Reporters’ Notebook

When Gov. Jim Gibbons proposed that nearly three-fourths of all the state's budget cuts should come from its higher education system, Chancellor Jim Rogers had an "uh oh" moment.

Could it be his fault? After all, Rogers had been poking at Gibbons for months over the cuts. His weekly memos and other correspondence had excoriated the governor in every way possible. But "uh oh" was just a fleeting thought.

"Unless he's mentally ill and he would take it out on 110,000 students to get back at me," Rogers said, "that's just beyond the realm of possibility."

RICHARD LAKE

OVERHEARD ON THE SCANNER: "Terminal Two is quieter than George Bush's farewell speech."

DURING TUESDAY'S HEARING ON THE STATE K-12 BUDGET, state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford said he could not understand why the state plans to cut adult education by 14 percent when the number of adults needing to complete their high school diplomas is growing and the program is already underfunded.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley offered an explanation:

"With all due respect to the Senate majority leader, I think you're making a wrong assumption. I think you're assuming the budget was constructed with rationality."

JAMES HAUG

CLARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER TOM COLLINS recently questioned the wisdom of firefighters who work excessive overtime in a job that demands they pack around heavy gear like electrical linemen. Or mules.

Collins speaks from experience. He spent decades working with heavy wiring at building sites.

"We're dumber than mules," he explained, "because we put on our own harnesses."

SCOTT WYLAND