Reporters’ notebook

IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG FOR NEWS OF O.J. SIMPSON'S CONVICTION in Las Vegas to hit the late-night comedy shows.

On Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," Steven Colbert last week jokingly asked why the cops keep framing O.J. Then he theorized that Simpson's guilty verdict was a plot by the Juice to infiltrate the prison system and hunt down the true killer of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

Colbert said he's going to miss his close friend. "I have lost a golf buddy and a terrific wingman. Trust me: You walk into a bar with O.J. Simpson, the women flock to you."

DAVID KIHARA

THE SOUTHERN NEVADA WATER AUTHORITY hosted an international conference on water efficiency and conservation last week, and the event drew quite a few vendors of low-flow toilets.

"Have you been down to the exhibit hall yet? It's a confusing place to be, man," joked one female water authority staff member. "There must be 900 different kinds of urinals down there."

HENRY BREAN

LAS VEGAS COUNCILMAN STEVE WOLFSON was trying to build up the accomplishments of city finance director Mark Vincent during a hearing on the city's troubled finances last week, but Mayor Oscar Goodman cut the money man off at the knees.

"Stand up, Mark," Wolfson said. "He is standing," Goodman quipped.

The audience was mostly full of union members, many of whom are no fan of the numbers Vincent has presented for most of the last year. But for once, Goodman got groans instead of a laugh.

Maybe he should stick to the gin jokes.

ALAN CHOATE

IT WAS PROBABLY INEVITABLE THAT VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY would bring up his infamous 2006 hunting accident while he was in Reno earlier this month to address a wildlife policy conference attended by a variety of hunting groups.

At least Cheney has a sense of humor about the incident, in which he accidentally shot a campaign contributor in the face during a quail hunt. The contributor recovered.

In his brief remarks, Cheney said: "I've taken a lot of grief over the years, obviously, for that hunting accident in Texas. Mostly from the president. I walked into the Oval Office that day, and the president looked at me and said, 'Dick, here I am 30 percent in the polls and you shot the only trial lawyer in Texas who supports me.' "

The joke got a big laugh.

SEAN WHALEY

LOOKING FOR PROOF THAT THE FREE MARKET will never die? Consider the spin some plastic surgeons are placing on the current financial meltdown. According to a press release sent Friday to the Review-Journal, "economic pressures are accelerating the ongoing trend towards less invasive and less costly procedures, such as injections, fillers and laser treatments."

The release then goes into detail on some of those recession-proof rejuvenation techniques. Ah, commerce!

ANNETTE WELLS