Reporter’s Notebook

CARLA WASHINGTON ARRIVED AT A "GOOFIEST, MOST UNUSUAL, OR OTHERWISE UNWANTED HOLIDAY GIFTS" PROMOTION ON TUESDAY with a really bad gift in tow: a wad of red synthetic hair adorned with tiny green Christmas trees she received recently from a co-worker. Believe it or not, the fake hair was not the worst present Washington has ever received, she said. That honor belongs to a box of tampons she got as a gift from her stepmother, who got them for free in the mail. "Her address was still on them."

LYNNETTE CURTIS

SEN. HARRY REID ISN'T KNOWN FOR BEING A QUIP MACHINE. But maybe it's time for us to revise our opinion, because Nevada's senior senator just came in at No. 7 on Reuters' list of the top quotes of 2007.

It was Vice President Dick Cheney who moved Reid to eloquence. "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody who has a 9 percent approval rating," Reid said of Cheney.

Good enough for No. 7, perhaps, but in the humble opinion of Reporters' Notebook, it's a long shot from the brilliance of the wire service's top quote of 2007: "Don't Tase me, bro."

OVERHEARD ON THE SCANNER: Dispatcher, referring to Thursday's fatal machete attack near downtown Las Vegas: "We've got media arriving. Where do we need them to set up?"

Police officer: "Pahrump."

MAYBE THEY WEREN'T IMPLYING ANYTHING, but the way the Nye County Republican Party Web site describes a recent event with the governor is awfully suggestive.

"The 'Intimate Dinner with Governor Jim Gibbons' affair was a success!" is the headline on the short blurb about the event, which drew "over a hundred people" to the Pahrump Nugget.

MOLLY BALL

THERE ARE ABOUT 145 ENTRIES ON THE STATE REGISTRY OF HISTORIC PLACES, but only the Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings encourages visitors to take a pee on the past.

Included on the saloon's application for historic designation, which was approved by state officials earlier this month, is a urinal from 1938. And just like the rest of the old bar, this piece of history remains open for business.

HENRY BREAN

THE HISTORIC SALOON NARROWLY AVOIDED DISASTER IN APRIL, when a car slammed into the front of the building, destroying the porch.

After the crash, the car's driver, who lives in nearby Sandy Valley, climbed out the passenger side of his wrecked vehicle, walked into the bar and asked if he could use the phone.

Longtime bartender Karen Cobb said the man didn't suffer any injuries from the accident until the next day, when he hurt himself climbing back into the car to retrieve some of his belongings.

"His wife beat him up pretty good, too," Cobb said.

HENRY BREAN

THE REGULARS AT THE PIONEER SALOON AREN'T SHY about throwing their money around.

"People throw money on top of the (back) bar," said Monica Beisecker, a researcher and Goodsprings resident who wrote the bar's application for the state historic registry. "There's probably thousands of dollars in change up there."

No one's too sure how the tradition got started, but a lousy tip might have had something to do with it.

"Bartenders don't like pennies, so when they get them they throw them up there," Beisecker said.

HENRY BREAN

WHEN IT COMES TO PIONEER SALOON REGULARS, Dave and Deanna Rhoades are about as regular as they come.

The married couple said they stop into the tavern at least once a day.

On a recent weekday morning, they sat side by side at the bar sipping Bloody Marys, which she described as more of a breakfast drink and he described as having "more kick than Tang."

Deanna said her usual drink of choice is Jack and Coke. Not me, said Dave. "That stuff kind of turns me into an (expletive)."

HENRY BREAN

YES, WE ALL KNOW BY NOW THAT LAS VEGAS RECEIVED AMERICAN CITY OF THE YEAR honors recently at the World Leadership Awards in London. But, guys, don't let it go to your heads.

The Las Vegas City Council recognized the award and many of the city's employees Wednesday during the ceremonial part of the meeting. By the time they were done, though, Mayor Oscar Goodman (aka Mr. Superlative) had morphed the title of the award into "Las Vegas: Greatest City in the World!"

And he wasn't finished.

Councilman Larry Brown received a plaque and a pin noting, belatedly, his 10 years of city service -- service to, as Goodman put it, "the greatest city ... in the history of all worlds!"

Goodman also couldn't resist a dig at Brown, who plans to leave the council to run for an open seat on the Clark County Commission.

"Forget about that other place you aspire to," Goodman said after handing Brown his mementos. "A bunch of dysfunctional folks over there."

ALAN CHOATE

THIS WEEK'S OPENING OF THE NEW THREE SQUARE FOOD BANK DREW A ROOMFUL OF DIGNITARIES FROM THE WORLDS OF POLITICS, BUSINESS AND CHARITY, including Assemblywomen Barbara Buckley and Peggy Pierce, state Sen. Steven Horsford, Towbin Hummer owner Dan Towbin, Eric Hilton of Hilton hotel chain fame, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada Director Monsignor Patrick Leary, Clark County Assistant Manager Darryl Martin and dozens of others. The long list of notable local names in attendance inspired Three Square President Punam Mathur to quip, "If the terrorists wanted to take out Southern Nevada, this would be a good place to drop a bomb."

LYNNETTE CURTIS