Reporters’ notebook

DEFINITION OF AN "ONLY IN LAS VEGAS" CITY COUNCIL RACE: When Siegfried and Roy become large political donors.

Ward 5 candidate Ricki Barlow picked up a total of $5,000 from the magical duo. Roy Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher each shelled out $2,500 for the Las Vegas City Council candidate.

DAVID McGRATH SCHWARTZ

MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION OFFICIALS WERE PRESENTED with a proclamation from Mayor Oscar Goodman on Thursday. When one of them mentioned a Las Vegas Monorail train was going to get a Make a Wish wrap, Goodman said, "I just hope nothing falls off."

DAVID McGRATH SCHWARTZ

NEVADA TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT Carole Vilardo is known, and perhaps feared, for her formidable ability to scrutinize complex state legislation. Testifying before a hearing of the Assembly Transportation Committee last week, Vilardo said she hadn't had time to read a new bill very closely, then proceeded to take issue with the details of a provision deep in the bowels of the bill text.

Committee Chairman Kelvin Atkinson said of Vilardo's suggested change to the bill, "Makes sense to me. I'm glad we gave you the bill at the last minute, though."

MOLLY BALL

HILARY ASKED A QUESTION OF HILLARY AT AN EVENT PARTIALLY ORCHESTRATED BY HILARIE.

Yes, you had to keep track of how to spell a first name Wednesday at a political gathering held at Culinary Workers Union Local 226. In the middle of the room stood Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Off to the left asking her a question on immigration was union member Hilary Wrona. To the right, listening carefully, was Hilarie Grey, a Nevada public relations pro working on behalf of the senator from New York.

Hillarie Poole, who recently was crowned Junior Miss Pleasant Valley High School in Jacksonville, Ala., did not make an appearance.

PAUL HARASIM

REPORTER J.M. KALIL HAS MOVED ON but his change of address hasn't caught up with the National Transportation Safety Board. On Friday, the federal agency's spokesman, Jason Sander, called looking for the erstwhile Kalil. While investigating four separate aviation accidents, Kalil apparently had filed a Freedom of Information request with the board.

When asked when the request had been made, Sander said: "2002."

It sort of puts a whole new spin on the government's idea of a speedy reply.

LISA KIM BACH

FRIDAY MARKS THE PUBLIC OPENING OF THE SPRINGS PRESERVE, a $250 million cultural and educational attraction on 180 acres along Valley View Boulevard, just south of U.S. Highway 95.

Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid knows the property better than most. He grew up in the neighborhood just east of the tract, which was once home to freshwater springs that attracted the valley's first settlers.

"I used to hunt lizards out there," Reid said. "It was a catch-and-release program, and it was in the 1970s. I'm not that old."

HENRY BREAN

NOT MUCH HAS GONE RIGHT DURING DISTRICT JUDGE ELIZABETH HALVERSON'S brief time on the bench, so why should finding a jury be any different? With a jury trial set to start in her courtroom Tuesday morning, the judge sent a bailiff downstairs to collect a jury pool. Problem was, no one from the judge's office had requested a jury ahead of time, so the bailiff returned to the courtroom empty handed. But the trial must go on, so a jury pool was cobbled together and sent to the courtroom for trial.

BRIAN HAYNES