Brian Eckhouse

Story Archive

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.
Smell theory all wet: Thursday, March 20, 2008; So the Las Vegas Valley populace apparently includes not only plenty of amateur psychologists (see: hepatitis crisis, Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada) but also experts in identifying malodorous smells they've never actually encountered.
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?
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.
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.
New record for Las Vegas traffic fines: Friday, March 7, 2008; Despite the fact that February is the shortest month, Las Vegas Justice Court last month raked in more money in traffic fines paid online or by phone than in any previous month.
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.
Disease scare adds to glut of lawyer ads on local TV: Wednesday, March 5, 2008; As if the airwaves weren’t already saturated with commercials for personal injury lawyers, last week’s revelation of a potential hepatitis outbreak immediately prompted many of them to bombard the public with bold advertisements whose blood-red message is: You may be at risk!
Alarmist? Maybe. But it’s clear the attorneys are satisfying a colossal and possibly unprecedented need in Nevada. The crisis is expected to spur one of the largest class action lawsuits in state history, potentially comparable to the one that followed the 1980 fire that killed 87 people at the former MGM Grand, now Bally’s.
Swift justice, so long as you’re not waiting for the elevator: Notoriously unreliable lifts find a new way to frustrate; Monday, March 3, 2008; The courthouse problems generally are frequent and predictable — out-of-service elevators; lifts that stay in place because the doors can’t close; shifting weight limits.
Courtroom: Break for lunch, see ya tomorrow: Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008; Most of the justices of the peace, whose salaries range from $128,700 to $154,440, simply don’t hold court after lunch each day — a pattern courthouse officials and those who work with them acknowledge has become the norm.
Homeowners saw carrot, get delay: Sued over quality, builder of Sun City Summerlin asks for a new judge; Friday, Feb. 15, 2008; Some Sun City Summerlin residents must feel as if they keep having a carrot — a very lucrative carrot — dangled in front of them, only to have it yanked away.
Protest planned for Thursday evening on the Strip: Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008
Small victory for Sun City Summerlin residents: Builder fined for no-shows: Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008; With a smirk and a slight laugh, District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez reasoned Monday that she couldn’t quite toss Del Webb — one of the nation’s largest development companies — in jail.
Judge, then a justice? No way, four say: Friday, Feb. 8, 2008; The people most likely to be best qualified to become Nevada Supreme Court justices would be those already serving as judges in the lower courts, don’t you think?
You can’t be sure who you may find in judges’ elevator at the courthouse: Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008; The unlikely mix of inmates and judges on the same elevator probably wasn’t what architects envisioned when they conceived what increasingly appears to be a flawed plan for the Regional Justice Center.
Boggs judge had own campaign cash issue: But he scoffs at suggestion of bias, says he won’t step down; Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008; One of the charges filed against former County Commissioner Lynette Boggs is that she misused campaign funds — the same accusation previously leveled against the judge presiding over her criminal case.
NFL Network mouthpiece moving to Harrah's p.r. post: Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008
NFL commissioner called paralyzed bouncer after strip-club shooting: Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008
Woman in strip club melee sentenced to probation: Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008
A chance at a real life: Mentally ill stop cycling through jails, thanks to innovative program; Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008; Jason Blackwood's mother began reinforcing her bedroom door at night with a chair to protect her from a son whose schizophrenic symptoms exploded when the drugs — cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, among others — took hold. By 2005, he had racked up 25 arrests, mostly in domestic disputes and petty thefts to support his habit.
Halverson calls for help, ends up in a fix: Tech guy says she wanted to hack e-mails of those she was feuding with; Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008; “Halverson didn’t want a missing file,” Klassoff said. She sought the e-mails of employees she was at odds with, including those of former executive assistant Ileen Spoor, according to Dorothy Nash Holmes, an attorney working on behalf of the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, which later investigated.
Flagpole must come down: Friday, Jan. 25, 2008
Murder-for-hire plot revealed: Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008
Rush to judgment on Kucinich, debate: Short hearing led to quick decision that was roundly criticized, overturned; Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008; The loser of last week’s Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas may not have been Hillary Clinton, John Edwards or Barack Obama. It appears to be Nevada’s courts.
Nevada bounce for Romney?: Monday, Jan. 21, 2008
Coachella set to announce lineup: Monday, Jan. 21, 2008
45,000 turnout looks good to GOP, Romney: Paul supporters flood caucus sites, come up short; Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008; The campaigning absence of other Republican front-runners propelled former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to a huge victory Saturday, while upstart libertarian Ron Paul, who campaigned extensively here, appeared to have nabbed second.
Hunter drops out: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008
How important was the Republican caucus?: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008
Culinary can’t face the news: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008
Romney declared winner: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008
Democrats sit and watch: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008
Calling the winner before they count the votes: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008
Confusion at Republican caucus in Green Valley: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008
Illegal immigration foes targeting Clinton: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008
Seinfeld comes to Eli's rescue: Friday, Jan. 18, 2008
Elko the center of politics: Friday, Jan. 18, 2008
The lurking Ron Paul: Friday, Jan. 18, 2008
Romney finds his issue; it’s the economy: Friday, Jan. 18, 2008; After losing the Republican Party’s primary in New Hampshire to John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney shifted his strategy in Michigan and championed himself as a savior of lost jobs. He won.
Romney's schedule for today: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008