Last week, Mayor Joe Hardy shared details in his opinion piece (“The Gift that Keeps Giving”) about Boulder City’s purchase of more than 100,000 acres of the former Eldorado Valley Transfer Area from the Colorado River Commission in 1995.
Opinion
This week is back-to-school week in Boulder City, the first time in 27 years that I don’t have a child in public schools.
Unhappy with lawsuit
Boulder City may be considered a small town with a population around 15,000 people, but our land mass of 212 square miles makes us the largest city by geographic area in Nevada and the 41st largest in the United States.
Choosing the right market
We are into the first week of a new year that brings new promises and continuing challenges. Of great promise are vaccines against the COVID-19 virus. The city has already received and administered hundreds of doses to health care workers and first responders. The progress that will be made depends on how many doses of the vaccine are available. The city paramedics and the hospital staff will work to provide the vaccine based on the priorities established at the state level. More information is available at www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org.
Today is the last day of 2020. I know I am not the only one who is eager to see this year end.
A few years ago, many readers commented how much they enjoyed my column about holiday baking and requested that I make this an annual tradition. As you read this, I will be at home, enjoying the fruits of my labor after spending a week’s vacation knee-deep in flour, sugar and spices, in the true spirit of this message.
What do the library, post office, police department and public schools have in common? They are all owned by the citizens. All are open for business except, of course, schools. Schools in particular were built using funds collected from taxes that all of us paid. All of the expenses to run these institutions along with teacher’s salaries are paid by us as well.
As I write this, a picture comes into my mind. It’s a Sunday in December, 22 years ago, when I wrote my first holiday piece for the Boulder City News and the Henderson Home News. It was the day after the Boulder City Christmas parade. It was 7 a.m.; I was sitting at my desk typing and a light snow was falling.
I find that the formation of the city’s municipal pool ad hoc committee, chaired by Mayor (Kiernan) McManus with Councilman (James Howard) Adams serving as the vice chairman, to provide recommendations to the City Council regarding the proposed three ballot questions associated with a new aquatic center can easily lead to a violation of the open meeting law.
I love this time of year. There’s a nip in the air. The leaves on trees glow in shades of red, yellow and orange. Families and friends gather for festive meals. And Hallmark airs countless Christmas movies.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that 2020’s word of the year is pandemic.
A long, difficult year for many of us is coming to close. The COVID-19 pandemic came on early in the year and has remained with us. In so many ways the virus has disrupted lives. The early attempts to ease the shock of the rapid spread of the disease were not continued as the months wore on. We have seen the spread increase quickly at times and then subside as people worked to limit their exposure and the exposure of others.
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
It was just the opening salvo, but it appears that lost patience with riders of e-bikes and scooters are to the point that they are ready to go well beyond the “Well, how about more education” approach they opted for back in April.
For those who may have seen any of the recent social media posts put out by reps of the firefighters union calling out the city about pay and benefits, they might have been surprised that one collective bargaining agreement covering fire department personnel was approved by the city council this week without any discussion at all.
With staff and administrators from all five of Boulder City’s public schools together, BCHS Principal Amy Wagner explained in one sentence why they were all gathered last Friday.
Had the Clark County School District gone through with its plan, a new K-8 campus would have been welcoming students this week.
