Clark County Manager Thom Reilly thinks Cactus Cate's new habitat at the county Government Center might attract First Friday revelers.
Jon Ralston helps to unite politicians.
NORTH LAS VEGAS, OF ALL PLACES, LAST WEEK JOINED the commercial space race. That thanks to local billionaire Robert Bigelow's launch of an unmanned, inflatable spacecraft, Genesis I, to test technology he hopes will one day lead to creation of an inflatable commercial space station. Genesis I was sent into space from Russia, but mission control was based in North Las Vegas, off Martin Luther King Boulevard.
One wag wondered if that means a paraphrase of an iconic NASA quote will one day be uttered during some ill-fated future mission: "Northtown, we have a problem."
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MICHAEL SQUIRES
STARING AT A SLOW, CRAWLING DESERT TORTOISE isn't most people's idea of amusement. But Clark County Manager Thom Reilly predicted Wednesday that the new tortoise habitat at the county Government Center will become a Las Vegas hot spot, even attracting First Friday revelers looking for fun. "People will empty out of The Ice House and the Arts Factory just to see what's up with the tortoise," he joked, drawing laughter at the habitat's opening ceremony.
MIKE KALIL
OVERHEARD ON THE SCANNER: "He's apparently from Portland and goes by the name Tutu."
"Uh, confirming, Tutu?"
"That's affirmative. Tutu."
OVERHEARD ON THE SCANNER: "He's a white male with a lot of tattoos. The reason they know it's negative is because he doesn't have any on his buttocks."
BLAMING THE MEDIA: IT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER. At a contentious debate Thursday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beers and political consultant Terry Murphy debated the merits of Beers' proposed Tax and Spending Control initiative, with local pundit Jon Ralston moderating.
Murphy said politicians are not known for their ability to tell the hard truths that people may not want to hear. "No disrespect to you, Jon, but the media has an awful lot to do with that," she said.
Beers interjected: "Here's where we can agree. It's Jon's fault."
MOLLY BALL
GARY PECK, HEAD OF THE LOCAL ACLU, stood outside the Regional Justice Center Tuesday morning before a throng of news reporters eager to hear his opinion on recent Las Vegas police shootings. As eight television news cameras moved in and newspaper reporters jockeyed for position, one reporter jokingly reminded Peck to talk loudly.
"I always do," the oft-quoted civil liberties mouthpiece replied.
BRIAN HAYNES
MAYOR OSCAR GOODMAN IS UPPING THE ANTE in the battle between Hizzoner and Steve Miller, former councilman, online columnist, longtime mayoral critic and sworn enemy of Crazy Horse Too Gentleman's Club and its owner, Rick Rizzolo.
When asked about Miller's accusations that it was improper for the mayor to vote on an item at Wednesday's City Council meeting involving Rizzolo -- who is a former client of the mayor and friend -- Goodman offered this statesmanlike response:
"Tell Steve Miller he can suck my big toe."
DAVID MCGRATH SCHWARTZ
Goodman took on another longtime foe at his news conference Thursday. A reporter asked Goodman for a response to a column in the Las Vegas Sun by Ralston, in which Ralston criticized the mayor's stance on the homeless.
"I feel sorry for the fella," the mayor said. "He's a little fella."
