Reporters’ Notebook

Linda Lera-Randle El, longtime director of the Straight from the Streets homeless outreach program, this week reacted with a heavy sigh to news about more cuts to social service programs for the poorest residents of Clark County.

"We can't just keep slashing," she said. "We're not making 'Friday the 14th' here."

LYNNETTE CURTIS

WE'VE ALL BEEN VICTIMS OF UNFLATTERING PHOTOS, but Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine can claim top honors.

In an online story about Valentine's yearly evaluation, someone posted a photo of the St. Valentine's Day massacre instead of her portrait shot.

Oops.

The day Valentine was evaluated, county commissioners cut $7 million in social services. Some people might view that as a massacre of sorts.

Valentine, however, wasn't nominated for sainthood, despite some glowing reviews.

SCOTT WYLAND

DISCUSSING THE EVOLUTION OF THE HIGHWAY SYSTEM in the 1950s, Rep. Shelley Berkley described her family's cross-country trek on Route 66. The family was on the way to California, but when they hit Hoover Dam they saw signs for Las Vegas and decided to stop for the night.

"We drove to Las Vegas for the night and never left," she said. "Someday we'll unpack our U-Haul."

ADRIENNE PACKER

NANCY FLAGG, A UNLV EMPLOYEE FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, joined the chorus Thursday in praising new university president Neal Smatresk.

But, warned Flagg, who has been working with Smatresk in his position as provost for more than two years, he is not perfect.

"Besides," she said, "perfect is boring, and at UNLV we don't do boring very well."

RICHARD LAKE

GROUPS OF SCHOOL KIDS SHOW UP REGULARLY to Las Vegas City Council meetings, and sometimes they recite things like the preamble to the Constitution or the Gettysburg Address. It was Lincoln's famous speech that was showcased last week, and Mayor Oscar Goodman congratulated the kids for their brevity as well as their memorization skills.

He clocked the speech at 1 minute, 35 seconds: "A great speech," he said. "Please remember that when you address the council in the future."

ALAN CHOATE