Week in Review: Top News

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid wanted his call to outlaw legal brothels from Nevada's rural landscape to prompt an "adult conversation" among lawmakers about the state's notorious sex trade.

But what the Nevada Democrat got was an outcry of opposition from brothel owners and prostitutes looking to protect their livelihood and tepid responses from the legislators he asked to do the legal dirty work of running bordellos out of the state.

The gallery in the Assembly chambers went silent Tuesday when Reid paused for applause after he told lawmakers from both houses that "the time has come for us to outlaw prostitution."

Lawmakers from both major parties shied away from his suggestion that they could improve Nevada's beleaguered economy by driving brothels out of the state and inviting other businesses in.

"Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment, not as the last place where prostitution is still legal," said the Senate majority leader and Nevada's most powerful politician.

Afterward, Democratic leaders of both houses said brothels aren't on the top of their lists of legislative priorities. Rural Republicans dismissed the remarks altogether.

Monday

Labor stands together

Proposals to dilute collective bargaining laws and cut state workers' wages by 5 percent spurred protests in Las Vegas and Carson City, with labor advocates decrying what they called harsh attacks on unions and an attempt to balance budgets "on the backs of workers."

In Las Vegas, roughly 500 people rallied at the Sawyer Building against a growing legislative effort to weaken labor laws for public employees.

Tuesday

Hooker ad ban stands

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the legal prostitution industry by refusing to hear an appeal from Nevada brothel owners.

By declining to hear the case, the high court allowed to stand a Nevada law that bans brothels from advertising in newspapers in counties where prostitution is illegal, including Clark County.

Wednesday

Campus could close

College of Southern Nevada President Michael Richard said the school might have to close one of its three campuses because of budget cuts. Under Gov. Brian Sandoval's proposed budget, CSN would lose $26 million.

Closing a campus and most or all of nine satellite centers would mean turning away 13,000 students, Richard said.

Thursday

Probation for 'Pacman'

Pro football player Adam "Pacman" Jones was sentenced to a year of probation for his role in a February 2007 strip club melee that ended with three people being shot.

Jones pleaded no contest in December 2007 to conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, after agreeing to testify against the shooter. The shooting during NBA All-Star Weekend left one bouncer paralyzed.

Friday

Bumbling trio robs rio

Las Vegas police announced the arrests of two of three men in a $33,200 casino chip robbery at the Rio a day earlier.

Wearing a fake mustache and fedora, one of the men walked into the casino early that morning and grabbed the chips from a pai gow poker table at gunpoint. The gunman made his getaway in a taxi, which was driven by a cabby involved in the plot, police said.

Detectives tracked the cab to the driver and soon unraveled the heist thanks to the bumbling trio's trail of clues.