Vol. 3, No. 12
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April 15, 2006
Nevada's Online State News Journal
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COPYWRITING
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The Buzz Around The Silver State
as compiled by our correspondents
Washoe County
Well Just Damn It All To Hell, Anyway
(Reno) --- April is National Poetry Month, a time for celebration if one is a poet, a time for enjoying the pleasures of the written word, a time for romantics to break out of their spheres of less than ostentatious prose, and let their imaginations and words flail through the atmosphere. Unless that is you happen to attend the Coral Academy of Science in Reno. There it seems poetry is something that needs to be controlled, censored if you will.
Jacob Behymer-Smith is a 14-year-old in the ninth grade at Coral and was well on his way to a national poetry reading competition. He had already won local and regional championships reading W.H. Auden's "The More Loving One." Oh, my. The poem contains the words damn and hell. And this would reflect so badly on that school. Oh, dear me. Which century are they located in?
Auden is often referred to as one of the finest poets of the 20th Century and for a 14-year-old to grasp his meaning, convey that in a public reading is impressive in the least. To be censured for it is abominable. To say reading that poem would reflect badly on his school is an affront to the education process. Auden's poem was included recently in readings conducted by the Julliard School. Behymer-Smith's attorney Terri Keyser-Cooper agrees, and with young Jacob's mother at his side, federal suit has been filed claiming a First Amendment challenge.
A temporary restraining order was filed on April 11, a hearing before Federal District Judge Brian Sandoval was held on April 12, and on April 13, Sandoval handed down this order: "The court finds that plaintiff's Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order should be granted." The young man has been vindicated and damn it all to hell, will read at the Governor's Mansion next week.
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White Pine County
Welcome Home, Sailor
(Ely by way of Camp LeJeune) --- A note from Marine Lance Corporal Ryan M. Blaich of the public information office at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina brings some good news about White Pine County resident Navy Commander Alan M. Hansen, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Deputy Force Chaplain. Hansen was awarded the Bronze Star on March 30. The McGill native just arrived back in the states from a tour in Iraq where he maintained a large worship area in Fallujah one of the most dangerous parts of Iraq.
Interestingly, Hansen was born on the Fourth of July. He has been in the Navy since 1976.
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Clark County
Emergency Response Upgraded
(Laughlin) --- Partly from fears of terrorism, partly because of the gang related violence during a motorcycle rally, emergency response plans in Laughlin have been upgraded according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Homeland Security Bureau.
According to Homeland Security Bureau Sergeant Kim Veillon because the casino industry is so important to the overall economic interests of the state, the program is vital. Enacted in 2003, the law requires resorts to maintain emergency response plans designed to let first responders know how individual properties would react in the event of a terrorist attack or other disaster.
Implemented in Laughlin and Las Vegas, if the plan is successful it is anticipated that it will be required throughout the state. The plans are kept on a central computer and could be pulled up in the event of a disaster or attack.
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Humboldt County
To Protect Our Water
(Winnemucca) --- At a meeting of the Humboldt River Basin Water Authority, Elko County Commission Chairman Warren Russell said protecting water interests within his and other counties should be of paramount interest. Saying the Authority needs to protect its water from areas such as southern Nevada is the only way to invest in the future of the area.
The water authority has ten applications before State Engineer Hugh Ricci for 38,000 acre-feet of water from the Humboldt River, and, Russell says it is imperative that be protected. The rights have been filed under municipal water rights and Russell said that gives the authority a better chance of protecting them than a private user might have.
Many of Nevada's rural counties have been wary of water importation plans set forth by Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) as they attempt to take water from White Pine County.
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