tell us there's no hope, basically what he was saying to us was take your child home and watch her die, which gave us no hope," Gracie's mom said. "So, a year-and-a-half to now is like night and day. She literally couldn't move anything on her own at that point and now that she's taking steps, close to sitting up on her own, she's supporting herself standing, and weight-bearing on her hands and knees, all of those things are things we never thought were possible. So, it just goes to show you can't always listen or believe what doctors tell you because they're human; they don't always have the answers. And in this case, it's a good thing that he was wrong."

Thanks to the generosity of Boulder City residents who supported the Sauers with more than $16,000 in donations and silent auction purchases, this trip won't be their only visit to the Napa Center. Jennifer has already talked to center director Lynette LaScala about coming back at the end of the year.

"Lynette told me before we got here we'll be planning our next trip and we're already looking to bring Gracie back probably the end of November, early December, and luckily, because of the fundraising efforts, it will be possible to do that," Jennifer said. "What we'll plan on doing is just the four sessions, because I think that's the most beneficial, and possibly, the Tomatis again, but we'll see after this time."

For Gracie and her parents, the last of three consecutive Fridays spent in El Segundo, Sept. 12, was a memorable day.

Not only was it the end of a tiring learning experience, but it also marked the completion of Gracie's therapy at the Napa Center.

Gracie and five other children -- Gracie was the youngest and 13-year-old Jonathan was the eldest -- graduated that day with each one receiving a personalized trophy to commemorate their visits.

For Jennifer Sauer, it truly was a happy occasion.

"I think it was a great trip and we made kind of what we made over the last year-and-a-half -- slow, steady progress -- but I think that what she's done in the last three weeks would have taken her months and months to accomplish at home," she said. "I'm just looking forward to bringing her back and seeing what she's going to do next time around."

Rubber duckies numbering almost 2,000 glide down golf course creek ...

Sunrise Rotary's Kenducky Derby fundraising event at Cascata Sept. 13 certainly was all it was "quacked up" to be with few, if any, members ducking the event and those who were there not using one word of "fowl" language.

For starters, just in case attendees weren't sure they were at the right golf course, Rotarians had placed a giant, inflatable, sunglass-bespeckled duck lounging in an equally large inflatable spa courtesy of Diamond Coast Spas at the valet entrance to the clubhouse.

Once inside, the festive air -- many women wore fashionably flappable big-brimmed hats in the tradition of thoroughbred racing fans at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. -- gave way to the first of three events, the golf ball drop.

Promptly at 1:30 p.m., a Las Vegas Helicopters chopper hovered over a special green that had been clipped on the driving range and dropped a test ball.

Then, some 700 specially marked golf balls pelted the greens, falling from the sky like an deluge of hail the size of, well, golf balls.

A special three-person team assembled to government standards -- one to measure, one to record distance and one to supervise -- that consisted of Sunrise President Goldie Begley, event coordinator Doug Scheppmann and his helper, Dr. Robert Merrell, came back with the three closest to the hole.

First place and $1,000 went to the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, second place and $500 went to Ryan Mechanical Co., and the $250 third-place award went to Parsons Auto Body.

A half-hour later, with Boulder City High School junior Kelsey Ripplinger playing "Call to the Post" on her trumpet, the Corporate Duck Race took off with more than 500 rubber duckies bobbing and weaving their way over the l'orange rills and rapids of Cascata Creek.

Rotarian and Fire Chief Kevin Nicholson, who was stunningly dressed in a pair of Melvin Kline khaki wading boots, waited at the finish line to pluck the winning duck from the specially constructed river chase.

After swirling away in a series of whirlpools created by the chase, Dick Blair Realty won first place and $1,500, Pepper Coombes took second place and $1,000, and Boulder Dam Credit Union took third place and $500.

Then came the granddaddy of all the events, the ballyhooed Kenducky Derby, which saw close to 2,000 -- many were double-dutied -- rubber duckies take a second run down the creek.

A large number of unlucky duckies got caught upstream behind the rocks, but the majority got through, under the footbridge and into the swirling eddies, and then into Nicholson's comforting hands.

For this race, 15 prizes were handed out. Third place and a round of golf for four at Cascata went to Denny Mayes, husband of City Manager Vicki Mayes; second place went to Mary Chaisson of Las Vegas, who won a 50-inch, flat-screen TV, but promptly turned around and donated it to Sunrise Rotary's Wurstfest event coming up this weekend; and first-place with a $1,500 shopping spree at Henderson Harley-Davidson went to John Kist.

Funds raised will cover the costs of buying a Boulder City Art Scape Project statue.

When it was over, there was talk of the USC-Ohio State football game that would kick off later that day in Los Angeles.

It seemed a bit odd since the really big football game of the day for those attending the Kenducky Derby figured to be the one played at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., where the Boilermakers faced the University of Oregon -- otherwise known as the Ducks. It took two overtimes, but the 16th-ranked Ducks triumphed, 32-26.

Source: viewnews.com

State Sen. Joe Heck, R-Henderson, on Monday accused his opponent, Democrat Shirley Breeden, of hiding from a debate on the issues and asked for help smoking her out from an unlikely ally: U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Reid called Heck personally more than a week ago to offer assurances that he was not behind the state Democratic Party's pummeling of Heck in campaign ads. Heck revealed the conversation Monday, and Reid's office confirmed that it occurred.
 
The ads, which Heck decries as misleading, haven't let up, while Heck says Breeden has declined at least two offers from neutral groups to hold public debates.

"I appreciated the fact that he (Reid) took the time to call me from Washington to tell me he has nothing to do with the misleading campaign against me," Heck said. "I hope he would be able to use his position in the party to convince my opponent to come out and debate. I've got a platform I'm running on. Whether people like it or not, I'm willing to defend what I believe in."

A spokesman for Reid said the Senate majority leader has his hands full on Capitol Hill, particularly with the economic crisis. "He is not in the business of micromanaging campaigns, and he wanted to make sure Senator Heck was aware of that," Jon Summers said.

Because Reid was never involved in the state Senate campaign to begin with, he does not intend to interfere now, Summers said.

Breeden could not be reached for comment. Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said he was "surprised that Senator Heck is whining to the media instead of directing his attention to the voters."

Horsford said Breeden spends nearly every day connecting personally with potential constituents in Senate District 5, which covers a large swath of Henderson and eastern Las Vegas.

"She's decided that the best way to run her campaign is to focus on the voters in her district, because she understands that in the end, they're the ones who decide who gets elected," Horsford said.

If just one Republican incumbent loses in November, Horsford will become the majority leader in the state Senate. The state Democratic Party has focused its efforts on Heck and Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, both of whose districts are trending Democratic in voter registration.

The ads have been landing in mailboxes for weeks. They accuse Beers of hating children and being in league with pornographers, and charge Heck with being more concerned with taking care of industry cronies than his constituents.

One flier says that Heck "Voted 'No' to Cervical Cancer Screenings." Heck did oppose a bill that would have required insurance companies to cover a cervical cancer vaccine, saying it would have driven up the cost of health insurance and that he wasn't sure of the vaccine's efficacy. Cancer screenings weren't part of the discussion.

"What this is really about is educating voters about the records of the Republican incumbents," said Travis Brock, executive director of the state Democratic Party. "The fact remains that Senator Heck, a physician, repeatedly voted against a bill to require insurance companies to cover the cervical cancer vaccine. He's more interested in protecting insurance companies than the health of Nevada women."

Heck has mailed fliers of his own to voters, but sources say neither his campaign nor the Republican Party can afford to match the Democrats' efforts this far from the election.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.

source: lvrj.com

The dude on the other end of the line wants to know what she's going to wear on her upcoming tour, a Wiffle Ball of a question, lobbed underhanded.

Janet Jackson takes a good whack at it anyways.
 
"Clothes," she says with a chuckle on a conference call with journalists from Vegas to Detroit, her voice soft enough to curl up and take a nap upon.

"I'm sorry for being so silly," she purrs. "It's very early for me right now."

It's a bit past 11 a.m. on a recent Thursday morning, and Jackson is hunkered down in rehearsals, girding herself for months on the road, never-ending bus rides and less sunshine than an Alaskan winter.

It's the life of a vampire, albeit one in high heels and tight, epidermal black leather.

"You live in a box, you don't get to see the day, unless you want to at lunch -- you can take lunch outside," Jackson says of the day-to-day grind of the road. "Normally, you have your catering, you eat inside the venue, and you only see daylight when you're on your way to the venue. You get air when you're on way back to the hotel. That's it."

Not that Jackson is complaining. This is her first tour in seven years, though she never planned on staying off the road for so long.

Jackson had intended on touring for her previous album, 2006's "20 Y.O.," but her new record company had other plans.

"I was actually in rehearsal for the tour," Jackson says of her concert preparations, which took place while she was in Atlanta shooting a role in the Chris Rock film "Why Did I Get Married?" "On my days off, I'd run into rehearsal. But the label at the time, Island/Def Jam, asked me if I would wait. They really wanted to get an album out at the end of the year or the beginning of the new year. And I did. I waited. The (dancers) were so bummed out. It was pretty sad. We had our little crying session. But that was the big delay. I wasn't going to postpone this one for anything."

In hindsight, the decision was a wise one.

Whereas "20 Y.O." was a solid, albeit backward looking effort that largely mined the frivolity of Jackson's past, her latest disc, "Discipline," released earlier this year, is a more sleek and modernist disc meant to hit the dance floor hard enough to leave craters.

It's a libidinous, suggestive album, taking a cue from the overboard salaciousness of 2004's spotty "Damita Jo" and making it work in a new context.

Whereas veteran collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis oversaw much of "20 Y.O.," on "Discipline," Jackson teams up with a younger set of producers (Ne-Yo, The-Dream, Stargate), and the result is an album that feels like an update of the self-empowered pop that first brought Jackson to prominence beginning with her breakout 1986 smash "Control."

At the time, Jackson galvanized a nation of young women with her feminine assertiveness and pronounced independent streak. "Got my own mind, I wanna make my own decisions," she sang on the title cut to the album, which mixed a slick pop production, an electronic veneer and hard beats with radio-friendly R&B to modernize contemporary urban music and rack up massive sales.

Since then, Jackson's moved more than 25 million records in America alone, though in recent years, her sales have dipped, as her well-heeled pop heirs (Beyonce, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera) have built upon her themes of sexual emancipation to increasingly bawdy fashion.

At times, Jackson has seemed like she's struggled a bit too hard to keep up -- witness the backlash that ensued after her racy, breast-baring Super Bowl performance.

But these days, Jackson says she's not engaged in any sexual arms race.

"You do your thing," she says. "I've already been there, I've already done all of that, it's not a matter of keeping up. I hope that doesn't sound cocky, because I don't mean it to sound cocky, by any means. It's not a matter of trying to keep up with any current trend, it's about being you. Music has changed, my music has changed. It will continue to evolve."

Still, the best pleasures tend to be the simplest ones.

Jackson knows this -- there's always been a primal edge inherent in her repertoire, right from the start.

And on her latest tour, Jackson's keeping things as elemental as the carnality that's long defined her.

"It's about dance," she says. "It's about forgetting your troubles, your worries. It's a really difficult time for everybody right now, with the economy and all. It's really about just getting out and having a good time."

Source: lvrj.com

FOR GOOD NEWS, GO BELOW SURFACE

Economic downturn provides boost for those attending MINExpo

By JENNIFER ROBISON
REVIEW-JOURNAL 

Anyone digging for some decent economic news can unearth quite a bit at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

There, at big trade show MINExpo 2008, much of the talk this week revolves around the luster visiting the mining industry. Commodities continue to post strong numbers, with demand for coal at all-time highs and the price of gold surpassing $900 Monday.

The Silver State produced a record $4.9 billion in gold, copper, silver and other metals in 2007, based on statistics from the National Mining Association. Nevada ranks among world leaders for gold production along with Australia, South Africa and China. And though mining employs just 1 percent of the state's work force, it contributes major tax dollars -- $1.7 billion worth in the last 20 years, including nearly $200 million in 2006, according to the Nevada Mining Association.

Thanks to flush times for miners everywhere, MINExpo 2008 will likely rank as the biggest mining trade show the world has seen, said Luke Popovich, a spokesman for the National Mining Association. Attendance at the quadrennial show grew 30 percent over 2004 levels, to about 40,000. The association, which sponsors the show, sold 600,000 square feet of floor space to 1,250 exhibitors. Miners from 17 countries are on hand for the show. And Gov. Jim Gibbons stopped by as well, to address attendees at the show's grand opening Monday morning.

Mining trends show why attendance at the trade show, which isn't open to the public, hit new highs this year. Chalk up the interest to brisk demand for coal and precious metals, said experts who spoke at the National Mining Association's state of the industry panel Monday morning.

Take coal.

The association forecasts demand for 1.2 billion tons of U.S. coal in 2008, which would best the 2006 record of just over 1 billion tons, said Michael Quillen, chairman and chief executive officer of Alpha Natural Resources in Virginia. What's more, the amount of coal the United States exports in 2008 could reach 85 million tons, triple 2006's export volume. There could be more to come: The United States owns 27 percent of the world's coal reserves. That's equivalent to Saudi Arabia's share of the world's oil supply and Russia's portion of global natural gas stockpiles.

Fast-growing China relies on coal for 80 percent of its power generation, and European countries plan to build 50 coal-based power plants in the next five years, Quillen added.

Exhibitors at MINExpo say the boom in coal has been a boon to their bottom lines.

Sales have tripled for Leica Geosystems Mining Group since MINExpo 2004, said Martin Nix, senior vice president.

Leica, which has offices in Australia and Arizona, makes software for mining-fleet management, and it benefits from sheer mining growth as well as increasing interest among mine operators in monitoring their machines for productivity and safety.

"We've seen extraordinary growth," Nix said. "Mineral resources are in demand, and high prices are driving good returns for mining companies, so they can reinvest in a system like ours."

For Goodman Conveyors of South Carolina, big jumps in mining for coal, iron ore, potash and copper pushed solid gains in demand for the conveyor belts and parts the company makes.

Goodman officials skipped MINExpo in 2004, but made a point of making this year's version thanks to the spike in sales.

"Compared to four years ago, our business is much stronger," said Carter Matthews, vice president of sales and marketing.

Goodman does especially brisk business these days in Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia. It also serves clients in the Southwest United States, though tougher permitting processes in America and a weak U.S. dollar have meant stronger international business rather than improved domestic business, Matthews said.

And sales rose 25 percent in the last four years at Polaris Laboratories, an Indianapolis company that tests fluids in mining machines to diagnose maintenance issues before they force down time.

Polaris has customers in Nevada, among other states, and Chief Operating Officer Mark Minges said the Silver State should enjoy a stable mining sector for the foreseeable future.

"I think Nevada is going to be a strong mining state for a lot of years to come," Minges said. "Gold is huge here, and my contacts in gold tell me that while some mines are playing out, they have others to go to. With the price of gold being what it is, it makes it very attractive for them to open up new areas. Gold mining is not going anywhere for a while in Nevada."

In addition to connecting with exhibitors, MINExpo attendees are taking courses in safety, technology, public policy and environmentally friendly mining techniques. They're also visiting Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and taking a Black Canyon River Raft tour.

The trade show is in town through Wednesday.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.

President Bush and his party's presidential nominee, John McCain, will both be in Nevada next week, but you won't see them together.

Bush is scheduled to be in Las Vegas on Oct. 2 for a meeting of the Republican Governors Association, according to an invitation to the event.
 
Meanwhile, campaign sources say McCain will be in Reno that day.

The unpopular president is considered political kryptonite for McCain and other Republican politicians, so it's perhaps not surprising that their paths aren't expected to cross.

Gov. Jim Gibbons is among the governors scheduled to attend the Republican gathering at The Venetian.

Also attending, according to the invitation, are the governors of Texas, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and Utah.

After the afternoon fundraiser reception with the president, for which ticket packages start at $5,000, the governors are scheduled to hold a vice presidential debate watch party.

Details of McCain's visit haven't been released.

SPECIALLY INTERESTED

In the time-honored tradition of political ads attacking candidates' perceived strengths rather than weaknesses, a new television ad paints state Sen. Dina Titus as weak on education.

Titus, the Democratic challenger to Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., in the 3rd Congressional District, is an educator herself and generally considered an advocate for education in Carson City. Porter's new ad charges that she "voted against reforms to improve our schools." Among other things, it says she "voted against giving local schools control of class sizes."

"Dina Titus: Whose side is she on?" the ad intones in closing. "Not ours. The special interests."

Titus' campaign fired back by wondering what special interests the ad is referring to and charging that it is Porter who has taken campaign contributions from industry and then done corporations' bidding. The 2003 and 2005 votes on class sizes, Titus' campaign said, would have allowed local districts to increase them beyond the student-teacher ratios mandated in class-size reduction legislation, and that's why she opposed the bills in question.

"As an educator for 30 years, Dina Titus is committed to Nevada's students and teachers, unlike Jon Porter who supported the largest cut to student aid in history and underfunded No Child Left Behind," Titus spokesman Andrew Stoddard said.

ON THE AIR

Republican John McCain continues to outspend Democrat Barack Obama when it comes to Nevada television advertising.

According to a national analysis of post-convention ad spending by the Wisconsin Advertising Project, McCain's campaign spent $365,000 on Nevada commercials during the week of Sept. 6-13, while Obama's spent $297,000.

Nevada was one of 17 states where Obama was on the air, while McCain was buying airtime in 15 states, the study found. The two candidates spent $15 million on advertising that week alone.

While independent groups haven't been as active in this election as they were four years ago, there are signs they are starting to step up their involvement. The liberal issues group MoveOn.org last week started targeting McCain in Nevada and other states with an ad that hits his ties to lobbyists.

The ad shows a succession of clips of McCain using his trademark salutation, "My friends," then asks, "When John McCain says, 'My friends,' do you know who he's talking about?"

It then shows some of the top lobbyists who have been McCain advisers and contributors.

The group is spending $200,000 to air the ad on Nevada networks. It's also airing on national cable.

The race in Nevada continues to be a tight one, according to polling. A Sept. 12-14 statewide poll by American Research Group put McCain up, 49 percent to 46 percent. The poll of 600 likely Nevada voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

NOT SO GLOOMY

Sen. John Ensign has dropped the Eeyore bit when it comes to talking about Republican prospects in U.S. Senate races this fall.

The once-downcast chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee says he is newly optimistic, to the point where he mused to reporters last week that it might be possible for the party to hold on at its current 49 seats in the Senate or lose just one or two.

Political analysts said that probably is way too optimistic. But on the other hand, they say a scenario where Democrats expand their 51-seat majority to close to 60 seats also may be hard to achieve.

Throughout this year, Ensign had spread woe, saying it would be a good election night if Republicans lost just four Senate seats. The party is defending 23 seats, double the Democrats' number, and lagged in fundraising.

It got to the point where some Republicans were complaining to reporters -- anonymously, of course -- that they were growing tired of the Nevadan's pessimism.

But as vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin energized the prospects for GOP presidential nominee John McCain, there has been spillover to Senate candidates as well, Ensign said.

"Sarah Palin definitely gave a boost," Ensign said. "In races where we were way down, those races are even, and in some of the races that were even, we are up."

He added Republicans expect Palin will boost GOP turnout in a big way.

But Republicans now face the prospect that Palin's magic touch might be fading.

A CBS News/New York Times national poll conducted Sept. 12-16 showed her favorable rating dropped four points in a week, to 40 percent, while her unfavorable rating grew by 8 points, to 30 percent, according to a CNN analysis.

Besides a Palin bounce, Republicans gained momentum talking about oil drilling through the summer, Ensign said.

Fundraising also picked up, with Ensign's team surpassing its Democratic counterpart in August, $5.2 million to $4.4 million.

Democrats still have a sizeable money lead, even after spending $13.7 million in August, mostly on TV ads in key states like North Carolina, Mississippi and Colorado.

As of Sept. 1, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had $33.7 million in the bank while the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee had $26.8 million.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.

source: lvrj.com

On a day when a record number of wrecks helped Mike Skinner to his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in 22 races, it was a fender-bending save in morning practice by the No. 5 Toyota Tundra driver that paved his path to victory lane Saturday night at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“Man, I didn’t know what was gonna happen after our qualifying run,” Skinner said.

Skinner avoided a crash with the retaining wall, then came back to edge Erik Darnell, taking the Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 by two-hundredths of a second. Skinner passed Darnell not only on a green-white-checker restart, but also the final few inches of the last lap.

“I didn’t like the cautions. I thought it was ridiculous how some people were driving in the back,” Skinner said of the race’s record-setting 12 cautions. “But then again, I knew if the race had stayed green I would have stayed in second place.

“So what I didn’t like about the race turned around and won the race for me.”

In addition to the photo finish in front of a crowd of 50,000, there was quite the shakeup in the series points standings as Johnny Benson saw his 74-point edge over Ron Hornaday Jr. shrink to a single digit after Benson wrecked out of the race on Lap 64 while in the lead.

“There’s no doubt that we had a fast truck — it was flawless,” said Benson, who holds a 2,858 to 2,857 advantage. “We’ll have to pick up the pieces for later. That’s outside of our control. We can’t fix that problem.”

Hornaday — who briefly took control of the points lead on one of the late restarts before relinquishing it with his fifth-place finish — said he was glad to move closer to Benson, but was disappointed it had to come because of a wreck.

“One point behind. OK, that is fine, we will take it,” said Hornaday, who was the pole sitter and leader of the race's first two laps before Skinner passed him. “It is better than 70 out. We were getting 20 at a time, and it looked like it was his (Benson’s) job this week to get the points. I hate to see Johnny do that. He was running very hard. I saw he didn't put tires on there at the beginning (first pit stop), and I blew a tire here last time.”

Another driver, hometown favorite Brendan Gaughan, didn't blow a tire nor his temper despite spinning out on the final lap, which took away what looked like a certain Top 5 finish. Instead, the No. 10 driver had to settle for 20th place and more struggles during a season full of them.

“That's been the story of our season,” Gaughan said. “So very frustrating. At the end of the race we had a truck that was capable of making some major moves too.”

Jack Sprague wasn’t very happy with the moves that Gaughan was making in the first place, angrily awaiting the Las Vegas driver on the caution lap after Gaughan rear-ended him on Lap 78 which forced him from finishing a race for the first time this year.

“I raced Brendan underneath him most of the race and never touched him, so I don’t know what his excuse is -- just got taken out,” said Sprague, who was restrained by a NASCAR official hoping to avoid a repeat performance of last week’s post-race fight at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Darnell took the lead on Lap 84, then briefly lost it before regaining the front spot again on Lap 102.

During the final 30 laps, five more cautions mixed up the field. Darnell was able to hold off those surges from Laps 104 through 145. But Skinner, who was just the second driver to win a trucks race twice in the 14 years the event has been held at LVMS, passed him by faking low and going high.

“I knew that we had the third-best truck, but I knew that I had one shot and you have to make the best of these things,” said Skinner, who recorded his 25th career victory. “I tried him (Darnell) on the bottom and they lined up behind me, and I said, ‘Well, I have to fake him to the bottom and try him on the top.’”

The move worked briefly, but Darnell moved back ahead as the two drivers drove side-by-side, trading a handful of leads over the final four turns.

“If it was a green flag racing, we would have run away with the race,” Darnell said. “Skinner got a run and I tried to hold him off. I ran those last two laps wide open and I’m sure he did, too.

“His truck was just a little better than ours on the restart.”

Skinner said he was glad the race didn’t end on caution and admitted he was going to try everything he could without wrecking Darnell to win.

“Erik’s truck was awfully good,” Skinner said. “I was not going to wreck Erik to win the race. I was going to push him, bounce off of him, do whatever I had to do, but he’s a friend, a class act and a good guy.

“But right now the (No.) 5 truck is back in Victory Lane and it feels great.”

Source: lasvegassun.com

Hacker impersonated Palin, stole e-mail password

By TED BRIDIS
Associated Press Writer
 
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Details emerged Thursday behind the break-in of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's e-mail account, including a first-hand account suggesting it was vulnerable because a hacker was able to impersonate her online to obtain her password.

The hacker guessed that Alaska's governor had met her husband in high school, and knew Palin's date of birth and home Zip code. Using those details, the hacker tricked Yahoo Inc.'s service into assigning a new password, "popcorn," for Palin's e-mail account, according to a chronology of the crime published on the Web site where the hacking was first revealed.

The FBI and Secret Service launched a formal investigation Wednesday. Yahoo declined to comment Thursday on details of the investigation, citing Palin's privacy and the sensitivity of such investigations.

The person who claimed responsibility for the break-in did not respond Thursday to an e-mail inquiry from The Associated Press.

"i am the lurker who did it, and i would like to tell the story," the person wrote in the account, which circulated on the Internet. What started as a prank was cut short because of panic over the possibility the FBI might investigate, the hacker wrote.

Investigators were waiting to speak with Gabriel Ramuglia of Athens, Ga., who operates an Internet anonymity service used by the hacker. Ramuglia told the AP on Thursday he was reviewing his own logs and promised to turn over any helpful information to authorities because the hacker violated rules against using the anonymity service for illegal activities.

"If you're doing something illegal and causing me issues by doing this, I'm willing to cooperate," Ramuglia said. "Obviously this is the most high profile situation I've dealt with."

The break-in of Palin's private account is especially significant because Palin sometimes uses non-government e-mail to conduct state business. Previously disclosed e-mails indicate her administration embraced Yahoo accounts as an alternative to government e-mail, which could possibly be released to the public under Alaska's Open Records Act.

At the time, critics of Palin's administration were poring over official e-mails they had obtained from the governor's office looking for evidence of improper political activity.

Details of this week's break-in, if authentic, were consistent with speculation by computer security experts who said Yahoo's "forgot-my-password" service almost certainly was exploited. The mechanism allows customers to retrieve or change their password if they can verify their identity by confirming personal information such as birthdate, zip code and the answer to a "secret question," such as a childhood pet's name or school mascot.

Palin's hacker was challenged to guess where Alaska's governor met her husband, Todd. Palin herself recounted in her speech at the Republican National Convention that the pair began dating two decades ago in high school in Wasilla, a town near Anchorage.

"I found out later though (sic) more research that they met at high school, so I did variations of that, high, high school, eventually hit on 'Wasilla high'," the person wrote.

The McCain campaign issued a statement describing the hacking as an invasion of Palin's privacy.

Source: lvrj.com

Nevada voters were starting to hit Yucca Mountain fatigue before the 2004 presidential election. And nothing in the past four years has done a thing to elevate the repository past a political talking point. Voters just haven't cared.

But a funny thing has happened in a matter of days -- the tired issue of Yucca Mountain may actually be creeping back into Nevadans' collective psyche. And it's all happening thanks to completely unrelated wrongdoing by the leader of the state's fight against the planned nuclear waste dump.
 
Bob Loux, the head of the state's Nuclear Waste Project Office, acted unilaterally to increase his salary and those of his office colleagues. That's against the law, and Loux should face a number of ethical and criminal charges on his way out the door.

Nevada Republican Party Chairwoman Sue Lowden said Loux needs to resign immediately because he violated the public trust.

"This incident cannot be made to go away simply by apologizing and returning the money," Lowden said on her blog.

Indeed. But Lowden's call for Loux to step down isn't just an isolated demand for the resignation of a public employee who abused power. Lowden and other conservative leaders are using Loux's brazen disregard for the law as a reason to once again soften Nevada's opposition to the dump.

"The integrity and credibility of the Nuclear Waste Project Office has been compromised and irreparably harmed," Lowden said.

Chuck Muth, a conservative activist who is hosting a Western-style CPAC event in Las Vegas this week, has used Loux's behavior to ask for an investigation into the entire office. Muth said he is "neutral" on the planned repository. Is that like being neutral on abortion?

At any rate, Muth wrote this week that it's "time for the NWPO to disappear, as well. Otherwise once Loux is removed from office they'll just appoint another propagandist to keep stifling debate and discussion in this state over Yucca Mountain."

Loux had always taken the position that we're in no position to negotiate for benefits. Muth believes there's room to explore whether we can become an Alaska-style sugar daddy, accepting cash and distributing it to residents, in exchange for burying highly radioactive waste in an earthquake-prone zone near aquifers.

Loux cannot be defended. But it's more than a little odd to ask the federal government to come have a look-see at its opposition.

The feds and most of Congress (Democrats included) are hell-bent on shipping the world's deadliest substance here. Nevada's effort to block the dump has relied heavily on the legal battle coordinated through Loux's office. State Republicans want to close the Nuclear Waste Project Office because their rural base sees the Yucca Mountain Project as an employment boon.

Oh, and it doesn't hurt that the GOP's presidential candidate is for the dump. Or that when you boil down the "Drill, baby, drill" energy plan, Republicans also want more nuclear power plants.

Increasing nuclear power is common sense for international and environmental reasons, but to get there, you have to solve the waste problem. And McCain's ludicrous proposal (if you can call it that) to ship our nuclear waste across the globe to Russia isn't going to get the job done.

It's a lot easier to solve the waste problem if the fatigued electorate in Nevada starts to give in.

Once that drumbeat from Lincoln County starts resonating with conservative leaders and the head of the state Republican Party, it's a simple jump to Gov. Jim Gibbons. After all, Gibbons finds no policy distinctions in his spreadsheets. So axing the Nuclear Waste Project Office would save the state money. But at what future cost?

There has always been a small undercurrent of Republican support for the repository, particularly in rural Nevada. The state GOP has had to battle its more conservative elements over the years to keep Yucca Mountain support out of its official platform. Now some conservatives are using the Loux debacle to try to pick up more support for the dump. Others are simply trying to help McCain sound better in the state.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is credited with helping to slash the Bush administration's budget for Yucca Mountain, said the current talk from conservatives of ending funding for the Nuclear Waste Project Office is a "back-door attempt to get what they've never been able to get."

"Everyone should know that Jim Gibbons is being watched very closely," Reid said. "He has supported us on Yucca Mountain, some have said reluctantly, but I wouldn't (use the term 'reluctantly'). I hope he wouldn't let these right-wing zealots get to him."

The Yucca Mountain Project still may not resonate much here. And it certainly doesn't rise to the level of the economy, the war, education or health care with voters. But conservatives are once again sounding the drumbeat to the national nuclear industry that Nevada is willing to negotiate.

And that's something all Nevadans should watch very carefully.

Source: lvrj.com

Southern Nevadans are panicking and considering extraordinary steps to avoid losing more money in the stock market, real estate and even bank savings accounts, according to one local banker.

An 80-year-old man, for instance, said he wanted to withdraw all of his money, $750,000 in deposits, from Black Mountain Community Bank and put it in a safe-deposit box, rather than spreading the money around banks so he would qualify for full coverage under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
 
Peter Atkinson, president of Black Mountain Rock Community Bank, however, told the customer that banks are prohibited from storing cash in their safe-deposit boxes.

Another business owner said he has spread $2 million in deposits among several banks so all of it is under the $100,000 federal deposit insurance maximum. Yet, the businessperson is considering moving it to Bank of America, figuring the bank is too big for the government to allow it to fail.

A retiree with fully insured bank deposits said he wants to withdraw $65,000 and keep the cash at his home for possible emergencies.

So far, all three customers have left their money at the bank, but Atkinson is pessimistic.

"They not only don't like the stock market. They're not sure they trust the government or the banks anymore," Atkinson said. "I've never seen this before, and I've been in banking 45 years."

Military historian Jim Hinds blames the housing bubble and mortgage lending practices for triggering the economic slump.

It was foreseeable that making loans to individuals with bad credit records would lead to loan delinquencies, he said.

"There was a certain recklessness that was involved," he said. "Maybe there was the assumption that the government will bail us out," as it has done in cases like investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. and insurance giant American International Group Inc., Hinds said.

Harvey Cohen, a retired senior executive, also singled out the housing and mortgage industry blow-ups as a catalyst for the country's current economic and financial woes. He also blamed rampant mortgage loan fraud.

Two years ago, "every criminal trying to buy my house was looking for a mortgage-fraud deal," he said.

No one will buy homes now, he said, because they think prices are going lower. As a result, more people are losing their houses to foreclosure and the supply of houses is increasing, driving prices lower.

"You have to stop the supply of new homes coming on the market," he said. "The (federal government) has to step up and make mortgage loans available," he said. Mortgages should have fixed rates for 10 years or more so that homeowners can build equity.

"Nobody knows where this thing is going to end," Cohen said.

Ted Reed, 49, a government worker who oversees an Army Reserve armory, said the stock market makes him "a little nervous" and he is thinking about moving his retirement savings out of the stock market into safer investments.

It's too late to cash out of the market, said Jag Mehta, adjunct professor of finance at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a chartered financial analyst. Investors who wanted to avoid the bloodbath should have sold stocks a year ago, Mehta said.

"At this point, if you're selling out now, you're guaranteeing a loss," said Reed Radosevich, president of Northern Trust Bank, which manages money for wealthy clients.

"We're not going to make big moves to try to time the market," Radosevich said. "If you are constantly moving money back and forth, you may miss a huge up day."

Source: lvrj.com

Enrique Iglesias will be singing at Mandalay Bay on Saturday during Mexican Independence Day weekend. But if his career had followed his boyhood fantasies, he wouldn't be singing. He'd be playing soccer for a living.

"It's the one sport I used to dream of -- being the guy scoring the deciding goal," he says.
 
As a kid, he wasn't bad on the field.

"I was mediocre," Iglesias says. "The funny thing is, when I moved here to America, I moved to Little League, and at the time, soccer wasn't big" in the United States. "And I was really good compared to the American kids. So I felt kind of cool."

But he knew his limits.

"Being an athlete is extremely difficult," he says. "You truly need so much meditation, so much competition."

This year, Iglesias settled for the next best thing to being a soccer star: He sang "Can You Hear Me?," the anthem at the Euro Cup, during the soccer finals.

He was nervous, he says, and the best part wasn't even getting to perform but to watch his native Spain win an exciting semifinal and then the championship.

"The level of playing is absolutely amazing," he says. "To be able to watch them do that!"

Lately, Iglesias, 33, has been recording new music in a Miami studio and preparing to issue a greatest-hits album of his Spanish-language songs. He's one of the rare singers who has sung nearly as many English-language pop hits as Spanish-language singles.

But he's "still looking for the perfect song," he says.

"I truly feel like I haven't written the best song I can write," he says and draws this analogy: "A guy goes fishing, he catches a 400-pound marlin -- then he wants to catch a 500-pound one."

When he's on tour, he finds it a little difficult to write songs. But he does think about how a new song would sound when played in front of 5,000 or 10,000 people.

Those crowds can be wild. Half a decade ago, Iglesias played the Aladdin, where women kept running onstage to wrap themselves around him. When he's reminded of that show, he says, "My fans are crazy, but they're fun."

He proclaims he's dedicated to the music, not celebrity. Striving for that music-first goal, he's signed up Aventura, the hip-hop/reggae dance group that sings in both Spanish and English, to open for him.

"I wanted to do something different," he says. "This one will be great."

Source: lvrj.com

A suggestion for Paul Azinger: If things begin to get a bit tight in Louisville this week and the boys appear overcome by the moment (or just by the fact the Europeans are continuing to kick our Ryder Cup tails), the U.S. captain might consider a few options to turn momentum:

1. Rub a mixture of lemon juice and vegetable oil over Jim Furyk's bald head.
 
2. Wrap snakeskin around the putters of each U.S. golfer.

3. Inject the blood of a wild animal into Phil Mickelson, although you just know if that happened and Lefty played well, he would immediately claim to have planned such a strategy and secretly begin researching the forensic patterns of the African okapi.

You might have missed it. You probably did.

A story about witchcraft and 13 victims (many between the ages of 11 and 16) being trampled to death at a soccer match in eastern Congo would tend to be ignored by American sports fans more interested in whether Matt Cassel can prove to be Tom Brady of 2001 or if the Dodgers will out-bid the Yankees for Manny Ramirez next season.

The latest riot around a pitch occurred Sunday when thousands panicked and ran for exits at the sight of a goalkeeper casting spells on his opponent, probably the same curse Mike Shanahan put on Ed Hochuli before the NFL referee looked at a fumble and instead saw a raised cobra ready to strike, thus blowing his whistle in terror.

The tragedy that happened in Butembo of the North Kivu province again proves our passion for sports such as football and baseball is a mere speck amid the dust bowl of craze the rest of the planet holds for soccer.

Today, after yet another stampede cost lives, that's not such a bad thing.

It's so ridiculous to us. We hear voodoo and think of a lounge at the Rio. Doesn't the term ju ju refer to candy? Isn't black magic what Al Davis does when he absurdly makes another coach disappear? Didn't the whole sorcery thing get solved once Harry Potter destroyed the stone?

Not to those in African countries.

Not to those in African countries obsessed with soccer, which is pretty much every living soul in African countries.

Most of the dead were children this time. There is a reason such disasters happen in soccer far more than other sports. Think of exorbitant participation numbers and religion mixed with archaic Third World stadiums.

There are close to 200 countries in a world that houses 6.6 billion people, and only 300 million of those live in the United States, meaning for every 23 bodies strolling the earth, around 22 really do believe soccer's importance ranks just after air and right before water.

The NFL is not yet 90 years old. There are soccer rivalries that date thousands of years. It would be like Nevada having 10 NFL teams. That's how many high-level soccer matches are played daily around the globe. England, not the size of Texas, has 100 teams many label first-rate.

With that many bodies playing and cheering soccer worldwide, some madness is inevitable.

But while sports in the United States mostly adhere to that doctrine about a separation of church and state (Notre Dame being one notable exception), many in Africa still worship witchcraft over God. Theirs are beliefs embedded deep into a culture of seeking guidance from a jujuman over a holy being.

They still opt for potion over prayer.

It is why some teams bury goats under fields and others smear the blood of slaughtered chickens on opposing goal posts. A Chargers fan will scream at the television following Hochuli's error, rant around the house for a few minutes and then head to the beach. A soccer fan in West Africa whose team loses an important match might return to his hut and begin mixing a concoction of herbs and porcupine blood for players to apply before the next game.

It has obviously proven a fatal combination, this kind of life-and-death fervor blended with undersized facilities that are hardly up to fire marshal standards. Soccer for those in Third World countries is the ultimate diversion from a life of hardship, but it's also true they routinely pack venues not secure or large enough to handle the kind of lunacy that happened Sunday.

You might have missed it. You probably did.

We can't comprehend it. We never will.

Source: lvrj.com

This is as close as you’re going to get to old America in a place with barely a century of history.

The Boulder Dam Hotel is part museum and part boutique hotel, one of the only small hotels in a region dominated by 3,000-room megaresorts.

It has a quaint dining room with wood furniture, a dimly lighted bar in the basement and narrow halls with creaking floors that take you to comfy rooms.

Roger Shoaff, 53, and his wife, Roseanne, take care of everything. His job title is innkeeper, a word that appropriately brings to mind the days of train travel and communal bathrooms.

Clark County law all but bans bed-and-breakfasts, leaving the 20-room Boulder Dam Hotel with a corner on the niche market of places to stay where an innkeeper roams the halls.

“People appreciate that it hasn’t gone commercial,” says Shoaff, a burly man with a quick half-smile that seems to ask whether everything’s all right. “It’s homey and genteel.”

The hotel, built in 1933 for government officials who came to check on construction of the Boulder (now Hoover) Dam, became famous for housing a recuperating Howard Hughes in 1943 after he crashed a plane into Lake Mead and for providing a room to a vacationing Bette Davis in 1934.

It’s this history and the tiny town surrounding it that attract tourists and residents. “They want to be part of the kind of community Boulder City is,” says Michael Green, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada who got married at the hotel.

Today the hotel is owned by the nonprofit Boulder Dam Museum and keeps an occupancy rate of more than 70 percent. The economy hasn’t hurt business much because the hotel doesn’t have a lot of competition in the “real Americana” hotel category, Shoaff says.

The Shoaffs moved to Nevada from Pittsburgh nearly four years ago. They came for the same reasons most everyone comes, new opportunities in a new place, where it doesn’t snow.

He taught high school at first after a long career in marketing. Then he took this job, mostly because it was offered. His wife is the other half of the management team. They live in a 900-square-foot apartment in the hotel.

This month the Shoaffs reopened the bar and restaurant, which had been closed since June. They had gone through a series of managers in the past decade.

The museum is spending $180,000 to upgrade the kitchen and give the dining room a face lift.

Shoaff acknowledges this is the worst time to open a restaurant, especially one attached to a hotel. But the space is just sitting there. And he knows the tight-knit community will come for meals, as will Las Vegans eager for a dollop of history.

He has his pitch down: “You can come to Boulder City with a gallon of gas and be in a different world,” one with narrow streets and businesses that close at night.

When the Shoaffs want to get away, they go the other way. They head to the Strip, usually Planet Hollywood.

Apparently history isn’t everything.

Source: LasVegasSun.com | Mike Trask

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday accused Republican John McCain's campaign of using "lies and phony outrage and Swift-boat politics" in claiming he used a sexist comment against vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Calling it "the latest made-up controversy by the John McCain campaign," Obama responded to the Republicans' charge that he was referring to Palin when he used the phrase "lipstick on a pig" at a campaign stop Tuesday.

"I don't care what they say about me. But I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and Swift-boat politics. Enough is enough," he said.

Obama's reference to swift boating was to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an outside group that in 2004 made unsubstantiated allegations about Democratic nominee John Kerry's decorated military record in Vietnam.

In his initial comments Tuesday, Obama was delivering a dissertation about McCain and President Bush - not Palin - when he used the lipstick aphorism. In fact, his reference to the Alaska governor later on was a defense of her strong belief in religion.

The lipstick maxim is hardly new to either Obama or McCain. The Democrat has used it in the past, and McCain repeated the folksy metaphor when he criticized Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on health care. McCain was never accused of being sexist when he uttered those words.

Later in the day, during an appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman," the host jokingly asked Obama: "Have you ever actaully put lipstick on a pig?"

"The answer would be no, but I think it might be fun to try," Obama said. He said it was all part of the "silly season in politics" as the campaign heats up.

Letterman ridiculed the notion of the McCain campaign convening a meeting and deciding Obama had called their vice presidential nominee a pig.

"Technically, had I meant it this way she would be the lipstick, you see. The failed policies of John McCain would be the pig," Obama said, drawing laughter from the audience. "Just following the logic of this illogical situation."

Obama used the reference as he criticized McCain's policies as similar to those of Bush, saying: "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years."

The McCain campaign immediately jumped on the comments, arguing they were directed at Palin, the GOP's first woman on a presidential ticket. In her acceptance speech last week, she had referred to herself in a joke about lipstick being the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull.

Accusing Obama of "smearing" Palin in "offensive and disgraceful" comments, the McCain campaign demanded an apology. The McCain campaign on Wednesday issued an Internet ad that said Obama was talking about Palin and said of Obama: "Ready to lead? No. Ready to smear? Yes."

Obama's campaign has accused the GOP camp of engaging in a "pathetic attempt to play the gender card." The campaign noted two other instances of McCain using the phrase "lipstick on a pig" and its use by other Republicans such as House Minority Leader John Boehner and Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl.

With the fight dominating television news shows Wednesday morning, Obama responded before beginning a discussion of education at a Norfolk high school.

"What their campaign has done this morning is the same game that has made people sick and tired of politics in this country. They seize on an innocent remark, try to take it out of context, throw up an outrageous ad because they know that it's catnip for the news media," Obama said.

Later in the appearance, a supporter asked Obama how he was going to avoid Kerry's fate of allowing lies to undermine his campaign. Obama responded that every day he will hammer away at the issues that matter in Americans' lives and make the argument that McCain offers the same policies as Bush.

"This whole thing about lipstick, nobody actually believes that these folks are offended," he said. "Oh, we're shocked. Everybody knows it's cynical, everybody knows it's insincere."

McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers responded, saying: "Barack Obama can't campaign with school yard insults and then try to claim outrage at the tone of the campaign. His talk of new politics is as empty as his campaign trail promises."

McCain released a new TV ad Wednesday that suggests an Obama link to what the Web site FactCheck.org called "completely false ... misleading" attacks while failing to note that the source of the attacks were, according to the Web site, "Internet postings and mass e-mail messages," not the Obama campaign.

---

On the Net:

Obama campaign: http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

McCain campaign: http://www.johnmccain.com/

You can separate them, but they still get in their shots.

Interviewed on his own, Donny Osmond claims it's only funny when sister Marie is the one firing off the zingers. "It doesn't work with guys putting girls down."
 
But later, he lets one slip anyway: "She faints every night," he says of the new show that opens Tuesday at the Flamingo Las Vegas. "I have to revive her after every show."

Marie Osmond later says the new show pays homage to "Dancing with the Stars" -- the dancing part, not the fainting -- because "I have to keep Donny in shape some way." She also says her brother's "new career choice is to be an Elvis impersonator. That's why we actually came to Vegas. This is the only place they give classes, and he already had the jumpsuit."

Cue a drummer's rimshot, Marie's ribald laugh and the return of the team that hasn't needed a last name since 1973. "Donny alone is an entity and Marie alone is an entity. But Donny and Marie is a brand," Donny says.

And it took the brand's combined clout to get the Flamingo and the show's producers -- impressionist Danny Gans and his manager, Chip Lightman -- to make a major commitment: 265 or more shows in the next 12 months, with an option for a second year.

"Vegas is starting to look like a real focal point for the both of us," says the 50-year-old Donny. "This isn't something that just popped up in our minds. We've been talking about this for the last decade, trying to figure out the timing of all this and when it's going to happen.

"Both Marie and I knew it was inevitable, and to do it in Vegas is the right place."

Donny had his eye on the Strip since at least 2001, when he came close to joining the MGM Grand's bygone "EFX" revue (the job eventually went to Rick Springfield). Solo dates at The Orleans reintroduced him to Las Vegas while he waited for "the right offer with the right room."

The casinos might have been holding out for Marie. Still, they could not have predicted the 48-year-old singer would make such a huge re-entry into pop culture by competing on "Dancing" in the fall of 2007. Despite her father's death and the famous faint ("Wow, did I hit my head," she says), Marie danced her way to a third-place finish and new fans.

Donny will fly home to Provo, Utah, on days off, but Marie and seven of her eight children have moved here. Producers of "Marie," a planned daytime talk show, are discussing Las Vegas as home base for the show as well.

"I'm going to be really, really busy here but it's nice to be in one spot," she says. "It really helps the kids to focus in on their school and the consistency of being somewhere."

The money doesn't hurt either. "Unlike NutriSystem, my divorce didn't cost me $10 a day," she says with that wicked laugh, referring to both her diet commercials and last year's split from Brian Blosil.

Advance sales for the new show squelch some grumbling that Donny and Marie's ever-smiling faces on the hotel's colossal building wrap are out of phase with the "whatever happens" Vegas of nightclubs and topless bars.

Donny's response to that -- "Poppycock" -- doesn't bury the duo's squeaky-clean Mormon image. But skeptics also may forget the Osmonds somehow made that image work in the '70s, when casino-goers were even more about smokin' and drinkin'.

"We've seen many different incarnations of Vegas," Donny says. "I watched the Landmark go up -- and down." When the Osmonds opened for Shirley Bassey at the Sahara in the mid-1960s, "I remember walking around backstage with all these half-naked women."

And Marie's crack about the Elvis jumpsuit didn't come out of the blue. The Osmonds commissioned stage garb from Presley's costume designer, and Donny remembers meeting the King backstage. "I really didn't think much of it at the time, but what a thing for a 13- or 14-year-old."

Marie was onstage with her brother at the Tropicana by 1974, the year of their duet hit "I'm Leaving It (All) Up To You," but two years before their ABC variety show.

Their Vegas history explains their enthusiasm about the Flamingo's old-school showroom -- one of the few still standing from the old days -- and their confidence about making the 750-seater work for them now.

"I know we can pull off this show. Because we were trained that way. We were trained on those stages when we were kids," Marie notes.

"When we say 'variety,' we don't mean Cirque du Soleil. We mean getting out there and giving the audience the spectrum, from soup to nuts, so to speak," Donny says.

Editing a video montage of their careers into the length of just one song (Alan Jackson's "Remember When") was a huge challenge, he adds. So was deciding, "What part of each career do you put in there?"

Marie's "Dancing" partner, Johnathan Roberts, flew in to stage the ballroom sequence. She also wants to show off her six years of opera lessons. Both singers say they hope to balance nostalgia with their present-tense momentum, a few lean years for both now just another memory.

"I went through a period where I was really trying hard to grow up the image or whatever in my 20s," Donny says of the dry spell before his 1989 pop hit, "Soldier of Love." "I look back at it now and say, 'C'mon, I could have lightened up a little bit.' "

Marie says "Dancing" was "one of those statements like, 'I do not need to climb into a hole, I need to climb a mountain.'

"It's just fun to put your life into action," she says. "It surprises you how your energy increases when you dare to challenge yourself. And this show is full of energy."

A few put-downs too, one would surmise.

"It's a sibling thing," Marie says. "There is a chemistry that siblings have that I think is unique. I think it's why we're unique."

Source: lvrj.com

Assemblyman Joe Hardy is heading the latest push to make the much-discussed Boulder City bypass a reality. The Boulder City Republican has requested a bill draft that would allow a private entity to construct and operate a toll road from Railroad Pass to the Hoover Dam.

It’s just what locals have been saying they need for the past three decades.

“I definitely support it,” Boulder City Mayor Roger Tobler said. “This is one of the things we’ve been talking about” with the Nevada Transportation Department and others. “Tolling is going to have to be part of this.”

Boulder City, population 15,000, has long wanted to ease the constant traffic going through town on U.S. 93. Fears of massive traffic snarls and dangerous roads have increased during the construction of the Hoover Dam Bridge. When the bridge opens in 2010, commercial trucks will be allowed to cross the dam on U.S. 93, something that has been forbidden since 9/11.

“Everyone is concerned with the traffic in town,” Councilman Travis Chandler said. “We need to do something. So I’m glad this is being followed up on.”

But Chandler said it is unclear whether a toll would be enough to pay for the 17-mile, $500 million road. He also questioned whether the Legislature would pass the bill. In 2007, lawmakers killed a bill that would have allowed toll road experimentation in the state.

Officials have said a Boulder City bypass would be at least a four-year-long project, meaning Boulder City will undoubtedly face an onslaught of traffic when the Hoover Dam Bridge opens.

• • •

Redevelopment plans in Henderson saw some good and some bad this week.

The Summit at Boulder Highway, a 144-unit apartment complex, was the latest downtown project to get a time extension. The 7.6-acre project has until February to get final approvals from the city. The developer, Michael Turk, will submit architectural plans to the city in about three months, according to paperwork filed with the city.

The city hopes the apartment complex will aid in the revitalization of Boulder Highway in Henderson.

In better news, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will rebuild a stake center at Water Street and Ocean Avenue. The 24,000-square-foot building will replace a building that was torn down this year. The Planning Commission approved the project, although the church must get final approval from the City Council this month.

The church is asking for a waiver of design guidelines that require two-story buildings along Water Street. The proposed church building would be one story.

• • •

Local municipalities will soon be on the hook for a $300 million intake valve to ensure the region can still get water from Lake Mead in the next decade as the water level continues to drop.

A 15-member group of Henderson residents and business leaders brought together by the city has ideas on how to slow the drain. The committee has recommended higher water rates for the city’s biggest users, which could lead to penalties for households or businesses that waste water.

The committee also suggested making watering schedules and a ban on front lawns of new homes permanent laws. Those measures have been enforced only during the current drought.

Other ideas included expanding outreach and education programs to promote conservation.

The goal, officials say, is to lower individuals’ average water use from 265 gallons a day to 200 gallons a day by 2035.

Source: LasVegasSun.com

Billy Bob Thornton accidentally mingled over the weekend with some starched GOPers, and he found their way of dressing "kind of scary."

Thornton told me that Saturday he and his two band mates in the Boxmasters -- playing the Hard Rock this Friday night -- were prepping for their show in Minneapolis by getting Boxmaster tattoos.
 
"Today we're up there in this hotel room getting tattooed in a tattoo (place) where the Republican National Convention people are all staying," he said.

"We're sittin' up here, drinkin' beer and smokin' cigarettes and gettin' tattoos. And we're around all these people with powder blue leisure suits on."

"It is kind of scary sounding, isn't it?" he said, without going into any politicking.

I asked him whether he was inclined to perform a concert at the RNC.

"No, not really," he said quietly. "Not my bag."

The rest of my interview runs this Friday in the Neon section. (Norm Clarke and I are now writing extra columns for you in Neon.) The band is an entertaining, well-received group rooted in music inspired by 1960s mod-and-hillbilly vibes.

ON THE BUS

Thornton's band is a bunch of non-single guys, so they mostly just watch sports on satellite TV on their tour bus. Meanwhile, Billy Idol -- playing Sept. 12 at the Hard Rock -- mixes things up. What does he do on his tour bus?

"Music, movies, pornography," he tells me and laughs.

Is there a bevy of strippers on his bus?

"Ha. Yeah, sometimes," he says, quite possibly joking. It's hard to tell. He's a funny guy, that Billy Idol.

The last time I saw Idol, at Mandalay Bay Beach a few years ago, it was a sold-out show packed with attractive women, more so even than most Vegas shows. I don't mean that as sexism. As a newspaper sociologist, I just remember thinking so.

Idol wouldn't say how he pulls that off. But he's happy about it.

"That's a damn good reason to go. It's a beautiful view from the stage. Let's put it like that."

Do women still try to get with him backstage?

"Yeah, ladies get very excited."

Should fans let imaginations run wild about what goes on backstage?

"Please do. That's what I'm doing."

VEGAS GIRLS

This weekend's Strippers & Hustlers Ball at the Orleans Arena looked something like the Pimp 'n' Ho Ball with more onstage entertainment. Women wore crazy little outfits that barely covered much, while Orleans workers made sure everyone's certain bits were not exposed.

If I'm not mistaken, drinks cost nearly twice as much ($9 import beer) as they did when the arena hosted Sean Hannity's "Freedom Concert" a few months ago, when no young women in tiny clothes were in attendance and alcohol sales tanked.

The funniest part of the adults-only scene: As women slinked by in slivers of threads in the hallways, arena TV monitors ran ads for an upcoming family show -- "Playhouse Disney Live!" Strippers and hustlers have kids, too.

ROCK IN THE HOUSE

Playing Caesars Colosseum on Friday and Saturday, Chris Rock altered his routine to include John McCain's 44-year-old, political-newbie running mate, Sarah Palin.

I took notes, but for the first time in my career, I lost my notebook. So to paraphrase:

McCain is 72! People don't start jobs at 72; they start sandwiches. I love my grandparents, but I don't give them anything to do. And now McCain just hired his nurse for his running mate.

Rock joked at length about Barack Obama's "black" name, saying he might as well be named Dikembe Mutombo. Rock's next HBO special runs Sept. 27.

RIDERS OF THE STORM

Most of my family fled New Orleans once again, this time to avoid Hurricane stupid Gustav.

They drove to Mobile, Ala. But the hotel they had reservations for wouldn't allow cats, so they moved to a pets-friendly hotel next door.

On Monday, even in Mobile, the family dealt with tornado watches and big winds.

I called my sister, Teresa, and she reports:

"You know that hotel next door that threw us out because we have cats? The storm just blew off part of their roof."

Don't toy with the cat gods. They'll mess you up, man.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.

Source: lvrj.com

Firefighting air tanker crashes near Reno airport, killing three

By SCOTT SONNER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO -- A firefighting air tanker making one last run to drop retardant on a blaze in the Sierra Nevada on Monday evening crashed on takeoff from an airfield just north of Reno, killing all three crew members on board.

The twin-engine P2V air tanker owned by Neptune Aviation of Missoula, Mont., had been fighting a wildfire earlier in the day that had forced evacuations over the weekend in California's Alpine County near Hope Valley south of Lake Tahoe, Reno fire spokesman Steve Frady said.
 
Names of the three confirmed dead in the crash. had not been released, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Preliminary reports from witnesses suggested the tanker lost a piece of its engine or a wing after its 6:11 p.m. takeoff from Reno-Stead Airport before it caught fire and went down about a half-mile away, he said.

Source: lvrj.com

GOP in Nevada backs Palin

Some in party admit lack of familiarity

By MOLLY BALL and STEVE TETREAULT
REVIEW-JOURNAL 

DENVER -- Even as they acknowledged knowing little about Sarah Palin, Nevada Republicans hailed John McCain's choice of running mate Friday, saying the Alaska governor would appeal to Nevada voters as a Westerner with conservative values.

"I'm really excited for lots of reasons," Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said. "Having been a mayor myself of a small community, and on the city council, I'm excited to have somebody who understands those challenges. As a mayor, you make decisions in real time that affect your neighbors and friends."
 
Porter is a former mayor of Boulder City, which has a population of about 16,000, while Palin was mayor of 6,500-person Wasilla before winning the governorship in 2006.

Porter said his daughter Nicole sees Palin as a "role model." He said Palin's profile was a contrast with Thursday night's stadium acceptance speech by Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

"That was a lot more Hollywood; this is more small-town America," he said.

Porter said he had never met Palin and wanted to know her position on the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. He said he was waiting for an answer about that from the campaign.

Rep. Dean Heller met Palin when she hosted Heller and nine other House Republicans during a weekend energy tour they took to her state in July.

"She is very knowledgeable and her experience with energy development will prove critical in the months ahead as our nation still struggles with high gas prices," Heller said in a statement Friday.

Heller also gave Palin points for being from the West, and knowledgeable on federal land management and other regional concerns.

"Governor Palin shares our Western values of smaller government, lower taxes, and the protection of the Second Amendment," he said.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has met Palin at Republican governors' functions and finds her "really impressive when it comes to Western issues," Gibbons aide Ben Kieckhefer said.

"For a vice president to have as deep an understanding of land issues, and federal land issues in particular, would be an incredible benefit to the state of Nevada," he said.

Sen. John Ensign said in a statement that the pick reflected well on McCain's judgment. "Governor Palin's conservative reform credentials are rock solid, and (the pick) makes clear what we can expect from a McCain administration," he said.

His staff said Ensign had not met Palin.

Many Nevadans had hoped McCain would pick former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who won the January GOP caucuses and drew 1,000 people to Henderson this week.

But Ryan Erwin, a Republican consultant who directed Romney's Nevada campaign, predicted Palin would appeal to Romney's backers for her strong social conservatism.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want Romney, I did and I do, but I think this is an outstanding pick," Erwin said. "Judging from the e-mails I've gotten, there is a vibe among Romney supporters in Nevada that they're excited about this choice."

Erwin said most Romney supporters already were on board with McCain, but if they had qualms about him, it was because of his deviations from conservative orthodoxy, and Palin should reassure them.

"I think she's going to play really well in Nevada," he said. "She understands Western issues like water and energy. She's conservative enough to appease the base, but as a mom with a special-needs child she's going to have incredible appeal to open-minded Democrats and independents, especially independent women."

Palin's selection was seen as an overt ploy by the McCain campaign to win over disaffected supporters of Hillary Clinton, whom Palin mentioned in her speech Friday.

But Clinton supporter Erin Bilbray-Kohn, a delegate at this week's Democratic National Convention, predicted few of them would be won over.

"I don't know very much about her, and I follow women in politics pretty closely," said Bilbray-Kohn, who serves as the state's Democratic National Committeewoman and runs an organization, Emerge Nevada, that recruits and trains female Democratic candidates. "People who support women won't just support any woman. We want women who are qualified."

Women who thought Clinton should be nominated over Obama pointed to Clinton's decades of public service, she said, something Palin can't claim. And feminists won't agree with Palin's staunch stand against abortion, she said.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or 702 387-2919. Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.

Source: lvrj.com

Getting a bird’s-eye view

So this is what Superman feels like.

With wind rushing in their faces, the desert passing by and spectacular views, people are now able to enjoy Bootleg Canyon from a bird's-eye view.

It's a way no cyclist or hiker has done before — simply slip into a harness and connect to a series of four giant cables, or flightlines, that range in length from 1,150 to 2,546 feet. Think a zip line from "American Gladiators" only much, much longer.

The new attraction, called Bootleg Canyon Flightlines, opened last Friday.

On the Web: http://www.FlightlineAdventures.com or http://www.BootlegCanyonFlightlines.com

"Everyone wants to fly," said Ian Green, a founder of GreenHeart Conservation Co., which built the flightlines. "There are few people that don't want that experience, but not everyone is comfortable with jumping out of a plane. These are engineered zip lines that are much more about flight. You learn how to travel through the air."

Riders are first taken on a test run — one that is smaller, slower and lower than those encountered in the canyon — where they learn to control their flight.

Initially, riders are encouraged to lie back and point their feet forward to build speed. Once the end approaches, they are instructed to sit up with arms and legs spread apart to slow down. The third and final position to learn is to hang on and brace before hitting the brakes.

"Before they go down, some people are shaking and don't know what to expect," said Scott Stemmer, an ex-Marine and flightline guide. "Then they go down that training line and every single reaction so far has been, 'That was awesome. Let's do it again.'"

After the test flight, the real tour begins. Guests are driven up a narrow, bumpy dirt road close to the top of Bootleg Canyon. From there, it's a 10-minute hike to the top, where they are presented with a panoramic view of Las Vegas, Boulder City and the surrounding mountains. Then it's off to the first flightline.

Before taking off, the sheer height and distance of the cable the riders are about to conquer can be intimidating. And after hopping off the launch platform, riders quickly hit speeds up to 50 mph with the mountains rising on either side.

Keep in mind, there is no windshield. The rush of wind hitting your face is like the blast one feels standing up in a convertible on the freeway.

The actual flight is fast but smooth, and no less a gut-wrenching experience than a standard roller coaster. It provides a thrill, but the true essence of the experience is the perspective that can be obtained nowhere else.

"There is tremendous beauty here. You realize that the higher up you are," said Gary Jenson, a Boulder City resident who got a chance to take a ride before the attraction officially opened. "You can see the canyon from so many different angles. And it accommodates all levels. I saw children go on this ride plus heavy people who you'd expect to have some trouble. But they did just fine."

At the end of each flight, brakes are mounted on the cables, followed by giant springs to ensure riders' safety and rule out a crash. Depending on how fast a rider is going, hitting the brakes carries an impact that ranges from soft to violent, but the guides advise the riders on how to maximize or minimize this, depending on preference. Heavy riders, however, naturally go faster.

After the initial flight, the second and third flightlines carry less of an incline and are slightly slower. The fourth and final flight is the shortest and fastest and is meant to bring the rider back to "Vegas time," Green said. It can reach speeds of up to 60 mph following a quick acceleration.

Green said he hopes the flightlines, or "aerial trails" as he also likes to call them, will attract outdoors enthusiasts as well as those looking for a rush.

"People are usually stuck in an office all week and it's so much fun to get outside and look at nature," said Danielle Stemmer, executive coordinator for the attraction. "There is a great opportunity to see all sorts of animals up here. But you get a great adrenaline rush as well."

Construction of Bootleg Canyon Flightlines began in February and took about five months at a cost of $2 million.

GreenHeart Conservation Co. signed a 30-year concession agreement with Boulder City. The attraction will generate revenue for the city as $10 from every paid rider will go to support Bootleg Canyon Park, Green said.

"There are ground trails and bike trails that are a good benefit but don't generate revenue," Green said. "That"s how we got into these aerial trails. They are very low-footprint and eco friendly. Then we realized we were in Vegas, so we decided to build something beyond. We wanted something that would get people off the Strip and say, 'Let's go to Bootleg Canyon and see what this is all about.'"

Those who don't enjoy the test flight can get a refund. Cost per rider for all four flights plus the test run is $149, and the tour lasts 2 1/2 hours.

Source: LasVegasSun.com