Lake Mead seemed to be on the rebound since the federal Tier One Shortage declaration in 2021.
Opinion
Long before I was mayor of Boulder City, before I was a state legislator, I started a long, rewarding career as a physician. Two of the hardest things about being a doctor is, 1) telling someone that their loved one has died, and 2) sharing news about critical, potentially-fatal conditions.
The other day I saw something on how few movie drive-ins there are these days and it got me thinking about my memories of drive-ins.
If you are a homeless veteran, would you care to sleep in an abandoned automobile, in an old vehicle with no heat or A/C?
So the other day, Ron and I were talking about death.
I hope you are among the lucky ones who are quarantined at home with someone you love. I can’t imagine the feelings of loneliness that would come with being truly self-isolated.
The newspaper or news website you are reading is in trouble. Like many other businesses, the COVID-19 crisis has eliminated most of its revenue but not its expenses, delivering a body blow to a business model that was already under pressure. But it continues to publish, providing your community with timely, accurate information about the crisis.
Like most of you, I am missing time spent in the great outdoors.
As I write this commentary, the majority of businesses other than grocery and hardware stores, gas stations and convenience stores are shuttered. I realize that this pandemic is serious and will likely cause many to suffer the illness and many will die from it. However, I don’t believe it is necessary to shut down the entire U.S. economy.
As we stay home for Nevada, we are renewing interest in old hobbies, taking up new ones and devoting time to things we never seemed to have enough time for before. We are exercising. We are cleaning. We are doing home-improvement projects. And we are cooking.
To say I’ve always been anxious to get things done is an understatement. It probably started when I was about 10 years old and began working in my grandmother’s grocery store. I had to be quick when it came to waiting on customers, bagging groceries, taking their money, making change and waiting on the next customer.
Although the resort-hotels of my company, Las Vegas Sands, are shuttered, I’m paying every one of our nearly 10,000 employees as though they were still working. We’re even working to make up for lost tips. I hope to do that right up until the time that we can reopen our businesses.
In the 1970s, I listened as a lecturer explained that in police work it seemed as though 20 percent of the population hated the police no matter how well they performed, 20 percent loved them no matter how poorly they did and the remaining 60 percent stayed on the fence to gather facts before reacting. I realized how true that is the older I got.
We need our better selves now as we deal with the COVID-19 virus. The response from our community has been overwhelmingly supportive of the efforts to fight this disease and protect our families, friends, co-workers and neighbors. I am not surprised that we are rising to this challenge as this community has always shown our strength when challenges arose. I am deeply appreciative of these efforts in this situation.
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
Three statements — notably, none of them from members of the city council — best illustrated the difficulties residents (both dog-loving and not) have had for at least four years when it comes to the issue of off-leash dogs in public parks.
Unlike the discussion later in the meeting Tuesday night in which the city council appeared determined to make sure no one was angry at them about the issue of off-leash dogs, they directed staff to take very strong action on the issue of pet breeding.
Led by former Boulder City mayor Rod Woodbury, Tracy (Kiselus) Ruccia and Bret Runion, the BCHS class of 1985 enjoyed their 40th class reunion.
Greg Bell’s memory lives on by way of a generous donation that may saves lives.
