WEEK IN REVIEW: Reporters’ notebook
Sebastian Ordonez isn't a drug dealer, but if he were he wouldn't sell so-called "bath salts," the street name of synthetic drugs that mimic the effects of crystal meth, Ecstasy, LSD and cocaine. The employee at one of the valley's ubiquitous smoke shops, where the synthetic drugs are reportedly widely available, said he would be more ambitious. "If I'm going to get busted for selling drugs, I'm selling real cocaine, not fake cocaine. You can buy a better lawyer if you sell real cocaine."
The State Board of Pharmacy outlawed the drugs, the fake ones, in an emergency action Thursday.
Doug McMurdo
A few days after Betty "Jay" Pinkney was shot and killed at a house party, her Desert Pines High School basketball teammates were back at practice.
Coach Christopher McFarland stood on the baseline watching players shooting around. It reminded him of Pinkney, who occasionally would shoot "air balls" because she didn't snap her wrist.
"She didn't like the way it looked. I don't know why," McFarland said.
After an air ball, players had to do 25 pushups with their hands on a basketball.
"She could go down but couldn't get back up," he said between laughs and then became serious. "But she kept trying."
Trevon Milliard
County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly hosted a preview of the movie "Red Tails," about the how the first black fighter pilots were treated during the days of the segregated Army and won respect from their peers by proving their mettle in combat.
Weekly stressed the importance of watching this part of history unfold.
"We have to say to the establishment, 'We have to tell our story,' " the commissioner said before introducing retired Maj. Ralph L. Turner, of Las Vegas, among the last of the living Tuskegee airmen.
Keith Rogers
TWEET OF THE WEEK: @neiltyson (famed astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson) In 5-billion yrs the Sun will expand & engulf our orbit as the charred ember that was once Earth vaporizes. Have a nice day.
