WEEK IN REVIEW: Top news
Embattled developer Chris Milam officially settled with the city of Henderson Tuesday over an arena land deal gone bad, agreeing to bow out of a federal land deal and never again do business in the city.
Milam had promised to build an arena on 480 acres of federal land that he hoped to purchase. Then, after months of working with city officials who backed the plan, Milam late last year declared the arena nonviable, though he still wanted to buy the land and flip it to homebuilders.
That prompted the city to sue Milam and four consultants, alleging fraud.
One prominent defendant in that lawsuit is now refusing to go away quietly.
Land consultant Mike Ford refused to sign the settlement Thursday, arguing the deal violates his free speech rights because it includes a nondisparagement clause aimed at keeping the parties from criticizing one another.
Ford is a former Bureau of Land Management official who worked for both the city and Milam on the developer’s effort to buy the 480 acres for the arena complex.
Monday
Brooks loses city job
Assemblyman Steven Brooks, facing possible removal from the Legislature, no longer works for the city of Las Vegas.
City spokesman Jace Radke confirmed that Brooks “is no longer a city employee” as of last Thursday.
Citing privacy rules, Radke did not reveal the circumstances that led to Brooks’ losing his management analyst job with the city.
Tuesday
Overpaid police?
A conservative group said exorbitant salaries are to blame for budget problems at the Metropolitan Police Department.
In its annual review of police officer salaries, the Nevada Research Policy Institute said 1,134 of the department’s 4,742 full-time employees were paid more than $100,000 last year and 17 were paid more than $200,000.
Institute President Andy Matthews argued that the department needs salary reform, not a sales tax increase, to fix its budget woes.
Wednesday
Feds OK wind farm
Federal officials signed off on a 200-megawatt wind farm that will bring 87 turbines, each more than 400 feet tall, to the desert surrounding Searchlight.
A subsidiary of power giant Duke Energy plans to construct the Searchlight Wind Energy Project on almost 19,000 acres of federal land about 60 miles southeast of Las Vegas.
A host of Searchlight residents and American Indian tribal members oppose the project and may file suit in hopes of halting it.
Thursday
Big-time temp job
Pat Skorkowsky was picked to lead the Clark County School District as interim superintendent until a national search yields a permanent replacement for departing Superintendent Dwight Jones in seven to nine months.
The School Board selected Skorkowsky, a 25-year district veteran, after 11 hours of discussion, but could not agree on how much to pay him.
Friday
Up in smoke
A Clark County School District teacher who was fired several years ago but recently won his job back in arbitration was sent home from Bonanza High School after officials learned he faces felony drug trafficking charges.
John Mannion, 54, was arrested on multiple drug charges in July after he sold the prescription painkiller Oxycontin to an undercover Las Vegas police detective.
School officials did not find out about the July arrest until Thursday, a few weeks after Mannion returned to work. He had taught physical education at Bonanza since March 4.
NUMBERS
2,000,759
Clark County’s population as of July 1, 2012, marking the first time the official estimate has exceeded the 2 million mark, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
2
Nevada’s rank in unemployment, marking the first time since February 2010 the state hasn’t led the nation in joblessness. Let’s hear it for Rhode Island!
5
Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s rank on Salon’s list of the world’s 10 worst billionaires. Having $36.5 billion probably takes some of the sting out.
97
Years ago last week that the battleship USS Nevada was commissioned. It survived Pearl Harbor and a postwar atomic bomb test only to be sunk on purpose in 1948.
QUOTES
"At the end of the day, I am hopeful the good citizens of Henderson will realize they have (a word so shocking we can only publish it once a year) idiots working for them."
Bob Abbey, former director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, responding in an email to the city’s claims that he tried to help embattled developer Chris Milam get 480 acres of public land through the city under false pretenses.
"He’s been picked by Jesus, so he’s got to be a rock. He has a hard life ahead of him. It’s a scary job, I would think."
Alicia Valdivia, Las Vegan, talking about the selection of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the Catholic Church’s 266th pope, after she attended Mass at Guardian Angel Cathedral on the Strip. Bergoglio chose the name Pope Francis.
"Just visited the beautiful Hoover dam in nevada/arizona. What a magnificent structure built in 1931-35. Water level is quite low."
Business magnate and television personality Martha Stewart, taking to Twitter after a stop at one of Southern Nevada’s most iconic attractions.
MULTIMEDIA
■ What’s Hot This Weekend reviewjournal.com/whatshot315
■ Progressive groups demonstrate in support of proposed law for background checks on gun purchasers reviewjournal.com/gunrally
■ Las Vegas couple upset that constable’s deputies videotaped them reviewjournal.com/constable_video
■ UNLV beats Air Force 72-56 in a quarterfinal game of the 2013 Mountain West Tournament reviewjournal.com/UNLV-AFA
