By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

Nine Boulder City High School students died in an alcohol-related car crash April 14, but they were back at school the next day to teach the rest of the student body a lesson.

You see, the students didn’t really die. They were volunteer actors in the activities of Every 15 Minutes, a national role-playing program designed to teach teens firsthand about the dangers of drunken driving.

Boulder City sophomores and juniors watch as a sheet is placed over a body at the site of a staged fatal car accident on Thursday, April 14. Boulder City firefighter Dave Korfman portrays the Grim Reaper as he looks over the fatality. The event was a cooperative effort of Boulder City high school students, police and firefighters to show students graphically a fatal drunken-driving accident. Photo by Steve Andrascik.

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By Arnold M. Knightly, Boulder City Review

Some Boulder City residents at an April 7 meeting held by state transportation officials expressed worry that a planned widening of U.S. Highway 93 won’t ease traffic snarls in their city.

Nevada Department of Transportation officials spent the evening showing diagrams of the project, which is scheduled to start this summer, and answering questions from skeptical locals who gathered in the first-floor lobby of the College of Southern Nevada building in Boulder City.

Approximately 160 residents attend a presentation by Nevada Department of Transportation officials April 7 discussing the widening and safety improvements to U.S. Highway 93. Photo by Steve Andrascik.

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Councilpersons-elect Peggy Leavitt and Rod Woodbury watch election returns Tuesday night at the Boulder Dam Hotel. Woodbury received votes from nearly 60 percent of the voters and Leavitt was supported by 54 percent of the voters. Photo by Steve Andrascik.

By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

Mayor Roger Tobler won his bid for re-election in Tuesday’s primary and two City Council candidates also received enough votes to win their seats outright.

This is the first time since 1999, when the mayor’s job was changed from an appointed to an elected position, that a mayor has captured the seat in a primary election.

The two Council positions went to Rod Woodbury and Peggy Leavitt.

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By Arnold M. Knightly, Boulder City Review

The voters overwhelmingly threw their support behind the current mayor and two new faces on election night.

This election, the candidates with the best ability to raise money for their campaign won out Tuesday night.

Mayor Roger Tobler, left, and City Councilpersons-elect Peggy Leavitt and Rod Woodbury, on right, pose for a picture Tuesday night at the Boulder Dam Hotel. The three raised and spent the most money during their successful bids. Council candidate Rose Ann Rabiola Miele, middle, raised the fourth most money but was far behind the other three in cash and votes. Photo by Steve Andrascik.

It should cautioned however, that raising and spending money doesn’t always translate to victory.

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By Arnold M. Knightly, The Editor’s Desk

The big day, or should I say days, are here! Early voting for the primaries begins Saturday at 10 a.m., at City Hall.

The Primary Election Day is less than three weeks away.

You can cut the anticipation with a knife.

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By Arnold M. Knightly, Editor’s Desk

Newspapers have long been the champions of free speech, so it should come as no surprise where I am going to come down on the issue of political signs.

There is a group of people in this town, a very small but vocal group, that is pushing the city to enforce an unconstitutional city ordinance that would only allow two political signs at a private residence.

On Thursday, I became aware that some residents were accusing their fellow citizens of breaking the laws of this town while trying to support their candidates for office.

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By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

Bruce Humphreys stood straddling the back of his 21-speed tandem bicycle Friday, head slightly cocked upward as if surveying the activity in Wilbur Square park while soaking up the sun’s warm rays.

“Nice day today,” he said.

And it was. But Humphreys wasn’t looking at the man with the little dog running in the grass, and the wrap-around sunglasses he was wearing weren’t softening the glare of the clear blue sky, because Humphreys, you see, is blind.

Jerry McHugh, front, rides atandem bicycle with his blind friend, Bruce Humphreys, near Wilbur Square on Friday, Nov. 5. The pair ride twice a week and average between 10 and 15 miles per outing. Humphreys, who lost his vision to a degenerative retina condition 15 years ago, bought the tandem bike six months ago. H erides two days a week but is looking for additional partners so he can ride more. Photo by Steve Andrascik.

Though the Vietnam War veteran was formerly a sharpshooter and photographer, he completely lost his vision to a degenerative retina condition 15 years ago. But with a little help from a friend, he has been able to, once again, take part in another activity not typically expected of the blind.

“Other than needing someone to do the steering and see where you’re going,” riding on the back of a tandem bicycle while blind is a lot like riding a regular bicycle, Humphreys said. And bike riding is something he used to do a lot before he lost his sight.

It’s unfortunate, but many think “that because you’re blind, you’re also deaf and have no balance,” he said.

Humphreys first rode tandem bicycles at a blind center in Kentucky before he moved to Boulder City in 1992, but it wasn’t until about six months ago that he decided to buy a tandem bicycle for himself. Of course, he needed someone to pilot the bike and thought he had someone, but that person “flaked out,” he said.

So for a few months, the bike sat unused. But that changed when Jerry McHugh, who had been giving Humphreys rides to doctor appointments in Las Vegas for about three years as part of the Lend A Hand program, learned of the dilemma and decided to help Humphreys with another kind of ride.

Since they began riding a few months ago, McHugh and Humphreys have been going out about twice a week, at distances of between 10 to 15 miles. They’ve ridden all over Boulder City, to Henderson, and have even clocked a record speed, using a speedometer Humphreys bought, of 34 miles per hour going down B Hill.

Though there are obvious safety concerns one might suspect, McHugh said that other than the time they were chased by a dog, which grabbed ahold of the jacket tied around Humphreys’ waist, and the time the bike’s chain slipped while changing a gear, there have been no accidents or even close calls.

“I don’t think it’s dangerous at all,” McHugh said. “He’s got very good balance.”

And Humphreys has no fear because he is completely confident in McHugh’s piloting, even while riding along the heavy traffic of Nevada Highway.

“(Traffic) doesn’t really bother me because I really trust Jerry,” Humphreys said.

Although Humphreys feels safe with McHugh in front, he would like to ride more than McHugh has time for, and is looking for another cyclist to help out.

“I appreciate the two days a week he does (ride),” Humphreys said. “But I’d like to be able to do a couple more days.”

Humphreys said he could even go as far as 25 miles per day. There aren’t any expectations or requirements other than arm strength – the gears make the pedaling easy – and he is free most days of the week, except when he is bowling on Wednesdays (that’s right).

And whoever the new rider is, Humphreys said, he will trust them too.

“He’s very, very easy to get along with,” McHugh said. “He’s very open, he’s not demanding. We pick the route and he sits back there and pedals.”

So if anyone is interested in riding with Humphreys, they can call him at 293-0229. And if anyone has any questions for McHugh, he can be reached at 293-4729.

“I’m sure there will be some people that want to ride,” Humphreys said.