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February 10, 2006
Vegas meets 160 - the Widowmaker
All of the sudden Las Vegans are killed on The Widowmaker and some genius in Clark County proclaims the highway is dangerous and, by gosh, something needs to be done. Seventeen people have died on 160 in recent weeks and that number is about 17 people too high, but consider this tidbit - scores of people have died on Highway 160 since my tenure in Pahrump began more than a decade ago and nobody in Clark County thought twice about the carnage. Kind of makes you feel like an unwanted orphan, doesn't it? Other issues that irk your local newspaper editor, freshly scraped off the top of his rapidly graying head: • Candidates for political office might find a way to manipulate other media outlets, but the Pahrump Valley Times will not be used as your personal campaign manager. Don't call us; we'll call you. • On the subject of elections; this newspaper can't wait for incumbents that have ignored us for the past three years to suddenly cozy up like we're old friends. Ain't happening. • Yucca Mountain is in Nye County, not Las Vegas. Check the map. • County officials would be wise to revamp the planning commission and planning department and get people in there with professionalism, common sense and an ability to handle the workload. • Valley Electric should be contracted to put up streetlights on Pahrump's main arterial streets. People can't see so they put on their high beams - and leave them on while driving busy roads. • Nye County needs to put in bike lanes on those same major arterials so drunks on bicycles don't cause wrecks. • Pahrump might as well incorporate. Newcomers can't help but call the town a city and Town Manager Dave Richards is already the mayor. The tail isn't wagging the dog - the tail is the dog. • Would the FBI please announce its special agents have completed their half-decade-long investigation into Nye County and land some indictments or back off? • Trick question: Will the new hospital open by April Fools Day? If so, will it be this April Fools Day? • Will unscrupulous real estate agents please quit lying to their prospective clients? Pahrump gets its water from Mt. Charleston runoff, not the "World's Largest Aquifer." Thought we debunked that myth. • On the subject of runoff: God, if you're listening, please let it rain in the valley and snow on the mountain. • On the subject of God: Muslims have every right to be outraged by Danish cartoons poking fun at their prophet - though the newspaper had every right to publish them. How would you feel if an Arab newspaper published disparaging cartoons about Jesus or whatever deity you worship? But some Muslims validated the stereotype promoted by the cartoons by reacting with - surprise, surprise - mad violence. • On the subject of violence: Whoever smashed my mailbox Wednesday morning better hope I never catch them. • How many consultants does one county need and why must we pay them so well? • Anybody need a consultant? • Lowe's is coming to Pahrump. Here's hoping Floyd's Ace Hardware can once again reinvent itself and survive. Some institutions are worth keeping. Floyd's is one of them. • On the subject of institutions; will there be a psychiatric ward at Desert View? Got a feeling that hallway will fill up quick. • On the subject of psychosis; we can ignore the homeless in Pahrump all we want but these people will continue to pester folks at the Rebel across from Petrack Park and they will continue to need our help. Why hasn't someone built a shelter? These people are human beings but we treat them like cur dogs. • On the subject of Petrack Park; what is going on with the fairgrounds and how long is Congress going to wait before it takes back the land it gave us in the late 1990s? This concludes today's rant. Thank you for your time. Enjoy your weekend. Go fish in the world's largest aquifer and catch a homeless consultant loitering in Mayor Richards' institution. Run over a drunken political candidate riding a bike in the rain on a dark street, pedaling his way to the not-yet-opened hospital to visit orphans. Go by the planning department and see if the FBI has indicted any cartoonists that have offended Muslims at Petrack Park or Yucca Mountain (the one in Nye County). Stop by Ace and pick me up a baseball bat so I can beat the hell out of the son of a gun that smashed my mailbox. Just stay away from Highway 160. I hear people in Vegas believe the road is dangerous. Write to Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@pvtimes.com. |
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