William Pratt

Thursday, June 19, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Quick and Dirty: A notebook of news and politics

Homeless, be gone (again)

After 14 years of providing meals, beds and job assistance for up to 70 men at a time, the God in Me Ministry has officially called it quits. Many of the men have since evaporated into the mainstream homeless population, says Anthony Mosley, the shelter's owner. "They didn't want to go where [city officials] wanted them to. Places like Catholic Charities are like institutions. They had a home with us."

Unlike the MASH Village shelter, which folded last year, the God in Me Ministry didn't shut down because of financial woes. Instead, the shelter is out of business because the city decided to finally enforce a code stating that homeless shelters can be located only in commercial or industrial areas. The ministry consisted of four homes in a residential neighborhood in West Las Vegas. The shelter didn't have a business license either. City officials rediscovered the violations last year after neighbors complained of nuisances on shelter property. (In 1992 God in Me requested a variance from the Planning Commission but was denied. Mosley said Mayor Jan Jones told him they could stay open, but the city has no record of that.)

Meanwhile, city Neighborhood Services Department director Sharon Segerblom says the area near Lake Mead and Martin Luther King boulevards will now "settle down," and "people will be able to enjoy their homes again."

Those fortunate enough to have homes, anyway.--LC

AFAN's new director

Aid for AIDS of Nevada, Las Vegas's best-known HIV/AIDS outreach organization, has hired William Pratt as its new executive director. Pratt, a former finance and development director for the Gay City Health Project in Seattle, has more than 20 years of nonprofit experience and a solid background in fundraising. He'll oversee all of AFAN's departments, including operations, client services and education programs.

Pratt plans to put his fundraising expertise to good use at AFAN. The organization's two popular annual fundraising events, AIDS Walk Las Vegas and the Generic Black & White Party, will continue under his leadership, he says, but "will be even more successful in terms of the final dollar amount they bring in."

Pratt will also work to build closer relationships with other Las Vegas agencies that serve the HIV/AIDS community, such as the UMC Wellness Center, Golden Rainbow and Fighting Aids in our Community Today. Because funding sources for nonprofit organizations are often slim and unpredictable, Pratt plans to collaborate with other agencies instead of competing against them for funds. "Partnerships are vital for meeting the needs of this community," he says. "The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Clark County is at its highest point in history. It's important that we work together to provide the best services we can. We should be colleagues in every sense of the word."

The nonprofit AFAN was founded in Las Vegas in 1984 to provide HIV and AIDS assistance, education and prevention programs. AFAN gives aid to about 2,000 Southern Nevada people living with HIV and AIDS.

Pratt replaces former AFAN director Randy Reinoso, who left after eight years for a job as chief social worker at Sierra Health Services.--LC

No-fly zone

Rep. Jim Gibbons just might be on to something. Over the years, Nevada's case against Yucca Mountain has focused primarily on environmental concerns: the radioactive waste to be stored in the mountain will leak out and kill people. Despite this being a logical argument against the nuclear dump, it has generally failed to elicit great sympathy in Washington, D.C., especially among the scorched-earthers in the Bush administration. Gibbons, who doesn't care much about the environment either, is trying a new approach: the nuclear dump may endanger the national defense.

"I have serious concerns about the impact the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site might have on the operations at the Nellis Test and Training Range," says Gibbons, a former Air Force pilot, in a news release. "I fear the Yucca Mountain site will become a vast `red circle' that chips away at the quality of training the Nellis Range offers. It is yet another reason why a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain is not in Nevada's or this nation's best interests."

Gibbons has not been a major player on Yucca Mountain, playing a distant fourth fiddle in Nevada behind Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign and Rep. Shelley Berkley. But that could change if he is able to get the Pentagon's attention on this issue.--GS

Boxing history for sale

Johnny Tocco's Ringside Gym is for sale. This ain't just any sweaty punch-house, mind you. At 53 years of continuous operation, Tocco's is Las Vegas' oldest boxing gym, best known for training a string of champs that includes Sonny Liston and Mike Tyson. The site went up for sale at the first of the year when current owner, real estate broker and boxing aficionado James Pollins, began lacking the time to manage the property. Pollins says he's juggling a few serious offers. Some among them, he says, hope to at least give a nod to the gym's historical significance.

"Some parties have talked about turning the place into a boxing museum," he says of the roughly 3,500-square-foot property. "But everybody is looking for a deal. At this point, though, it looks like it might be a boxing gym for while." Pollins, who purchased the gym upon Tocco's death in 1997, was mum on the price, but previous reports have him asking $595,000.--AK

Chain culture

It's a rare instance when the Mercury dedicates editorial space to the opening of a chain store. But this is a special case. The Book Market, a closeout bookseller, has opened its first outlet in Southern Nevada in the former Service Merchandise store at Decatur and Charleston boulevards. A second Book Market outlet is slated to open June 26 in the Galleria Mall in Henderson.

The Book Market sells a wide selection of new books that publishers want to liquidate. That, however, does not mean all the books suck. Titles range from best-sellers to top-echelon histories to cookbooks and children's books--priced at 30 to 80 percent below retail. One bibliophile's recent forays into the Decatur store yielded a hardcover gem each time out: The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida ($8) and The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton ($6).

Here's the hitch: The Book Market signs 90-day leases. If sales are strong, it may extend its stay. If sales sag, it likely will move on to more literary pastures. If Las Vegans want the Book Market stores to stick around, they need to actually go there once in a while and buy a book or something. It's open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. End of free ad.--GS

Greenwashing

Plenty of stories about the Energy Policy Act of 2003 have appeared, but it took the Village Voice to point out this: The act includes $1.1 billion to build nuclear reactors to produce electricity and hydrogen, with one to be built in Idaho and run by the Department of Energy. Why? To reduce greenhouse emissions, and, coincidentally, to give money to energy companies that are supposed to do their own research and development.

In the May 28 Voice, writer Mark Baard explained, "To extract hydrogen from water--to get the H out of the H20--you first have to make steam. The modular nuclear plants would do that without polluting the air, but would also leave behind radioactive waste." To which John Ritch, the World Nuclear Associations director general, told the Voice, "People automatically picture vast quantities of drums, oozing green slime and ruining our lives. But the truth is that all of the waste produced by all of the world's nuclear reactors could fit in a two-story building, on an area the size of a basketball court."

Or Yucca Mountain? Where else would all of this waste go, especially if it's federally generated? It will be interesting to see whether Sen. John Ensign and Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter back the Bush administration--you know, the people who promised to base the decision on a nuclear waste repository on "sound science"? Turns out Bush lied. But he never lies about anything else, so this probably won't hurt Nevada, either. Right?--MG

Stratosphere plays ball

More than 18 months ago, the Stratosphere Hotel reneged on a $250,000 commitment to participate in a feasibility study--and get a station platform--to bring the monorail downtown. It seems the hotel was pissed off at the Las Vegas City Council for squashing the hotel's plan to build a thrill ride over Las Vegas Boulevard.

Now, with the Planning Commission's April 10 approval to build a less-noisy teeter-totter thrill ride at the hotel, Stratosphere officials want to re-enter the monorail game. At last week's Regional Transportation Commission meeting, General Manager Jacob Snow reported that Stratosphere President Richard Brown has "seen progress on the monorail" and that he's "very optimistic about the project going forward." As a result, Brown reportedly is ready to donate the right of way for the project that would include a two-level station platform for passengers at the hotel's three-way intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard, Paradise Road and Main Street. Snow intimated, however, that Brown's delay is going to cost him more. "The Stratosphere also needs to participate," Snow said. "At first, that meant $5 million for each station."--FC

The air up there

They say the sun, the wind and the air are free--well, two out of three ain't bad. This week, the Las Vegas City Council was to approve a $44,604 annual payment to the Nevada Department of Transportation for the airspace rights under U.S. 95 from Casino Center Boulevard to Fourth Street. Actually, it's more than just the air; it's the ground, too, which serves as shaded parking for city employees.

The city has been paying for this space since 1973, its payments to the state amounting to $1,338,120 over the past 30 years. This week's approval kicks off the first year of two remaining five-year options, which will cost the city another $446,040. Altogether, the state will have received $1,784,160 over the life of the 40-year pact--not bad for a patch of unusable dirt where, now, even shade has a price.--FC