Brian Eckhouse

Reporter/Economics/Politics

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The down payment for your new home: $0: But federal program that makes it possible will expire Oct. 1; Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008; A Green Valley home is advertised in the newspaper with 100 percent financing. It sounds suspicious, given how lenders are supposed to be demanding bigger down payments from buyers, but it’s a legitimate offer. Here's how.
No politics as local as Assembly politics: Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008; With the primaries behind them, this is the Democrats’ goal as they look to the state Assembly elections in November: To occupy at least 28 seats in the 42-seat Assembly — one more than they have now — to give them a veto-proof majority.
Almost a bridge to nowhere: Construction, architectural issues on skywalk, security project have added $7.8 MILLION; if span opens in November, it will be more than a year BEHIND SCHEDULE; Monday, Aug. 18, 2008; The long-delayed skywalk connecting the B and C concourses at McCarran International Airport is no longer a bridge to nowhere, but the public still won’t be able to use it until late November at the earliest.
State Democrats capitalizing on Reid’s party-building enterprise: Friday, Aug. 15, 2008; For Sen. Harry Reid, the day after the 2004 general election was bittersweet.
Halverson loses bid to stay on bench: Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008; Elizabeth Halverson has been tossed off the bench. Not by state judicial officers, but by voters.
Brown, Weber to battle for Maxfield's commission seat: Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008; As expected, Larry Brown and Valerie Weber will vie for the county commission seat being vacated by Chip Maxfield.
Mosley wins among 3 seeking judge seat: Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008; Donald Mosley, who faced what appeared to be one of the toughest re-election bids among district court judges, retained his bench Tuesday night. For now.
Other races: Porter, Titus set for November contest: Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008; Here's a roundup of other southern Nevada races.
Scroggins to represent Republicans in fall race for Woodbury's seat: Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008; Brian Scroggins, who is seeking a seat on the Clark County Commission, has captured the Republican nomination for District A.
Allen concedes to McArthur in Assembly District 4 race: Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008; Personal crises, including a domestic dispute, will preclude Republican Assemblywoman Francis Allen from defending her seat against Democrat Craig Ballew in the race for Assembly District 4. She has conceded the race to challenger Richard McArthur.
Ozark overcomes Beers in GOP Assembly District 21 race: Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008; Upstart beats incumbent Assemblyman Bob Beers.
Collins takes more of Adelson’s money: Democratic commissioner ignores pleas by Culinary; Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008; Tom Collins, a former Nevada Democratic chairman and current member of the Clark County Commission, has again accepted campaign money from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, his party’s nemesis.
New-fangled voting system gets a ‘NO’ from Collins: He employs pingpong paddles to protest machines’ flaws; Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008; It wasn’t exactly the image county officials envisioned when they pitched a $400,000 electronic management system to the Board of County Commissioners: Commissioner Tom Collins using pingpong paddles to register votes on agenda items, one with YES affixed, the other with NO.
Running anyway: Candidate’s very public problems haven’t kept her from campaigning; Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008; These are the obstacles facing one of the candidates running to represent part of Summerlin in the Assembly:
Buried but embarrassing news: GOP unable to host convention: Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008; Amid all the other mishaps and scandals that have sullied the Republican brand recently, the state party’s canceling of its convention may seem insignificant.
Dems launch Web site that picks on governor: Thursday, July 31, 2008; The state Democratic Party has launched a Web site asserting that Jim Gibbons is “America’s Worst Governor.”
Fickle court elevators get new steward: County opts not to renew existing agreement; Tuesday, July 29, 2008; Elevator outages at the Regional Justice Center are less frequent today than earlier this year, a trend county officials hope will continue as they segue Friday to a new maintenance company that will manage the lifts.
Candidate turns investigator on rivals: Lou Toomin doesn’t get much against GOP rivals for right to oppose Dina Titus; Monday, July 28, 2008; All the suspense in the race to replace outgoing State Senator Dina Titus was supposed to be limited to the three-person Democratic field.
Augustine name resonates but for wrong reasons: Little-known daughter of slain state controller runs for Assembly; Monday, July 28, 2008; There was a time in Dallas Augustine’s life when she showed little interest in her mother’s doings.
Man must walk before he flies: Or take a shuttle bus as McCarran economy parking lot gives way to construction; Wednesday, July 16, 2008; Construction of McCarran International Airport's Terminal 3 has reduced the number of parking spots at the airport’s economy lot from 4,100 to 3,000. And the parking situation could worsen by early September.
Fire from their own party isn’t friendly: Two in Assembly face rivals in GOP primary — in one case, three; Monday, July 14, 2008; Name recognition, party support and a fundraising edge typically make the return trip to Carson City a smooth one for incumbent lawmakers. But the road to reelection could be bumpy for two Assembly Republicans, Francis Allen and Bob Beers.
Candidate is a proud Republican — but he mentions it only if asked: Monday, July 7, 2008; We’re walking down the street with Sean Fellows to see how many doors he can knock on, campaigning for the state Assembly, without mentioning he’s a Republican.
How your D.C. servants are spending their holiday: Friday, July 4, 2008; Congress took the week off for the July Fourth holiday.
Assembly races pivotal: Wednesday, July 2, 2008; Among the state’s 42 Assembly districts, elections in three of the most contentious have drawn candidates with little name recognition.
When a gallon of gas is not exactly a gallon: Class-action suit says we’re getting cheated when high temperatures expand the fuel; Monday, June 30, 2008; A gallon of gasoline isn’t quite a gallon of gas in the summer, and that has Southern Nevadans in a court battle to get motorists more for their money.
HOAs have recourse in lien times: Friday, June 27, 2008; Homeowners associations trying to force owners of foreclosed homes to comply with neighborhood rules have at least one safeguard: liens.
Vegas courts a magnet for reality TV: City’s sleazy reputation, ‘CSI’ factor draw studios to courthouse; Wednesday, June 18, 2008; Televising stories about how crime doesn’t pay in Vegas apparently does pay off for the community.
District Court misstates clerk errors, chilling relations: County clerk: Attorney deposit cards in right place after all; Tuesday, June 10, 2008; Relations between the office of the county clerk and District Court have been chilly, stemming from the court’s January 2007 takeover of a mismanaged trust fund. Now, they’ve turned arctic over details released by the court for a story on the fund reported by the Sun in mid-May.
Who dropped the ball?: After homes are foreclosed, it’s lenders, title companies, HOAs; Monday, June 9, 2008; Banks and other mortgage lenders are turning out to be lousy neighbors. Foreclosed homes featuring brown lawns and fetid swimming pools litter the Las Vegas Valley because the lenders that hold title have failed to keep the properties up.
Support hinges on healing: Clinton backers likely to swing if Obama reaches out; Thursday, June 5, 2008; With Sen. Hillary Clinton expected to concede this week, her campaign advisers in Nevada predict that most of her supporters will ultimately help Barack Obama carry the state.
That runs counter to sentiment expressed by many Clinton supporters at last month’s Democratic convention, however.
Mortgage fraud worse in nearby states: FBI finds mortgage-related crimes jump 31% nationwide; Nevada ‘significantly affected’; Monday, May 26, 2008; Nevada might be among the worst-hit states for housing foreclosures, but if it’s any consolation, other states are suffering more from mortgage fraud.
Why stores still sprout in valley: Strip economics, public backing are developers’ boon, conventiongoers told; Thursday, May 22, 2008; With today’s credit crunch, even the most appealing new development projects require substantial pre-leasing, according to real estate financing advisers who attended this week’s International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Foreclosure fallout: When landlords lose homes, tenants face short-notice moves, loss of deposits; Tuesday, May 20, 2008; The biggest problem for renters is that a lease provides no safeguard against being evicted during foreclosure proceedings, even if the lease stretches beyond the date of foreclosure. And for the Montgomery family that has meant being forced to move for the third time in 18 months — paying $1,000 in expenses for each relocation — through no fault of their own.
Blunders yield bonanza: Millions in interest on unreturned attorney deposits can stay in coffers; Thursday, May 15, 2008; Shoddy accounting by a government usually drains coffers. But the county’s mishandling of one particular fund for more than a decade produced a windfall of extra interest on millions of dollars.
Jurors, don’t expect any shut-eye in these courts: Friday, May 2, 2008; If you’re selected to be a juror, then are immediately told you’re an alternate, isn’t it likely you will be prone to tuning out, maybe even dozing off?
Vegas bagels just don't compare: Wednesday, April 30, 2008; Last year, 2,621 New Yorkers moved to Nevada. Clearly, they didn’t come for bagels.
Justice court still like a ‘ghost town’ after lunch: Friday, April 25, 2008; In the bustling county courthouse where the wait for an elevator can last 20 minutes, the public hallways and courtrooms on the seventh and eighth floors remain eerily quiet in the afternoons, often empty. Those floors are home to eight of the 10 Las Vegas justices of the peace.
What next? $3 million pipe fix latest courthouse woe: Emergency funding likely to be tapped for repair job that will tear up street; Thursday, April 24, 2008; The Regional Justice Center, arguably the county’s biggest boondoggle, is expected to cost taxpayers an additional $3 million-plus for emergency repairs.
Broken boilers are Justice Center’s latest malady: As arbitration continues over who pays, elevators keep breaking down; Saturday, April 19, 2008; Arbitration is under way between the county and the original contractor over which side owes the other tens of millions of dollars for a 2 1/2-year-old courthouse with mounting problems above and beyond the structural flaws that have beguiled county employees from Day One.
Lawyers may get millions more for courthouse fight: Tuesday, April 15, 2008; Is it time to consider whether the Regional Justice Center is permanently flawed? The elevators still break down regularly, and the source of a nauseating stink on the lower level remains a mystery — among other lingering problems at the courthouse.
His job is to get your debt: Don’t pay your casino marker and you could be prosecuted for a crime; Friday, April 11, 2008; The gambler in the fraying pink jacket has no emotion left. It has spilled from her, heavy black makeup smeared into the deep-set lines of her 40-something face.
It’s nearing midnight on a Wednesday, and the West Texan’s $100 blackjack chips are dwindling and her purse, which had been clenched under her arm, has run dry. She casually motions with her right hand to a Bellagio casino host for a marker, a note that looks like a small check that denotes a loan. Perhaps the walk to the ATM is too far, or her bank account is empty.
The host confers with a computer in the center of about a half-dozen tables, then walks by with a $3,000 marker that she signs quickly. She doesn’t read the fine print — which says a failure to return the money is a criminal offense.
Construction lawsuits clog judges’ calendars: Meanwhile, the source of stench at Justice Center remains unknown; Friday, April 4, 2008; At first glance the relationship seems to make sense: an explosion of new homes in the Las Vegas Valley since 2000 prompts a rise in the number of construction defects suits filed today.
Workers who can’t stand the smell in justice center get union’s attention: They say stench makes them sick, and supervisors aren’t taking them seriously enough; Monday, March 31, 2008; Sure, the idea of work may sicken some. But what if work actually made you sick and forced you to stay home to recover?
Legal eagles don't fly far from the nest: UNLV’s William S. Boyd Law School marks 10th anniversary; Wednesday, March 26, 2008; As it celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, Nevada’s only law school has earned its share of praise.
A youngster in the legal world, it nevertheless made U.S. News and World Report’s best law schools list with a tie for 100th place.
As justice’s wheels grind, frustration over failure-prone plumbing grows: Sunday, March 23, 2008; As many Southern Nevadans know, anyone who moved into a new home here in the past 10 years could have water pipes that are corroding and, in some cases, might explode. Reports of faulty Kitec fittings first surfaced at the McDonald Ranch residential development earlier this decade. The discovery raised concerns for homeowners across the Las Vegas Valley, but few could have foreseen the enormity of the problem as it stands today.
Big stink at justice center a mystery, but real enough to sicken workers: Wednesday, March 19, 2008; Something is rotten at the Regional Justice Center.
So just how much money did Desai, his clinic gain by reusing syringes and anesthesia vials?: Tuesday, March 18, 2008; For the 40,000 patients of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada who must undergo tests for infectious diseases, the issue comes down to this: Just how much was it worth to risk my health?
Feds finally on alert after other scares: Nevada leaders press for national action; Thursday, March 13, 2008; The unfolding hepatitis crisis prompted calls Wednesday by Nevada’s political leaders for a federal response. But when infectious disease outbreaks and scares have occurred elsewhere over the years, Washington has remained mostly silent.
Decoding their silence: How ‘social facilitation’ can erode the ability to distinguish between right and wrong; Thursday, March 13, 2008; The reason why employees working at the clinics that put 40,000 patients at risk of hepatitis and HIV infection didn’t blow the whistle remains a mystery. But psychology has one theory that could explain what happened at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.
State, federal agencies investigating clinic: Friday, March 7, 2008; The owners, managers and employees of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada could all face an onslaught of criminal charges — and not just from the district attorney’s office.