The Local Newsroom
The Local Newsroom
Logging on to Learn
Online schools are free, flexible and getting more popular each year
August 19th, 2010
Bailey Saint-Marc has an easy commute to school every day. All the fifth-grader has to do is roll out of bed, turn on the computer and begin his daily lessons. Although it might sound like home schooling, it’s not. Saint-Marc is in the gifted program at Nevada Connections Academy, an online charter school—a free public school—that’s part of the growing field of online learning institutions in Nevada, including Nevada Virtual Academy, Odyssey Charter Schools and Silver State High School. In addition, the Clark County School District has Virtual High School, with more than 1,500 students. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Dying to Get Out
Like all real estate, cemetery plots are a hard sell these days
August 19th, 2010
When Laura Connelly’s sister-in-law hounded her and her husband about being responsible and buying cemetery plots 40 years ago, they gave in and bought two at Palms Mortuary for $986. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Is Sandoval Losing Hispanic Voters?
Some supporters think the gubernatorial hopeful is taking them for granted
August 19th, 2010
Hispanic voters wanted to love Brian Sandoval, the Republican who would be the state’s first Hispanic governor. But it’s starting to seem like he’s doing his best to turn them off. This was vividly illustrated by the recent controversy over a stunningly insensitive remark Sandoval supposedly made at the Univision television studio. It’s not at all clear whether Sandoval actually uttered the comment in question, but the accusation has reverberated widely in Nevada’s Hispanic community. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Here Comes the Rain Again
Monsoon season is here and the Clark County Regional Flood Control District is still waging war with water
August 19th, 2010
Last week the Clark County Regional Flood Control District unveiled its newest billboard: an image of a blue car caught in a flash flood with the words “H2OTRAP” spelled out on a Nevada license plate. The winning phrase, submitted to the billboard license plate contest by Clark County resident Cheri Fisher, couldn’t come at a better time. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
El Cortez gets creative with design competition
August 19th, 2010
Most casino executives view renovating hotel rooms as a necessary but disagreeable process. Room remodels are doubly expensive—they pull rooms out of the rental pool and incur labor and materials costs. It’s easy to see why few property owners look forward to them. The El Cortez, however, has found a way to use the renovation process to put the spotlight on itself and four Nevada design teams via its Design-a-Suite Downtown competition, showing again how it’s carving its own niche on Sixth and Fremont streets. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Taking Fire
What’s behind the high number of officer-involved shootings this year?
August 12th, 2010
It used to be that society gave officers the benefit of the doubt when they shot people, absolving them in the court of public opinion long before Internal Affairs or the courts got the chance to study the facts. But if reams of stinging online rebukes following a series of local officer-involved shootings are any indication, that time has passed. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
Trekkies teach Vegas how to live long and prosper
August 12th, 2010
Anthony and Deidre Flood Jenkins are about to have the moment of a lifetime. Pavilion Room 4 at the Las Vegas Hilton might seem a funny place for this, but that’s where George Takei and Walter Koenig—who played Sulu and Chekov, respectively, in the original Star Trek—are taking pictures with fans. Anthony, who watched the show in its original run, is a bookseller; Deidre is a schoolteacher. Takei’s unmistakable baritone carries all the way through the line. The Jenkinses are about to meet their heroes. Read more »
Politics
The R-word that needs to be discussed
August 12th, 2010
The e-mail sent late last month seemed to have nothing to do with Nevada. But actually, it had everything to do with Nevada. “Why is the NAACP and the Liberal Media Accusing Tea Party Patriots of Being Racist?” the Tea Party Patriots asked in an e-mail blast to their online subscribers—not only ungrammatically but also inaccurately. The NAACP passed a resolution at its national convention, urging the Tea Party movement to disassociate itself from racists in its midst—just as any group should do if it claims, as Tea Partiers do, to believe in equality. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Rory Reid’s Dilemma
Is the gubernatorial candidate’s connection to Dad hurting him?
August 12th, 2010
If only Rory Reid were somebody else’s son. The Democratic gubernatorial nominee can’t seem to escape his father’s unpopularity, and that, the conventional wisdom goes, is why he’s down by double digits in the polls. He tried dropping his last name from his campaign materials, but that just made it worse. National media outlets took notice and wrote about how Sen. Harry Reid’s son was attempting to escape the burden of his parentage. A Bloomberg headline shouted, “Reid So Toxic His Son Campaigns Without Last Name.” The Los Angeles Times noted that Rory has plenty of ideas and plenty of money; the problem was “that last name, Reid.” Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Cyber-snooping
A local author says Facebook is a valuable tool for keeping tabs on your kids
August 12th, 2010
Three years ago, Valley resident Linda Fogg Phillips forbade her eight children to join any social networking websites. She didn’t want her kids to be exposed, and she thought she was protecting their privacy. Today, her kids call her “queen of Facebook” and she’s “friends” with all of them. She’s also working on her second book about Facebook. Her first book, Facebook for Parents: Answers to the Top 25 Questions (Captology Media), coauthored by her brother, BJ Fogg, director of Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab, was published this year. Read more »
