Reporter’s Notebook

Vons kicked off its annual fundraising drive for the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Tuesday with a scavenger hunt in one of the local stores — and there was cheating.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, teamed with a couple of children who have the muscle-wasting disease, brazenly put one of the targeted items into his basket before the clock started ticking.

Not that it helped. He came in well behind state Sen. Bob Beers and Assemblyman John Oceguera, who finished their runs within the three-minute time limit. Oceguera and his team collected 13 of the 16 items on the list; Beers and his helpers had nine. Goodman somehow finished with 18.

“I started early and I finished late,” Goodman said proudly. “I wanted to win this thing.”

ALAN CHOATE

Under Nevada law, if two candidates have the same name, and one of them is the incumbent, election officials must list the incumbent’s name first on the ballot and print the incumbent’s name in bold type. Larry Lomax, Clark County’s registrar of voters, wondered aloud recently how an incumbent would campaign under such circumstances.

He jokingly proposed the slogan, “Vote for me. I’m in boldface.” The point turned out to be moot, however, when Lomax discovered that the county’s ballots already are printed entirely in bold type.

CARRI GEER THEVENOT

Principals will do the craziest things to get their students to meet attendance goals or read a certain number of books. One common stunt involves dressing up as an animal and spending the day on the school rooftop.

But at a recent meeting, some School Board members wondered if the principals were getting carried away. Edward Goldman, the associate superintendent of educational services, agreed.

“Principals on the rooftops looking like a pig in the wind is not my thing either,” he said.

JAMES HAUG

OVERHEARD ON THE SCANNER: Officer: Ten four. Give them a hug for me.

Dispatcher: I already did.

Government map makers must have had deer and antelope on their minds when they named the places where Air Force planes fly and wild horses roam.

A recent study found that 71 wild horses died from drinking tainted water on the Tonopah Test Range, which includes the Nevada Wild Horse Range, which is within the Nevada Test and Training Range, which is often referred to as Nellis Air Force Range.

KEITH ROGERS

Bankrupt or not, Lake Las Vegas continues to cater to a pretty affluent crowd. For proof, look no further than the ATMs at the development’s Casino MonteLago. After you punch in your PIN number and select withdrawal, the screen fills with a list of cash amounts that start at $200 and trend upward to $3,000.

Lucky for the rest of us there is one last choice at the end of the list: Other.

HENRY BREAN