Clark County has finished its investigation of the Monte Carlo fire. Its conclusion? That United Erectors was conducting a quick and dirty welding job that got out of hand, you might say. Union Erectors is keeping mum, probably on the of advice counsel, which would be the first bit of smarts the company has shown throughout this fiasco.

Much ink has been expended on whether the proper paperwork had been filed. But that's beside the point. Union Erectors was caught doing a sort of 'run and gun' welding job, one that's keeping a massive number of MGM Mirage employees out of work. (To its considerable credit, the company is keeping them on the payroll for at least 30 days; something that will displease Wall Street analysts but should earn MGM plaudits from everyone else.)

Amazingly, the county is still "considering" whether to file charges against Union Erectors. This should be a no-brainer: If United Erectors is not held to account (even though the penalties on the books are relatively puny), there's no reason to assume that the Monte Carlo scenario won't play out again. And again.

Good MGM, bad MGM. With one hand it keeps its Monte Carlo workforce afloat. With the other, it shuts down Mandalay Bay's The Reading Room. Why? So the space can be used to cater to a "younger, hipper" demographic, presumably with high-end retail indistinguishable from 1,001 other emporia along the Strip. Literacy bad! Baubles good!

One less reason to patronize Mandalay Bay; one more to anticipate Fontainbleau.

Engage ostrich mode! The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce is shown worrisome economic indicators, buries head in sand. I hear the boating on DeNile is lovely this time of year. This is the same crowd whose stance on taxes is basically, "Make the casinos pay, not us!" Way to show leadership, guys.

Out in Kansas City, our president has noticed "troubling signs" for the U.S. economy. Ya think? A shrewd man, this Bush.

Profiles in Cowardice. Time was when Sen. John Ensign, and Reps. Dean Heller and Jon Porter were only to happy to use Bush as a big-ass ATM card, advancing their own careers on the big man's coattails. Yesterday, they were nowhere to be seen. Porter slinks into town sometime today, presumably hoping to go unnoticed -- his whole political career in a nutshell.

At least Ensign has an excuse, being off crafting a legislative provision that "requires both parents to have valid Social Security numbers to collect the $300 rebate proposed for children, even if the child has his own valid Social Security card." Nice guy, huh?