U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson is investigated in strip club case

Transcription

Lawsuit challenges
practice of state gifts to
private companies
PAGE 3
Illegal immigration’s
new normal
in America
PAGE 5
Volume 17, Issue 47
How to be fair in
setting rates for electric
power... or not
lasvegastribune.com
PAGE 6
January 27-February 2, 2016
Ward 5 Chamber of Commerce Member
U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson is
investigated in strip club case
By Steve Sanson
President of Veterans
in Politics International
Louis “Eric” Johnson, a long
time Deputy U.S. Attorney, was appointed in April 2015 to fill in for
former Clark County District Court
Judge Jerry Tao in Department 20
of Nevada’s State Court after Tao
was promoted to the newly formed
Nevada Court of Appeals.
But a review of Johnson’s application for the Department 20 position reveals that he may have never
disclosed to the appointing committee that, according to the San Diego Tribune, he was twice investigated by the Justice Department for
ethical violations.
A legal requirement of Johnson’s
appointment is that Johnson must
now run in this election, which he
is doing, to retain his seat. Given
My Point
of View
By Rolando Larraz
Election time is here again and
it is our duty as productive members of our society to take a leading role and not allow the Dave
Thomas gang to take even more
control of the regional Justice Center and our deteriorated judicial system.
The citizens of this community
should pay more attention to our
elections and choose the candidates
that truly deserve the opportunity
to serve the community in whatever
capacity they choose to serve their
fellow Americans.
However, we need to teach those
elected officials that the job we hire
them to do for the community is not
life-long employment; it has to be
term-limited for all elected offices.
Dave Thomas does not run a
Dave Thomas employment agency,
and those jobs should not be held
for as long as they pay the David
Thomas “secure employment fee”;
it is up to the voters of Clark County
to put a stop to that manipulation.
How can we believe that justice
can be blind when only one man
controls the majority of the judges
in Clark County? When one of
those seats occupied by independent judges becomes available,
David Thomas jumps on the opportunity to replace that incumbent
with one of his “controlled puppets”
by way of intimidation and other
methods to control the judicial system.
How can we expect justice to be
done and justice to be enforced if
all those judges are controlled by
one single person and the last thing
in his mind is not justice and fairness, but a dollar sign?
People, you need to listen very
carefully; we need to break the pattern of what appears to be an impropriety because it no longer “appears” it is a danger to our freedom
and the dignity of our courts.
This is a very important election
year and we need to educate ourselves with knowledge of our candidates and we need to start with
the local ones and then move on to
the federal offices.
It is not going to help us to have
a good president, a good congressman and a good senator if we do
not have a good set of legislators in
Carson City, loyal county commissioners and honest independent
judges in our courts.
The federal offices do not have
control over our local offices, and
even if they may have had the audacity in the past to threaten us with
(See My Point of View, Page 2)
ERIC JOHNSON
that he is now asking the people of
Nevada to trust him and keep him
in his new job, Johnson should now
‘fess up’ about internal investiga-
tions to which he was subjected.
This is particularly the case where
they were significant enough to
make the press. Johnson should
provide proof to the people of Nevada of the investigative findings
and results.
Here’s the background:
According to a 2004 San Diego
Union Tribune article, Johnson was
working on a public corruption case
in which the star government informant accused Johnson of taking
favors from a strip club that the informant owned. The Justice Department in Washington D.C. took
Johnson off the case and launched
an investigation into the allegations.
According to the article, Johnson
retaliated and attacked the
informant’s credibility. Johnson
told reporters that the informant recanted his story. Not only did the
Justice Department’s internal affairs
lawyers disagree with that statement, but they then launched a sec-
ond investigation into Johnson for
publicly disparaging a star government witness on whose credibility
they were relying to get convictions
in the pending public corruption
case! (See article U.S. attorney investigated in strip club case: http://
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/
uniontrib/20040721/
news_1n21vegas.html)
Johnson claims in the article that
the Justice Department ultimately
sent him a letter concluding that he
did nothing wrong. Yet, he refused
to share that letter with reporters.
So there was no verification or explanation of the findings of the investigation.
A review of Johnson’s application to fill in for Judge Tao shows
that he mentioned this public corruption case as one of his top 5 most
significant cases. He describes his
role in the case as one in which “he
was initially responsible for the investigation and coordinated over 18
months of court authorized electronic surveillance. The case was
significant to me because in appreciating the insidious nature of public corruption and need for integrity in our public servants.” Yet, he
fails to mention that he was the subject of two internal investigations
by the Justice Department in connection with that very case! Apparently, he has not in fact appreciated
the “insidious nature of public corruption.”
Given the vital importance of the
character of our judges on whom
we rely to safeguard our most basic human rights, and in whom we
trust to profoundly impact our families and the lives of our fellow citizens, Johnson should now fess up
and fully disclose the written findings and results of those investigations.
Choose your judges carefully.
Insist on the facts. Someday, your
life may depend on it.
and they may care less if they lose
a few bucks here and there, so the
people of Las Vegas are the ones to
be next in line to be inconvenienced
and disappointed because Cox
Communications waited until a
week before the Super Bowl to cancel the agreement with KLAS in
Las Vegas.
Since the Prime Cable era —
before the Greenspun family sold
the million dollar only cable company business to Cox Communications by having the exclusive with
the city Channel 2 and the county
Channel 4 — Las Vegas residents
were forced to subscribe to Prime
Cable (now Cox) if anyone wanted
to watch the city council or the
county commission meetings in the
comfort of their home.
With the blessing of KLAS and
local elected officials, Cox Communications for years have maintained the exclusive arrangement,
and when Las Vegas Tribune questioned some of the city and county
officials about this discrimination
to people that cannot afford the high
prices of Cox Communication, the
response has always been the same,
just with a different tone: “Leave it
alone,” “Don’t want to talk about
it,” “I don’t know much about it,”
(See Cox, Page 6)
inducement of subsidies from
power company revenues, often
covering half the cost of installa-
tion. This allowed the owners to
cover their investment within the
20- to 30-year lifetime of the pan-
els, which otherwise would not be
the case.
(See NV Energy, Page 4)
Cox Bullies Channel 8 and Las Vegans
By Las Vegas Tribune Staff
For years the Las Vegas cable
company has been bullying the
people of Las Vegas with the help
of the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas,
KLAS Channel 8 News Now, and
the time has now arrived for Channel 8 to be bullied by its former ally,
Cox Communication.
As always, the issue is about
money; Cox Communication wants
more money for its service and
KLAS refuses to let go of more
money.
Cox knows that KLAS’ parent
corporation has plenty of money
NV Energy proposes grandfathering
existing solar panel customers’ rates
By Thomas Mitchell
The devil is always in the details.
On Monday NV Energy put out
a press release saying it will submit a proposal to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to “grandfather” existing rates for residential
owners of solar panels “to allow
existing net energy metering customers to remain on old rules over
a transition period as long as 20
years.”
Transition to what and how
quickly?
The PUC put into force on Jan.
1 new rates that “transition” over
four years and eventually increase
the connection fee for solar panel
customers from $12.75 to $38.51
and cut the credit for power uploaded to the grid from 11 cents per
kWh to 2.6 cents — to the point
some solar panels owners could be
paying more for power than neighbors without solar panels, hardly a
worthy investment.
Many or most of those existing
solar panels were installed at the encouragement of the state Legislature and NV Energy with the added
New Appellate Court Has Failed Its Purpose
By Rolando Larraz
Las Vegas Tribune
The Feeley story about corruption in the Nevada Courts has been
relaying acts done by a district court
Judge that involved the payment of
obscene legal fees awarded by
Judge Allan Earl.
These fees were awarded from
an out-of-state Trust that was outside the borders of Nevada. The
Constitution of the United States
forbids any state from controlling
any Trust assets located in any other
state.
That has been the law of the land
since 1811 in a case named
Livingston v. Jefferson. Since then,
in the case of Pennoyer v. Neff, they
also came to the same decision in
1878.
In 1958 Hanson v. Denckla was
decided in a Case exactly like
(See Feeley, Page 3)
FROM THE DESK OF GORDON MARTINES
Another Federal Lawsuit filed against Metro
LVMPD uses retired cops and others as agents, to control and cover up misdeeds at Cosmopolitan Hotel
By Gordon Martines
Confirmed sources have revealed yet another Federal lawsuit
against the LVMPD filed by retired
former LVMPD Sgt. Charles R.
Jones, Case No. 2:15-cv-00666RFB-cwh, filed April 13, 2015,
complaining of creating a hostile
work environment, unlawful termination from employment, harass-
ment, and other related charges.
From this Federal Complaint it
is gathered that an unlawful systematic effort was launched by the Cosmopolitan Hotel, to terminate the
employment of one of their investigators, Charles Jones, by use of
the taxpayer resources and sworn
personnel of the LVMPD, Cox
Cable resources, and the personnel
of the Cosmopolitan Hotel, acting
as police agents.
These three entities appeared to
have worked together and are
working together and in conjunction to collaborate, manufacture,
and falsify documents and policy
violations to justify the termination
of employment of retired LVMPD
Sgt. Charles R. Jones from employ-
ment from the Cosmopolitan Hotel. This effort was also aided by the
direct involvement of the LVMPD,
most likely the Intelligence Section,
where Jones’s personal Internet service, computer, and phone were
compromised and intercepted.
There would be no doubt that
Jones’s home was also compro(See From the Desk, Page 5)
Page 2 / LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / January 27-February 2, 2016
My Point of View
(Continued from Page 1)
such statements as: “If you don’t do
what we tell you to do, we will take
away your highway money.” or “If
you don’t play ball with us you will
not get any federal benefit.”
We need to elect people to offices that are independent and have
the courage to stand up and enforce
the law as it reads without any influence from anyone on the outside.
At the beginning of last year I
had the misfortune to appear in
court in my own case in front of
Judge Janiece Marshall, who I erroneously did not support in the last
election. I was a little nervous because I did not know what to expect in her courtroom and how I
was going to be treated, even if I
knew that in part I was wrong.
Well, I was delightfully surprised; the first thing Judge
Marshall did was to, in open court,
TRIBUNE
VOL. 17, NO. 47
FOUNDER
Rolando Larraz
PUBLISHER
AND
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Rolando Larraz
GENERAL MANAGER
Perly Viasmensky
MANAGING EDITOR
Maramis Choufani
PRODUCTION
Don Snook
acknowledge that she knew me and
ask if any of the parties had any
objection to her hearing the case
and then ask if anyone of us wanted
to go out and shop for another
judge.
If we would have said yes, we
would have had a hard time looking for a judge that did not know
me because the courthouse is almost like my second home and
most judges know me or know who
I am.
Little ol’ me was there by myself, facing a judge that I did not
support, with two — not one, but
two — attorneys against me in a
case that I was only partially guilty
of for a reason that was not part of
the court appearance and therefore
clearly immaterial.
I got out of Judge Marshall’s
court satisfied and pleased, but a
little embarrassed that I had not
taken the time to learn a little more
about her when she was running
against an incumbent who had been
on the bench for a long time, was
very popular and presumably very
well liked.
Did you all get my drift? We all
need to learn about our candidates
and we need to make sure that personal feelings do not interfere with
justice; that is why I did not accept
Judge Marshall’s offer to go “out
there shopping for judges”; first,
because as I repeatedly stated, I was
partially guilty; and second, I was
not going to waste the court’s time
by looking for another judge
since something inside me told
me that I was in good hands,
and I believe I was.
We need judges that can put personal feelings aside and impose justice by the evidence and not by likes
or dislikes of the judge towards the
defendant.
Can I say the same thing about a
judge that is under the spell and dictatorship of Dave Thomas? I don’t
know, but I would not like to take
that chance.
Maybe Chief Judge David
Barker keeps an eye on those in
Dave Thomas’ stable and make s
sure that we are all treated right and
fair and that should include the Public Information Office, since I have
learned that they are not allowed to
speak to the Las Vegas Tribune and
yours truly; the last time I spoke on
the telephone with the Chief Judge
he assured me that he would con-
tact the PIO and make sure that I
have the same treatment as any
other member of the media, but it
looks like either the PIO office at
the Regional Justice Center does
not pay attention to the Chief Judge
or he has not been able to make
contact with that department as yet.
My name is Rolando Larraz, and
as always, I approved this column.
*****
Rolando Larraz is Editor in
Chief of the Las Vegas Tribune. His
column appears weekly in this
newspaper. To contact Rolando
Larraz,
email
him
at:
[email protected] or
at 702-272-4634.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Colleen Lloyd
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Kenneth A. Wegner
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January 27-February 2, 2016 / LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / Page 3
Lawsuit challenges practice of
state gifts to private companies
By Thomas Mitchell
Earlier this month the Nevada
Supreme Court heard arguments on
procedural matters in a case that
seeks to have declared unconstitutional the state’s practice of handing out gifts to businesses that agree
to operate in Nevada and create
jobs.
The plaintiff in the case is
Michael Little, owner of a company
that converts recycled landscape
trimmings into biomass, a renewable energy source. The suit grew
out of the fact the Governor’s Office of Economic Development
(GOED) gave $1.2 million to one
of his competitors, SolarCity, a
company that installs solar panels.
That was part of a $10 million Catalyst Fund.
The suit claims the gift to
SolarCity violates the Gift Clause
of the state Constitution, which prohibits the state donating or loaning
money to any company. Little is
represented by Center for Justice
and Constitutional Litigation
(CJCL), a division of the Nevada
Policy Research Institute.
Plaintiff Michael Little
Joseph Becker, chief legal of- ing it’s very difficult to keep a state
ficer and director of the CJCL, said government within its constituhe is pleased the state Supreme tional constraints,” Becker said in
Court agreed to hear arguments on a recent interview. “Forty-six states
whether Little has “standing” as a have at least some form of taxpayer
taxpayer to pursue the lawsuit.
standing, three explicitly have re“It seemed to me the court was jected taxpayer standing, and one
very sympathetic to our plight, and state, up until now, has no taxpayer
that is that absent taxpayer stand- standing jurisprudence whatsoever,
Feeley v. Feeley. A Florida Court
was attempting to probate Trust assets that were located in Delaware.
The US Supreme Court decided
the Case referring to Pennoyer v.
Neff and again confirmed that one
state cannot control assets of another state. Since then, in 1987, a
Case decided by the 5th Circuit —
Hayes v. Gulf Oil — cited numerous precedents including the above
cases.
Further, the 5th Circuit went into
a lengthy analysis of the actual interpretation and meaning of the
“Local Action Doctrine” and that it
has never been questioned as good
law.
Finally, in 2014, a case from the
9th Circuit Eldee K. Properties v.
Direct TV, Inc. referred to the above
5th Circuit Decision as persuasive
and consequently referred to the
“Local Action Doctrine” as being
alive and well as good law.
The above references and precedents clearly establish that the
law of the land in the United States
is that any Court action concerning
property located in any state in the
Union must be brought in the State
where the property sits.
Therefore no state would have
subject matter jurisdiction to make
a binding ruling concerning property located in another state. The
Decisions from the US Supreme
Court such as Pennoyer v. Neff and
Hanson v. Denckla clearly establishes binding and mandatory pre-
cedents that must be followed by
all courts in the United States. There
is no controversy about that fact as
law.
On January 20, 2016, the Nevada Appellate Court made an Affirmance of Judge Earl’s Order in
Feeley v. Feeley. Judge Earl ignored
the long standing principle of the
“Local Action Doctrine” and in
doing so violated the binding and
mandatory obligation to obey the
Constitutional Law of the United
States as established by the Fourteenth Amendment..
With the Nevada Appellate
Court’s Affirmance of such an Order that is unconstitutional the new
Nevada Court has established an
instant lack of credibility, which
calls into question the integrity of
the Nevada Judiciary. Being a new
court that has been assigned cases
from the Supreme Court only since
January 2015, they are off to such
a questionable start that a reconsideration of their very being and value
should be seriously questioned.
How does having a Court that distorts the meaning of a binding US
Supreme Court Decision help the
Nevada Supreme Court lessen their
case load?
Perhaps worse is the very strong
indication that the language in the
Affirmance Decision indicates that
the court struggled to change the
clear meaning of the binding US
Supreme Court Decision. This
raises a very serious question of
whether the new Appellate Court
Feeley
was going to great lengths to protect Judge Earl from facing Federal
charges of bank fraud.
EXCERPT FROM NEVADA
APPELLATE COURT
Clark also relies on Hanson v.
Denckla, 357 U.S. 235 (1958), for
the proposition that, because the
trusts were New Hampshire property, the Nevada court could not
exercise jurisdiction as to the trusts.
But his argument in this regard is
misplaced, as Hanson addressed
whether a Florida court could exercise personal jurisdiction over outof-state parties based on the presence of certain property in Florida.
See 357 U.S. at 250-51. Because the
Hanson court concluded that the
property was not actually located in
Florida, the court further held that
personal jurisdiction could not be
exercised on that basis. Id. Here, no
one has challenged the district
court’s personal jurisdiction over
any of the parties, and thus, Hanson
does not support Clark’s claim that
the district court lacked jurisdiction
over this matter.
The last sentence is nonsensical.
The Hanson Decision clearly states
that the property was not in Florida
so because of that personal jurisdiction could not be exercised on that
basis. The Appellate Court is somehow making an issue that Clark did
not challenge personal jurisdiction
which is considered irrelevant in
Hanson. This is intentional misdirection of the Court and indicates a
nefarious agenda by struggling to
according to legal scholars, and that
state, of course, is the very one in
which we find ourselves. Given the
nature of the questions, I’m optimistic that they see this as problem
and they’re willing to address it.”
A ruling giving Little standing
as a taxpayer would send the case
back to district court to be heard on
its merits.
Becker explained that CJCL is
in the business of trying to set precedent that serves the public interest, and having the Supreme Court
say a taxpayer has standing to challenge unconstitutional tax expenditures is very important.
The Supreme Court hearing
gave Becker the chance to point out
to the court the fact that the voters
have on three occasions rejected
attempts to amend the state Constitution and remove the Gift Clause
— in 1992, 1996 and again in 2000
by wide majorities.
Gift clauses started appearing in
state constitutions in the mid-1800s
after state governments in the East
invested heavily in private companies building infrastructure such as
canals and railroads that went bust.
The states of Indiana, Illinois and
Michigan were bankrupted as a result.
The Nevada Constitution specifically states: “The State shall not
donate or loan money, or its credit,
subscribe to or be, interested in the
Stock of any company, association,
or corporation, except corporations
formed for educational or charitable
purposes.”
“We needed a vote of the people
to change the Constitution, which
never happened, but now suddenly
its OK for the state to do something
that up until now, even they insisted, would take a constitutional
amendment,” Becker said bemusedly. “I tried to make that point and
I think I did,” noting the justices
asked for citations about the balloting.
Becker also noted the very timeliness of the case in light of the fact
SolarCity, after drawing $400,000
of its allocated $1.2 million, announced just before Christmas that
it is ceasing new operations in
(See Lawsuit, Page 4)
protect Judge Earl.
HANSON & DENCKLA
EXCERPT
Prior to the Fourteenth Amendment an exercise of jurisdiction
over persons or property outside the
forum State was thought to be an
absolute nullity,[21] but the matter
250*250 remained a question of
state law over which this Court exercised no authority.[22] With the
adoption of that Amendment, any
judgment purporting to bind the
person of a defendant over whom
the court had not acquired in personam jurisdiction was void within
the State as well as without.
Pennoyer v. Neff, 95 U.S. 714.
Nearly a century has passed without this Court being called upon to
apply that principle to an in rem
judgment dealing with property
outside the forum State. The invalidity of such a judgment within the
forum State seems to have been assumed — and with good reason.
Since a State is forbidden to enter a
judgment attempting to bind a person over whom it has no jurisdiction, it has even less right to enter a
judgment purporting to extinguish
the interest of such a person in property over which the court has no
jurisdiction.[23] Therefore, so far as
it purports to rest upon jurisdiction
over the trust assets, the judgment
of the Florida court cannot be sustained. Sadler v. Industrial Trust
Co., 327 Mass. 10, 97 N.E. 2d 169.
Personal jurisdiction is irrelevant exactly like Hanson v.
Denckla Ruled. The real property
was located in New Hampshire
therefore the Nevada Court did not
have rem jurisdiction over the res.
Judge Earl’s agenda was to pay
all lawyers in his court. If he did
not have jurisdiction over a New
Hampshire Trust he could not
award any fees because that is
where all the money was held.
Clark Feeley had bought a
Cashier’s Check from People’s
United Bank, with headquarters in
Bridgeport Connecticut, to protect
the Trust assets from a judge with a
contemplation of seizing Trust assets to pay out-of-state attorneys.
That intention on the part of the
Judge was unconstitutional and any
Order from Judge Earl would be
void.
Nevertheless, Judge Earl began
a scheme to induce People’s United
Bank to stop payment on their commitment to honor the Cashier’s
Check that they issued to Clark.
This action perpetrated by Judge
Earl is considered a scheme and
Class “A” Felony. 18 U.S.C. 1014.
Judge Earl realized that payment
of the Cashier’s Check could not be
stopped unless he signed an Order
declaring that the check was lost,
destroyed, or stolen.
He signed such an Order on August 20, 2013 fully aware that Clark
Feeley possessed the check. This
Judge Earl action was fraud under
18 U.S.C. 1344.
The New Nevada Appellate
Court made another nefarious and
silly statement in their Affirmation.
They contend that Clark failed to
raise the issues of the Cashier’s
Check in his Appeal that was filed
on January 21, 2014, and his brief
filed in March.
Clark did not discover the issue
of the fraudulent order and “Stipulation Agreement” until April 2014.
All Orders issued by Judge Earl
would be ruled null and void due
to lack of subject matter jurisdiction which can be raised at any time.
The above dismissal of the
Cashier’s Check issue by the New
Nevada Appellate Court is another
definitive example of the corruption
exhibited by the Court to protect a
Judge from answering for a crime
done under the color of law.
Clark Feeley is asking, as should
the people of Nevada, if this New
Nevada Appellate Court should be
allowed to continue. It seems to be
a bad idea to increase the corruption of Nevada Courts by the existence of an Appellate Court that is
supposed to uphold laws and correct mistakes, but instead actually
protects Judges who commit Class
“A” Felonies.
This Order would never be in the
best interest of the beneficiaries,
and the monies asked to be returned
to Nevada is fraud under 18 U.S.C.
1344.
The monies were never in Nevada.
Seven-day sprint to Iowa
By Niall Stanage
The Hill
The 2016 presidential candidates
are entering the final sprint to the
Iowa caucuses, which take place
one week from Monday.
The fight for outright victory is
fierce in both parties, with Bernie
Sanders apparently gaining steam
against Democratic front-runner
Hillary Clinton, while Donald
Trump and Ted Cruz duke it out on
the Republican side.
But the Iowa caucuses are not
only about who comes first. They
have long served to winnow the
number of contenders, something of
particular relevance given the large
Republican field this year.
Here’s what the candidates will
be hoping to accomplish in the next
seven days — and what their objectives will be on caucus night itself.
REPUBLICANS
Businessman Donald Trump
Trump is now the definitive favorite for the Republican nomination, despite the fact that his demise
has been predicted again and again.
Victory in Iowa is by no means
assured for the real estate mogul.
But he has bounced back into the
lead in the RealClearPolitics (RCP)
average of polls in the state after
brief periods during which Ben
Carson and, more recently, Cruz
had displaced him.
Cruz is clearly his toughest competitor, in part because the Texan’s
social conservatism looks to be a
snugger fit than Trump’s braggadocio for the sensibilities of Iowa Republicans.
NV Energy
NV Energy has not yet stated
what its rates eventually would be
or what the rate curve will be.
The power company announcement came about the same time the
PUC voted to rehear the
grandfathering issue after rejecting
it a couple of weeks ago. There is
also a group planning to file a petition that would seek voter approval
of the old net metering rules and
rates.
“This grandfathering proposal is
being offered in recognition of NV
Energy’s desire to treat all customers, including those who had previously made a decision to install
rooftop solar, fairly,” the press release quotes Paul Caudill, NV Energy president and chief executive
officer, as saying.
The release also said that the
company did not take a position on
grandfathering in its original filing
with the PUC in July.
In fact, it was the PUC staff that
proposed abrogating existing contracts with residential solar panel
owners and rolling out the much
higher rates.
Public buildings and schools are
exempted, of course.
“The staff recommendation
would bring all net metering customers, including those in the current program, under the new rate
structure,” An Aug. 22 newspaper
story relates.
Net metering is basically a system by which home solar panels
that generate more power than the
home is using upload power to the
grid and get those kilowatt-hours
deducted from the monthly bill at
whatever the current retail rate is.
According to an earlier story NV
Energy had proposed that future
rooftop solar panel customers
would get credited for so-called “returned” power at a rate of only 5.5
cents per kWh instead of the current 11.6 cents.
NV Energy now says it will submit its new proposal to the PUC on
Feb. 1 and propose letting current
solar panel owners “remain on the
old net energy metering rules over
a transition period as long as 20
years.” Again, what transition
means is not explained.
The PUC’s new net metering
Iowa’s caucuses are one week from Monday.
Trump’s outsider cachet has got- polling lead. From there, he would heatedly recently. But a secondten him this far, however. And he be hard to stop.
place finish would be far from fahas played the media game masterBut if Trump underperforms, his tal. His longer-term hope is that the
fully, most recently in his an- enemies will seize on that as evi- multi-candidate field is ultimately
nouncement, at an Iowa rally, of an dence that his bubble is finally narrowed to a two-horse race beendorsement from 2008 Republican bursting.
tween Trump and himself. Iowa
vice presidential candidate Sarah
Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas)
looks set to help him toward that
Palin. The Palin event kept Trump
Cruz has a very real shot at win- goal, unless he significantly
in command of media coverage and ning Iowa. He led in some polls of underperforms.
starved his rivals of publicity at a Republican voters in the state as
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
crucial stage.
recently as last week.
Rubio is in third place in the
Now, he needs to avoid any last
To that end, he can be expected RCP average in Iowa, but both
minute erosions in his standing and to pound home his message of vig- Trump and Cruz have more than
prove that his campaign has the orous, anti-establishment conserva- twice as much support.
ground game to meet the challenges tism during the next week on subFor Rubio, the real battle is not
of a caucus system.
jects from national security to the with the candidates in front of him
If he emerges the winner on Feb role of religion in public life.
but with those immediately behind.
1., he is expected to roll on to vicIt would be a blow to Cruz’s His niche is as a conservative who
tory in the Feb. 9 New Hampshire pride if he were bested by Trump, is purportedly more electable than
primary, where he holds a bigger with whom he has been jousting Trump or Cruz and more acceptable
to centrists. If someone else with
similar appeal were to finish ahead
rates ignited a storm of protests, liti- equity that would be necessary if of him in Iowa, he could be in
trouble.
gation and acrimony largely di- NV Energy were the builder.
That looks unlikely for now, but
rected at NV Energy.
According to filings with the
it
remains
within the bounds of pos“We also understand the history PUC, NV Energy agreed to pay
sibility.
In
one poll released last
of net metering in Nevada and that 3.87 cents a kWh for power from
week,
Rubio
edged Jeb Bush by just
a fair, stable and predictable cost First Solar’s plant plus a 3 percent
two
points
and
Chris Christie by
environment is important to all of a year escalating charge — which
five.
our customers,” Caudill said. “Our pencils out to about 5.2 cents over
Rubio is just looking to emerge
proposal seeks a balance for those 20 years — and 4.6 cents a kWh
from
Iowa unscathed and ready to
who selected solar prior to the with no escalator for power from
fight
another
day.
implementation of the new rules SunPower Corp.’s project.
Retired
neurosurgeon
ordered by the PUCN and those
At the time of the contract neBen
Carson
without solar.”
gotiations the Energy Policy Act of
Carson
needs
to pull a major
Shawn Elicegui, NV Energy se- 2005 was set to expire at the end of
upset
in
Iowa
if
he
is to have any
nior vice president of regulatory 2016 and would have ended investchance
of
rekindling
his chances.
and strategic planning, also at- ment tax credits amounting to 30
That
seems
unlikely
given
his retempted to make the company look percent of the value of solar
less the villain of the piece.
“The December 23, 2015 Commission order was the result of a
fully litigated, public proceeding
made on the basis of a sound evidentiary record. The record includes two hearings, the testimony
of 28 witnesses, more than 100 exhibits, and hours of transcribed testimony. NV Energy’s rate proposal
was not accepted by the PUCN, but
recognizing the open public regulatory process, we will fully comply with the balance of the
order,”Elicegui said. “We feel
strongly, however, that the
grandfathering proposal we plan to
make fairly balances the interests
of all of NV Energy’s customers
and stakeholders.”
Might also keep the company
from having to spend time and
money on litigation and endless
hearings.
Grandfathering of existing solar
panels does nothing for the thousands of jobs lost by solar panel
installers due to the new metering
rates.
Also on Monday the PUC put
out a press release announcing the
approval of 20-year renewable energy contracts that add 129 megawatts of solar generation capacity
in Clark County — the 79-megawatt Playa Solar 1 project owned
by First Solar and the 50-megawatt
Boulder Solar II facility owned by
SunPower.
The release said the price is less
than 4 cents per kilowatt-hour and
noted that, because the plants are
owned by independent companies,
ratepayers will not incur any risks
and will to have to pay a return on
projects.
That doubtlessly twisted the
arms of the First Solar and Sun
Power to make a deal while they
could still make a profit.
Since then Congress extended
the tax credits through 2019, after
which they decline gradually to 10
percent in 2022. After 2022 the tax
credit will be eliminated for residential solar panels but will continue at 10 percent for commercial
ones.
Without the subsidies, tax credits and favorable rate structures solar panels for homes or industry
simply don’t pencil out.
Lawsuit
cent decline. He needs, at minimum, a strong third-place showing.
“The Governors”: Former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio
Gov. John Kasich
The hopes of all three candidates
are pinned on New Hampshire, but
that makes it important that they put
in a respectable showing in Iowa.
To a large extent, they are competing against each other. Even besting
their rivals by a couple of percentage points could have a big effect
on shaping perceptions in New
Hampshire.
The rest: Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.),
businesswoman Carly Fiorina,
former Arkansas Gov. Mike
Huckabee, former Sen. Rick
Santorum (Pa.)
The fact that Paul is the best performing of this quartet in the RCP
average, with 3.4 percent backing,
says it all. For Huckabee and
Santorum, the winners of the Iowa
caucuses in 2008 and 2012, respectively, the end seems near. Both
men rely heavily on evangelical
support, but they have been overshadowed by other candidates.
Fiorina’s moment in the sun happened several months ago, in the
wake of a strong debate performance, and was short-lived
DEMOCRATS
Former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
Clinton and her allies have been
attacking Bernie Sanders with vigor
in recent days — a shift that underlines how serious a threat she faces
from the Vermont senator.
The Clinton team has been lashing out at Sanders on foreign policy,
healthcare and even his apparent
difficulty in winning over black
voters.
For Clinton, it’s vitally important to avoid a re-run of the 2008
primary, where a loss in Iowa at the
hands of then-Sen. Barack Obama
(D-Ill.) inflicted a blow from which
her campaign never entirely recovered.
Clinton leads Sanders in the
RCP average, but nerves will be
heightened on both sides because
the polls have been extremely volatile, ranging even within the past
week from one showing a 29-point
Clinton lead to another indicating
(See Iowa, Page 6)
Nevada and laying off 550 employees after the state Public Utilities Commission drastically increased the connection fees for solar panel owners
and slashed the amount paid for solar power uploaded to the grid.
Becker noted his organization has been arguing all along that the reason these Gift Clause provisions were put in Western constitutions is because of the experience of those bankrupted Eastern states, where taxpayers found themselves having to bail out government spending boondoggles that benefited some private party that was somehow friendly with
the people in office.
“I pointed out to the court that this is exactly the kind of problem that
this provision was intended to prevent and the voters didn’t want that
changed,” the attorney said. “It is the court’s job to protect against the
tyranny of the majority, but here we’re protecting against the power elite.”
Pure cronyism.
Illegal immigration’s new normal in America
The summer of 2014 saw huge numbers of Central American women and children cross
the U.S. border. Now, it’s happening again, and the factors driving it haven’t changed.
By Lourdes Medrano
Christian Science Monitor
TUCSON, ARIZ. — Undocumented immigrant families are being detained at the United States
border in numbers not seen since
2014, suggesting that the surge in
illegal immigration that summer
was not an aberration but the establishment of a new normal.
A dramatic rise in the number of
unaccompanied children crossing
the border in 2014 strained the
country’s ability to cope with them
legally and humanely. Indeed,
a new Associated Press report
suggests that the surge taxed the
system so severely that some children have been released into abusive homes or trafficked into slavery.
By some measures, U.S. authorities are better prepared for the current influx, with the Department of
Health and Human Services using
churches and nonprofit groups to
take in the rising inflow of migrant
children — with plans to open more
shelters by April.
But the need appears to be, if
anything, greater. Migrants from El
Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, in particular, continue to head
north to escape extreme poverty,
escalating violence, and crumbling
government institutions.
In the last three months of 2015,
when illegal border crossings typically drop, the border patrol detained 21,469 Central Americans
traveling as a family. That’s nearly
triple the 2014 numbers during the
same period, according to the latest Border and Customs Protection
data. Meanwhile, the number of
children traveling alone more than
doubled to 17,370.
The new uptick comes after several months of decreasing border
detentions, something analysts attribute primarily to a crackdown in
Mexico that since 2014 has deported record numbers of Central
Americans back to their home
countries. But current migration
patterns suggest that Central Americans and those who smuggle them
across borders are gradually adjusting to Mexico’s strengthened enforcement, finding alternate routes.
Experts don’t expect that to
change anytime soon. And so the
U.S. is looking to help Central
American governments address
root problems for the exodus — but
it will take time to produce results,
says Maureen Meyer, who directs
Mexico programs for the Washington Office on Latin America.
“It’s clear we’re going to see
high numbers of Central Americans
being apprehended at the U.S.Mexico border and in Mexico for
the next few years,” says Ms.
Meyer. “The odds are that in the
short term, the situation in Central
America is not going to change.”
‘They know they’ll
be released’
The sharp rise in families and
unaccompanied children from Central America comes during a presidential campaign that has seen Republicans fight to establish who is
toughest on illegal immigration.
In January, the Obama administration launched a series of depor-
tation raids mostly against women
and children from El Salvador,
Guatemala, and Honduras who
were ruled legally ineligible for legal U.S. status — an operation
viewed largely as an attempt to
quell the rising migrant flow.
Border patrol agents say a strong
incentive luring migrants to the US
is the sense that many who have
come since 2014 are still in the
country, says Shawn Moran,
spokesman for the National Border
Patrol Council, the union representing agents.
“They come here in the hopes of
being caught because they know
they’ll be released into American
society,” Mr. Moran says of Central Americans. “That’s what we’re
hearing from the people we’re detaining.”
This is partly true. By law, the
federal government must offer protection to unaccompanied minors
who cross the border. They undergo
medical screenings and mental
health assessments. Most are turned
over to family members already in
the US as their legal cases move
forward.
But the processing of families,
mostly women and children, has
evolved since 2014. When mothers
and their children first began reaching the border in large numbers,
many were released into the community. As the numbers soared, the
government began to detain families longer and deport them faster,
a strategy that has come under scrutiny in and out of court.
Still, “many families, particularly those who have expressed a
fear of going home or a desire to
apply for asylum, remain here,”
says Faye Hipsman, associate
policy analyst with the Migration
Policy Institute in Washington.
“The immigration court backlogs
are so long that not a lot of these
cases have not been resolved yet.”
Knowing that a relative, friend,
or neighbor has been allowed to
stay in the U.S. may strengthen
migrants’ resolve to cross the border, Ms. Hipsman adds.
The most recent US budget aims
to address the root causes for Central American immigration by tilting regional aid more toward economic development and away from
security issues. The $750 billion in
aid also “establishes a series of
strong conditions on what Central
American governments have to
(See Immigration, Page 7)
amples of criminal corruption that
have been going on, and are still
going on, in the LVMPD.
I personally wish Charles Jones
all the luck in the world with his
Federal Lawsuit against the
LVMPD Police Administration. If
there was a way to move this lawsuit to another jurisdiction, one
should seriously consider this, as
this jurisdiction is totally corrupt all
the way to the top, where the deck
is stacked.
The only way that I see this lawsuit ever producing the desired result is for this to go to trial, which
would supposedly bring out into the
light all the bad apples involved. I
predict legal maneuvering, coercion, and threats by the LVMPD,
will prevent this from happening to
exposing their backsides.
I personally have experience
with these unlawful tactics of the
LVMPD. In June of 2014, arrangements were made through the Law
office of LVMPD Contract Attorney Nick Crosby, to return issued
property belonging to the LVMPD,
and to receive back my personal
belongings from my police office
desk. This exchange of property
occurred without incident at Attorney Nick Crosby’s office in June
2014. Two months later while sorting out my returned property (not
all of it) at home, I noticed that there
was “ child porn” inserted between
my returned personal documents. I
immediately prepared a complaint
against Nick Crosby, the LVMPD,
and all those involved in this planting of child porn evidence into my
returned property, which was
closely filtered through by LVMPD
personnel and the Law Office of
Nick Crosby, before handing it personally back to me.
I sent this complaint to seven fax
numbers including IAB and the
Sheriffs office, without anyone returning any acknowledgment of my
complaint. I have repeatedly published articles in the Las Vegas Tribune regarding this LVMPD despicable tactic to falsely discredit me;
this was all initiated by the
LVMPD. I have also resubmitted
this complaint to IAB and have received no reply.
With that being said, I wish
Charles Jones all the best, and if
there is something that I can help
with, I hope he will let me know.
Remember to keep your faith,
keep you gun, and they can keep
their change.
In God We Trust
Gordon Martines is a former
LVMPD detective who has served
in many capacities over his 39-year
career in law enforcement. He was
a candidate for sheriff in 2002,
2006, 2010 and 2014, with the intention of bringing integrity and accountability back to the department,
and filed a federal lawsuit against
LVMPD in 2011. Martines has appeared on “Face The Tribune” radio show several times and is currently the host of “Open Mic” on
Tuesdays and Thursday at 11:00
a.m. He contributes his opinions
and ideas to the Las Vegas Tribune
to keep the public informed and
help improve policing in Las Vegas.
Gordon Martines can be contacted
via email at [email protected].
Immigrants from El Salvador who entered the country illegally walk to a bus after they were released from
a family detention center in San Antonio on July 7, 2015.
From The Desk
mised by the use of secret audio and
video devices installed inside his
home by LVMPD law enforcement
technicians, as they also impersonated Cox Cable employees.
As is pretty much standard investigative techniques, other retired
police officers that were previously
friends with Jones, were called into
play to gather intel from Jones, despicably using their previous friendship as a means to get close and be
trusted by Jones.
I personally put nothing beyond
reality for the LVMPD to falsely
create evidence that would demonize Charles R. Jones, and subvert
his Federal Complaint against the
LVMPD, Cosmopolitan Hotel, Cox
Cable and possibly others. This particular scenario is rather common,
actually, whereby the hotels usually
employ retired police officers to
staff their security department so as
to make use of their previous connection to the police department,
their databases, and their taxpayer
use of sworn personnel resources.
The infamous HOA Scandal, the
phony 68 million dollar radio system, the false reporting and omission of Hotel and Casino armed robberies, the cover up of Officer Involved Shooting incidents and murders (2007 LVMPD Officer Kevin
Scott Dailey), not to mention the
lucrative ongoing drug trafficking
scheme (code named “White
Fence”) are just some of the ex-
How to be fair in setting rates for electric power... or not
By Thomas Mitchell
Oh, what a tangled tariff the bureaucrats weave when they attempt
to be abundantly fair.
The Public Utilities Commission
and NV Energy have decided that
those who actually did what state
lawmakers wanted them to do —
go green and install residential solar panels — are now unfairly cost
shifting by not buying enough kilowatt-hours of electricity to cover the
base costs. A portion of the cost of
each kWh is basic infrastructure
such as power plants and transmission lines as well as salaries and
other overhead. The rest is the cost
of actually generating or purchasing electricity.
In the arcane argot of the PUC
these are called Base Tariff General
Base (BTGR) and Base Tariff Energy Rate (BTER). The cost breakdown is about 7 cent a kWh for
BTGR and 4 cents for BTER.
Apparently, the PUC has decided that those with solar panels
aren’t paying their fair share of the
BTGR because they buy fewer
kWh than those who don’t own so-
lar panels. Thus 7 cents of those
unused kWh must be paid by nonpanel owners.
How owning solar panels differs
from merely being frugal and using fewer kWh differs only in the
fact solar panel output can be quantified and frugality can’t. How dare
some people not pay their fair share
and opt to sweat in the summer heat
instead of turning on the air conditioner. Get the torches and pitchforks.
The PUC answer is new tariffs
for solar panel owners who are on
a net metering system. Over four
years the PUC will raise the basic
connection fee for those customers
from $12.75 to $38.51 and cut the
credit for power uploaded to the
grid from 11 cents per kWh to 2.6
cents — turning what is currently
an asset into a liability, driving
down the value of a solar equipped
home instead of increasing it. Might
that be a taking under the Fifth
Amendment?
And the PUC is being completely disingenuous about it. In its
recent tariff order they had the au-
dacity to say:
The Commission notes that the
NPC (Nevada Power Company)
single-family residential class average annual bill increase in the first
year of the new NEM rates is
$20.15, which equates to just $1.68
per month on average. This will not
cause irreparable harm, especially
when put in the context of a total
average bill of $2,156.54 for a residential non-NEM ratepayer. By
By Suzanne Potter
Nevada News Service
LAS VEGAS - Despite the improved economy, many Nevada
families lack a financial cushion.
But a few small changes could
make it easier for them to build up
their savings according to a new
policy brief released Tuesday.
The brief, from the Annie E.
Casey Foundation is called “Investing in Tomorrow: Helping Families
Build Savings and Assets.”
Right now in many states public
programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families actually
discourage saving - by cutting
people off if they have more than a
few thousand dollars in assets.
Beadsie Woo, senior associate
with the Casey Foundation, says all
families need a financial cushion.
“Saving, both for short-term
emergencies such as a car repair,”
she says. “But it’s also saving for
long-term aspirations like post-secondary education, or chances that
will change their kids’ lives.
In 2014 Nevada actually increased the asset limits from $2,000
to $6,000. But the policy brief recommends the federal government
raise it to $12,125 in savings, about
three month’s worth of wages for a
low-income family of four. The
brief also suggests that legislators
consider setting up an individual
savings account for each American
child at birth and putting in some
seed money, perhaps $1,000, to get
families started saving.
The brief also highlights a persistent racial gap in family assets.
Woo notes that between 2010 and
2013, white families’ net worth increased by 2 percent while black
and Latino families saw theirs go
down by 34 and 15 percent, respectively.
“The racial wealth gap is growing, and that’s putting children of
color at a huge disadvantage,” she
says. “Policies that make it easier
for families to save can go a long
way to helping children have better futures.
The analysis also recommends
the government promote entry-level
retirement accounts called MyRAs
and better market the Family SelfSufficiency Program to encourage
home ownership.
“It was before my time,” giving the
clear impression that no one wants
to talk about the issue.
Cox Communications wants
more money, but every month their
price goes up and the service is
much less.
KLAS-TV Channel 8’s parent
company, Texas-based Nexstar, and
Cox Communications have been
unable to reach a new distribution
agreement, including the price Cox
will pay for the CBS affiliate’s programming.
Efforts to reach Lisa Howfield,
Channel 8’s general manager, were
successful, however, her comments
were not available at press time and
the efforts to reach someone at Cox
Communication were totally useless, because the company executives are as well isolated as NV
Energy executives, and a telephone
operator by the name of Lamar told
the Las Vegas Tribune that they are
not allowed to ring the telephone
for any executive.
Las Vegas KCLV Channel 2 and
Clark County Channel 4 are supposed to be public channels to serve
the constituents of these jurisdictions.
Wikipedia describes a public
channel as Public-access television,
which is traditionally a form of noncommercial mass media where the
general public can create content,
which is narrowly cast through
cable television specialty channels.
Public-access television was created in the United States between
1969 and 1971 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
under Chairman Dean Burch, based
on pioneering work and advocacy
of George Stoney, Red Burns (Alternate Media Center), and Sidney
Dean (City Club of NY).
But Las Vegas and county officials have kidnapped the public
channel by taking over the programming for their political benefit
and propaganda.
Las Vegas Tribune has endeavored on several occasions to obtain
air time on both Channel 2 and
Channel 4 and the idea was dismissed by both city and county
elected officials.
Public-access television is often
grouped with public, educational
and government access television
channels, by the acronym PEG.
PEG channels are typically only
available on cable television systems.
Many of the people that have
spoken to the newspaper believe
that maybe this is the time to get
rid of Cox Cable by switching to
another provider; if Cox does not
have customers, they can no longer
bully Las Vegans.
Perhaps in the ’70s when Prime
Cable began to operate in Clark
County and was the only game in
town, the subscribers had no other
choice, but that is not the case today with several other companies
operating in the area.
adding a rooftop solar system and
taking service under the new NEM
rates, a residential ratepayer will
still save 51 percent on their annual
electric bill, compared to 52 percent
under the old NEM rates.
By their own calculations (see
page 5) the “typical” residential
solar panel owner will see power
bills increase 2.1 percent in the first
year and 45.2 percent in 2020. But
that is for the “typical” solar panel
owner. I’m told that those who installed photovoltaic arrays that gen-
Changes needed to encourage
saving, narrow racial wealth gap Iowa
Cox
erate nearly as much power as their
homes use — arrays that produce
more than 100 percent are not allowed, of course — may see their
power bills increase as much as 300
percent.
But, to be fair, shouldn’t everyone pay for the BTGR?
Let’s say the “typical” customer
uses 1,000 kWh per month. Then it
would be fair to charge 7 cents for
BRGR or $70 and 4 cents for BTER
or $40 for a total of $110. That’s 11
cents per kWh.
But the person who uses only
500 kWh would get a bill for $90
or 18 cents per kWh, and the person who uses 2,000 kWh would pay
$150 or 7.5 cents per.
Someone’s ox is always gored.
Of course, speaking of fairness,
public buildings and schools will
not have their net metering tariffs
changed.
The power company does not
make money by selling power. It
makes money by getting a return on
equity of about 10 percent, lately
higher for NV Energy. The more
equity — power plants and transmission lines — the greater the
profit.
an 8-point advantage for Sanders.
Clinton will be emphasizing what her team sees as Sanders’s vulnerabilities in the next seven days, particularly the question marks over how
much of his agenda he could actually achieve if elected. The lessons of
2008 have also led the Clinton camp to put much more resources and
infrastructure in place in Iowa this time.
If that pays off on caucus night, she could nip Sanders’s candidacy in
the bud. But if she loses, she will need to ready herself for a long, and
probably bitter, struggle for the nomination
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Can a Sanders surge carry him to victory?
During November and December, Sanders seemed likely to be consigned to a decent but distant second-place in Iowa — in mid-December,
Clinton’s lead over him in the RCP average was around 17 points. But
that picture has been transformed recently, and Sanders now has a real
chance of winning.
An Iowa victory would be transformative for the Sanders campaign in
a way that victory in New Hampshire would not. The Granite State was
always a better bet for him, in part because his political base is next door,
in Vermont. But an Iowa victory would bring the prospect of Sanders
opening up a 2-0 lead over Clinton, a scenario that would shake up the
political world.
Sanders will likely keep sounding the same messages in the next seven
days as he has done since his campaign began. His elbows have become
sharper recently, and that trend will likely continue as well.
Most of all, though, Sanders needs an influx of new caucusgoers and a
big turnout across the board from liberal Democrats.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley
O’Malley matters only in so far as he might impact the Clinton-Sanders race. He polls at only around 5 percent in Iowa. In many precincts, his
supporters will not reach the threshold of viability, and so they can either
go home or join up with one of the two major candidates.
One question is whether O’Malley might send any smoke signals as to
whom he would like them to choose as their second preference.
Beyond that, unless O’Malley dramatically outperforms expectations,
his exit from the race will likely come sooner rather than later.
Immigration advocates hail
decision by Supreme Court to
hear major immigration case
By Suzanne Potter
Nevada News Service
CARSON CITY— Immigration
advocates in Nevada are hailing the
U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to
hear a case that could shield millions of undocumented immigrants
from deportation.
The court will hear arguments in
April on a case that challenges
President Obama’s executive orders
that extended the program called
Deferred Action for Parents of
Americans, which would give temporary work permits to people
brought here as children, and established Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which gives work
permits to the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
“What’s at stake is the lives of
millions of undocumented people
and mixed-status families and their
ability to stay together,” said Arlene
Rivera, executive director of the
Immigrant Justice Initiative in Las
Vegas.
Immigration
Texas filed suit against the
Obama administration and was
joined by 26 other states, including
Nevada, claiming that the executive
action exceeded the president’s constitutional powers.
The American Immigration
Council estimates that anywhere
from 70,000 to 100,000 undocumented immigrants in Nevada
could benefit from DAPA and extended DACA. Rivera said she’s
happy that the court will hear the
case before the election because
several justices are expected to retire in the next few years.
“The vacancies, depending on
our president, will come to alter the
decision, which will be either progressive or conservative,” she said.
“So a lot rests on this happening
now. If they do enact these policies
now, it’ll be really difficult to take
those rights away later.
The Supreme Court is expected
to issue a ruling in June. Details of
the case are online at
ca5.uscourts.gov.
demonstrate before funds are released to them,” notes Adriana Beltrán in
an analysis of the budget for the Washington Office on Latin America.
‘No work, no help, nothing’
Maria Pascual Juan says she was well aware when she decided to leave
Guatemala and sneak across the US-Mexico border that she risked being
deported, but she chose to make a long, clandestine journey north anyway to try to improve her lot in life.
“There’s nothing for poor people in Guatemala,” she said in an interview earlier this month. “No work, no help, nothing.”
The 30-year-old woman and her 11-year-old daughter, Ana, managed
to evade immigration authorities in Mexico and later slip under the U.S.Mexico border fence into Arizona. Border agents soon picked them up
and, after a short time in detention, released them at a Tucson shelter run
by a religious organization.
The possibility of living and working in this country, even on a shortterm basis, was enough to pull Ms. Pascual Juan north. Employment in
Guatemala has been scarce since a fungus ravaged the coffee crops that
her family relied on for a living, she says.
“There is no other work,” she adds.
She and her husband, Julio Mateo, planned separate trips to the US a
month apart, which gave them time to borrow enough money to cover
smugglers’ fees for themselves and their two daughters. Each traveled
with a child — she with their oldest and he with their toddler, Eulogia.
Border agents detained father and daughter in the Texas Rio Grande
Valley, where most border-crossers from countries other than Mexico are
still coming — even as they disperse to other parts of Texas, Arizona, and
California. Pascual Juan and her daughter landed in Arizona, and after a
night, agents dropped off the pair at a shelter owned by Catholic Community Services. Volunteers there help house and feed the families before
helping them make travel arrangements so they can join relatives living
in other states.
After a couple of days at the Tucson shelter, Pascual Juan and her
daughter boarded a bus to Nebraska, where the whole family reunited.
Though relieved to have everyone together again, Pascual Juan worries
that neither she, nor her husband, will be allowed to work here even temporarily.
The U.S. government monitors her husband’s movements through an
ankle bracelet — a Department of Homeland Security alternative to the
detention of women and children. The family now awaits hearings before
an immigration judge.
“I hope we are allowed to stay here so we can work for a while,” the
mother says. “That’s what we want more than anything. That’s why we
came here, to work.”
An outreach
program to help
the homeless to
help themselves.
CHAPLAINSTEVENSTJOHN.COM
Targeting Nevada’s remaining uninsured
Open enrollment ends on Sunday, January 31
By Suzanne Potter
Nevada News Service
CARSON CITY — Time is
short for Nevadans to sign up for
subsidized health insurance through
the state marketplace; the deadline
is just six days away.
The annual three-month open
enrollment period to be covered for
this year ends on Sunday. So, Nevada Health Link is launching a big
push to get people who are uninsured to enroll.
Mike Perry, a pollster with Perry
Undem Research Communications,
has analyzed why some people are
still holding back.
“Their
feelings
about
affordability are based more on
their own family budget, knowing
that there’s just no money left over
at the end of the month,” says Perry.
“Particularly that group that has not
yet gone to the marketplace, it’s the
perception that they can’t afford it.
It’s not really based on factual
knowledge.
Nevada has an uninsured rate of
14 percent. That may be high, but
it’s a lot better than 20 percent,
which is what it was before the Affordable Care Act took effect. Statistics show almost three-quarters of
the state’s uninsured population
lives in Clark County.
Perry says his research shows
that people who already signed up
in recent weeks did so to get pro-
tection from big medical bills, and
to avoid the federal penalty for not
having insurance, which starts at
about $700 a person. He adds
there’s still a big knowledge gap
around the marketplace and the subsidies available to help many people
pay for their coverage.
“For example, we found 73 percent of the uninsured who have not
yet gone to the marketplace say they
either don’t understand the marketplace, or have never heard of it before,” says Perry.
To sign up for health insurance
through the marketplace, or find a
trained navigator who can help you
with the signup process, look online
at NevadaHealthLink.com.
Las Vegas Tribune is
not supporting any of
these candidates yet,
however...
Donald Trump
Carly Fiorina
Ben Carson
We want you to research, read
and learn about these Americans
who are not career politicians
and are willing to give up their
private lives to save this nation,
and then make your choice.
National Review publishes anti-Donald
Trump issue. Will that stop him?
The magazine — founded by legendary conservative William F. Buckley — follows its own editorial with submissions from
22 right-leaning thought leaders on why the reality star/real estate mogul shouldn’t be entrusted with the reins of power.
By Peter Grier
Worried that some members of
the Republican establishment are
getting used to the idea that Donald
Trump might win the party’s presidential nomination, the venerable
National Review has just published
an extraordinary anti-Trump screed.
The magazine — founded by
legendary New York conservative
William F. Buckley — follows its
own tough Trump editorial with
submissions from 22 right-leaning
thought leaders on the subject of
why the reality star/real estate mogul shouldn’t be entrusted with the
reins of American power.
Why such concerted opposition?
The magazine’s central problem
with Mr. Trump seems to be not so
much personal as ideological. NR’s
editors appear concerned that The
Donald’s free-flowing populism
could change the very nature of the
right end of the U.S. political spectrum. Under President Trump, Mr.
Buckley’s old ideas about limited
and orderly government might end
up in history’s dustbin.
“Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who
would trash the broad conservative
ideological consensus within the
GOP in favor of a free-floating
populism with strong-man overtones,” concludes the NR editorial.
Just to be clear, not all the contributors to the stop-Trump effort
appear to be anti-Trump absolutists.
Conservative commentator Erick
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the South Point Hotel, Casino, and Spa
in Las Vegas. Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.
Erickson writes at the start of his health care.
should necessarily be limited, due
NR piece that he’d vote for Trump
“For decades, Trump has argued to its inherent faults. In that sense
over Hillary Clinton. A number of for big government,” writes David Trump does not seem conservative
the writers say that in their personal McIntosh, president of the low-tax at all, writes Weekly Standard ediexperience, Trump is gracious, even group Club for Growth.
tor William Kristol in his NR secfun.
Some contributors charge that tion.
But many raise doubts as to Trump is a con man in this regard.
“Isn’t Trumpism a two-bit
whether Trump is really a person Others seem more worried about his Caesarism of a kind that American
of the right. It has not been that long constant boasts that the force of his conservatives have always dissince he donated to Democrats. He personality is all that’s required to dained?” Kristol writes.
says nice things about single-payer blast through and solve chronic
Yes, yes, but will all these words
problems.
have any effect? That may be the
There’s a hint of the authoritar- crucial question at this point. Trump
ian in these boasts, according to is tied in Iowa and leads in New
some of his NR critics. Conserva- Hampshire. He’s got a clear path
tism believes that government toward gaining enough momentum
Victims and their
families, elder protective
advocates, and the media
By Richard. W. Black
We continue to make progress as
the ranks of our influential advocates grows. I would like to thank
local writer and former Las Vegas
City Councilman Steve Miller and
his many supporters for their efforts
further researching evidence and
bringing guardianship victim Jason
Hanson to Friday’s Commission
meeting. Steve’s efforts and [his]
and Jason’s testimony shocked
many and garnered the support of
Barbara Buckley and the Legal Aid
Center of Southern Nevada to provide legitimate legal support for
Jason. Jason was placed on Medicaid, never benefited from his estate,
and no accounting was ever presented to Jason or the court to explain what happened to his estimated $225,000 estate.
Family Court claimed they
“lost” Jason’s case years ago as reported by KTNV in March of 2015.
Sadly, Family Court appointed attorney and Commissioner Elyse
Tyrell and Dara Goldsmith (attorney representing Jared Shafer in the
Hanson guardianship and appointed
by Judge Steel to a Commission
committee) along with guardians
Jared Shafer and Fran Fine who
chose to financially exploit a handicapped young man rather than set
him up for life as his deceased father and grandmother had directed.
KTNV ABC News ran a segment
Friday night on the Commission
meeting. We continue to hope Ne-
vada Supreme Court Chief Justice
James Hardesty delivers on his
commitment of “We’re going to
clean up this mess” and engages
appropriate law enforcement to
prosecute the exploiters. Many
judges and lawyers were fully
complicit in the guardian’s abuse.
Barbara Buckley of LACSN was
awarded a six-figure grant from a
local attorney and philanthropist to
hire pro bono attorneys to represent
now indigent persons who were
wrongfully conscripted into
guardianships and are now fighting
for their freedom. Her team is now
representing 10 wards and her requests for help are growing.
The National Counsel for State
Courts (NCSC) also awarded a
grant to Nevada to implement
guardianship accounting and management software to greatly improve oversight of cases. Many of
us have lobbied the NCSC to make
them aware of what has occurred
in Nevada and to request their support. It is great to see Nevada judicial leadership embraced their input and are accepting the benefits
of their support. Many advocates
successfully lobbied the Nevada
Legislature to approve AB325 to
have guardians licensed in Nevada
and provide third party oversight by
the Nevada Department of Business
and Industry. This grant will greatly
support B&I and family courts
statewide to efficiently provide
oversight of the guardians.
that he might be able to power to
the nomination.
As for his core voters, an antiTrump cover piece in an intellectual magazine will probably make
them like him more. One of
Trump’s core messages is contempt
for those who oppose him. That attitude of belligerence is a big part
of his appeal.
“National Review is a failing
publication that has lost its way. Its
circulation is way down with its
influence being at an all time low.
Sad!” tweeted Trump yesterday after the NR editorial hit the Internet.
It’s possible that the magazine
might be able to slow, or even stop,
the flight of establishment figures
to back Trump instead of rival Ted
Cruz, who many elected Republicans loathe.
But the core problem of the antiTrump movement is not that it has
been silent, or that Trump’s faults
have gone unaddressed in public
settings. It’s that there currently
seems no viable candidate alternative. Right now the race is Trump
versus Cruz. Voting is about to start,
and the establishment has not rallied around its own favorite.
“What is clear is that at least for
now, Republican party actors have
collectively failed to choose any of
the remaining mainstream conservatives — Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush,
Chris Christie or John Kasich —
who would seem to offer an excellent chance of winning the nomination if only party actors could signal to mainstream conservative voters that one of them is the horse to
back,” concluded political analyst
Jonathan Bernstein in his
Bloomberg View column Thursday.
Cover-up! Government hiding
Hillary emails until after primaries
(HORN NEWS) — By the time
we learn what’s really contained in
thousands of Hillary Clinton emails
that have been withheld from the
public, voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina
will have already cast their ballots.
And it doesn’t look like this is
any accident.
Long criticized for their cozy
relationship with Clinton, the State
Department raised eyebrows Friday
when it asked a federal court for a
one-month extension to publish the
last of Clinton’s emails from her
tenure as Secretary of State.
That would push the release
from January 29, which the State
Department claims it can’t meet,
until February 29 — after the crucial Iowa caucus and New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina
primaries.
Critics are furious over the timing of the delay, and some opponents are speculating that it’s a calculated political move by the State
Department to protect Clinton and
her struggling presidential campaign from further damage and embarrassment ahead of the primaries.
Just two weeks ago, the State
Department’s inspector general issued a scathing report accusing the
agency of providing inadequate and
inaccurate responses to Freedom of
Information Act requests, including
those concerning Clinton’s emails.
State Department spokesman
Mark Toner said the department
wouldn’t be able to meet its courtmandated goal of Jan. 29 because
it sill needs to review more than
9,000 pages of documents. The de-
partment even tried to blame the
recent snowstorm in Washington,
DC for the delay.
But the last release of Clinton’s
emails, pulled from her private,
“home brew” server, led to revela-
tions that some of her communications were considered beyond top
secret and included information on
so-called special access programs.
Such programs suggest the emails
could reveal details about intelli-
gence sources.
And that’s left some wondering
what might be included in this last
batch of emails the State Departments seems to be in no hurry to
release.
The issue has nagged at
Clinton’s presidential campaign,
and polls continue to show she has
a major trust problem with voters.
Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner for the 2016 nomination,
exclusively used a private email
account and a home server during
her time in government.
She said this was a decision
made out of convenience and has
denied doing anything wrong, but
the FBI is reportedly investigating
whether she mishandled classified
information in a manner that may
be criminal.
Questions over Clinton’s use of
private email servers to handle classified information — and whether
voters can trust her — couldn’t
come at a worse time, with Iowa
caucus voting just days away.
According to the latest Des
Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll, Clinton holds a meager
two-point lead over surging Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in
Iowa.
During a townhall meeting last
night, Clinton was immediately put
on the defensive by a young voter
who said many of his peers view
her as dishonest. She vigorously
disputed that notion, blaming her
perceived untrustworthiness on attacks from her political opponents.
“They throw all this stuff at me
and I’m still standing,” Clinton said.
According to DeLay, that won’t
be the case for long.
“One way or another, either
[Clinton’s] going to be indicted and
that process begins, or we try her
in the public eye with her campaign.
One way or another, she’s going to
have to face these charges.”
in Iowa continues to grow. Trump
is beating Cruz handily with 34 percent support among likely Republican caucus-goers, compared to
Cruz’s 23 percent. With less than a
week to go to the Iowa caucus,
Trump has publicly said his biggest
rival is “nervous.”
Speaking to MSNBC and FOX
News early Tuesday, Trump lashed
out at Cruz, calling him “a big
mess” and claiming “people have
realized he probably can’t even run
for president.”
Trump also said the recent endorsement he received from conservative firebrand Sarah Palin “threw
an ax into the machinery for Cruz
because, man, he expected that endorsement 100 percent.”
(HORN NEWS) — One of the
world’s largest international police
agencies, Europol, issued a stark
warning Monday: Islamic State extremists are expected to attempt lethal attacks on so-called “soft targets” in the West soon.
Some two and a half months after suicide bombers and gunmen
killed 130 people in Paris, the
Europol agency said (using an alternative acronym for ISIS) that,
“there is every reason to expect that
IS, IS-inspired terrorists or another
religiously inspired terrorist group
will undertake a terrorist attack
somewhere in Europe again, but
particularly in France, intended to
cause mass casualties among the civilian population.”
Europol says it’s currently impossible to predict exactly when the
attacks will take place. But previous reports by the agency have expressed concerns that ISIS terrorists were planning to use the socalled Mumbai method of coordinated bombings and shootings by
multiple teams of assailants that
claimed 164 lives in India’s financial capital in November 2008.
Hours before the Europol report
was issued, a new video was released by ISIS celebrating the kill-
ers who carried out the Nov. 13 attacks in the French capital — while
also threatening fresh bloodshed.
The 17-minute video, released
Sunday, shows the extent of the
planning that went into the multiple
attacks in Paris, which French authorities have said from the beginning were planned in Syria. All nine
men seen in the video died in the
Paris attacks or their aftermath.
Seven of the militants, including
a 20-year-old who was the youngest of the group, were shown standing behind bound captives, described as “apostates,” who were
either beheaded or shot.
“Soon on the Champs-Elysees,”
says Samy Amimour, who was
raised in a Paris suburb, as he holds
a captive’s head aloft.
The Nov. 13 attacks targeted a
packed concert hall, a restaurant
and cafe, and a soccer match at the
French national stadium. The video
glorifying the Kalashnikov-wielding gunmen and suicide bombers
responsible for that carnage was
probably also meant as a recruitment tool.
French Interior Minister Bernard
Cazeneuve said Monday’s Europol
report was not intended to sow fear
but “to look lucidly at reality.”
Report: FBI to recommend Hillary indictment
(HORN NEWS) — The FBI has
reportedly spent months investigating whether Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton
mishandled classified information
while serving as secretary of state.
And now at least one longtime
Washington insider is reporting that
a recommended indictment could
be coming soon.
Speaking on “The Steve
Malzberg Show” Monday, former
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
said his sources within the FBI
claim the agency is closing in on
Clinton.
“I have friends that are in the
FBI, and they tell me they’re ready
to indict,” DeLay said.
While the FBI can recommend
an indictment, whether it leads to a
prosecution, as DeLay pointed out,
is a whole other matter.
It would ultimately be up to
United States Attorney General
Loretta Lynch to decide whether to
prosecute Clinton.
And Lynch is expected to come
under significant pressure from the
Obama Administration to look the
other way on Clinton’s transgressions.
If that happens, DeLay said FBI
agents may not go away quietly.
DeLay claims they’re open to “going public” to make sure Clinton is
held accountable and that her alleged crimes aren’t swept under the
rug.
Cruz: Trump may be impossible to beat
(HORN NEWS) — Texas Senator Ted Cruz gave a surprisingly
honest assessment of the presidential race Monday, admitting that if
billionaire and presidential rival
Donald Trump wins in Iowa, Trump
may be on an unstoppable march
toward the GOP nomination.
According to a recording obtained by the CBN News’ “The
Brody File” and reported by CNN,
Cruz is seen discussing the Iowa
caucus with evangelical leaders,
where the Texas senator says, “If
Donald wins Iowa, he right now has
a substantial lead in New Hampshire, if he went on to win New
Hampshire as well, there is a very
good chance he could be unstoppable and be our nominee.”
Police warning ISIS
terror attacks imminent
According to the most recent
poll from Fox News, Trump’s lead
Bloomberg says, ‘I’ll spend a
billion dollars to beat Trump’
(HORN NEWS) — Businessman Michael Bloomberg has spent
a lifetime building his fortune and
a political career that peaked with
his election as mayor of New York
City.
Now, according to reports, the
media executive has a new goal in
mind for 2016. Bloomberg could be
planning to spend a fortune to stop
his rival — GOP frontrunner
Donald Trump — from reaching the
White House.
According to multiple sources,
Bloomberg is taking early steps toward launching an independent
campaign for president, seeing a
potential path to the White House
amid the rise of Republican Donald
Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders.
Bloomberg, who served three
terms as mayor of New York, is said
to be concerned by Trump’s lasting
hold on the Republican field.
A longtime Democrat who became a Republican to run for mayor
in 2001 and later switched to be an
independent, Bloomberg would
strongly consider a bid if the general election looked like it could
turn for Trump.
To prepare for a potential run,
Bloomberg has also instructed aides
to research previous third-party
runs and is said to be willing to
spend up to $1 billion of his own
fortune, estimated to be about $37
billion, to finance his campaign.
Bloomberg, 73, strongly disagrees with Trump’s political positions, particularly his stance on immigration, the person said.
One of the richest people in the
United States, Bloomberg has previously toyed with presidential
runs, but concluded ahead of the
2008 and 2012 campaigns he could
not win. And while Bloomberg’s
chances of victory as a third-party
candidate remain slim, he could si-
phon off enough votes from candidates to throw the election into disarray.
The former mayor is largely a
social liberal — he fought for samesex marriage in New York and is
pro-abortion rights — and implemented a number of health reforms
in New York City, banning smoking in public places and instituting
calorie counts on menus.
He has also became arguably the
nation’s most vocal proponent of
gun control, using his fortune to
bankroll candidates across the
country who clash with the National
Rifle Association.
In the race, but out of the spotlight:
How Trump’s wife remains private
(HORN NEWS) — First lady
Melania Trump.
If that prospect evokes no clear
image, that’s no accident. Donald
Trump’s wife has said little in the
campaign about the type of first
lady she’d like to be should her
husband win the Republican nomination and the presidency. The distance, she’s said, is intentional so
she can focus on the couple’s 9year-old son, Barron.
But should he become the GOP
candidate for the fall, the
Slovenian-born model, mother and
multilingual speaker would face big
decisions about her family, her life
and her potential position in American history. The presidential voting
starts when Iowans caucus Feb. 1.
For now, Melania Trump is her
husband’s top supporter at events,
a striking brunette swathed in couture, frequently seen but seldom
heard. Her first campaign turn came
in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in
November, as the candidate called
his family on stage during a rally.
Turning to Melania, his third wife,
Trump asked if she’d like to say
something.
She stepped to the microphone
and cocked a manicured thumb over
an elegant shoulder.
“Isn’t he the best?” Mrs. Trump,
45, asked the crowd in heavily accented English. “He will be the best
president ever. We love you!” Like
her husband, she is not given to understatement.
As his supporters roared, Donald
Trump gave her a kiss and could be
heard saying: “Thank you, honey.
Very nice.”
It was the barest of glimpses into
the life of a couple who celebrated
their 11th wedding anniversary Friday. Their relationship began at
least six years earlier, dating back
to the 1998 party in Manhattan
when the newly separated Trump
asked then-model Melania Knauss,
24 years his junior, for her telephone number. She rebuffed him
because he was with a date that
night, she has said.
By the next year, they were a
couple. Trump was seeking the Reform Party nomination in the 2000
presidential election. His girlfriend
was asked how she viewed herself
if ever she became first lady.
“I would be very traditional,”
she told The New York Times.
“Like Betty Ford or Jackie
Kennedy.”
Would she now stay as far above
the political fray as the couple’s triplex overlooking Central Park?
That’s largely up to the Trumps, but
they’re in no hurry to decide.
Donald and Melania Trump
Through a spokeswoman, Mrs. with the overall focus of their husTrump declined an interview re- bands’ administration,” said Anita
quest from The Associated Press.
McBride, who was chief of staff to
A sketch of what we know:
WHAT’S UNPRECEDENTED
In many ways, Melania Trump
would be a first in American history: She’d be the only first lady
who is the third wife of a president,
and the first to be born and raised
in a communist nation, according
to Carl Anthony, historian at the
National First Ladies’ Library. She
almost certainly has shown more
skin than any other U.S. first lady
— that was her in 2006, very pregnant, in a gold bikini on the steps
of her husband’s private jet in
Vogue magazine.
WHAT’S NOT
By 2016, Melania Trump has
gotten married, had a child and
adopted a much more traditional
posture as a candidate’s spouse. She
wouldn’t be the first president’s
wife to be born in another country
— that would be Louisa Adams,
born in England. Nor would she be
the first first lady to have married a
divorced man — hello, Nancy
Reagan. And she’d be the third first
lady to have worked as a professional model, after Pat Nixon and
Betty Ford.
MELANIA’S ROLE
Experts on first ladies said Melania Trump is being smart by laying
low now, especially if she is not
comfortable talking about politics
and policy. But eventually, they
said, she’d be wise to build on what
she knows. Melania Trump studied
design and architecture at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia —
so perhaps advocating for historical preservation would suit her.
Maybe she’d expand her charity
work. Even her model-perfect poise
and ability to speak multiple languages could be an asset to her English-only husband during state dinners and other White House social
events.
“It’s best when they draw from
their experience, and marry that up
tently public about one thing: She’s
more than an accessory. “I have my
own mind,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in an interview published this
month. “I am my own person, and
I think my husband likes that about
me.”
Note to Washington power
snobs: Don’t expect Melania Trump
to put up with condescension.
On a visit to the Trump triplex
above Manhattan, one of the contestants on his show, “The Apprentice,” says to Melania: “You’re
very, very lucky.”
“Thank you,” Melania, holding
a glass of champagne, says with a
glittering smile. “And he’s not
lucky?”
Be heard anywhere
in the world
(only $50 per hour)
Waste alert! Obama approves
billions for driverless cars
(HORN NEWS) — President
Barack Obama wants to get robot
cars — autonomous vehicles that
drive themselves — on the road
more quickly. And he’s willing to
spend a fortune in taxpayer money
to do it.
Obama’s newest proposal would
provide nearly $4 billion to
automakers and researchers for programs to test driverless vehicles.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the plan recently, surrounded by representatives from
General Motors and Ford as well
as Google and Tesla. Foxx said the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration will spend the next
six months developing guidance for
automakers on what’s expected of
self-driving prototype cars and what
sort of tests should be used to make
sure they are safe.
The agency also will develop a
model policy for states to follow if
they decide to allow autonomous
cars on public roads. That policy
could eventually lead to consistent
national regulations for autonomous cars. Right now, individual
first lady Laura Bush.
Anthony said: “I think she is a
great emotional support to him or a
ballast for him.”
DELEGATING DUTIES
Donald Trump has signaled that
his daughter, Ivanka, might be unusually prominent for a president’s
daughter. He volunteers Ivanka’s
name when asked whose advice he
values. It was she, not Melania, who
introduced her father when he announced his campaign. During
breaks in Republican debates, it was
Ivanka, one of Donald Trump’s five
children, with whom he huddled.
NOT ARM CANDY
For all of her public discretion,
Melania Trump has been consis-
states like California, Florida and
Nevada have their own regulations.
Foxx didn’t predict when autonomous cars will be on public
roads in big numbers, but he encouraged automakers to come to the
government with ideas about how
to speed their development.
He even encouraged automakers
to ask for exemptions of its rules as
long as they don’t impact safety.
“In 2016, we are going to do
everything we can to promote safe,
smart and sustainable vehicles. We
are bullish on automated vehicles,”
Foxx said during an appearance at
the North American International
Auto Show in Detroit.
Safety advocates wondered if
the agency is getting too cozy with
the auto industry when it comes to
technology regulations.
“While it is important for DOT
to be knowledgeable about new
technologies, primarily ones as dramatic as self-driving vehicles, DOT
should independently develop data
and information, not rely mostly on
the regulated industry to call the
shots,” said former NHTSA Administrator Joan Claybrook.
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Mic.”
Gordon Martines was a career police officer with 39 years of onthe-job Law Enforcement experience. Past cases involving Kevin
Daley, Trayvon Cole and a variety of other covered-up criminal
cases, and a billion dollars worth of missing taxpayer money, are
discussed in depth and at length on the show.
Martines spent four years as police officer with the Hermosa
Beach Police Department before moving here and resuming his
police career in Las Vegas as a Detective in the Robbery/Homicide
Bureau, retiring from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department after 36 years of police service.
The amount of corruption and cover-ups by executive Police Administrative officers witnessed by Martines inside the department
led to his decision to contest the good ol’ boy’s club and run for
Clark County Sheriff three times against what he knew were almost insurmountable odds.
“Open Mic” carries the voice the LVMPD does not want you to
hear, yet it is always there, every Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00
a.m. on www.radiotribune.com. Tune in!
*****
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Face the Tribune is heard every Monday through Friday at 12
noon, hosted by Rolando Larraz.
For the last five years “Face The Tribune” has been the premier
show for interviews with politicians, civil service workers, government officials and activists, and a voice for those everyday citizens
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newspaper has been a part of the Las Vegas community for over 18
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“Face The Tribune” was established as a voice for the people of
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Citizen, can voice their opinions and share the issues that pertain to
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The show’s host, Rolando Larraz, has been a journalist in Clark
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and a highly respected publisher who has covered local news and
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For stories and information not available anywhere else in Las
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Wednesday and Friday from midnight to 1:01 a.m. Essie Nadira
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industry with discussions, questions and myths that most keep behind closed doors. She has worked alongside many in the adult
industries doing promotions or hosting private parties to listening
to men and women’s craziest sexual fantasies. The show will have
a variety of special guests from time to time stopping by, so if you
want to learn some new kinky things and hear some hot, juicy discussions tune into “Dirty Talk 101 with Essie” Mon., Wed., Fri. at
midnight to 1:01 a.m. Essie is originally from Sacramento, Calif.
But has been residing in Las Vegas since 2007.
*****
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EDITORIALS
January 27-February 2 / LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / Page 13
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. — Thomas Jefferson
Our Point of View
An Appellate
Court needs to
rule by the law
The idea of an Appellate Court is to lessen the case burden on the Supreme Court and at the same time make a
decision on whether a judge in lower courts was able to
conduct a fair trial lawfully.
We see one potential problem with that concept. The
judges on the Appellate Court that was created just a year
ago used to be co-workers with the same judge they now
have to oversee. An Appellate Court needs to rule by the
law.
The courts must rule by statutes that have been enacted
by the legislators and thereby becoming public policies of
Nevada. Judges must also follow all binding and mandatory precedents issued by the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest Court in the land.
A good example of what we are stating is the recent
decision of the Nevada Appellate Court in existence for
only twelve months in the case of Feeley v. Feeley has
affirmed Judge Allan Earl’s order that violates the Fourteenth Amendment and is thereby unconstitutional. One
can only wonder if the Appellate Court ignored the law to
protect a colleague.
Former Nevada District Court Judge Allan Earl broke
all rules and laws in the case of Feeley v. Feeley by exceeding his jurisdiction for the sole purpose of enriching
attorneys in his court.
That ruling violated the Fourteen Amendment, therefore it must be considered unconstitutional and void, but
now the 3-judge panel at the Appellate Court has failed to
obey the Constitution of the United States and the State of
Nevada by siding with Judge Allan Earl on his felonious
ruling in the case of Feeley v. Feeley.
For the last six months the Las Vegas Tribune has been
writing about the Feeley v. Feeley case and every week
we have found more than one reason to keep exposing
judicial misconduct and abuse of power by Judge Allan
Earl.
The Appellate Court was created for the sole purpose to
help the Supreme Court expedite results to correct errors
that have taken place in the lower courts where just twelve
months ago these appellate judges were fraternizing with
the same judges they now have to judge, oversee, but may
not be able to overrule.
Judges are supposed to rule by law and not be influenced by previous, present or future friendship — and in
the case of Feeley v. Feeley, that seems to be the case where
the 3-judge panel ignored all the evidence that shows their
obvious intention to protect Judge Allan Earl’s inability to
enforce or follow the law.
If inducing a bank to not honor a binding commitment,
submitting a false document to a federal chartered bank,
and dispersing illegally obtained funds are all considered
felony crimes, which could place Judge Allan Earl in a
federal penitentiary like anyone else who would have participated in those kinds of crimes, how is it that the newly
created Appellate Court cannot see it and opted instead for
siding with Judge Earl and ruled against the appellant?
Is it because at least two of the appointed Appellate Court
judges, now up for election, have been co-workers of Judge
Allan Earl a reason to wonder about the decision of the
appellate court judges in the case of Feeley v. Feeley — or
are we too narrow-minded to see it any other way?
If any future decision or ruling by this Appellate Court
is going to be tainted by doubts and wondering about the
motives on their ruling, and the way they are going to operate, why do we need an Appellate Court?
Many times we have stated that if the judges in the lower
courts were doing their job correctly and by law the appellate would not be needed because there will be less needed
to appeal but if the reason and motive of the ruling is going to be questioned that is even worse.
The Appellate Court was sold to the voters by saying
that it would not be an extra expense to the voters but now
the judiciary has decide that the housing of the appellate
court sharing space with the Supreme Court is not big
enough for the ego of both the justices and the appellate
judges and they have to build a new building for them
wondering who is paying for it and where the money comes
from given the impression that they sold the constituents a
bill of goods as it has been done in previous cases and
other jurisdictions.
Another vivid example of why the voters, the constituents and the community as a whole, need to pay attention
to whom they elect, why they vote for the particular candidate. This is a year when the candidates have to learn to
answer to the voters.
How are public school parents harmed
when others exit public schools?
By Thomas Mitchell
school population is that funding still
District Judge James Wilson in
required to go to public schools?
Carson City earlier this month issued
The Legislature set statewide per
an injunction blocking the implemenpupil funding at just more than
tation of the legislatively approved
$5,710 per pupil in the DSA. The
education savings accounts (ESAs),
ESA bill dictated that most parents
which were to be launched next
who pull their children from public
month.
school would be given 90 percent of
In doing so, the judge said the
that amount to fund education by
plaintiffs “have carried their burden
whatever means they choose — priof proof that SB302 violates Article
vate
school,
tutoring,
11, Sections 6.1 and 6.2 (of the state
homeschooling.
Constitution) and that irreparable
Per pupil funding for public
harm will result if an injunction is not
schools is not diminished by the savTHOMAS MITCHELL
entered.”
ings accounts.
Those sections state the Legislature shall fund pubBut apparently the judge took the view that the DSA
lic schools “for the population reasonably estimated...” fund is a lump sum that may not be diminished.
The judge ruled that the word “appropriate” means
And just how are parents of public school children
“to set apart for or assign to a particular purpose or harmed if their schools get 10 percent of the funding
use in exclusion of all others” and therefore using part for pupils who are not enrolled in their public school
of that appropriate for ESAs violates the state Consti- district? Additionally, public school districts keep the
tution.
local and federal funding. Seems more like a benefit
The chink in that argument is that the State Dis- than an irreparable harm.
tributive School Account (DSA) is funded on a per
Actually, for some counties there might be a huge
pupil basis and if that pupil is no longer in a public
(See Mitchell, Page 15)
Witch-hunt against Kate Del Castillo
By Perly Viasmensky
11 de enero de 2012 insert of Kate Del Castillo’s
letter in her twitter account:“Hoy creo m·s en el Chapo
Guzmán que en los gobiernos que me esconden
verdades aunque sean dolorosas, quienes esconden
la cura para el cáncer, el sida, etc. para su propio
beneficio y riqueza.”
“Today I believe more in el Chapo Guzman than
in the governments that hide from me truths even if
they are painful, the ones hiding the cure of cancer,
AIDS, etc. for their own benefit and richness.”
I don’t believe in el Chapo Guzman because I don’t
know him. I know of him, but I don’t know him, but I
do believe in anything in the world other than governments that hide that they have already discovered the
cure for cancer, AIDS and many other life-threatening illnesses, just for their own benefit and enrichment. With the many times I have written about the
matter, if somebody was going to come after me for
expressing my opinion, I would be dead or on death
row by now.
I have written many times that I am a firm believer
that the cures for cancer and Aids have been found.
While there is still no actual cure for Polio, thanks to
Dr. Jonas Salk there is a way to prevent it. Before Salk
created the vaccine for Polio, America was forced to
live in fear of that infectious viral disease that put
Franklin Roosevelt in a wheelchair.
Getting back to Kate Del Castillo, and since I am
always a firm believer of speaking whatever is in my
mind, I think this young lady is a victim of a vendetta
of higher levels of the Mexican government.
Many people also criticize Kate Del Castillo because
she openly said that she doesn’t believe in marriage.
For God’s sake, isn’t that the same thing that Jose
Alberto “El Guero” Castro told Angelica Rivera (now
the first lady of Mexico) during their many years together?
It amazes me that every angle of investigation is
focused on Kate Del Castillo, but since the supposed
crime was committed on Mexican soil, why don’t they
investigate “Mr. Madonna,” Sean Penn? He conducted
the interview. And what about the other two journalists/photographers, or whatever their roles were during the interview? Their names were not even men(See Viasmensky, Page 15)
ON A PERSONAL NOTE
Some Lessons to be Found in
1993 Groundhog Day Movie
By Maramis
“wait,” that is, come New Year’s Day,
—Insanity: doing the same thing
I start counting off the days to Febover and over again and expecting
ruary 2 so I can once again watch my
different results. —Albert Einstein
favorite movie.
—If you’re not making mistakes,
Yes, I do have the video and octhen you’re not doing anything. I’m
casionally watch it in between one
positive that a doer makes mistakes.
Groundhog Day and another, from
—John Wooden
year to year, but there’s something
—...[I]f you are making mistakes,
special about watching it on that very
then you are making new things, tryday, on TV — kind of like watching
ing new things, learning, living,
Miracle on 34th Street or It’s a Wonpushing yourself, changing yourself,
derful Life on Christmas Eve.
changing your world. You’re doing
Unlike the above-mentioned
MARAMIS CHOUFANI
things you’ve never done before, and
movies that are exactly what they are
more importantly, you’re doing something. —Neil and always will be, Groundhog Day allows for one to
Gaima
personalize the situations in their mind to mirror their
—The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your own need for awareness and change.
best today. —H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Bill Murray starts out as a man who is not at all
—Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, aware of the needs or even “beingness” of others, be‘What are you doing for others?’ —Martin Luther ing very self-centered and egotistical and not very likeKing, Jr.
able at all. As a TV weatherman who is once again
Soon it will be Groundhog Day. The day itself may assigned to what he considers a very undesirable and
not mean much to anyone, but the movie named after boring assignment, the Groundhog Day event in
(See Maramis, Page 15)
it is certainly worth its wait in days. Yes, worth its
VIEW POINTS
Editors note: The views expressed are entirely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Las Vegas Tribune.
Top 10 Nevada “Conservatives vs.
RINOs” Primaries to Watch in 2016
Much like the Republican presidential
contest nationally, there are a number of
interesting and competitive GOP primaries
By Chuck Muth
Much like the Republican presidential contest nationally, there are
a number of interesting and competitive GOP primaries for lower
offices in Nevada.
Here’s a look at my initial Top
10 races for conservatives to keep
an eye on this coming season, along
with “early line” assessments. I’ll
update the list and predictions after
filing closes in March.
The primary election itself is
scheduled for June 14, 2016.
1.) Congressional District 3
(Clark)
You have one well-funded, taxhiking Republican in Name Only
(RINO) candidate in the shapeshifting form of State Sen. Tax Hike
By Mace Yampolsky
Bill Cosby was “pudding”
things where they don’t belong. Bill
Cosby Was Arrested for sexual assault, but can he be prosecuted?
After years of allegations from various women that they were drugged
and sexually assaulted by Bill
Cosby, the first criminal prosecution of the popular comedian and
TV dad may be about to take place.
He was charged with sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004
at his home in suburban Philadelphia.
The new Montgomery County,
PA District Attorney (DA), Kevin
Steele, filed the criminal charges
shortly before the statute of limitations was set to expire. The statute
of limitations for prosecuting a
sexual assault case in Pennsylvania
is 12 years from the time the act was
committed. If charges are not filed
by that time, they are forever
barred. Apparently part of Steele’s
election campaign was a promise
to prosecute Cosby.
Politics Rears Its Ugly Head
CHUCK MUTH
Mike Roberson vs. three competitive conservative challengers: Assemblywoman Michele Fiore,
Danny Tarkanian and Andy
Matthews.
Will the three philosophical
amigos split the anti-Roberson vote,
thus handing the nomination to the
worst possible Republican as far as
conservatives are concerned? Probably.
Early line: Strong Roberson
2.) State Senate District 6
(Clark)
Highest profile legislative race
of the season. Battle to replace taxhiking Sen. Mark Lipparelli who is
not seeking re-election. Freshman
Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman
vs. freshman Assemblyman Erv
Nelson.
Seaman lives in SD 6 and voted
against the $1.4 billion tax hike.
Nelson had to move into SD6 and
voted for the $1.4 billion tax hike.
Nelson
is
the
GOP
establishment’s anointed candidate.
Seaman is the conservative insurgent.
Nelson is a nice, mild-mannered
lawyer. Seaman is a bull-in-thechina-shop ball-buster who is completely and totally un-intimidated
by the establishment’s power and
influence. She’s also a hard,
grassroots, retail campaigner.
Nelson has so far raised about
$30,000 more than Seaman for the
race, but Seaman has raised enough
to get her message out in a primary.
And Erv has to campaign with his
vote for the largest tax hike in Nevada history around his neck.
There’s already considerable bad
blood between these two. Bet on
this one getting ugly... fast.
Early line: Lean Seaman
3.) State Senate District 15
(Washoe)
The Republican establishment
has anointed former Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert for this race
to replace tax-hiking Sen. Greg
Brower (Reno-RINO). As such,
she’ll have all the money she’ll
need.
But she’ll also have to campaign
with the anvil of Brower — who,
in addition to voting for Sandoval’s
tax hikes also single-handedly
killed the campus carry bill last session — around her neck with conservative GOP voters.
Her opponent is conservative
businessman Eugene Hoover, a
staunch conservative activist wellacquainted with the legislative process who will have the issues on his
side with conservative voters in a
year not exactly favorable to insiders.
The question is: Will he have
enough money to get his message
to the voters?
So far he’s been outraised 25-1.
But Gansert will burn a lot of her
cash on the governor’s high-priced
consultants, not direct contact with
(See Chuck Muth, Page 16)
MACE YAMPOLSKY
Cosby’s legal team has filed a
motion to dismiss the case. According to a January 20, 2016 article on
usatoday.com, former Montgomery
County DA Bruce Castor claims to
have made a deal with Cosby back
in 2005 not to prosecute him for
sexually assaulting Constand, and
is expected to testify for Cosby that
he made the deal to get Cosby to
testify in Constand’s 2005 civil suit
(which was eventually settled)
against the comedian. It will be interesting to see how the court rules
as to whether or not an immunity
deal for Cosby is found to exist.
The court must determine if
there was a valid agreement. If so,
can the State now prosecute Cosby?
If so, can they use the deposition
testimony? A hearing has been
scheduled tentatively for February
2, 2016. I’m sure this will be
heavily publicized.
I Never Agreed
Not To Prosecute
It was that namby-pamby, soft
on crime, star-crossed previous
DA. Current DA Steele countered
that Castor granted Cosby immunity in a press release, which is not
the same as a court-approved immunity agreement. Steele also
pointed out that during that press
release, Castor said he could reconsider the decision not to prosecute
if the need arose. But, he didn’t, did
he?
But, Isn’t A Deal A Deal?
The law says that if there are any
disputes about the terms or valid-
ity of an agreement between the
prosecution and a defendant, a court
must use relevant contract law principles to decide whether the agreement is enforceable on either side.
The Supreme Court of the
United States has said that if a new
prosecutor takes over a case in
which a previous prosecutor on the
same case had come to an agreement with a defendant, the new
prosecutor has to abide by the terms
of the original agreement.
(Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S.
257 (1971).
If Cosby did have a valid agreement (I think he did) with the District Attorney in 2005 to provide
deposition testimony in the
Constand civil case in exchange for
non-prosecution, the current District Attorney could (and should!)
be forced to comply with the terms
of the agreement and would not be
able to prosecute Cosby.
What New Evidence?
When a federal judge made
Cosby’s deposition testimony from
Constand’s 2005 civil suit public in
July 2015, Steele said that there was
new evidence that prompted a new
investigation. Among other revelations, Cosby stated in his deposition that he obtained Quaaludes in
the ‘70s to help him seduce women.
However, he claimed the blue pills
he gave to Constand were
Benadryl. (In those days, there was
no Viagra).
A similar article from January
15, 2016 on nydailynews.com,
stated that in 2015 Castor emailed
then DA Risa Vetri Ferman details
of his 2005 agreement with Cosby’s
lawyers. This deal reportedly stated
that if Cosby testified in Constand’s
civil case his testimony would
never be used against him in a
criminal case. So I guess the DA
was OK with it then.
Even The DAs Are Playing
He Said, She Said
The current DA, Steele, claims
that the specific legal method for
granting immunity was not adhered
to in 2005. They didn’t do it right,
so it doesn’t affect us! Really?
(See Mace, Page 17)
LARRY KLAYMAN
case while dodging constitutional
issues, unless absolutely necessary.
Here, at least four justices went out
of their way to request briefing on
the ultimate constitutional question.
This tends to suggest, even though
it is extremely early, their intention
to uphold the Constitution. In other
words, the high court could find
many non-constitutional issues
(such as standing) to use for striking down Judge Hanen’s injunction
in Obama’s favor. They would be
wrong, in my analysis. But they
could, in theory, side with Obama
without delving into the constitutional issues. Thus, it is an encouraging sign that the Supreme Court
singled out the “Take Care Clause”
for special attention.
As I have warned at Freedom
Watch, as bad as Obama’s immigration policies are, the precedent of
tearing up our Constitution and letting a president rewrite laws Congress enacted is even worse. In this
election year, voters of both parties
should consider how they feel about
the other party’s candidate having
such lawless, dictatorial power in
the future.
Founding Father and second
President John Adams declared just
days before signing the Declaration
of Independence in this writer’s
native city of Philadelphia that we
were to be a nation of laws and not
men. Whether anyone likes or dislikes our current president or whoever they hope our next president
will be, are they willing to entrust
such lawless power to a president
of the opposite political party?
That is why the very next day, I
filed our lawsuit defending the Second Amendment and challenging
the same type of lawlessness concerning gun control. On Jan. 4 and
5, the Obama administration announced a re-interpretation of existing gun control laws, worthy of
a Hollywood “re-envisioning” of a
classic movie. Once again, Obama
claims the authority to rewrite laws
passed by Congress because Congress had the audacity not to agree
with him. We are asking the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of Florida to strike down
Obama’s arbitrary and capricious
rewriting of gun control, dealer licensing and firearm backgroundcheck laws.
Shockingly, in one of the two
congressional hearings this week,
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., declared: “So let’s solve the problem.
Let’s not get involved in constitutional arguments...” The hearing
was about whether President
Obama’s executive actions expanding gun control regulation infringes
on the Second Amendment rights
of citizens. So avoiding constitutional issues appears to be dodging
the entire controversy.
In the amnesty case, we also
asked the Supreme Court to take
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s appeal of the
same amnesty programs ordered by
Obama. While having the Supreme
Court ever take anyone’s appeal is
extremely rare, like winning the
$1.5 billion Powerball, we were
disappointed that at least four justices did not vote to take both cases
together. We argued to the court the
value of considering both cases, and
the contrast between them, to better evaluate the issues.
Recall that in June 2012, Obama
gave amnesty to 1 to 1.5 million illegal aliens who illegally entered
the country as children. The amnesty was ordered by memoranda
from Janet Napolitano, secretary of
homeland security. On Nov. 20,
2014, Obama gave amnesty to another 4.7 to 5 million illegal aliens,
most of whom are relatives of other
amnesty recipients or naturalized
citizens or residents. Sheriff Arpaio
immediately filed a lawsuit that
night, weeks ahead of Texas and the
other states.
Both Arpaio’s case and the Texas
case include the Obama administration attacking the “standing” of the
plaintiffs. The 5th Circuit and D.C.
Circuit came to opposite conclusions, using inconsistent analyses.
In Arpaio’s case, the government
offered no evidence whatsoever to
challenge the sheriff’s allegations
and sworn affidavits supporting his
standing and injury. Arpaio challenged both the 2012 amnesty as
well as the 2014 amnesty. So the
costs Arpaio experienced in his jails
in 2014 are a direct result of the
2012 amnesty, not a projection or
prediction. Because the government
offered no evidence in response, the
issues are clear and simple in
Arpaio’s case, compared with the
hundreds of pages of competing
affidavits in the Texas case.
Therefore, I have filed a motion
asking the high court to reconsider
and take both cases together. See
www.freedomwatchusa.org. Important issues of “standing” may be
left unresolved without hearing
Arpaio’s appeal. The Texas case
challenged only the 2014 amnesty,
when we believe both the 2012 and
2014 programs should be considered together.
It would appear that the court
may have shied away from initially
granting Sheriff Arpaio’s petition
for writ of certiorari as he is a socalled controversial figure in the
mainstream media, and the nine justices are establishment jurists, by
whatever standard applies to their
different political backgrounds and
ideologies. But, this is no reason to
shy away from his case. Sheriff
Arpaio’s case presents even more
crucial issues than does the Texas
case. I trust that the Supreme Court
will now put politics aside and act
in the best interests of all Americans, not just their own social standing in the smoky establishment boudoirs of Washington. D.C.
*****
Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch,
is known for his strong public interest advocacy in furtherance of
ethics in government and individual
freedoms and liberties. During his
tenure at Judicial Watch, he obtained a court ruling that Bill
Clinton committed a crime, the first
lawyer ever to have done so against
an American president. In 2004,
Larry ran for the U.S. Senate as a
Republican in Florida’s primary.
After the race ended, he founded
Freedom Watch. Larry is a frequent
commentator on television and radio, as well as a weekly columnist,
on Friday, for WND.com. He has
been credited as being the inspiration for the Tea Party movement.
It’s In The Pudding
The Supremes, Amnesty and Sheriff Joe
By Larry Klayman
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court
agreed to hear an appeal of amnesty
that was granted to 5 million illegal aliens by Barack Hussein
Obama through executive action.
After publicly announcing 22 times
that he did not have the legal authority, Obama gave amnesty and
work permits to illegal aliens because Congress failed to agree with
him. Oral argument is predicted as
early as April in Case No. 15-674,
United States of America, et al. v.
State of Texas, et al., with a decision sometime before the 2016 elections.
So what will this mean for the
future of our country? On the one
hand, in that case, the Obama administration is seeking to overturn
the preliminary injunction blocking
Obama’s amnesty programs. The
Honorable Andrew Hanen in Texas
issued an order, and the 5th Circuit
upheld Judge Hanen’s injunction.
So, technically, at least four of the
Supreme Court’s nine justices voted
to consider whether to overturn the
5th Circuit, vacate Judge Hanen’s
injunction and allow Obama’s amnesty to go forward immediately.
But, on the other hand, the Supreme Court also expanded the
scope of the briefs from the issues
the parties identified: “In addition
to the questions presented by the
petition, the parties are directed to
brief and argue the following question: ‘Whether the Guidance violates the Take Care Clause of the
Constitution, Art. II, Sec.3.’” (That
clause says “[The President] shall
take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed...”)
So the Supreme Court is interested in considering the constitutional questions of this case. Normally, federal courts try to decide a
COMMENTARIES
Editors note: The views expressed are entirely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Las Vegas Tribune.
Will Metro Ever Change?
By Norman Jahn
Things are changing in law enforcement — at least in some agencies. Just this week, the NYPD has
had an Asian officer (Peter Liang)
charged with manslaughter after a
November 2014 shooting inside a
public housing project. Commissioner Bill Bratton had promptly
apologized for the ‘accidental’
shooting by one of his rookies but
now the prosecutor has initiated
charges. When will anyone ever see
the D.A. initiate charges in Las Vegas?
It is BAD to think that Liang was
arguing with his partner in a dark
stairwell about whether they should
get on their radio to ‘call in’ the incident. Akai Gurley received no assistance from the officers as he bled
to death in the pitch black stairwell.
Don’t get on the radio, call the union
for advice... these factors would
speak to their state of mind — protect THEMSELVES at all costs. I
don’t doubt that the bullet may have
ricocheted off a wall and struck the
victim during ‘vertical patrol.’ But,
Liang had to have his gun in his
hand and his finger on the trigger
for that to happen.
It is GOOD to think that the use
of force and training is being evaluated and not the ‘race’ of the victim
or the officer. I have yet to see anyone protest about a black man being killed by an Asian officer. Diagnosing and fixing errors is productive. Focusing on race is only
wasted energy. There is no evidence
that Liang shot because he saw a
black man. Also, prosecutors have
not accused Liang of ‘intending’ to
shoot anyone. They said he acted
recklessly in unholstering his
weapon and then failing to check
whether the bullet hit anyone because he was too worried about losing his job.
Things are changing across the
country in Los Angeles too. According to the LA Times, (http://
www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-
NORMAN JAHN
me-venice-shooting-20160112story.html), the LAPD police chief
has recommended charges against
an officer who killed an unarmed
man in Venice, marking the first
time as chief that Beck has called
for charges in a fatal on-duty shooting. In this case, a black officer is
accused of shooting a (black) homeless person twice in the back. A
summary of the news report includes:
After reviewing video, witness
accounts and other evidence, investigators determined (the suspect)
was not trying to take (the officer’s)
gun or his partner’s weapon at the
time of the shooting, Beck said...
The chief said the majority of
shootings by officers are justified.
But, he added, “in those much rarer
cases where a shooting is not justified — and on top of that, not legal
— I will also say that.”
When will the LVMPD change
and see D.A. Wolfson file criminal
charges after a deadly force incident? Remember... charges are not
a conviction and the officer has the
same rights to a trial and to be found
guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Convictions will be very rare across
the U.S., but a strong focus on more
accountability needs to begin now!
Tactical/policy errors frequently
pertain to the officer drawing his or
her firearm. TRAINING is often the
critical issue! Next is following
POLICY! It is crazy that the police
defend themselves by saying the
suspect did not follow commands,
but it is also well known that some
officers also do not follow the
‘commands’ from their supervisors
and through policies and procedures. Chicago PD currently has a
federal lawsuit in the courts over
how officers handle panhandlers.
Officers are accused of ‘improperly
stopping’ people and arresting
them. A lawyer for the plaintiffs told
jurors it is the responsibility of law
enforcement agencies to adequately
TRAIN on citizens’ rights. Many
police chiefs and sheriffs (including Joe Lombardo) are unwilling to
change recruit training — the ‘military model’ endures. Money continues to be paid out of ‘self-insurance’
by Metro with nobody ever held
accountable.
METRO MISCONDUCT
I’ve been hearing a lot about
misconduct at Metro. An officer
received his second DUI and it
made the news on one TV channel
and then disappeared. He must have
‘connections’ (in LVMPD la cosa
nostra). My ‘buddy’ Lt. Karen
Hughes was reportedly fired at the
Wynn — life is tough in the private
sector!
A (retired) academy classmate of
mine has a federal lawsuit filed
against the LVMPD. Former Sergeant Chuck Jones claims that Captain Charles Hank, Captain Todd
Fasulo, and some other current and
former Metro officers have inter-
Viamensky
tioned during all the coverage by the mainstream
media.
President Peña Nieto needs to concentrate more
on all the corrupted members of his administration,
such as several Governors, Mayors and other political servants that have allegedly helped and cooperated with Joaquin Guzman and other drug cartels.
Isn’t it presumed that the former governor of
Coahuila, Humberto Moreira, arrested in Spain on
money laundering and organized criminal activities
and linked to the Zetas Cartel, also financed the campaign of current President Enrique Peña Nieto?
Authorities in Spain did what Mexican authorities have not been able to do: investigate and prosecute high-ranking politicians linked to drug cartels.
What is the Mexican government afraid of? That
a movie with the story of Joaquin “El Chapo”
Guzman will come out, and many names in their
Maramis
Mitchell
windfall, depending on interpretation of the law, because the DSA
differs for every county. For example, Esmeralda is guaranteed
$24,331 per pupil; Lincoln,
$10,534; White Pine, $7,799; Eureka, $9,633; Mineral, $8,980;
Clark $5,512; but Lander gets only
$4,374 — with some adjustments
for local property tax collections.
Since the ESA payout is based on
90 percent the statewide average
per pupil of $5,710, does each
county keep the difference?
State Treasurer Dan Schwartz,
whose office is designated to handle
ESAs and who is named as the defendant in the case, says more than
4,100 accounts have been requested.
“Thousands of students and their
distressed parents may see their
plans upended,” Schwartz was
quoted as saying.
Because the law requires students to be enrolled in public school
for 100 days in order to qualify for
an ESA, some parents have pulled
their children from private schools
and enrolled them in public schools.
No irreparable harm there?
This should end up before the
state Supreme Court. The sooner
the better. Attorney General Adam
Laxalt this past week filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.
That appeal should be expedited
for the sake of all Nevada children
and parents.
Update: On Thursday, Laxalt
asked the Supreme Court to expedite case so it could be resolved in
a matter of months. He noted that a
new school semester is starting and
the new school year starts in seven
months.
“Some parents have already
been approved to participate in the
program and as a result withdrew a
child from one school and placed
him in another. For many families,
their ability to educate their sons
and daughters as they believe best
hinges on the existence of a fully
implemented ESA program,” the
motion explains the urgency. “But
in the wake of the District Court’s
injunction, and the uncertainty and
disruption it unleashed, those families now face the agonizing choice
of whether or not to continue pursuing the educational options best
suited to their children. Some parents even face the immediate prospect of having to withdraw a child
freshly settled in a happy new classroom and return her to one that
failed her, or, in some cases, caused
her emotional or physical pain.”
*****
Thomas Mitchell is a former
newspaper editor who now writes
conservative/libertarian columns
for weekly papers in Nevada. You
may
email
Mitchell
at
[email protected]. He blogs
at http://4thst8.wordpress.com/.
fered with his retirement job and are
spreading rumors about him. He
alleges he is under surveillance by
Metro and their operatives. Many
of the ‘security’ people he accuses
in the conspiracy are part of what I
call the MGM-Metro mafia. It is not
a coincidence that the same snipers
(Hank & Fasulo and others) were
also coming up five or more years
ago when hard-working officers
also had their careers destroyed.
How about the story, “Former
massage therapist begins jail term
for sexually motivated coercion” in
the Review-Journal? I’m told that
a sexual assault detective totally
screwed up the case by providing
his unsolicited opinions during
court proceedings. He apparently
didn’t take the accusers seriously
enough and didn’t have them do a
sexual assault exam. The suspect is
only getting a 6-month sentence
rather than life in prison and the
detective supposedly ‘skates,’ and
I’m told he isn’t even getting investigated or disciplined.
And then there is the shooting
in front of the Bellagio a few nights
ago. Two bystanders were struck by
bullets and, luckily, survived. The
suspect didn’t fire his weapon and
it was not ever pointed at officers,
according to a media that is petrified of Metro!
The beginning of the end of my
career began when I wrote a letter
to the editor of the Review-Journal
about Metro TRAINING in December of 2010. I was then interviewed
on National Public Radio in Janu-
Punxsutawney, all the forces of the
universe (so to speak) conspire to
teach him all the lessons he needs
to know to not only become a decent, likable human being, but to
actually like himself and finally win
the love of his life because of his
new awareness and extremely improved behavior.
It was no easy task to bring those
amazing changes to bear, since he
was a hard case and did not easily
learn. What we, the viewers of the
movie, learn, in watching his journey toward change, is that apparently we will get the same lesson
over and over again until we “get”
it. Along the way, during the time
he is not “getting” it, he becomes
not only bored with the constant
repetition of the lessons, but frustrated, annoyed and even pushed to
the edge of his sanity, willing to do
anything to “test” the limits of this
strange repetitious day by trying
various modes of suicide — none
of which, obviously, work.
As we view the movie, we can
imagine all the things we might
need to change in our own life and
all the many chances we might have
had to make those changes a reality, yet somehow, as with the character Bill Murray played, we did not
“get” it the first — or even the second — time around, and so the lesson keeps coming back to us — if
not in the very same recognizable
way, than in some other way, yet
bearing the same lesson we need to
learn.
Although for Murray’s character, everything in his life that needed
ary of 2011. During that interview
I said, “An officer who comes upon
someone firing a weapon in public
shouldn’t think first about returning fire — but instead, they should
do everything they can to ensure the
safety of people in the area ... and,
we don’t have acceptable casualties; the top priority of the police
department in America is to avoid
police officers and citizens dying,
if we can prevent that.” Those comments have a direct application to
the shooting on the Strip and that
suspect was NOT firing!
Think of the lucky streak Metro
has had with this Bellagio shooting
(along with many more questionable or ‘mistake of fact’ shootings
since I was interviewed by NPR).
Nope - Metro ain’t changing!
Norm Jahn served with the
LVMPD for over 21 years and
achieved the rank of lieutenant. He
also served as a police chief in Wisconsin for over three years. Jahn
has been a university professor and
also taught in the criminal justice
program at the College of Southern Nevada for over a decade. Jahn
received a bachelor’s degree from
Michigan State University and a
master’s degree from UNLV. He has
researched police performance and
the management and leadership of
police departments. His weekly column focuses on current policing issues, especially those involving the
LVMPD. Norm provides ‘insight
with an edge’ to inform the public
and improve policing. He can be
reached at [email protected].
administration would be disclosed?
Could this be the reason a witch-hunt was created against Kate Del Castillo for the sole purpose
of destroying the young woman mentally, physically,
economically and professionally?
Prison personnel have given Joaquin Guzman a
book about Don Quixote, so he can entertain himself, knowing that the man is not intellectually capable to read this type of book. This is nothing but a
mockery.
If prison personnel in the United States do that to
a Mexican national, we are going to hear for several
months, two simple words — discrimination and racism.
*****
Perly Viasmensky is the General Manager of the
Las Vegas Tribune. She writes a weekly column in
this newspaper. To contact Perly Viasmensky, email
her at pviasmensky@lasvegas tribune.com.
to be changed (that we were allowed to know of) changed for the
better and he became likable and
lovable and was a whole new improved person, many people might
watch that movie and not see the
totally realistic lesson for themselves therein: The mistakes and
behaviors that we continuously
make can only cause us — and everyone around us — misery, as long
as we don’t recognize them for what
they are and strive to get the lessons they are repeatedly endeavoring to teach us.
Perhaps one of the biggest lessons we could learn from this movie
— if indeed we were willing and
aware enough to learn — would be
to look at the ongoing results of our
behavior in our own life: what do
we see all around us that continues
to happen following what we
(people in particular and/or people
in general) continue to do? If we
return violence for violence, we get
more violence. If we even return
rudeness for rudeness, we are only
contributing more rudeness to the
world and will continue to reap such
rudeness. Physically punish a child
for some “misdeed,” and when he
or she grows up, that child may not
only pass on the same kind of punishment to their own children, but
may add their own “interesting
twists” on the punishment, turning
it into full-blown child abuse. And
it doesn’t end there. Being used to
inflicting physical punishment on
one’s own children makes it easier
to then inflict physical abuse on
one’s other family members, others’ children, one’s neighbors,
strangers on the street, strangers in
another town, strangers in another
country, and whole groups of
people throughout the world that
for some reason you just don’t like
or who you believe don’t like you.
And so the cycle of violence continues because the very first time it
raised its ugly head in this or that
person’s life, they did not “get” it
and did not choose to see any lesson in it, and either allowed it or
perpetrated it yet again, adding,
perhaps, some additional touches to
personalize the violence to their
own taste.
I’m a very big fan of nonviolence, but as Groundhog Day, the
movie, shows, the common things
that are more likely to surface are
exactly what Murray’s character
did not learn until they were
“pounded” into him: kindness and
the many opportunities to be kind;
awareness of others’ needs and the
doing of something about such
things; the desire to make a difference in the lives of others, even by
contributing to their happiness and
joy... and the like.
If we could all muse a little on
how we might look as the new improved person we could be and then
“get” it, how much better the whole
world would be!
Here’s to a happy Groundhog
Day and everyone who gets it!
*****
Maramis Choufani is the Managing Editor of the Las Vegas Tribune. She writes a weekly column
in this newspaper. To contact
Maramis,
email
her
at
[email protected].
Page 16 / LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / January 20-26, 2016
POLITICAL ANALYSIS
Is Donald Trump the anti-Obama?
In an ‘opposites attract’ theory for presidential elections, voters grow tired of the
personalities of incumbents, and they turn to candidates who have opposite characteristics.
By Peter Grier
Here’s a new theory that might
explain Donald Trump’s political
rise: He’s the anti-Obama.
This idea comes from someone
who knows President Obama well:
David Axelrod, former senior strategist for the Obama campaign and
current director of the Institute of
Politics at the University of Chicago.
In a New York Times op-ed
that’s getting lots of attention from
D.C. pundicrats, Mr. Axelrod insists
that the whole thing is so obvious
he’s embarrassed he missed it. Back
in 2006, he drew up a memo for
then-Senator Obama that emphasized an “opposites attract” model
for presidential elections. This
holds that voters grow tired of the
personalities of incumbents, particularly over two terms. They then
turn to candidates who have opposite characteristics.
Circumstantial historical evidence for this is strong. Young, vibrant John F. Kennedy followed the
older and deliberative Dwight D.
Eisenhower. Moralistic Jimmy
Carter succeeded the discredited Richard Nixon (Gerald Ford was a
placeholder, in this view). George
H.W. Bush was even a contrast to
Ronald Reagan — an intense, tech-
Chuck Muth
voters. If Hoover can raise some
dough in the next few months, he
could make a go of it.
Early line: Lean Gansert
4.) State Assembly District 9
(Clark)
Freshman tax-hiking Assemblyman David Gardner is being challenged by Republican National
Committeewoman Diana Orrock.
Gardner will have the
establishment’s backing, but
Orrock will be able to muster more
than enough dough to make sure
voters know Gardner voted for the
$1.4 billion tax hike.
And Orrock has the additional
benefit, by virtue of her party leadership experience, of understanding
the campaign and political process
far better than most first-time candidates.
Early line: Lean Orrock
(Clark)
This race will be a rematch of
the 2014 primary between tax-hiking Assemblyman Stephan
Silberkraus and conservative businesswoman Amy Groves.
Silberkraus etched out a win by
just 485 votes in 2014... but that was
before he voted for the largest tax
hike in history.
For her part, Groves won’t be
saddled with the campaign mismanagement and malpractice of clod
consultant Nathan Emens this time
around.
Silberkraus will have the
establishment’s backing, but
Groves should be able to raise the
money she needs to be competitive
in this race against the incumbent.
Early line: Toss-up
(Clark)
Freshman Assemblyman Chris
“Let’s Make a Deal” Edwards will
be facing conservative Connie
Foust, an experienced grassroots
activist and veteran of the illegal
immigration “border wars” in Arizona before moving to Mesquite.
Edwards is a weasel and distrusted even by his allies. He infamously “wore a wire” and secretly
taped his GOP colleagues in meetings and phone calls before the start
of the 2015 legislative session over
suspicions that he was trying to sell
his leadership vote.
He voted for the $1.4 billion tax
hike before voting against it. (This
guy has more faces than a clock
store!)
Foust has all the issues she needs
to send Edwards packing. The big
question is whether she can garner
the money or volunteer army to get
the word out.
Early line: Toss-up
7.) Assembly District 26
(Washoe)
Last September, tax-hiking
RINO Assemblyman Randy
“Kirner Tax” Kirner (Reno-RINO)
mercifully announced his “retire-
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally at
Muscatine High School in Muscatine, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016.
nocratic replacement for the cow- Axelrod.
boy Gipper.
A number of commentators
Barack Obama — cerebral, ar- think Axelrod may be on to someticulate, and restrained — replaced thing with this analysis. National
George W. Bush, a syntax-man- Journal columnist Ron Fournier
gling shoot-from-the-hip sort of tweeted on Monday that he subpresident. But now Obama has been scribes to the same theory. John
president seven years, and his per- Podhoretz, right-leaning editor of
sonal qualities grate on many Re- Commentary, called it a “fantastic
publicans. They see his deliberation piece.... Illuminating.”
as hesitancy and his patience as
Well, it’s probably true that
weakness, according to his own ex- when it comes to demeanor, Trump
strategist.
and Obama are yin and yang, right
“Who among the Republicans is and left, the North and South Poles
more the antithesis of Mr. Obama of American politics. It is hard to
than the trash-talking, authoritarian, imagine Obama saying, as Trump
give-no-quarter Mr. Trump?” writes did recently, that he could shoot
ment.” In reality, he simply
chickened out of running for reelection after voting for the largest
tax hike in Nevada history.
In the 2014 general election
against conservative Republican
Lisa Krasner, Kirner eked out a victory by all of 11 votes (no Democrat filed in this race, so both Republicans went to the general).
Krasner decided early to run again
after Kirner voted for the $1.4 billion tax hike. After that vote, he was
toast in a GOP-only primary.
Kirner’s and the establishment’s
anointed candidate is Jason
Guinasso. Guinasso will have
plenty of campaign cash to spread
around, as well as an experienced
team of consultants — and without
the baggage of the tax hike vote.
Krasner is mostly on her own
and still facing hard feelings by
some Republicans for challenging
Kirner in 2014. But Guinasso still
has to campaign with the Kirner
anvil around his neck.
Early line: Toss-up
(Washoe)
The only news better than the
news that Kirner won’t be around
to screw over taxpayers again next
year was the news that his running
buddy, tax-hiking RINO Assemblyman Pat “The Appeaser” Hickey
(Reno-RINO) was joining him in
quitting rather than facing voters in
November.
There are four Republicans running in a free-for-all to fill Hickey’s
baby-sized shoes: two conservatives,
Jennifer Terhune & Kimberlie
King-Patraw, and two establishmentarians, Sam Kumar and Jill
Tolles.
The establishment has anointed
Tolles. But with so many candidates
in the mix for this open seat, anything is possible.
Early line: Lean Tolles
(Clark)
Incumbent Assemblyman Glenn
Trowbridge wasn’t elected to this
seat. He was appointed by the seven
Democrats on the Clark County
Commission to fill a vacancy created when conservative Assemblyman Wes Duncan took a job in the
Attorney General’s office.
Trowbridge went on to vote for
the $1.4 billion tax hike.
He’s being challenged by conservative businessman Jim
Marchant, who has some financial
resources and an organized
grassroots network behind him.
Trowbridge, of course, will have
the establishment’s full backing.
But he still has that tax vote anvil
hanging around his neck.
Early line: Lean Marchant
(Nye/Rural)
Incumbent Assemblyman James
“The Big Selloutski” Oscarson represents one of the most GOPfriendly districts in the entire state.
Nevertheless, he sold out his
constituents and voted for the largest tax hike in Nevada history in the
2015 legislative session. In return,
he has been, literally, excommunicated from the Nye County Republican Party.
He’s ripe for the picking.
Unfortunately, just like in our #1
race, there are at least two conservative challengers — Tina Trenner
and Rusty Stanberry — who have
been campaigning in the district for
the last couple of months, and I hear
there’s actually a third candidate
ready to jump in who is favored by
the local party leaders.
The Big Selloutski has the
power of incumbency, the
establishment’s backing and the
money he’ll need to defend his seat.
The conservatives appear intent on
somebody and his poll numbers
would not go down.
And there’s quite likely some
larger truth here in the way the U.S.
electorate changes its attitudes every four or eight years.
But there are a couple of aspects
of Trump’s rise this may not explain. For instance, among US voters as a whole, The Donald remains
a very unpopular figure. That could
change — his favorability ratings
have risen among Republicans in
recent months. But right now, his
popularity is limited to a particular
slice of the GOP.
America has not swung from a
nation excited by nuance to one
more interested in bombast. At least
not yet.
Trump voters may well be antiObama, but isn’t it likely they never
approved of the current president to
begin with? They haven’t wearied
of him. They probably opposed him
in 2008.
In any case, Trump is not the
only Republican hopeful whose
personality is very different from
that of the Oval Office incumbent.
Chris Christie comes to mind —
he’s pretty belligerent himself. Why
is Trump leading the race, and Governor Christie lagging?
The obvious answer is that
Trump is leading because of what
he is being belligerent about. His
policies are more in tune with the
angry mood of a large portion of
Republicans.
In that context, many traditional
Republican Party figures and activists remain flummoxed by the real
estate tycoon’s rise. A great Byron
York piece from New Hampshire in
the Washington Examiner captures
this well.
Mr. York talked to many Granite State GOP figures over the
weekend, and most said they don’t
know anyone who supports Trump.
A few knew one or two. They did
not doubt that Trump supporters
exist. But those supporters seem to
exist outside the usual structure of
New Hampshire Republican politics.
New Hampshire went to Mitt
Romney four years ago. In 2008,
the state’s GOP voters picked Sen.
John McCain. Today, a man who’s
dissed Senator McCain’s war hero
status is some 20 points up in primary polls, with voting only a
couple of weeks away.
“For Trump to really be on the
verge of victory, wouldn’t that mean
the state of New Hampshire somehow had a total political personality transplant in the four years since
Romney’s victory?” York writes.
Hmm. Maybe the Trump-isObama’s-opposite theory fits after
all.
dividing their forces and handing
the seat back to Oscarson.
Early line: Strong Oscarson
BONUS: A DEMOCRAT
PRIMARY TO WATCH
Congressional District 4
(Clark/Rural): Democrats
The incumbent is Republican
Rep. Cresent Hardy.
Democrats have three liberal,
professional politicians running in
the primary — Lucy Flores, Reuben
Kihuen and John “Johnny O”
Oceguera (one of the more loathsome political opportunists in the
state) — vs. a businesswoman,
Susie Lee, who’s never run for office before but has significant funding behind her campaign.
Will the three political pros split
the vote and allow Lee to slide in
under the radar? Probably not.
Democrats don’t operate the same
way Republicans do when it comes
to primaries.
Kihuen is the Democrats’
anointed candidate and Sen. Harry
Reid is apparently “all in” for him.
Early line: Lean Kihuen
Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a non-profit public
policy grassroots advocacy organization. He may be reached by email
at [email protected].
Sundays from 12.30 to 2 p.m.
Please call 702-706-6875 for information
January 20-26, 2016 / LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / Page 17
Mace
Cosby’s defense team disagrees,
claiming that the charges pursued
by Steele violate an “express agreement made by the Montgomery
County District Attorney in 2005,
in which the Commonwealth
agreed that Mr. Cosby would never
be prosecuted with respect to the
allegations of sexual assault made
by complainant Andrea Constand.”
In 2005 Cosby participated in an
oral agreement with Castor. There
was never a written document, but
rather discussions between Castor,
Cosby, and Cosby’s attorney. But
didn’t they all have an understating of the parameters? Castor sat
down with Cosby’s former attorney
(who is now deceased) and gave his
word that he would not prosecute
Cosby. This seems pretty clear to
me. The “agreement” was also announced in a press statement made
by Castor.
There is something in Nevada
called a civil compromise. If the
“victim” is made whole and agrees,
then the state will not prosecute. I
don’t believe it is Cosby’s fault that
the former DA didn’t do everything
right. Why should the current DA
be able to renege on the agreement?
I’m sure if Cosby didn’t follow
through with his settlement, there
would be hell to pay.
Unclean Hands, Mr. Steele.
Why Don’t You Wash Them
In The Schuylkill River?
There is a legal concept called
“Unclean Hands. ” Under the unclean hands doctrine, one party
would argue that the opposing party
is not entitled to relief because they
have committed some sort of
wrongdoing or are themselves liable for an offense. In other words,
they cannot obtain a remedy because their hands are “unclean.” It
seems like the current DA’s hands
are dirty! (Oops, my office screwed
up so you don’t get the benefit of
your bargain, Mr. Cosby! My bad!)
To further complicate the issue
of whether or not there was an
agreement between Castor and
Cosby, an article posted on
philly.com on January 20, 2016 and
updated January 21, reports that
Castor’s successor as DA, Risa
Vetri Ferman, told Castor that she
had no documentation supporting
any deal with Cosby. She also could
not remember any agreement, despite being Castor’s top assistant in
2005. She also had contact with
Constand’s lawyers during that
time.
Email? What Email?
According to CNN in 2015 Castor sent an email to his successor
Ferman, who is now a judge of the
Court of Common Pleas in Montgomery County. It details an apparent verbal agreement the prosecutor had a decade earlier with
Cosby’s attorneys for Cosby to testify in a civil sexual assault case
brought against him in 2005.
In the email, Castor writes that
his intent in making the deal was to
create an atmosphere in which
Cosby’s accuser (Constand ) would
have the best chance of prevailing
in her civil suit against him by removing the prospect of Cosby invoking his 5th Amendment right.
He stated “With the agreement of
the defense law and Andrea’ s law-
yer, I intentionally and specifically
bound the Commonwealth (PA)
that there would be no state prosecution of Cosby...”
Castor said “I can see no possibility that Cosby’s deposition could
be used in a state criminal case,
because I would have to testify as
to what happened, and the deposition would be subject to suppression. I cannot believe any state
court judge would allow that deposition into evidence... Knowing
this, unless you can make out a case
without that deposition and without anything the deposition led you
to, I think Cosby would have an action against the County and maybe
even against you personally.” I
guess Ms. Ferman forgot about that
email.
Castor’s email is significant because it supports the fact that an
agreement was made for absolute
immunity from all prosecution —
rather than immunity from prosecution only stemming from the use of
statements made during the deposition.
Is Cosby Immune From
Prosecutionitis? Maybe?
Pennsylvania does have a statute regarding Immunity of Witnesses. Title 42, Chapter 59, Section 5947 of the PA Consolidated
Statutes provides for immunity orders for witnesses in certain situations upon request of the DA. The
statute says that the judge shall
grant the immunity order when the
DA feels the witness’ testimony is
necessary to the public interest and
the witness has refused to testify,
or is likely to refuse, based on his
privilege against self-incrimination.
There was no judge that granted any
immunity in 2005. But is that
Cosby’s fault?
This statute also states that testimony or information compelled
under an immunity order, or any
information directly or indirectly
derived there from, may not be used
against a witness in any criminal
case, except in cases of perjury,
false swearing, or contempt for not
complying with the immunity order.
The DA Whines: But Judge,
We REALLY Want To
Use His Deposition
We know this will prejudice him
in the eyes of the jury. Judge, you
know the DA is supposed to win. It
is the American way. The testimony
may also be used as evidence when
otherwise admissible, in proceedings where the witness is not a
criminal defendant. The line about
information directly or indirectly
derived from such testimony could
prove beneficial to Cosby if an
agreement is found to actually exist. I think it clearly does.
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Here in Nevada, NRS 178.572
provides that, on motion of the
State, the court may order a material witness to be released from liability to be prosecuted or punished
based on testimony or evidence the
witness may be required to produce,
in any investigation before a grand
jury, or any preliminary examination or trial in any court of record.
So, if immunity is granted, the witness may NOT use his or her 5th
Amendment privilege
All Immunity Is
Not The Same
NRS178.574 states that any such
immunity order shall forever bar the
witness from prosecution for any
offense shown in whole or in part
by his testimony or other evidence,
except for perjury committed in the
giving of such testimony.
The federal immunity statute is
similar. 18 U.S.C. ß 6002 states that
when a witness is ordered to testify
after refusing to do so on the basis
of his privilege against self-incrimination, the testimony or information
compelled by the order, as well as
any information directly or indirectly derived there from, may not
be used against the witness in any
criminal case.
This is a broader form of immunity that is usually agreed upon
when doing a proffer. In the vast
majority of proffer agreements, the
prosecutor can make derivative use
of any information provided. They
can follow up leads and discover
new, incriminating information.
Exceptions are made for perjury,
giving false statement, or failing to
comply with the order to testify.
Immunity? Why Not?
For those like Cosby seeking to
use an immunity defense, the Rules
of Evidence may also provide some
comfort. Federal Rule of Evidence
410 prohibits the use of almost all
of a Defendant’s immunized statements against him in both civil and
criminal cases. However, similar to
the federal immunity statute, this
rule also makes exceptions in certain cases, such as where defendant
has committed perjury or issued
false statements under oath, on the
record, with counsel present.
Make Me A Proffer
I Can’t Refuse!
Better Consult a Lawyer! One of
the trickier aspects of immunity is
the proffer, or “queen for a day”
agreement. These are agreements
between a prosecutor and a criminal suspect which allow the suspect
to provide the prosecutor with information. Supposedly the Prosecution can’t use it.
Not so fast, moose breath!
What’s the catch with proffers?
They don’t allow the prosecution to
use information obtained in the
proffer session against the person
that provided it. This is a Get-outof-Jail-free card! Right? Wrong!
The information can be used to find
new evidence, and that new evidence can be used against you, Mr.
Profferer. In other words, there’s no
guarantee that you can’t be prosecuted based on the testimony you
provide during the proffer session,
because that testimony can be used
to find additional evidence that can
be used against you. It doesn’t seem
fair, does it?
Making a proffer to try and obtain immunity, or even leniency, can
be a tricky proposition. You should
really consider consulting an experienced and knowledgeable defense
attorney to help you decide whether
or not to engage in a proffer agreement. There are pitfalls for the unwary.
Should You Accept a Proffer?
The alternative is to invoke Your
5th Amendment Right Against SelfIncrimination. Which is better? It
depends on the case. If the
Prosecution’s case is strong, it may
behoove you to cooperate. If it is
not, you may give them the evidence they need to convict you.
Defense lawyers are watching
with great interest to see how the
issue of whether or not there was
an immunity agreement in place
between Cosby and the former DA
plays out. Is it a full-fledged immunity agreement, or will it be treated
more like a proffer, which could
mean the new prosecutor can go
after Cosby based on the “alleged”
new evidence that came out when
Cosby’s deposition from the 2005
civil suit became public last summer. If the testimony was always
there, how could it be new evidence?
I don’t know what happened
between Bill Cosby and all of those
women. It sure seems like where
there is smoke there is fire. I’m certainly not condoning sexually assaulting or drugging women. But,
a deal is a deal! Constand’s civil
case against Cosby was settled approximately 10 years ago. Then DA
Castor made a tactical decision not
to prosecute Cosby in return for Bill
testifying in a deposition to assist
Constand’s civil case. Maybe he felt
Ms Constand would get more justice from a financial settlement.
Money talks!
If you’re under investigation for
suspected criminal activity, or have
already been charged, you probably
don’t care much about what’s happening across the country in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
with Bill Cosby. You’ve got your
own problems!
Here in Nevada, NRS 171.085
provides for a four-year statute of
limitations to charge a suspect with
sexual assault. But, under NRS
171.083, if a police report is filed
by the victim or a person authorized
to act on the victim’s behalf within
the four-year period, then a prosecution for that incident may take
place at any time thereafter. If so
there is no statute of limitations, just
like murder.
Don’t go it alone! If you find
yourself in this type of situation in
which you are between a rock and
a hard place, you’re unsure whether
to “plead the Fifth or meet with the
prosecutors or any member of law
enforcement, you need help! One
wrong move could affect you for
the rest of your life! Make sure you
protect yourself!
For more information regarding
Nevada laws, or if you feel your
rights have been violated, please
call Mace Yampolsky & Associates.
Call us at (702) 385-9777. We are
available 24/7 for emergencies. If
you need help, CALL NOW before
it is too late. We can help!
DO YOU NEED AN EDITOR?
Have you been embarrassed lately when someone pointed
out to you that you misspelled a word in your report or maybe
had a whole sentence all messed up? Have you personally
felt that you could’ve done a much better job on that manuscript
but just didn’t have the time?
Why put off doing what you know you should have done before:
call in an editor! As a word-, sentence-, and document-doctor,
she will fix what needs fixing by adding a little of this or that,
and taking out what shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Give yourself the luxury of looking your best in print!
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ENTERTAINMENT
X-Country opened at Harrahs
By Sandy Zimmerman
Las Vegas Tribune
Photos by Edison Graff
Stardust Fallout
Wild... Sensual... Exciting... The
new kick’n topless “X-Country,
The Show” introduced their premiere opening night in the Improv
Showroom, at Harrah’s Hotel.
There is “X-Burlesque” (Flamingo), “X-Comedy” (Flamingo),
“X-Rocks” (Rio) and “X-Burlesque
University” shows (Flamingo), now
you will never guess the name of
their latest “HOT” addition — It’s
“X-Country”!
With all of their successful
shows, you can bet the producers
know how to entertain you with the
best of Country in clever, original
X-rated themes. Packed with non-
stop action for 90 minutes, “XCountry” held the audiences interest. Watching “X-Country,” I was
amazed at the creative choreography and dazzling costumes. As each
musical number began, the seductive dancers take you on a musical
ride for an evening of fun.
One way to get everyone in the
mood, a highlight of the show, their
short video was reminiscent of the
old west. And it was really a part of
the old west filmed in an old mining town in Nelson, Nevada, just 40
miles southeast of Las Vegas. The
themes included “He Done Her
Wrong” and “The Saloon Girl Seduces the Cowboy.”
This was also a collection of the
best music by top country singers
Tim McGraw, Hank Williams, Jr.,
Trace Atkins, Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift along with traditional and
country hits and more.
Before the show, the media/invited guests and celebrities had a
chance to meet the cast of “X-Country” and one of their sister shows
“X-Burlesque” at the opening night
party held in Toby Keith’s I Love
This Bar and Grill.
Walking the red carpet was
America’s Got Talent Murray
SawChuck celebrity magician, magician Dough “Lefty” Leferovich,
BMX pro Ricardo Laguna, model
and former Ms. Nevada Lisa Song,
Frank Sidoris, lead guitarist from
SLASH featuring Myles Kennedy
& the Conspirators, comedian
Lenny Windsor, star of “Sexxy”
Jennifer Romas, comedian Lenny
Windsor and the sexy cast of “XBurlesque” among others.
The “X-Country” show is produced by Matt and Angela Stabile,
who also produce “X- Burlesque,”
“X- Rocks” and “X- Comedy.”
“X Country” performs Sunday,
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday (dark Friday and Saturday) at The Improv at Harrah’s.
Show time is 10:30 p.m. Tickets
start from $36.23 (with additional
fees). VIP packages include Country Star Ticket (with only one sold
per show). For more information or
to purchase tickets, Call toll free 1866-854-6067. “X-Country” appears in the Improv Theater, at
Harrah’s Hotel, 10:30 PM.
Age Requirement: Must be 18+
years of age
INTERACTIVE AUDIENCE
PARTICIPATION
Become a Country Star onstage
and perform with the X Girls by
buying a “Country Star Ticket”
(One sold per show). Meet the girls
and take a photo after the show.
Learn to be a Burlesque Dancer at
“X-Burlesque University.”
Award
winning
Sandy
Zimmerman is a syndicated columnist featuring Show and Dining reviews, travel, health, spas, luxury
and more. Sandy is talk show host
of the Las Vegas Today Show programs and Discover the Ultimate
Vacation travel specials. If you want
to suggest topics for articles, for
information or to ask any questions
about Sandy’s articles, call 702735-5974.
Comedian/UFC Commentator Joe Rogan
at KA Theatre, MGM Grand Friday, March 4
This Week
in Las Vegas
By Mike Kermani
By Mike Kermani
Las Vegas Tribune
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
will welcome comedian, podcaster
and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) commentator Joe
Rogan when he takes the KA Theatre stage Friday, March 4 at 9 p.m.
With more than 20 years of
stand-up experience, Rogan has
sold out shows worldwide and recently released his fourth hour long
comedy special “Joe Rogan: Rocky
Mountain High” which premiered
on Comedy Central in November
2014. Since 2002, Rogan has provided commentary for the UFC
which airs on Pay-Per-View outlets
and FOX. He currently hosts “The
Joe Rogan Experience,” a podcast
featuring an array of guests from
the pursuits of comedy, science,
social activism and Mixed Martial
Arts.
Price: $29.99, $39.99, $49.99
and $54 (not including applicable
taxes and service fees)
Tickets are now on sale and can
be purchased at any MGM Grand
ticketing outlet, online at
mgmgrand.com
or
ticketmaster.com, or by phone at
(866) 740-7711 or (702) 891-7777.
*****
BIG GAME
VIEWING PARTIES
CliQue Bar & Lounge will be
having their Big Game Viewing
Party on February 7th — get ready
to watch the biggest game of the
year as the AFC and NFC champions square off for the Lombardi
Trophy. With 10 big screen TV’s,
CLiQue Bar & Lounge is the
hotspot to watch the Big Game on
the strip. Please call 702.698.7939
for reservations and minimum options.
Located in the heart of The Cosmopolitan, the ultra-hip and
swanky cocktail lounge will add
another dimension to the resort’s
dynamic bar collection. CliQue Bar
& Lounge will serve as an escape
from the outside world, offering
artisanal cocktails and house-made
mixers. CliQue Bar & Lounge will
be adorned with dark wood, comfortable couches and posh finishing touches, creating a lavish look.
Mixology from the minds of the
most innovative bartenders, Mike
Monreal and Justin D’Angelo, will
take center stage as CliQue Bar &
Lounge reinvents the lounge experience with tableside mixology.
Aside from classic drinks, CliQue
Bar & Lounge will offer a one-ofa-kind cocktail menu, with fresh
juices and garnishes.
***
Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar
will also be showing the Big Game
on February 7th. Hearthstone, located at Red Rock Resort, will be
hosting at $35 all you can eat with
$10 pitchers. Doors open at 2 p.m.
— so make sure to get there early
to get a table for you and your crew!
Located right off the infamous
Las Vegas strip, Andy Masi’s
(former CEO of Light Group)
Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar is the
latest dining addition to Red Rock
Casino Resort and Spa. Executive
Chef Brian Massie decided that in
order to ensure each dishes excellence, simple and seasonal ingredients must be executed in an unconventional yet delicious manner,
while still keeping crowd favorites
available to guests, all paired with
an evolving wine and cocktail list.
With cooking taking place in the
heart of the restaurant, guests have
the ability to interact with the chefs
as they create succulent dishes.
***
Tilted Kilt at the LINQ will
also be hosting their very own Big
Game Day festivities. With dozens
of TV’s surrounding the pub, there
really is no bad table. Known as
“The Best Looking Sports Pub
You’ve Ever Seen,” Tilted Kilt has
over 100 locations throughout the
U.S. and Canada. More than a pub
and sports bar, Tilted Kilt offers
great food, drinks and a fun and
entertaining atmosphere. Big Game
Day is bound to be a good time at
Tilted Kilt.
Known as “The Best Looking
Sports Pub You’ve Ever Seen,”
With an impressive menu of crowd
favorites such as Tilted Chicken
Wings, BBQ Chicken Flatbread and
TK’s famous Irish Nachos paired
with their extensive drink list including their innovative cocktails,
Tilted Kilt’s delicious menu items
will keep you coming back for
more.
*****
ST. VALENTINE’S DAY
WEEKEND SPA, SALON,
DINING AND NIGHTLIFE
SPECIALS
Palms Casino Resort is romancing guests this Valentine’s Day
weekend with a variety of experiences for those looking for a special way to celebrate the holiday.
Guests looking to impress that special someone can treat their significant other to memorable meals, romantic views, live entertainment,
primp and pampering services and
more from Friday, Feb. 12, through
Sunday, Feb. 14.
*****
LOCO CANTINA OPENS
AT TOWN SQUARE
MONDAY, FEB. 8
“Mexican street eats and fiesta
— where flavor and fun is a way
of life.” This slogan defines Las Vegas’ newest Mexican drinks and
dining experience, Loco Cantina.
The bar and restaurant will open to
the public at Town Square Las Vegas on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. From
the kitchen, guests can look forward to delicious modern Mexican
street food at reasonable prices.
Located on Town Square’s second
floor, overlooking Town Square
Park, Loco Cantina will serve lunch
and dinner daily in a fun and vibrant setting.
Loco Cantina’s simple, authentic Mexican street food will be
packed with flavor. Dishes will feature house made items such as
salsas and chorizo. Guests can expect aperitivos (starters) such as
Mexican Mac & Cheese (chorizo,
jack cheese, jalapeños, tomatoes
and cilantro); ensaladas including
the Cantina Loco (greens with
Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon, Cotija cheese, avocado, pickled red onion, roasted Marcona almonds and cider vinaigrette). Three
different tortas will be offered including beef short rib, roasted
chicken and carnitas. Tostadas will
feature fillings of chorizo, chicken
or short rib, topped with black bean
purÈe, queso fresco, greens, pickled red onion and habanero salsa.
The taco menu will feature six different varieties including barbacoa,
shrimp and pastor (ancho chili
marinated pork, pineapple, pickled
peppers and onions and fresh
cilantro).
With its fun-loving, casual atmosphere and emphasis on personalized service, Loco Cantina will be
a must-visit happy hour destination
and late-night spot with live entertainment seven nights a week.
Thirsty patrons can look forward to
“over-the-top” cocktail concoctions
and more than 40 tequilas. The craft
margarita menu includes the
Locorita (Jose Cuervo, house made
sour, fresh lime and Corona) and
Kentucky Margarita (Maker’s
Mark, agave nectar, red sea salt and
lime). In addition, Loco Cantina’s
lively bartenders will mix craft
cocktails such as the Jalisco’s Old
Fashioned (Herradura Reposado,
Demerara sugar, oranges, bitters
and Luxardo cherries) and Fiesta
Lemonade (Bulleit Bourbon, fresh
lemonade and basil). Blanco and
rojo sangria, white and red wines,
as well as five Mexican canned
beers (“Mexi-Cans,” in Loco
Cantina parlance) and 20 beers on
tap will also be available.
Loco Cantina will be all about
its “fiesta-like” atmosphere, as well
as great food. Upon entering the
restaurant, guests will immediately
see a large, inverted neon sign that
will read, “Drink.” A sign reading
“Taco” will also be visible from the
front door. Loco Cantina’s interior
will feature a rustic yet industrial
design. Playfully placed repurposed
doors with vintage hardware and
crates will descend from the ceiling as part of the vibrant dÈcor, juxtaposed with industrial light fixtures
housing Edison bulbs. Slatewrapped columns will showcase the
daily specials in chalk, while salvaged wood panels on the wall and
seats at the bar will be accented by
red tones. The bar itself will feature an exposed metal casing
wrapped in mesh. Four tables for
communal dining will be available.
The outdoor patio will have a pergola awning with garage doors.
There will be nine televisions
throughout the restaurant, with two
on the patio. The restaurant will
have a total of 230 seats, 80 of
which will be on the patio.
Loco Cantina is owned by Steve
Cohee, who also owns and operates
the Mexican-inspired bar and grill
Adobe Gila’s with current locations
in Illinois, Ohio and Florida.
“We like to say there are three
places you go every day: work,
home — and that other place you
go when you want good drinks,
good food, great service and to
know you’re appreciated,” says
Cohee. “We want to be that place
for our guests.”
Loco Cantina will be open daily
at 11 a.m. to close and will be located on the second floor by the
AMC Town Square 18 movie theater.
Mike Kermani is an entertainment writer for the Las Vegas Tribune newspaper. He writes a weekly
column in this newspaper. To contact Mike Kermani, email
mkermani@ lasvegas tribune.com
Lose your heart with Nik on Valentine’s Day
By Jerry Fink
Las Vegas Tribune
Crooner Nik Mastrangelo will
be providing romantic atmosphere
for you and your loved one with
some of the most romantic songs
from the Great American Song
Book on Valentine’s Day, Sunday,
Feb. 14, at the Tuscany.
Showtime is 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The band lineup includes Vinnie
Falcone on keys, Joe Lano on guitar, Chris Gordan on bass and Mike
Mechem on drums.
Nik also will be crooning the
following Sunday, Feb. 21, at the
Tuscany in celebration of his second anniversary at the venue, also
7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Joining him will be his regular
Super Trio of Joey Singer, Bob
Sachs and Mike plus special guests.
*****
RISING COUNTRY STAR
SIERRA BLACK
TO PERFORM AT
SANTA FE STATION
Rising country star and Las Vegas native Sierra Black will showcase her talents with two free shows
at Santa Fe Station.
Black, who recently released her
new single “Casino,” will perform
Friday, Jan. 29 and Saturday, Jan.
30 at Chrome Showroom. Both
shows begin at 9 p.m. and guests
must be 21 years or older.
Sierra Black began singing when
she was six years old and has never
lost the fire to entertain. She seems
perfectly positioned, geographically, to just that, as her hometown
of Las Vegas, Nevada is by some
measure the entertainment capital
of the world.
Black inherited the gift of entertaining from her grandmother, who
was the youngest member of the
singing trio of Cuban-born sisters
called “The De Castro Sisters,” who
hit the top of the Billboard charts
with the 1954 hit “Teach Me Tonight” and performed on several
television shows, including the “Ed
Sullivan Show.”
After several years of
songwriting, singing and gigging,
Sierra began work on her debut album. In between recording sessions
in Nashville, Black has performed
alongside and opened for many of
country music’s biggest acts, including Joe Nichols, Little Big
Town, The Swon Brothers and
Keith Urban, whom she sang a duet
with at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. Her debut single
“Casino” was released in 2015.
Sierra Black will perform Friday, Jan. 29 and Saturday, Jan. 30
at Chrome Showroom inside Santa
Fe Station. Doors open at 8 p.m. for
both shows and there is no cover
charge. Entry is first-come, firstserved and based upon venue capacity. Guests must be 21 years or
older. For more information on Sierra Black, please visit
www.sierrablackmusic.com.
*****
BIG GAME 10K RUNNING
FESTIVAL OFFERING
THREE SPECIAL RACES ON
FEBRUARY 7 IN COLORFUL
DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS
Preparing to start 2016 in a major way, an international field representing five countries and 14
states are among the early entries
for the second annual Big Game
10K road race festival to be held
Sunday, Feb. 7 in Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas.
Registration continues at
www.biggame10k.com for the race
— which features a 10K, 5K,
Combo Challenge (both the 5K and
10K) and Kids Fun Run on Feb. 7,
along with the three-day Big Game
Health and Fitness Expo and welcome parties in the days leading up
to the biggest betting and football
weekend of the year.
Football-themed events include
a pre-race Carbo Load, post-race
Touchdown Tailgate, and a viewing party for the big game itself.
The event is being held once
again as a benefit for the Las Vegas-based Goodie Two Shoes Foundation, a prominent charitable organization that provides disadvantaged children and children in crisis with new shoes and socks, as
well as other items deemed essential for good health and positive
development.
The Big Game 10K host hotel,
the Downtown Grand, 206 North
3rd Street, has a room block with
special rates for race participants
who want to enjoy the running football weekend in downtown Las
Vegas.
On big game Sunday, Feb. 7, the
day kicks off with a costume contest at 7:20 a.m., followed by the
Kids Fun Run at 7:30 a.m., the 5K
race at 8:00 a.m. and the featured
Big Game 10K race starting at 8:30
a.m. The 5K and 10K races start at
Carson and 8th Street, adjacent to
Container Park in Downtown Las
Vegas. The finish line is at Fremont
and 10th Street, also in Downtown
Las Vegas.
Race participants will be able to
choose the color for their race TShirt based on their favorite team
in NFL’s biggest game of the year.
There will also be marching bands
and cheerleaders on the sidelines to
cheer on the runners and add to the
football party theme.
The three-day Health and Fitness expo will feature mini-sessions
of meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, healthy meal prepping, as
well as tips on SMART goal setting.
For each race entry submitted,
$5 from the total amount will be donated to the Goodie Two Shoes
Foundation. For all team competition entries, $10 from each race
entry will be donated to this charity.
The Big Game 10K has recently
completely re-vamped and updated
its website and Facebook page with
a fresh new look and easy to use
tabs. The entry process for the Big
Game 10k is now easier and registration continues. For more information or to register for the event,
visit www.biggame10k.com .
For more information regarding
the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation,
founded by former NFL offensive
lineman Tony Berti (San Diego
Chargers-1995-98) and his wife
Nikki, visit the website
www.goodietwoshoes.org.
*****
BUDWEISER CLYDESDALES
TO TROT TO PARIS
Beer Park, located at Paris Las
Vegas, will celebrate its highly-anticipated grand opening with the
world famous Budweiser Clydesdales leading off a countdown to the
Big Game.
Starting at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30, the legendary horses
will take their first trot down Las
Vegas Boulevard to commemorate
the occasion.
The procession will culminate at
the entryway to Beer Park in front
of Paris Las Vegas, where Clark
County Commissioner Mary Beth
Scow will present an official proclamation, and will join representatives from Beer Park, Caesars Entertainment and Anheuser-Busch to
tap the first keg.
The Clydesdales will also be
available for photo opportunities
from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan.
31 in front Beer Park, on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard in front
of the Paris Las Vegas valet.
Beer Park will be the Las Vegas
Strip’s first rooftop bar and grill,
complete with an outdoor grill; picnic tables; more than 100 draft, can
and bottle beer selections including
36 beers; wine; and craft beer cocktails on tap.
*****
LEGENDS IN CONCERT
ANNOUNCES OVER 400
PERFORMANCES
AT FLAMINGO
The stars of Legends in Concert,
Las Vegas’ longest-running live
tribute show, will be shining this
spring as an all new cast brightens
the stage at Flamingo Las Vegas.
The stellar opening lineup will include the exciting debut of tributes
to Adele and Prince, and the return
of the always popular Blues Brothers, along with Frank Sinatra, beginning on Saturday, Feb. 13.
Adele fans can say “Hello” as
Legends in Concert welcomes its
first ever Adele tribute artist, J.C.
Brando. Brando will be performing
chart-toppers including “Rolling in
the Deep,” “Skyfall,” and the recent
smash hit, “Hello.” Fans will also
be able to “Shake Your Tail
Feather” with Eric Martin and
Carmen Romano paying tribute to
the Blues Brothers. Performances
will include hits such as “Soul
Man,” “Can’t Turn You Loose” and
“Raw Hide.”
Fans can welcome the man in
the, “Little Red Corvette,” when
Frank Moore pays tribute to the
multi-talented legend, Prince.
Moore’s much anticipated arrival
will include performances of
“Purple Rain” and “Let’s Go
Crazy.” Brian Duprey will make his
return paying tribute as Rat Pack
legend, Frank Sinatra. He will be
performing fan favorites including
“Come Fly with Me” and “Witchcraft.” In honor of Ol’ Blue Eyes’
return, audience members can still
“Be the Producer,” with Legends’
new interactive feature that allows
the choosing of Duprey’s closing
song via a mobile device.
For more than three decades,
Legends in Concert has proudly entertained more than 6.6 million Las
Vegas visitors and residents, produced over 18,500 performances on
the Las Vegas Strip and performed
to more than 30 million fans worldwide. Tickets for the 10 show times
per week are on sale at all Caesars
Entertainment box offices or by
calling 702-777-2782. More information
is
available
at
www.flamingolasvegas.com or
www.legendsinconcert.com.
*****
THE IMPROV AT HARRAH’S:
JANUARY 26–31
The world-famous Improv at
Harrah’s Las Vegas is the longestrunning comedy club on the Las
Vegas Strip. The Improv’s ability
to showcase young comedians, as
well as bring in big names, has attributed to its longevity and success.
Each week, The Improv showcases some of the funniest and
freshest faces in comedy, creating
a show that is always unique and
definitely funny.
The comedians who will per-
form January 26–31 are:
Dat Phan: Known as the original winner of NBC’s “Last Comic
Standing,” Dat Phan creates a culturally insightful show, using his
youthful energy and unique life experiences. Phan has been featured
on many movies and TV shows,
such as “The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno,” “The Tyra Banks
Show,” “Cellular” and “Family
Guy.”
Avi Liberman: Avi Liberman’s
quirky style has made him a favorite in comedy clubs from Los Angeles to New York. Liberman has
performed stand-up comedy on
CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig
Ferguson,” on Comedy Central’s
“Premium Blend” and “Make Me
Laugh” as well as NBC’s “Friday
Night!” He has appeared at the prestigious Montreal “Just for Laughs
Festival” since 2001 and successfully arranged stand-up comedy
tours for the troops in Israel.
Murray Valeriano: Murray
Valeriano is a brilliant comedian,
writer and human sponge. As an
award winning writer, Valeriano has
written for “The Tonight Show,”
Bill Engvall’s “Here’s Your Sign
Awards” and “Ridiculousness,” to
name a few. He has also written for
other comedians such as Conan
O’Brien, Stephen Colbert and Dennis Miller.
Shows are at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday
through Sunday with an additional
show at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Tickets start at $30.50 (plus applicable taxes and fees). VIP tickets include special seating, an
Improv T-shirt and post-show meetand-greet with the comics.
Special two-for-one tickets are
also available for locals for the 10
p.m. show.
Tickets are available at Harrah’s
Box Office 702-369-5223 and
online www.harrahslasvegas.com.
*****
Jerry Fink is an entertainment
columnist for the Las Vegas Tribune
newspaper and writes a weekly column. To contact Fink, email him at
jfink@ lasvegastribune.com.
&
HEALTH LIFESTYLES
LAX Nightclub’s throwback to
the ’80s and ’90s Thursdays
By Sandy Zimmerman
Las Vegas Tribune
Photos by Powers Imagery
Everyone enjoyed their journey
back to the ’80s and ’90s with the
favorites of those times! Vanilla Ice
led the musical trip bringing his expertise and performing passions to
the scene.
These shows provide your
chance to relive those days while
enjoying the music you love. What
a great idea! LAX Nightclub devotes entire Thursday evenings as
a tribute to the hits including “Ninja
Rap,” “Play That Funky Music,”
“Ice Ice Baby” and other numbers.
The mood becomes electric, sparking your body to dance.
Vanilla Ice, rapper and star of
“The Vanilla Ice Project” (DIY Network) expressed his feelings, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a
mystery.” He added, “I am the
youngest teenager in the room.”
The artist, who skyrocketed to
fame and became the face of the
’90s, was joined by a posse of
friends including Flavor Flav,
Jonathan Scott of “Property Brothers” and his brother, HGTV host JD
Scott, boxing champion Zab Judah,
the cast of “Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles,” and more, as audiences
jumped to lively renditions of his
signature hits, which he said are
“great memories, like photos.
Every Thursday at LAX Nightclub, DJs spin favorite hits from the
’80s and ’90s, with several memorable Throwback performers hosting select nights throughout the
year. Guests are encouraged to don
their favorite fashion from the era
to bring back the ambiance of the
unforgettable decades.
Upcoming artists include SaltN-Pepa’s DJ Spinderella (Feb. 4)
and Young M.C. (Feb. 18).
LAX Nightclub ushered in 2016
on the eve of the New Year, by revealing state-of-the-art upgrades to
its lighting and sound system, a
LED feature surrounding the DJ
booth, and sleek new design elements. Over the course of 2016, the
venue plans to continue an aggressive rejuvenation, with heavy emphasis on the Throwback Thursday
programming.
LAX is open Thursday - Saturday from 10:30 p.m. to late night.
For more information, visit
Luxor.com For more information,
call (702) 262-4LAX (4529).
For more information, call (702)
262-4LAX (4529). Stay updated by
following LAX Nightclub on Twitter at @LAX_Nightclub.
Recently redesigned by Kurstin
Schmitz of Urbane Design in Las
Vegas, LAX Nightclub boasts
sleek, modern design features and
bright hues throughout the venue.
New programming and entertainment caters to guests seeking a fun
and interactive nightlife experience.
LAX is open Thursday - Saturday
from 10:30 p.m. to late. For more
information, visit Luxor.com or follow LAX Nightclub on Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram.
For more information, call (702)
262-4LAX (4529). Stay updated by
following LAX Nightclub on Twit-
ter at @LAX_Nightclub.
Award
winning
Sandy
Vacation travel specials. If you
want to suggest topics for articles,
for information or to ask any questions about Sandy’s articles, call
702-735-5974.
CITY BEAT
U.S. DOT seeks community input on Southern
Nevada transportation planning process
The U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Federal Highway
Administration and Federal Transit
Administration are seeking community input on the transportation
planning process in Southern Nevada at a public meeting on
Wednesday, Jan. 27.
The community has the opportunity to provide comments and
suggestions on ways to improve the
regional planning process for transportation projects. Topics of discussion will include long-range transportation planning, public involvement techniques, transportation
studies and involvement from other
public agencies.
WHO: U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT)
WHAT: Transportation Certification Review public meeting
WHY: U.S. DOT is seeking input from residents, who can influence the regional planning process
and the direction of their community
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 27,
from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
WHERE: East Las Vegas Community Center, 250 N. Eastern Ave.
As the region’s metropolitan
planning organization, the Regional
Transportation Commission of
Southern Nevada’s planning process is reviewed every four years
to ensure compliance with federal
requirements.
To request an interpreter free of
charge, please call 702-676-1749 at
least 48 hours prior to the scheduled meeting.
*****
Regional Transportation
Commission of Southern
Nevada Selects BCycle
to Install Las Vegas’ First
Bike Share System
BCycle was awarded a contract
by the Regional Transportation
Commission of Southern Nevada
(RTC) to install the city’s first bike
share system. This will bring the
total number of communities in the
United States and South America
with a BCycle system to 41.
“We’re excited to partner with
the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada and
bring bike share to Las Vegas,” said
BCycle President Bob Burns. “Las
Vegas is the perfect city for bike
share, and will further enhance
transportation options for residents
of Las Vegas and the world-class
experience for millions of visitors
to the city.”
The system is scheduled to open
in 2016 with 18 stations and 180
bikes in the downtown Las Vegas
area.
Las Vegas will be the third system to use BCycle’s 2.0 bikes and
stations. The 2.0 next-generation
station was launched in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in April 2015,
and features an intuitive kiosk and
an updated aesthetic look. The 2.0
bicycle, which is lighter than the
first-generation bike, will debut in
Philadelphia and Los Angeles, California, this year. The 2.0 system’s
proven technology and high-quality aesthetic will complement the
high ridership of both resident and
tourist users expected in Las Vegas.
BCycle currently has more than
900 stations and 8,000 bikes on the
ground. All BCycle bikes are designed by Waterloo, Wisc.-based
Trek Bicycle Corporation.
*****
Veterans team up with VA
for a Mission of Hope
#22DamnMany Daily Veteran
Suicides will be the topic of a session led by Air Force Veteran Peter
Guidry. The Trike Demo and Drum
Circle sponsored by Forgotten Not
Gone will be held Friday January
22, 2016 starting 7:30am to
10:30am at 916 W. Owens VA
Community Resource and Referral
Center.
The #22DamnMany campaign
kicked off January 1st, with a goal
to ride our recumbent trikes 2,222
by Veteran’s day 2016. Forgotten
Not Gone just completed its first
goal of triking 222 miles which will
be accomplished by the 22nd of
every month. Each month on the
22nd, Forgotten Not Gone will partner with the community to raise
awareness and provide practical
solutions to end the 22 Daily Veteran Suicides.
Jeffrey Trower’s featured Drum
Circle presentation is our first addition to our new and exciting Music Enrichment Program.
Trower, a U.S Navy Veteran, is
excited to introduce recreational
music making as a modality for true
healing and wellness for our service
members and their families.
Forgotten Not Gone will have
trikes available to demo and test
ride. Forgotten Not Gone is a
501(C)(3) For Purpose Organization that is dedicated to helping save
Veterans and their families from the
Destruction of Suicide. Feeling
Alone, Forgotten and Abandoned
causes 22 Veterans a day to take
their own lives in the United States.
Forgotten Not Gone helps our service members who were not lost at
war but Forgotten at home make a
decision to live, through emotional,
physical and spiritual activities.
*****
Pahrump Takes
Adventures to New Heights
This February
Experience fun, games and adventures at a different height this
February. Pahrump’s celebrated
Hot Air Balloon Festival takes place
this month, as well as Bonkerz
Comedy Club events, The Hubb
Classic Car & Parts Swaps Meet
and much more. Stay up to date
with everything happening in
Pahrump
by
visiting,
www.visitpahrump.com.
Bonkerz Comedy Club: Held
inside the Pahrump Nugget Event
Center, Bonkerz Comedy Club presents comedians Carla Rea and
Steve McInelly during the month of
February. These comedians have
been featured on “Late Night with
Conan O’Brien,” Showtime with
Louie Bruce and on the CW. Tickets are $10, but it comes with $5 in
free slot play.
Date: Carla Rea- Friday, Feb.
12; Steve McInelly- Friday, Feb. 19,
Time: 7 p.m., Details: Tickets are
only $10 and can be purchased at
the Pahrump Nugget. Tickets include a free $5 slot play., Location:
Pahrump Nugget Event Center; 681
Highway 160, Pahrump, NV 89048
The HUBB Classic Car &
Parts Swap Meet: Located at the
gates of Death Valley in Pahrump,
Nevada, The HUBB is the perfect
place to unwind after a long day of
work or travel. Held every second
Saturday of the month, the HUBB
Classic Car & Parts Swap Meet is
the premier monthly automotive
swap meet in Pahrump Valley. Buy
antique, vintage, classic and or
high-end cars and parts at bargain
prices. For more information visit
www.thehubbnevada.com. Date:
Every second Saturday of the
Month, Feb. 13, Time: 8 a.m., Location: The HUBB; 3720 W. Bell
Vista Ave, Pahrump, NV 89060
Pahrump Valley Museum Lecture Series: Calling all history
buffs: the Pahrump Valley Museum
is dedicated to inspiring curiosity
and teaching the rich history and
culture of Pahrump through its oneof-a-kind exhibits that include early
farming and mining equipment,
early relics from cowboys and pioneers, and Native American artifacts. In addition to the historic
items on display, the Pahrump Valley Museum offers a monthly lecture series that covers a wide range
of topics. Date: Second Saturday
of the month; Feb. 13, Time: 1 p.m.,
Details: February’s guest speaker
features Robin Flinchum, author of
Red Light Women of Death Valley.
Flinchum will tell the story of Dolly
Franquelin, whose story is not a part
of her book. Flinchum’s work has
appeared in Nevada, Cerca and Las
Vegas Life magazines. Location:
Pahrump Valley Museum; 401 E.
Basin Ave, Pahrump, NV 89060
Quilt & Fiber Arts Show: The
Shadow Mountain Quilters and The
Pahrump Arts Council are sponsoring the 20th Annual Quilt and Fiber Show. The three-day event offers a chance to see gorgeous quilts
of all sizes, needlework, wearable
art and other fiber arts. Guests can
enjoy demonstrations, a bed turning, door prizes, vendors, a silent
auction, quilt appraisals, and a picka-prize raffle. Date: Friday, Feb. 19
— Sunday, Feb. 21, Time: Friday,
Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb, 20: 9
a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 21: 10
a.m. to 3 p.m., Details: Admission
is $5/day, $8 for multi-day wristband. Kids under 12 are FREE —
Husbands FREE with wives. Location: Nevada Treasure RV Resort;
Hwy 160 at the corner of Leslie
2016 Hot Air Balloon Festival:
Take an adventure with the entire
family to the 2016 Hot Air Balloon
Festival in Pahrump this February
featuring 20 hot air balloon pilots
from the western states, tethered
balloon rides, music, entertainment,
balloon glow, tasty food and arts
and crafts. Date: Friday, February
26- Sunday, February 28. Details:
Friday, February 26 — Carnival
from noon — 10pm, Saturday, February 27 — Balloons will lift off
starting at 6:30 am, Carnival opens
at noon, Balloon Glow Light show
at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, February 28
— Balloons will lift off starting at
6:30 am; Carnival opens at Noon.
Location: Petrack Park; 150 NV160, Pahrump, NV 89060
About Pahrump: Located an
hour west of Las Vegas and an hour
east of Death Valley, Pahrump, Nev.
is home to big attractions and
events, and is “Your Base Camp to
Adventure.” Set in a picturesque
backdrop with breathtaking views
of mountain ranges, Pahrump is the
ideal place to enjoy the best of
Southern Nevada. From awardwinning wineries and RV Resorts
to world-class golf courses and scenic outdoor trails, true Nevada is
waiting for you. For more information
on
Pahrump
visit
visitpahrump.com,
follow
@visitpahrump on Twitter and Like
Pahrump on Facebook.
*****
City of Las Vegas Cultural
Arts February 2016
Calendar of Events
PROGRAMS SUBJECT
TO CHANGE
West Las Vegas Arts Center
Spring I 2016 Class Registration
(all ages)
Registration Jan. 7–Feb. 24,
2016, for a six-week session of
classes held Feb. 24–April 12,
2016.
West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947
W. Lake Mead Blvd., 702-2294800.
Cultural arts classes offered include African Dance for Children,
African Dance for Teens/Adults,
African Drum, Ballet — Children,
Ballet — Beginner/Intermediate,
Ballet — Intermediate/Advanced,
Modern Dance — Intermediate,
Hip Hop/Funk, Capoeira/Martial
Arts, Audio Engineering, Private
Percussion — Drum Set lessons,
and the Cultural Arts Ensembles —
Children’s African Dance & Drum
and Performance Ensemble. For
more information, call 702-2294800. To register online, visit
www.artslasvegas.org/events/
register.htm.
***
Spring 2016 Class Registration at Charleston Heights Arts
Center
Registration available Jan. 27March 9, or until full, for a six-week
session of classes held March 9April 23.
Charleston Heights Arts Center,
800 S. Brush St., 702-229-6383.
Fine arts courses offered for
youth, teens and adults include visual arts, ballroom dancing, drawing, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, adult
drama and private lessons in piano,
voice or dance by appointment. To
register
online,
visit
www.artslasvegas.org or call 702229-6383.
***
Ethnic Express international
Folk Dancing (ages 8+)
Wednesdays, 6:30 to 8:45 p.m.;
Feb. 3, 10, 17 and 24.
Cost: $4 per person, per week,
at the door.
800 S. Brush St., 702-229-6383.
Have an evening of fun learning
international dance styles, including Arabic, Armenian, Bulgarian,
Chinese,
Greek,
Israeli,
Macedonian, Russian, Serbian and
Turkish folk dances. No need to
bring a partner. For more information, call 702-732-4871 or go online
to www.ethnicexpresslasvegas.org.
***
Scottish Country Dancing
(ages 13+)
Fridays, 6:30 to 8:45 p.m., Feb.
5, 12, 19 and 26.
Cost: $5 per person at the door;
$4 for members of Southern Nevada Old Time Contra Dancers.
800 S. Brush St., 702-229-6383.
Scottish country dancing celebrates the beautiful ballroom
dance styles of Scotland. Dances
can be joyfully energetic or graceful. From the first chord to the final
bow or curtsey, participants will be
inspired by the driving reels, jigs,
strathspeys or lilting airs. Dancers
should wear comfortable clothes
and soft shoes. Dances are presented by the Southern Nevada Old
Time Contra Dancers, a nonprofit
volunteer organization. For more
information, call 702-656-9513 or
go
online
to
www.lasvegascountrydance.org.
***
“Know Thyself” Series — The
Native Son Bookstore Revisited
(all ages)
Cosponsored by The Samuel L.
Smith Educational Foundation;
hosted by Al Gourrier, Ph.D., and
various community leaders.
5–6:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947
W. Lake Mead Blvd., 702-2294800.
The Native Son Bookstore is a
series of educational and cultural
activities designed to educate, empower and uplift citizens of West
Las Vegas. The initial series is
scheduled to run for 12 weeks beginning in January and address a
wide variety of topics. The topics
were selected and based on the
overall goal of the projects which
is “to improve the quality of the life
for poor and disadvantaged families.” The activities will be free and
open to citizens of all ages. For
more information, please call 702229-4800
or
visit
www.artslasvegas.org.
Feb. 5 — My African Experience — Helen Toland
Feb. 12 — Organizing Black
Parents — Jillian White
Feb. 19 — The Roots of African-American Culture — Al
Gourrier, Ph.D.
Feb. 26 — Black Youth/Small
Business — Jeremy Washington
March 4 — Political History of
West Las Vegas — Senator Joe Neal
March 11 — Poetry/The Art of
Rap — Keith Brantley
March 18 — Sunz/A Mentoring
Program — Yusef R. Sudah
March 25 — MOTHERWHIT
— China Hudson
*****
City Beat is a compilation of
news and views of our editorial and
writing team, along with reader
submissions and topics. Readers
are invited to suggest a local topic
or any other items of interest.
AJ Maimbourg/Ed Klapproth, Co-Founders
Please join us in our national wave to bring God
back into our country! Our mission is to recruit State
leaders across the country to lead in vetting every
single federal, state, county and city candidate running
for office in 2016... We will then choose the ones we
at the Christian Crusade will endorse and publicize
nationally. We have allowed God to be removed far
too long now and it is time to pick up the “banner”
and bring Him back in a concentrated effort to restore
His word and code.
Please visit our website and review all the
categories. The volunteer section will allow you to do
just that, as well as we will post the State National
Directors in that section as we recruit them. The
website still has some construction to do, but, we are
nearly there.
If you have a desire to be a Contributor of articles,
please contact me and let me know.
www.thechristiancrusade.com
Also, please join our Facebook group
if you are on Facebook:
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YOUR PRAYERS AND DONATIONS
ARE APPRECIATED!!!
CONTACT EMAIL: [email protected]
Life, Work, and Discovering Your ‘Why’:
Finding Balance in an Unstable World
By Doug Dickerson
In the end, it’s not the years in
your life that count. It’s the life in
your years. — Abraham Lincoln
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright
once told of an incident that may
have seemed insignificant at the
time, but had a profound influence
on the rest of his life. The winter he
was 9, he went walking across a
snow-covered field with his reserved, no-nonsense uncle. As the
two of them reached the far end of
the field, his uncle stopped him. He
pointed out his own tracks in the
snow, straight and true as an arrow’s
flight, and then young Frank’s
tracks meandering all over the field.
“Notice how your tracks wander
aimlessly from the fence to the
cattle to the woods and back again,”
his uncle said. “And see how my
tracks aim directly to my goal.
There is an important lesson in
that.”
DOUG DICKERSON
Years later the world-famous
architect liked to tell how this experience had greatly contributed to
his philosophy in life. “I determined
right then,” he’d say with a twinkle
in his eye, “not to miss most things
in life, as my uncle had.”
Many people often miss the
most important things in life be-
Redefining
Real Estate
Top five Myths of
Flat Fee Real Estate
By Chuck Maxfield
What is flat fee real estate? Simply put, homeowners pay a flat fee
instead of a commission, typically three percent or more, to list a home.
If someone trying to sell their home were to do research on what flat
fee real estate is, they might come across some common misconceptions associated with flat fee representation and have some greater
questions about the quality of service that they will receive by using
this type of listing. Let’s look at some of the facts about using a flat
fee real estate broker, and dispel the top 5 myths associated with representation through a flat fee model.
MYTH 1: You get what you pay for.
FALSE. While this might be true for cars or computers, it doesn’t
necessarily apply to the flat fee real estate model. Some companies
charge a flat fee to put homes on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
and leave it up to the homeowner to market the property and do the
paperwork, referred to as Flat Fee MLS, but that’s not the same model
used by a true flat fee, full service real estate brokerage. While there
are many flat fee models out there, if a homeowner chooses a flat fee
brokerage that offers full service, they’ll get an agent supported by a
full team of real estate professionals. Streamlined processes and professional contract negotiators utilized by the flat fee, full service model
result in fewer days on the market and homes sold closer to the listing
price, on average. With this type of flat fee model, you’re actually
getting more than you pay for!
MYTH 2: Buyers’ agents won’t show their clients flat fee listings.
FALSE. Why would they avoid showing their clients these homes?
Although the listing is through a flat fee, full service model, the buyer’s
agent still receives the same commission they would have if they went
through a traditional realtor. This is called a broker co-op. This myth
comes from those real estate brokerages that offer flat fees for both
the selling agent, as well as the buying agent.
MYTH 3: Flat fee real estate is basically the same as For Sale
By Owner (FSBO).
FALSE. Like Flat Fee MLS, FSBO leaves the seller completely
unrepresented, and sometimes unaware of what to do next. FSBO is a
step down from the already limited Flat Fee MLS model, and definitely the cheapest option. This model, however, is where they lose
the value of having a licensed real estate agent working with them.
The homeowner pays for the listing on the MLS, but this listing may
not be included in any other type of search engine, leading to minimal
exposure. By using a flat fee, full service brokerage, sellers get full
representation from start to finish, including listings on the MLS, contract negotiations and more.
MYTH 4: Representation is limited because you don’t have an
agent the whole time.
FALSE. The key to a successful flat fee real estate model is to let
agents, marketers and contract managers do what they do best. If you
went to the dentist, how would you react if he was the receptionist,
biller, marketer, hygienist and doc at the same time? You’d probably
think he couldn’t possibly do all those jobs well (and you’re paying a
lot more for a doctor to do them). By using a flat fee, full service
brokerage, the real estate agent is backed by a team of real estate experts who specialize in each step of the process, ensuring that every
client is receiving the best service available at any given time.
MYTH 5: Flat fee is only useful for those with little or no equity.
FALSE. This couldn’t be further from the truth. With a traditional
brokerage model, the more your home is worth, the more you pay in
commission. The catch here is that it doesn’t take any additional effort to list a half-million dollar home over a quarter-million dollar
home, yet you are paying a percentage of your home’s value. Let’s
look at the numbers. Traditionally, for a home selling for $400,000,
the seller would pay their listing agent around $12,000. By using a
flat fee, full service model, that homeowner would only pay $2,500,
equating to a savings of $9,500. That’s a lot of equity that should stay
with the homeowner!
Redefy is a flat fee, full service real estate company listing homes
for just $2500.* We’re changing the way homes are sold!
*$2500 for homes under $1 million; 1 percent for homes $1million
and over. Broker co-op may apply.
cause they fail at this essential skill
as a leader — work/life balance. It’s
a struggle for many leaders. Could
it be yours?
In research conducted by EY it
was reported that, “33 percent of
full-time employees globally say it
has gotten more difficult to manage work/family in the last five
years. The most common reasons
cited 49 percent “my salary has not
increased much, but my expenses
have” and 48 percent “my responsibilities at work have increased.”
Sound familiar?
Having a good work/life balance
is essential to your success. As a
leader you are not immune from the
challenge. In fact, it may be more
problematic for you. So what is the
solution? Here are a few tips to help
you recapture some of that much
needed balance.
Begin with your priorities
Almost every article I read on
work/life balance begins with work.
It goes without saying that work is
important. But how would things be
different for you if you looked at it
from the viewpoint of a life/work
balance? If the priorities of your life
are not in order then how can work?
Get life’s priorities in order first
then you can take care of the rest.
Discover your ‘why’
I’m a firm believer that you
should do what you love and love
what you do. When you do, it’s not
work but your passion. Understanding your ‘why’ is essential to you
as a leader. John Maxwell framed
it this way, “People who know their
why can keep their heads while everything around them is in turmoil.
And that draws others to them.”
Life and work makes sense when
you know why you are here.
Get flexible with schedules
Fortunately, many companies
are seeing the benefit of flexible
work schedules which allows for
greater productivity, greater teamwork, and happier employees, etc.
Creating a work/life balance does
not have to be an either/or proposition where one is good and the other
is not. Smart leaders can create a
culture where both can thrive.
Define your borders
As a leader many things compete
for your time and attention. If not
careful you can get caught up in
solving problems that are not yours
to solve, involved in details that
easily can be handled by someone
else, and otherwise distracted from
having the work/life balance you
desire. This is an area in which you
will need to stand firm. Define your
borders and stick to it.
Get real about relationships
People are your greatest appreciable asset. Building strong relationships is the key to your growth
as a leader and to the success of
your organization. But surrounding
yourself with the right people is
more important than surrounding
yourself with a lot of people. So
here are some questions you need
to answer: Are those closest to you
adding value or subtracting? Do
those closest to you share your vision and values and see the big picture or are they in it for themselves?
Relationships are key to your work/
life balance. If you are surrounded
by the wrong people then it’s time
to prune.
Lighten up
Ella Wheeler said, “Laugh, and
the world laughs with you; weep,
and you weep alone”. Creating a
good work/life balance can be just
one laugh away. It’s important to
take your work seriously, but not
yourself. Laugh. Lighten up. Learn
to take things in stride. Don’t be
wound up so tight that you can’t
enjoy a light moment now and then.
Your work/life balance begins
with these simple steps. Are you
ready for some balance in your life?
*****
Doug Dickerson is a syndicated
columnist. He writes a weekly column for this newspaper. To contact
Doug Dickerson, email him at
ddickerson@ lasvegastribune.com.
BEHIND THE MIKE
The Good Ol’ Days
Bj Michael A. Aun
One of my favorite preoccupations is to talk with my 93-year old
Aunt Olga, my late mother’s sister,
who lives in the same home she’s
lived in all her adult life.
Mizzz Olga, as I affectionately
call her, is a fountain of information about everything yesteryear.
She never experienced fast food
restaurants in her day. However, she
did operate her own version of a
slow food diner right on Main Street
in the little town of Lexington in
central South Carolina. The meals
were made on a pot belly stove.
Like my mother, she married a
“military sweetheart.” During
World War II (the one that made all
the papers) the military encouraged
local families of similar ethnic persuasion to host the guys doing their
basic training at Camp Jackson,
now known as Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC.
Being of Lebanese descent, my
mother and aunt met and married
their “military sweethearts,” both of
whom were also second generation
of Lebanese descent. Both marriages lasted a lifetime. I guess birds
of a feather do flock together.
Mizzz Olga’s generation never
had cell phones. There were no land
phones all over the house. The one
phone they did have shared a party
line with a half dozen neighbors.
Nosey Nelly’s loved to listen in.
That’s how most gossip gets magnified in small town America.
Calls were placed through an
operator named Billy Fields (if
memory serves me). He was male
but had a high pitch voice that had
a feminine sound to it. When she
made a call to my mother, Mizzz
Olga would simply say “Get Alice
on the phone for me.” Billy knew
MICHAEL A. AUN
everyone by their first name.
We never ate out in those days;
all meals were made in the home
and what you see was what you got.
I had ten brothers and sisters so
there was no problem getting us to
the dinner table. Even the dog had
to call for a fair catch. What you
didn’t eat, someone else would.
Mizzz Olga tells me she gave up
watching television back when
there were rabbit ears and only three
channels, all of which were black
and white. They signed off with the
National Anthem at 11:00 p.m. and
signed on the same way at 6:00 a.m.
the next day.
There were actually two daily
newspapers in those days, The State
and now defunct Columbia Record,
morning and afternoon papers, respectively. I was a paperboy for the
Columbia Record and did the honors in most of Lexington on a bike
that weighed about 45 pounds.
When it rained, it fell to my mom
to help us deliver them.
You never went to “the cleaners”
in those days. The late Pearle Summers was our laundry lady. She
worked for our family but had 18
kids of her own. More often than
not, she would take dinner and unused clothing from our home to her
family at the end of each day. I
guess you’d consider it part of her
compensation.
I remember she had a Royal
Crown Cola bottle on the end of the
ironing board with ice pick holes
punched in the top. It was filled
with water; there were no steam
irons in those days. Ice trays were
metal with a lever on them.
Mizzz Olga tells me the dimmer
switch on my parent’s old station
wagon was actually on the floor.
You clicked it with your left foot.
The ignition switch was a button on
the dashboard. Blinkers came into
being, but most didn’t work, so you
used hand signals to turn.
Most of the items in The 5 & 10
were priced just that. When we visited Mizzz Olga in her café, she’d
give us a penny to go get candy
cigarettes at The 5 & 10.
The upper class restaurants like
Rawl’s on West Main Street actually had juke boxes in them. The
fancier ones in Columbia could take
requests for a nickel at your table
by punching in the numbers.
Howdy Doody was the only
show on the tube for kids. In home
entertainment were 45 or 78 RPM
records, which is one way men
serving in the military communicated with their family back home.
Mizzz Olga tells me my dad sent
one to our family from overseas.
“Hello America... this is Mike!”
I guess those were the so-called
“good ole days.”
*****
Michael Aun is a syndicated columnist and writes a weekly column
for this newspaper. To contact
Michael Aun, email him at
[email protected].
SOCIAL SECURITY AWARENESS
10 Painless Ways to Save More for Retirement
Try these strategies to boost
your savings rate without
significant sacrifices.
By Emily Brandon
Saving for retirement doesn’t
have to be a chore. A few small
changes can result in a much bigger account balance, given enough
time to compound. Here are some
ways to save more for retirement
without reducing your quality of
life.
Save 1 percent more
A small increase in saving can
result in a big increase in your retirement nest egg if given enough
time to compound. If you earn
$50,000 per year, save 1 percent
more ($42 per month) and earn 6
percent annual returns, you will
have an extra $57,517 after 35
years.
Redirect your raise
Raises offer an opportunity to
boost the amount you are saving for
retirement without reducing your
take-home pay. The next time you
get a pay increase, consider tucking a portion of it into a retirement
account.
Contribute your tax refund
You can deposit your tax refund
in a traditional IRA, Roth IRA or
myRA using IRS Form 8888. You
can elect to apply the IRA contribution to your current tax return or
the following tax year.
Set aside your bonus
You can avoid some of the tax
implications of receiving a bonus
if you tuck the money into a 401(k)
or IRA. Income tax won’t be due
on the money until you withdraw it
from the account.
Reallocate windfalls
If you receive an inheritance,
prize money or other windfall of
cash, avoid the temptation to spend
it immediately. Make a habit of putting a portion of every influx of cash
aside for retirement.
Get a 401(k) match
When making job decisions, remember to take into account employer contributions to your 401(k).
And before leaving a job, ensure
you’re vested in the 401(k) plan so
you can take those employer contributions with you.
Claim tax breaks
Your money will grow faster
without the drag of taxes. You can
delay paying income tax using a traditional 401(k) or IRA, or prepay
taxes using a Roth 401(k) or Roth
IRA. Low and moderate income
savers may additionally qualify for
the saver’s credit.
Pay lower fees
Don’t pay more than what is necessary to invest. Use your annual
401(k) fee disclosure statement to
identify low-cost funds in your
401(k) plan, or shop around for inexpensive index funds for your
IRA. Lower fees mean you get to
keep more of your money.
Avoid penalties
Watch out for early withdrawal
penalties if you withdraw money
from your retirement accounts before age 59-1/2. There might also
be fees if you frequently trade
funds. Remember to begin retirement account withdrawals after age
70-1/2 to avoid another penalty.
Cut one unnecessary
expense
A gym membership you don’t
use or an expensive cable TV package you don’t have time to watch
are classic examples of costs that
are easy to eliminate. Cut an unnecessarily or duplicative service and
funnel that savings into a retirement
account.
*****
Emily Brandon is the senior editor for Retirement at U.S. News. She
is the author of “Pensionless: The
10-Step Solution for a Stress-Free
Retirement”. You can contact her
on Twitter @aiming2retire, circle
her on Google+ or email her at
[email protected].
Social Security celebrates Black History Month
By Amanda McWilliams
Social Security Assistant District
Manager in North Las Vegas
Throughout the month of February, we celebrate Black History
Month. Created in 1926, this event
coincides with the birthdays of
Abraham Lincoln on February 12
and Frederick Douglass on February 14. African American commu-
nities have celebrated these birthdays together since the late 19th
century.
Honoring our shared history and
reflecting on the past is one way we
unify as a nation. We remember that
we are all Americans — we believe
in freedom and democracy for all.
Another shared belief is that we all
deserve a comfortable retirement,
free of economic hardship.
Social Security has retirement
benefits and the tools to help you
plan for your retirement and to apply for benefits online. We also provide disability benefits to individuals with medical conditions that
prevent them from working. If the
disabled individual has dependent
family members, they can also re-
ceive payments.
If you or anyone you know is
disabled, they may qualify for disability benefits. Studies show that
a 20-year-old worker has a 1-in-4
chance of becoming disabled before
reaching full retirement age. You
can see if you meet our strict definition of disabled and also apply for
disability
benefits
at
GENERAL
Question: What is a Social Security Statement, and how can I get
a copy?
Answer: Your online Social Security Statement gives you secure
and convenient access to your earnings records. It also shows estimates
for retirement, disability, and survivors benefits you and your family may be eligible for. You can get
your personal Statement online by
using your own my Social Security
account. If you don’t yet have an
account, you can easily create one.
To set up or use your account to
get your online Statement, go to
w w w. s o c i a l s e c u r i t y. g o v /
myaccount.
We also mail Statements to
workers attaining ages 25, 30, 35,
40, 45, 50, 55, 60 and older, three
months prior to their birthday, if
they don’t receive Social Security
benefits and don’t have a my Social
Security account. If you don’t want
to wait for your Statement, you can
access it online, whatever time of
year you need it.
Question: My son, who gets
Social Security, will attend his last
year of high school in the fall. He
turns 19 in a few months. Do I need
to fill out a form for his benefits to
continue?
Answer: Yes. You should receive a form, SSA-1372-BK, in the
mail about three months before
your son’s birthday. Your son needs
to complete the form and take it to
his school’s office for certification.
Then, you need to return page two
and the certified page three to Social Security for processing. If you
can’t find the form we mailed to
you, you can find it online at
www.socialsecurity.gov/forms/ssa1372.pdf.
RETIREMENT
Question: My neighbor, who is
retired, told me that the income he
receives from his part-time job at
the local nursery gives him an increase in his Social Security benefits. Is that right?
Answer: Retirees who return to
work after they start receiving benefits may be able to receive a higher
benefit based on those earnings.
This is because Social Security automatically re-computes the retirement benefit after crediting the additional earnings to the individual’s
earnings record. Learn more by
reading the publication, How Work
Affects Your Benefits, at
www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs.
Question: I plan to retire soon.
When will my monthly Social Security benefits be paid?
Answer: Social Security benefits are paid each month. Generally, new retirees receive their benefits on either the second, third, or
fourth Wednesday of each month,
depending on the day in the month
the retiree was born. If you receive
benefits as a spouse, your benefit
payment date will be determined by
your spouse’s birth date.
Here’s a chart showing how your
monthly payment date is determined:
Day of the Month You Were
Born States When Social Security
Benefits Are Paid On
1st-10th — Second Wednesday
11th-20th — Third Wednesday
21st–31st — Fourth Wednesday
For a calendar showing actual
payment dates, see the Schedule of
Social Security Benefit Payments at
www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/
calendar.htm.
SUPPLEMENTAL
SECURITY INCOME
Question: How do I apply for
Social Security disability benefits?
Answer: There are two ways
that you can apply for disability
benefits. You can:
1.
Apply
Online
at
www.socialsecurity.gov; or
2. Call our toll-free number, 1800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-3250778), to make an appointment to
file a disability claim at your local
Social Security office or to set up
an appointment for someone to take
your claim over the telephone.
Question: Can I get both
Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) and Social Security benefits
based on my disability?
Answer: Many people eligible
for Social Security disability benefits also may be eligible for SSI.
The disability decision for one
(Questions and Answers, Page 26)
Social Security Questions and Answers
w w w. s o c i a l s e c u r i t y. g o v /
disabilityssi/apply.html.
Widows, widowers, and their
dependent children may be eligible
for Social Security survivors benefits. Social Security helps by providing income for the families of
workers who die. In fact, 98 of every 100 children could get benefits
if a working parent dies. And Social Security pays more benefits to
children than any other federal program. You can learn more about
Social Security survivors benefits
at www.socialsecurity.gov/survivors.
Honoring each other begins with
fair and equal treatment. Social Security guarantees that, if you pay
into the system, you will have the
same benefits as everyone else. This
Black History Month, we want to
make sure our diverse nation is covered and that no one is left out of
the benefits they deserve. Visit
www.socialsecurity.gov to learn
more.
Preventing debilitating diseases among women
By Alysson Smith
Social Security Operations
Supervisor in Henderson
Just about every minute, a
woman dies of heart disease. But
the majority of these deaths are
avoidable. That’s why Social Security encourages you to participate
in National Wear Red Day on February 5, which aims to raise awareness about preventing heart disease
and stroke among women.
Social Security plays an important role in many women’s lives —
nearly 60 percent of people receiving Social Security benefits are
women. Social Security provides
important financial assistance to
women in times of need, including
a sudden illness or an injury leading to disability. While many illnesses and injuries are difficult or
impossible to prevent, there are
steps that women can take to help
prevent some health issues, so that
they can live longer and healthier
lives.
According to the American
Heart Association, “heart disease is
the number one killer of women,
causing one in three deaths each
year.” But the American Heart As-
sociation reports that this is 80 percent preventable with education and
lifestyle changes. Changes in diet
and exercise can help prevent these
events, along with obtaining preventative healthcare such as cholesterol checks. You can take part in
raising awareness about this
women’s health issue by wearing
red on February 5 to show your support. You can also learn more about
heart disease and stroke prevention
at www.goredforwomen.org.
Raising awareness about
women’s health issues is important
to improving quality of life for all
program is the same for the other,
but you must meet additional resource and income limits to qualify
for SSI benefits. Learn all about SSI
and whether or not you may qualify
by reading the publication, You May
Be Able To Get Supplemental Security
Income
(SSI)
at
DISABILITY
Question: Is there a time limit
on collecting Social Security disability benefits?
Answer: Your disability benefits
will continue as long as your medical condition does not improve and
you remain unable to work. We will
review your case at regular intervals to make sure you are still disabled. If you are still receiving disability benefits when you reach full
retirement age, we will automatically convert them to retirement
benefits. Learn more by reading our
publication, Disability Benefits, at
Question: I get Social Security
because of a disability. How often
will my case be reviewed to determine if I’m still eligible?
Answer: How often we review
your medical condition depends on
how severe it is and the likelihood
it will improve. Your award notice
tells you when you can expect your
first review using the following terminology:
Medical improvement expected
— If your condition is expected to
improve within a specific time, your
first review will be six to 18 months
after you started getting disability
benefits.
Medical improvement possible
— If improvement in your medical
condition is possible, your case will
be reviewed about every three
years.
Medical improvement not expected — If your medical condition
is unlikely to improve, your case
will be reviewed about once every
five to seven years.
For more information, visit
www.socialsecurity.gov.
MEDICARE
Question: Will my eligibility for
the Extra Help with Medicare prescription drug plan costs be reviewed and, if so, how often?
Answer: If you get the Extra
Help, Social Security may contact
you to review your status. This reassessment will ensure you remain
eligible for Extra Help and you are
receiving all the benefits you deserve. Annually, usually at the end
of August, we may send you a form
to complete: Social Security Administration Review of Your Eligibility
for Extra Help. You will have 30
days to complete and return this
form. Any necessary adjustments to
the Extra Help will be effective in
January of the following year. Go
to
www.socialsecurity.gov/
prescriptionhelp for more information.
Questions and Answers
women. Social Security is also
committed to addressing the unique
concerns that women may face in
obtaining Social Security benefits,
whether they’re seeking benefits for
health or other reasons. Women
may face different situations than
men throughout their lives that can
affect their need for benefits. For
instance, women are more likely
than men to outlive their spouse.
Working women earn less on average than men do. Women are more
likely to be stay-at-home parents or
spouses. All of these circumstances
can cause women to have different
Social Security needs than men
have.
In order to address these concerns in one place, we have a
website designed for women that
provides pertinent information to
women regarding Social Security’s
services. This website includes in-
formation that may be particularly
useful to working women, women
who receive Social Security benefits, brides, new mothers, wives,
divorced women, caregivers, and
widows. Our website for women
provides information on retirement,
survivors, disability, and Supplemental Security Income benefits.
Our website also contains links to
Social Security publications relevant to women’s issues, such as
our publications What Every
Woman Should Know and Understanding the Benefits. You can visit
our website for women at
www.socialsecurity.gov/people/
women.
We hope that raising awareness
on women’s health issues and providing women easy access to information about Social Security benefits can enrich your life and the
lives of those you love.
What You
Need To
Know
By Dr Nina Radcliff
Go Red For
Women’s
Heart Health
How to put up the “red light” to stop premature
deaths in ourselves, our mothers, our wives,
our sisters, our daughters, and our girlfriends
By Nina Radcliff, MD
During American Heart Month
in February, efforts are made to
raise awareness about heart disease
— the number one killer of men and
women across all demographics —
and how to prevent it. Over the last
decade, extensive efforts have been
made to dispel the myth that it is a
“man’s disease.” In fact, heart disease kills more American women
than men every year!
Despite the increase in awareness, nearly half of women do not
recognize that heart disease is their
number one killer, taking more lives
than breast cancer, stroke, or car
accidents, combined.
Go Red For Women is the
American Heart Association’s national movement to educate the
public and encourage lifestyle
modifications in order to save lives
that are lost too early from heart
disease and stroke in women. It is
estimated that nearly 80 percent of
deaths from heart disease and stroke
can be prevented.
What are the risk factors for
heart disease in women?
Everyone should know their
heart disease risk factors like the
back of their hand, or Social Security number. For both men and
women, they include: hypertension,
elevated cholesterol, and obesity.
However, there are a number of
other factors that are more harmful
to women than men:
—Smoking
—Stress and depression: both
contribute to unhealthy lifestyles
(inactivity, poor food choices, lack
of sleep)
—Metabolic syndrome: a disorder of energy utilization and storage, diagnosed as having 3 out of 5
of the following medical conditions: abdominal (central) obesity,
hypertension, diabetes, elevated
cholesterol,
and
elevated
trigylcerides.
What are the symptoms of
heart disease and heart
attacks seen in women?
Chest pain, pressure (“an elephant sitting on my chest”), and
squeezing are the most common
symptoms of a heart attack in both
men and women. However, women
may not present with these “typical” symptoms that scream “I’m
having a heart attack.” Instead,
women may experience “atypical”
symptoms such as:
—Pain and discomfort in the
neck, shoulder, upper back, or abdomen
—Shortness of breath
—Nausea or vomiting
—Sweating
—Lightheadedness or dizziness
—Unusual fatigue
Knowing these typical and
atypical symptoms, and making
sure to seek emergency medical
care can be lifesaving.
Why do we typically see
an age difference between
men and women and
heart attacks?
Estrogen, a female sex hormone,
is believed to be protective against
heart disease by keeping arteries
strong and healthy. After menopause, estrogen levels drop. That is
why women generally experience
heart attacks in their late 60s and
70s, almost a decade later than men.
It is important to realize, however, that estrogen is not bulletproof. And women of all ages
should know their risk factors and
typical and atypical symptoms of a
heart attack.
What can women do
to reduce their risk
of heart disease?
—Stay active and exercise 3060 minutes a day on most days of
the week
—Maintain a healthy weight
—Don’t smoke and avoid secondhand smoke!
—Eat healthy by decreasing
your intake of saturated fats, cholesterol, added sugars and salt and
increasing the number of fruit and
veggies on our plates
—Take steps to manage stress
and if you have hypertension, monitor it carefully and take your prescribed medications. Elevated
blood pressure often does not have
symptoms—even for years—until
damage has been done. It is critical
to catch it early and tame it.
—The American Heart Association is advocating that women
schedule a Well-Woman Visit to
“give a head-to-heart-to-toe” view
of their overall health. The agenda
during the appointment is to assess
your blood pressure, cholesterol,
and look for signs of heart disease,
stroke and other illnesses that could
increase your risk for heart disease.
As the federal declaration exclaims, “cardiovascular disease —
including heart disease, stroke, and
high blood pressure — is responsible for 1 out of every 3 deaths. It
is the No. 1 killer of American
women and men, and it is a leading
cause of serious illness and disability.” Remember that cardiovascular disease symptoms may be different for men and women and understanding the symptoms can
make a difference. It’s important to
watch for symptoms and discuss
informed!! Friday, February 5th, is
The American Heart Association’s
National Wear Red Day. Let’s wear
red to show our support for saving
women’s lives. Together, we can
change the facts because 80 percent
of cardiac events can be prevented
with education and lifestyle change.
*****
This article is for general information only and should not be used
for the diagnosis or treatment of
medical conditions and cannot substitute for the advice from your
medical professional. Dr. Nina has
used all reasonable care in compiling the current information but it
concerns with your doctor (and too may not apply to you and your
sometimes it can be found early symptoms. Always consult a doctor
or other health care professional for
with regular exams).
As we spotlight this — join our diagnosis and treatment of medical
nation in taking heart and staying conditions.
EarthTalk is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss
and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to:
[email protected]. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/
subscribe; Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.
Dear EarthTalk: Why is the
Arctic such a crucial area to focus on in efforts to stem global
warming? — Joseph Constabile,
Dedham, MA
The image of a polar bear standing on a shrinking iceberg has become one of the most iconic symbols of global warming, yet few of
us realize just how important the
Arctic’s ice is, wherever we may
live on the earth. Researchers consider the Arctic to be an “indicator
region” for the rest of the planet,
given that even small differences in
temperature there can have profound ecosystem impacts and can
give us a better idea of the types of
problems we can all expect down
the road.
Of course, the effects of global
warming have been under scrutiny
in the Arctic for decades already.
Since 1979, the extent of the
Arctic’s permanent ice cap has
shrunk by upwards of 20 percent.
Even worse, the remaining ice has
thinned by as much as two-thirds
in some parts of the Arctic. Recent
models suggest this ice loss will
only accelerate in the next several
years due to a global warming feedback loop called the “albedo effect,” whereby less ice means less
reflection of the sun’s radiation
back into space and thus more
warming at the Earth’s surface. And
not only is the ice shrinking — parts
of the ice cap are also rupturing:
The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, the largest block of ice in the Arctic and
intact for some 3,000 years, finally
cracked in 2000, and within two
years split all the way through.
These changes up north are already starting to have ripple effects
elsewhere. For starters, the entire
Arctic ecosystem is being forced to
shift with the changing climate.
Animals like polar bears, whales
and seals are changing migration
patterns, in turn impacting native
people who depend on them for
sustenance. Meanwhile, other organisms are overpopulating, given
all the new habitat opening up. Rising temperatures have allowed the
spruce bark beetle to add an extra
reproduction cycle each year. As a
result the pesky little beetles decimated 3.4 million acres of Alaska’s
forests over just 10 years.
And then there’s the issue of sea
level rise. Thanks in large part to
melting Arctic glaciers, sea level is
expected to rise some three feet on
average around the world in the
next century, flooding over 22,000
square miles in the United States
alone. This pressing issue threatens
island nations especially. Countries
like the Maldives, precariously
perched just six feet above sea level,
are as concerned as anyone about
melting glaciers in the Arctic. And
warming in the Arctic also affects
weather patterns vital for food production all over the world. Cold
water from the melting ice could
also potentially halt the Gulf
Stream, which brings warm
weather to Europe. This would re-
The Arctic is an “indicator region” for the rest of the planet: small differences in temperature there can have
profound ecosystem impacts and give us a better idea of the types of problems we can expect down the road.
sult in a steep drop in temperature to try to stop Arctic ice melting, we conditioning, speaking up to our
for much of northwestern Europe do in fact have the power. We can elected officials, and even divestand would affect weather patterns all work to reduce our carbon foot- ing from companies that support the
far beyond.
prints by flying and driving less, continued development of fossil
While it may seem futile for us turning down (or off) the heat or air fuels.
PLACES TO GO
Bangkok: “Ancient Customs
and Classical Siamese Dances”
By Sandy Zimmerman
Las Vegas Tribune
Photos By Sandy Zimmerman
The Ruen Thep Thai classical
dances bring ancient Siamese music and dancing to Bangkok. Exotic... Exciting... Colorful... all of
the music, dances, and songs are
authentic, handed down throughout
the ages. Each of the dancer’s
movements has a meaning. Their
stunning costumes attract the
viewer’s eye; the effect of watching these dances is mesmerizing.
We journey back to the days of ancient Siam, to watch sword fights
and enacted stories of the people.
There are from four to six members
in the band depending whether they
entertain before or during the show.
It was interesting to watch the band
play their ancient musical instruments, not normally seen today.
I love to learn the traditions and
culture of each country and was
thrilled to visit the Silom Village to
see them. The Ruen Thep Thai classical dancers perform twice nightly,
a dinner show and late show. The
manager explained, “We honor our
culture and do not want to forget
our ancient customs and heritage in
the modern world. These are all different types of happy songs.”
Customers have their choice of
a large 28 page menu to suit all
tastes. Choose seafood by the
weight, Thai cuisine, Japanese cui-
sine, spicy hot soup, curry, fried
dishes, rice and noodle selections,
salads, specialties, and desserts.
Order your meal grilled, boiled,
steamed, steamed with sauce,
baked, or fried. They stock almost
every type of seafood available.
Ruen Thep’s show and restaurant
would be perfect for a party or wedding.
The Ruen Thep nightclub show
and restaurant are located inside the
Silom Village Shopping Center/
Trade Center. You can enjoy the
Village before or after you dine.
These buildings were constructed
during the time of King Rama 5’s
reign, the fifth king of the Chakri
Dynasty. This is the last traditional
Thai village on Silom Road, consisting of 15 teak houses and 3
buildings. These small houses were
all saved and combined together
into the Silom Village Shopping
Center. While walking around the
center, we could see where each of
the frames of the homes stuck out
of the walls. You can find a health
spa, hotel and shops with almost everything here- jewelry, gems, boutiques, custom-made tailored garments, souvenirs, carpets, art,
woodcrafts, decorator items, furniture, leather goods, and more!
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U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson is investigated in strip club case

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