J. Patrick Coolican

Story Archive

Budget crunch a campaign snare: Candidates for governor face risks by offering, withholding solutions; Friday, Feb. 26, 2010; Being broke is never fun, as Nevada’s governor and the men who would replace him can attest. Nevada’s fiscal crisis leaves few good options, forcing candidates for governor to crank up their creativity.
Time columnist says health care battle reveals how government is 'screwed up': Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010; Joe Klein has been writing about American politics for four decades, first at New York magazine, then The New Yorker and now Time. He’s pretty much seen it all, from war zones to nine presidential campaigns.
Bill Clinton touches on wealth divide, politics in Caesars Palace speech: Monday, Feb. 22, 2010; Former President Bill Clinton spoke expansively Monday night on the challenges facing America and the world from the stage of the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The 42nd president looked tired after a recent procedure to put two stents in a coronary artery.
Stimulus benefits a tough sell here, Dina Titus finding: Monday, Feb. 22, 2010; Rep. Dina Titus had a remarkable statistic on hand as she drove around Henderson, meeting with local businesses last week: Of the 20 ZIP codes with the most foreclosures in the nation, 13 of them are in her 3rd Congressional District.
Producing a safer, more reliable battery — in Henderson: Monday, Feb. 22, 2010; Some smart engineers led by a Ph.D. get together to design the next generation of batteries, which will transform everything from wheelchairs to cars to the electric grid. And, they’re doing it in Henderson.
The poll that pushed the political boundaries: Teachers are loved, and big business may have to pay; Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010; Nevadans are meek, brutalized into submission by the Great Recession and a political culture dominated by powerful interests.
One win scored: Goodman appears past his latest huff over ‘Vegas’ remark: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010; The president of the United States, who commands the mightiest Army and Navy the world has ever known and oversees two ongoing hot wars, and who is the steward of the greatest economic engine in all civilization, was forced to live with considerable anxiety these past two weeks: Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman was angry with him.
Obama presses his economic message in troubled times: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010; President Barack Obama bounded to the stage at Green Valley High School to cheers. He’s rail thin and has a grin as wide as his head. He seems to feel most at home on the road, in front of what remains of his still-adoring Obama Nation, mixing it up, speechifying and cracking wise. At a series of stops Friday in Southern Nevada, he must have felt nostalgic for the 20-plus times he came here as a candidate, when all he had to do was fire up a crowd.
Obama touts Harry Reid's efforts, says stimulus 'right thing to do': Friday, Feb. 19, 2010; President Barack Obama was in full campaign mode today at Green Valley High School, delivering a wide-ranging speech followed by a town-hall question-and-answer session that touched on health care reform, the economic recovery -- and even the importance of flossing daily.
259 days until election day, 112 days until the primary …: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010; It’s the one-year anniversary of the signing of the federal stimulus package, and everyone is trying to score off it.
Politicians face no-win situation as they tackle state budget: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010; Imagine a game in which there are no winners. Scrabble without vowels. All chutes, no ladders. That is the situation as the Nevada Legislature meets next week for a special session, made official Tuesday by Gov. Jim Gibbons’ proclamation.
Green Valley High will host Obama town hall meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010; President Obama will hold a town hall meeting Friday in Henderson.
Details on Obama's visit, the Special Session of the Apocalypse and a 20-year-old vote that won't go away: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010; Details are trickling out on President Obama’s visit to Las Vegas Thursday night and Friday. A Maloof DNC fundraiser for a cool million. A town hall Friday. And a tour of The Great Savior of Our Town — City Center.
Sen. Evan Bayh retirement gives Harry Reid one more headache; Tarkanian profiled on rural tour: Monday, Feb. 15, 2010; 260 days until election day; 113 days until primary day; eight days until the special legislative session to find a few hundred million dollars…..
This principled conservative is at odds with ‘the movement’: Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010; David Frum’s conservative credentials are unimpeachable. He wrote for the conservative journal National Review for 25 years, was a speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and even wrote a book with Richard Perle, a man known in liberal quarters as the “Prince of Darkness.”
Krolicki says he won't run for Harry Reid's Senate seat: Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010; CARSON CITY -- First term Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki says he won't run for the U.S. Senate to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Krolicki, a two-term state treasurer, said he will be seeking a second term as lieutenant governor.
Liberal base demands action from Democrats on state budget: Union leaders decry party’s response to Gibbons’ insistence on heavy cuts; Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010; Nevada Democrats, already facing a daunting electoral landscape this year, are in danger of losing their base, including organized labor.
Climate could be right for GOP's Sandoval to capture Hispanic vote: Republican Brian Sandoval could capture the attention of the Hispanic community, thanks in part to Democrats’ inability to hold that voting bloc on issues such as health care, but on immigration ...; Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010; When Republican Party leaders engaged in a vitriolic attack on then-Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, it seemed to be a final nail into the coffin of GOP outreach to Hispanic voters.
Should we be upset by Obama's latest remarks on Las Vegas?: Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010; Here we go again — time to crank up the outrage machine.
For the second time in less than a year, President Barack Obama made an offhand swipe at Las Vegas.
Dreary reality aside, optimists make case for Vegas revival: Friday, Jan. 29, 2010; Watching Southern Nevada these past 30 months or so has been like watching a sick loved one wither and worsen, or like watching a continuous loop of an Ingmar Bergman film with dry, unsalted popcorn to snack on — endlessly depressing.
The Tea Party’s (old) paranoia: Today’s fervent ideological movement has roots in post-World War II right; Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010; The federal government, under the guise of helping the mentally ill, is establishing a concentration camp in Alaska to house political opponents — a new step on the path toward totalitarianism. Dan Smoot and other historical footnotes made the allegation in 1956, and it briefly became an obsessive cause of the right-wing grass roots, with each new allegation topping the last. Perhaps this episode sounds vaguely familiar.
Krolicki eyes Senate prize: Lieutenant governor says John McCain, others prodding him to join pack seeking to unseat Reid; Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010; Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki is strongly considering a run for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Harry Reid, he told the Sun on Wednesday, a move that would shake up a crowded Republican primary.
John McCain urges Krolicki to battle for Harry Reid's Senate seat: Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010; Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki is now strongly considering a run for the U.S. Senate this year against Sen. Harry Reid, he told the Sun today. "There are serious people making compelling arguments to me both in the state and out of the state to reconsider the Harry Reid race," Krolicki said. Republicans in Washington are displeased with the current crop of candidates taking on Reid, which includes former state Sen. Sue Lowden, former UNLV basketball star Danny Tarkanian and former state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle.
Las Vegan on Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission seeks answers from fat cats: After first hearing in D.C., lawyer points to lacking regulation; Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010; The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the federal investigative body examining the causes of the 2008 financial meltdown, which led to the worst recession since the Great Depression, held its first public hearings last week, calling on the leaders of the nation’s largest financial institutions to testify. It will submit a final report to Congress in December.
Sen. John Ensign hosts forum on health reform: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010; Sen. John Ensign on Wednesday hosted a town hall forum at the Summerlin library on health care legislation being considered by Congress, using the occasion to rally opposition.
Michael Steele: Remarks hurt image of Harry Reid, Nevada: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010; Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, was in town this week and again condemned Sen. Harry Reid for racially insensitive remarks in which he claimed to believe President Barack Obama could be elected because he’s a “light-skinned” black man without A “Negro dialect” except when he wants to use it. Steele made his comments in an interview with Sun columnist Jon Ralston on his statewide interview show “Face to Face With Jon Ralston" on KVBC Channel 3, the local NBC affiliate.
Still on Reid's side: Friends — and juice for Nevada: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010; No question about it, Harry Reid has had a bad few days: A new poll showed the Senate majority leader’s favorable rating in Nevada at 33 percent, and reports emerged of some awkward comments he made coming to light in a new book — that Barack Obama was a good presidential candidate because he is a light-skinned black man who has no “Negro dialect” except when he wants to.
Unﬁnished Summerlin mall a monument to recession: Optimism takes a back seat as project managers look for answers; Monday, Jan. 11, 2010; Neil Opfer can see the recession from his window. Opfer is a professor of engineering and construction management at UNLV and lives in Summerlin, not far from the site of the once and future Shops at Summerlin Centre.
Nevadans seek relief from unrelenting economy: Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010; The unemployment rate dropped considerably in November, from 13 percent to 12.1 percent in Southern Nevada. But no one feels very optimistic about the job market. That’s because there were no new jobs. Just fewer workers looking. The real unemployment rate is likely higher than the one reported.
Report: 10 percent of Nevadans in food stamp program: Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010; A new report from local consulting firm Applied Analysis offers yet another grim assessment of the state of Southern Nevada, this time about disadvantaged people and their spiking need for social services.
Report: Sluggish economy will continue into 2010: Monday, Jan. 4, 2010; The struggling Southern Nevada economy showed no signs of recovery in the fall of 2009, according to a new report from UNLV’s Center for Economic and Business Research.
The jobless: Stories behind the statistics: Monday, Jan. 4, 2010; For many Nevadans, the year 2009, mercifully, is over. It was one of the worst years for Nevada workers since World War II. When the year began, the unemployment rate was less than 10 percent, although climbing rapidly. It fell in November to 12.3 percent from its high above 13 percent, but only because many residents left for other states or were so discouraged that they quit looking for work.
A look back at the naughts: The bubbles popped in a bungled decade; Friday, Jan. 1, 2010; As Las Vegas limps into a new decade, let us return to the now-hazy origins of our current sickness: 2005.
It would seem the entire Las Vegas Valley had been slipped a drink laced with a financial hallucinogen — a powerful narcotic that combined Ecstasy’s feelings of well-being with methamphetamine’s urge to be busy.
Even the city’s most accomplished business and political elites could not resist its influence. They were spaced out, convinced that the laws of the economic universe had been suspended, that housing prices could expand into space, that borrowing money was as holy as prayer.
Lessons from the 2000s beckon. Will we heed them?: Friday, Jan. 1, 2010; For Las Vegas, the end of the 2000s has been the equivalent of the housekeeper walking into a Strip hotel suite midmorning, cranking some Christian rock, and then Tasing the bedridden guest who is nursing a bad hangover.
The faces of the recession in Las Vegas: Monday, Dec. 28, 2009; Although the local unemployment rate decreased from 13 percent in October to 12.1 percent in November, most economists don’t think the situation has improved for workers in Southern Nevada. The decrease is because fewer people are looking for work, either because they’ve quit trying or moved away. In fact, companies are still laying off workers.
Great timing or it’s about time?: Reid’s ethics proposals come after many years of scandals; Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009; When Rory Reid proposed a series of ethics reforms last week, his timing seemed impeccable.
Just days before, Dario Herrera, a former Clark County commissioner who was convicted of accepting bribes from a strip club owner in 2006, had been released from federal custody — an event noted by the local media.
Census conﬁrms it: Our growth is done: Worn adage modified: If you aren’t building it, they won’t come; Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009; For two decades Las Vegas boosters had a quick retort to all the nattering naysayers who pointed out the city’s less-than-stellar schools, hospitals and social services: If we’re so bad, why do people keep coming here?
Census: Nevada growth rate down significantly: Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009; Nevada’s days of red-hot growth appear to be finished, at least for now.

In an early morning press release, the Census Bureau estimates Nevada was home to 2.64 million people on July 1, 2009, which is roughly 1 percent more than in July 2008.
Unemployment picture weakens: Rate dropped from October to November, but it’s not because more Southern Nevadans are working; Monday, Dec. 21, 2009; The unemployment rate in Clark County dropped from 13 percent to 12.1 percent from October to November. But the reaction, even from politicians usually willing to grab credit for a warm day in May, has been muted. So, what gives? The answer lies in the method used by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics to compute the unemployment rate.
Nevadans in the recession: Their stories: Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009; How are Nevadans coping in the recession? Here are seven stories from people the Sun interviewed at the Nevada JobConnect on Maryland Parkway.
Black job seekers face rougher road: 16.9 percent of black men 20 and older were unemployed nationally in November compared to 10 percent overall; Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009; A year ago Obnel Alphonse, who has a shy and formal bearing, was laid off after three years as a lifeguard at Circus Circus. Since then, he’s applied for at least 30 jobs — bus boy, floor maintenance, nursing. Despite a few callbacks, he’s come up empty.
Mobility bust bad for Vegas: Our economy has relied on people flocking here; Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009; Las Vegas had fewer than 50,000 people in 1950 and is now home to about 2 million souls, nearly all of them transplants, a trend accelerated during the past two decades when 1.2 million people moved here.
Cortez Masto bolsters her image to preserve her political career: Court's dismissal of case against Krolicki left her painted as partisan bully; Friday, Dec. 11, 2009; Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, one of the most popular Democrats in Nevada, took a hit Monday when District Judge Valerie Adair dismissed her high-profile prosecution of Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki. Long viewed as a bipartisan conciliator with broad support across the state, she was suddenly painted — fairly or not — as a partisan bully.
AG won't appeal ruling in Krolicki case: Cortez Masto says prosecution wasn't motivated by politics; Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009; Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced at a morning news conference that she won't pursue an appeal of the dismissal of charges against Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki. Although she said she disagreed with the judge's Monday dismissal, she said it would be difficult to overcome the ruling on appeal, adding that she is seeking to preserve scarce resources during the state's budget crisis. She reiterated that she believes Krolicki abused his authority and misused state funds for a marketing campaign to benefit himself politically without the knowledge or consent of the Legislature.
Cortez Masto’s shining star dims after Krolicki decision: Setback comes in ruling dismissing Krolicki case; Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009; Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has long been viewed as a rising star in the Nevada Democratic Party.
How the economy is failing students: Study shows parents’ financial hardships reflected on students’ report cards; Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009; The Clark County School District has always struggled with its sky-high population of poor children. The number of homeless students is expected to reach 8,000 by the end of the academic year, a 30 percent increase. And a full 44 percent of the district’s students receive free or reduced-price lunches, a commonly used indicator of childhood poverty.
"Last Call!": Two words you wouldn’t expect to hear on The Strip: Monday, Nov. 30, 2009; So it’s come to this: Things are so bad that the words “Last call!” could be heard at a bar inside a Strip hotel recently.
Metro admits to improper release of criminal history data: Experts say unauthorized access by 12 employees raises privacy, integrity concerns; Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009; At least 12 Metro employees have been found since 2005 to be improperly accessing and disseminating criminal history information for reasons unrelated to police work, according to a Metro filing in a recent lawsuit.
The pull of a drug, a push to the brink: Like many others, the lure of easy money drew Tony to the casino again and again — until he realized where his life was heading.; Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009; According to a 2002 report commissioned by the Legislature, there are some 90,000 Nevadans with gambling problems. And Tony McDew is one of them. A few lucky days at the casino got him to believe that gambling was a way to supplement his income.
Advice: 'There is no quick fix' for economy: Richard Bryan, Lobbyist for Lionel Sawyer & Collins; Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009; Richard Bryan has served Nevada as a deputy district attorney, public defender, legislator, attorney general, governor and senator.