Galena Creek Bridge project Extravagant Reno-area highway a "political decision"
Many will remember 2006 as the year that Democrats regained control of Congress; our gubernatorial election was highlighted by allegations of a clumsy pickup attempt by the Republican candidate; and a pair of corrupt former county commissioners were sentenced to spend time up the river. But limiting any recap to these events would give short shrift to so many other amazing developments in 2006. As Dave Barry says, we are not making any of this stuff up:
After a string of deadly traffic accidents, Clark County Public Works officials said they would fast-track a new stoplight on Blue Diamond Road -- which would take eight months. ... Miss Nevada, Crystal Wosik, was subjected to taunts and threats after she expressed support for the Yucca Mountain Project. ... Two preachers were arrested on the Strip for carrying signs that read, "Don't gamble with your soul," and, "Turn from sin, Turn to Jesus." ...
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Without taking a vote of its 7,000 members, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce took a position opposing a constitutional amendment that would have limited government spending increases. ... In naming Walt Rulffes the new schools superintendent, the Clark County School Board boosted the salary of the district's former chief financial officer from $137,500 to $290,000 -- 37 percent more than the $212,000 paid to his predecessor. ...
Saying the advertisement created "anxiety," the State Bar asked Las Vegas attorney Glen Lerner to pull a TV ad in which a giant telephone falls on an unprepared litigant. ... A state hearing officer overturned the termination of a Nevada prison guard who was fired for engaging in oral sex with another officer while on duty. ... About 20 students walked out of class at Del Sol High School after they said their teacher remarked that illegal immigrants are lucky to get a free education and that illegal immigrants should not be in this country. ...
The Legislature paid a consulting firm $225,000 in tax money to study whether the state spends enough money on education. ... The UNLV dental school determined that 10 members of its first graduating class cheated by using the computer password of a faculty member -- but awarded them diplomas, anyway. ...
When it was revealed that Sen. Harry Reid -- spearheading Democratic attempts to tar Republicans as the party of "corruption" -- had accepted free tickets to big boxing matches in Las Vegas, the senator argued he needed to attend the fights so he could better understand boxing regulations. When his political protege, Dario Herrera, was found guilty by a local jury of public corruption charges, Sen. Reid -- taking a break from lambasting the GOP "culture of corruption" in Washington -- couldn't bring himself to condemn Herrera. ... Newly elected state Sen. Joyce Woodhouse, D-Henderson, who defeated incumbent Sandra Tiffany, opined that, "This country was built on taxation." ... Four Democrats on the Clark County Commission voted to deny a permit to a subcontractor on the Hoover Dam bypass bridge project because the company employed nonunion labor. ...
The Nuclear Energy Institute proposed paying the state of Nevada a whopping $25 million to accept the Yucca Mountain repository. ... With virtually every member of the state's political establishment up in arms about the prospect of voters passing judgment on a ballot question intended to limit annual state budget increases, the Nevada Supreme Court kicked the initiative off the ballot on a technicality. ... Washoe County sheriff's deputies arrested a 42-year-old man because he was selling for a profit free tickets he had acquired to the Nevada State Fair. ... State Treasurer Brian Krolicki, seeking elevation to the lieutenant governor's office, branded his GOP primary opponent a "pornographer" because a company she owns leased lighting equipment to three film productions that made what Mr. Krolicki described as "soft-core porn." ... The Nevada State Board of Education advocated a 50 percent increase in education spending. ...
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman -- who last year advocated cutting off the thumbs of graffiti artists -- said convicted taggers should be put in public stocks so "people can come by and put some paint on (their) head." ... Regional Transportation Commission bureaucrats told their board that substantial progress has been made to improve traffic light synchronization -- but Mayor Goodman responded by telling them they were full of beans. ... UNLV's law school named a classroom after Jerry Whitehead, who resigned from the Washoe District Court bench in exchange for freedom from federal prosecution. ... As of late November, University Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Lacy Thomas had not submitted a required monthly revenue report to the County Commission since May. ...
As Southern Nevadans battle traffic congestion and construction, and state officials plead poverty when it comes to funding important transportation improvements, work continued on the $400 million Galena Creek Bridge between Reno and Carson City -- the approval of which, one Transportation Board member admitted, was a "political decision." ... The nation's largest teachers union advocated raising the compulsory education age to 21. ...
