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President Barack Obama sang the praises of Las Vegas and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., during an overnight stop.

The official reason for the trip was to announce $1.5 billion in assistance to homeowners in Nevada and the four other states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, but shoring up Reid's re-election effort was the clear theme of the visit.

The president arrived Thursday night for a private fundraising dinner for Reid, then spent much of Friday touting the Senate majority leader's accomplishments.

Obama also gushed about Las Vegas in an effort to soothe those still upset by previous comments he made about the city.

"Let me set the record straight: I love Vegas. ... There you go. Always have," Obama said during a speech Friday at the Aria resort on the Strip.

Monday

Add-on pay adds up

Supplemental pay added $155 million to Clark County's labor costs last year, according to a new report ordered by county commissioners.

The added cash for public employees includes pay for overtime, call backs and longevity, along with a host of reimbursements for such things as clothing, tuition and jury duty. It pushed the total wages to $573 million.

One commissioner argued that in the growing budget crisis, some of the add-ons must be curbed and others eliminated.

Tuesday

Call for session issued

Gov. Jim Gibbons issued the official call for a special session of the Legislature, and in the process he brought to the table two ideas for generating $80 million in new revenue.

The governor proposed increasing revenues from the mining industry by $50 million and allowing a Chicago company to launch a camera-based auto insurance and registration verification program that would net the state $30 million.

His proclamation calls on lawmakers to convene Feb. 23 to deal with a state budget shortfall of almost $900 million.

Wednesday

City hears siren song

North Las Vegas Fire Department officials said they can save the jobs of up to 16 firefighters with the money that can be made if the department takes over the transport of more emergency patients to hospitals.

But private ambulance company MedicWest said the plan will force them to lay off at least a dozen workers, effectively sacrificing private-sector jobs for public ones.

After hearing both sides of the argument at a special meeting, City Council members delayed action so it could gather more information and look for a possible compromise.

Thursday

Two-man crime spree

Two men already charged in a Jan. 25 slaying have been linked with a string of other violent crimes, including a second murder, police said.

In addition to the murders of Prisma Ivette Contreras, 21, whose body was found Jan. 15, and Julio Romero, 64, who was shot to death in his home Jan. 25, police said Gregory Hover and Richard Freeman Jr. are now considered suspects in business robberies, robberies at ATMs and other pedestrian holdups dating to late 2009.

Friday

Jury: Shooting justified

Several federal court security officers and marshals were cleared in the fatal shooting of gunman Johnny Lee Wicks, who walked into the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse on Jan. 4 and killed court security officer Stan Cooper.

A Clark County coroner's jury unanimously declared the officers' actions justified.