After fighting in the Persian Gulf, Somalia and Kosovo, Ron Portillo was diagnosed in 1998 with post-traumatic stress disorder by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Nevada’s governments cannot seriously tackle their growing revenue shortfalls and budget deficits without addressing public employee compensation. Proposals to freeze wages, alter existing contracts with bargaining units or lay workers off are not rooted in resentment. Salaries and benefits consume the lion’s share of the public sector’s general fund resources, and those expenses have been growing faster than tax collections, faster than the population, faster than the economy for the better part of two decades.
While surfing the murky Web last week, I ran across a 2004 commencement address titled “Lay Your Hammer Down” by Edwin J. Feulner of the Heritage Foundation.
One of my fondest yet most frustrating memories of Christmas is the annual Christmas Eve-through-Christmas morning ritual of assembling doll houses, tricycles, bicycles and swing sets. There always seemed to be more parts than I could find use for, and less time than I needed.
The dawn of 2009 brings no symbolic relief for the state’s battered businesses and anxious workers. Economists, entrepreneurs and politicians are bracing for a dismal new year that will claim tens of thousands of jobs, an untold number of companies and force all institutions, private and public, to rethink and re-prioritize their operations.
People “said it would snow in hell before I left the commission,” Bruce Woodbury joked as he wound up his final meeting Wednesday as the state’s longest-serving county commissioner, during the heaviest snowfall the valley has seen in 20 years. “Well, it’s snowing, and some people think Las Vegas is hell.”
You must exercise the mind and body, or they will atrophy.
That our politics should be more about “and” than “or” first occurred to me in the late 1990s.
My relatives in New England are fighting their way out from under a giant ice storm. Here in Las Vegas it’s been snowing all week, several weeks earlier than our usual one-day-a-year photo op of snow and icicles sparkling one of our palm-bedecked golf courses before melting away by afternoon. The National Weather Service calls it “a rare snow event.”
Here are a few of the things in news, entertainment and popular culture that we’ve been talking about lately.
Paddlewheel cruise boats plying Lake Mead and the Colorado River recall the days before dams controlled the river and created lakes. Sturdy little steamboats served as workhorses on the untamed river of yesteryear. A vital link for remote communities, the boats carried passengers, supplies, draft animals, equipment and the production from area mines and mills. In bygone days, the challenging passage on the river always included elements of danger from shifting sand bars, driftwood, boulders and white-water rapids through narrow canyons.
America’s rinky-dink economy is forcing many of us to go poor, yet we’re armed to the teeth with luxury gadgets. We listen to our $250 iPods. We talk on our $300 mobile phones. And we play video games on our $400 Xbox 360s and PlayStation 3s.
Be bold this year and buy the gardener on your shopping list a gardening gift. It’s true that gardeners are particular when it comes to their gadgets, but I have some suggestions that are guaranteed to please.
The small trinkets hanging on a Christmas tree can mean more to people than the wrapped gifts beneath it.
The holidays are traditionally one of the worst periods of the TV year, landing somewhere between the “American Idol” audition rounds and Oprah’s Vajayjay Week.
Raise a glass to the twisted visionaries. It may be a long time before we see the likes of them again.
She has no idea how much I admire her. What an honor it is to be in her company.
For Jessica Epperson and Matt Kelly, both seniors at Bonanza High School, reading is a way to break away from reality and live life in another time and place.
acob Palmer had plenty of time to shop for presents since getting laid off from his job as a recruiter for Zappos shoes last month. Still, he’s putting it off until Christmas Eve again.
Here is a listing of events designed for book lovers. Information is subject to change or cancellation without notice. Additions or changes to this listing must be submitted at least 10 days in advance of Sunday publication to Bookmark, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125. For more information, call 383-0306.
“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling’s newest book, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard,” is an enjoyable but surprisingly short and quick read. The 111 pages of “The Tales” contain fewer words than any of Rowling’s other books, since they are double-spaced with large print and wide margins.
The sustaining members of the Junior League of Las Vegas hosted their annual holiday coffee on Saturday at the home of Rene and John O’Reilly.
Be honest: When you think of “holiday” and “charity” at this time of year, the image that comes to mind is one of a red kettle and a decidedly Christian holiday, right?