Tuesday, March 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
MAYOR JAN LAVERTY JONES stated on a recent television show, "We must continue to keep Las Vegas a model city."
One of her constituents, Lane Lewis, has furnished us with a letter written to the mayor. The letter contained some very thought-provoking statements.
"A model city -- just what is a model city? One in which law enforcement is caught up in a sting engaging in sex acts with prostitutes? A model city where the water system is so antiquated that there was a drastic emergency for the whole area the last weekend of February. A model city where growth, not people, is the city's main concern.
"Las Vegas is not a model city if children are the victims of drive-by shootings. Las Vegas is not a model city if children and adolescents jaywalk across busy streets. Nor is it a model city if your life is in danger driving along an overpass.
"This is a model city? A city where we allow all these things to happen; where the key word is growth and the chant is 'Build, build build.' Soon we will fall off the face of the Earth because we have built so much. The quality of life is deteriorating daily. Am I, on top of everything else, paying taxes to live in this model city?
"Many people are coming here to live and not changing their auto registration. Well, I thought I would be a good citizen and call the NHP and tell them where they could ticket these out-of-state vehicles. That was over a month ago. Guess what. They still haven't done anything about it."
Lane Lewis obviously mirrors the thoughts of many Las Vegas residents who believe we should clean up our act before we can attain any semblance of what our mayor would call a model city.
Elizabeth Vann doesn't believe in waste.
Referring to an article in the SUN regarding the $100 million Device Assembly facility at the Nevada Test Site, she recommends the facility be used as a prison.
The building was designed to assemble nuclear weapons during a time when the United States was engaging in a cold war with Russia. Now, after a building cost of $100 million and annual operating costs topping $8 million, the building is empty and looking for a mission.
The building is highly secure -- an ideal setup for housing prisoners, Vann suggests.
Can you imagine anyone actually considering such a sensible idea?
"Sounds too good to be true," writes Dick Taylor.
He is referring to a lengthy communication marked "strictly confidential" and signed by a Frank Osazee of Lagos Nigeria.
Mr. Osazee is offering to deposit $38 million in an account in the U.S. The money is supposed to have resulted in "an over-invoiced bill from a contract awarded by us. Because civil servants are 'prohibited from operating or owning a foreign account' Osazee is looking for a depository for the money, 30 percent to go to the depositor for 'assistance.'"
The letter outlines just how to go about arranging for this huge sum to be deposited.
The writer warns that "discussion with regard to this transaction should be limited because we are still in service."
The chances of benefiting on a deal like this are about as good as winning a $10 million sweepstakes.
bu .
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Or, don't believe everything you read in the newspapers.
Putting my faith in the veracity of USA Today, it seems both that usually credible newspaper and I were wrong. At least that's what James Allen White, who signs himself "an historian at large," claims.
According to White, Abraham Lincoln was not embalmed in the now infamous Lincoln bed.
"He was shot at Ford's Theater. Taken to a rooming house across the street, where he died of his injuries. He was embalmed at the U.S. Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., and laid in state in the Capitol rotunda. His body was then shipped home to Illinois.
"All this information points to the fact that Lincoln was never in that bed after his death."
The USA Today story makes much more sensational reading.
Thanks for the memories, and those to come.
Through the years I've enjoyed many a moment cheering for Rebel basketball teams at UNLV. As the NBA ad goes, "I love this game."
This year was something special, however. Could be that I'm getting older and more appreciative of effort than results.
Coach Bill Bayno was able to take a group of kids with dedication and big hearts and mold them into a scrappy bunch of basketball players who never gave up. What they lacked in talent they made up in determination and will. They gave us fans something to remember and a yardstick to judge the courage of Rebels to come.
One last nagging thought -- had we been in the Big West we most likely would have earned a berth in the NCAA as Big West champions.
Our rallying cry today is all the way in the NIT.
Tom Adams reminds us that you can burn the flag, but don't tear that little tag off the mattress.
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