Thursday, February 06, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Quick and Dirty: A notebook of news and politics

Global town hall

KNPR 89.5-FM will broadcast a global town hall meeting Feb. 15 focusing on a possible U.S. war with Iraq. National Public Radio is teaming with the BBC World Service to put together the two-hour program dubbed "Iraq: The World Speaks." Listeners around the world will call in and voice their questions and opinions about the conflict. "Because of the timeliness and importance of the subject matter, there was no question about pre-empting our regular Saturday morning entertainment programming for this one-time event," says Florence Rogers, KNPR program director. The show will air at 10 a.m.--GS

Game over for Westwood

Gee, it was always kinda cool to say that li'l ol' Las Vegas was home to one of the world's most acclaimed computer game developers. As of last week, that era is over.

Westwood Studios--perhaps best known for its Command & Conquer series of PC games--is slated to close as part of a big consolidation move by its parent company, Electronic Arts. While the final closure won't happen until the end of March, last week the studio at Smoke Ranch Road and Tenaya Way saw many of its 100-odd employees deciding to either move to EA's new L.A. campus or opt for what an insider says is a "very generous severance package."

Westwood's closure is part of a bigger move toward consolidation by the entertainment giant, which is seeking some L.A. digs for easier access to artists, screenwriters and other talent. Also closing is Westwood's Irvine studio. But what's a bummer for Vegas--where Westwood grew from a two-man biz in a garage to a worldwide brand, and was the centerpiece of Vegas' small but potent tech sector--is a boon for gamers: The L.A. campus is going to be the second-largest EA location in the world after that in Redwood Shores, and EA promises it'll continue to support popular Westwood franchises such as Command & Conquer and Earth & Beyond.--A.K.

Urban Chamber: Tax the poor

Here's one that's hard to understand. The Associated Press reported last week on a study showing that those who play the Georgia lottery the most are those who can least afford to do so. The study also said those who play the lottery most often tend to be poorly educated and minority. This study served to confirm what critics have long believed: that lotteries prey on the poor.

Two days later, the Las Vegas Sun reported that the Urban Chamber of Commerce, which represents black-owned businesses in Las Vegas, is advocating the creation of a state lottery to solve the state's budget woes. One might expect an organization representing African-Americans to have stronger reservations about what amounts to a tax on the poor. Of course, this is Nevada, where our livelihood depends on the same get-rich-quick impulses that drive a lottery.--GS

The sheriff's a WHAT?

Picture, if you will, Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles saying, "If I could only find a sheriff who so offends the citizens of Carson City that his very appearance would drive them out of town. But where would I find such a man?" Then the camera cuts to, not Cleavon Little, but Jackie Chan. The production notes for the latest Chan film, Shanghai Knights, note that when the film opens, Jackie Chan is serving as sheriff of Carson City. Given the rest of the synopsis, we can assume Carson City is in the movie for only a few minutes, so unfortunately we won't be treated to Blazing Saddles Redux: Final Justice. Given the harsh treatment of Chinese in the Old West, the scenario seems unlikely at best, not that Chan's films are known for their historical accuracy or plausability. Of course, if Jackie ran for that position today, he'd no doubt win in a landslide.--FAT

The rights stuff

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada wants you. The civil rights organization has launched an advertising campaign aimed at increasing its membership. Advertisements are running in newspapers across Nevada. Newspapers donating space for the ads include the Las Vegas Mercury, Las Vegas Review-Journal, CityLife and Las Vegas Bugle. Local advertising and public relations firm Brown & Partners is handling the ACLU account pro bono. In addition, radio stations KNUU 970-AM and KUNV 91.5-FM are donating air time to broadcast public service announcements. Nationally, the ACLU recruited more than 89,000 new members in 2002, largely in response to Attorney General John Ashcroft's jihad against the Bill of Rights.--GS

Owe-rena football

Now that the Las Vegas Gladiators have their first Arena Football League game under their belts (a 60-48 loss to the Los Angeles Avengers), keep your eyes open for the story of their previous life in New Jersey. In Sunday's New York Post, columnist Phil Mushnick reports on "some smaller-time, sweat-rent folks, most of them locals, who are still owed a relatively large amount of money from the New Jersey Gladiators franchise, which in December suddenly took off for Las Vegas--even after selling tickets here for this season. The Gladiators are owned by Miami-based attorney Jim Ferraro, who made a fortune on asbestos litigation. A league spokesman said Friday that those owed money will be paid. We look forward to reporting that they have."--MG

Gov't

Dust in the wind

After years of helping to write new dust regulations to get Clark County off the hook with the Environmental Protection Agency, you'd think the construction industry would have learned something. But it appears from statistics compiled by the county's Department of Air Quality Management that it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Figures for 2002 show that while the number of dust complaints--more than 80 percent of which originate because of construction sites--were down nearly 25 percent (1,275 vs. 1,684) from the year before, dust violation penalties assessed by hearing officers were up an astonishing 343 percent, nearly $127,000 vs. $37,000.

In addition, of the 4,275 construction site inspections completed last year, nearly 50 percent resulted in corrective action orders (a department demand to adhere to signed dust plans) or notices of violation (failure to obey formal corrective action orders or less formal field-written corrective action orders).

In another snub, 257 attendees were set to attend one of the department's nine dust control classes offered in December, but 59--nearly one-fourth--either failed to show, canceled or rescheduled their class.--FC

End in sight

In separate items to come before the Regional Transportation Commission and the Regional Flood Control District next week, two high-profile construction projects in the city of Las Vegas will come to an official end.

The final report for the Ogden Avenue extension and underpass, connecting downtown Las Vegas to Grand Central Parkway, was given to the RTC's Executive Advisory Committee last week showing the job--which began in 1992--cost $12 million, with the commission paying $11 million and Union Pacific Railroad picking up just more than $1 million of the tab.

Earlier, the city requested from the flood district's Technical Advisory Committee a "final" $50,000 change order--the 69th change order--for the freeway flood control project, the underground channel system that will, if engineered correctly, forever end the Charleston Boulevard underpass from flooding during rainstorms. With this, "the final closeout change order," and additions, the project that took 30 months to complete will end up costing taxpayers $36.8 million.--FC