The Southern Nevada Water Authority’s request to add a new charge to water bills is drawing the attention of groups who say the agency’s mantra is shifting from “conserve” to “show us the money.”
Runners who became ill after the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and half marathon Sunday night continue to register their complaints on Facebook, but at least one runner is happy: She got her money back.
From the standpoint of sheer numbers, Sunday’s Zappos.com Las Vegas Rock ’n Roll Marathon was a huge success. The sold-out event drew some 44,000 racers who paid between $130 and $179 to run a half or full marathon, a portion of it on the Las Vegas Strip.
A planned indoor skateboard park that has raised neighborhood worries about gangs, traffic and other problems was approved Wednesday when the owner agreed to limit operating hours and gave up live or DJ music.
A former assemblyman, who hadn’t made a payment in two years on a fine for failing to file campaign finance reports, sent a $100 check to the state Monday.
County commissioners who are public employees can return to their public jobs immediately after serving in an elected position, according to a new ethics amendment approved today.
Next spring, water bills will rise to help pay the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s mounting debt used to fund some $3.3 billion in pumps, pipes and intakes installed over the past several years. The fee is needed because the old way of paying off water utility debt — connection fees paid by developers — has dried up in the recession.
Inside The Beat coffeehouse on Fremont Street, Tony Hsieh reviewed a calendar on his laptop computer. It listed eight people from startups visiting Las Vegas this week to decide whether to relocate here.
A column a few weeks ago about $1.9 million in interest found in a Clark County account prompted some fund-searching by the largest county employee union.
Strip casinos have in recent years perfected the pool party, a sun-drenched profit center that draws a crowd ready to flash some skin and cash. Their success hasn’t been lost on Las Vegas business operators who may not have gaming expertise, but know a thing or two about the skin-and-cash end of things.
With a national poll showing a majority of Americans are oblivious to the "Occupy" movement's objectives, Las Vegas organizers say they intend to embark on a recruitment campaign to get out more information.
Business licensing is still a problem in Clark County. More precisely, many people who set up shop do not pay for a required business license, costing the county millions of dollars. That point was made once again during the County Commission meeting last week, supported by some surprising dollar figures.
Reacting to stories that they are so in cahoots with police and authorities that they behave like little more than casino bellmen, 21 Occupy Las Vegas protesters sat in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard this morning intending to be cited.
Clark County commissioners will allow Bishop Gorman Development Corp., which built the private high school’s new $115 million campus, to issue county special-limited obligation bonds to refinance $25 million in debt.
If Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club boosts business at the strip joint, as the owners intend, expect other Las Vegas strip clubs to follow suit. And perhaps hotels, officials said today.
Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani claimed it wasn’t personal when she proposed a lobbying ban for commissioners that would affect only one member of the board — Tom Collins. And Collins said it wasn’t personal, either, when he asked to further amend the county’s ethics policy.
Casinos have transformed the Las Vegas nightclub scene by moving the party to the pool. Now, a strip club wants in on the action. The company operating Sapphire Gentleman’s Club seeks Clark County approval for an adults-only pool.
Back in June, some 40 degrees Fahrenheit ago, county commissioners swooned with excitement over the possibility of a Chinese solar power conglomerate investing $6 billion in solar arrays and industrial facilities near Laughlin.
As Zappos prepares to relocate to downtown Las Vegas, its growing list of investments in the area now includes more than $1 million to lure dedicated teachers to the area’s schools. Teach For America will receive $300,000 from the company and $1.2 million from CEO Tony Hsieh.
A seat on the Clark County Commission is a part-time job, with most of its members finding outside work to supplement salaries, which start at $74,000 a year. But one commissioner thinks the outside work shouldn’t include consulting, lobbying or representing anyone or anything with business before governmental bodies in Nevada.
During this recession, public employee unions have contended that Clark County has money hidden in accounts that only its top finance people are able to find.
Commission may put more police officers on the street
Friday, Nov. 4, 2011
A significantly larger police presence on the Strip might be the way to stem the rising tide of illegal peddlers, street performers, pushy handbillers and panhandlers on the state’s most valuable stretch of road, according to a group attempting to solve the problem. Casino executives, police and county staff began meeting months ago at the behest of County Commissioner Steve Sisolak after five deaths on the Strip over 11 days in June and July.
Former Rep. Dina Titus announced her candidacy for Congress this morning, saying she will seek a return to Washington by running against fellow Democrat and state Sen. Ruben Kihuen in the state’s 1st District.
The shuttered Sahara would reopen with a renovated casino floor and 1,622 hotel rooms, but minus its signature roller coaster, under plans unveiled on Wednesday. The plans, presented to the Clark County Commission, end speculation that owners of the 59-year-old building were going to implode it and start from scratch. Commissioners approved use permits to renovate the hotel’s interior, including the casino and 1,622 rooms. Plans also include demolition of the roller coaster.
Because of the poor economy, Clark County officials are seeing businesses that never considered county work bidding and doing everything else they can to get government contracts — for paving, construction, repair or whatever else the county needs.
The county’s elected commissioners rarely get through a meeting without harping about the need to adopt a more streamlined and fair process for awarding government contracts. But given the chance today to change it, most commissioners suddenly decided the old way was good enough.
Though speculation has been that he is on his way to a job working as lead attorney for the Police Protective Association. Chris Collins, PPA executive director, said no such deal is set but if Roger were available to work, Collins added, "we would be interested."
Mistakes from crime lab already cost agency $1.5 million
Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011
Two crime-lab miscues, including one that helped imprison an innocent man, are going to cost Metro Police more than the $1.5 million settlement already paid to the former inmate.
Occupiers and Metro are maintaining a delicate truce
Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011
These are the things you learn when you show up with a sleeping bag and spend the night at Occupy Las Vegas. The movement’s leaders and its faithful include real estate gurus, an ex-Texas madam, public relations experts, doctoral students and lawyers. They mix with barbacks, veterans, unemployed construction workers and the homeless.
Some say that the millions of dollars Clark County taxpayers pay to care for those without health insurance make a convincing argument in favor of “Obamacare” or some form of national health insurance.
Just 3 percent of Republic Services’ customers recycle their plastics, cans and paper, according to the trash hauler. But some Southern Nevadans — about 84,000 Republic customers — recycle at 10 times that rate. The difference? Whether they have to sort their recyclables.
Lost in the contract dispute between Clark County and the Service Employees International Union are real concerns that wages for the unionized nurses at University Medical Center are far below those of private hospitals.
The speed with which Occupy Las Vegas has organized and the anxiety it is creating as it seeks places to occupy and protest from now until the end of the 2012 general election came through clearly Tuesday. At the end of a seven-hour Clark County Commission meeting, four members of the group spoke during the public-comment period.
That tax revenues are down and money is tight in Clark County government is nothing new. But Clark County commissioners are these days looking so carefully at the bottom line that even a $50,000 expense drew heavy scrutiny and led to changes today.
From his condo on the 23rd floor of The Ogden in downtown Las Vegas, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is overseeing a takeover of the surrounding area with a mix of capitalism and philanthropy.
Ending its three-day run last Sunday, the county-sponsored Las Vegas Renaissance Fair held on the soccer fields of Sam Boyd Stadium Park was a hit. However, rainfall leading up to the event led to torn up sod that will cost the county to repair.
In a small space on the second floor of the Promenade Mall, across Maryland Parkway from UNLV, something unusual is happening this semester. Close as it is to campus, it would be ideal for study groups or research collaborations.
Two unions will see a decrease in wages under agreements that county commissioners will consider next week. Total savings from the two pacts comes to about $140,000.
Elected officials, government employees and onlookers were dismayed last week at word that Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins had been hired to consult on behalf of Veolia Transportation Services, one of the companies in a months-long battle to win a bus contract from the Regional Transportation Commission.
After union officials expressed disbelief at a county report finding the average wage increases for thousands of union members since 2008 had totaled 12.5 percent, county officials Friday had to agree.
About 70 county employees, all of them union members, in purple shirts and carrying signs marched on the sidewalk in front of the Government Center demanding a new contract.
Though Pat Mulroy's employment contract as the region's water czar has already been automatically renewed through 2014, the Las Vegas Valley Water District's board of directors wants to begin evaluating her performance to avoid potential legal issues.
For the first time in 20 years, the Las Vegas Valley Water District is going to put out to bid a lucrative legal contract. The district's board of directors agreed to put out a request for other attorneys interested in working on bond issues.
For the first time, Clark County will evaluate the job performance of Pat Mulroy, head of the Las Vegas Valley Water District, which county commissioners oversee.
The county’s largest public employees union is trying to turn up the heat on county administrators by urging their members to show up in force at today’s meeting of the Clark County Commission.
Compared with some of the massive legal settlements Clark County has paid out, $65,000 might seem like chump change. But this settlement, related to University Medical Center’s denying a physician privileges to practice at the hospital, could foreshadow bigger payouts.