REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

TIMES OF INDIA

Indian newspaper tells of 'Dr. Greed'

Southern Nevada's health care crisis got some ink in the Times of India, and the newspaper coined its own tabloid-ready moniker for embattled Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada owner Dr. Dipak Desai: "Dr. Greed."

"After the notorious Dr. Kidney of New Delhi and the infamous Dr. Death of Australia, yet another physician of Indian origin has courted infamy -- this time as Dr. Greed -- much to the dismay of a large, thriving and influential Indian-American doctors community in the United States," the Times of India wrote.

The newspaper recounts the unsafe medical practices officials say were common at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada -- reusing syringes on the same patient, using single-dose vials of medicine on multiple patients and not properly cleaning endoscopy equipment -- adding that former colleagues say Desai ordered it to be done to cut costs.

"The portrayal of an Indian physician driven by greed runs contrary to the image of the community that is generally known for their public service and generous contribution to worthy causes," the newspaper reports.

Dr. Navin Shah, a former president of the Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin who fought for foreign medical graduates to gain equal opportunities and status in the United States, tells the Times: "It reflects poorly on foreign physicians who have worked and fought long and hard to establish a good reputation."

MENTION OF SOUTHERN NEVADA'S HEALTH CRISIS even pops up in talk about college basketball. After UNLV's basketball team crushed Kent State 71-58 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, a University of Nevada, Reno, fan left this comment on the CBS Web site: "You guys just put on a clinic. Let's just be glad it wasn't a health clinic; they might have gotten Hep C."

LAWRENCE MOWER

AS CHIEF OF CODE ENFORCEMENT FOR CLARK COUNTY, Joe Boteilho is required to know things the average citizen might not care to.

Like this little nugget, for example: A single cat produces just over 91 pounds of fecal matter in a year, so a colony of 20 cats will crack out more than 1,800 pounds of scat annually.

"People don't think about it," Boteilho said.

No, Joe, they don't.

HENRY BREAN

OVERHEARD ON THE SCANNER:

Dispatcher: "Do we know if it was bit off by an animal or a person?"

Respondent: "It was a person."

THE THIRD WATER INTAKE FROM LAKE MEAD will be an engineering marvel: a tunnel 20 feet in diameter extending about 75 feet beneath the lake bed for several miles.

The scale of the project and its dicey location have made an impression on Shari Buck, chairwoman of the Southern Nevada Water Authority Board. On Thursday, she announced that she won't be going anywhere near it.

"I don't believe I will be taking any tours as that intake is built," Buck said.

A short time later, she added, "I'm not walking under the lake."

HENRY BREAN

AS LAKE MEAD CONTINUES TO SHRINK IN THE FACE of the ongoing drought, the names of some of its geographic features have lost all meaning. Saddle Island, for example, hasn't been an island for some time now. These days, the rocky ridge, which houses the Southern Nevada Water Authority's water intake pipes, barely qualifies as a peninsula.

If the water keeps on dropping, authority spokesman Scott Huntley said a new name might be in order: "Saddle Highland."

HENRY BREAN

OVERHEARD ON THE SCANNER: "The subject was laying on the ground, swinging his arms like he was swimming."

LINDA LERA-RANDLE EL KEPT FORGETTING HER MICROPHONE was on as she drove around on Friday looking for less fortunate children to whom she could give free Easter baskets. The director of the Straight from the Streets homeless outreach program was delivering the goods as part of an annual charitable program, and was wearing a microphone provided by a local TV news crew that was following her in a van and could hear every word.

"Where are the kids at?" Lera-Randle El yelled through an open window to a startled man who just shook his head.

Then she muttered, "I'm driving around yelling at people about where the kids are," and something about hoping nobody calls the cops. Later, she rolled her window up tight while passing through an alley where a sketchy looking guy dressed in dark clothing stood, glaring at the van. "That was scary even for me," she said. "I'm not asking Freddy Krueger's grandpa where the kids are."

LYNNETTE CURTIS

IN THE WAKE OF THE PROSTITUTION SCANDAL that forced New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer from office, and the one that quickly followed, in which Spitzer's replacement, David Paterson, admitted he and his wife had extramarital affairs, it perhaps was inevitable that Gov. Jim Gibbons would be asked if he has been faithful to his wife, Dawn. The governor recently acknowledged they have had marital difficulties.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Gibbons was asked if he has a girlfriend.

"No," he said firmly. Then he broke into laughter at his surprise over being asked the question.

ED VOGEL

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID'S LONG-AGO STINT as an amateur boxer is frequently summoned as a metaphor for his work in politics, including by Reid himself.

At a meeting of the Paradise Democratic Club last week, an audience member told Reid he'd like some advice on how he could become a U.S. senator someday. Reid wasn't much help, saying his career has been mostly improvised.

"It's almost like a physical fight: You just have to look for your openings and see them when they appear," the Nevada Democrat said. "I don't go for this long-range planning stuff. Life is a series of challenges and events, and you take them as they come."

MOLLY BALL