Reporters’ Notebook

TUESDAY NIGHT MARKED THE FINAL MEETING FOR HENDERSON CITY COUNCILWOMAN AMANDA CYPHERS, who decided not to seek re-election after 12 years on the council.

As a gesture of thanks to her colleagues on the council, she presented each of them with a specially made bobblehead doll of herself, though people have told her that the doll actually looks more like Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi.

"I got the idea from Oscar Goodman," Cyphers said. "I had five of them made up, one for each of them and one for me to keep. I've had a lot of requests for them since then, but I'm not having any more made."

When asked if the public should read anything into the fact that an Amanda Cyphers bobblehead can only vote yes, Cyphers laughed and said she's "not going to touch that one."

A moment later, though, she offered a correction of sorts about the doll. "The head moves all around," she said, "so it's kind of an indecisive Amanda Cyphers."

HENRY BREAN

GOODMAN OUTDID THE GOVERNOR IN EXPLAINING the origins of negative press about himself or the city.

When asked at his weekly news conference Thursday if he had ever heard that his enemies were paying reporters to write negative stories about him, the mayor was momentarily speechless.

"There are only a couple of reporters that I know who are on the take," he said.

When pressed to name names, the former mob lawyer reprised the old I'm-no-rat routine: "You know me. From my background, I take the 5th. I'd never give anybody up."

DAVID McGRATH SCHWARTZ

IS IT IMPOLITE FOR REPORTERS TO ASK SELF-SERVING questions with their mouths full?

The media center for last week's Vegas Grand Prix was set up on the 16th floor of the World Market Center. There was a catered spread, including salmon, provided by Wolfgang Puck Catering. And an open bar furnished drinks from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Still, one hack bit the hand that fed and asked owners and top race executives what they would do so that next year, reporters won't have to walk so far from the parking lot to the track and media center.

DAVID McGRATH SCHWARTZ

THE NORTH LAS VEGAS PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT'S new mascot generated a bit of controversy last week. Some claimed MaXaction, as the masked figure is known, looked like the type of cartoon character that would question authority and use spray paint to ding home values.

But officials said MaXaction promotes active lifestyles among kids, and his bag, which is emblazoned with the city's logo, is filled with magical energy spheres that can be used for "a multitude of different things," such as creating impromptu soccer fields.

But with everyone else seemingly weighing in, the Week in Review staff compiled its own list of what else MaXaction might be carrying in that purse, er, man-bag:

• A spare pair of tights in case he gets a run.

• An energy sphere that transports him throughout the valley so that he can explain: "It's not called 'Northtown,' it's North Las Vegas."

• A secret compartment stuffed with trans-fat laden snacks.

• A dog-eared copy of "How to Be a Superhero: Your Complete Guide to Finding a Secret Headquarters, Hiring a Sidekick, Thwarting the Forces of Evil, and Much More!!"

• A magical sphere with the ability to instantly transport dozens of homeless men across the street so that they become Las Vegas' problem.

• Payments for The Wall Street Journal to provide favorable coverage of North Las Vegas.

COMING FROM A POLITICAL FAMILY HAS ITS DRAWBACKS, as Secretary of State Ross Miller illustrated recently. In a meeting of the state Board of Examiners, the panel consisting of the governor, the attorney general and the secretary of state that approves state leases and contracts, Miller had to make multiple disclosures of his personal connections to parties involved.

Miller noted that his father, former Gov. Bob Miller, leased space from one company and that his wife was on a certain board. "And No. 27, J.A. Tiberti: He's my godfather," Miller said of the founder of the eponymous Las Vegas construction company.

MOLLY BALL

THE WASHINGTON POST REPORTED LAST WEEK on Vice President Dick Cheney's "red-meat attack" on Democrats' Iraq stance.

We at Week in Review were sure the vice president's cardiologist told him to lay off that stuff. But we digress.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was a favorite target of Cheney during the speech. "When Nancy Pelosi flies nearly 6,000 miles to meet with the president of Syria, but Harry Reid hesitates to drive a mile and a half to meet with the president of the United States, there's a serious problem in the leadership of the Democratic Party," Cheney said.

But, according to the Post, Cheney left a few Reid jokes on the cutting-room floor. The original text had the vice president "mocking Reid for claiming the American people support the Democrats' war spending bill" and drawing attention to some pork inserted in the bill. One paragraph, which Cheney skipped, stated: "Harry Reid may be the only man in America who thinks we need to spend millions of dollars fighting crickets in Nevada in order to win a war in Iraq."