Category: random

1995

Your tenderness has touched me
Touched me in a way unimagined
Unimagined and lost in a memory
A memory I hold in my heart.

My heart is full for you
For you are like no other
No other I will need again
Need again to seek no other.

The El Cortez hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas,  built-in 1941 and remodeled in 1952, is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The El Cortez is one of the oldest original buildings still standing on Fremont.

The National Register says when it opened more than 70 years ago it was one of the largest and most fashionable hotel-casinos in Las Vegas. The hotel was built in Spanish Colonial Revival Style.

Marion Hicks and J.C. Grayson built the El Cortez, downtown Las Vegas’ first major resort, in 1941 for $245,000. The location at 6th Street and Fremont was originally considered too far from downtown, but it quickly became so profitable, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Gus Greenbaum, and Moe Sedway bought the property in 1945 from J. Kel Houssels for $600,000.

Houssels originally opened the 59-room hotel and casino before the sale to the major organized crime figures. Houssels purchased the hotel back from Siegel’s group in 1946 for $766,000.

In 1963, the Pavilion Rooms were added after the hotel was purchased by Jackie Gaughan. Another 15-story tower addition was completed in 1980.

The 64-room Cabana Suites were completed in the former Ogden House in 2009 bringing the total room count to its current 364.  Gaughan, a casino owner and operator since the early 1950s, lives in the El Cortez tower penthouse and is known to be on the casino floor almost daily.

The property is one of the few casinos to have never changed its exterior façade in Las Vegas, retaining the same signage and ranch themed architecture for over seventy years.

The only other Vegas casino on the National Register of Historic Places is the Moulin Rouge, which burned down in 2003.

From: Kelly
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 5:42 AM
To: Tom; John
Cc: Dan; Ross; Monica
Subject: Old Stories on Morning News?

Hi Tom,

As you know, I’m up early and monitor Reno’s Morning News to get a first glimpse of the day’s latest stories…so imagine my surprise when both yesterday and today I heard stories that were more than 4 days old!

On Monday, Ross & Monica read the “Sandoval Wants $5M for Drones” story, which we’d covered the previous Friday and posted Friday on the web news page:

Nevada Wants Drones posted 5/10, 3:43pm.

Governor Sandoval announced Friday that he wants to use $5 million to help the state be selected as one of six US locations to develop Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones). If the FAA chooses Nevada as a drone development site, it could create thousands of jobs averaging $62K/year, bring $2.5 billion dollars into the state, and deposit $125 million into Nevada’s tax revenue account. (That’s some serious money for the Silver State!)

Then this morning, I’d swear I heard a story that was so old, I’d already scrubbed it from the web news page. It was on FB on Saturday:

Saturday<https://www.facebook.co/photo.php?fbid=10151895633298765&set=a.159166863764.147560.147303388764&type=1&gt;

Cell Phone Violations — The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office has already issued 449 citations in the past four months to drivers talking or texting on their cell phones. Nevada State Law prohibits using a handheld cell phone while operating your car, and the fine can be $250. The State’s goal is to have zero fatalities on our roadways. Sheriff Haley believes we can do it, if drivers eliminate distractions and focus on the road.

Just FYI, yesterday we had a record 21 stories posted on the web news page for 5/13… the most stories for one day since we began reporting news on our webpage, so I don’t understand why we’d need to pull old stories for news today… or any day for that matter.

What’s going on?

Kelly
Social Media Mistress
News Talk 780 KOH

—–

From: Tom
To: Kelly
Cc: Dan
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 10:08 AM
Subject: RE: Old Stories on Morning News?

Kelly — You’ll have to ask John. –Tom

—–

From: Kelly
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 5:31 PM
To: John
Cc: Tom
Subject: Re: Old Stories on Morning News?

John, why is Tom saying I’d have to ask YOU why two old stories were used on the morning show this week?

Tom, why are you telling me to ask John? Why can’t YOU just tell me what happened?

This is ridiculous. Could the two of you PLEASE TALK TO EACH OTHER and fix whatever ails you two? Frankly, it is hurting BOTH OF YOU in the eyes of people who have the power to make substantive changes to the KOH newsroom.

Do I have to come down there tomorrow morning with a can of “Killer Kelly’s Wup Ass?”

Love both of you knuckleheads and would hate to lose either of you. You both have such great talents… just wish you were putting them to the betterment of KOH’s timely, accurate and relevant news reporting, instead of pointing fingers at each other.

I feel like I’m at home with warring siblings.

Kelly
Social Media Mistress
News Talk 780 KOH

—–

From: Tom
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 12:17 AM
To: Kelly
Cc: Dan; John
Subject: RE: Old Stories on Morning News?

Kelly — The last time I checked — you are not in my chain of command or John’s. You handle the social media stuff, John handles the news content. I simply put the morning shows together. I answer directly to John, Dan and Jennifer. If I am wrong about where you fit into my job requirements and my chain of command, then this needs to be addressed by someone in management. — Tom

—–

From: Kelly
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 5:56 AM
To: Tom Darby
Cc: John; Dan; Jennifer
Subject: Your response to “Old Stories on Morning News?”

Tom,

Ouch!

Last time I checked, there is no chain of command when it comes to the friendship and family that makes KOH the unique and exceptional place it is.

I am truly disappointed that you could not see the intent, purpose or value of my email below. There were many other responses you could have made… your choice below was not productive, nor did it support your case for the new role you so clearly covet.

This is not the first time I’ve given you guidance and advice as a friend, to help you more effectively work with KOH staff, so you could accomplish your goals. On several occasions you sought me out, called me at home on weekends and blind-cc’d me to help you better understand what you could do differently to accomplish your goals at work.

You seemed to be blind to job titles on those occasions. Now, suddenly, you throw down the “You’re not my boss” card? Really?

Clearly something has changed, and you are no longer interested in receiving advice or providing information that could assist in your defense.

That’s fine. Just one last helpful hint… if you want to ensure Jen O. gets your emails, you’ll need to spell her last name correctly. I’ve added her to the cc list above, since you wanted her to get your email below.

Kelly
Social Media Mistress
News Talk 780 KOH

The President is finding himself hit by multiple scandals including the deadly attack in Libya, the IRS targeting of tea party, patriot and religious groups and the seizure of Associated Press phone records in a leak investigation. Obama advisers cast the trio of controversies as an inevitable part of life in the White House.

But there is a fourth scandal brewing.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been playing favorites with who it allows to receive a media waiver fee and who doesn’t. Conservative groups seeking information from the EPA have been routinely forced to pay fees normally waived for media and watchdog groups, while fees for more than 90 percent of requests from “green groups” were waived.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) reviewed Freedom of Information Act requests sent between January 2012 and this spring from several environmental groups friendly to the EPA’s mission, and several conservative groups, to see how equally the agency applies its fee waiver policy for media and watchdog groups.  Most green groups, including EarthJustice, The Waterkeeper Alliance, and Greenpeace, saw their fees waived.

Similarly, requests from conservative groups Judicial Watch and National Center for Public Policy Research saw approval half the time, and all requests from Franklin Center and the Institute for Energy Research denied. Meanwhile, CEI had its requests denied 93 percent of the time.

Government agencies are supposed to waive fees for groups disseminating information for public benefit.

Born in Bogard, Missouri, September 27th, 1929 and raised in Leavenworth, Kansas, Tom Cook passed away April 25th at the age of 83.

Upon joining the United States Marine Corps in 1948, Tom started a thirty year career and a life-long association with the Corps which he considered his extended family to the end. During those years, Tom was often involved in musical ventures, including creating musical arrangements for the military, which sent him to study music at the Anacostia U.S. Naval Academy in Washington, D.C., in 1949.

He served as a Master Gunnery Sergeant with deployments to both Korea and Vietnam, surviving the battle of Chosin Reservoir. While he didn’t speak much of his combat experiences, Tom did not hesitate to share how the Corps allowed him to continue his love of music as a Band Master with the Marine Corps Band, known as “The President’s Own.”

His career also led him to play with Tennessee Ernie Ford, Louis Prima and Sam Butera and Tommy Dorsey. Tom even appeared on the television show, “The Glen Campbell Good Time Hour,” in 1971.

After retiring from the Marines, he moved to Nevada, where he helped develop the Topaz Ranch Estates and Fairfield Ranch. Tom also ran for local office, serving on the Gardnerville Town Board from 1994 to 2010, earning the 2004 Nevada League of Cities Public Official of the Year.

In 1999, he joined the Nevada Rural Housing Authority. Tom would played a key role in creating the ‘Home at Last Program,’ which has put more than 1,500 rural Nevadans into their first homes.

After leaving the town board, he took time to relax and pursue his hobbies including camping, travel, woodwork and gardening. But these secondary passions were only diversions from music and the Marine Corps.

“He knew how to blow a trumpet,” his wife, Rose told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “And he also knew how to pull a trigger.”

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” Unknown

We moved into our newly built home in August 1998, too late for my wife to start her soon to be annual tradition of planting flowers in clay pots and bowls given to her by her mom. However, the following year, I came home one May afternoon to find them setting our on our front porch, beautiful and bright.

It’s been like that every Mother’s Day, even after Helen passed away at the end of October 2002. If I could say anything about this tradition, my wife has honored her mother in ways I could only wish I had — but didn’t.

I don’t mind saying, she is a good daughter.

The traditional belief is hillside letters were created to help early 20th century airplane pilots navigate and identify communities. The truth is they are symbols of school pride dating back to 1905 when students at the University of California created a 70-foot “Big C” above the school.

University of Nevada, Reno students constructed a 150-foot-high and 140-foot-wide block “N,” April 13th, 1913, near the base of Peavine. The “N” covers 13,000 square feet and was the largest hillside letter in the nation until 1925.

The first known Nevada high school letter was the Elko “E,” built-in late 1916.  Former Director of the Northeastern Nevada Museum’s Howard Hickson says the “E” was constructed in honor of Raymond Thomas, a high school teacher who died October 1st, 1916, in a snowstorm while hiking in the Ruby Mountains.

The next Nevada hillside letter was the “T” built in 1917 to honor Tonopah High School’s state championship girls’ basketball team. By the early 1920s, Carson City High School students had a “C” on a hill west of the city that is now known as “C” Hill.

The Sparks “S” and Battle Mountain “BM” appeared in 1925, the Virginia City “V” in 1926, the Lincoln County’s “L” at Panaca in 1927, and the Virgin Valley High School “V” in Mesquite in 1929. Three years later, 1932, the Douglas County “D” in Carson Valley was created and the Stewart Indian School “S” in Carson City in 1934.

Galena High School in south-west Reno, opened in 1992. Within two years, a white washed letter “G” appeared in the Steamboat Hills above the Mt. Rose Highway.

Then there’s the “SS” that’s marked out on the face of the Hungry Valley Hills, which denotes Spanish Springs High School, which appeared in 2003. Finally, Damonte Ranch High School opened in the Fall of 2003 and within the letter “D” appeared below in the foothills below Castle Peak.

Three Marines from Camp Lejeune lost their command following a deadly training accident. Battalion commander Lt. Col. Andrew McNulty, company commander Capt. Kelby Breivogel and infantry weapons officer Chief Warrant Officer 3 Douglas Derring were relieved from their posts after the March 18th training accident that killed seven Marines.

Brig. Gen. James Lukeman, commander of the 2nd Marine Division, made the final decision.  No reason has been given for their dismissal; however all three are to be reassigned.

The accident occurred when a 60 millimeter mortar tube exploded at Hawthorne Army Depot during a night-time field exercise. A full investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing.

Seven Marines and a Corpsman were also wounded.

“Congress needs to do its job,” said Nevada’s Democratic Congressman Steven Horsford. “I hope after nine oversight hearings, we start to work on protecting our embassies.”

Horsford used his time to echo his fellow Democrats, calling for security improvements to diplomatic facilities. He adds, Republicans exacerbated security problems through spending cuts.

It was the first time lawmakers heard publicly from anyone who was actually on the ground in Libya during the September 11th, 2012 attack, organizing the evacuation of U.S. staff and pleading for military help that never came. They heard that officials on the ground and in Washington immediately believed the attack to be the work of terrorists, and that the extremists tried to lure more Americans into what could have been a deadly trap.

They also heard for the first time, the Obama Administration’s decision to link the onslaught to popular demonstrations of Muslim anger at an Internet video denigrating Islam had offended Libya’s government and hampered the FBI’s investigation. And they heard suggestions that the Administration threw up obstacles to the committee’s investigation and may retaliate against one of the “whistleblowers.”

“Congress is making significant cuts to foreign affairs budget. I hope we properly fund our embassies so this never happens again,” Horsford concluded. “I urge my Republican counterparts to work on a bi-partisan plan to make the 29 recommendations of the ARB (Accountability Review Board.)”

Four people died during the terror attack, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, of Las Vegas, Horsford’s home town.

The City of Reno turned 145 years old tomorrow. It was May 9th, 1868, when the townsite was officially established.

Charles Crocker, the railroad construction superintendent for the Central Pacific Railroad and his partners in the railroad, named the new town for Union General Jesse Reno, who died in 1862 at the battle of Fox’s Gap, South Mountain, Md.

General Reno, an infantry commander from Pennsylvania, never set foot in Nevada. A statue of him stands in the Powning Veterans Memorial Park across the street from the federal courthouse in Reno.

What would become Reno was first settled in 1859 when Charles Fuller built a log toll bridge across the Truckee River. The majority of bridge users were those coming to or from the mines of the Comstock.

In 1861, Myron Lake purchased Fuller’s bridge and used the money from tolls to purchase more land, constructing a mill, livery stable and kiln. When the Central Pacific Railroad was being built, Lake deeded a portion of the land to Charles Crocker to ensure his land would be in the railroad’s path.