lvmpd detective bulmer, officer...

After reading and analyzing this

week’s Las Vegas Tribune editorial,

I wonder if the newspaper is get-

ting too soft or if I am too stubborn

to see both sides of the issue.

I believe that the editorial ig-

nored or skipped the financial part

of those who won reelection and

now are trying to advance their po-

litical career even before they are

sworn in on January 2nd of next

year.

What about those campaign con-

tributions they have taken from

people who believe in them or who

were too afraid not to contribute to

each of their campaigns because of

the possibility of retaliation?

Judge Susan Johnson ran for re-

election in Department 22 of the

District Court and only ten days

after winning reelection, she wants

an appointed position with the

newly created Nevada Appellate

Court, one step closer to the Nevada

Supreme Court.

Judge Johnson raised

$217,000.00 in contributions be-

tween attorneys and friends and I

have to wonder what is going to

happen to that money. Is she going

to give that money back to her sup-

porters if she gets to be appointed

to the Appellate Court?

The same happened with Jerome

Tao, a.k.a. Jerry Tao; he was re-

elected to District Court Depart-

ment 20 after raising $135,000.00

in contributions, but now he wants

to advance to a higher position and

throw his name in the hat for the

newly createdAppellate Court, dis-

regarding all those in his circle of

supporters and those friends that

pitched in for the television and ra-

dio commercials that helped him to

get reelected.

Is the honorable Judge Tao go-

ing to give that money back if ap-

pointed to the Appellate Court?

That would be the honorable thing

to do.

I have never been able to under-

stand candidates that pretend to care

for their constituents but in reality

are looking out only for themselves

and no one else.

They want to “give back to the

community” at the same time they

build a very nice portfolio for the

future in case they get bit on any

election, besides building a retire-

ment with almost 90 percent of their

regular pay. The Commission on

Judicial Selection should not be im-

pressed with the names of those

candidates who have already been

My Pointof View

Ward 5 Chamber of Commerce Member

By Rolando Larraz

Volume 16, Issue 37 November 19-25, 2014

World’s Largest RooftopSolar Array atMandalay Bay

PAGE 18

Senate Republicans blockbill: NSA will continuemonitoring your calls

PAGE 5

Child homelessnesssurges to nearly

2.5 millionPAGE 2

lasvegastribune.com

(See My Point of View, Page 2)

By Gordon Martines

Just recently, I was notified that

my former partner Det. Al Garris

suffered a sudden medical episode

which ended his life, totally unex-

pectedly. My former partner was

later taken to Sunrise Hospital

where he is on life support until

police partner. I was shocked to find

my friend completely all alone in

his hospital room, with only the life

support equipment sustaining the

life in his body. Understanding that

the family has been in constant bed-

side attendance, which is extremely

draining to say the least, I noticed (See From the Desk, Page 6)

organ donation procedures are com-

pleted.

After being notified by tele-

phone, from other former co-work-

ers, of the circumstances, I imme-

diately arranged to, and did, go

down to Sunrise Hospital to bid my

final farewell to my old friend and

that there was no police presence

or guard in attendance.

I remained with Al for approxi-

mately one and a half hours and

noticed that there still was no po-

lice presence, and according to one

of the two nurses in the entire in-

LVMPD—Void of honor, respect or reverenceFROM THE DESK OF GORDON MARTINES

Baby Elgin mid June 2013

The Rhiannon Gonzales Story Continues:

LVMPD Detective Bulmer, officerHernandez request polygraph test

By Rolando Larraz

Las Vegas Tribune

Part Three in a Series

On July 24 and 25, various char-

acter reference letters of support for

Gonzales arrived at the CPS office

via email to the attention of Chris

Carrell, Moore’s Supervisor, as in-

structed by Moore who was on va-

cation. These letters were written

by established members of society

in Los Angeles to include an

NAACP President, an LAUSD prin-

cipal, a longtime employee of JPL

(NASA), as well as the director of

the re-entry program, A New Way

of Life, where Gonzales had been

volunteering while living in Long

Beach.

On the evening of July 25

LVMPD Detective Monique

Bulmer, accompanied by a male

officer, Enrique Hernandez, arrived

at the hospital to offer Gonzales

another opportunity to take the

polygraph test. Too late to reach her

attorney, Gonzales wasn’t sure if

she should take it or not, so she

called her parents in Altadena, CA

to ask what they thought she should

do. They could hear Hernandez in

the background saying, “We’re not

telling her she has to take it. It’s

entirely up to her.” Unsure them-

selves of what was the correct thing

to do, her family advised her to do

as her attorney had instructed.

Upon hanging up the phone,

Rhiannon Gonzales was arrested

from her son’s bedside at Children’s

Hospital Nevada to face criminal

charges of Child Abuse. She did not

resist arrest, yet Hernandez felt the

need to use unnecessary excessive

force on Gonzales shoving her to

the ground. Ironically enough, af-

ter her arrest, she was never given

a drug or polygraph test; obviously

the general consensus of that being

that the powers against her were

afraid she might pass.

It would be discovered only by

accident, much later, that Detective

Bulmer had opened Gonzales’ ju-

venile record in order to be able to

arrest her, despite the fact that there

was no violence in her history. It

would also be discovered upon

reading the Unity Case Notes that

Detective Bulmer had reported to

CPS that ‘neurosurgeon (Garber)

said that injuries were not consis-

tent with explanation, but that an-

other doctor, name unknown, had

advised Detective Heidi Campbell

that it was possible that baby could

have sustained injury by falling and

landing on the baby gate that was

on the floor next to the bed.’

One would consider this conflict

in medical evaluations to fall well

within the “beyond the shadow of

a doubt” parameters; however, the

unnamed doctor was never referred

to again, nor were the results of sub-

sequent tests that were conducted

to ascertain whether or not the baby

had been the victim of abuse. One

such result of the fax sent to CPS

by Children’s Hospital Nevada so-

(See Gonzales, Page 4)

Gallup surveyshows just 37

percent approveSpecial to the Las Vegas Tribune

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ac-

cording to a new survey from

Gallup, the Affordable Care Act

(ACA), also known as Obamacare,

is more unpopular than ever as sec-

ond-year enrollment begins. Just 37

percent of Americans approve of

the law, against a full 56 percent

who disapprove. The news comes

as enrollment begins under the sec-

ond year of the new health care law,

and amidst warnings that those who

enrolled in the first year likely face

significant cost increases if they do

Medicaid backlog persists whilehealth law grows more unpopular

(See Medicaid, Page 5)

DR. LEN JESSUP

Special to the Las Vegas Tribune

After completing a national

search, the Nevada System of

Higher Education Board of Regents

approved the appointment of Dr.

Len Jessup to serve as the 10th

president of the University of Ne-

vada, Las Vegas. Jessup is currently

the dean of the Eller College of

Management at the University of

Arizona.

Regent Kevin Page, chair of the

13-member Board of Regents, said

Jessup stood out as an academic

leader who would help UNLV

move toward its goal of becoming

UNLV appoints new presidenta top public research and teaching

university.

“While the other two candidates

were outstanding, Dr. Jessup’s ex-

perience, drive, and energy are what

the Board felt was needed in our

next president,” said Page.

“I am honored to be selected as

the next president of UNLV and

look forward to working with the

faculty, staff, students, alumni, and

community to further advance the

university and achieve our goals,”

said Jessup.

“I would like to thank the Board

of Regents and the chancellor for

this tremendous opportunity.”

Jessup will assume the presi-

dency Jan. 5, 2015, receiving an

annual salary of $525,000. He’ll

take the reins of a university in the

midst of planning for a new school

of medicine and that is engaged in

an ambitious initiative to elevate its

status among the country’s leading

public universities.

The Board of Regents’ Presiden-

tial Search Committee selected

Jessup from three finalists and for-

warded his nomination to the full

Board of Regents for action.

(See UNLV, Page 5)

Nothing to lose on immigration,Obama pushes ahead on his own

By Brad Knickerbocker

Christian Science Monitor

One Republican leader on Sun-

day held open the possibility that

his party could move to shut down

the government in an attempt to

stop President Barack Obama from

taking executive action on immi-

gration policy.

Immigration must be a frustrat-

ing subject for President Obama.

He’s been battling Republicans —

those in Congress, and those trying

to take his job in 2012 — for years.

But now, one senses a sort of

serenity about immigration for

Obama.

He never has to run for election

again. And the newly-powerful

GOP on Capitol Hill has yet to sort

itself out on a clear immigration

policy and message — not least

because it has at least three U.S.

Senators with strong presidential

ambitions (Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio,

and Rand Paul).

Remember how Republican

presidential hopefuls two years ago

got twisted up trying to out-tough-

guy each other on illegal immi-

grants? Mitt Romney’s “self-depor-

tation” was classic. When Rick

Perry tried to explain state tuition

breaks for young illegal immigrants

in Texas, the others pounced.

As Newt Gingrich said at the

time, “It’s a very complicated situ-

ation.”

Today, of course, it’s only got-

ten more complicated. Meanwhile,

Republican Party leaders know they

need to do a lot better attracting

Latino voters, the great majority of

(See Immigration, Page 4)

/ LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / November 19-25, 2014

MISSION

STATEMENTWe search for the truth, em-

brace the truth, and print the truth.

If we inadvertently print some-

thing that is not true, we will let

our readers know. We are open to

documented information to shed

light on any issue of concern to

our readers. We are of service to

our community, and it is our in-

tention to serve our community

the best way we can.

RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF THE LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE EVERY WEEK!To receive a complimentary link to every new issue of the Las Vegas Tribune, please send

an email to [email protected] and give us the email address where you

would like your copy sent. We look forward to having you as a subscriber to our publication.

Quote of the Week:

Please Note:Although the Las Vegas Tribune

is open to all and sundry opin-

ions about what we publish, we

wish to inform all those who

choose to submit their opinions

in writing to refrain from threat-

ening anyone about whom an ar-

ticle is written or the writer of

the article. In other words, any

opinions containing threats will

not be published. We thank you

for adhering to this policy.

(Continued from Page 1)

elected to the bench; those people

need to finish their terms and later

look for another government posi-

tion.

The Commission should look at

others that also want to “give back

to the community,” others that also

want to improve their portfolios.

Call me crazy or anything you

want, but I believe that if the of-

fice of the president is time-lim-

ited, every other office should also

be time-limited.

Judges should not be treated

differently from any other govern-

ment official; judges should real-

ize that they are not above the law,

especially as many of them are

ethically questioned.

The same should apply to mem-

bers of the House and the Senate

and stop those two and tree de-

cades worth of “service” that many

of them are doing.

It is not fair to have a human

being sitting in the Senate or the

House for that long of a time. We

have to realize that those “good

dedicated public servants” are not

our slaves; they need to rest and

go into private life to earn a living

as we all do.

An example of tireless public

officials that keep getting reelected

and work hard for themselves is

seen in the game such officials play

while in office is the Clark County

Commission.

Commission Chairman Steve

Sisolak was the number one mem-

ber of the commission who op-

posed and works hard to oppose

the More Cops Tax that outgoing

Sheriff Doug Gillespie begged for

all last year; and now, after he fi-

nalized a pact with the newly

elected sheriff by endorsing him in

the last election, the More Cops

Tax is back on the commissioners’

table.

What is it that the old sheriff and

the new sheriff do not understand

about the word NO? We cannot

even offer to say no in any other

language, but if we have to, in Ital-

ian it’s NO, in French it’s No and

in Spanish it’s NO.

Whatever was offered to Chair-

man Sisolak for the endorsement

My Point of Viewgiven to the new sheriff cannot be

fulfilled because the people of Clark

County do not want to give any more

money to the Las Vegas Metropoli-

tan Police Department and the

people of Clark County should have

the last word.

Elected officials need to learn

that they are not better than the pub-

lic, they are not above the law ei-

ther, and they cannot ignore the con-

stituents, the residents, and the vot-

ers’wishes.

No matter how many times they

try to ignore the voters demands,

sooner or later they will have to un-

derstand that the voters voice is the

more important voice in the commu-

nity and no matter how many times

they limit their voices to two min-

utes on the microphone while they

let the sheriff talk for ten times

longer (21 minutes) at the end, their

votes will speak louder and more

clear.

Look at the series that the Las

Vegas Tribune has been running for

the last three weeks as to how the

prosecutors lie and do up to the im-

possible to win the cases with or

without basis, without evidence and

without any merit whatsoever.

You may be surprised how many

people have been coming forward

with cases since we started the se-

ries of the Rhiannon Gonzales Story.

Even I am surprised to see how

many are coming forward while

others mention their cases but do

not want to come forward.

However, one way or another I

have to believe that I was right

when I wrote before the November

election that changes are becoming

a reality because the people of this

community are waking up and are

more aware of the government’s

erroneous behavior.

It is time that you let these

elected officials know that they are

working for you and that you are

the boss; but if you don’t have the

courage to speak up don’t come

FOUNDERRolando Larraz

VOL. 16, NO. 37

PUBLISHER

AND

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Rolando Larraz

GENERAL MANAGER

Perly Viasmensky

PRODUCTION

Don Snook

MANAGING EDITOR

Maramis Choufani

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Colleen Lloyd

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER

Kenneth A. Wegner

For advertising

rates, deadlines

call 702-868-6398

Las Vegas Tribune is published

weekly at 820 So. 7th Street,

Las Vegas, Nevada 89101.

Main Number:

(702) 868-6398

News desk:

(702) 868-6397

Fax: (702) 696-0096

Website:

LasVegasTribune.net

All rights reserved. Statements,

opinions and points of view ex-

pressed by the writers are their

own and do not necessarily rep-

resent those of the publisher.

Information, including prices

and times, is considered correct

at the time of publishing but may

change without notice. Las Ve-

gas Tribune assumes no re-

sponsibility for unsolicited

manuscripts, transparencies or

other submitted materials. For

return, please enclose a self-

addressed stamped envelope.

Las Vegas Tribune

published weekly by the

Tribune Media GroupDavid A. Rifkin, Executive Vice President

TRIBUNE

“The mediocre teacher tells. The

good teacher explains. The

superior teacher demonstrates.

The great teacher inspires.”

—William ArthurWard

11:00 a.m.Tuesday and

Thursdayson

RadioTribune.com

with Gordon MartinesOpen Mic

Tune in and listen to those who will tell you

the truth, and nothing but the truth. You’ll

discover different personalities and hear

different opinions, but when it comes to the

facts, you’ll always get the truth from us!

Tune in to

RadioTribunewww.RadioTribune.com

Call-In Line (702) 772-8082

running to us in tears crying for

help.

You have the last say so it is up

to you, the voters, and no one else

to put an end to injustice, abuse and

corruption.

My name is Rolando Larraz, and

as always, I approved this column.

* * * * *

Rolando Larraz is Editor in

Chief of the Las Vegas Tribune. His

column appears weekly in this

newspaper. To contact Rolando

Larraz, email him at:

[email protected] or

at (702) 699-8111.

Child homelessness surges to nearly 2.5 million

By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo


One out of every 30 children in

the United States experiences

homelessness at some point during

the year.

That’s nearly 2.5 million chil-

dren, up from 1.6 million in 2010,

reports The National Center on

Family Homelessness in Waltham,

Mass., part of the American Insti-

tutes for Research.

“When you look at the resources

and where they’ve been driven...

there’s been a national priority to

address the issues for the chronic

homeless and for veterans... and

we’ve seen those numbers decline,”

One out of every 30 kids is homeless annually, about half of them younger than six, according to a

new report. Homeless children show higher rates of developmental problems and mental health needs.

says the center’s director, Carmela

DeCandia. “That’s a good thing.

The problem is the same level of

attention has not been paid to kids

and families.”

The report relies on the defini-

tion of homelessness that schools

are required to use under the fed-

eral McKinney-Vento Act, which

is broader than the definition used

by federal housing authorities and

includes children “doubled up”

with friends or relatives because of

economic hardship.

Based on recently released

2012-2013 data, it also includes an

estimate of the number of children

under 6 whose families experience

homelessness.

Many of these families include

single mothers struggling to raise

small children. Researchers estimate

that about half of homeless children

are under age 6. For 20 to 50 per-

cent of the mothers, their

homelessness is caused primarily by

intimate-partner violence, the report

notes.

Homeless children show higher

rates of developmental problems and

mental health needs. Because of “the

human and economic toll... we have

to have decisive action now,” Ms.

DeCandia says.

The report also ranks the states

on a variety of factors related to child

homelessness.

Kentucky is identified as the state

with the highest portion of its chil-

dren experiencing homelessness in

a year: 66,818 in 2012-13, down

from 70,090 the year before. But on

another measure, the quality of state

policy and planning around this is-

sue, it ranks 20th (with 1st being

the best).

The state with the smallest por-

tion of homeless children is Con-

necticut: 5,508, a number similar to

the year before.

One ranking uses a composite

score that includes state policies,

the portion of homeless children,

risk factors for homelessness re-

lated to benefits and housing costs,

and child well-being factors such as

food security and health.

With this measure, Minnesota

ranks the best and Alabama the

worst.

In Alabama, more than 59,349

children experienced homelessness;

there’s a high teen birth rate (39.2

per 1,000 teens); 27 percent of chil-

dren live in poverty; and there is no

active state interagency council on

homelessness.

In Minnesota, by contrast,

23,608 children were homeless; the

teen birth rate is 18.5 per 1,000; 14

percent of children live in poverty;

and there is a state interagency

council.

Minnesota has roughly triple the

amount of shelter and housing units

for families that Alabama has.


MISSION

STATEMENTWe search for the truth, em-

brace the truth, and print the truth.

If we inadvertently print some-

thing that is not true, we will let

our readers know. We are open to

documented information to shed

light on any issue of concern to

our readers. We are of service to

our community, and it is our in-

tention to serve our community

the best way we can.

RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF THE LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE EVERY WEEK!To receive a complimentary link to every new issue of the Las Vegas Tribune, please send

an email to [email protected] and give us the email address where you

would like your copy sent. We look forward to having you as a subscriber to our publication.

Quote of the Week:

Please Note:Although the Las Vegas Tribune

is open to all and sundry opin-

ions about what we publish, we

wish to inform all those who

choose to submit their opinions

in writing to refrain from threat-

ening anyone about whom an ar-

ticle is written or the writer of

the article. In other words, any

opinions containing threats will

not be published. We thank you

for adhering to this policy.

(Continued from Page 1)

elected to the bench; those people

need to finish their terms and later

look for another government posi-

tion.

The Commission should look at

others that also want to “give back

to the community,” others that also

want to improve their portfolios.

Call me crazy or anything you

want, but I believe that if the of-

fice of the president is time-lim-

ited, every other office should also

be time-limited.

Judges should not be treated

differently from any other govern-

ment official; judges should real-

ize that they are not above the law,

especially as many of them are

ethically questioned.

The same should apply to mem-

bers of the House and the Senate

and stop those two and tree de-

cades worth of “service” that many

of them are doing.

It is not fair to have a human

being sitting in the Senate or the

House for that long of a time. We

have to realize that those “good

dedicated public servants” are not

our slaves; they need to rest and

go into private life to earn a living

as we all do.

An example of tireless public

officials that keep getting reelected

and work hard for themselves is

seen in the game such officials play

while in office is the Clark County

Commission.

Commission Chairman Steve

Sisolak was the number one mem-

ber of the commission who op-

posed and works hard to oppose

the More Cops Tax that outgoing

Sheriff Doug Gillespie begged for

all last year; and now, after he fi-

nalized a pact with the newly

elected sheriff by endorsing him in

the last election, the More Cops

Tax is back on the commissioners’

table.

What is it that the old sheriff and

the new sheriff do not understand

about the word NO? We cannot

even offer to say no in any other

language, but if we have to, in Ital-

ian it’s NO, in French it’s No and

in Spanish it’s NO.

Whatever was offered to Chair-

man Sisolak for the endorsement

My Point of Viewgiven to the new sheriff cannot be

fulfilled because the people of Clark

County do not want to give any more

money to the Las Vegas Metropoli-

tan Police Department and the

people of Clark County should have

the last word.

Elected officials need to learn

that they are not better than the pub-

lic, they are not above the law ei-

ther, and they cannot ignore the con-

stituents, the residents, and the vot-

ers’wishes.

No matter how many times they

try to ignore the voters demands,

sooner or later they will have to un-

derstand that the voters voice is the

more important voice in the commu-

nity and no matter how many times

they limit their voices to two min-

utes on the microphone while they

let the sheriff talk for ten times

longer (21 minutes) at the end, their

votes will speak louder and more

clear.

Look at the series that the Las

Vegas Tribune has been running for

the last three weeks as to how the

prosecutors lie and do up to the im-

possible to win the cases with or

without basis, without evidence and

without any merit whatsoever.

You may be surprised how many

people have been coming forward

with cases since we started the se-

ries of the Rhiannon Gonzales Story.

Even I am surprised to see how

many are coming forward while

others mention their cases but do

not want to come forward.

However, one way or another I

have to believe that I was right

when I wrote before the November

election that changes are becoming

a reality because the people of this

community are waking up and are

more aware of the government’s

erroneous behavior.

It is time that you let these

elected officials know that they are

working for you and that you are

the boss; but if you don’t have the

courage to speak up don’t come

FOUNDERRolando Larraz

VOL. 16, NO. 37

PUBLISHER

AND

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Rolando Larraz

GENERAL MANAGER

Perly Viasmensky

PRODUCTION

Don Snook

MANAGING EDITOR

Maramis Choufani

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Colleen Lloyd

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER

Kenneth A. Wegner

For advertising

rates, deadlines

call 702-868-6398

Las Vegas Tribune is published

weekly at 820 So. 7th Street,

Las Vegas, Nevada 89101.

Main Number:

(702) 868-6398

News desk:

(702) 868-6397

Fax: (702) 696-0096

Website:

LasVegasTribune.net

All rights reserved. Statements,

opinions and points of view ex-

pressed by the writers are their

own and do not necessarily rep-

resent those of the publisher.

Information, including prices

and times, is considered correct

at the time of publishing but may

change without notice. Las Ve-

gas Tribune assumes no re-

sponsibility for unsolicited

manuscripts, transparencies or

other submitted materials. For

return, please enclose a self-

addressed stamped envelope.

Las Vegas Tribune

published weekly by the

Tribune Media GroupDavid A. Rifkin, Executive Vice President

TRIBUNE

“The mediocre teacher tells. The

good teacher explains. The

superior teacher demonstrates.

The great teacher inspires.”

—William ArthurWard

11:00 a.m.Tuesday and

Thursdayson

RadioTribune.com

with Gordon MartinesOpen Mic

Tune in and listen to those who will tell you

the truth, and nothing but the truth. You’ll

discover different personalities and hear

different opinions, but when it comes to the

facts, you’ll always get the truth from us!

Tune in to

RadioTribunewww.RadioTribune.com

Call-In Line (702) 772-8082

running to us in tears crying for

help.

You have the last say so it is up

to you, the voters, and no one else

to put an end to injustice, abuse and

corruption.

My name is Rolando Larraz, and

as always, I approved this column.

* * * * *

Rolando Larraz is Editor in

Chief of the Las Vegas Tribune. His

column appears weekly in this

newspaper. To contact Rolando

Larraz, email him at:

[email protected] or

at (702) 699-8111.

Child homelessness surges to nearly 2.5 million

By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo


One out of every 30 children in

the United States experiences

homelessness at some point during

the year.

That’s nearly 2.5 million chil-

dren, up from 1.6 million in 2010,

reports The National Center on

Family Homelessness in Waltham,

Mass., part of the American Insti-

tutes for Research.

“When you look at the resources

and where they’ve been driven...

there’s been a national priority to

address the issues for the chronic

homeless and for veterans... and

we’ve seen those numbers decline,”

One out of every 30 kids is homeless annually, about half of them younger than six, according to a

new report. Homeless children show higher rates of developmental problems and mental health needs.

says the center’s director, Carmela

DeCandia. “That’s a good thing.

The problem is the same level of

attention has not been paid to kids

and families.”

The report relies on the defini-

tion of homelessness that schools

are required to use under the fed-

eral McKinney-Vento Act, which

is broader than the definition used

by federal housing authorities and

includes children “doubled up”

with friends or relatives because of

economic hardship.

Based on recently released

2012-2013 data, it also includes an

estimate of the number of children

under 6 whose families experience

homelessness.

Many of these families include

single mothers struggling to raise

small children. Researchers estimate

that about half of homeless children

are under age 6. For 20 to 50 per-

cent of the mothers, their

homelessness is caused primarily by

intimate-partner violence, the report

notes.

Homeless children show higher

rates of developmental problems and

mental health needs. Because of “the

human and economic toll... we have

to have decisive action now,” Ms.

DeCandia says.

The report also ranks the states

on a variety of factors related to child

homelessness.

Kentucky is identified as the state

with the highest portion of its chil-

dren experiencing homelessness in

a year: 66,818 in 2012-13, down

from 70,090 the year before. But on

another measure, the quality of state

policy and planning around this is-

sue, it ranks 20th (with 1st being

the best).

The state with the smallest por-

tion of homeless children is Con-

necticut: 5,508, a number similar to

the year before.

One ranking uses a composite

score that includes state policies,

the portion of homeless children,

risk factors for homelessness re-

lated to benefits and housing costs,

and child well-being factors such as

food security and health.

With this measure, Minnesota

ranks the best and Alabama the

worst.

In Alabama, more than 59,349

children experienced homelessness;

there’s a high teen birth rate (39.2

per 1,000 teens); 27 percent of chil-

dren live in poverty; and there is no

active state interagency council on

homelessness.

In Minnesota, by contrast,

23,608 children were homeless; the

teen birth rate is 18.5 per 1,000; 14

percent of children live in poverty;

and there is a state interagency

council.

Minnesota has roughly triple the

amount of shelter and housing units

for families that Alabama has.

November 19-25, 2014 / LAS VEGAS TRIBUNE / Page 3

CITY BEAT

The City of Las Vegas and Rain-

bow Company Youth Theatre will

present “Meet Me in St. Louis”

Dec. 5-14 at the Charleston Heights

Arts Center. The popular musical

centers on the close-knit Smith fam-

ily living in St. Louis as the town

prepares for the spectacular 1904

World’s Fair, and is based on the

1944 movie of the same name.

Show times are 7 p.m. Dec. 5, 6,

12 and 13, and 2 p.m. Dec. 7, 13

and 14. General admission tickets

are priced at $5 per person, avail-

able online at www.artslasvegas.org

or by calling 702-229-6553 or 702-

229-6383. Appropriate for ages 5

through adult, the show lasts ap-

proximately two hours. The

Charleston Heights Arts Center is

located at 800 S. Brush St.

The Smith family children learn

lessons of life and love in turn-of-

the-century St. Louis. Originally

based on stories written by Sally

Bensen, the musical covers the im-

pact that the fair has on one family

in St. Louis. When the father an-

nounces that a move to New York

is on the horizon, all lives are

thrown into an upheaval. With fa-

miliar songs like “The Trolley

Song,” “The Boy Next Door” and

“Have Yourself a Merry Little

Christmas,” this show is sure to

delight the entire family. The eldest

of the Smith daughters, Rose, is

played by Aleja Quinn, a senior in

the Rainbow Company Ensemble.

Leta Marcellus plays Esther, Evelyn

Blomquist is Agnes, and Annabelle

Gillins is Tootie. Older brother Lon

is played by Gus Reynolds. A com-

pany of 30 rounds out the cast and

fills up the stage.

The production is directed by

Karen McKenney, and McKenney

co-choreographs with student Sasha

Bond, a senior in the Rainbow

Company Ensemble. Bond serves

double-duty and can also be seen

in the production playing the role

of Lucille Ballard. Kris van Riper

has designed the lovely and practi-

cal set, complete with a house that

opens and closes for interior and

exterior scenes. Mariya Radeva-

Nedyalkova has created lush period

costumes. The passing of the sea-

sons is beautifully accentuated by

jody Caley’s lighting and Joel

Ruud’s sound design. Musical di-

rection is by Joseph L. Cottone.

Live music for all performances

will be provided by an ensemble of

eight to 10 local professional and

student musicians. For more infor-

mation on this or other Rainbow

Company productions or classes,

call 702-229-6553.

* * * * *

Smith Family (left to right) Esther Smith-Leta Marcellus, Tootie Smith-Annabelle Gillins, Rose Smith -

Aleja Quinn, Lon Smith-Gus Reynolds and Agnes Smith-Evelyn Blomquist

First 200 shoppers

will receive a WSS

mystery gift card

WSS will celebrate the opening

of their first store in Las Vegas, and

their first store outside of Califor-

nia, with a ribbon cutting ceremony,

Saturday, November 15th, 10

a.m.–3 p.m. at 2209 E. Lake Mead

Blvd., featuring beloved Mexican

singer Chiquis Rivera and local

community dignitaries including

councilmembers Isaac Barron and

Pamela Goynes-Brown; Clay

Overlien, Las Vegas Chamber of

Commerce; and Stephen Sifuentes,

Regional Representative, U.S.

Senator Dean Heller’s office.

Chiquis Rivera will be signing

autographs for her fans at the store,

and the first 200 shoppers will re-

ceive a WSS mystery gift card plus

one guest will receive a $500 WSS

shopping spree giveaway. Also, as

part of WSS’ commitment to giv-

ing back to the communities they

serve WSS executives will present

a $5,000 school supply donation to

C.P. Squires Elementary School.

* * * * *

65 at-risk students to enjoy

pre-Thanksgiving meal at Le

Cordon Bleu Las Vegas

Approximately 65 at-risk stu-

dents from Von Tobel Middle

School who are enrolled in After-

School All-Stars Las Vegas will

enjoy a hot Thanksgiving lunch

served by Las Vegas Mayor

Carolyn G. Goodman and local

television anchors on Tuesday, Nov.

25 from 11:00 a.m. to 12 noon.

The event will begin with a spe-

cial performance from students in

After-School All-Stars’ Mariachi

Band program at Von Tobel Middle

School.

The meal is donated by Le Cor-

don Bleu and includes all the tradi-

tional dishes of Thanksgiving.

More than a dozen chefs and stu-

dents from the culinary school are

involved in preparing and serving

the meal.

Le Cordon Bleu College of Cu-

linary Arts Las Vegas, Café Bleu,

is located at1451 Center Crossing

Road (Behind Bank of America on

Town Center Drive)

* * * * *

Remembrance for

traffic victims

The FIA joins in commemora-

tions underway worldwide to mark

the World Day of Remembrance for

Traffic Victims.

The third Sunday of November

each year is dedicated to remem-

bering the many millions killed and

injured annually on the world’s

roads, as well as the family mem-

bers and friends affected by this

tragedy. This year the day is dedi-

cated to raising awareness on the

critical role speeding plays in road

accidents.

FIA President Jean Todt said:

“Today is an important occasion for

people to take a moment to reflect

on the tragic loss of life on the

world’s roads which takes place

every year. 1.3 million lives are lost

annually and 50 million more in-

jured. We cannot let this continue.

Embassy Suites Convention

Center Las Vegas gives back

for 6th consecutive year

to Toys for Tots

The staff at Embassy Suites

Convention Center Las Vegas is

gearing up to give back to the com-

munity and help put a smile on the

faces of as many underprivileged

children as possible this holiday

season. In conjunction with nine of

its sister WCG Hotel properties, the

hotel is offering a great number of

ways to support the Toys for Tots

charity this year.

Embassy Suites Convention

Center Las Vegas is calling on lo-

cal community members, partners

and businesses to stop by the hotel

on Friday the 12th of December to

drop off an unwrapped toy of at

least a $10 value during the hotel’s

Give & Go Toy Drive from 7:30

a.m.–4:30 p.m. People can drive up

to the hotel and enjoy a cup of com-

plimentary coffee or hot cocoa, buy

cookies for $1, or order a “Tots for

Tots” tater tot appetizer at the

hotel’s Fountain Grille restaurant

where all proceeds will go to the

Toys for Tots Charity.

Toy collection boxes will also be

available inside the hotel through

the 18th of December, and guests

can either drop off their own toy,

choose to buy a toy from the hotel

for $10, or contribute to the hotel’s

Spare Change Drive to support

Toys for Tots. Guests can also book

a special Toys for Tots rate — where

$10 of a guest’s stay benefits Toys

for Tots.

“We are proud to celebrate our

6th year in supporting Toys for

Tots,” says Rene Ramos, General

Manager at Embassy Suites Con-

vention Center. “The holiday sea-

son is the perfect time to give back

to our community, and supporting

Toys for Tots allows our commu-

nity to work together to help chil-

dren who are less fortunate and

City of Las Vegas presents‘Meet Me In St. Louis’ Dec. 5-14

make their holiday brighter. ”

Toys for Tots is a non-profit pub-

lic charity dedicated to delivering

new toys to underprivileged chil-

dren to help make their holiday

brighter. Since 1947, the United

States Marine Corps Reserve’s Toy

for Tots charity has united members

of communities nationwide for the

common cause in helping children

and bettering their neighborhoods.

* * * * *

This year we pay special attention

to the devastating role speeding

plays in far too many road acci-

dents. We must have absolutely

zero tolerance of speeding on the

road. The FIA and our worldwide

network of clubs are calling on gov-

ernments to ensure speed limits are

in place and enforced, and for driv-

ers to obey the rules. Racing can

only ever be for the track, under

strictly regulated conditions.”

Global Road SafetyAmbassador

Michelle Yeoh said: “Today is an

opportunity to remember the thou-

sands who lose their lives on the

world’s roads daily, and the heart-

breaking loss which mothers, fa-

thers, sons and daughters are left

with as a result. Most people don’t

realise the scale of this catastrophe

we face — every single day 500

children lose their lives on danger-

ous roads. We know that speeding

is a leading key factor in accidents,

so governments have a moral re-

sponsibility to ensure effective laws

which restrict speeding are in place

to protect all road users.”

The FIA’s Action for Road

Safety campaign, launched in May

2011 to support the UN Decade of

Action for Road Safety, has

mobilised and funded activities

worldwide for the education and

training of safer drivers. The cam-

paign encourages governments to

take action to introduce new legis-

lative measure to improve road

safety, while also encouraging mo-

torists to be responsible when driv-

ing, for example through the pro-

motion of the campaign’s ‘Ten

Golden Rules for Safer Driving’.

Rule three stresses the importance

of obeying the speed limit at all

times.

* * * * *

City Beat is a compilation of

news and views of our editorial and

writing team, along with reader

submissions and topics. Readers

are invited to suggest a local topic

or any other items of interest.


[email protected]

cial worker Dr. Cynthia Hull,

clearly states: “There are no heal-

ing fractures or post-traumatic de-

formities to indicate non-acciden-

tal trauma.” This document also

escaped mention in any of the re-

ports or court proceedings.

According to the Unity Case

Notes, there are two entries, the first

on July 17 and again on July 23,

indicating that Detective Bulmer

was not satisfied with the testing

conducted at University Medical

Center and had provided a prescrip-

tion for a full skeletal exam at Sun-

rise Hospital. Yet, those were the

only entries made in regard to the

additional tests, as there was no

documentation of any results. As of

this writing, contact was made with

the foster family, who verified that

the tests were indeed conducted.

Yet, Gonzales’ Attorney John Piro

never received any documentation

regarding those results. One can

only speculate that the reason for

omission of the Sunrise Hospital

results was because they were con-

trary to what Bulmer was hoping

for.

On July 26 Elgin was released

from University Medical Center —

Children’s Hospital Nevada to the

care of a foster family. His own

family had no idea where their baby

was. It was about this time when

someone called the family’s atten-

tion to a news article about the

brokering of minority children in

Nevada.

Gonzales’ was not present at

Family Court on July 29. Her attor-

ney Denise Gallagher also stood in

to represent Eugene, who had spo-

ken at length behind closed doors

with CPS workers Paula Moore,

Elizabeth Stumpf and Sherrie

Litman, maintaining that Gonzales

would never hurt her child. It was

obvious by this point that Child

Development Specialist Violeta

Menjivar was not going to have to

account for her actions and that the

burden of proof was to prove inno-

cence, instead of guilt. Gallagher

informed Family Court Hearing

Master Thomas Kurtz that

Gonzales had been arrested and

charged with child abuse, then

asked if the baby could possibly be

released to a family member in

California instead of remaining in

the foster system. CPS Investiga-

tor Paula Moore had no objection,

but did explain that the process to

transfer from one state to another

Gonzales(Continued from Page 1) took a long time. Moore also

granted permission for the family

to visit with Elgin at Child Haven

that afternoon.

Despite the questionable re-

moval and investigation conducted

by CPS, they did do an excellent

job of pairing the baby with a young

family who had a 20-month-old son

of their own, and were also first-

time foster parents. So, at least the

family’s apprehension at their baby

being in foster care was laid to rest,

although they were still not allowed

any medical information as to the

baby’s condition.

It appeared that with the arrest

of Gonzales, Moore had begun to

treat the family with a bit more re-

spect, although she continued to

decline all invitations extended by

grandmother to come and inspect

the apartment for herself, as Moore

was not among the group present

at the apartment the day of the ac-

cident. Moore stated that a visit by

her would only be necessary once

the family was reunited. Grand-

mother thought it strange that the

investigator had no interest in see-

ing the scene of the accident, but

by this point was already becom-

ing accustomed to how things were

handled in Las Vegas.

Saturday, August 10, Gonzales’

mother receives a call from

Gonzales’ attorney John Piro say-

ing that he would be going to Los

Angeles the following weekend and

was hoping to be able to meet with

Iyanna while he was there. The

family was very pleased with the

idea of not making her return to Las

Vegas. Iyanna would tell him that

there was one particular neighbor

on the day of the accident (Isaacs)

who tried to tell CPS workers that

Gonzales was not an abusive par-

ent, stating that she should know

because they lived in such close

proximity to one another that she

would have heard sounds of child

abuse if there had been any. This

neighbor was ignored and her state-

ments were omitted from the CPS

report.

Gonzales’ bail, set originally at

$20,000.00, was reduced the fol-

lowing day to $10,000.00 and

raised again the next to $50,000.00,

where it remained, despite a plea for

a bail reduction by Gonzales’attor-

ney, Deputy Public Defender John

Piro at Clark County Justice Court

on August 13. Piro clarified to Jus-

tice Court Judge Diane Sullivan that

Gonzales was a former social work

student with plans to continue at

UNLV and pointed out that there

were many false statements con-

tained in the Police Report supplied

by Detective Bulmer. Piro origi-

nally asked for Gonzales’ release on

her own recognizance before re-

questing the bail reduction. How-

ever, Chief Deputy District Attor-

ney Dena Rinetti, a tall young

woman in a bright green blazer who

shouted and flailed her arms indig-

nantly, convinced Judge Sullivan

that because Gonzales had been ar-

rested still carrying her California

driver’s license, it was evident that

she had no intention of ever becom-

ing a contributing member to the

Las Vegas community. Rinetti

added that in her opinion

$50,000.00 bail was not high

enough, then stormed out of the

courtroom just as quickly and

loudly as she had stormed in.

Gonzales had sent off for a copy

of her birth certificate so that she

could get a Nevada license on July

9, but the State of New Mexico,

where she was born, had been slow

in responding to that request. There

was a copy of said request, but it

was not present in the courtroom at

the time of the assumption. The

birth certificate did not arrive until

weeks later.

So Gonzales remained incarcer-

ated, while her family continued to

pay rent on an empty apartment.

Apparently the CPS and LVMPD

“angels of mercy” do not extend

their consideration to the well-be-

ing of family pets, as Gonzales’

Shih Tzu, Oreo, was left in the

apartment alone for several days

following her arrest.

Next week: Gonzales’ mother

and Family Court Attorney Denise

Gallagher

President Obama plans to reduce the threat of deportation for as many

as 5 million illegal immigrants. If Republicans come up with an

immigration reform proposal, he says, “I’ll crumple up whatever

executive actions that we take and we’ll toss them in the wastebasket.”

whom (71-27 percent) went for

Obama over Romney two years

ago.

Soon, Obama is expected to is-

sue an executive order removing the

threat of deportation for upward of

5 million immigrants in the U.S. il-

legally — mainly the parents of

children born in this country and

therefore U.S. citizens.

Since the U.S. Department of

Homeland Security has the re-

sources to deport only a few hun-

dred thousand illegal immigrants a

year (of the estimated 11 million in

the country today), the order in es-

sence would move those 5 million

to the bottom of the list of those eli-

gible for deportation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry

Reid and some other Democrats say

Obama’s promised executive action

on immigration should wait until

Congress passes a funding bill,

which would avert another govern-

ment shutdown.

But immigration reform advo-

cates argue otherwise, and the re-

cent midterm election may have

Immigration(Continued from Page 1) pushed Obama to move sooner

rather than later.

“Democrats no longer have to

worry that the Senate runoff in

Louisiana will tip the balance of

power,” Seung Min Kim and Car-

rie Budoff Brown write in

Politico.com.

“The West Wing assumes Re-

publicans will use immigration to

gum up the government funding bill

no matter when Obama announces

the executive actions.And the pres-

sure to move quickly only intensi-

fied this week as details of the plan

leaked, giving Republicans free rein

to bloody it.”

Signals from the voting public

on immigration are mixed.

A Pew Research Center survey

in July found 61 percent said it is

important to pass significant immi-

gration legislation this year.

‘But there is a wide partisan gap

among the public as to how immi-

gration reform should be ap-

proached,’ Pew reported. “More

than half (53 percent) of Republi-

cans said the priority should be on

better border security and stronger

law enforcement, compared with

just 19 percent of Democrats who

said the same... By contrast, 33 per-

cent of Democrats favored priori-

tizing a path to citizenship for un-

authorized immigrants, compared

with 9 percent of Republicans.”

Some 45 percent of Democrats

and 36 percent of Republicans said

both approaches should be given

equal priority, according to Pew,

which adds up to comprehensive

immigration reform — the thing

that has eluded the White House

and Congress.

“There is a very simple solution

to this perception that somehow I’m

exercising too much executive au-

thority: pass a bill I can sign on this

issue,” Obama Sunday said at a

news conference at the conclusion

of the G20 Summit in Brisbane,

Australia.

If Congress does act, Obama

said, “Metaphorically, I’ll crumple

up whatever executive actions that

we take and we’ll toss them in the

wastebasket because we will now

have a law that addresses these is-

sues.”

Lt. Governor-electpicks Ryan Cherryas his Chief of Staff

Special to the

Las Vegas Tribune

Lt. Governor-elect Mark

Hutchison announced that Ryan

Cherry will serve as his Chief of

Staff and lead Hutchison’s tran-

sition into the Office of Lt. Gov-

ernor. Cherry currently serves as

senior staff on Hutchison’s cam-

paign.

Cherry’s previous experience

includes six years with Dean

Heller in his congressional, cam-

paign, and senatorial offices in

which he handled outreach

throughout Northern Nevada.

“Ryan has been a trusted

leader and advisor with my cam-

paign. He understands and shares

my vision for Nevada and has the

talent and the experience to

implement that vision. Ryan has

detailed knowledge of issues

important to Northern Nevada

and its communities. Having him

on my team ensures that my staff

will be led by an effective and

experienced leader and that my

office will have a comprehensive

understanding of issues impor-

tant to all Nevadans. I look for-

ward to continuing our work to-

gether in the Office of Lt. Gov-

ernor,” said Lt. Governor-elect

Hutchison.

Lt. Governor-elect Mark

Hutchison announced that

Ryan Cherry will serve as his

Chief of Staff


NA Meeting ChangeThe “Just For Today” meeting

will be moving from the 51 Club

to 206 South Texas Avenue,

Henderson.

First meeting will be held on

Saturday, Dec. 6, at 6:30 p.m.

This will be a campfire meeting,

also on Sundays at 11:30 a.m.

All are welcome.

Please spread the word.

Remember we don’t use no

MATTER WHAT!

NA

not switch plans. Increases are

likely to be smaller for those who

are willing to change their plan —

but families are still unlikely to see

the $2,500 in annual savings prom-

ised when the law passed. For those

eligible to receive coverage under

Medicaid, numerous states continue

to confront lengthy backlogs in

Medicaid enrollment, forcing low-

income families to wait months for

care. In California for example, the

waiting list has dropped to approxi-

mately 170,000 applications. The

start of enrollment may again bring

pressure that causes the backlogs to

rise.

Daniel Garza, Executive Direc-

tor of The LIBRE Initiative, re-

leased the following statement:

“It’s no wonder the health care

law continues to grow more un-

popular by the day. People were

promised lower rates, more choice,

and improved care. Instead, all they

are getting are higher costs and less

DANIEL GARZA

Medicaid(Continued from Page 1)

access to doctors. And for low-in-

come families, waiting lists have

become a fact of life.

The White House needs to face

facts. As long as they continue to

pretend the law is working fine, and

continue to promise vague fixes that

never arrive, more people will grow

disillusioned with the law. Ameri-

cans deserve better. If the White

House won’t try to reform the re-

form, it is time for Congress to take

the lead.”

The other finalists under consid-

eration were Dr. Ricardo Azziz,

M.D., president of the Georgia Re-

gents University and chief execu-

tive officer of the Georgia Regents

Health System; and John Valery

White, J.D., executive vice presi-

dent and provost of UNLV.

“The objective of our search

committee was to choose the best

individual to become the next presi-

dent of UNLV,” said Regent Mark

Doubrava, chair of the ad hoc

UNLV President Search Commit-

tee. “Thanks to the hard work of our

search consultant Jerry Baker,

Chancellor Dan Klaich, the regents

on our search committee and the

incredible contributions of our ad-

UNLV(Continued from Page 1) visory committee, we were able to

accomplish that objective in recom-

mending Dr. Jessup.”

“This is a pivotal moment for

UNLV and the communities it

serves,” said Klaich. “UNLV and

the community did a remarkable job

hosting public forums to allow the

community to get to know each of

the candidates. The UNLV Presi-

dent Search Committee held a pub-

lic meeting to interview the candi-

dates and openly deliberated on

their recommendation for the

university’s next president. I believe

their selection of Dr. Jessup will be

crucial in UNLV’s ongoing drive to

become a national leader in higher

education.”

Jessup has served as the dean of

the Eller College of Management

and Halle Chair in Leadership at the

University of Arizona since May

2011. Previously, he was the dean

of the College of Business, vice

president of university develop-

ment, and foundation president of

Washington State University and

was a tenured faculty member at the

Kelley School of Business at Indi-

ana University.

Jessup holds a Ph.D. in manage-

ment and organizational behavior

from the University of Arizona; an

MBAfrom California State Univer-

sity, Chico; a B.A. in information

and communication studies from

California State University, Chico;

and an A.A. in general education

completion from the College of the

Siskiyous.

Special to the

Las Vegas Tribune

On November 12, Nevada At-

torney General-elect Adam

Laxalt named a transition team to

assist him as he prepares to take

office in January.

“I am proud to name these dis-

tinguished Nevadans to my tran-

sition team,” statedAdam Laxalt.

“These men and women possess

the collective wisdom and expe-

riences to advise me and my team

on successfully transitioning into

the Attorney General’s office.”

“Our transition team is already

hard at work assisting Adam

Laxalt in this transition,” stated

former Nevada Governor Robert

List. “Our goal is to make sure

that the transition is successful so

that Adam can begin serving all

Nevadans the day he is sworn

into office.”

Laxalt Transition Team:

Chairman: Robert List —

Former NevadaAttorney General

and Governor

Members: Patty Cafferata —

Former DistrictAttorney, Former

Nevada State Treasurer, Former

Attorney General-electAdam Laxalt names

transition team

Executive Director of the Nevada

Ethics Commission; Joshua

Hicks — Former Deputy Attor-

ney General, Former General

Counsel and Chief of Staff to

Governor Jim Gibbons; Amy

Ayoub — Member of the Na-

tional Commission to Eliminate

Child Abuse and Neglect Fatali-

ties, Former Chair for the Na-

tional Conference for Commu-

nity and Justice; Richard

Gammick — Washoe County

District Attorney, Two-time

President of the Nevada District

Attorney’s Association; Jeffrey

Barr — Former North Las Vegas

City Attorney; Ron Pierini —

Douglas County Sheriff, Chair-

man of the Nevada Peace Officer

Standard and Training Commis-

sion, Past President of Nevada

Sheriff’s and Chief’s Associa-

tion; Robert Uithoven — Politi-

cal and Public Affairs Consult-

ant, Board Member of Keystone

Corp of Nevada; Gerald Gardner

— Former Chief of Staff to Gov-

ernor Brian Sandoval, Former

Carson City Assistant District

Attorney.

General-elect Adam Laxalt

Robert List picked as Chairman

of the Laxalt Transistion Team

Senate Republicans block bill: NSAwill continue monitoring your calls

By Ken Dilanian


WASHINGTON — The Senate

on Tuesday blocked a bill to end

bulk collection of Americans’

phone records by the National Se-

curity Agency, dealing a blow to

President Barack Obama’s primary

proposal to rein in domestic surveil-

lance.

The 58-42 vote was two short of

the 60 needed to proceed with de-

bate under Senate procedural rules.

Voting was largely along party

lines, with most Democrats sup-

porting the bill and most Republi-

cans voting against it. The Repub-

lican-controlled House had previ-

ously passed its own NSA bill.

The legislation would have

ended the NSA’s collection of do-

mestic calling records, instead re-

quiring the agency to obtain a court

order each time it wanted to ana-

lyze the records in terrorism cases,

and query records held by the tele-

phone companies. In many cases

the companies store the records for

18 months.

The revelation that the spying

agency had been collecting and

storing domestic phone records

since shortly after the terrorist at-

tacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was among

the most significant by Edward

Snowden, a former agency network

In this file image made from video released by WikiLeaks on Oct. 11,

2013, former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward

Snowden speaks in Moscow.

The legislation would have ended the NSA’s collection of domestic calling

records. Its failure means there has been little in the way of policy changes

as a result of Edward Snowden’s disclosures almost 18 months ago.

administrator who turned over se-

cret NSA documents to journalists.

The agency collects only so-called

metadata — numbers called, not

names — and not the content of

conversations. But the specter of the

intelligence agency holding domes-

tic calling records was deeply dis-

quieting to many Americans.

The bill had drawn support from

technology companies and civil lib-

erties activists. Its failure means

there has been little in the way of

policy changes as a result of

Snowden’s disclosures.

Pressured to act, Obama in Janu-

ary proposed curbing the NSA’s au-

thority and the House in May

passed a bill to do so. While the

measure was pending, the NSA

continued to collect American

landline calling records, though the

program does not cover most mo-

bile phone records.

The law authorizing the bulk

(See NSA, Page 6)


From The Desk(Continued from Page 1)

tensive care unit, there was no plan

on placing a police officer to guard

my old police partner.

In reflecting this new procedure

within this police administration, it

was clear as day that police employ-

ees are pretty much on their own

these days, if something unforeseen

happens to you or your family. The

idea that Loyalty and Work Ethics

now matter not to your employer,

even to the Police Department Ad-

ministration or Union, which

proudly states that “We are all

Metro Family,” is very sad indeed.

There was a time in this com-

munity that businesses and Hotel

and Casino’s cared about their em-

ployees, that it mattered not how

low in the food chain you were in

your employment status, the Com-

pany would acknowledge your un-

expected circumstances whether it

be an accident, medical emergency,

or criminal victimization; the Com-

pany would offer some type of as-

sistance, or acknowledgment of

your situation, and some type of

help to lessen your unfortunate cir-

cumstances and speed up your re-

covery.

In years past, the police depart-

ment would essentially be the

leader in offering support, dona-

tions, and police services — such

as personally guarding the family,

or the injured officer, when they are

suddenly placed in an extremely

vulnerable position, and cannot de-

fend themselves. It may be a sur-

prise to most, but any police officer

that carries the badge and gun is

subject to unexpected attacks or

ambush by the criminal element,

without any provocation, at any

time, but especially when placed in

a vulnerable unprotected position.

In years past whenever a police

officer was suddenly injured and

hospitalized, a fully uniformed of-

ficer was placed as guard in front

of the injured officer’s hospital

room, or outside on a 24-hour ba-

sis, regardless of the time frame or

circumstances, to ensure the

family’s safety and the safety of the

injured officer.

Somehow or another this tradi-

tion and safeguard has been lost or

abandoned as we speak. I can’t

imagine that the community would

object to this practice, as the cost

would be minimal and would even

be open to voluntary police service

if need be; all that would be needed

is permission from the big boys.

It is just disgusting to me that my

partner, whom I have known for at

least 18 years, is now not deserv-

ing of a police guard on his hospi-

tal death bed, after loyally serving

this community for almost thirty

years. I personally know of hun-

dreds of hours of no-pay police ser-

vice to this community, that was

performed by the two of us that

would more than make up for one

police officer to guard his hospital

room until his remains are removed

to a final resting place.

This is yet another example of

the most corrupted police adminis-

tration that I have had the misfor-

tune of recognizing in my 39 years

of loyal law enforcement service.

This place sets the example for all

other corrupted police systems. I am

sure that discounting a trip to other

parts of the country or maybe even

to Dubai, to learn new law enforce-

ment techniques, which will never

be used, could possibly cover the

cost for a guard, for a loyal injured

police officer, whose last days are

in a hospital bed.

In addition, this type of treat-

ment by the police administration

further demoralizes the rest of the

employees of the police department

and sends a clear message that no-

body cares about anybody else, and

it is now every man or woman for

themselves. This does not make for

a congenial, compassionate, and

honorable organization that has a

fiduciary responsibility to enforce

the law equally and fairly for ev-

eryone in the community.

For all those reading my column,

let it be known, Det. Al Garris was

a fine real police officer and a fine

partner to have had for several

years, and is now due to be revered,

respected, and honored for his loyal

honorable service to this commu-

nity.

IN GOD WE TRUST

• • • • • •

Gordon Martines is a former

LVMPD detective who has served

in many capacities over his 39-year

career in law enforcement. He has

been a candidate for sheriff in 2002,

2006, 2010 and 2014, with the in-

tention of bringing integrity and ac-

countability back to the department,

and filed a federal lawsuit against

LVMPD in 2011. Martines now

contributes his opinions and ideas

to the Las Vegas Tribune to keep the

public informed and help improve

policing in Las Vegas. He has also

appeared on the Face the Tribune

radio program several times to

share his plan for a better LVMPD.

collection, a provision of the post-9/11 USA Patriot Act, will expire at the

end of 2015. That means Congress would have to pass legislation re-

authorizing the program for it to continue.

For that reason, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairman of

the Senate Intelligence Committee, abandoned her previous opposition

to the bill. “If we do not pass the bill, we will lose this program,” Feinstein

said on the Senate floor.

“This bill increases trust and confidence and credibility of our intelli-

gence system,” said Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

But Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the ranking Republican on the Intelligence

Committee, called the bill “totally flawed” and said the NSA needs the

ability to sift through domestic calling records and hold the records. “We

have under surveillance any number of Americans who are committed to

jihad,” Chambliss said.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said the bill “gutted” a program that

could successfully unravel domestic terror plots. If there is another terror

attack on U.S. soil, he said, “I promise you the first question we will be

asked is why didn’t we know about it and why didn’t we prevent it.”

One of the few Republicans to support the measure was Sen. Ted Cruz,

who said, “This legislation protects the constitutional right to privacy.”

Current and former intelligence officials disagree about whether the

phone record searching is a crucial counterterrorism tool. The U.S. has

only been able to point to a single case that came to light exclusively

through a search of domestic phone records — an Anaheim, California,

cab driver who was sentenced earlier this year to six years in prison for

sending money to Somalia’s Al Qaeda affiliate.

As it stands, officials have said, the program is not gathering most cell

phone billing records, which account for an increasing share of domestic

phone calls. Under both the House and the Senate bills, the NSA would

have been able to query those records, provided the agency can work

through the technical hurdles.

Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s

Washington Legislative Office, expressed disappointment in the Senate’s

action.

“Allowing NSA surveillance to continue unchecked does real harm to

Americans,” she said in a statement. “Constant surveillance violates the

Fourth Amendment, chills free speech, imperils freedom of the press, and

is an affront to the Constitution. Tonight the Senate voted to maintain a

status quo that undermines American technology and consumer privacy

and hampers innovation. Though this vote is a setback, it will not stop the

push for reform.”

NSA(Continued from Page 5)

By Archbishop Council Nedd II

When did big government begin taking food out of

the mouths of the homeless?

That’s happening now. The do-gooder welfare state

and the regulatory state are have gone to war with one

another, and the casualties are America’s homeless.

It’s the dark side of nanny-state liberalism.

In Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, a 90-year-old World War

II veteran could go to jail for feeding the homeless.

To control allegedly expanding homelessness, of-

ficials in that city enacted new laws last October dis-

couraging public acts of charity. For “Chef Arnold”

Abbott, who has fed the homeless on a weekly basis

for 23 years, the fact that he didn’t also provide bath-

rooms, hand-washing stations and adhere to city-pre-

scribed food handling rules imposed to make such acts

of kindness procedurally difficult means he faces mul-

tiple violations that carry $500 fines and six-month

jail terms.

According to Abbott, “One of the police officers

said, ‘drop that plate right now’ as if I were carrying a

weapon.”

Has it really come to this? A man wants to feed the

homeless as a tribute to his late wife. He also teaches

the homeless food service skills so they may someday

get off the street and transform from a taker to a maker.

But he’s essentially forced to break the law to help.

ChefArnold and the hungry of Ft. Lauderdale aren’t

the only victims of this nanny state war on the home-

less.

In 2013, city homeless shelters in New York City

began rejecting private food donations. An edict from

then-mayor Michael Bloomberg’s health officials dis-

couraged such donations because they could not be

properly vetted for salt, fat and fiber content.

Glen Richter told CBS his synagogue probably

donated tons of food to city shelters over the years

without problems, adding: “I think there is a degree of

management that becomes micromanagement, and

when you cross that line… what you’re doing is

wrong.”

In Hawaii this past September, thousands of home-

less people, particularly those in the tourist hub of

Waikiki, were banned from sitting and lying in most

places. They could relocate their tents to nearby Sand

Island, an area infamous for a Japanese-American in-

Big Government’s war onhomeless reveals real need forcompassionate conservatism

ternment camp in the 1940s that is known for a water

treatment plant today.

Responding to complaints about the presence of

homeless people from hotels and other businesses,

Hawaii’s Institute for Human Services funded over 100

one-way plane tickets to deport homeless people to the

mainland. They are also researching how to discour-

age homeless people in the continental United States

from migrating to the island paradise, as many do.

What’s up with government being so hard on the

homeless and those wanting to help them? Some of

the most liberal areas in America are now cracking

down. People there likely rage against conservatives

for allegedly not being empathetic enough about the

poor, yet it seems the big-government crowd is more

interested in its rules and regulations and perhaps the

concerns of the tourism industry than with being com-

passionate to society’s least fortunate.

Giving credence to this notion, Hoover Institution

research fellow Peter Schweizer found conservatives

to be more charitable than liberals. His book, Makers

and Takers, makes the case:

The research shows that conservatives are much

more outward-oriented and liberals tend toward look-

ing at themselves. There is a sense of entitlement on

the left. They are concerned with rights, but not re-

sponsibilities... Conservatives are much more likely to

give to charity and they are also much more likely to

donate their time to charity. This goes for all income

groups and all age groups.

Remember the campaign commercials pretending

to show Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), Mitt

Romney’s 2012 running mate, wheeling an old woman

off a cliff as an example of his disregard for the old

and poor? Remember the Occupy Wall Street protests

that said the rich and conservative don’t care about the

poor? Maybe it’s time to reconsider these claims. The

nanny state certainly isn’t doing the poor many favors

these days. Compassionate conservatism was suggested

during the Bush Administration. Maybe it’s time to

show it good faith and see what it can do.

Archbishop Council Nedd II is a founding member

of Project 21 and the chairman of In God We Trust, a

group that pushes back against efforts by atheists and

others to drive considerations of faith from govern-

ment and policymaking.

820 S. 7th Street • Las Vegas, NV 89101

For additional information

Call John at (702) 772-8082

www.RadioTribune.com

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EDITORIALSA government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. — Thomas Jefferson


It could happen to anybody,anywhere in the world

Our Point of View

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

Fallen “heroes”: The biggerthey are, the harder they fall

Elections just ended and winning judges have not even

been sworn in yet, but some of them are already politick-

ing for a higher position.

Judge Jerome Tao and Judge Susan Johnson ended a

nine-month “year” begging for money, asking residents

to help them to retain their seat in the District Court; law-

yers that liked the two of them donated money to their

campaigns, and lawyers that didn’t like them were forced

to donate to their campaigns anyway, afraid of retalia-

tion for not donating to their campaigns.

Those who like Jerome Tao— a.k.a. Jerry Tao— and

Susan Johnson donated money to their campaigns be-

cause the two judges promised them to “keep doing the

good job they have done on the bench” for the next six

years.

Those who do not like them donated money so they

would not have to suffer retaliation for the next six years

and the possibility that their clients might also suffer the

consequences.

But today, they both have forgotten their promises to

their supporters and have tossed their hats into the ring

hoping to be selected for a higher office... yes, before

they are even sworn into the position to which they were

elected just weeks ago.

What does that tell you? Are they honest with, and

loyal to, their supporters? Where will the money collected

for campaign contributions go and what will they tell

those supporters?

They will not say anything to anyone because their

arrogance is greater than their sense of responsibility to

the community, their fellow judges and to their support-

ers. They should be ashamed of the way they are behav-

ing and thinking only about themselves, as in self-pro-

motion, a better job, and more lives to destroy when they

can take the side of their fellow judges instead of revisit-

ing the case more thoroughly and being honest in their

decisions.

Hopefully those people at the Commission on Judicial

Selection who are responsible for selecting the judges to

serve in the newly created Appellate Court, will see these

judges’ behavior the same way that we and many locals

— both inside and out of the legal community— do, and

turn their “devotion” for serving the community down

and send them back to where the voters placed them.

How dare they play these games with the people that

trusted them or are afraid of their vindictive behavior!

How dare they!

Above we referred to judges that have been recently

reelected to their positions by the Clark County voters,

but there are also others that were not elected or were

booted out by the citizens of Clark County in the No-

vember 4 election. Despite that they want to force them-

selves into another government job into a higher office.

Robert E. Gaston served as Family Court Judge for

twelve years before the voters sent him home; William

B. Gonzalez served as District Court Judge in the family

division until November 4 when the Clark County voters

also sent him into retirement; Thomas G. Kurtz, a Fam-

ily Court Hearing Master, wanted to be a judge— and in

the last election period ran for that position in Family

Court, but the voters told him to stay as a Hearing Mas-

ter.

All three of them have been rejected by the voters, but

all of them have capriciously insisted on either going back

to the bench or on to become a judge; and now one more

time they put their names up for another judicial posi-

tion. How dare they do that?

For the record we have to say that Judge William

Gonzalez was endorsed by one of the Las Vegas Tribune

companies, Radio Tribune, but that does not mean that

we have to accept his decision as a good one; we place

him in the same category as all the above-mentioned

names and feel that these people need to drop their pre-

tensions and accept the decisions and the wishes of the

voters.

For those who may think that we favor one judge more

than another, we are on the record saying that District

Court Judge Abby Silver did not have any opposition in

the last race, therefore Judge Silver did not have to run in

last November’s election.

But also, we have to say that Judge Silver told the Las

Vegas Tribune a few years ago, even before the Appel-

late Court issue appeared on the ballots, that she wanted

to apply for that job.

Judge Silver has been honest with her supporters and

with the voters of Clark County. If anyone deserves the

opportunity to serve in the Appellate Court, that is Dis-

trict Court Judge Abby Silver and no one else.

Newly elected judges:How dare you!

By Perly Viasmensky

With the many cases of medical malpractice we

have seen not only in the United States, but right here

in our own Clark County, such as the Hepatitis-C scan-

dal, the many class action lawsuits filed because of

side effects of deadly drugs, which the Big Pharma

companies refused to disclose in a timely manner,

many people are often going from doctor to doctor (if

they can afford such a luxury) seeking second opin-

ions.

It’s scary, but it looks that we now need a second

opinion after being declared dead.

A 91-year-old woman in Poland who was declared

dead by her doctor woke up in a refrigerator in the

morgue 11 hours after her doctor signed the death cer-

tificate. The morgue personnel were shocked when

they saw the black plastic bag with the body inside

moving.

The doctor said, “I signed the death certificate. I

don’t understand what happened — her heart did not

beat; she did not breathe. I was convinced she was

dead.”

After reading about this old woman in Poland, I

am beginning to think that all jokes published, at the

expense of attorneys, in “Disorder in the American

Courts,” things people said in court word for word,

taken down by court reporters, are not always a joke.

Think about the following:

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autop-

sies have you performed on dead people?

WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too

much of a fight.

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral,

OK? What school did you go to?

WITNESS: Oral...

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you ex-

amined the body?

WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.

ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the

time?

WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine

sample?

WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?

And last:

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the

autopsy, did you check for a pulse?

WITNESS: No.

ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?

WITNESS: No.

A

lvmpd detective bulmer, officer...

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