Gibbons-Trepp friendship unfazed by allegations

The taint of scandal surrounding Warren Trepp's name has not kept Gov. Jim Gibbons away from him.

Gibbons sat with Trepp at the Governor's Boots and Rhinestones Ball in Reno on Friday night. Sources involved with the dinner said the table for 14 was sponsored by Trepp.

Trepp is the Reno businessman who is alleged to have given Gibbons gifts and cash in exchange for help getting his company secret military contracts when Gibbons was a member of Congress.

Trepp and Gibbons have denied the allegations, which are contained in a lawsuit involving a former business partner of Trepp, Dennis Montgomery. The company got millions of federal "black budget" dollars for facial-recognition software that the military sought to use in the war on terror.

The lawsuit is pending, as is an FBI investigation into the allegations and possible wrongdoing by Gibbons.

Gubernatorial spokesman Ben Kieckhefer said Trepp attended the dinner as a guest of Gibbons, who ended the night by picking up a guitar and rocking with the band on such classics as "La Bamba" and "Love Potion No. 9."

"They're old friends, and they maintain their friendship," Kieckhefer said of Trepp and Gibbons.

HONEY ROASTED

What's so funny about Barbara Buckley? Not a lot, it turns out.

A roast of the Assembly speaker recently was shockingly mild, surprising even Buckley.

Most of the jokes were about how afraid of Buckley everyone was, too afraid to really take a shot at the Las Vegas Democrat.

Alone among the roasters at the benefit for the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, County Commissioner Rory Reid managed to find humor in the situation, assuming an aggrieved tone as he bewailed the task before him.

"It's like trying to point out the endearing qualities of Cruella de Vil," he said. "Have any of you ever seen her smile? Raise your hand."

A few hands went up, and Reid nodded. "You saw her smile because she had just crushed your dreams."

Reid said Buckley appeared to be making plans for higher office. "It's really pretty obvious," he said. "Insiders have been noticing lately she's actually developed a personality."

He added, "She's seeking an appropriation to remove the electronic surveillance equipment and booby traps Dawn Gibbons put in the mansion."

Two other roasters, lobbyist Josh Griffin and County Commissioner Chip Maxfield, also speculated about a Buckley gubernatorial run and gently mocked Buckley's eternal push for all-day kindergarten.

Buckley could campaign on public safety, they joked, with the slogan, "It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Do you know where your children are? If you elect me, they'll be in kindergarten." Or she could campaign on the economy: "Worried about your job? Become a kindergarten teacher."

Taking the stage at the end of the night, Buckley said, "That wasn't bad at all. I was expecting a lot worse."

BAILEY'S BILL

A veterans care bill the House is expected to pass in a few weeks has been named after Lance Cpl. Justin Bailey, an Iraq war veteran from Las Vegas who died last year from a medication overdose.

The bill requires veterans hospitals to offer a full range of drug screening and detox programs. It would have the VA reach out with substance abuse counseling to Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in particular.

The House veterans health subcommittee renamed the bill for Bailey on Wednesday at the suggestion of Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

Bailey, a 1998 graduate of Las Vegas High School, developed a substance abuse problem after he was discharged from the Marines in 2004 and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

He checked himself into the VA medical center in West Los Angeles in November 2006, and died Jan. 26, 2007, after the VA put him on a self-care program.

"After being given five medications on a self-medication policy, Justin overdosed," Berkley told the panel. His parents Tony and Mary Kaye Bailey later testified to Congress that the VA mishandled their son's care.

Berkley also added an amendment requiring the VA to review and report to Congress on the operations of all its residential mental health care facilities in light of findings that one in five veterans returning from the Middle East suffers from post-traumatic stress.

In response to a query, the VA said that the medical center being built in North Las Vegas will offer a "full continuum of mental health care including substance use disorder treatment."

Additionally, the VA said, "When we open our four outpatient clinics (in Las Vegas), mental health will be integrated with primary care. We will have continuity of care from the time a veteran enters our system."

NOT DELAYED

The Coalition for a Conservative Majority came to Las Vegas a couple of months ago with the idea of starting a movement to promote conservative principles.

The group, a project of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, is one of a handful of organizations seeking to create a right-wing counterpart to the liberal powerhouse MoveOn.org. Another startup with Las Vegas ties, Freedom's Watch, which is backed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, has lately become vocal on domestic issues and hopes to promote its agenda nationally throughout this election cycle.

While Freedom's Watch has been airing slick ads in targeted areas, the Coalition for a Conservative Majority hopes to have a more grass-roots focus, bringing together chapters of like-minded members. And despite the emergence of John McCain as the Republican nominee, someone with whom DeLay has had a fractious relationship, the coalition is proceeding on schedule, according to Executive Director Chris Perkins.

The Las Vegas chapter last met in late March and this week will meet to elect officers, Perkins said.

The coalition is an issue advocacy group that is technically nonpartisan and doesn't support or oppose candidates, but it can get behind their ideas. Perkins predicted conservatives who have been leery of McCain would come around.

"On certain things, like the war on terror, I think it will be very easy for conservatives to get behind John McCain," he said.

"On other things he has some work to do. Part of this grass-roots idea is to let officials and candidates know where we stand on issues and that we will pursue the conservative agenda. Hopefully he will take that up," he said

Stephens Washington Bureau chief Steve Tetreault contributed to this report. Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.