Hispanic Institute voter registration drive has Nevada link
News this week that The Hispanic Institute successfully registered 10,000 Hispanics in Nevada is yet another sign there is more to Campaign 2010 than Tea Party outrage.
Although the organization has a national reach, Washington, D.C.-based THI is quite familiar with the political landscape in the Silver State.
It should be. The group's chairman and president is Gus West. He gained political and policy experience as an assistant sergeant-at-arms of the Nevada Legislature and as a management analyst for the city of Las Vegas before joining the U.S. Department of Commerce and eventually starting his own government affairs firm.
FUNNY GUYS: Now I think I know what Mayor Oscar Goodman will be up to when he leaves office -- professional stand-up comedy. (I know, some of you thought he started his comedy career years ago.)
Goodman held court with the Strip's favorite funny men Wednesday at downtown's popular Mundo restaurant at the World Market Center. Check out this for a lunchtime lineup: David Brenner, George Wallace, Bobby Slayton, Anthony Cools and Carrot Top.
Was it a meal or a Friars Club roast?
"We meet every other month," Goodman says, noting Carrot Top recently joined the comedy crew. "I think they just like the camaraderie. It's always at a downtown place. They love Mundo. I can't eat because they make me laugh the whole time. There's nothing that's sacred with these guys. They blast each other pretty good."
Goodman, meanwhile, may yet be found headlining at his own "speakeasy" after departing City Hall.
PASTEURIZED POLITICS: Expect more spilled milk from critics of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's help for Southern Nevada's Anderson Dairy. Nevada legislator and dairy farmer Ed Goedhart's Internet commercial criticizing Reid is about to go prime time after being picked up by a conservative political action group.
The quick decision to embrace Goedhart's commercial should eliminate questions about whether he made an in-kind contribution to Republican Sharron Angle's senatorial campaign. Angle's camp almost immediately began to make the most of the commercial.
Could this backfire?
MATT'S LEGACY: Matthew Anderson, who died on May 15 after a short illness, was a special young man who was finishing his degree requirements at UNLV's Professional Golf Management program.
To ensure his legacy lives on, his family has created the Matthew S. Anderson Memorial PGM Scholarship Endowment fund, which was established with help from a grant provided by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.
Naturally, there's a golf tournament fundraiser. It's set for Oct. 25 at Red Rock Country Club, where Anderson interned and helped mentor youngsters. More information: 895-3865.
NONSTOP ACTION: You're on your way back, Las Vegas. Check out this news item: Allegiant Air has just announced a "nonstop flight" from here to Bakersfield.
That's right -- all the way to Bakersfield without stopping.
Not to throw water on the big announcement, but wouldn't you sort of expect a flight from here to there to be nonstop?
What were they considering, a layover in Barstow?
ON THE BOULEVARD: Tony Curtis, who died Wednesday at age 85, starred in 150 movies and was an accomplished artist. I met him several years ago at Robert Goulet's birthday party. Curtis was charming, unpretentious and engaged, a bon vivant with a wicked sense of humor.
A favorite Curtis quote: "I've always believed that service to others is the rent we pay for our time on this planet."
BOULEVARD II: You expect the Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas to have Oktoberfest year-round, but now the Golden Nugget is getting into the act with a beer festival midmonth. So, too, Gordon Biersch, the Rockhouse Bar & Nightclub, and O'Shea's, not to mention diminutive St. Thomas Catholic Church, which celebrates Saturday at 5317 Smoke Ranch Road.
Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.
