Vol. 3, No. 5
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January 1, 2006
Nevada's Online State News Journal
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CRIMINAL DEFENSE |
COPYWRITING
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The Buzz Around The Silver State
as compiled by our correspondents
The Capital (the silver one)
Canadian Prescription Drugs May Not Be In Nevadans' Cabinets
(Carson City) --- Attorney General George Chanos released an opinion concluding that Nevada law prohibits the importation of prescription drugs from Canada unless such drugs have been approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some members of the state Pharmacy Board have said they may ignore the opinion. Attorney General opinions are not binding but usually carry a considerable amount of weight.
Chanos drafted the opinion in response to a request from Larry L. Pinson, Executive Secretary to the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy. The opinion deals with Senate Bill 5 enacted during a special session of the 2005 Legislature. The bill was intended to authorize the licensing of certain Canadian pharmacies to provide only "FDA approved" drugs by mail to Nevada residents.
The questions being asked around the state deal with that FDA provision. Some say it was just a formality, but Chanos said it has deep meaning in law. Some question whether the legislature was being honest in its dealings with the public concerning passage of the bill.
Chanos said, "Unfortunately, the prohibition contained in SB 5, which prohibits the importation of prescription drugs that have not received FDA approval means that few, if any drugs sold from Canadian pharmacies can be legally imported into Nevada."
During testimony and hearings in the legislature, Senator Joe Heck said, "an FDA approved drug is not a drug the FDA has approved in general that is now made by someone else. It has to be the specific drug approved by the FDA, which includes where it was made, how it was made, and how it was stored."
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Storey County
Visitors' Center And Trains, Virginia City Activities
(Virginia City) --- While dignitaries are gathering in Carson City to hail the progress of the recreation of the Virginia and Truckee Railway, dignitaries in Virginia City are hailing the opening of the Comstock History Center. The two hailings have very much in common. The V&T Engine #18 sits in front of the new History Center, and soon the line will be active between Carson City and the Comstock, with a passenger and freight depot right alongside the Center. Engine #18 is known as the Dayton.
The Center is at the corner of Union and E Streets, just down the hill a piece from the Bucket of Blood Saloon and will house the Comstock Historic District Commission offices as well as a reference library that can be accessed by the public.
V&T rails now extend from Virginia City, through Gold Hill, across the Overman Pit, now filled in, and well into American Flats. Work on a tunnel that will allow the line to descend into Mound House is underway at this time. From Mound House the line will cross Highway 50 and descend into the Carson River Canyon coming out at Empire where a major train station is to be built.
Because of the resurrection of the historic rail line, it is expected that at least one and maybe two new hotels will be built in the next few years in Virginia City. Many who live on the flanks of Sun Mountain expect restaurants and nightlife to come back to life in the Queen City of the Comstock with the opening of the railroad.
The line carried gold and silver ore from the Comstock mines to mills along the Carson River as well as passengers and freight. The V&TRR ran from Virginia City to Carson City originally and then was extended north to Reno to connect with the newly completed Central Pacific. There was also an extension south to Gardnerville/Minden.
The V&T was a short line and it had a connection at Mound House with the Carson and Colorado Railway (C&C RR), a narrow gauge line. Freight and passengers had to be transferred between the lines since the engines and railcars were not compatible on the same rails.
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White Pine County
The Polar Express Ran Full
(Ely) --- The word from Mark Bassett in Ely is, the last Polar Express train of the 2005 Christmas season was full. Bassett, Nevada Northern Railway Museum Director said there were 1500 passengers in all that rode the Polar Express this season. Nevada Northern trains run full tourist schedules and will soon be doing double duty hauling freight as well as passengers on extended runs to Elko with direct connections to the intercontinental Union Pacific Railroad.
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Wildhorse Roundup To Begin Near Ely According To BLM
(Ely) --- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) will begin their annual roundup of wild horses in what's called the Monte Cristo Complex in White Pine County. Part of the roundup may take place in the northwest portions of Nye County as well.
BLM officials are looking to gather as many 840 animals in a 20-day period beginning January 6. Horses in Monte Cristo, Sand Springs East and West, and in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest will be gathered. There is an overpopulation of wild horses in the area that could constitute a danger to wild life and their ability to find food.
Federal officials anticipate most of the horses will be brought to the National Wild Horse and Burro Center in Palomino Valley north of Sparks. Many will be put up for adoption depending on their health. There is a wild horse web site, http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov to find out more information, but BLM officials refuse to put the Nevada BLM web site back into operation.
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Esmeralda County
Goldfield Respectably Historic
(Goldfield) --- Following the Tonopah excitements near the turn of the 20th Century gold was discovered just a few miles south of that Nye County town, and the area became Goldfield. At one time, early in the 20th Century the little town was the largest in the Silver State.
Several large gold mining operations brought millions of dollars to the town. At one point the President of the US of A had to call out the troops to put down a labor rebellion. Boxing matches such as the one between Gans and Nelson put the city on the world map. Tex Rickard who went on to develop Northern Saloons lived in Goldfield. He made his name in the Alaska gold rush.
Goldfield is on the State Register of Historic Places and is worthy of a trip anytime. Maybe a bit chilly in the winter, maybe a bit warm in the summer, the people are always warm and welcoming. Goldfield sits on Nevada's main north-south highway, Highway 95, about 25 miles south of Tonopah. That puts it about half way between Las Vegas and Reno.
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