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In the end, or at least near the end, the volatile, scary and sad story of Steven Brooks came to an all-too predictable conclusion. Late Tuesday evening, when a select committee voted to recommend the troubled assemblyman’s inevitable expulsion, no one was really surprised. No one who cares, that is – a very limited universe judging by those who attended the historic hearing, which was populated almost entirely by media folks. But despite the limited interest in (or is it simple exhaustion)...
  During a brief conversation this morning -- a follow-up to a 1:54 AM text -- Assemblyman Steven Brooks told me he wants Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick and Majority Leader William Horne not only barred from tonight's hearing on his fitness, but also arrested. Brooks said he is having a noon press conference at the Grant Sawyer Building in Las Vegas. Bizarrely, he said the two Assembly leaders -- Horne chairs the select committee -- are guilty of the same crime as this man. Brooks, who could be...
So the scenery-chewing Tick Segerblom, the state senator not satisfied with pot expansion and portable legislating, also is considering legalizing bets on federal (and maybe state) elections. Segerblom's bill draft, which is attached here, is specific to federal election betting. But he told Politico that he may consider betting on state elections as well. Imagine what the sports book might look like: 2014 Rep. Joe Heck - 3 (percent) vs. Erin Bilbray Rep. Mark Amodei - 15 vs. any D Rep. Dina...
  Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is funded by New York's Michael Bloomberg, begins a statewide ad campaign Tuesday designed to induce Sen. Dean Heller to soften on guns. I doubt it will work -- Heller is not up until 2018, and despite his metamorphosis on other issues, I don't see him morphing much on guns. But the group is spending a small fortune for a buy through April 6 for ads personalized for Heller that look like this. According to figures in the public FCC file, here are some of the...
UPDATED BELOW AT 6:55 PM I have long believed that lawmakers -- or the vast majority of them -- want Assemblyman Steven Brooks expelled. But because this is the first one in history, you would think they would do it right. Or at least be careful. But then I remember of whom I speak: The Gang that Couldn't Expel Straight. With the latest idilocy -- Sun Political Editor Anjeanette Damon reports that the lawmakers want to keep a 300-page independent counsel's report on Brooks private -- the...
UPDATE: I have posted Ross' reply here, too. The gist: Pound sand. You know the end of the campaign is near: Suzette LaGrange, who is challenging Las Vegas Councilman Steve Ross, has sent a cease and desist letter to him because of accusations made in a series of mailers. The letter, attached here, demands Ross stop saying LaGrange was on the board of Nevada Association of Industrial and Office Properties when it advocated for toll roads. I find this whole tempest ironic coming from Ross, who...
After eight days of early voting and mail balloting, a strikingly small number of voters are poised to decide two mayoral races and one key Las Vegas council race. If this doesn't make the case for even-numbered muni elections (still the Legislature gently sleeps), I don't know what does: ►North Las Vegas mayor: 3,462, or 4 percent Overall turnout in 2009: 12.7 percent ►Henderson mayor: 6,976 Overall turnout in 2009: 14.7 percent, or 5 percent ►Las Vegas City Council, Ward 6 (Steve Ross): 1,904...
  After Steven Brooks was taken for a mental health evaluation in January when police found him brandishing a sword at a relative's home, his colleagues began considering legislation to reform the so-called Legal 2000 process. One of the results was Assembly Bill 287, which defines how involuntary commitments would work. But the bill -- and the issue -- is not without controversy. And on Friday afternoon, Dr. Coni Kalinkowski, the medical director of Mojave Adult, Child and Family Services,...

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