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Planting seeds that encourage us to read

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.

Passport Program to draw shoppers to Boulder City

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.”

Rock and Roll all night, baby

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.

Love — not fear — is the answer

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!

A year of hugs, healing and headway

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.

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Time for Democrats to get tough on Obama

In January, a man named George Gund died in Palm Springs, Calif. Gund was a resident of Lee in Elko County. He provided the funding for the very first Cowboy Poetry Gathering and sat on the board of Elko’s Western Folklife Center.

Only one anti-Internet tax camp in all of Carson City

Turns out there’s only one elected representative in the entire Nevada Legislature who got the Internet tax issue (SJR5) correct. Every other legislator voted to force out-of-state companies to suck “use” taxes (since you intend to “use” the product in your home state) out of your pocket for online purchases despite myriad reasons not to do so.

GOP Dirty Half- Dozen Gang and the great Nevada mine robbery

Perhaps not since Benedict Arnold sold out the American patriot movement have we seen such a betrayal as that of Republican state Sen. Mike Roberson to all that’s held dear by the Nevada conservative movement this legislative session.

Sex ed should be kept focused

In the 19th century, a movement called “uniform state laws” became enormously influential. It involved getting states to write similar laws so that crossing a state border was not such a legally difficult process. Unfortunately, it has led to a one-size-fits-all philosophy and a belief that what works in Roanoke, Va., will work in Reno.

Veterans seek justice in courts tailored for them only

When it comes to establishing courts that hear cases only from military veterans, there are some individuals who take umbrage and feel that veterans should be tried only in traditional courts.

Artful Dodger strikes again; time for Lean 15 to mount up!

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval broke his word in the last legislative session and decided to extend some $600 million worth of “temporary” tax hikes passed in 2009 to balance his budget.

BC just scratched surface on community good

Being from a Chicago neighborhood that grew out of a tradition of being more than a little rough around the edges, and adding just the right amount of my familial, Sicilian cynicism, has made me the outspoken, in-your-face kind of person I am today.

Crises are seized or surrendered

While covering the ongoing news over the busing of mental patients out of Nevada by a state hospital, I called former Nevada Gov. Richard Bryan to interview him on the impact these kinds of disputes have on the state’s ability to attract news businesses. Bryan created the economic development system that existed for three decades until Gov. Brian Sandoval dismantled it two years ago.

Read carefully: I never wrote I’m against guns

In the past few months I have written two columns that touch on gun rights. The first was Dec. 20 in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting. The other was last week when I questioned having a gun show attached to the Spring Jamboree.

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Put that dog on a leash BC tightens “at-large” law

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.

Hoover Dam hosts Capitol Christmas Tree

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.

BCHS coach ‘unavailable’ for football playoff game

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.