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• Sept. 4, 2008 -- Judgment Days: Utah: Not just your average road game

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• Sept. 5 -- A good, long look at … Utah
• Sept. 5 -- Is this the rise of the Mountain West?
• Sept. 4 -- UNLV Football Notebook: Fire up the Tank?

This season

• Week 1: Utah State, W 27-17

Week 2

• Time: 5 p.m.
• Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium
• Records: UNLV 1-0, No. 22 Utah 1-0
• Where: Salt Lake City

Omar Clayton passed the first test.

But if, for comparison's sake, last week's 27-17 win against Utah State was a pop quiz, this week's road opener at Utah is a legitimate midterm exam.

The sophomore quarterback, who was 17 of 29 for 192 yards, three scores and no picks in his fourth career start, is taking his starting gig on the road for the first time. And today's tilt at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City should show what both he and the Rebels are really made of.

"The biggest thing I'm looking forward to, as a team, is we have an opportunity to play against a team that's ranked high nationally," Clayton said of the No. 22 Utes. "So this is an opportunity to test our will against what's seen as some of the country's elite. It's a great challenge for our team, and we plan on winning the game, which would be great for us."

If Clayton sounds confident, it's because he has plenty of reason to be. Aside from the numbers he posted last weekend at Sam Boyd Stadium, he was in control of an offense that didn't turn the ball over once, and avoided drawing the pesky yellow flags.

Now he has the challenge of doing so against a different brand of defense. Utah, in its headline-making 25-23 win last week in Ann Arbor, Mich., held mighty Michigan to 36 rushing yards on 25 carries, plus forced coach Rich Rodriguez to play musical quarterbacks to try and generate some offense.

"They want to be able to come off a great win and stay focused," Clayton added. "We definitely want to be able to show up, play great and win a game. I think them coming off the win they had against Michigan, it definitely heightens the stage of the game."

Clayton facing new music is hardly the only story line heading into Saturday's Week Two showdown.

Reverse the ball, and UNLV's defense also faces a whole new type of challenge in comparison to last week.

In last season's shocking 27-0 shutout of Utah in Las Vegas, Utes quarterback Brian Johnson only played half the game. Having dealt with a series of injuries the past two years -- even missing the entire 2006 season -- Johnson now is utilized in a much different way.

Rather than using his feet often to pick up yardage, as once was the case, he's now morphed into an almost exclusive pocket passer.

The Rebels are taking notice.

"He's not the scrambler that we played last week," UNLV defensive coordinator Dennis Therrell said, referring to USU's Diondre Borel. "He kinda scrambles around to buy himself time to throw the football, but he's been hit two or three times and knows that their football season, if he goes down, is going to take a big turn, because their second quarterback is hurt right now. So if I'm their offensive coordinator, I'm going to protect him a little bit."

Johnson's backup, Corbin Louks, is questionable heading into Saturday with a shoulder injury. But outside of that, the Utah offense more healthy than it's been in quite some time. On top of Johnson's current condition, starting tailback Matt Asiata, who broke his leg in last year's opener, makes his long-awaited Rice-Eccles debut this weekend.

The home atmosphere Saturday for Utah also plays into another major theme heading in -- Utah's want for revenge.

Some of the Utes have hinted through the local media this week the importance of this game not just for potential BCS purposes this winter, but also to exact some payback on UNLV for snapping their 11-game win streak a year ago.

"I think revenge is something that happens when games take place like the one last year," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. "We've got to match their intensity, come in there and expect a fired up team and be the same way."

Drill, baby, drill!

Egged on by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, thousands of delegates attending the Republican National Convention gleefully burst into that chant during prime time Wednesday night.

Their chorus was in support of opening more federally owned offshore sites to drilling, even though tens of millions of offshore acres approved for drilling are sitting idle.

Why they are pushing offshore drilling for oil as the predominant answer to the nation’s high energy prices beats us, unless they are simply, unthinkingly, following the politically motivated lead of their standard-bearer, John McCain.

Our heavy dependence on oil — mostly for transportation but also for producing electricity — is what is keeping energy prices high. Unless we as a nation reduce our demand, prices for oil-based products will just keep getting higher.

As oil is bought and sold on a world, not a national, market, only production that significantly raises the global supply of oil would significantly lower prices. The recoverable amount of offshore oil is unknown, but most analysts do not believe it is enough to have much effect on world supply.

The Republican delegates should have been chanting instead about diversifying our energy base by way of a different offshore strategy.

In June the Delaware Legislature approved a large wind farm 12 miles off that state’s shores, a project scheduled to be completed by 2012. Other wind projects proposed for the waters off Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island are in the approval stage.

Wind farms are becoming common on land throughout the country because they have proved to be a clean source of competitively priced energy. So why not go offshore, where the wind is often much stronger?

Environmental concerns about wind have greatly lessened over the past few years as technology has improved. And complaints about windmills’ being unsightly have dropped off considerably as the price of conventional energy has gone up.

Let’s hear a new chant in the offshore debate: Wind, baby, wind!

Earle Dixon was a Bureau of Land Management project supervisor overseeing the cleanup of a radioactive former copper mine in Northern Nevada when he began speaking out about what he perceived as potential public health and safety hazards that were far worse than state and federal agencies were willing to admit. The BLM did not take kindly to Dixon’s opinions and fired him in October 2004.

Dixon fought back, citing his rights as a whistleblower after he accused the BLM and the Nevada Environmental Protection Division of covering up dangers at the shuttered mine in Yerington, 60 miles southeast of Reno.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Dixon scored a major victory when the U.S. Labor Department’s Administrative Review Board late last month upheld an administrative law judge’s ruling that the whistleblower was illegally fired, an outcome the BLM appealed. The judge in 2006 had ordered the BLM to give Dixon more than $180,000 in back pay, moving expenses and attorney fees.

The review board rejected Dixon’s request for as much as $1 million in punitive damages, but its overall ruling should be viewed positively by advocates of whistleblower protections.

It means federal agencies should think twice before taking action against individuals who are looking out for the public’s interest. Dixon pointed out high levels of radiation and uranium in soil and water at the site. Instead of getting fired, he should have been praised for doing his duty by helping to protect the public.

The board ruling also should reassure potential whistleblowers that they have recourse if they believe they are wrongly terminated for exposing coverups or other inappropriate government actions.

U.S. soldiers are still committing suicide at a record rate despite several mental health programs established by the Army in recent years.

Projections indicate the number of Army suicides in 2008 could surpass the record number of soldiers who died by their own hand last year.

As of Aug. 31, according to an Associated Press report, 55 regular Army soldiers were confirmed to have committed suicide, as well as four National Guard soldiers and three Reserve soldiers.

Additionally, 31 deaths of soldiers are being investigated as suspected suicides.

If those deaths are confirmed as suicides, the tragic pace this year could mean the total number of suicides would surpass the 115 confirmed Army suicides in 2007.

The Army has responded in a number of ways. It has hired more psychiatrists and other mental health workers. It has added chaplains and created a program to help soldiers cope with the strain Army life imposes on their personal relationships. Commanders have been trained in suicide prevention and awareness.

We support these and other programs the Army has put in place, but there may be only one truly effective solution, which is to reduce our military presence in Iraq. Of all the services, the Army has been the most stressed by this war.

Top Army officials have long acknowledged that repeated deployments and longer tours in combat zones are among the main factors contributing to soldier suicides.

“Army leaders are fully aware that repeated deployments have led to increased distress and anxiety for both soldiers and their families,” Army Secretary Pete Geren said last week.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee.

Members of the committee should ask him why we still have 146,000 troops in Iraq now that violence there has greatly subsided, the country’s own troops are taking the lead on security and the country’s democratically elected government has said it wants us to leave.

When environmentalists of different philosophies agree, you know the momentum for real change is building. I was at the recent Clean Energy Summit at UNLV and have to applaud Sen. Harry Reid for putting it together. There were speakers from across the political spectrum. It was enlightening, informative and addressed serious energy issues in our country and how Nevada could be the greatest contributor.

It gave me a sense of hope during this economic downturn. So many jobs could be created while building up our economy and saving us from high gas prices, the high cost of electricity and the pollution that results from sources we use now. More coal plants are not the answer, and there is no such thing as “clean coal.”

I heard that in Denver recently, Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens and Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope talked about the Pickens plan, which calls for huge increases in investment and production of wind power, and using American natural gas as a transitional fuel for transportation.

Americans should take notice — while more drilling for oil might enrich big oil companies trying to wring every drop out of oil profits before the inevitable, the real economic opportunity lies not with the failed ideas of the past but with real investment in the transition to a clean energy economy.

The failed policies of the past won’t move us forward. True economic opportunity for all Americans is in clean energy technologies such as wind and solar. It is a great economic opportunity for Nevada as well. Reid has always wanted to make Nevada the No. 1 state in renewable energy. We can let our candidates and leaders in Washington know that we want that too.

Being a Sierra Club supporter, I’d say if T. Boone Pickens and Carl Pope realize this, it’s time we all follow that path.

Well, the expected bashing of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, has begun and I’m loving every minute of it because it’s an act of desperation, so rave on.

I saw her in an interview on TV a couple of weeks prior to the announcement of her as the vice presidential nominee and was extremely impressed by her. How many states can say they have no debt and have a surplus? And this with a population of fewer than a million to contribute to the state. She will be a welcome voice in Washington, and I pray the momentum continues in her favor.

Sen. Harry Reid’s upbeat commentary in Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun about the future of the “New West” is severely undercut by his reference to the “booming clean energy industry.”

All citizens naturally prefer a pristine environment to pollution, but there will always be some necessary compromise to provide for the needs of mankind and ensure reasonable comfort.

The government and private industry have tried hard to invent, develop and improve sources of clean energy. Their efforts have been particularly intense since our nation’s first energy crisis in the 1970s. More than three decades, billions in tax-funded subsidies and incentives for clean energy have created a rich industry, but it is clearly not “booming.”

None of the clean energy potential touted by environmental extremists comes close to being able to replace existing energy sources before 2040, about the time federal entitlement programs are projected to bankrupt the nation anyway. Were it free of unreasonable political interference, the nuclear power industry would surely boom, but Sen. Reid has provided little encouragement to that clean energy source.

As long as 51 percent of the voters believe a politician can satisfy human needs more effectively than a free market, Harry Reid will be OK, but his definition of a booming industry will leave our children cold, in the dark and broke.

As I sat before my TV on Wednesday night and watched Sarah Palin’s speech at the GOP convention, I turned to my wife and said, “Interesting speech. Wonder who wrote it.” Later, I opened up The Wall Street Journal, and there on Page A6 I had my answer. The speech was written by Matthew Scully, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush.

It seems Palin, who is getting accolades for her speech, didn’t write a word of it. And many people are saying, after hearing her speak, that she surely is qualified to be president (in the event of McCain’s death). Give me a break. Just because she can read a speech written by someone else, this qualifies her to be president? As George W. Bush found out the hard way, there’s a little more to that job than meets the eye.

In response to Jennie Waldman’s Wednesday letter (“Just what was he thinking with that pick?”) and anyone else who is upset because Sarah Palin was a beauty contestant and a TV reporter, I have one question: Were you also upset when Americans twice elected to the presidency a B-movie actor who co-starred with a chimp? If you don’t like her, don’t vote for John McCain.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s experience is really only one year and a half as governor of Alaska. During that time it is alleged she exercised her powers as governor to fire the state police commissioner when he refused to fire a trooper who had been her brother-in-law and involved in a nasty divorce case with the governor’s sister. This is called “abuse of power” and proves she has absolutely no judgment that would qualify her as vice president or president.

Furthermore, she showed complete disregard for the safety of her unborn child when she took a speaking engagement eight to 10 hours by air from Alaska in the last trimester of her pregnancy. She is being lauded, it appears, because her water broke and she still fulfilled her speaking engagement and hopped on a plane for the eight-hour trip back to Alaska. In doing so, she put her Down syndrome baby at great risk; she should definitely not be given a pat on the back for this absolute stupidity. I believe the speaking engagement was in Texas. A long way from Alaska but a state with very good hospitals.

The possibility that any mother would vote for her when they realize what a risk she took without considering the baby she carried really upsets me. John McCain also shows lack of judgment in choosing her. He had so many other fine people in his party to choose and instead let his envy of Barack Obama completely overpower his judgment.

When will our leaders in Washington realize we are running a trillion-dollar deficit?

A billion dollars to the country of Georgia is outrageous! With Hannah, Ike and Josephine on the horizon, we may need this money for our own country. Aid was already sent to Georgia; now we are sending money that we don’t have.

Yet the McCain group advertises that the Democrats will go through money as if it were water if they are elected. How can they when the well is already dry?

Lobbyists are often seen as rapacious mercenaries, concerned less with the cause than the payday. But that doesn’t go for the entire lot, and one of the truly good guys of the corps hung up his hat this week. At least for now. Ben Graham, the omnipresent lobbyist for the Clark County district attorney’s office, is calling it quits after decades of yeoman’s work in Carson City. Graham was known not only for his reliable testimony but for the incomparable chocolate chip cookies he provided. (I bet they got him votes, too.) For those mourning the cookie man, fear not: Graham is working on a contract with a new employer to keep him in the capital and keep his colleagues and lawmakers — and maybe a reporter or two — in cookies.

With the first weekend of regular-season NFL action comes a rekindling of the real national pastime, especially in these parts: betting on football.

• More Stories by Jeff Haney

• NFL.com

Last year, gamblers in Nevada casinos risked a record $1.17 billion on football bets alone, 45 percent of the nearly $2.6 billion wagered in the state’s legal sports books.

Even at the Las Vegas Hilton sports book, known for taking bets on a wide variety of events, the statistics roughly mirror the statewide numbers. Jay Kornegay, boss at the Hilton sports book, said 42 percent to 43 percent of his total handle comes from football bets.

The record-high amount bet on football in 2007 in Nevada was a slight increase from 2006, when gamblers risked about $1.13 billion on football, according to the Gaming Control Board.

The board does not officially differentiate between NFL and college football betting, but we do know that of the $1 billion-plus bet on football last year, casinos “held,” or won, more than $73 million — or 6.25 percent of the total wagered.

Sports books in Nevada fared even better in 2006, according to the Gaming Control Board, winning 8 percent of the $1.13 billion bet on football, or more than $91 million.

Far more telling than the raw figure won by the casinos are those “hold,” or win, rates.

Considering the house edge on a straight sports bet is approximately 4.5 percent, you would expect the hold rate on football wagering to come in right around there.

In fact, taking into account all of us big bad wise guys terrorizing local sports book managers with our big bad bankrolls, you would expect the hold rate to be even lower.

In fact, if you listened to the wisdom spouted on national sports-talk shows last fall about how “Vegas” was getting “killed” because the Patriots were covering the point spread each week, you would expect the hold rate to be significantly lower.

Yet these are the two most recent annual figures on the tote board on the eve of the first NFL Sunday of the new season: 6.25 percent and 8 percent.

Here are a few reasons, in no particular order, for the inflated hold rates:

• As if this racket weren’t tough enough to beat, many bettors insist on butchering themselves by playing four-team parlays that pay 10-1 and five-teamers that pay 20-1.

Betting four-teamers at those odds, as author Don Peszynski pointed out in his book “Win More, Lose Less,” is the equivalent of risking $1.75 to win $1 — rather than the standard $1.10 to win $1 — on the fourth game after the first three have come in.

The approximate house edge on such a bet exceeds 31 percent, which is 9-spot keno territory.

The house edge on five-teamers that pay 20-1 is also astronomical, exceeding 34 percent.

The casinos’ hold rate would drop if parlay bettors stuck to two-teamers at odds of 13-5 and three-teamers at 6-1. They won’t.

• In another form of ritual self-immolation, teaser players routinely add or subtract 6 points to random spreads, teasing a plus 13 up to a plus 19 and the like.

They often pay $1.20 or more to win $1 for the privilege.

Those bets, of course, hemorrhage money at a clip much greater than 4 1/2 percent.

• In a subtler example, bettors tend to wager into lines that have moved several points, effectively sucking out any value that might have existed.

The classic case would be laying something like 10 points with the favored team on Monday Night Football after the line opened at 7 and drifted up steadily leading to kickoff.

On this Sunday’s card, however, the most substantial betting line moves have been toward the “under” in the totals of several matchups.

The line moves are understandable considering how well “unders” have performed in the first week of NFL play in recent years.

Last season, unders went 11-5 in Week 1.

In 2006, unders went 12-4 in Week 1.

When Thursday’s Redskins-Giants game stayed under the total, the Week 1 trend extended its record to 24-9 in the past 33 games.

Whether they’re fading inexperienced quarterbacks, betting against new offensive schemes, or just relying on a general sense that defenses are ahead of offenses in the early going, NFL gamblers are again hammering the unders.

The total in Sunday’s Bengals-Ravens game, for instance, has dropped from 42 1/2 points to 38 in Las Vegas sports books.

The Lions-Falcons total stands as low as 40 1/2 after opening as high as 45.

The Chiefs-Patriots total has dropped from 49 to 44.

The total in the Jaguars-Titans game has fallen from 37 1/2 to 36 1/2, crossing the key number of 37.

It’s possible the trend favoring Week 1 “unders” will continue.

It’s also possible, at least in these particular games, the value has vanished.

Who’s going to the penthouse in local sports — and who’s getting the shaft.

GOING UP

Cashman Field attendance

Las Vegas’ Triple-A franchise, to be named later, attracted 374,780 fans this season, an average of 5,279 per game. It was the third-highest attendance in its 26-year history and the best since 1993, when the Stars drew 386,310 for an average of 5,441. Apparently, the parent Dodgers weren’t all that impressed by the local support, because they want new batting cages — like they have in Albuquerque.

Safety first

The Air Force football team recorded two safeties in its victory over Southern Utah last Saturday, setting a Mountain West Conference record. Unfortunately, the Falcons also scored a bunch of touchdowns and gave up one, which prevented the final score from being 4-0, which would have been really cool.

DeMarco Murray

The former Bishop Gorman star rushed for 124 yards on 15 carries — or 8.3 yards per touch — and scored two touchdowns in No. 4-ranked Oklahoma’s 57-2 victory over Chattanooga. Both touchdowns came on 1-yard runs, or his per-carry average would have been preceded by a timpani roll. But chicks dig touchdowns. So do offensive coordinators.

GOING DOWN

Dan Abdalla

The former UNLV women’s soccer coach, who left for the purpler pastures of TCU, was kicked out of the Lady Frogs’ game against Ole Miss and received a one-game suspension. The Mountain West tacked on another one-game ban, because this was the second game Abdalla had been kicked out of in the same calendar year. In a related note, Bobby Cox and Earl Weaver have adopted the Lady Frogs as their favorite NCAA women’s soccer team.

Playing on Sunday

According to ESPN.com, there are four former Rebels on NFL rosters: LB Beau Bell and CB Eric Wright (Cleveland), TE Greg Estandia (Jacksonville) and LB Adam Seward (Carolina). The only MWC member with fewer pros is Air Force, which has one — most of the Falcons’ good players must first go to Iraq. San Diego State leads with 25, followed by Utah (20), BYU (15), TCU (13), Colorado State (11), Wyoming (10) and New Mexico (8).

Bogus UNLV salesmen

UNLV put out a news release stating it is not using a third-party company to sell advertising. UNLV athletics does not solicit donations or advertising through any third-party company. But considering the lack of money coming into the university from Carson City, perhaps it’s not such a bad idea.

Workplace safety has hardly been a major topic on the campaign trail or at the recent Democratic and Republican national conventions. But some prominent worker advocates think the issue could appeal to workers and help draw distinctions between the presidential candidates.

• Construction Deaths

• Barack Obama for President
• John McCain for President

That could be especially true in Nevada, where a string of recent construction deaths on the Las Vegas Strip has elicited a strong public response.

Mark Ayers, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, addressed the Las Vegas deaths in a speech Thursday in Henderson to about 100 union members supporting Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

“Now, of course John McCain says he’s a brave man,” Ayers said of the Republican nominee. “And, of course, in a lot of ways he is. But I wonder if (he) is brave enough to sit down with the families of Harvey Englander, Harold Billingsley and the 10 other construction workers who died on the job in this city.

“I wonder if he’s brave enough to listen to them describe the agony, the hurt and the pain they still suffer — and always will,” Ayers said.

He criticized McCain for not supporting the Protect America’s Workers Act, which Obama co-sponsored. It would moderately strengthen the Occupational Safety and Health Administration by creating minimum fines for safety violations following fatalities, increasing fine maximums, and making it easier to bring criminal charges against companies that egregiously violate safety standards. McCain has not signed on to the bill.

“Who could be so cold, so hardhearted and so indifferent to protecting workers’ lives to oppose something like that?” Ayers said.

Ayers, in town from Washington, said in an interview before his speech that he is still losing sleep over the Las Vegas deaths.

A Sun investigation discovered that Nevada OSHA had found safety violations in connection with many of those deaths. But after Nevada OSHA issued citations, the agency met with contractors and downgraded or eliminated its original citations.

The House Education and Labor Committee held hearings in June to discuss construction deaths in Las Vegas and New York City, and OSHA’s weak response.

Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO health and safety director, points to numerous occasions when McCain has voted for legislation that she says undermines worker safety, or has voted against bills that would strengthen it. For example, advocates say, McCain has supported legislation that would take economic effects on business into consideration when developing OSHA enforcement tools, a step they think could weaken enforcement of workplace safety laws.

In a recent interview with Las Vegas Channel 8, McCain expressed strong commitment to protecting worker safety when asked about recent Strip construction accidents.

“I think it’s a very important part of America for the American worker,” McCain said. “This goes back to the days of Teddy Roosevelt, when they had terrible conditions in some workplaces in America. We have an obligation as a federal government to do what we can to help protect the lives and safety of the American worker.”

The Channel 8 reporter, Mark Sayre, asked McCain whether he would do anything as president to weaken OSHA.

“Oh no,” McCain said. “Look, these are hardworking Americans. Probably the hardest-working Americans — I don’t mean to be comparative — but the fact is, these people work so hard in this construction business. It is inherently dangerous. So we’ve got to provide them with all the safety and protections that we can.”

In the interview, McCain did not offer specifics. A campaign representative did not respond to questions Friday.

Obama spokeswoman Kirsten Searer on Friday said Obama was also disturbed by recent events in Las Vegas.

Worker advocates insist that in contrast to McCain, Obama has been a strong supporter of worker safety legislation in both the Illinois Legislature and the U.S. Senate. As president, Obama would increase OSHA funding for more investigations and for health and safety programs for small business and workers in high-risk industries, Searer said.

“This is an issue that will resonate with labor communities, who are a critical demographic of people working for change in this election, especially in Nevada,” Searer said.

But Obama talks about that on the campaign trail only occasionally.

Two weeks ago, while speaking before a group of workers at a Kansas City hangar where workers service American Airlines jets, Obama criticized the Bush administration’s weak OSHA enforcement.

“In a facility like this, the possibility for injury is enormous,” Obama said, according to the Associated Press. “It’s pretty standard to lose an eye, lose a limb, lose a life ... We’re going to have a government that makes sure workers aren’t put at unnecessary risk.”

Evoking OSHA and workplace safety can be another way of reminding workers, especially those in high-risk industries, that the Bush administration “has failed them,” Seminario said.

But Seminario and Ayers also acknowledge that given all the other issues on voters’ minds, workplace safety is probably not a top concern.

“I hope workers think about safety when they vote, but it’s hard to focus on safety when you are losing your home, your job, your health care and, if you are lucky enough to be working, protecting your wages,” Ayers said after his speech.

• More Stories by Mike Trask

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.

Of the people shaken by the two airplane crashes near North Las Vegas Airport within six days last month, you might expect 86-year-old Mattie MacDavid to be among those seriously contemplating a move.

• FAA releases audio recording in fatal plane crash (9-5-2008)
• Pilots association plans meeting on airport safety (9-4-2008)
• Pilot dies after plane crashes in Las Vegas neighborhood (8-28-2008)
• Pilot whose plane crashed into home identified (8-25-2008)

• FAA releases audio recording in fatal plane crash
• Federal Aviation Administration
• Clark County Aviation Association
• North Las Vegas Airport

The second crash came within one-fifth of a mile of her two-story house on Paseo Del Mar.

But MacDavid shook it off.

The planes flying overhead, taking off and landing at the airport just over a mile from her home, had never bothered her before, and she says they still won’t.

“It was bad not to have any utilities after the second crash,” she said. “But I’m 86 years old. I’ve been through a lot of things.”

It would be easy to raise concerns about living near the airport. And indeed, about 50 people showed up this week at a community meeting at Advent United Methodist Church on North Rancho Drive to do just that, airing decades-old grievances about air traffic.

But MacDavid and other residents of North Las Vegas say they’ve long been mindful of — but not worried about — the airport, which began operations Dec. 7, 1941.

Concerns about the airport can be heard while walking through nearby neighborhoods. But the anxiety isn’t as high as what was expressed at the community meeting.

MacDavid says she hasn’t given any thought to moving, nor does she expect her longtime neighbors to move. She estimates 75 percent of the Charleston Heights subdivision residents have lived there at least as long as she has, 16 years.

Her neighbor down the road, 50-year-old Tammy Ebel, says she had not feared the planes landing and taking off at the general aviation airport until the second plane crash, within striking distance of her home, on Aug. 28.

She, too, has reconciled to it.

“It does worry me, but (no more) than driving around town,” Ebel said.

The pilot was killed in the Aug. 28 crash when his aircraft struck a two-story house on North Jones Boulevard. Three adults and two children were at home at the time of the crash but none was seriously injured.

Some North Las Vegas residents are more rattled by the crashes.

Ken Steppes said he enjoyed the spectacle of takeoff and landing — until he saw the fire that engulfed a home on Langdon Way on Aug. 22 after a plane crashed into it, killing the pilot and the couple living there.

“We thought it would never happen, planes falling out of the sky,” said his friend Craig Williams, 19.

Added Link Johnson, 44: “They’re just dropping from the sky now. It’s not good. There are kids around here, so people are living here in fear.”

Their prior indifference to the airport, the second-busiest in the state behind McCarran International, is not shared by those who attended Wednesday’s meeting. Clark County’s Aviation Department counted nearly 220,000 takeoffs and landings at North Las Vegas Airport in 2007, slightly more than a third of McCarran’s count.

Residents at the meeting complained about the growth of the airport over the past quarter-century. They’ve regularly chafed at the low altitude some planes fly at and the seeming frequency of larger aircraft flying through in recent years.

Resident Ed Gobel, who helped organize the meeting, continually stressed that the purpose was to find solutions to the problems — and not obsess on trying to close or relocate the airport.

“That’s not happening,” he said.

Indeed, the county has not submitted any application, or even indicated any desire, to relocate the airport, said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor.

The growth in the past 67-plus years around the airport has been staggering, David Lerner, president of Clark County Aviation Association Inc., noted in an interview.

Similar growth is occurring around Henderson Executive Airport, he said. “They’re building closer and closer to the airspace. So you’ll have the same issues that are here there.”

James Garcia, 43, moved into his North Las Vegas home near the airport in September 1998 but didn’t expect any problems. It’s the same story heard all across this city.

“The developer, Victory Encore, said (the airport) wouldn’t be used for planes bigger than single and double props,” he said, shaking his head.

• As justice’s wheels grind, frustration over failure-prone plumbing grows (3-23-2008)

• Kitec Class Action Informationl Web site

The Canadian manufacturer and distributor of Kitec, a brass pipe fitting that can leach zinc into connecting pipes, has reached a tentative$90 million settlement with legal representatives of an estimated 34,000 homeowners across the Las Vegas Valley.

That company, Ipex, had resisted a financial settlement, arguing that homebuilders and plumbers should have known the valley’s hard water would corrode the inside of the brass fittings, said its Las Vegas attorney, Jim Carraway. The leached zinc tends to build up in the connecting pipes, which could cause pipes to rupture or explode, damaging walls and floors.

Ipex decided to avoid further litigation by settling without admitting liability.

There have been similar Kitec-related suits throughout the Southwest, but Kitec is still distributed and used in Kansas and elsewhere without incident.

The $90 million settlement was negotiated by Las Vegas class-action firm Harrison, Kemp, Jones & Coulthard on behalf of homeowners.

Unresolved are lawsuits naming developers and plumbing companies that installed the product.

The legal action seeks to collect $10,000 in damages for each property owner.

Homebuilder Richmond American Homes of Nevada has agreed to a$10.2 million settlement to replumb 1,200 homes built in the Las Vegas area.

The settlement is scheduled to be reviewed Thursday by District Court Judge Timothy Williams.

If Williams approves the settlement, the $90 million will be placed in an interest-bearing trust while litigation continues against the other homebuilders and plumbers.

After driving his team the length of the field and throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds left to trim Clark's lead to 20-19, Rancho High quarterback James Cammack was summoned to the sideline by first-year Rams coach Elvin Dick.

The Rams would go for the win by calling a pass play called "Swirl."

It was Cammack who would provide the cherry on top.

Cammack rolled right, but almost before the Rams' receivers could swirl into position, he cut back left. He ran all the way across the field before scooting inside the end zone pylon as Rancho pulled out a 21-20 victory Friday night in a game it really had no business winning.

"I was thinking if nobody was open, I was going to take it," said the shifty Cammack, who completed 12 of 21 passes for 213 yards to offset a Rancho running game that was virtually non-existent.

Cammack, who said he patterns his game after Michael Vick and wears No. 7, said it was an ugly game that turned pretty in the end, thanks to the improvised two-point conversion.

"It was a planned pass play," he said. "But I was thinking it was time for me to step up, and I stepped up and did my work on the field."

It was Cammack who had run and passed the Rams (1-1) into position to win. First he used his legs to pick up a crucial first down with a 12-yard scramble on 4th and 10. Then he used his legs again, to buy some time, before unfurling a 38-yard pass completion to Zach Foulkrod that carried to the Clark 1-yard line. The two also combined on the scoring flip that preceded the game-winning conversion.

After making headlines last year when its losing streak reached an epic 42 games, Clark (0-2) appeared on its way to gaining some positive publicity after it rallied for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take a 20-13 lead.

Dan Barr bulled in from the 1-yard line and kicked the extra point that tied the game at 13 with 9:40 to play. Then wingback Aaron Arlt, who rushed for 124 yards on just 11 carries to lead an effective Chargers ground attack that churned for 224 yards, scored on a 12-yard run that, combined with Barr's PAT, made it 20-13.

There was just 1:45 to play when Arlt slashed into the end zone and the Clark sideline began to celebrate. Given the Chargers haven't had a whole lot to celebrate during the past few seasons, you could hardly blame them for that. Considering the self-destructing nature of Rancho's offense, the lead looked pretty safe, especially with so little time remaining.

"Horrible game on our part," Dick said. "At the end, coming back to win it, of course, was awesome. Up to that point, we're dropping balls, penalties, jumping offsides ... if we clean that stuff up, I don't even think the game is close."

Rancho lost two fumbles, was penalized nine times for 70 yards and dropped passes as if they were bad transmissions. But when the game was on the line, Cammack made just enough plays to see the Rams through.

In addition to all those key runs and passes, Cammack also made an important -- if overlooked -- play with his right foot that proved to be crucial in the end. Following the Rams' second touchdown in the first quarter, he banked home an extra point off the upright to make in 13-6.

The Chargers dominated time of possession by managing down and distance and converting on fourth down. Clark went for it seven times on fourth down and converted six, running 63 offensive plays to Rancho's 41.

Green Valley High defensive back Laquan Phillips was transported to Sunrise Hospital after suffering a neck injury Friday night in the Gators' game with Centennial.

The 5-foot-9, 160-pound senior suffered the injury midway through the second quarter while making a tackle.

The game was delayed about 15 minutes as paramedics carried Phillips from the field on a stretcher.

“Laquan is one of my best friends and you never want to see anything like that happen in a game,” Green Valley’s Jordan Miller said.

Miller had two touchdown receptions in Green Valley’s 24-20 loss.

“When I caught both of those touchdowns, afterward I said 'this is for (Phillips)',” Miller said. “He gave us the determination that kept us alive in the game.”