Each week we’ll be providing you with insight into the best (and worst) baseball players to play in your fantasy baseball league.

As I turn in this week’s column, I own a three strikeout lead on my opponent in my one head-to-head league, and he still has Jonny Venters in the Sunday Night game. If I don’t turn in a column next week, it’s because the suspense has killed me.

5 UP

1. Norichika Aoki, OF, MIL: Aoki has moved into an everyday role in right field for Milwaukee, forcing their hand with his performance so far this season. Another 2-for-4 day Sunday raises his average to .313 with decent doubles power and a healthy 8.4% walk rate. He has 11 runs in 95 plate appearances and that rate should skyrocket with regular plate appearances in front of Ryan Braun. He won’t provide much in RBI or HR, and he only has one stolen base, but it can be extremely hard to find high-average guys at this point in the season and Aoki could be one.

2. Tom Wilhelmsen, RP, SEA: With Brandon League out as closer in Seattle, the Mariners are going to a committee. Expect Wilhelmsen to come out on top. The 28-year-old righty has 30 strikeouts in just 24.1 innings and is the best righty in the Mariners’ pen at this time. Don’t be fooled by his 4.44 ERA – a 3.24 FIP suggests that number will come down, and with a hot start he could entrench himself as Seattle’s closer.

3. Colby Rasmus, OF, TOR: Rasmus scorched the ball this week, going 10-for-28 (.357) with two homers, two steals and five RBI. The main scourge behind his .227/.298/.411 line remains a .260 BABIP. Owners who pick him up now likely won’t have to deal with that and can reap the benefits of hitter-friendly Rogers Centre as he heats up. He could be a sneakily cheap source of both power and steals.

4. Adam Wainwright, SP, STL: Wainwright followed up a shutout gem earlier in the week with a six inning, one run start Sunday against the Phillies, giving him just one run allowed in his last 15 innings. It’s time to buy on Wainwright. He’s seen his velocity tick up, particularly on his cutter, and that could indicate he’s returning to the form which had him competing for Cy Youngs in the latter part of the last decade.

5. Matt Moore, SP, TB: Moore’s 7 IP, 10 K, 2 ER start against the White Sox on Memorial Day was overshadowed by Chris Sale’s gem (and understandably so). But let’s not lose sight of the future ace — he now has four straight starts with at least six strikeouts and has allowed no more than three earned runs in each. He has a 30:10 K:BB ratio in those four starts (covering 22 innings) and looks like he might be turning a corner. Don’t get left behind.

5 DOWN

1. Derek Lowe, SP, CLE: Lowe was beat up in two starts this week, allowing 10 runs on 16 hits in 8.1 innings. Lowe struck out just five batters and has a swinging strike rate of just 4.6% on his career. What we saw last week is just what happens when a pitcher gives up as much contact as Lowe does – he allowed 16 hits, including a homer, and even his pristine control (just one walk) doesn’t always help with major league hitters in the batter’s box.

2. Michael Young, INF, TEX: Young has struggled mightily to open 2012, and another down week (.222/.236/.278 in 55 PA) has his overall line down to .282/.305/.379. His power is almost completely gone; he has just a .097 ISO, and at 36 there doesn’t seem to be much reason to believe it will come back. Young always seems to have fans somewhere, so a reasonable return could probably be had here, too.

3. Derek Jeter, SS, NYY: The Jeter cool-down has begun. The Captain is hitting just .250 in his last two weeks (12 games, 54 PA) despite a BABIP of .297 in that span. He’s certainly not worth giving up on – he’s probably a .280-.290 hitter with a very good run total at the end of the season – but if you can capitalize on his .338/.380/.465 start, do so and do so quickly.

4. Matt Capps, RP, MIN: Capps finally blew his first save of the season Sunday, giving up a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera to lose the game for the Twins. The problem with Capps is that he just doesn’t miss bats any more – he has just a 4.5 K/9 and in many ways is the relief pitcher version of Lowe. He’s had exceptional control thus far, walking just one batter all year, but if he does lose track of the strike zone, it could fall apart very quickly in Minnesota for Capps.

5. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF, NYM: Nieuwenhuis was a darling early in the season as he put up a .325 average in April. May has not been so kind. The 25-year-old has just a .261 average in May, and he may not even sustain that going forward. He was 0-for-4 with a strikeout Sunday, his 53rd of the year in just 47 games. It’s almost impossible to maintain any sort of a reasonable batting average with a 30% strikeout rate or higher, and Nieuwenheis is now at 30.5% on the year. Expect him to be closer to .250 than his current .288 for the rest of the season.

Jack Moore is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in Mathematics and Economics. His work can also be found at FanGraphs.com, DisciplesOfUecker.com, RotoWire.com, AdvancedNFLStats.com and ESPN. Follow him on twitter at @jh_moore.

(credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Memorial Day weekend is famous for its racing. The Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 are American traditions and winning one of these two are high on a driver’s wish list.

Danica Patrick never won the Indy 500 before leaving IndyCar full time and it was highly unlikely she would win the Coke 600 on her first try. But Patrick made her weekend even more difficult by running in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Making her debut at Charlotte had more eyes on her than usual, being the first woman since 1976 to do so (Janet Guthrie). But Patrick didn’t feel the pressure.

“I feel like I’ve got a good distance preview with Darlington being 500 (miles), what’s another hundred after that right? I am excited,” Patrick said. “I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to race in both of them because of GoDaddy.com and because of Stewart-Haas willing to put me in these 10 races this year. I will be running back and forth but it’s nothing other driver’s haven’t done before.”

Unfortunately, Patrick’s debut did not go well. She was 28th in the first two practices and 24th in the final practice. Qualifying was even worse. She was 43rd fastest of the 47 cars trying to make the field and only made the race because the No. 10 was in the top 35 of owner points.

The race started under the bright sun and Patrick, who started 40th, slowly made her way through the field, which isn’t hard to do when the back of the field is filled with start-and-park teams. By lap 50, she was already one lap down and got in the way of race-leader Marcos Ambrose.

Things got even worse from there, as she continued to go laps down (two laps down at lap 90, three laps down at lap 250, four laps down at lap 290) and got in the way of other drivers. Jeff Gordon was overheard on his scanner referring Patrick was getting in the way.

With 67 laps left, Patrick brushed the wall and had slight damage but continued the race, where she eventually finished five laps down in 30th place.

“We had a lot of green-flag running and for me as a driver in general in NASCAR, but especially as a new driver in the Cup Series, that hurts me. Those long runs hurt me,” Patrick said. “I’m just not great at making the best out of a car that’s not perfect and those long runs really show that. But that’s what you get in Cup. You get a lot of green flag running and I’ve got to learn how to deal with that. But that’s just the nature of where I’m at on the learning curve at this point in time.

“We brought the GoDaddy car home and one of the goals was to finish. I would have liked to have been a little faster overall, but I think there were some times in there when it was decent. It was kind of like Darlington (where) there was a certain run or two that felt really good and everything else, you just kind of like let’s work on this and let’s work on that.”

Kasey Kahne, making his 300th Sprint Cup series start, took the win for Hendrick Motorsports, earning Mr. H his 201st trophy. This marks Kahne’s third Coca-Cola 600.

In the HISTORY 300, Patrick had a much better race. She qualified third, after sitting on the provisional pole for a few runs. She finished 13th and on the lead lap. Cup series regular and past series champion Brad Keselowski won the race.

As far as not being at Indy, Patrick said she is happy in her decision to be in NASCAR (despite rumors there are plans to have her run “The Double” in the near future).

“I didn’t feel like I wanted to be there,” Patrick said of Indy. “I just had a lot of memories of what was going on. I’m very pleased that I’m in NASCAR. I’m very happy; I’m having a lot of fun.”

Patrick will not get behind the wheel of the No. 10 again until Bristol in August. Next week, the Nationwide Series heads to Dover.

Farrah Kaye is a NASCAR columnist for CBS Local Sports and is a member of the NMPA. Her previous articles have appeared on SPEEDtv.com, newsweek.com and she holds a degree in Journalism. Follow her on Twitter @Farrah_Kaye.

The 40-year-old goaltender, the team’s two big goal scorers and the new coach all have played major roles in getting the Devils back to the championship round just a year after they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

The guy who tends to get lost in all the talk is Travis Zajac.

This was almost a lost season for the Devils’ No. 1 center. He tore an Achilles tendon in August, had surgery the next day and tried to come back in December. He lasted eight games before calling it quits.

Over the next two months, there were times he thought his season was over as the injury and soreness wouldn’t go away. The 27-year-old continued his rehab and eventually came back in late March. It took him a couple of weeks to find his game but one can argue he has been the best player for the Devils in the postseason, which will start its final round on Wednesday as the Los Angeles Kings visit New Jersey.

“He is the type of player who does a lot of things well, from the faceoff to the forcechecking, taking the body,” Brodeur said. “He does a lot of little things. A lot of people who are not watching him and who only look at the stats, miss a lot. He is an effective player. He logs a lot of important minutes. That’s what you have to look at, and who he plays against every single shift, and that tells you a lot about them.”

His statistics aren’t shabby either. Zajac has seven goals — tied for the team high with Kovalchuk and Parise — and five assists. His 12 points are tied for eighth best in the postseason. He also played on New Jersey’s power play and kills off penalties averaging more than 20 minutes a game, third highest among the teams’ forwards.

Not bad for player who appeared in 15 regular-season games.

“Getting this far I’m sure it’s enjoyable for everyone but it really is for me,” Zajac said after the Devils practiced Monday for the first time since winning the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers on Friday night. “Playing this late in the season really makes me feel like I didn’t miss the whole season. It’s really a fun time to play hockey.”

Coming into this season, Zajac had been the Devils’ current iron man. He had played in 401 consecutive games for the team between 2006 and the end of the 2010-11 season only to get hurt working out at home before training camp.

If there has been a positive in terms of the injury, Zajac is fresh. While most of his teammates have played around 100 games, he has played in 33 and seemingly is rounding into midseason form.

Veteran forward Dainius Zubrus said Zajac’s return has been one of the keys to the Devils’ success.

Instead of gambling and making a deal for a top center at the trading deadline, general manager Lou Lamoriello stood pat and waited for Zajac to be ready.

“It took time, but the surprising thing for me is how well the guy can play after basically missing the whole year,” said Zubrus, who plays on Zajac’s right wing with Parise on the left. “He is playing top minutes, PP and PK, and all that stuff. You can’t get a player like that on deadline. When he got healthy it was a big addition.”

DeBoer said Zajac’s contributions are immeasurable.

“We wouldn’t be here without Travis,” said DeBoer, who was forced to use roughly 10 different centers this season in searching for replacement for Zajac. “The fact that we were able to fill … the hole he left is a credit to Patrik Elias, (Adam) Henrique and (Stephen) Gionta, and (others).”

“Looking back now in reflection, that was an awfully big hole,” DeBoer added.

In facing the Kings, the Devils will be taking on the NHL’s top team in the postseason. Los Angeles is 12-2 and it has barely been tested in knocking off the top three seeds in the Western Conference — Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix. In each series, Los Angeles won the first three games.

“They have big size up front, they check well and control the puck offensively, that’s been one of their strengths throughout the playoffs,” Zajac said. “They have some D-men who can make plays and jump up on offense.”

The Kings also play like the Devils. They roll four lines and have an outstanding goaltender in Jonathan Quick.

“There are similarities for sure, but every team at this point plays a similar style, they forecheck hard and the D keeps puck alive,” Zajac said. “I think every team that has been successful was similar structure.”

The Kings traveled on Monday to New Jersey. A media day for the teams is scheduled Tuesday.

Will Zajac and the Devils hoist the Cup? Make your prediction in the comments below!

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A North Las Vegas police sergeant and a neighbor are being credited with pulling a disabled man to safety from a burning house.

North Las Vegas fire Capt. Cedric Williams says the rescuers had to leave the man’s wheelchair behind while they carried him out of the smoky living room a little before 3:45 a.m. Tuesday.

The single-story wood frame house near Tropical Parkway and Lawrence Street was destroyed.

Williams says the man and his wife were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, but they weren’t hospitalized.

He says a smoke alarm awoke the woman, and she discovered flames in a back room.

It’s not clear yet what sparked the fire.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Yes, James and Wade are clicking — at the perfect time.

James scored 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Wade scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Heat beat the Boston Celtics 93-79 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. The stars were stars, and the role players more than did their parts as well, with the Heat enjoying a 48-33 edge in rebounds, blocking 11 shots and never trailing.

“One down. And they still have an opportunity in Game 2 to accomplish what they want to,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, referring to how Boston can still grab home-court advantage by winning Game 2. “At times it was a strange game. Some good runs, both teams. We felt we could have played better and I’m sure they felt the same thing.”

Shane Battier had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who wasted an early 11-point first-half lead, then gave up 35 second-quarter points before running away to break a halftime tie — getting going with a 9-2 run early in the third, that Wade-to-James touchdown pass part of the flurry.

“We didn’t play our best game,” James said. “And we want to just try to continue to get better throughout the series.”

Kevin Garnett had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Boston, which got 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from Rajon Rondo and 12 points from Paul Pierce. Ray Allen shot just 1 for 7 from the floor for Boston, which was outscored by 10 in the first quarter and 11 in the third.

“On the road, you can’t have two quarters of lulls,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Miami.

And while both sides would say there’s a long way to go in this series, Game 1 winners have a decided edge in any best-of-seven series, the conference final being no exception. In the 10 most recent postseasons, teams with 1-0 leads in conference finals have advanced 15 out of 20 times.

“They’re home, they’re comfortable and when you’re comfortable you do things like that,” Garnett said, suggesting Miami was showboating at times down the stretch. “We have to show them to take them out of their comfort zone. We’ve got to fight a lot harder.”

James had 13 points in the first quarter — two more than the entire Celtics roster — and Miami ran out to a 21-11 lead. Garnett made three of his four shots in the quarter, while everyone else in Boston green was 2 for 16 from the floor.

“I thought they were ready to play,” Rivers said. “I’m talking about Miami. I thought we kind of joined the game.”

Boston scored 35 in the second quarter, erasing what was an 11-point deficit early in the period by scoring 27 points in the final 8:46 of the half to pull into a 46-all tie. Rondo, Garnett and Pierce combined to score 23 points in the quarter, looking absolutely vintage, near-perfect offensive execution getting to Miami time and time again.

And the Celtics’ comeback happened even while they got hit with three technical fouls in the second quarter, plus Ray Allen missing four first-half free throws — matching his career-worst for an entire game.

“We may never see that again,” Rivers said.

In the end, it went down as merely a one-quarter lapse for Miami.

Another technical foul, this one on Rondo, came in the third quarter, likely born from frustration as the Heat started to roll again.

With the game tied at 50, Rondo missed three shots in a 31-second span early in the third, the last of those getting blocked by Battier — who hit a 3-pointer 11 seconds later. That’s when Miami got going, and by the end of the third, the Heat lead was 72-61.

“I think we believe we can beat them,” Pierce said. “It’s all about making adjustments. LeBron and Wade are great players. We’ve got to do a better job of slowing them down. As a group we believe we can win this series.”

Rondo echoed Pierce’s thoughts.

“We kept fighting,” Rondo said. “It wasn’t pretty. We missed four or five layups, a bunch of free throws. That being said, we were tied at halftime but we just didn’t come out with the right mindset in the second half.”

Miami did and takes a 1-0 lead into Game 2 as its reward. But James said he knows Boston is far from done.

“I look at them as a top opponent, as a top contender and a competitive group … a championship-caliber team,” James said.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Gas prices fluctuate as the Summer driving season unofficially begins. In Las Vegas, prices range from $3.60 a gallon for regular unleaded to more than $4.25 for premium fuel.

Also, when using your debit or credit card expect to pay a few more cents per gallon at some gas stations. Clark County has most of the least expensive fuel in the state.

You can view how gas prices compare across Nevada at http://www.nevadagasprices.com/

He is starting the day in Craig, Colorado.  Hours later, he’ll greet voters in Las Vegas at Somers Furniture.

The next stop is Trump International Tower just off the Las Vegas Strip, where Romney will attend a fundraiser with Donald Trump. The minimum donation to attend is $2,500. Admission to a VIP reception costs $10,000.

Nevada and Colorado are important swing states that could decide who wins the White House in November. President Barack Obama has also been campaigning in those states.

This will be Romney’s first visit to Nevada since the state’s Feb. 4 GOP presidential caucus, a contest he easily won.

The “Review-Journal” reports city Councilman Bob Coffin will introduce a zoning ordinance at next week’s meeting, allowing the former Crazy Horse Too to remain a strip club.

It closed when former owner Rick Rizzolo agreed to a plea bargain that ended a federal racketeering investigation.  The U.S. Marshals Service seized the club, but couldn’t find a buyer and allowed its gaming and liquor licenses to expire.

American Principles in Action will launch a grass-roots campaignon Wednesday at the Latin Chamber of Commerce.  It advocates limited government, immigration reform and opposition to same-sex marriages.

A spokesman for the Nevada Democratic Party calls the effort “too little, too late.”

Latinos made up nearly 20% of Nevada voters in the 2010 mid-term elections.

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — A Southwest Airlines flight from Burbank to Las Vegas was aborted after an unusual noise was heard in the back of the plane during takeoff.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the aborted flight occurred Monday afternoon.

Airline spokesman Paul Flaningan says a loud noise was heard from one of the engines of the Boeing 737, so the pilot shut down that engine and returned to Bob Hope Airport.

Flaningan said the aircraft landed without incident.

He said mechanics were inspecting the plane to determine what happened. The 41 passengers on the flight have boarded another plane to Las Vegas.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

More than 700 players took part in the event’s first competition, which was limited to workers in the gaming industry.  It ended last night when Chiab Saechao took home nearly $71,000.

Sixty more bracelets will be handed out as the world’s richest poker tournament continues at the Rio hotel.

Authorities say officers identified a stolen vehicle and tried to stop it about 3 a.m. Monday when the driver fled.

Officials say the suspect stopped the vehicle in Liberty Park in Salt Lake City and jumped head-first into a pond there.

West Valley City police Lt. Dale Brophy says the man started yelling that he couldn’t swim.

Brophy says the man wasn’t cooperative with police when they approached him, and a police K-9 bit the suspect several times.

The man has been booked into jail on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle, evading arrest, fleeing on foot and driving on a denied license.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

“Not my son,” the 67-year-old Las Vegas woman recalls her mother saying.

But it was her son. After having volunteered for the Army at age 17, Raymond Bernal Jr. was killed in Vietnam on Nov. 30, 1966, two weeks before he was scheduled to return home.

Nearly 46 years later, Anita and her husband, Bernie Laguna, have discovered a new, high-tech way to preserve memories and soothe the old heartbreak they say is still fresh. They’ve customized an online profile for Raymond on Together We Served, a social network for current and former service members, with photos and details of his military career.

“Before we all pass on, we can recapture the stories and pass on the word,” Bernie Laguna said.

Together We Served was established in 2003 and is closed to those outside the military community. But the site’s latest initiative — launched late last year — allows the public to access the previously-private profiles of more than 100,000 people who have died in modern American wars.

Called the “Roll of Honor,” the site uses public military records to create basic profiles of the fallen. Family members can contact site administrators to claim and customize the information about their loved one for free.

“My hope is to try to capture the stories of as many veterans as we can before it’s too late,” said Together We Served founder Brian Foster.

Bernie Laguna never met his brother-in-law — he married Anita after Raymond’s death. But as a former Marine who trained at the same paratrooper school, he says he feels a spiritual connection to him and wanted to set up the tribute.

“Once you’re on there, you’re on there for posterity,” Bernie Laguna said.

The site is an online home for information that might seem out of place on other social networks.

“You’re talking about some serious events you can’t talk about (on Facebook),” Anita Laguna said.

For the Lagunas, it’s also a belated honor for veterans, like Raymond, who served and died in an unpopular war. Anita Laguna says she wants people to remember her 19-year-old brother as an accomplished saxophonist, “the glue that held the family together,” and someone who laid down his life for a higher cause.

“I think we’ve come to understand that all wars are ugly,” she said. “But you love this country enough to fight for it.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Songs, stories and prayers were offered for about an hour.  Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars placed wreaths and said words of tribute.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman recited part of the classic poem In Flanders Fields, which describes a field of poppies where lost soldiers lie.  The mayor held up a single paper poppy, a symbol widely recognized by earlier generations as a remembrance of the war dead.

Senator Dean Heller called for the sacrifices to be remembered not just today, but every day.

“Every time you pledge allegiance,” he said, “Every time you place your hand over your heart.”

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley told of a young woman who toasted her fallen fiancee each year, remembering the promise they made over champagne to get married when he returned from battle — he did not return.

KXNT’s Nathan Tannenbaum served as master of ceremonies.

The “Review-Journal” says District Judge Joanna Kishner will issue a ruling by this Friday, on whether “Onion” will be put to sleep for the April 27th attack that killed one-year-old Jeremiah Eskew-Shahan. An animal rights group has been fighting to save the dog.

The boy’s grandmother claims she was under duress when she signed the dog over to animal control officials.

The man, in his mid-20’s, was shot at least five times just after 8a.m. today at an apartment complex near Flamingo and Maryland Parkway.

The victim was taken to UMC where he’s undergone surgery. The suspect, also thought to be in his mid-20’s, is described as a black male who may have left the scene in a silver car.

Governor Brian Sandoval and Senator Harry Reid are among those attending today’s Memorial Day ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

Yesterday, a group of Vietnam veterans and Green Berets paid tribute to the fallen soldiers at the Boulder City burial site.  About 28,000 veterans have been buried at the cemetery since it opened in 1990.

Afterward, Romney will attend a fundraiser hosted by Donald Trump at the Trump International Tower. Newt Gingrich is also expected to attent.

Attendees will pay at least $2500 per person.  A VIP reception with the candidate costs $10,000.

The Donald endorsed Romney in February.

Secretary of State Ross Miller says it could be the “lowest primary turnout in memory.”

Registered voters can go to any of the 86 early voting sites through June 8th.  The primary is June 15th.

A list of early voting locations and more information can be found here.

Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs drives to the basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals during the 2012 NBA Playoffs on May 27, 2012 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. (credit: Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Trailing in the fourth quarter, Gregg Popovich snarled an order in the huddle that the NBA Coach of the Year punctuated with a sharp and angry sweep of his hand.

“I want some nasty!”

But truthfully, Popovich was already getting what he really wanted: the San Antonio Spurs finally in a game they might actually lose.

Popovich’s caught-on-camera “nasty” command in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals is likely coming soon to T-shirts, Internet memes and the lexicon of the NBA playoffs for the foreseeable future. But after beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 on Sunday night for their 19th win in a row — tying the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs — Popovich wasn’t flustered by the near-loss.

He was almost grateful for it.

“We wanted it about 15 games ago,” Popovich said. “At least I did.”

Manu Ginobili scored 26 points as the Spurs escaped a tantalizing near-upset for the young Thunder, who came closer than anyone to beating the Spurs for the first time in 46 days. But a nine-point lead didn’t last after the famously mercurial 63-year-old Popovich huddled his lagging team together in the fourth and told them to “get nasty.”

“I said that?” Popovich said afterward.

A nationally television audience heard it.

“The heat of the game, stuff comes up,” Popovich said. “So I talked to them about they’ve got to get a little bit uglier, get a little more nasty, play with more fiber and take it to these guys. Meaning you have to drive it, you have to shoot it.”

And when they did, the Thunder couldn’t keep up.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points. Russell Westbrook had 17, and insisted he was OK after taking a spill that was nasty in its own right — face first, bracing his fall with his hands and sitting under the basket for more than a minute while the entire Thunder bench walked across the court to check on their All-Star point guard.

“I shot good shots, made good passes,” Durant said. “Unfortunately, we lost.”

After being held to just 16 third-quarter points, San Antonio scored 39 in the fourth. Westbrook chalked it up to a defensive breakdown that “got out of hand” but it still left the Thunder in search of the road win they’ll need to in this series to reach the NBA finals for the first time since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2009.

Game 2 is Tuesday night.

“How it happened is irrelevant,” Thunder guard Derrick Fisher said of letting a lead slip away. “Whether we lose by 20 or lose by one, we lost.”

That’s something the Spurs haven’t been able to say since April 11. They joined the 2001 Lakers as the only other team to carry a winning streak this long in the playoffs — and that Los Angeles team did so on its way to a championship.

The Spurs matched the fourth-longest streak in NBA history, and with one more will become just the fourth team to surpass 20. Tim Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Tony Parker shook off a dismal start to finish with 18 points.

And of getting “nasty”?

“Pop’s always trying to motivate us,” Parker said.

But it was Ginobili who steered the Spurs to strike first in a highly anticipated matchup of the West’s top two teams for practically the entire regular season. In his first game against the Thunder this year — he was sidelined by injury in the three regular-season meetings — Ginobili put up a playoff high after sputtering through the first two series.

“It just happened,” Ginobili said. “I don’t know how exactly because I haven’t scored like this all season long, but it happened and I am very happy about it.”

On the other end, Oklahoma City’s own Big Three struggled to find its shot early before awakening in the second half. Durant, Westbrook and James Harden at one point through the second quarter were 5 of 21 — a typically ominous stat line for a trio that had been responsible for nearly 70 percent of Oklahoma City’s points through the playoffs so far.

The Thunder were ousted in the Western Conference finals a year ago and were in position for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs until being overtaken by the Spurs in the final month of the season. But it was a fittingly close opener for two franchises with so many similarities.

That includes Thunder general manager Sam Presti — the architect of the Thunder’s rapid turnaround from a 23-win season to consecutive Western Conference finals in just four years — getting his big break in the NBA as an intern in San Antonio.

And the Thunder didn’t even need their own Big Three to keep things close.

They leaned on none more so than Fisher, whose famous game-winner for the Lakers on this same court in the 2004 playoffs has made “0.4 seconds” a phrase that needs no further explanation to the Spurs. Eight years later, and the oldest player in this series at 37, Fisher already met his playoff average at halftime and finished with 13 points.

Gary Neal added 12 points and was the only other Spurs player in double figures.

Harden lost in the first round of his matchup with Ginobili, who’s also a lefty and a former Sixth Man of the Year winner. Harden finished with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting but started by missing nine of his first dozen shots.

Tipping off another conference finals couldn’t happen soon enough for Oklahoma City. With nothing to do but prepare for the Spurs all week — and be asked about the Spurs — the Thunder grew weary of questions about being perceived underdogs. About not having the same championship pedigree. About how they’ll possibly stop a team rolling through one of the 10 longest winning streaks in NBA history.

So repetitive were the questions that Durant, visibly annoyed, suggested earlier this week that someone instead ask how the Thunder are going “to come at” the Spurs. That didn’t stop Oklahoma City from facing more of the same at shootaround Sunday morning, when Thunder coach Scott Brooks tried quashing again the idea his team was somehow intimidated.

“They’re not going to be in awe. They’re going to have respect for them,” Brooks said. “We know we can beat them.”

They’ve still got to prove it.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
(2) Miami Heat vs. (4) Boston Celtics

The Celtics handled the Heat rather easily during the regular season going 3-1. The Heat won in the second game of the season while the Celtics took the latter three, but with one of those was a meaningless contest at the end of the season when playoff seeding had already been set. These two teams, more importantly, also met last year in the playoffs with the Heat easily winning 4-1. That was in the second-round, but LeBron James treated it almost as if he had already won the title claiming how much it meant to finally beat Boston. The Celtics had been his tormentor quelling his championship dreams while with the Cleveland Cavaliers previously in 2008 and 2010. This will be James’ fourth go-round in five years to face the Celtics. Also, in 2010, Dwyane Wade and the Heat were swept by the Celtics in the first round.

So the players all know one another very well. But one change, however, from last year’s series is that power forward Chris Bosh’s status is uncertain as he is healing from an abdominal strain suffered in Game 1 of the last series against the Indiana Pacers. He is participating in drills, but Game 1 may be a game-time decision. But even if he does play, his production may still not be optimal out the box. However, the Celtics’ upgrade from last year would have been second-year guard Avery Bradley, but he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the last series versus the Philadelphia 76ers. Bradley received more playing time in light of the sharp-shooting vet Ray Allen suffering through numerous injuries this season, but did bring a ray (no pun intended) of hope with hitting a few long strikes in Game 7 against the 76ers.

HEAT ADVANTAGES

One-Two Punch: The Heat has in James and Wade, perhaps, two of the top five players in the league. James capturing his third MVP award in the last four years makes it pretty clear that he is considered by most to be the best player in the game. Former 2006 Finals MVP, Wade, recaptured some of that glory with a dominating performance in the final three games versus the Pacers, especially the clinching game with 41 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. In last year’s playoff matchup against the Celtics, James averaged 28 ppg, 8 rpg, and 3.5 apg while Wade was even better with 30 ppg, 7 rpg, and 5 apg.

Team Bonding: The skinny and the scoop on the Heat has been that it liked to strut and preen when things are going well, but the first sign of adversity it would become stagnant like humidity. The Heat faced a mountain of pressure after losing Game 3 going down 2-1 to the Pacers. The situation was made worse with Wade openly and angrily reacting to head coach Erik Spoelstra’s critical comments during that blowout loss. In the past, that disharmony would negatively impact the team for a couple of games. However, this time, after trailing at halftime in Game 4, the Heat responded and pulled out a comeback win to tie the series. In Game 5, Udonis Haslem’s hard foul on Tyler Hansbrough following the same on Wade and little-used Heat reserve Dexter Pittman’s flying leap into Pacers’ Lance Stevenson, who gave James the choke sign for missed free throws, may have brought the team together. Haslem earned a one-game suspension and Pittman earned a four-game suspension, but perhaps it was worth it as it brought the team together.

Defense: The Heat, when focused, can play suffocating defense. Ranked fourth in the league during the regular season in points allowed, the heat defense is sparked by James and Wade patrolling the passing lane while Shane Battier playing tough on the ball defense, perhaps on Paul Pierce, to allow James to roam or play Rajon Rondo. With the perimeter on lock, big men Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem provide steady baseline protection and the ability to fan out to check Kevin Garnett if he’s hitting his jump shot.

X-Factor: The health of Bosh could turn the series. If he can’t play or is severely limited until Game 3, 4 or later, the Celtics will need to capitalize on a weakened foe. The Heat would likely have to remain a two-man show, unless point guard Mario Chalmers can find a steady shooting stroke. That remains the big question as the Heat, unlike the Celtics, have not consistently shown the ability to rally as a team as the C’s did when Pierce fouled out late in Game 7 against the 76ers.

CELTICS ADVANTAGES

Defense: Wait, you might say, didn’t you just rank defense as an advantage for the Heat. Yes, but the Celtics’ defense is that good The Celtics ranked second in the league during the regular season allowing just 89.2 points per game. In the playoffs, the defense has gotten even stingier allowing just 83.9 points per game; the best in the postseason. The Celtics do not have any player that is considered a great one-on-one defender but as a team they play together and with a purpose.

Mystique: In the past, teams have openly spoken of the ghosts that haunted the old Boston Garden. It’s been several years since the move to the new Garden, but for the franchise with the most titles, there seems to be a lingering effect. Calls seem to go their way, like the refs in their Atlanta Hawks series not giving the Hawks free throws and possession of the ball late in a tight game after a Celtics foul occurred while the ball was still out of bounds, as the rules clearly state.

Coaching: Head coach Doc Rivers, by way of leading the Celtics to a title in 2008 and another Finals appearance in 2010, has earned the respect of his players. He can squeeze out that extra ounce of effort that can be the difference between two evenly matched teams or make an inferior team rise above their physical limitations.

X-Factor: If Rajon Rondo can control the tempo and the game with his all-around point guard play that leads to triple doubles, the Celtics will be tough to handle.

Heat in 6

Martin Sumners is an NBA columnist for IamaGM.com. Find out more about Martin at sumsoul.com and follow him on Twitter @sumsoul.

Celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien is selling Elvis Presley’s original crypt to the highest bidder as part of his “Music Icons” auction later this month.

The tomb is located inside the granite and marble mausoleum at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn.

Presley was interred there alongside his mother, Gladys, after he died Aug. 16, 1977. Two months later, they were re-buried at his Graceland home. The original crypt has remained empty ever since.

Julien says the winning bid from the auction beginning June 23 will receive the crypt, opening and closing of the vault for burial, a memorialization inscription and use of a chapel for a committal service. Transportation and funeral home charges are not included.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Attorney Travis Barrick is representing David Roy Stilwell in the federal lawsuit, which claims officers from several agencies had no probable cause to stop him.  The suit alleges officers did not know about the federal standard for legal helmets.

Earlier this year, a federal judge tossed out a similar class-action suit by Barrick, claiming it was too vague.

Last year’s winner, Germany’s Pius Heinz, took home more than $8.7-million.

The WSOP ends its first phase July 16th, when nine players remain.  They will return to the Rio hotel for the championship round in October.

Authorities were called to the house at about 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, spokesman Robert Gibbs said. The death didn’t appear to be suspicious, he said.

Tapia won five championships in three weight classes, winning the WBA bantamweight title, the IBF and WBO junior bantamweight titles and the IBF featherweight belt.

He was regarded as the consummate underdog by his fans. The more trouble he found outside the ring — including several stints in jail — the more they rallied around him.

In a 1990s-era feud with fellow Albuquerque boxer and former world champion Danny Romero, Tapia’s fans anointed him with the slang Spanish title of “Burque’s Best.”

But his life was also marked by tragedy. He was orphaned at 8, his mother stabbed 26 times with a screwdriver and left to die.

In 2007, he was hospitalized after an apparent cocaine overdose. Several days later, his brother-in-law and his nephew were killed in car accident on their way to Albuquerque to see the ailing boxer.

Tapia was banned from boxing for 3 1/2 years in the early ’90s because of his cocaine addiction. But he knocked out Henry Martinez to win the WBO bantamweight title in 1994, and won four more championships over the next eight years.

He last fought in June, outpointing Mauricio Pastrana in an eight-round decision. He finished with a 59-5-2 record.

Gibbs said an autopsy will be performed in the next few days.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The issue surfaced at a public hearing last week in Carson City held by taxation department officials, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

The department said earlier this year it would begin imposing a sales tax on comped meals as of Feb. 15 and assess a 25 percent penalty as well as 9 percent annual interest on all taxes not paid by July 31.

The agency, however, is still trying to adopt regulations on how to collect the sales tax.

Attorney Josh Hicks, who represents casinos and retail interests, noted litigation over the sales tax on complimentary meals has been going on for a long time.

He said Boyd Gaming already has appealed one Nevada Tax Commission decision concerning the issue, and Harrah’s is likely to appeal another. The tax commission has denied Boyd Gaming a refund of $21 million and Caesars Entertainment a refund of $31 million.

Hicks urged the department to delay any decision until the Nevada Supreme Court rules on the matter. The case is still pending in district court.

But department officials say they’ll move forward with processing the regulations on how to collect the sales tax, and the issue will then be up to the tax commission.

The department said earlier this year it would begin imposing a sales tax on comped meals as of Feb. 15 and assess a 25 percent penalty as well as 9 percent annual interest on all taxes not paid by July 31. But the regulations are needed before that can happen.

The tax commission, at a June 25 meeting, is expected to consider the regulations and whether the statute of limitations applies to some of the back taxes.

The issue has dragged on for years and has huge consequences for state coffers and casino companies in particular, as well as other businesses such as restaurants and taverns that provide meals to employees.

In 2008, the Nevada Supreme Court, in a ruling favoring John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, struck down imposing a use tax on free meals but left unresolved the question of whether such meals are subject to sales tax.

Since then, casinos around the state have petitioned for refunds of those use taxes totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas poker dealers and casino employees are getting a chance to play in a prelude to the 43rd annual World Series of Poker.

Tournament officials say a $500 casino employees event begins at noon Sunday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. It’ll be followed at noon Monday by the start of the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament.

Tournament play continues to July 16, then pauses, before a final nine competitors meet in November.

Organizers say thousands of poker enthusiasts from 100 countries are expected to compete in the 61-event schedule. They’re after millions of dollars in prize money and World Series of Poker champion bracelets.

Pius Heinz, a 22-year-old from Germany, won the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em main event last year. He took home about $8.7 million.

The Celtics will open the third round of the NBA playoffs in Miami against the Heat on Monday night.
Rondo scored nine straight Boston points, helping the Celtics turn a three-point edge into a double-digit lead after Paul Pierce fouled out with 4:16 left in the game.

Andre Iguodala scored 18 points, and Elton Brand and Jrue Holiday had 15 apiece for the 76ers, who eliminated the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round but couldn’t do the same with the Celtics.
Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Ray Allen hit a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers after missing his first five attempts. Pierce had 15 points and nine rebounds before fouling out.

That’s when Rondo took over.

The point guard, rebounding from his worst performance of the playoffs in Game 6, scored on a baseline drive and followed it up with a long 2-pointer (originally scored a 3) with 2:47 left. Then he made a 3-pointer with a little more than 2 minutes left to make it a 10-pont game and, after Brand scored on a tip-in, Rondo went to the line as the crowd chanted “M-V-P! M-V-P!” and hit a pair of free throws to
leave Boston with an 80-70 lead with 1:44 left.

The Celtics will now face the actual NBA MVP — LeBron James — along with Dwyane Wade and the rest of the Heat. Miami advanced to the conference finals by eliminating the Indiana Pacers in six games.

Miami beat Boston in five games in the conference semifinals last year. In 2010, the Celtics eliminated the Heat in the first round and then knocked James and the Cavaliers out in the second — his final game with Cleveland before defecting to Miami.

Philadelphia had one last chance to cut the deficit with 100 seconds to play after Holiday made a 3-pointer to cut it to seven points. Pierce was left with nothing to do but cheerlead, waving his arms to encourage the crowd as Garnett went to the line with just under a minute left.

He made one of two, but Holiday lost the ball on the way to the basket and Rondo made a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left and then Allen, who had just three points to that point after missing his first 5 attempts from 3-point range, made a pair as the crowd chanted “Beat the Heat!”

Jodie Meeks’ 3-pointer rimmed out, the ball bounced to the floor and Rondo got his hands on it for his 10th rebound. He chucked it over his head into the frontcourt, where the Celtics dribbled down the 24-second clock.

Pierce picked up two fouls seven seconds apart with about 8 minutes to play, then his fifth with 5:16 left. Coach Doc Rivers left him in, and Pierce picked up No. 6 a minute later — a charging call against Thaddeus Young out by the free throw line;.

Boston got off to a fast start, taking a 10-2 lead thanks to four assists and two rebounds from Rondo in the first 3 minutes. The Sixers tied it before the end of the quarter, but the Celtics again pulled ahead and took a 41-33 lead into the half.

The lead grew to 11 before the Sixers scored seven straight points and then, trailing 53-45, they scored another seven in a row to cut the deficit to a point. Garnett made a high floater at the buzzer to give Boston a 55-52 lead at the end of three quarters.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities say two pedestrians from Alabama have been struck and killed by a car while crossing a street in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department says the crash happened at about 9:15 p.m. Saturday. Police say two 52-year-old Mobile residents were walking across the street in an area not designated as a crosswalk when they were hit by a 2008 Honda Accord.

The man and woman were pronounced dead at a hospital. Their names are being withheld until their relatives can be notified.

The 22-year-old driver stayed at the scene.

The crash is under investigation.

Dos Santos (15-1) picked apart the two-time ex-champion with superior boxing throughout the fight, eventually stunning Mir before finishing him with one last blow to the head. Dos Santos then wrapped himself in the Brazilian flag while celebrating his first fight since winning the title last fall.

Former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez stopped Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva late in the first round after administering a bloody beating that both thrilled and horrified fans at the MGM Grand Garden.

Roy Nelson, Stipe Miocic and Stefan Struve also won on a pay-per-view card topped with five heavyweight fights, a first in UFC history.

The building owner where Clifton’s Cafeteria is located told the Los Angeles Times that the lamp has probably generated more than $17,000 in electrical bills.

Andrew Meiran said the light, which softly illuminated a woodland scene, was found hidden behind a dusty partition at the restaurant known for its forest-inspired decor.

Meiran said the light was believed to be installed in 1935 in a nook in a basement bathroom. The nook was covered over in plastic and plywood when part of the restroom was partitioned off as a storage area.

For some reason, no one disconnected the electricity.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Fire officials in New Mexico said Saturday that the Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire has shrunk slightly to 82,000 acres but is still 0 percent contained because of weather conditions. The evacuation of Mogollon, a privately owned ghost town, was ordered due to extreme wind around the southwestern New Mexico fire. Four helicopters and more than 500 firefighters from around the state were on hand to fight the blaze but still had to contend with “extreme conditions.”

Cities, as far away as Albuquerque, remained under a health alert until Sunday afternoon due to smoke from the fire, which has spread across the state. State officials were warning residents during the Memorial Day weekend to limit outdoor activities, especially if smoke was visible.

The haze that blocked views of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque on Friday appeared to have decreased by early Saturday afternoon, but smoke continued to hang over parts of the city.

Meanwhile on Saturday, crews in Colorado battled a wildfire that has scorched more than 3,000 acres of rugged canyon land near the Colorado-Utah border. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Steve Segin said the fire started Friday afternoon and is burning in a remote area near Paradox. It is not threatening any structures, and no injuries have been reported.

Shannon Borders, a spokeswoman for The Bureau of Land Management, said sheriff’s deputies have evacuated the Buckeye Reservoir area, a popular recreation spot near the Utah border. The Rock Creek and Sinbad Valley areas also were evacuated.

In California, higher humidity and light winds were helping firefighters get ahead of a stubborn wildfire that has charred 4,100 acres of tinder-dry grass and brush in rural San Diego County.

The blaze near Shelter Valley was burning Saturday in steep, rocky terrain away from the town of Julian, said Thomas Shoots, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It was 30 percent contained.

No injuries or damage to structures were reported, and the fire was not moving toward any homes as it burned southeast on Saturday.

Authorities evacuated about 100 homes in the Shelter Valley area along Highway 78 in the early stages of the blaze, but evacuation orders were lifted late Thursday and residents were allowed to return, Schuler said.

Arizona fire officials said a cold front arriving over the state late Friday was providing additional relief to firefighters battling the Gladiator Fire, a blaze that has charred 16,000 acres and is now 40 percent contained. Electricity has been restored to some areas.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona officials say the state is suing the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission for state permit and Clean Water Act violations caused by allowing untreated industrial wastewater to cross the U.S. border from Mexico at Nogales.

The Nogales International reports that the lawsuit, filed Friday in Maricopa County Superior Court, alleges that the IBWC has failed to implement a program to keep industrial waste from entering domestic sewage, which has resulted in illegal levels of cadmium, cyanide and ammonia nitrogen entering Arizona.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality says it will ask the court to require that IBWC either implement a pretreatment program or install an industrial waste treatment system at the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant in Rio Rico.

An IBWC spokeswoman did not immediately return an email.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Even though Sanchez excelled in high school, she was in the country illegally, lacked a Social Security number and work permit, and didn’t qualify for financial aid. But she volunteered hundreds of hours and paid her way through college and graduate school with a dozen internships.

Now 24, Sanchez graduated last week from California State University, Fresno with a master’s degree in International Relations, a full-time job and no loans to repay. Using a gray area in federal law, she works as an independent contractor.

“For most undocumented students, you have to put yourself out there. You volunteer, you go beyond what regular students do,” Sanchez said. “That’s what connects us to opportunities. Now employers call me.”

With thousands of young adults who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children now holding college degrees, Sanchez and others are finding creative ways to get around the legal roadblocks and find a career. They are getting work experience, opening businesses and seeking professional licenses in their fields.

The Associated Press interviewed about two dozen such graduates across the country. Some, like many legal graduates, are struggling in a grim economy. But others do highly-skilled work, though not always in their professions. Many are “out” about their status despite the risk of deportation; a few asked not to be identified for fear it could cost them their jobs or alert immigration authorities.

“There’s a pool of talented young people who in their hearts believe they’re American, because they’re raised and educated here, speak fluent English and have a level of education that equals or surpasses that of average Americans,” said Roberto Gonzales, a University of Chicago sociology professor who has collected data on hundreds of such young adults. “Our colleges don’t teach them to be undocumented immigrants.”

The growth in young illegal immigrants with college degrees is spurred by demographics — children who crossed the border with their parents are coming of age — and by laws granting illegal immigrants in-state tuition, Gonzales said. Eleven years ago, California and Texas passed such laws, followed by a dozen other states.

No one knows how many illegal immigrants are enrolled in colleges or have graduated; schools don’t collect such data. But in 2010, an estimated 96,000 young adults without legal status held at least an associate’s degree or higher, according to a report from the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.

What motivated them, Sanchez said, was hope for the passage of federal legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for those who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and attended college.

But 11 years later, the DREAM Act — the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors measure — is in political gridlock.

Some graduates who are here illegally defer going into the workplace by getting another advanced degree, including the Ph.D., according to interviews. Others leave the country. Others work under the table in low wage jobs, still hoping for immigration reform.

But many, like Sanchez — who once dreamed of a career with the U.S. Department of State — are driven to find meaningful work without papers.

Although federal law prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, it does not require those who hire independent contractors to ask for proof of immigration status. As a result, the client who pays for services is not necessarily breaking the law even if the contractor isn’t authorized to work in the United States, said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a law professor at Cornell Law School.

And while self-employed illegal immigrants still violate immigration law, they may avoid additional grounds for deportation if they don’t present counterfeit documents, Yale-Loehr said.

Sanchez consults full-time for a Fresno-area education nonprofit, and teaches literacy and English at an adult school and a domestic violence shelter. But she lives with major frustration. Her parents, who have been crossing the border to work in the fields since the 1970′s, are legal residents and her oldest brother is a U.S. citizen through marriage, but it would take years for Sanchez to get a green card through them and pursue her dream of becoming a diplomat.

“I’m here, I have this education and all these aspirations,” she said. “I could do so much more, but I can’t.”

Other illegal immigrant graduates are pursuing professional licenses in fields such as law and nursing.

Courts in California and Florida are considering cases involving two law school graduates who passed their state bars to determine whether they should be allowed to get licenses to practice law in those states. Both graduates are illegally in this country after being brought here as children.

While such legal issues play out, Cesar Vargas — a CUNY School of Law graduate who entered the country illegally when he was 5 years old — passed the New York bar exam and opened a legislative lobbying firm, DRM Capitol Group LLC.

“I found out that I can do this and in a legal way,” Vargas, 28, said. He recruited several other so-called Dreamers and a U.S. citizen to work with him.

Though he once planned to be a prosecutor, he’s now contributing to congressional blogs and planning to open a Dreamers’ Chamber of Commerce.

“We’re creating businesses in media, web design and political campaigning,” he said. “It wasn’t by choice, but we’re challenging the anti-immigration rhetoric that all illegal immigrants steal Americans’ jobs. We’re creating jobs and we’re hiring U.S. citizens.”

Organizations and industry leaders have stepped up to help graduates without legal status start careers. The Dream Resource Center at UCLA places such graduates at job sites throughout the country via its national internship program called Dream Summer.

San Francisco-based Educators for Fair Consideration, or E4FC, connects graduates with lawyers and Silicon Valley leaders. Mentors such as Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, and Palm Pilot inventor Jeff Hawkins provide financial support, life and legal advice and networking clout.

One option they’re exploring is getting companies to sponsor graduates for H-1B visas, temporary employment visas for specialty occupations. It has been done in a few cases. But it’s risky; the young person has to leave the country and could be barred from returning for ten years.

“We’re really looking hard for solutions,” Hawkins said. “What else can these kids do? They are desperate. They want to work, they want to practice what they learned in college. What do you tell them? Become an undocumented housekeeper? They have advanced degrees.”

But critics say those degrees should not mean preferential treatment to legalization.

“They’re illegal immigrants, so being a college graduate doesn’t make any difference,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington group that advocates tighter immigration policies.

Despite such sentiments, many graduates have come out publicly about their status and formed a nationwide network through social media, marches and conferences.

Experts say a growing number, like Isabel Castillo of Harrisonburg, Va., who was 6 when she was smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico, have ecome politically active. Castillo, who couldn’t use her social work degree from Eastern Mennonite University, waited tables and volunteered with education and immigrant rights groups.

Now, she works full-time advocating for passage of the DREAM Act, leading local rallies, squaring off with Virginia politicians and running local political campaigns.

“I never thought I’d be doing this, it’s very political,” she said. “It wasn’t part of my interests in college. Now, people are calling me a future congresswoman.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The memory of missing the playoffs for first time since 1996 and the ghost of an 18-year-old wound were wiped out with a sweep of rookie Adam Henrique’s stick.

The New Jersey Devils are going back to the Stanley Cup finals, thanks to Henrique, a 40-year-old goaltender and a coach who’d never been to the postseason in the NHL.

How’s that for a turnaround?

Henrique scored off a wild scramble in front at 1:03 into overtime and the Devils defeated the rival New York Rangers, 3-2, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to advance to their first Stanley Cup finals since 2003.

“It means a lot,” Devils leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk said minutes after reaching the Cup finals for the first time. “It’s a great feeling. Last year was a tough one, but this year was totally different. We played well all year. The first round of the playoffs was a little tough but after that, I think we figured out our game and what it takes to win.”

After beating Florida, Philadelphia and their biggest rivals, the Rangers, only the Los Angeles Kings stand in the way of a fourth Cup for New Jersey.

The title round begins here Wednesday.

This series win came against the Devils’ most intense rival, and it was that much sweeter.

“That one was like Christmas,” said Henrique, who also scored the series winner in overtime as Devils’ first-round, Game 7 win over the Panthers.

It also was needed. The Devils blew a 2-0 first-period lead and didn’t want to head back to New York for a Game 7 on Sunday.

“It didn’t matter how it got to overtime, we were in a good position,” Devils captain Zach Parise said. “We were at home. We just needed one shot.”

Actually, the Devils needed four shots to win the game.

Henrique’s winner came after Henrik Lundqvist stopped Kovalchuk twice and Alexei Ponikarovsky. The last shot lay in the crease and Henrique tapped it home.

“We caught them on a line change and their defensemen were tired,” said Devils coach Peter DeBoer, who was fired by Florida after missing the playoffs in his three seasons. “We found a way to jam one in. That’s the only way you’re going to score on Lundqvist. You’re not going to get a clean one. You’re going to have to work for it around the net.

“And that’s what we did.”

Ryan Carter and Kovalchuk also scored for the Devils, whose biggest move this year was hiring DeBoer. He has more than proved his coaching ability.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan tallied for top-seeded New York, which had a good flurry just before New Jersey scored to end it.

Henrique, who is nominated for the Calder Trophy — given to the NHL’s top rookie — skated away from the crease and jumped against the end boards in the corner as his teammates hopped off the bench and mobbed him.

The six Rangers on the ice just stayed down in disbelief and frustration. This was very much like Game 5, which the Devils won 5-3. New York carried the play after the first period and had a 35-29 edge in shots.

But when it came time for a game-deciding play to be made, it was a Devil who made it.

“When they scored, it was such an empty feeling,” said Lundqvist, who said the puck took a weird bounce on the final play. “It is shocking.”

Henrique overcame injury to score this one. He seemed to take a stick from Brian Boyle in the groin area late in the third and had to leave the ice.

He felt no pain after the game winner.

All the Rangers could do was bow their heads and then line up for the traditional handshake after losing to their cross-rival rivals in a series that was close.

“That’s playoff hockey, and that’s usually where you get an overtime goal,” Rangers veteran Brandon Prust said. “Just whacking away in front of the net, getting rebounds.”

Martin Brodeur, 40, kept the Devils alive in the third. He stopped a power-play shot by Brad Richards, made a save on Artem Anisimov between the circles and used his stick to deflect a pass from the boards by Carl Hagelin in the final minute just before it got to Marian Gaborik on the edge of the crease.

“You could tell he was in the zone. He led us,” Parise said. “He made some big saves tonight.”

Lundqvist’s best stop in the third was on Dainius Zubrus on a shot from behind the circles.

Facing elimination and down 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Rangers found their game in the second period and tied the game at 2-all on goals by Fedotenko and Callahan in a roughly four-minute span.

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who assisted on both goals, made the big play to get New York back in the game. He collected the puck above the left circle, skated around the net and tried a wrap around. The shot didn’t go on goal but it turned out to be a perfect pass to Fedotenko who a tap-in into an open net at 9:47.

Callahan, who had a New York goal go off his leg in the Devils’ 5-3 win on Wednesday, tied the game at 13:41 when Dan Girardi’s shot from the right point deflected off his leg into the open lower corner of the net. Callahan’s sixth of the postseason was set up when Brandon Dubinsky won a faceoff in the left circle.

Carter, who scored the game winner in New York on Wednesday night after the Devils blew a 3-0 lead, put New Jersey ahead again at 10:05 of the opening period.

The play started with a bad pinch at the point by Rangers defenseman Marc Staal. Steve Bernier led a 3-on-1 and found Stephen Gionta coming down the middle for a solo chance against Lundqvist. The Rangers goaltender stopped the shot, but Carter swatted the rebound home for his fourth of the playoffs.

Kovalchuk’s seventh goal of the postseason and fifth on the power play was a thing of beauty. All five Devils skaters touched the puck with tape-to-tape passes with Zubrus finding Kovalchuk alone low in the left circle for a shot that Lundqvist had little chance to stop.

The Devils — as is the tradition for many Cup finalists — did not touch the Prince of Wales Trophy that was presented at center ice. As the team skated off to their locker room, “Glory Days,” the 1984 hit from New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen serenaded them.

The game was played on the 18-year anniversary of the Rangers’ dramatic, 4-2, Game 6 victory over New Jersey at the Meadowlands, a victory that pushed that classic Eastern Conference final series to a Game 7 and eventually led New York to its first Stanley Cup in 54 years. That game, of course, was preceded by a guarantee from Rangers captain Mark Messier, who delivered three goals en route to the victory.

This time, though, there will be no Game 7.

NOTES: The Empire State Building’s tower lights were lit in red and blue on Friday to cheer on the Rangers. … Mogul and TV personality Donald Trump was at the game. … Devils C Travis Zajac left the ice briefly in the second after being slashed on the left hand by Prust. No penalty was called. … New Jersey is 4-1 in overtime in the postseason. New York finished 2-3 after regulation.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Early voting runs through June 8 and Secretary of State Ross Miller is projecting a 15 percent to 20 percent turnout for the primary.

In Nevada’s U.S. Senate race, GOP Sen. Dean Heller is expected to easily defeat four Republican challengers to advance to November.

Likewise, Rep. Shelley Berkley, a seven-term congresswoman from Las Vegas, is expected to easily win over four other Democrats to set up a high-stakes face-off against Heller in the fall that could determine control of the Senate.

© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Washoe County Republican Party Chairman David Buell says he filed a federal ethics complaint on Friday against Berkley and the Nevada Democratic Party for coordinating on her U.S. Senate campaign.

Buell says Berkley is running against four little-known candidates in the Democratic primary, but Nevada Democrats are already spending money to help her.

Buell says federal law only allows political parties to coordinate with their official nominee.

But a Democratic spokesman says it is legal for the party and Berkley to work together.

Berkley is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee after the Nevada GOP filed a complaint alleging that she used her office to help her husband’s business.

She is challenging Republican Sen. Dean Heller.

“There’s no other way to put it,” said Cedar City police Lt. Darin Adams. “I really hate to think of what would have been. We may have been getting calls today that the bus had crashed and students were dead or injured.”

About 100 students from Canyon View High School in southern Utah had just graduated Thursday night and boarded the charter bus for their senior trip, Adams said.

Parents and faculty members had asked police to bring a K-9 to the scene before the bus departed to check students’ bags for drugs.

Officer Isaac Askeroth boarded the bus with his dog and another officer and immediately noticed driver Brandon Gillman, 30, of South Jordan, seemed suspicious, Adams said.

He was fidgety, began removing items from his backpack and stuffing them in his pockets as he tried to wander off the bus, he said.

“They saw some things that didn’t add up and their instincts kicked in,” Adams added.

The dog immediately alerted on the driver’s bag.

Adams said the officer then found prescription pills, drug paraphernalia and what is believed to be cocaine in the backpack.

Gillman then failed a field sobriety test and was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving under the influence, Adams said.

“This is a great day because we averted a tragedy,” Canyon View High School Principal Richard Nielsen told the Deseret News. “In my mind, there’s a strong likelihood that we (would be) having a mass memorial service instead of celebrating the accomplishments of these kids.”

No telephone number was listed for Gillman, who remained jailed Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney.

Richard Maben, president of the charter bus company Utah Trailways, said Gillman started work in March and was a model employee. Maben said he passed drug tests and an extensive screening process, including a background check “with flying colors.”

“In fact, he was one of our most complimented drivers. He was doing an excellent job,” Maben said. “If this is true, I would certainly be shocked.”

The students got on their way to Disneyland about an hour later with a new bus driver.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The U.S. Drought Monitor puts 11 counties in the category of severe drought and the other six in moderate drought. The moderate zone is mostly in the middle of the state.

Nevada’s Drought Response Committee says those six counties are under a Stage 1 Drought Watch — Carson, Douglas, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral and Nye.

The more serious State 2 Drought Alert is in effect for the others: Churchill, Clark, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon, Pershing, Storey, Washoe and White Pine counties.

If any counties move into Stage 3 Emergency Drought, the panel will advise the governor on whether to declare an emergency and seek federal assistance.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.