WEEK IN REVIEW: Reporters’ Notebook

IT WASN’T GREETED WITH QUITE THE SAME FANFARE AS, SAY, THE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT EDITION, but the latest copy of “Landscape Nevada” magazine could raise a few eyebrows, at least among water managers.

The cover of the official publication of the Nevada Landscape Association declares July as “Smart Irrigation Month.” The words get a little lost, however, amid the lush, green cover shot of sprinklers spraying water on a huge expanse of lawn, which is backed by an elaborate swimming pool, more lawn, and a line of trees that looks a lot more like California than Nevada.

Somewhere, hidden amid all that greenery, water czar Pat Mulroy must be weeping.

HENRY BREAN

ULTRA LOUNGES. STRIP CLUBS. GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS LOCATIONS. WHAT PRODUCT IS OFF LIMITS TO A CITY of Las Vegas endorsement?

After expounding on the need to protect Las Vegas’ good name as the city looks at raising money through marketing deals with corporate sponsors, Mayor Oscar Goodman set the bar, about 18 inches off the ground.

“A Las Vegas toilet,” the mayor said when asked what would be taboo in the marketing agreements the city will consider in coming months.

DAVID McGRATH SCHWARTZ

STAFF MEMBERS FOR THE LIVE ANIMAL EXHIBIT AT THE $250 MILLION SPRINGS PRESERVE would like you to know that their kangaroo rat is alive and well.

Since the attraction opened June 8, several visitors have expressed concern about the small rodent after tapping on the glass of its enclosure and failing to wake the critter.

“He just likes to sleep upside down with his legs in the air,” explained Jesse Davis, spokesman for the preserve. “He is a live animal, despite looking like he’s passed away.”

HENRY BREAN

THE SENATE’S FAILURE TO PASS IMMIGRATION REFORM LEGISLATION WAS FODDER LAST WEEK FOR COMEDY CENTRAL’S “THE DAILY SHOW.”

After recapping the “jowled 100’s” failure to bring a bill for a vote, host Jon Stewart said Sen. Harry Reid “tried to make sense of it all.”

A clip of Reid on the Senate floor followed in which Nevada’s senior senator quoted “The Cat in the Hat”: “That is good, said the fish, he’s gone away. Yes, but your mother will come. She will find this big mess. And this mess is so big and so deep and so tall we cannot pick it up at all.”

After a long pause, Stewart said, “Are you (expletive) kidding me?”

“I’m sure behind the scenes he’s very effective,” Stewart said of Reid, slipping into an impression of the majority leader that sounded more like Jackie Mason. “Wait, wait how about ‘One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish,’ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go.'”

BILL RICHARDSON DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE AN EVENT AT A UNION HALL LAST WEEK. Pressed by staffers to wrap up his question-and-answer session at the Teamsters hall so he could get to the next thing on his schedule, the New Mexico governor and Democratic presidential candidate complained that he wasn’t going to move up in the polls with that attitude.

“I’m at 10 percent, for chrissakes!” Richardson complained. “I’ve got to move up here! Where are you taking me? Somewhere where I can’t get any votes!”

MOLLY BALL

DURING THE FIRST DAY OF THE RETRIAL OF MARTHA FLORES, who was originally convicted of murder by child abuse for the death of her stepdaughter, a juror asked to be excused from the trial.

The juror said he didn’t believe his stomach could handle the gruesome autopsy photos of the 5-year-old victim.

After the jury left the courtroom, District Judge Joseph Bonaventure discussed the matter with attorneys.

Prosecutor Bill Kephart thought the juror could handle the photos after becoming more invested in the case. “Not everyone’s a John Wayne-type like you,” Bonaventure told Kephart.

Someone suggested giving the juror a pail. But defense attorney Al Lasso wondered what the court would do “if he starts doing projectile vomiting?”

It could influence other jurors’ opinions of the case, he said.

Bonaventure took a day to consider the matter.

K.C. HOWARD