Thursday, October 30, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Quick and Dirty: A notebook of news and politics

Take that, nuke dump

Nevadans who watched "60 Minutes" Sunday didn't just see a replay of the unending battle over the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site. They witnessed a new strategy to protect the state from becoming a radioactive dumping ground.

The 20-minute segment concentrated on what was described as a terrifying prospect of dangerous waste being trucked or shipped by rail through American cities such as Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Omaha, Atlanta and Salt Lake City.

"How are you going to haul one of the most poisonous substances across highways and railways in this country?" Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a longtime Yucca Mountain opponent, asked. A terrorist, the report suggested, could unleash destruction on a city with a single rocket-propelled grenade.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman threatened to arrest anyone hauling it past the Strip. He wasn't kidding.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham tried to assure the audience that it would actually be safer storing the waste in one place, instead of at utility plants in 39 states. He also pointed to the record in moving similar materials that was devoid of serious mishaps. "The federal government knows how to do it safely," he smiled.

The dump, if approved, would house 70,000 tons of highly radioactive material in sealed containers for 10,000 years. The storage rooms would be cooking at about 300 degrees during that time. And, to fill the dump, it would take from one to six shipments a day for six years.

Peggy Johnson, executive director of Citizen Alert, was exuberant over the CBS report. She saw it as reinforcing Nevada's stand against the dump.

"I thought it was wonderful," she said. "The Department of Energy says it expects there will be an accident. There's no way to ensure safe transportation."

She hopes to garner funding to warn people in other cities about what the feds have in store for them. "I want to take people from here and get them with people along the transportation routes. People have started thinking this is not just a Nevada issue. They're calling it a mobile Chernobyl. All of a sudden, things are happening. People are finally getting it."--LW

Green as Gibbons' nose

What's not to like about a warm, fuzzy environmental group like, say, Citizens for the Environment, the Evergreen Foundation, the Environmental Conservation Organization or the National Wetlands Coalition?

Um, those aren't green groups. They're lobbying organizations that represent developers, utilities and mining companies that generally want to, ahem, "free up" public lands.

Now, critics say, you can add Partnership for the West to that list. This recently formed lobbying group, a coalition of industries, trade associations and businesses, announced its formation last week and promised to fight "environmental extremists" and balance economic growth and environmental conservation. Fun fact 1: the group is led by Jim Sims, a former White House aide to President Bush. Fun fact 2: Rep. Jim Gibbons gave his blessing to the group at last week's new conference.

But environmental groups warn: Don't be fooled by the feelgood title.

"These big groups have resources that us little people in the street--who are really concerned about the environment--don't have," says Jane Feldman, conservation chair of the local Sierra Club chapter. "So they can market this stuff as being environmentally friendly when it's really not."--AK

12 Volt regroups

Local bands form, break up and re-form all the time. So what's the big deal that 12 Volt Sex has decided to get back together? Arguably, this foursome was the city's great pop hope, a would-be breakout band that in the late '90s might've become another Vegas brand name like Slaughter or Crystal Method--if the band hadn't had its career and spirit crushed by the music industry.

The history in three chords: 12 Volt explodes onto scene in 1995, lands record deal with RCA in 1998, and--after an extended industry boot camp that any "baby band" has to face--RCA and 12 Volt part ways in late 2000. Heard of Christina Aguilera? Heard of Lit? 12 Volt Sex was supposed to be part of that stable of RCA hitmakers that broke in the early '00s. Instead, the band broke up in 2001.

Now they're giving it another shot. Older and wiser, they've been jamming for about two months, writing new songs and quietly planning a comeback.

"In hindsight, this two-year hiatus was more of a resting period after everything the band went through," says lead singer Matt Chernoff. "The band was just dragged through the dirt by the label. But everyone had a nice rest and what was originally viewed as a permanent separation is now looking more like a break."

But don't expect the foursome to be the house band at your neighborhood P.T.'s; members--galvanized with a new professionalism--say they're looking to become something more than a big fish in Vegas' small pond.

"Our goal is to get another deal and not worry about the local hype," says guitarist Mike Stratton. "I think at the time we took everything so personally. It was like, 'I'm an artist! Don't touch my art!' What's really important is making a career out of what you want to do." The band has already written 10 songs and plans to record a demo soon.--AK

Where are we, Madge?

Been following that tower debate? Maybe you caught KLAS Channel 8's story Oct. 20, which explored the controversy over Station Casinos' quest for an exemption to build a 300-foot tower at its proposed new Red Rock Station resort east of the 215 on Charleston Boulevard. The area's zoned for buildings no higher than 100 feet.

Anyway, one guy interviewed--Summerlin resident Tom Sands--seemed mighty fearful of the towers' impact on his scenic views. Well, that is the main controversy, after all: edge city folks having to peer past a tall tower as they gaze toward the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, which is moments away from Summerlin.

But, no, Sands' views apparently are extra exquisite. He said: "When you look over, it's a total panoramic view of the High Sierras, and it makes you at ease." Again, later, he said: "It will make the High Sierras look like a carnival. The Red Rock Canyon will lose its charm."

High Sierras? Them thars the Spring Mountains, my dear friend. As Don Hendricks, a local activist who caught the broadcast, later commented, "I'm afraid the Spring Mountains and a few other ranges are also blocking his view of the Sierras. Maybe he thinks he's still in California."--HW

Like a piñata--filled

with local history!

For a city saddled with the unfortunate stereotype of having scant history--that's not imploded to make way for, oh, say, half-naked pirate ladies--what happened at last Wednesday's Historic Preservation Commission meeting was funny. Board members actually had to stop the meeting because there were so many historic preservation projects to pursue--and limited federal grant money to apply for. Items on their plate included surveys of historic neighborhoods such as the Huntridge district and buildings such as Johnny Tocco's Ringside Gym; garnering national historic designations for a handful of churches and homes in west Las Vegas; and pursuing a city historic designation for the Woodlawn Cemetery.

"This is the first time we've had so many items," says Courtney Mooney, a historic preservation officer for the city. "But we had to prioritize all these upcoming projects because I've got to the write the grant this month for the 2005 grant cycle." Mooney says the city stands to get as much as $40,000 in from the National Park Service for this list of preservation projects.--AK

LaRouche fan spotted

Among those who attended Saturday's peace rally at City Hall and the Las Vegas Library was Ann Reynolds, a local supporter of perennial fringe presidential hopeful Lyndon LaRouche.

"LaRouche is more than a fringe candidate this time. He has broad appeal," said Reynolds, who carried a sign that exclaimed, "Dump the Beast Men," a reference to Republican lawmakers in the nation's capital and in California, where Arnold Schwarzenegger recently was elected governor.

Is LaRouche, who has raised more than $4 million--mostly through small donations--the answer to America's problems?

"Yes," Reynolds says emphatically. "LaRouche knows what to do. No one else does. He knows that cutting the budget isn't going to do any good if no one has a job, so he's going to put America back to work."

LaRouche, who considers himself a "Roosevelt Democrat," would institute a New Deal plan to convert the country from a consumer-based economy back to a manufacturing one. Among other things, he would revamp the nation's monetary and health care systems, encourage the development of more nuclear power plants and rebuild the nation's highway system, bridges, dams and power plants.

"Our infrastructure is falling apart," Reynolds says.

This much is true, at least according to a recent study by the American Society of Civil Engineers. But is LaRouche the guy to fix the damage? After all, the 80-year-old candidate has run for the nation's highest office every year since 1976, including a 1992 campaign from prison while serving five years of a 15-year sentence for mail fraud and defaulting on more than $30 million in loans from campaign supporters.

"He was railroaded," says Reynolds, a 10-year resident who works as a tax preparer.

Some of LaRouche's past proposals have included the colonization of Mars, the quarantine of AIDS victims and the importing of water from Alaska and Canada to the American Southwest.--BS