Nor'Town: Politics in North Las Vegas

City Authorizes City Attorney to Intervene in Transmission Line Decisions

Nevada Scandalmonger — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:46:29 +0000

The City Council has unanimously authorized the acting city attorney to take part in the decision-making process concerning NVEnergy’s goofy idea to place a new set of powerlines across the area of the proposes fossil bed national monument. (CNLV)

The Sun and the Review Journal report that Mayor Shari Buck has been in contact the the poohbahs over at NVEnergy. Buck claims that the NVEnergy folks are “aggressively” looking into alternatives. (LVSun,RJ)

Generally good news, it seems. It’s probably still a good idea to keep bugging your representatives about it:

Harry Ried

Lloyd D. George Building
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 702-388-5020 / Fax: 702-388-5030

John Ensign

333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8203
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Phone: (702) 388-6605
Fax: (702) 388-6501
Nevada Toll Free: (877) 894-7711

Shelley Berkley

2340 Paseo Del Prado, Suite D-106
Las Vegas, NV 89102
Phone: (702) 220-9823
Fax: (702) 220-9841

Pesticide Found in Donated Clothing at D.I., Workers Evacuated

Nevada Scandalmonger — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:22:23 +0000

The North Las Vegas Fire Department reported Wednesday that workers were evacuated from the local Deseret Industries store because pesticide was found in some donated clothing:

North Las Vegas, Nevada – Seven thrift store workers were transported by ambulance to three area hospitals on Wednesday after they opened a bag of donated clothing that was covered in a white powder that HazMat crews identified as a chemical used in pesticides, known as Naphanol. Shortly after they were exposed to the white substance, the workers began to experience trouble breathing and a burning sensation in the nose and throat.

The North Las Vegas Fire Department at about 4 p.m. evacuated 30 workers the Deseret Industries Thrift Store and Donation Center, 3750 W. Craig Road, near the intersection Craig Road and Allen Lane in North Las Vegas. The seven workers were taken to Mountain View Hospital, Centennial Hills Hospital and Valley Hospital. One worker was treated on scene. Each of the patients is expected to make a full recovery. The incident was contained to the donation center and did not affect people in the nearby residential area. Fire officials determined the incident was not deliberate.

Medic West and Las Vegas Fire also responded to the scene.

Protest the Powerlines!!

Nevada Scandalmonger — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:36:01 +0000

The Protectors of Tule Springs would like folks to show up to the September 1st meeting of the North Las Vegas City Council to weigh in on NVEnergy’s proposal to add another power line corridor through the area for the proposed fossil beds national monument:

We really need you!

Protect the Upper Las Vegas Wash and the proposed National Monumentfrom another 260 foot wide utility corridor.

Please attend the first hour of

the North Las Vegas Council Meeting

Wed, September 1st, 6 pm

2200 Civic Center Drive

Plan to speak during public comment at 6pm.

-Thank North Las Vegas for working so hard to create a national monument in the Upper Las Vegas Wash that protects the plants, animals, and fossils there. Urge them to continue their push for creating an open, beautiful corridor to access the new National Monument and protect the views of the Mountains for public use.

- Urge them to intervene with the Public Utility Commission to prevent NV Energy from putting another utility corridor through the Wash.

After the public comment period, the Council will vote on our issue, so we can plan on being able to leave by 7 pm, if not earlier than that.

Directions to get there:

For those coming north on I-15. Turn off on Lake Mead Blvd right (east) and follow to Civic Center Drive. Turn left and City Hall is on right. (South of Lake Mead Blvd, Civic Center is called Eastern.)

For those coming south on I-15, Turn off on Cheyenne. Turn left, go over interstate and get in right hand lane and turn right at light which is Civic Center drive. Follow past Las Vegas Blvd. City Hall is on the left.

WE NEED TO SHOW UP AND SUPPORT THEIR EFFORTS OR RISK LOSING THIS BATTLE!!!

PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS OPPORTUNITY PASS. YOU DON’T HAVE TO TALK, BUT BEING IN THE AUDIENCE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART.

Thanks Jill DeStefano

City Council will be voting on Agenda Item #12 on September 1st which will authorize the City Attorney to “intervene in any actions before the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada concerning the permitting of any transmission lines which could impact the proposed unit of the National Parks Service located within the upper Las Vegas Wash.”

The proposal contains the following interesting background info:

NV Energy is currently investigating the feasibility of adding a second transmission line to the existing Harry Allen substation to Northwest substation electrical power transmission corridor. This second transmission line (the “Harry Allen Northwest Line”) is proposed to be a 500kV line and would cross through the northern border of an area within the upper Las Vegas Wash being considered for designation as a national monument or other unit of the National Parks Service due to its abundant ice age fossil beds.

Recently, NV Energy began the process of requesting approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (“PUC”) to prepare studies, acquire right-of-way and receive permits for the Harry Allen Northwest Line.

At the August 4, 2010 City Council meeting, Mayor Buck requested City Council consideration of the agenda item authorizing the Acting City Attorney to intervene in any actions before the PUC concerning the Harry Allen Northwest Line in order to ensure that the City’s concerns about the effect the proposed transmission line are heard by the PUC.

And you should keep calling your national reps to let them know you don’t like those power lines:

Harry Ried

Lloyd D. George Building
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 702-388-5020 / Fax: 702-388-5030

John Ensign

333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8203
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Phone: (702) 388-6605
Fax: (702) 388-6501
Nevada Toll Free: (877) 894-7711

Shelley Berkley

2340 Paseo Del Prado, Suite D-106
Las Vegas, NV 89102
Phone: (702) 220-9823
Fax: (702) 220-9841

Remember: the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

AOL Travel: Avoid Nor’Town

Nevada Scandalmonger — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:04:48 +0000

Well, this should please our city leaders: AOL travel site lists North Las Vegas among areas to avoid:

Areas to Avoid in Las Vegas

Be particularly aware of your environment when you travel throughout the south, center and north sections of the Strip, the old Downtown area on Fremont, or when you travel down Fremont on Boulder Highway as you exit town, as these are high crime areas. North Las Vegas should also be traveled with caution. If you need a police officer on the Strip or Downtown, the police department maintains a Bicycle Squad which can be readily seen throughout those areas. (AOLTravel emphasis added.)

You’d think they’d warn us Natives about that danger stuff. Though, I suspect we all travel “with caution” around here, anyways.

Nevermind Sludge Cakes

Nevada Scandalmonger — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:50:42 +0000

Others have talking points, quick hits, or gleanettes. Nor’Towners are stuck with Sludge Cakes!

Looks the plan by NVEnergy to build another set of power transmission lines near the proposed Ice Age Park has blown a fuse. News came out Friday that the Paiute tribe has decided to allow power lines to pass through their reservation, a move which will apparently render NVEnergy’s lines unnecessary. (RJ) I like to think that it was the nifty graphic of Harry Reid and the Mammoth which shamed the Senator into pushing for the alternative route. I also like to think I’m a gazillionaire, so I wouldn’t bank the underwater house on it.
Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins seems to have missed a few of the endangered dace fish during his recent drive through their stream. The latest count of the dace population shows an increase. I suppose the Commissioner will just have to wait for the Southern Nevada Water Authority to drain the aquifer feeding the dace watering hole to get rid of those “guppies”. (RJ)
Carl Rowe, the fellow who blew the whistle on the sorry mess that is the North Las Vegas Housing Authority, was not selected to head the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority, the entity created to clean up after local governments ran their housing authorities into the ground. Rowe has been running the NRHA as interim boss since its creation. Nor’Townie Mayor Pro Temp William Robinson, who is well qualified at running housing authorities into the ground judging from the fact that he chaired the Nor’Town housing authority board during its bleakest hours, said that Mr. Rowe was not the most qualified candidate for the job. (RJ) Running the NRHA, I mean, not Mr. Robinson’s specialty. The NRHA board decided to hire from out of state, seemingly thumbing their noses at Mayor Shari Buck‘s “Go Local, Go North” initiative. But, perhaps she will allow an exception when job candidates piss off a council member.
Come on, admit it. You’d never heard of the “Go Local, Go North” thing before, have you?
Gregory Rose, whom you all know, did not get the city manager job in Reno. (RGJ) Poor fellow will just have to make that Nor’Town severance package stretch a bit further. Hope the folks who got let off because of that don’t get too testy.

Guppy Sludge Cakes

Nevada Scandalmonger — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:25:47 +0000

Others have talking points, quick hits, or gleanettes. Nor’Towners are stuck with Sludge Cakes!

So, what’s new?

Nor’Town City Council will add some fees to Code Enforcement violations to help fill the budget gap. (Sun) Residents will no doubt be surprised to hear that there is still such a thing as a Code Enforcement Officer, given the last sighting dates from the mid-1960′s.
Nor’Town City Council takes another shot at getting the state to pay for libraries. (RJ)
Nor’Town Council officially marks 1/3rd completion of the first phase of North Fifth Street. (Sun) Not familiar with North Fifth? Well try this: Drive north from Alexander to Craig on North Fifth and your axle will remember for you. And if you keep going far enough you’ll find an empty piece of ground called Goett’s Lament. Others call it Little Switzerland cuz it’s owned pretty much by Credit Suisse. Oh, okay. Nobody calls it that.
The endangered Moapa Dace seems to finally met its end in the recent fire at Moapa Springs. Spokesfolks for the Center for Biological Diversity are claiming that even if flame retardant hasn’t wiped out the Ice Age fish, plans to pump the aquifer will probably finish them off. (KLAS) The fish, affectionately called “guppies” by ever-sensitive Clark County Commission Tom Collins may have bigger worries. Apparently the commissioner ran through the creek containing the critters several times in his SUV just in case he missed any. (RJ)
Nor’Townie State Senator Steven Horsford is shutting down what looked like a sweet deal for folks who wanted to get more up close and personal with him. He sent out a fund-raising letter offering all sorts of goodies if you would just throw some money at his political action committee, unimaginatively named Victory 2010. For $25,000 you got dinner with Horsford and other state senate committee chairs. (NNB,My4News) No telling what you would get for larger amounts, but it seems to me it should at least involve some hookers and a vat of Jello. At bare minimum.
The City’s Park and Recreation Advisory Board is not officially in rebellion over possible budget cuts to Parks, claims chair. (VN)
However, City Council thinks that $31,200 for their car allowances is well worth the staffer let go to pay for them. (RJ)
New boss of the Norftown Chamber of Commerce, Michael Varney, is wondering, after the Chamber loses half of its 600 members to the recession, whether Nor’Town’s glass is half empty, or half full. (RJ,LVBN) No news yet if he would like to stomp on the endangered Bear Poppy, like his predecessor.
City nearly kills with kindness. (KLAS)

North Las Vegas Home Owners Alliance Statement on Fossil Bed Power Lines

Nevada Scandalmonger — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:06:16 +0000

Mammoth Takes Stance on Harry Reid

The president of the (deep breath) North Las Vegas Alliance of Home Owners and Concerned Citizens, sent out the following statement about NV Energy’s asinine proposal to put new power transmission lines near the site of the planned fossil bed national monument:

At last evenings City Council Meeting, Mayor Buck commented that NVEnergy is trying to put an additional set of gigantic power poles between the current Northern boundaries of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas and the Sheep Range foot hills.

As many of you are aware the Alliance almost since inception a few years ago has been very active supporting POTS (Protectors of Tule Spring) and other groups trying to establish a National Park or National Monument in the area from the northern limits of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas to the mountains and stretching from the Piute Reservation up US 95 and ending around Pecos. For several months now it has been waiting the President’s signature creating a National Monument for the area.

This could be a big tourist attraction. Many of the folks from around the world fly into Las Vegas to go to the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion and then fly back out. Why not provide them with an additional day or two here and exploring our National Monument. With the projected new UNLV campus to be at the eastern end of the site consider the many new opportunities for additional high school, College and University courses.

Off and on various groups such as developers, NVEnergy and others have wanted to utilize the land for their own purposes. Some of our members have been on guided tours of the area which you have heard about over the last few years and have actually seen examples of the fossils and other artifacts that in many cases are not found anywhere else in the world. It would be a shame to lose any of these items to satisfy a perceived corporate need.

It is our understanding that the Sun is going to print an article about the proposed monument and NVEnergy interest in putting the second set of poles through the area.

Please pick up a copy and make your wishes and comments known to the Sun.

The Sun article is available here, and the LV Review Journal had a note here. Power company lobbyists are filling up the comments sections of those articles, so one thing net-savvy Nor’Townies might do is throw up a comment over there.

So, Where Exactly Do You Stand on the Fossil Beds National Monument, Mr. Reid?

Nevada Scandalmonger — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:47:02 +0000

Mammoth Taking a Stance on Harry Reid

Well, it looks a bit like the proposed fossil beds national monument to be located in the northern valley has run smack into election year politics–kinda like a kite caught in powerlines.

NV Energy has proposed cutting through the monument with another huge set of power transmission lines similar to those that already mark the northern boundary. (Sun,RJ) Presumably, the lines are necessary to support “green” power initiatives.

Probably the most important voice in all this will be that of Senator Harry Reid. Unfortunately, the power lines likely will have his support. They are part of his plan to hook up solar, wind, and geothermal plants throughout the state to the power grid via transmission lines between the Vegas Valley and Ely.

In fact, it seems that the energy plan is a cornerstone of Reid’s campaign pitch, which he claims will bring new jobs to the area. The plan, however, requires transmission lines. Here’s a quote from the Reid campaign site:

To deliver renewable energy from rural locations to consumers, Nevada must build new transmission lines. Sen. Reid’s Clean Renewable Energy and Economic Development Act is groundbreaking legislation that will ensure that Nevada reaps the full benefits of renewable energy. Building new transmission lines will also create jobs and encourage more companies to build renewable energy plants here in Nevada. Sen. Reid’s commitment to this issue will benefit Nevada’s economy and consumers for years to come.

And you don’t have to surf the Internets very long to find Reid press releases trumpeting his approval of a recent decision by the Public Utilities Commission to support the new lines. (Lincoln County Record)

In the past, however, Reid seemed supportive of the national monument, too. Members of his staff attended a meeting on the monument several months ago and indicated that the Senator’s office was helping to move relevant legislation along.

Now it looks like a very close Senate election has changed all that. Mr. Reid is perhaps loathe to alienate power company magnates who provide campaign cash and whose support is required for large scale projects to build transmission lines.

Still, the campaign should probably keep the following in mind. The support for the monument in North Las Vegas and environs comes from what is perhaps the first true grassroots movement in the Northern Valley, a notoriously apathetic place. It is a citizens movement which brought together people from across the political spectrum and united local governments in an unprecedented fashion.

I would guess that it would be devastating to the Senator’s tenuous lead in his current race for that constituency to decide that his opponent, as flawed as she is, is a palatable alternative. A grassroots organization impassioned by this issue in the heart of blue Nevada throwing its support to Reid’s opposition would seem to be the death knell of his campaign.

Pretty stupid, too, since a phone call the Michael Yackira, C.E.O. on NV Energy from the Senate Majority Leader would probably put a stop to the idea pretty quick.

Ah, Mr. Yackira. One of my favorite people. He happily sat on Lame Duck Governor Jim Gibbons’ committee to cover-up global warming a few years back just so he could build coal-fired power plants. Those were the same plants that Harry Reid came out against a year or two later.

It would certainly be entertaining, too, to all of us in Nor’Town to see folks like Sharron Angle and Kenneth Wegner come out against powerlines and in favor of the fossils. Mainly because it would be something line being an eyewitness to Hell freezing over.

But, I suppose the most obvious question is: why not run the damn line through the Clark County Shooting Park? Heck, nobody goes up there anyway, and the County’s losing big money on it. Why not lease it out to NV Energy? Win-win all the way around!

Parks And Recreation Board To Discuss Saving Parks From Budget Cuts

Nevada Scandalmonger — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:49:59 +0000

On Tues., August 10, at 5:45pm, the North Las Vegas Parks and Recreation Board will be reviewing several projects as well as the latest numbers on what’s is in, and out of, the city budget for parks. They meet in the City Council meeting room at City Hall, on 2200 Civic Center Drive, Nor’Town, NV.

Check out the agenda here. There will be updates about Kiel Ranch Historic Park, the Craig Ranch Regional Park, and the SkyView Multi-Generational Center.

By the way, the National Park Service tweeted the other day that they’ve awarded some funding to Kiel Ranch. There may be some news about that Tuesday–apparently the grown up news orgs in town haven’t noticed yet.

Earthquake Hits Nor’Town

Nevada Scandalmonger — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:51:41 +0000

Over at the ‘Monger Mansion we didn’t feel anything, but last night there was a 3.6 magnitude earthquake about 35 kilometers North of Nor’Town, according to University of Reno Seismologists.

More pics here: Location, Map.