Vegas Update

All The News That's Fit to Blog

College Sports: UNLV has a football team. No, it really does. No kidding. Ok, so they've won about as many games in the past three years as you can count on one hand. And there is no truth to the rumor that the team has been invited to play in the prestigious post-season Toilet Bowl held each year in Flushing, New York. But Las Vegas does host a post-season Bowl. It is called the Las Vegas Bowl. How clever. Not the Silver Bowl (Las Vegas is the Silver State) or the Gambol, or even the Entertainment Capital of The World Bowl. But simply the Las Vegas Bowl. I guess that's more descriptive than the Poulin Weedeater Bowl.

Ticky Tacky Taxes: Nevada's governor has had a rough start. Even before the election he was charged with, shall we say, being less than discrete in his behavior toward a lady. At least it was a member of the opposite sex. But once elected the path has not gotten much smoother. He has had several run ins as the result of some of his decisions and appointments. The most recent hue and cry has com from his plan to cut public school funding. The fact that Nevada ranks 47th among per pupil spending aside, and despite his promises to not cut the budget for schools the good Governor dropping funding schools to an even lower level. I can hear the students shouting already, "We're Number Fifty-one!"

Education Honchos Earnings: Nevada's superintendents can earn salaries into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. College administrators can do even better. If 50 top administrators pool their salaries the total will exceed $ 10 million. Not too shabby but not the bottom line. Many also receive perquisites such as housing and car allowances and entertainment budgets. Perhaps they should pool their resources and buy a casino. Then they would be paying taxes, although some educators say not enough. Who do these high priced administrators think they are? Politicians?

Busted Homeless: Lots of down-on-their-luck and poor people live in Las Vegas as well as everywhere else. Often they apply for public benefits, government subsidized housing, and the like. Criminal background checks of applicants for benefits have been completed recently and a staggering 144 of 212 families living in federally underwritten housing were found to have criminal backgrounds. If the criminal backgrounds are found to include murder, rape, or arson, those in Section 8 housing will find themselves 86ed.

Hasta La Vista, Baby: It's all about the money. That is true in any business be it gaming or grocery stores. So when two Vons stores failed to measure up in Las Vegas, company owner Safeway shuttered them. A third Von's near Las Vegas High School will be closed at the end of the year. I guess those yummy school lunches kept kids from shopping at Vons. But Vons did open a store in Henderson recently which brings their total in the Valley of the Dollars to 22, which might bust if its a blackjack hand, but works out fine for the grocery chain.

Dr. Forgot