I love to read. I think I always have. My memory doesn’t stretch back far enough to recall a time when good books weren’t a part of my life. Our home was filled with them. My parents were readers, so maybe I learned the art of reading by osmosis? If not, then certainly by example. As a toddler, I became a precocious reader. By the time I was four, I was reading a fair amount on my own.
Boulder City has a great vision statement. It’s located on the front page of our website: “The City of Boulder City is committed to preserving its status as a small town, with a small-town charm, historical heritage and unique identity, while proactively addressing our needs and enhancing our quality of life.”
OK. So I had originally intended to write about a totally different subject this month. But a glance at the calendar and the death of one of my teen heroes means I am gonna write about Halloween. Kinda. Sorta.
When I sat down to use the word processing program Word, I was accosted by my computer which wanted me to use “Copilot.” I don’t need copilot to compose what many humans have, until recently, been capable of creating, a column in the newspaper. I enjoy crafting my words from my soul, which is consciousness. I’m sure you have a soul too! Hopefully, that doesn’t spook you!
Nov. 7 will mark a year since the ribbon cutting of the St. Jude’s Ranch for Children Healing Center and shortly after, the opening of the since renamed school, Amy Ayoub Academy of Hope.
Boulder City has found its way into the middle of what has been dubbed “a premier postmodern Western.” Dealing with reincarnation, mysticism, visions, purgatory and the Wild West, writer Jim Jarmusch brought together actors Johnny Depp, Billy Bob Thornton, Robert Mitchum, Crispin Glover and Iggy Pop for a black and white film titled “Dead Man.”
There are two projects that are potentially coming to Boulder City.
When veterans and active-duty military personnel need help, it’s very common for other veterans and service people to step up to lend their collective hands. Providing assistance to their fellow brothers and sisters is ingrained in the hearts and minds of America’s military culture.
What makes you so excited that you want to get up and do something? While that’s a matter of individual choice, let’s look at just two examples.
A few weeks ago my framily (friends who are practically family), Monica Maltese and Gabriel Carvajal, came through Boulder City on a cross-country adventure. They started out on the East Coast and were San Diego bound.
Two months ago, on foreign soil nonetheless, former President Barrack Obama gave a speech wherein he claimed, “the future does not belong to strong men.” He also stated that we were nations of immigrants and implied that compassion and caring were incompatible with being strong.
Without any bidders on the land that we were desperate to sell, we were stuck. Luckily, StoryBook Homes came in and gave us an offer.
Preserving the past. It’s vital in a city like ours. After all, we’re the town that built Hoover Dam. But over a lifetime, I’ve learned some important lessons about historic preservation (both do’s and don’ts) that I think are worth sharing.
As your Throwback Thursday columnist, I have a dark secret to share. I’m an enthusiastic silent-film fan who, in an attempt to find a tie between Boulder City and my favorite silent-film star, Charlie Chaplin, accidentally discovered an amazing link to Hollywood history right off Arizona Street. Actor, radio host and writer Will Rogers not only came to Boulder City, but he stayed at the Boulder Dam Hotel.
The most important part of what happens in a city council meeting is not always the vote. Sometimes it is something that seems minor at the time. This week, as the council finally voted unanimously to tighten up Boulder City’s notoriously lax leash law, the important part came long before any discussion about the actual law.
There are a couple of things that unite most Nevadans: how people often mispronounce that state’s name and for those who have been around a while, their dislike of the Duke men’s basketball team.
Parents of student athletes playing on Boulder City High School’s football team received a note last Thursday morning from BCHS Principal Amy Wagner informing them that the team’s head coach would be “unavailable” for that night’s playoff game.
It’s a case of making something positive come out of a tragedy.
