No bureaucratic bungling shall go unrewarded. Be it at the State Department, Veterans Affairs, Internal Revenue Service, the Justice Department, Immigration or the Bureau of Land Management. The man who was in charge of security for the BLM during the botched Bundy ranch cattle roundup two years ago — which resulted in the agency spending $1 million to roundup a couple … [Read more...]
Nevada officials blast VA secretary’s callous remarks
Two years ago the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs resigned in disgrace after it was revealed that veterans were being subjected to exceedingly long waiting periods to obtain health care and benefits and department officials were manipulating records to hide this fact. Two years later the problem remains but the current secretary is callously dismissive of the … [Read more...]
Resignation offers a glimpse into the state of newspapering in Nevada
The newspaper community in Nevada is a rather small clique of writers and editors, competing against each other for the hot news scoops and heart-tugging feature stories and precious pearls of political punditry. It is the competition that makes all the papers just a little better than they otherwise would be. Writers and readers are a little poorer when one of the stars of … [Read more...]
Feds would rather spend money than allow machines in a wilderness
When it comes to preserving the pristineness of pristine wild lands, federal land managers are willing to spare no expense — since it is merely tax money, of which there is an endless supply. U.S. Forest Service plans to begin work soon on clearing trails on 12,000-foot Mount Charleston in northern Clark County that were closed after a 28,000-acre wildfire three years ago. … [Read more...]
Baker on track to replace leaking water tank this summer
The residents of the tiny community of Baker at the entrance to Great Basin National Park can breathe a little easier now. David Sturlin, chairman of the Baker Water and Sewer General Improvement District, reports that the Bureau of Land Management has granted a permit to replace the town’s leaking 250,000-gallon water tank that sits on BLM land and the district signed a … [Read more...]
Governor threatens suit over wild horse overpopulation
Frustrated with the inability of federal land managers to control wild horse overpopulation, this past week Gov. Brian Sandoval put out a press release saying he plans to pursue legal action to force the federal agencies to fund wild horse population control. The statement said the Bureau of Land Management is already telling ranchers they will face a reduction or even … [Read more...]
A little GOP schooling: Do the math, read the history
Donald Trump keeps throwing temper tantrums like a spoiled school boy, complaining the system is rigged and crooked and he is being robbed of votes. “You’re going to have a very, very angry and upset group of people at the convention,” Trump said at an event in Staten Island, N.Y., after Ted Cruz swept the Republican caucuses in Colorado and Wyoming by having the audacity to … [Read more...]
Federal judge should disarm the Grouseketeers
In order to meet a judicially imposed deadline, in September Interior Secretary Sally Jewell declared that the greater sage grouse — whose habitat stretches across 23 million acres in 11 Western states, including much of Nevada — would not be listed under the Endangered Species Act, but instead imposed a federal land use plan restricting beneficial economic activity in order to … [Read more...]