Thursday, January 30, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Quick and Dirty: A notebook of news and politics

Buffalo Jim is dreaming

Last week, we reported in this space that "Buffalo Jim" Barrier was close to clinching a buyout deal with neighbor and longtime adversary Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo--thus putting an end to their much-reported-on feud.

Update: Buffalo Jim is full of shit, says Rizzolo.

"Somebody filled his head with the idea that I'm going to pay upwards of a million dollars for his lease, but that's ludicrous," says Rizzolo, who owns the property that Buffalo Jim leases. "I'm not the least bit interested in his space. I don't need it. I haven't talked to him whatsoever." Rizzolo says a street-widening project that's slated to get rolling in the next few years will render the whole conflict moot, as Barrier will have to negotiate with the state Department of Transportation and Rizzolo will raze the whole shopping center--including Crazy Horse Too and Buffalo Jim's auto marine shop--and build a new 60,000-square-foot gentlemen's club.

For his part, Barrier says he might've had a miscommunication with Rizzolo's friend Fred Doumani, with whom Barrier says he'd been "negotiating" for six weeks. "Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part," says Barrier. "But I'm happy to stay here with the cheap rent until the lease is up in 2009." Which is another bone of contention: Rizzolo contends the lease is up in 2007. For his part, Doumani says he wasn't necessarily negotiating a deal between the two men, but just trying to smooth things out. Bing! Round four.--AK

Ig-Norquist

Reasonable people can and do disagree about the merits of Gov. Kenny Guinn's $1 billion in proposed tax increases to balance the state budget. But the last thing we need is a rhetoric-spewing idiot like Grover Norquist chiming in and mucking up the discussion. Norquist is the president of Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group, and last week he issued a brief press release saying that Nevada's reputation as a "business-friendly" state is "at terrible risk." True or not, we don't need Norquist, who doesn't know shit about Nevada's economic situation, telling us all about it. Norquist is a well-known conservative mouthpiece of the Newt Gingrich variety, he's a staunch opponent of any and all taxes, and his reaction to Guinn's plan is nothing more than uninformed, kneejerk pabulum. It does absolutely nothing to advance what should be a very serious debate on how to fix Nevada's broken tax structure. Just ignore him if he comes sniffing around again.--GS

Oscar-winning performance

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman scored a media coup last week with a short column on the op-ed page of the New York Times. Goodman excoriated the National Football League for refusing to allow Las Vegas to advertise during the Super Bowl. Goodman said it was hypocritical of the league to reject a Las Vegas advertisement while allowing scads of alcohol ads. You know the issue. The interesting thing is that Las Vegas' position was well-represented on the high-profile Times op-ed page. Even more interesting is that Goodman got the byline, even though all the big Strip resorts that benefit the most from the national advertising campaign are in unincorporated Clark County. Of course, the Times isn't interested in a column from the County Commission chairwoman. Is this yet another argument for consolidation?--GS

Grrr...ARF! ARF!

Since 1975, Citizen Alert has howled bloody murder in Nevada over everything from illegal military overflights to that hobo-like MX Missile system. But its loudest, most sustained hullabaloo has been over the DOE's plan to squirrel away the nation's deadly nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain. And that fight's not over yet. But, meanwhile, the attack-dog group has grown long in the tooth. So, last Saturday, it voted in five new bloodhounds to make a board of 12: Ross Miller, a Clark County deputy D.A. (and former Gov. Bob Miller's son); Laura Mijanovich, legal brief-writer extraordinaire; Professor Lonnie Wright, head of the hospitality division at CCSN; Sam Lieberman, a Democratic operative; and anti-nuke waste poster boy and former Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera.

Citizen Alert's executive director, Peggy Maze-Johnson, says the new members also add some weight to the Southern end of the state. And, she says, they round out the group's diversity (which also includes activists Ian Zabarte, a Western Shoshone, and Margene Bullcreek, a Goshute). So--leaping into new metaphor--it's our very own rainbow coalition to fight the evil shimmery green.--HW

Old dog, same tricks

Is Harry Reid up to his old tricks in Washington? The whole world knows it was Reid who tipped the balance of power in the U.S. Senate during the last go-round when he convinced Republican Sen. Jim Jeffords to become an independent, giving control of the Senate to the Democrats. Now, Reid has been seen meeting with another moderate Republican, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. Chafee confirmed to Newsweek that he's been chatting with Reid and that "Harry's a good man. I enjoy talking to him." Can Reid talk Chafee into switching parties? If so, you can kiss the White House tax plan goodbye, as well as the appointment of ultra-conservative federal judges and who knows what else. By the way, Newsweek dubbed Reid "the Democrat's evangelist."

Ward of the state

Ken Ward, former Review-Journal education columnist, lashed out recently at the newspaper in a peculiar place--the Reno News & Review. As if anybody in Reno cares.

Ward's Jan. 16 guest opinion, "A Left Hook in Vegas," contends he was let go in December because his conservative opinions were "politically incorrect." Ward says his criticisms of the education bureaucracy and the teachers unions made the kitchen too hot for R-J execs. Further, Ward says his column, which he contends was "more widely read" than those of some full-time R-J columnists, ran counter to the R-J's "corporate agenda" of "political correctness, multiculturalism and casino juice."

Setting aside for a minute the accuracy of Ward's analysis of why his column was killed, we have to marvel at the description of the Review-Journal as politically correct and a champion of multiculturalism. This is the paper that, for years, has enraged African-American leaders with its aggressive coverage of black elected officials. This is the paper that runs weekly columns by Vin Suprynowicz and Tom Mitchell, neither of whom is politically correct or multicultural in any way.

In short, it says quite a bit about Ward's political perspective when he sees the R-J as some kind of liberal melting pot.

Interestingly, one piece of Ward's evidence of the R-J's "leftward" lurch is that it has invested in a Spanish language newspaper, El Tiempo Libre. He doesn't mention what, from the outside, might be the most compelling argument, which is the newspaper you hold in your hands. Talk about a leftward lurch!

As for why Ward was let go, the R-J's official line is it wants to broaden the range of local viewpoints on its op-ed page, rather than relying on a handful of regular writers. That may be the God's honest truth, but, from the outside, it looks like a convenient cover for parting ways with the troublesome Ward and the bizarre Barbara Robinson.

Either way, it's certain the good people of Reno don't care.--GS

No camping

Fearing that tent stakes might be driven into the concrete paths and Brownie troops may want to have a "sleepover," the city of Las Vegas has declared the Lewis Avenue Park--the new one with "Oscar's River" running through it--closed between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Last week, six green and white signs went up on the sanctuary's fences warning that "no camping or lodging is allowed in the park" and that "any misuse and/or abuse of park property will be subject to prosecution."

So, forget those midnight strolls with your honey or stargazing with the kiddies along the banks of Goodman Gulch--unless, of course, a night in the city slammer is your idea of a real adventure.--FC

Gov't

Lender fender-bender

The city of Las Vegas may have won the battle over regulating the color, separation and business hours of the plethora of new auto and cash loan shops opening in town, but it still hasn't won the war.

Last week, the City Council approved a new, sweeping ordinance that requires such places to seek a special use permit, which will put the applicant's zoning requirements under the planning department's microscope. The council also banned the use of "trucks parked for signage purposes." One such business, Koster's, uses pink vans with yellow lettering to catch the eye of motorists speeding past. However, if lenders are clever enough to drive their vans off the lot periodically and then park in a different space, can it be called "parking for signage purposes"?

Also, the city can't touch the the vehicle's color or its appearance since all vehicle-related matters are handled by the state Department of Motor Vehicles. And, geez, says Bill Koster, owner of 11 cash loan offices through the valley, "I've always liked the color pink. A diversity of colors makes the city interesting. If everything was sand-colored, this place would be boring."--FC

Slaughterhouse NV

You always hear the uproar from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals when a spay clinic opens or the circus comes to town. But where's the animal rights group when Nevada's Board of Wildlife Commissioners approves the taking--that is, killing--of unprotected wild critters?

The board has just released the hunting season dates and limits for such animals during 2003 and 2004. The list includes 20 kinds of lizards, 26 species of snakes, seven varieties of toads and one specie of turtle. On the raptor list, nine kinds of hawks, falcons and owls are virtually unprotected throughout the year because of unlimited quotas for Nevada residents. In addition to those species, the commission has set the seasons and limits on the number of wild turkeys, foxes, minks, rabbits, doves, geese, swans, ducks and other game birds and mammals that can be killed with a shotgun or pierced with an arrow. And to make the hunter's murdering sport a little more "environmentally correct," according to Nevada Division of Wildlife handouts, shotguns must use "nontoxic shot"--not to protect the prey, but the predator.

As for the GEICO insurance gecko, stay out of Nevada if you know what's good for you!--FC