New bookstore among changes expected in east valley for 2015

For Cindy Sherwood and Mark Campbell, a small change, or at least a change to something small, is going to have a big effect on their lives.

“When Mark looked out there and saw the channel was dry, he said, ‘Ding dong, the ditch is gone!,’ so now we can have our yard back,” said Sherwood. “We haven’t had water in our pool for a couple of years. We’ve already started working on sprucing it up back there.”

The Sunrise Manor residents’ home abuts the Sloan Channel, a 4-mile trench built to channel and control rainwater.

That changed when the city of North Las Vegas began discharging effluent from its new $321.3 million water reclamation facility into the channel, transforming the Clark County-owned dry channel into a river and inadvertently creating a breeding ground for midges and mayflies. In December, after much litigation and negotiation, a major section of the pipeline was completed, and residents who live along the channel are looking forward to their first bug-free season in years.

“The project should be finished by April,” said Dan Kulin from the county office of public communications. “Right now, the pipeline goes down to Owens (Avenue). That should take care of the bug problem.”

NEWTON RETURNS TO CASA DE SHENANDOAH

On the south end of east valley, the big change isn’t about a departure, it’s about a return. The details are still up in the air, but Wayne Newton has returned to Casa de Shenandoah, the 40-acre ranch on which he’s lived for decades with a menagerie that included love birds, penguins and Arabian horses.

The property was sold to Texas businessman Lacy Harber and his wife, Dorothy, who planned to turn the sprawling ranch into a museum. Initially, the Newtons were to continue to live there, but in 2013, agreements couldn’t be reached, and Newton and his wife vacated the property and moved 2 miles away.

The Casa de Shenandoah sign, with sculptures of charging horses that looked as if they were bursting through the wall, was removed and replaced with one bearing the name Sunset Spring Ranch. The property was put on the market for $30 million.

In early December, without any fanfare, a new Casa de Shenandoah sign materialized. The horses are smaller, and they’re standing instead of leaping, but Newton’s spokeswoman/sister-in-law Tricia McCrone confirmed that the family has returned to the property and hopes to have the museum open in mid-2015.

LAND DESIGNATED AS OFF-HIGHWAY RECREATIONAL AREA

The same federal land act that is set to lead to the creation of the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument designated more than 10,000 acres of federal land as the Nellis Dunes National Off-Highway-Vehicle Recreation Area. The land was managed by the Bureau of Land Management for many years but was designated as a Special Recreation Management Area.

“The Nellis Dunes are a great recreational asset that will be enjoyed for generations to come thanks to this act,” said Tom Collins, county commissioner for District B. “I would like to thank our senators and representatives in Congress for their hard work to help get this conveyance and land designation passed.”

Collins also thanked former county Commissioner Rory Reid, who started the process in 2005.

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF AN INDIE BOOKSTORE

Downtown Las Vegas has been the area with some of the greatest changes in the valley in the last few years, with numerous additions, renovations and experiments, such as the Downtown Container Park. This year, downtown is set to see the grand opening of its first bookstore in decades, The Writer’s Block, 1020 Fremont St.

“We had a soft opening so we could be open for the holidays,” said Scott Sealy, who owns the store with his husband, Drew Cohen. “We’ll have our grand opening in February, and we should have our writing programs in place by then.”

The store is in a building that was formerly half of a boxing gym. The new shop includes an eclectic section of books, some games and gift items, including T-shirts made exclusively for the store bearing names such as artist, realist, wizard and nerd.

“We sell them with a button that has an adjective on them, so you can get a ninja T-shirt and add a button, like “lazy” and have a lazy ninja,” Sealy said. “It just makes it more fun.”

Sealy has operated several successful bookstores that broke the mold and were interactive. The Writer’s Block is set to have free programs for students, including creative writing and book-making classes. Some high school groups have already approached the store about having book club meetings there.

Classes and workshops are set to take place in the back of the store, where Sealy plans to change the decor from time to time.

“The whole back room can be modified,” he said. “The panels can be removed, and the space can be divided into little work spaces or opened up wide for readings and other performances.”

Sealy intends to bring in many sorts of events, workshops and classes, including readings, films, poetry and others. He’s open to suggestions and is working out the details in preparation for the grand opening.

One event that is already set to move to The Writer’s Block is Neon Lit, a reading series presented by UNLV’s master of fine arts students. The event is losing its regular venue because Trifecta Gallery at The Arts Factory is set to close at the end of January.

For more information, visit thewritersblock.org.

Contact East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 702-380-4532.