With the PolitickerNV.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of Nevada's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.

With the PolitickerNV.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of Nevada's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.

Pindell Report: Nevada is the presidential swing state of 2008

A pure toss-up state, a mix of demographic issues, booming population, foreclosure crisis in the south, moral issues of importance in the north, collectivist unions that matter and Libertarian feelings that matter: Nevada is a battleground state in the battleground West. (PolitickerNV.com, Staff)

The Pindell Report, a new Politicker.com product, even calls Nevada the No. 1 presidential swing state this cycle.

Link: http://www.politickernv.com/editornv/2202/pindell-report-nevada-presiden...

CQ: NV-2 is tight, NV-3 even tighter

Congressional Quarterly is changing its forecasts on two competitive U.S. House races in Nevada, and in both cases, there is good news for the Democrats.

CQ announced Wednesday it was shifting the 2nd Congressional District race between U.S. Rep. Dean Heller (R-Carson City) and Democrat Jill Derby from "Republican" to "Leans Republican," acknowledging the race is closer than previously thought. (PolitickerNV.com, Daniel Trudeau)

Link: http://www.politickernv.com/danieltrudeau/2224/cq-nv-2-tight-nv-3-even-t...

JOHN L. SMITH: No-taxes pledge helps conservative activist oust three Republicans

Call it Muth's mugging.

Conservative political activist Chuck Muth is giddy after helping to derail the Assembly careers of Republicans Bob Beers and Francis Allen in the south and John Marvel in the north. Muth says his efforts came after the first two failed to sign a no-taxes pledge and the latter relented on a tax bill in a previous session of the Legislature. (Review Journal, John Smith)

Link: http://www.lvrj.com/news/27011089.html

Panel to hear Gibbons case in September

CARSON CITY -- A two-member panel of the state Ethics Commission will decide Sept. 11 whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a hearing on whether Gov. Jim Gibbons received an undeserved property tax break on land he owns in Elko County. (Review Journal, Sean Whaley)

Link: http://www.lvrj.com/news/27011039.html

Obama to campaign in Reno on Sunday

In one of his first stops after his vacation, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will be campaigning in Reno on Sunday. (Gazette Journal, Anjeanette Damon)

Link: http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080814/NEWS18/80814032

The fall and rise of the campaign button

For some, political buttons are not items to toss aside after a candidate’s defeat. They are small history lessons.

The die-hards who collect these buttons are amateur historians and among them, Robert Fratkin is regarded as an expert on the medium, from its glory to its senescence. (Las Vegas Sun, Brendan Buhler)

Link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug/15/fall-and-rise-campaign-butto...

State Democrats capitalizing on Reid’s party-building enterprise

For Sen. Harry Reid, the day after the 2004 general election was bittersweet.

He had just coasted to a fourth term in the Senate, but the good news stopped there. His boss, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, narrowly lost reelection and President Bush had won another term — with the help of Nevada. (Las Vegas Sun, Brian Eckhouse)

Link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug/15/state-democrats-capitalizing...

Perini wants safety culture but it’s not a ‘reaction’

The challenge is a tough one: change the “culture of safety” midway through a round-the-clock construction project that employs thousands of workers. (Las Vegas Sun, Alexandra Berzon)

Link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug/15/perini-wants-safety-culture-...

Expiring benefits prompt retirement exodus

A wave of Nevada teachers, city and county workers, and other employees are retiring in time to take advantage of subsidized health benefits.

About 1,500 local government employees have indicated they will retire before the end of the year, according to Leslie Johnstone, executive officer of the state Public Employee Benefits Program. (Las Vegas Sun, David McGrath Schwartz)

Link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug/15/nevada-hit-wave-early-retire...

Lawmakers slice $75 million from budget

Lawmakers approved more than $75 million in budget cuts on Thursday — enough to get the state through the rest of this fiscal year — even though they fretted over the damage it will cause to Health and Human Services programs. (Nevada Appeal, Geoff Dornan)

Link: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080814/NEWS/910646592/-1/rss05

Property tax cap petition on ballot

A Nevada version of California’s Proposition 13 property tax cap has enough petition signatures to qualify for a spot on Nevada’s November ballot, Secretary of State Ross Miller said Thursday. (Gazette Journal, AP)

Link: http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080814/NEWS18/80814061

Reid talks energy, politics with the RGJ

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, on summer recess from the Senate this month, participated in a telephone interview Thursday with Reno Gazette-Journal reporter Anjeanette Damon. The following are portions of the interview. (Gazette Journal, Anjeanette Damon)

Link: http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080814/NEWS18/80814056

Here, to teach is to supply

When an office supply store offered folders for a penny, second-grade teacher Nikki McCormick bought as many as the store would allow: 10.

She made four trips to the store, and did the same when the sale was on 1-cent erasers (limit 12). All summer long she has been ferreting away supplies — pencils, crayons and paper — materials many schools will be rationing when students return Aug. 25. (Las Vegas Sun, Emily Richmond)

Link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug/15/here-teach-supply/

With the PolitickerNV.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of Nevada's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.