Reporters’ Notebook

AT A RECENT MEETING, COUNTY COMMISSIONER STEVE SISOLAK grilled sewer officials about how they went about buying a machine that cleans sewer lines.

After several minutes, Commission Chairman Rory Reid cut in.

"If someone makes a motion, we can climb out of the sewer," Reid said. "We may be back in it later, but for now we're out."

SCOTT WYLAND

CONGRESSWOMAN SHELLEY BERKLEY didn't arrive on time for a solar panel dedication ceremony last week, and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman chided her for often running behind schedule -- so much so, he said as she walked in the door, that she should be referred to as "the late congresswoman."

"She's late all the time," he said. "She's like our traffic lights. I finally get them all synchronized, and they're all red."

Maybe that means it's not her fault.

ALAN CHOATE

AT THE SAME EVENT, SOMEONE REFERRED TO GOODMAN AS "the greenest mayor in the universe." If that's the case, Goodman might want to reconsider his promotion of Bombay Sapphire Gin. Juniper Green gin, for example, uses only organic ingredients, right down to avoiding chemical fungicides when storing the organic grain that's used to make it. There's also TRU2 Organic Gin, which the makers say was inspired by "the 16th century European masters who first created healing elixirs from juniper berries steeped in alcohol."

Organic and medicinal? Gee, it's like an early Christmas.

ALAN CHOATE

HENDERSON CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS RECEIVE REGULAR FINANCIAL REPORTS from city Finance Director Steve Hanson, and lately the news has not been good. Plunging tax revenue has caused budget overruns and forced wave after wave of cuts.

Money is so tight right now, Hanson said on Tuesday, that he has taken to printing his reports to the council in black and white instead of color to save a few cents.

Leave it to Mayor Andy Hafen to find the silver lining.

"It's nice to have these in black and white," Hafen said. "Then we don't have to look at all that red."

HENRY BREAN