Reporters’ Notebook

WHILE BEING SENTENCED THURSDAY for battery by a prisoner, inmate Ryan Thorsen exploded in rage, shouting, "Hitler said you would feel his wrath."

Thorsen then turned to the inmate to his left, spit on and jumped on him, flailing around.

Courthouse marshals quickly subdued Thorsen and dragged him from the courtroom. Thorsen all the while continued to scream the Hitler message.

It was quite the spectacle.

When the outburst was over, District Judge Michael Villani, in a cool and even voice, said, "All right, we'll continue this to next week to see if he's in a better mood to be sentenced."

FRANCIS McCABE

AT VON TOBEL MIDDLE SCHOOL, Hector Guerrero, 13, was researching Las Vegas headliner and singer Charo as a personality to spotlight on the school news broadcast for Hispanic Heritage Month.

After some Internet research, Hector told Principal Roger Gonzalez that there was some controversy over Charo's age. Documentation in Spain shows that the entertainer was born in 1941, but Charo has gone to court to prove she was born in 1951, which would make her 58 instead of 68.

Gonzalez urged the student to be sympathetic. "When you get older, you'll understand," he said with a laugh.

JAMES HAUG

MAYOR OSCAR GOODMAN HAS BEEN KNOWN TO BE A GAMBLING MAN ON OCCASION.

This weekend he bet that the UNLV Rebels would whip the Wolf Pack from the University of Nevada, Reno. Goodman and Reno Mayor Bob Cashell made their yearly wager on the rivalry game.

UNLV, and Goodman, lost.

Now Goodman must donate $500 to the winner's charity of choice. He also must wear the Wolf Pack's jersey and prominently display the victor's helmet at a City Council meeting.

Goodman might want to work on his predicting skills.

"Last year I was on the losing side of the bet, but this year I'm certain that Mayor Cashell will be wearing a UNLV jersey and helmet at a Reno City Council meeting," he said before the game.

The two mayors also will cut cards to settle bets on their cities' baseball teams, which ended the season tied at two games apiece.

If only breaking a City Council stalemate were that easy.

CLARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER TOM COLLINS is often armed with a down-home analogy, and sometimes they work.

At a recent meeting, commissioners haggled about whether they should use part of a federal homeless-assistance grant to hire someone to administer the grant.

Collins noted that the federal money would pay for the administrator. "It's like worrying about what color your socks are when your pants are long enough to cover your shoes," he said.

SCOTT WYLAND