Reporters’ Notebook

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Barack Obama was scheduled to address the National Association of Black Journalists convention at 12:30 p.m. Friday, but it was almost 1 p.m. by the time he took the stage.

"I want to apologize for being late," Obama began. "But you guys keep on asking whether I'm black enough."

MOLLY BALL

WHILE DISCUSSING SEVERAL CAVERNS 30 TO 40 FEET BENEATH THE SITE OF A YET-TO-BE-BUILT CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT CAMPUS in eastern Las Vegas, Superintendent Walt Rulffes told a reporter that he should see the caverns firsthand. Some are so big, Rulffes said, that he got an "eerie feeling" Osama bin Laden might live in one.

Rulffes asked the reporter if he was going to include the bin Laden remark in a story, but quickly thought better of it.

"I don't want bin Laden coming after me," he said.

ANTONIO PLANAS

AT THURSDAY'S CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEETING, TRUSTEES DISCUSSED THE PROS AND CONS of their recent decision to begin their meetings at 4 p.m. instead of 5:30 p.m.

Trustees were divided on whether starting earlier meant getting out earlier from meetings that often stretch late into the night. Trustee Larry Mason said the earlier starts hadn't produced shorter meetings because some School Board members have the gift of gab.

"Sometimes we have a tendency, and I do, to talk a long time about nothing," he said.

ANTONIO PLANAS LAS VEGAS CAN BE A TOUGH PLACE TO RECRUIT ACADEMICS. When courting potential faculty, UNLV College of Sciences Dean Ron Yasbin would reassure the person and his or her spouse that Sin City isn't as bad as it's made out to be. Then, as he would drive the two to a dinner or event, the vehicle would inevitably get stuck behind a taxicab emblazoned with a "Crazy Girls" ad, with its lineup of naked backsides staring them in the face.

"It got to the point where it would happen all the time," an exasperated Yasbin said.

LAWRENCE MOWER NBC "DATELINE" ASSOCIATE PRODUCER MICHELLE MADIGAN WAS CAUGHT LAST WEEK TRYING TO HACK INTO THE HACKERS CONVENTION at the Riviera.

Despite trying to keep her efforts to secretly videotape the gathering on the down low, DEFCON convention staff knew who she was, according to ZDnet.com blogger George Ou.

They offered her a press pass. She refused.

Madigan unwittingly told a staffer she intended to secretly record the conference for "Dateline," to show America how criminal hackers had come to Las Vegas to trade secrets while federal agents spied on them, Ou said.

DEFCON staff pulled back the curtain, announcing before the gathered geeks a game of "spot the undercover reporter."

What followed can be seen in shaky video on YouTube.com.

According to Ou, a group of DEFCON attendees turned the tables and began snapping photos and shooting video of Madigan as she fled the conference. They followed her to her car, heckling her along the way.

We at Week in Review have laid low a time or two during our journalistic adventures and offer a few tips to Madigan:

• Lose the fedora with the "press" card stuffed in the band.

• When the waiter asks if you want the chicken or the fish, don't reply with, "Is this on the record?"

• Don't tell staff you plan to secretly record their meeting. Then it's not a secret.

AN ESPN.COM READER HAD AN IDEA ABOUT THAT LONG-SOUGHT Las Vegas NBA franchise: The city should be home to a team of All-Stars, past their prime, demanding to be traded to a contender.

"The team would always be a contender on some level," ESPN.com reader Aaron wrote. "It would be fun to watch a ramshackle Dream Team fight for a play-off spot. ... There would be a lot of pride on that squad, like old guys at an open gym.

"It's also similar to when stage performers start working the Vegas circuit."

May we suggest a mascot for these Barry Manilows of the hardwood: the dinosaurs.