Tony Cook

Story Archive

Corruption tips flow in, Metro steps up: Sunday, May 20, 2007; Metro Police have quietly taken on a series of public corruption cases in the past 18 months, devoting unprecedented resources to rooting out malfeasance in Southern Nevada.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Saturday, May 19, 2007; When Clark County commissioners discussed Republic Services' proposed surcharge this week, the signs did not look good for ratepayers.
Trash rehash: Give us money: Tuesday, May 15, 2007; Republic Services has asked Clark County officials for a garbage collection rate increase to help pay for its closure of Sunrise Landfill, even though it received a 15-year contract extension worth hundreds of millions of dollars for agreeing to do just that.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Monday, May 14, 2007; Clark County Commissioners Rory Reid, Bruce Woodbury and Chip Maxfield almost always vote together, even on controversial issues.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Monday, May 7, 2007; After a six-week break, a clash of titans resumed last Tuesday when Clark County commissioners again considered which of three companies deserve a shot at a multimillion-dollar airport concession contract.
UMC service could take brunt of cuts to fix budget: Monday, May 7, 2007; As University Medical Center's budget goes on the operating table, Clark County officials are considering amputation.
Questions, questions, questions commissioner's style ruffles ': Wednesday, May 2, 2007; Newly elected Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani ruffled feathers right from the start when she voted in January against giving a pay boost to Randy Walker, the powerful aviation director.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Monday, April 23, 2007; Freshman Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani raised eyebrows when she suggested during a recent meeting that the county planning commission be eliminated.
Clark County sees a battle in its future over fortune teller and a license: Saturday, April 21, 2007; When the Founding Fathers included freedom of speech in the First Amendment, they probably weren't thinking about Las Vegas fortune teller Debbie Marks.
Aide failed to disclose extra income: Thursday, April 12, 2007; The assistant to former Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates broke county policy by not disclosing that she received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign money from her boss, county officials have confirmed.
Which medicine to give UMC?: Wednesday, April 11, 2007; As Clark County commissioners discuss University Medical Center's future during a workshop today, lawmakers in Carson City are discussing what kind of state intervention is appropriate at the troubled public hospital.
Atkinson Gates scrutiny grows: Saturday, April 7, 2007; On three occasions in 2005 and 2006, then-Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates voted to award a total of $408,081 to a controversial HIV prevention organization.
Atkinson Gates campaign paid son six figures: Sunday, April 1, 2007; Though nothing is certain in politics, Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates' 2004 re election was as close to a lock as it comes.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Saturday, March 31, 2007; Commissioner Tom Collins doesn't want Clark County employees living in places such as Pahrump or Bullhead City, Ariz.
Hospitalist firm says it's on pace for UMC: Friday, March 9, 2007; The out-of-state company hired to provide physicians at University Medical Center says it will be able to step in on schedule - in part by hiring doctors from the University of Nevada School of Medicine, whose proposal to do the job had been rejected by the county.
More questions raised about county's oversight of UMC: Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007; When Clark County commissioners awarded a controversial $5 million University Medical Center cardiology contract to Nevada Heart and Vascular, they were not aware of the group's involvement in an alleged Medicare fraud scheme.
Marriage of convenience: Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007; When Rory Reid told his father, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, that he would be chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in Nevada, the elder Reid felt a minor political headache coming on.
Bad news mounts at public hospital: Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007; Lacy Thomas is gone, but he still is casting a shadow at University Medical Center, which announced Tuesday losses of $29 million in the first half of fiscal 2007 - twice the budgeted loss for the entire year.
Incompetence may be main reason for UMC's woes: Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007; Incompetence may be the primary reason that Clark County commissioners will reexamine a controversial cardiology contract at University Medical Center.
Police probe puts some UMC contracts at risk: Friday, Jan. 26, 2007; Clark County commissioners are expected to be asked to consider canceling several University Medical Center contracts targeted by a police investigation.
Race enters dialogue over UMC's Thomas: Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007; In the days since University Medical Center Chief Executive Lacy Thomas was fired for consistently misrepresenting the extent of the hospital's deepening financial losses, race has played a prominent - and sometimes uncomfortable - role in the public dialogue over his ouster.
UMC's contracts under scrutiny: Friday, Jan. 19, 2007; The University Medical Center contracts that police suspect were favors for former hospital Chief Executive Lacy Thomas' friends and fraternity brothers from Chicago are not the only ones that have generated controversy.
Atkinson Gates tells why she kept quiet: Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007; Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates suspected some of her former colleagues were engaging in corrupt activities long before news of the FBI's G-Sting investigation broke, but didn't go to authorities because she didn't feel it was her business.
Lack of openness with county was Thomas' undoing: Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007; Here is a lesson in how not to handle a financial crisis: conceal, spin, mislead, get fired.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Monday, Jan. 15, 2007; The state cleared appraiser Timothy Morse of any wrongdoing related to the controversy over McCarran International Airport land deals, and the impact of that decision could be big.
UMC falls millions of dollars into a financial hole: Monday, Jan. 15, 2007; University Medical Center has fallen behind in paying many of the vendors who provide goods and services to the public hospital, in some cases owing millions of dollars for invoices stretching back as far as 17 months.
Proposals leave Child Haven officials uneasy: Friday, Jan. 12, 2007; With a sparkling new tile floor, shiny new cabinets and seven new bedrooms, Clark County's freshly renovated cottage at Child Haven will help ease the crowding there and allow more siblings to be housed together at the emergency shelter for abused, neglected and abandoned children.
Ceremony a sneak peek of commission's future: Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007; Like most swearing-in ceremonies, the first meeting to include newly elected Clark County Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani and Susan Brager consisted mostly of formalities - the welcome-to-the-group speeches from incumbents and the thank-you-to-my-family-and-supporters remarks from the rookies.
Local officials getting priorities sorted out: Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006; PROBLEM: Shortage of foster families, resulting in overcrowding at shelter.
Republic to refund overflow charges: Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006; Hoping to end a dispute that Las Vegas Valley property managers felt smelled as bad as the garbage it involved, the major local trash company agreed Monday to refund more than $300,000 in questionable big-container overflow charges.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006; Clark County Aviation Director Randy Walker is mum on whether he'll stay or take a private sector job even as the county prepares to offer him a salary boost to keep him in his current post.
Lowest bid not always the best: Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006; Controversy, it seems, is at times synonymous with Clark County contracts.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006; Clark County and local labor unions lost their legal feud with the sole company supplying concrete for the Hoover Dam bypass bridge project this week.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006; It's official.
Again, hospital lacks out clause: Friday, Dec. 8, 2006; Only two months after being faulted for not having an adequate termination clause in a major hospital contract, University Medical Center administrators were prepared to move ahead last month with a $1.8 million contract that also lacked such standard business deal language.
Public or private: Debate over arena financing intensifies: Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006; Imagine if Las Vegas resort developers argued that the public should pay part of their construction costs because the new business would bring jobs to the state and raise tax revenues.
County looks to increase Walker's pay: Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006; Eager to persuade Clark County Aviation Director Randy Walker to stay right where he is, county officials hope a pay raise might get him to change his mind about leaving for a private sector job.
Politics of recycling: Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006; The atmosphere more closely resembled that of a political war room than a meeting of the Southern Nevada Recycling Advisory Committee.
Crackdown on graffiti to involve businesses: Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006; The next phase in Clark County's crackdown on graffiti could ask commercial property owners to assume greater responsibility for combating the problem.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Sunday, Nov. 26, 2006; Two days before Thanksgiving, Clark County commissioners gave outgoing Aviation Director Randy Walker something to be thankful for when they awarded a $406,000 airport job to Carter & Burgess, the engineering, architecture and design firm that Walker will join early next year.
Arteries not only things clogged today: Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006; When most people think of Thanksgiving, turkey and football come to mind.
FBI drops Porter case without talking to accuser: Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006; The FBI decided not to pursue an investigation into allegations that Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., made illegal fundraising calls from his government offices without talking to the main accuser, the former Porter aide who lodged the charges said Tuesday.
LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY: Monday, Nov. 20, 2006; For at least a decade, University Medical Center has provided monthly financial reports to Clark County commissioners who oversee the hospital's operation.
NBA not a financial slam dunk for Vegas: Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006; In typical style, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman threw a frilly NBA All-Star balloting kickoff event Monday at the Fashion Show mall.
Airport contractor lands McCarran chief: Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006; Airport boss Randy Walker's new job will likely keep him involved with the airport he has managed for nine years, working for a company that has received contracts at McCarran International Airport and that already is expected to bid on a new airport planned in the Ivanpah Valley.
Those who crossed labor were voted out of office: Friday, Nov. 10, 2006; In the Culinary Union's headquarters just north of the Strip, there is a room with a placard saying "War Room" next to the door.
Democrats wonder what might have been: Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006; After surprisingly strong - but ultimately unsuccessful - performances in Nevada's traditionally Republican congressional districts, Democratic leaders awoke today plagued by Wednesday morning political quarterbacking thoughts of what might have been.
Voters miss out on useful information: Sunday, Nov. 5, 2006; If voters in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District want to learn the truth about Rep. Jon Porter and his Democratic opponent, Tessa Hafen, probably the best thing they can do is turn off their televisions - and ignore the political fliers stuffing their mailboxes.
Lies, lies and more lies: Sunday, Nov. 5, 2006; Given the choice to tout their own credentials or bash their opponents, candidates in Nevada have made a clear decision this year: Go negative.
Democrats' TV ad capitalizes on allegations against Gibbons: Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2006; In a tough new television advertisement, the Nevada Democratic Party seeks to capitalize on the controversy over Rep. Jim Gibbons' alleged assault of a woman by saying that "Nevada is waiting for answers" to "lingering questions" about the incident.