Monthly archive

SUNDAY COLUMN: Nevada political predictions for 2014
Be skeptical of pundits bearing caveats. Having said that, here’s mine: Making predictions in January for an entire year, including an election in November, relies on a special combination of lunacy and arrogance. Luckily, I am special. So, once again, I begin the new year by putting on my oracle’s hat (yes, it looks like Johnny Carson’s Carnac cap) and foretell what is to come. Note, of course, that these predictions are subject to change (another sleazy pundit move) as circumstances do....
Lowden to address Senate debt with FEC filing
Lieutenant governor candidate Sue Lowden, dogged by questions about a $500,000 debt from her 2010 Senate campaign, plans to file a document next week with the Federal Election Commission indicating she is taking care of the obligations. “This issue will be behind us in the next few weeks,” Lowden told me. “I am looking forward to it being over later this month.” Lowden has hired an experienced FEC attorney to file the document, in contrast to her past disclosures, which were done by Bob Beers,...
Board will hold water vote again after open meeting concerns
I guess those Open Meeting Law questions on the vote to make John Entsminger the water czar weren't resolved. So the water district is having a do-over just to make sure. See the attached letter. I doubt Larry Brown will make a comeback, though.....
The Anointed One goes to Laughlin, says stuff
Shortly before Christmas, the peripatetic Mark Hutchison, the state senator whom Gov. Brian Sandoval has designated as his choice for lieutenant governor, went to Laughlin to share his views. In a speech to the Laughlin Economic Development Corporation, Hutchison touched on a wide variety of topics, according to this report that posted this week. Because only a small portion of the electorate reads the Laughlin Times, it needs wider circulation and cries out for annotation. And I am available...
John Lee makes me pull out the Kleenex
 
Mayor crushes pundit's dreams of scoring the BIG interview
North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee has hurt my feelings. I write this with Kleenex nearby, as I may burst into tears at any time. But I must sadly inform you, dear readers, that the mayor of Nevada’s near-bankrupt city will not come on my program. I am not angry. I am not surprised. I am devastated. So I write this not out of spite but to let you know Lee apparently is nurturing a grudge against lil ole me for, apparently, referring to him as a “backbencher” when he was in the Legislature (he was,...
Las Vegas journalism in flux (again)
My love/hate relationship with the two Las Vegas newspapers is not a secret. I worked for the Review-Journal and the Sun and have fond and distasteful memories of both. But I am more and more concerned about their future amid recent developments. I come not to snipe – as promised – but to report news of uncertainty afflicting both newsrooms. First, the Sun. Or is it (see photo) “The Sunday”? As first reported by Desert Companion’s Andrew Kiraly, a prototype for a new Sunday magazine is being...
Open Meeting Law questions cloud Entsminger vote, but AG gives thumbs up
The Southern Nevada Water Authority Las Vegas Valley Water District chose John Entsminger this morning to replace his boss, Pat Mulroy. That was expected. What wasn't expected was a kerfuffle about the Open Meeting Law, which threatened to derail the choice and perhaps put a previous water rate vote in jeopardy, too. But the attorney general's office apparently agreed with the water district's lawyer that the vote was valid, and he sent out a letter (see below) confirming the validity of the...
Five Things to Retire in 2014
New years are times for promises and hopes. But they are also a chance to leave in the past what should remain there, to shelve old things that have outgrown their usefulness, to let harmful habits recede in the rear view mirror. Hence, I begin what I hope will be an annual ritual of finding Things I Will Retire in the New Year. The five for 2014 (I’m sure others will suggest there are plenty more things I could discard): ►“Gov. Sunny” The point has been made. Gov. Brian Sandoval is...
AGA hires Obama campaign manager, others in New Year staffing up
Jim Messina, the man who helmed the Obama campaign, has been tapped by the American Gaming Association to push for online gaming, which AGA member Sheldon Adelson, who is not exactly the president's number one fan, opposes. Messina's consultant gig is part of a significant staff shakeup by Geoff Freeman, the gaming organization's boss who took over last year for Frank Fahrenkopf. Freeman also has brought in House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's former deputy, John Murray, as a consultant, too, so...

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