WEEK IN REVIEW: Reporters’ notebook
Review-Journal photographer Jason Bean was sent up Mount Charleston the day after 11-year-old Vanesa Lara died when her sled crashed into a metal fence installed as a safety measure. What he saw speaks to the futility of trying to keep anyone safe on a hillside blanketed with inviting snow.
For about an hour early Wednesday afternoon, Bean snapped pictures near the scene of the accident. There was no sign of what had happened to the girl, but there were posted signs telling people not to go beyond the fence.
Even so, he saw a handful of people - children and adults alike - venture above the barrier to sled past it.
Then, at about the midpoint of the fence, he noticed a small depression beneath the lowest rung. If someone laid down flat and hit that spot just right, they could actually slide underneath the barrier, Bean said.
And sure enough, there they were: telltale marks in the snow where a sled had crossed under the metal bar and continued down the hill.
HENRY BREAN
The decision by Zappos.com to relocate its headquarters from Henderson to downtown Las Vegas is already breathing new life and new investment into the urban core.
But can the online retailer actually make downtown a happier place to be?
Forbes magazine contributor Carmine Gallo seems to think so.
Gallo recently announced his pick for the happiest employee in America. Her name is Roz Searcy, and she has worked for Zappos - quite happily it would seem - for the past seven years.
Her current job, Gallo writes, "is to get to know every business owner downtown and to build relationships between Zappos and those businesses."
Time will tell if downtown smiles back.
HENRY BREAN
TWEET OF THE WEEK: @KeithRogers2 (Review-Journal reporter assigned to cover the festivities downtown) The 315-pound New Year's baby, Ronnie "the Tank" (Campbell) just downed his second bottle of pina coladas. One diaper change. Full tip can.
