Paul Szydelko
Lead Copy Editor
Contact: 868-4548 • Email
A Southern Nevada resident since he graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism in 1986, Szydelko has been the lead copy editor at Vegas Seven since its inception. The former sports reporter, news reporter and managing editor of the Henderson Home News worked on the copy desk of the Las Vegas Sun when it was an afternoon daily and sampled the Strip’s many tourist attractions as associate editor and senior editor of Las Vegas Magazine. The San Diego native lives in Henderson with his wife and two daughters.
Recent Articles
Are You Ready for Some Baseball?
The Boys of Summer have returned to Arizona, and the drive just got easier
March 3rd, 2011
On calm, warm mornings, when the grass is still glazed with dew, the players gather. They loosen the muscles, take some grounders and practice their swings. They listen to coaches, share stories with each other, chat with fans and, after a long winter, begin to embrace the rhythm of baseball. Before they become the Boys of Summer, there is spring training, when all teams have hope to win it all. If you share the passion for this annual ritual, pack a bag and take the 4-5-hour drive from Las Vegas, made easier this year with the opening of the Hoover Dam bypass.
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Psyched Up
Dodge A. Slagle gets to the bottom of Las Vegans’ problems, one life story at a time
February 24th, 2011
Perhaps it’s expected when you talk to a psychiatrist, but the questions are thoughtfully considered, the responses carefully crafted, the voice soothing, the pace languid. And the common-sense advice he imparts when prompted would help anyone—the harried executive, the out-of-work welder, the anxious teen or the motorist who’s just been cut off in traffic. “Be respectful of others, and try not to take everything personally. Many of the problems that people have are related to treating something as a personal insult when it really wasn’t,” says Dr. Dodge A. Slagle, who has been treating patients in the Valley since he was assigned to Nellis Air Force Base in 1989.
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The Snot Doc
Jim Christensen’s expertise and laid-back bedside manner make him the go-to guy for allergy sufferers
February 24th, 2011
So a nasal wash is effective for a lot of people? “OMG, yeah!” Dr. Jim Christensen exclaims. “You show people how to do that and they go, ‘Whew, you’ve changed my life.’” Quick with a joke, armed with a gregarious personality, the doctor whose e-mail handle is “snotdoc” was by far the leading vote-getter among allergists in the survey. Christensen suspects his longevity and willingness to go to hospitals for consults may be reasons for the wide recognition among colleagues.
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Michael Parks
Casino Seller
January 27th, 2011
When Michael Parks tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus playing indoor soccer last year, he knew it would be a long road to recovery. Almost as sudden—and just as challenging to bounce back from—was the plummet of Las Vegas real estate values, which Parks endured as a member of the team that handles casino transactions for CB Richard Ellis. Parks says he's confident that Las Vegas is resilient enough to recover when housing prices throughout the nation stabilize. “I don’t think people are going to gamble like they were until they have that sense of security back—until they feel their largest asset isn’t evaporating in front of them.”
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Hong Sun & Hui Zhang
The Cancer Trailblazers
January 27th, 2011
Hiking the trails of Red Rock National Conservation Area affords Hong Sun and Hui Zhang the cherished freedom to roam and commune with nature. But it’s in the cluttered laboratory on the third floor of the Nevada Cancer Institute (NVCI) that the husband-and-wife team truly blazes trails and connects with nature. “You feel you are closer to nature when you’ve discovered something, when you’ve unraveled some secret of nature,” says Sun, who along with Zhang has devoted her career to cancer research.
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Why not think outside the box to generate state revenue?
December 2nd, 2010
Let’s create mammoth slot-machine façades at each interstate entrance to Southern Nevada to not only properly welcome motorists but to house tollbooths. Each motorist would be required to pay a $2 toll, but here’s the twist: A small portion of the motorists would randomly and immediately get their two bucks back.
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Dog’s Best Friend
If you exercise your pet, that could be you. If not, here’s how …
October 21st, 2010
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Pronunciation
Any Way You Like It
September 2nd, 2010
Sometimes there’s no accounting for idiosyncratic pronunciations that are voiced in this great big country of ours. Native habits, regional dialects and just plain inattention could explain age-old Ne-VAD-a/Ne-VAH-da conflicts. So let’s call a truce in the battles over how to pronounce our state’s name, says outgoing state Assemblyman Harry Mortenson, D-Las Vegas.
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Ranking
We’re No. 1!
August 26th, 2010
Eye twitching involuntarily? Grinding your teeth at night? Hair falling out in thick clumps? Too quick to honk at that SOB ahead of you at the stoplight? Welcome to life in 2010 in Las Vegas, the nation’s most stressful city, according to Forbes. The magazine evaluated unemployment rates (Vegas ranked highest of the 40 cities studied), access to health care (third worst), physical health (second worst) and exercise habits (ours are the worst), commute times and working hours to create the list. Los Angeles came in second, and Houston landed in third.
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Fundraising
More Than Just Talk
July 29th, 2010
Sometimes all-talk can lead to action, and for the fifth year in a row, ESPN Radio 1100 is hosting The Longest Radio Show Ever to support people living with cancer. Listeners have already helped support the cause by bidding on one-hour co-hosting slots, and the 24-hour live broadcast gets under way at 10 a.m. July 30 at the Palms.
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