OUR BLOGGERS ARE SAYING …

If you're not checking out the local blogs on reviewjournal.com, here's just a sample of what you've been missing:

It just rubbed him wrong

From columnist Jane Ann Morrison:

Jury deliberation rooms are not massage parlors, but a couple of female District Court judges apparently didn't realize that.

Under the category of "Why don't you already know this?" Chief Judge Art Ritchie had to remind all the judges that the jury deliberation rooms weren't the right places for them to meet with massage therapists.

"It's not as salacious as it sounds," Ritchie said Thursday. The judges weren't stripping down to the altogether, they were using massage chairs designed for the upper body massages while clothed, like the ones prevalent at the malls.

"I didn't investigate to see if it was a one-time deal or multiple times," Ritchie said. But when he heard about it, he realized the public perception would be poor and he put a stop to it.

This was a minor issue, almost a silly one, but Ritchie dealt with it and, didn't deny it when I called.

For an update, go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/morrison/

I tell ya, he gets no respect!

From columnist John L. Smith:

I think Gov. Jim Gibbons missed his calling. He may be having difficulty getting more than the Rodney Dangerfield treatment from his own political party, state legislators, and members of the press, but he absolutely slays me with his bone-dry sense of humor.

Take (the) piece of comedy that appeared in Molly Ball's story in Monday's Review-Journal. The subject was Gibbons, as a sitting governor, receiving not one but two viable challenges from fellow Republicans Joe Heck and Michael Montandon. Both have, more than a year from Election Day, officially announced their intention to unseat Gibbons. Both have clearly and loudly stated their lack of confidence in the governor.

Gibbons told Ball, "I think you've mischaracterized their interest in running for governor."

Oh, my ribs. They're aching with the irony. You'd think they wanted to run in order to be governor, but maybe they're a couple of kidders, this Heck and Montandon.

Ball, my new favorite straight woman on the political comedy circuit, writes, "Asked to characterize it himself, he said, 'Whatever reason they want to run for the state's highest office is a question they have to answer. I've not asked them, you've not asked them, and you're assuming that you know why they're running.' "

It goes on from there in a kind of Abbott & Costello routine that is sure to provide hours of laughter when it comes out later this year on CD.

There will be a CD, won't there?

For more, go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/smith/

So, it's not about the money?

From gaming writer Howard Stutz:

So why leave a safe job running the Georgia Aquarium to head the troubled Las Vegas Sands Corp.?

"I'm going to help a friend," new Las Vegas Sands President Michael Leven told the mayor of Atlanta recently, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Leven, 71, a longtime Las Vegas Sands board member, was speaking of company Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Leven is also being paid $2 million a year, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"It's not totally altruistic. I'm getting paid very well," Leven said. "But it's not about the money. It's about helping (Adelson) and the challenge of getting it done. How many people at 71 get an opportunity like this, a challenge of this magnitude? I'm very energized about it."

For more, go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/stutz/

The final four

From Publisher Sherman Frederick:

Last week, we carried the first three items on Publisher Sherman Frederick's list of seven good things about the Las Vegas economy to remember. Here are the remaining four:

Good News No. 4: Air travel is down and may continue for the time being. But there are still more than 3 million air passengers each month. In January 2009, the total air passenger count was 3,016,067.

Good News No. 5: Average daily auto traffic on Interstate 15 at the California-Nevada border has actually increased by 2.6 percent to 33,935 in January 2009, compared to 33,064 in January of 2008.

Good News No. 6: In January 2009, existing home sales increased 70.4 percent compared to January 2008.

Good News No. 7: Median home prices have dropped, making it more affordable to buy a home. The median price of an existing home was $155,000 and the median price of a new home was $235,000 in January 2009.

For the first three, go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/sherm/