Weekly Editorial Recap

WEDNESDAY

OF BOOTS AND BUCKLES

You know it's December in Las Vegas from the sea of broad-brimmed felt, the clomping of dogging heels and glint of neon off of shining buckles. The 52nd National Finals Rodeo is in town through Sunday. It's been a mutually satisfactory arrangement for 25 years, and it's contracted to continue here through 2014. ...

True, the host Thomas & Mack Center is showing its age and at 17,000 seats doesn't have the capacity of some of the huge new stadiums around the country that clearly covet the rodeo. Perhaps another venue will offer a tempting bid to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women's Professional Rodeo Association.

But will those cities be able to offer rodeo fans the ability to stay out till dawn and enjoy a different country music and country comic performance every night? Wynn Las Vegas is not a tour stop for Garth Brooks' smash one-man show -- the superstar is an only-in-Vegas act. And Monday's inaugural American Country Awards show at the MGM Grand was made for the entertainment capital of the world. ...

Enjoy the party and hope it lasts for all of us.

THURSDAY

WAGE INSPECTORS

As if local licensed contractors don't have enough to deal with these days -- staying in business through next month, for example -- the Clark County Commission on Tuesday added another layer of inspections at construction sites.

Only these inspectors aren't interested in safety or whether the work meets code. They want to see the books.

The county has received more than 90 complaints over the past two years about contractors not paying the state's prevailing wage on public works projects costing at least $100,000. Because the county has only one full-time compliance officer for such business, the commission created a paycheck police force of a dozen volunteers. ...

The commission included in their paycheck police guidelines a requirement that volunteers cannot engage in union activities at work sites. But contractors have good reason to be concerned with the board's action. Commissioners are going to have to keep a close eye on this one-year experiment. They're going to have a hard time selling this as anything but a favor to the unions who helped get them elected.