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Nevada's Online State News Journal
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December 2004-June 2005; July-September 2005; October-December 2005; January-March 2006; June 2006; July 2006; August 2006; September 2006; October 2006; November 2006; December 2006; January 2007; February 2007; March 2007; April 2007; May 2007; June 2007; July 2007; August 2007; September 2007; October 2007; November 2007; December 2007
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April 1, 2006
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[9:50 AM]
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"Titus catalogued 14 instances in which Gibson took a contribution from a corporation shortly before it had business before the Henderson City Council. In each case, Gibson voted in favor of what the corporation wanted, in actions that included sales of city lands, zoning changes, development approvals and appointments."
"Secretary of State Dean Heller says he wants more than $1 million returned from a company that failed to produce a new voter registration system to comply with federal law."
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"Assuage your guilt by not paying attention to the grimy little details of taking cash. Adopt a 'don't ask, don't tell' approach to payoffs, taking money without asking what you might be expected to do in return. And delude yourself into thinking you are working just as hard for the guys paying you hundreds of thousands of dollars as you are for the little people."
"In November 2000, the city's Ethics Review Board found that McDonald had worked actively to thwart a strip club from going up near the Crazy Horse Too on property owned by political consultant Sig Rogich. The board also determined that McDonald had acted improperly by trying to get the city to buy a financially struggling sportspark owned by his former boss, Larry Scheffler."
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"Metro Police's Internal Affairs detail is investigating three officers for allegedly violating Metro policy by helping out family or friends in custody-related disputes while on the job."
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Clark County School District
"District officials deserve credit for implementing programs designed to ensure more students acquire the rudimentary skills necessary to pass the test. The next question, then: Why do many who pass the test still need remedial math and English after they enroll in college?"
Washoe County School District
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"The company wants to increase Spring Creek’s water rates by up to 58 percent and sewer rates by 4,175 percent."
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"The consortium consists of 96 universities in 29 states, including the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; the University of Nevada, Reno; and the Nevada-based Desert Research Institute. The group manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, a Department of Energy facility."
"Spray-on metal coatings that could resist corrosion for half the cost of expensive alloys. Timesaving electron beam welding that could seal canisters in a single pass. Longer lasting disc blades that might be able to cut through 2,000 feet of rock before wearing out."
Demonstrations Continue
Illegal Immigrants
"Nearly 10 percent of Nevada's laborers are unauthorized workers - the second-highest ranking in the nation - according to a survey by a national research center."
Opinion
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[10:50 AM]
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Immigration Reform And The 2006 Congressional Races
"With the country's focus squarely on immigration this close to Election Day, Muth, the Republican strategist, said it's an issue that could stand between victory and defeat at the polls. 'This issue does resonate with an awful lot of voters,' he said. 'It is very much the kind of issue that could tip the balance of an election.'"
"Every student with unexcused absences should be suspended and required to wait in line -- with their parents -- to discuss their priorities with school officials. If the school district doesn't do something right now to discourage disruptive walkouts, how frequently will they occur when Congress actually makes progress on reform legislation?"
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Angle Property Tax Restraint Initiative
Angle Property Tax Restraint Initiative
The Problem With The Present Law
"'In the past 10 years, the 10 years I've been in Washington, state government right here grew by approximately 100.5 percent,' Gibbons said."
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"All politicians, like most people, have two sides: the public and the private. It's hard to believe Kenny has been the only one in Southern Nevada so expertly using a populist public persona to mask a darker avaricious side. She can't be the only one with the chutzpah to talk publicly about being ethically pristine, yet privately be anything but.
But who are they? Who else among the elected elite is so remarkably effective at getting what he wants, so ready with the quote to charm an eager public, and yet privately cares only about the greedy pursuit of self-aggrandizement?
I wonder."
"Anyone who watches bills make their way through the Legislature or sees developers get their way time and again before local elected boards has to wonder these days how many other Kennys are out there.
Imagine what wiretaps on the 63 legislators might reveal, beyond the acceptance of Rolling Stones tickets and discounts on cruises.
Imagine if someone could intercept the real banking records of county commissioners who can afford to build mansions on their $50,000-a-year job.
What if someone with a badge could poke through the pulpy juice of real estate deals numerous elected officials make?"
"Re-zoning prime parcel for a CVS or other similar store: $200,000 in untraceable cash. Making sure county ordinances allow lap dances in strip clubs? $30,000. Approving a neighborhood casino? $3,000 per month, for years."
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$3.33 For Regular Unleaded Gas
"Although I've never been one to air dirty laundry and I do not usually openly criticize the actions of judges, in this instance the actions of persons sitting on the bench on Pahrump Justice Court must be brought to light."
"This weekend 6,000 runners representing law enforcement agencies from the U.S., England, Germany, Australia and Canada are expected to participate in 22nd annual Baker to Vegas Challenge."
Incline Lake
Child Abuse
Firefighting Grant
"We believe the city taxpayers are being asked to subsidize the county sheriff's office. Our elected city officials are not being allowed to determine the level of city law enforcement."
"The City of Ely thinks it holds all the cards in service agreement negotiations with White Pine County."
"A court decision last Thursday obligates Ely Mayor George Chachas to pay the city $4,943. And it could put an early end to his term as mayor."
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[10:30 AM]
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The Franking Privilege
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"Churchill County has gained a reputation as conservative regarding expenses and property tax increases, Goetsch said. The county's intent, through impact fees, has been for to shoulder the burden for more services upon residents moving to the area and building new homes, he said. However, a property tax increase is still possible."
"Despite projections that Big League Dreams will cost 40 percent more than the city expected when it unanimously approved the deal late last year, officials are pushing forward with plans to build the facility out at Freedom Park. 'There's no need to panic now,' Councilman Larry Brown said."
"The council is attempting to figure out next fiscal year’s $13.7 million general fund budget. The biggest headache for councilmen may be trying to find an additional $900,739 for the Elko Regional Airport."
"City leaders, businesses and residents uniformly agree the park has been a major success and a centerpiece for a promising turnaround in the downtown area."
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"Regional Gang Unit members are monitoring school-aged gang members who might use student walk-outs in support of immigration and Hispanic pride-related events as a platform for potential violence."
"Meanwhile, the debate and the demonstrations can be the centerpiece for a wide range of lessons, not the least of which includes the legislative process, the rule of law, citizenship, civic responsibility and the First Amendment."
"Alternative schools fill an important niche. It is clear that many need help to get off the ground and operate efficiently. Their failures should never be so extreme that a judge must decide whether they remain open. It is time for the Legislature to re-evaluate the charter system and determine how it can support the schools and keep the Halima fiasco from recurring."
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"A report recently released by the U.S. Geological Survey indicates that groundwater withdrawals from mining and agricultural uses has had minimal effects on the flow of the Humboldt River."
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"Sempra's move supports the notion that next to renewable solar, wind and geothermal sources, natural gas should be the industry's next best project."
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Las Vegas Chamber Of Commerce On Employing Illegal Immigrants
"The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce believes that the need for immigration reform is necessary in order to find a legal way for foreign workers to participate in the economy in a manner than enables the government to know who is in the country. An estimated 10-12 million unauthorized immigrants currently live in the United States, and provide roughly 5% of the labor force. Nevada alone has an estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants in the state, many of whom fill vital jobs such as construction, gaming, and hospitality."
"U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced Friday the agency is ready to finalize proposed updated grazing regulations, after answering critics and extra analysis of the proposed revisions."
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[6:15 PM]
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No Means Of Verification, No Criminal Penalties, No Enforcement
Bob Beers' April Fool Joke
Sparks Municipal Court
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"Gov. Kenny Guinn announced today the formation of a collaborative effort by multiple state and local government agencies designed to increase the ability to continue operating vital computer systems in the event of an emergency. The Nevada Shared Information Technologies Services project (NSITS) is one of the first of its kind in the nation, and could become a model for other projects across the United States."
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[10:00 AM]
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"Three weeks after their incumbent attorney general declared he wouldn't run in November's election, the state's Republicans still don't have a candidate for the post."
"Tiffany, who is running for a second state Senate term, has come under fire for allegations she used her position in the Legislature to gain advantages for her online auction business. Last month, the state Ethics Commission announced it would hold a hearing on the charges, which Tiffany has denied."
HAVA Debacle
In Nevada, It's Every County For Itself
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"Aside from that, corruption tends to warp economic growth, moving it away from the most productive and toward those who rig the game, said Emilio Viano, a professor at American University who studies the effects of corruption on societies.
'There is a cost to corruption. There, you had the violation of urban planning with consequences for housing, quality of life, neighborhoods. It undermines the quality of life by imposing a system to the advantage of a few people,' he said."
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"What it has done, they complain, is prevent people with legitimate claims from being fairly compensated while making it difficult for some to even pursue litigation. They also point out that malpractice insurance rates have yet to decrease."
"The difficulties the state is having in completing a network of radio relay towers could be putting Highway Patrol troopers in danger. And the blame seems to fall primarily on a bloated federal bureaucracy in which common sense has long been buried under mountains of regulations."
"Currently there are no legal requirements for local governments to have internal audits, and for a long time there was no such function in the City of Reno."
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"UNLV's Boyd School of Law found itself kicked off the U.S. News & World Report list of the top 100 law schools in the nation Monday."
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"This year's second-in-a-row wet winter has dealt a final blow to the five-year drought that had strained water supplies in the Truckee Meadows."
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[7:25 PM]
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“In order to expand our nuclear generating capacity, we need a safe, permanent, geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain. This proposed legislation will help provide stability, clarity, and predictability to the Yucca Mountain Project and will help lay a solid foundation for America’s future energy security.”
"The Bush administration wants to bury tens of thousands of tons more nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain dump in Nevada than now allowed - part of a package of new proposals meant to spur development of the controversial and long-delayed dump."
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Congressional District 3
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"Such bonds, according to the agenda summary for this item, don’t count against the county’s debt limit. The bondholders are limited to the value of the property in the event of a default."
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[9:50 AM]
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"Gibson cited seven cases in which Titus, his rival for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, took money from attorneys, a liquor distributor and a business services company either before or after she supported that group's interests in the Legislature."
"I have been saying for years that what the ex-commissioners are accused of is just a shade different from the legalized bribery that the campaign financing system has become. Whether or not Gibson, who has taken large amounts of money from developers who do business in Henderson, is an especially egregious violator will play out during the campaign."
"'I know, as a criminal prosecutor, that we must strengthen the laws,' Miller said at a news conference announcing the proposed changes. 'There is a lack of integrity in the process.'"
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"Prosecutors showed that Emily Herrera often paid Lamuraglia with checks, but Dario Herrera delivered cash through Kelvin Atkinson, who served as Herrera's community liaison at the county. Atkinson is now a state assemblyman."
"The prosecution wants jurors to read the state's ethics laws and understand the money Kincaid-Chauncey admitted receiving from Galardi and the money and other services Herrera enjoyed were at the very least gifts that should have been disclosed. For the record, they weren't."
"Galardi will be the second of the government's high-profile witnesses to take the stand this week in the political corruption trial of Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, the former Clark County commissioners accused of taking bribes from the strip club owner in exchange for favorable votes."
"This week, Municipal Judge Toy Gregory, District Judge Donald Mosley and District Judge Nancy Saitta received subpoenas to appear in court on dates that have not yet been finalized."
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"Prosecutors say the Nevada Supreme Court's ruling last week in the 2003 Laughlin motorcycle melee case 'changed 140 years of practice in the way we hold people accountable for crime.'"
Regas v. District Court (Nevada Supreme Court website - pdf format)
