Thursday, May 15, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Quick and Dirty: A notebook of news and politics

Casino boom resumes

A new casino building boom is taking shape. You're already well aware of La Reve, Steve Wynn's under-construction, $1.8 billion megaresort on the Desert Inn site, slated to open in 2004. Last Tuesday, the Venetian announced plans to build a second resort between the Venetian and La Reve, with construction to start early next year. The same day, MGM Mirage broke ground on a $375 million tower at Bellagio that will add 925 rooms as well as additional retail, convention, spa and restaurant space. Coast Resorts recently announced it will start construction this year on a new hotel-casino in the south valley just off the Strip. Last but not least, Station Casinos reported last week that it will begin construction next year on its latest neighborhood resort, Red Rock Station, at the beltway and West Charleston. Clearly, the post-Sept. 11, 2001, crisis has passed.--GS

Library bond

campaign kicks off

The campaign to pass the $51 million library bond question on the June 3 countywide ballot is under way. "We started a little late but we're up and running now," says political consultant Gary Gray. The first evidence is a website (www.citizensforclarkcountylibraries.com) that outlines the bond question and makes the case for its passage.

This week, a dinner was held to raise money for the campaign. Gray says how much is raised will determine how the campaign plays out. "The key to any message is how many times you can repeat that message to an audience," he says. "We're looking at either direct mail or a radio campaign or some sort of a blend of those. We probably won't have enough money to get on television."

Gray says the main selling points for the bond issue, which would build four new libraries (three in the valley and one in Mesquite) and enhance existing libraries, are the strong demand for library services, the low cost of the bond for taxpayers (74 cents per month in property tax for a $100,000 home) and the efficiency of the bond spending plan. "There's been a lot of effort made to make sure this is as affordable as possible, from the way they've structured the bond issue to the building materials and construction techniques to really keep this cost down," he says.

Gray acknowledges the bond question's major challenges are a still-struggling economy and the fact that the state Legislature is likely to raise an array of taxes just days before the county election. "A lot depends on how the Legislature turns," he says. "It doesn't look like they will be looking at property taxes, and we think the benefits will far outweigh the additional 74 cents per month on your tax bill."

Early voting begins Saturday.--GS

Not Neo...neon!

Neon signs once were devices to entice passing motorists to stop at your business. Today they are more likely to be viewed as objects of history and art.

Las Vegas, in particular, is fond of these quirky artifacts of its tourism heritage. While some neon signs are still in use on the Strip and Fremont Street, many others have ended up on the junk heap, replaced by more high-tech devices.

Many old neon signs have been saved by Young Electric Sign Co. and others. Today the central repository is the Neon Museum boneyard, a downtown property where one day organizers hope to open a museum displaying the city's neon history.

Until enough money is raised for a building, the signs are kept in a fenced area, open only by appointment for special tours. A few pieces of the Neon Museum's collection are now on display at the Nevada State Museum in Lorenzi Park. The Neon Unplugged exhibit (showing through Jan. 4) features a mix of unrestored pieces, from single letters from large Strip hotel signs to the Tudor-style Normandie Motel sign designed by Betty Willis, best known for the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. A photo display accompanies the exhibit, highlighting some of Las Vegas' most famous neon creations lighted and in their original habitat.

The Nevada State Museum exhibit is definitely worth a look, but it's a precursor to a bigger event: On May 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Neon Museum boneyard will be opened for the first time for public tours. Even better: They're free. For more information, call 387-NEON.--GS

Ken Ward alert

Las Vegans can keep up with a longtime local pundit online. Ken Ward now is the opinion editor of Florida's Vero Beach Press Journal, and he has begun writing a column. His first was titled "Making the Grade: It's Great to Be a Fighting Indian." He writes: "With all the hard knocks public education has been taking, I put Vero Beach High School at the top of my itinerary when I hit town last week. I find that schools are an excellent barometer of a community's values. And it was gratifying to see a parade of success stories."

Obviously, he seems happier with Vero Beach's schools than with the ones he regularly attacked in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and he hasn't forgotten us, you'll be glad to know. "Our postmodern society's panoply of distractions and dysfunction is well documented in weighty tomes bearing titles such as 'Slouching Toward Gomorrah' and 'The Dumbing Down of America,'" he writes. "Public schools have come in for particularly sharp criticism by those who see moral relativism and political correctness chipping away at academics. Indeed, big-city school systems, such as Miami-Dade and Las Vegas-Clark County, which I recently covered, have become veritable war zones where embattled educators spend more time on crowd control than calculus, where disgruntled faculty sullenly "work to the contract" (or not at all) and where administrative bloat eats up instructional budgets. Las Vegas' multiculturalism has gone so far as to award special commencement medallions to all African-American and Hispanic students simply by virtue of their skin color. But there was no such silliness at the VBHS gymnasium."

By the way, the 2000 census, which revealed more than 30 percent of the Las Vegas population to be African-American or Hispanic, shows Vero Beach as having a white population of 88.6 percent.--MG

`...and the locusts

came...'

The Federal Protective Services staff stands ready to protect the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse from terrorists and other groups hell-bent on causing confusion, mayhem and mortal destruction, but a new challenge confronted the security staff recently. Swarms of locusts descended on the west side of the massive gray building that fronts Las Vegas Boulevard, only to end up being swept away, or, for those lucky creatures that survived the crush from the suede and high-heel set, being blown away.

"Ever since Moses stretched out his hand inviting the locust to plague Egypt, this insect has been a symbol of God's judgment upon wayward nations," according to the Bible.

Based on that biblical passage, perhaps--like a fortune cookie--a higher power was sending a message to all Las Vegans, even income tax dodger Irwin Schiff who was in court that day.--FC