2023 Nevada Legislature: Winners & Losers, Part VI

(Chuck Muth) – So where were you last *knight* when the Las Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup?

Here’s where I was…

That was a Conoco gas station in Swan Valley, ID.  And what a nerve-wracking trip getting there.  Here’s what happened…

Jenna and I left Cody, WY yesterday morning and headed to Yellowstone National Park from the east.  Our best-laid plan was to see the park and exit the south entrance in time to find a motel somewhere to lay up and watch the game.

Here we are at the Lower Falls…

All was going as planned for most of the day.  But then Old Faithful wasn’t so faithful and we ended up leaving that last stop later than expected.

Then we hit road construction and a bison crossing on the way out and got delayed another hour.  At best, we were probably going to miss the first period.

But low and behold, we got a cell signal on the road seven minutes into the game and I was able to pull it up on Hulu.  However, just a couple minutes later, we lost the signal again.  Buffering, buffering…

Got it back.  By that time, we’d missed the first two goals.

Kept driving south through the Grand Tetons – spectacular, by the way – on the way to Jackson, WY.  No signal.

Picked up signal again in Jackson where we refueled and checked Expedia for a room.  The cheapest was akin to a Motel 6…for $259.  And I’m too darned cheap for that!

So we grabbed some burgers at Mickey D’s and decided to try to make it west over the Tetons in time to get a signal back and see the end of the game.

Naturally, it started raining and slowed us down.  We got a signal, Knights up. Lost the signal.  Got a signal.  Florida had scored.  Lost the signal.  Got a signal.  Over and over again.

With two minutes to go in the game, we hit Swan Valley and had a signal.

Rather than chance it, we pulled into the gas station parking lot and watched the Knights become the first major professional sports team to win a championship in Nevada.

No, I don’t consider the WNBA a major sports league.  I’m a misogynist, remember? 😊

Fortunately, we held the signal all the way through to Potatello, ID last night, so we got to see everyone hoist the trophy, do interviews, and celebrate like only Vegas can do.

So it seems wholly appropriate to start the Winners portion of this series with Amy Groves.

Amy is a longtime movement conservative in Henderson who’s run for the State Assembly a couple times.  She’s also a real estate broker who not only owns an ice cream shop/tavern (yes!) in Sturgis, SD, but has donated an office for us to use for the Pigpen Project.

Amy’s also been a season ticket holder for the Golden Knights since they arrived in Vegas and was at the game, in person, last *knight*!  I couldn’t be happier for her…or more jealous.

Go Amy, go!  Go Knights, go!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Not too many winners in Carson City this session, but I’ll start with two: State Sens. Ira Hansen and Jeff Stone.

Hansen’s a legislative veteran who delivered multiple barn-burners against the Democrats’ goofy bills on the Senate floor.  He SHOULD have been the Minority Leader this session, but I’m guessing, for whatever reason, he opted not to take the job.

All I know is this would have been a very different session had he been in charge of the negotiations for the Senate GOP caucus instead of Heidi Gansert.

Sen. Stone was serving in his first session in the Nevada Legislature, but he’s no rookie.  He served a few years in the California Legislature before escaping – as a refugee, not a missionary – to Las Vegas and winning his Senate seat last year.

Stone is a rock-solid conservative who possesses the rare quality of also thoroughly understanding both the politics and process of legislative sausage-making.  He’s the rock upon which the conservative movement in the Senate can be built and grow in southern Nevada next year.

Alright, gotta run.  It’s a chilly, windy and overcast day here in Pocatello.

We’re now headed to Boise for a business meeting before working our way south to Carson City where, I hope, Jenna and I will catch the outdoor “Beatles” concert in Minden Friday night, before joining Adam Laxalt at his Basque Fry in Gardnerville on Saturday.

Final list of winners in the next and final edition of this Muth’s Truths series.  Don’t touch that dial!

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault was named winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy on Tuesday night, awarded to the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal, 6/14/23

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com.  You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com.  His views are his own.