• Karri Bragg, our First Friday Happy Hour hostess with the mostest, announced yesterday that May’s special VIP guest will be America’s Toughest Sheriff, Joe Arpaio. Yep, the law-and-order man behind tent cities for prisoners in Arizona, green baloney and pink underwear. For additional information, please visit www.FirstFridayNevada.com
• Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle continues to rack up significant conservative endorsements. Earlier this week she landed the backing of Gun Owners of American and the Tea Party Express. On Friday she got the seal of approval from conservative talk show host Mark Levin. Our “consistent conservative” is definitely on a roll.
• Republican state assembly candidate Scott Chappell has sent out a fundraising event invitation headlined, “Let’s Put the RINOs Out to Pasture.” A Taxpayer Protection Pledge signer, Chappell is running against incumbent Assemblyman Lynn Stewart, who chalked up one of the worst conservative voting records in the 2009 session. Chappell’s event will be held at the offices of Terra West Property Management (11135 S. Eastern, Suite 120) on Tuesday, April 27th from 5-8 pm.
• As reported by the Nevada News Bureau yesterday, Democrat Secretary of State Ross Miller gave fellow Democrat Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, a retired government worker, what amounted to a mere slap on the wrist for using campaign funds to beef up her retirement account, saying he simply wanted to close the matter without incurring additional expense to the state.
• If only Nevada’s businesses – who are constantly, unnecessarily and needlessly being harassed, hassled, investigated and regulated by pain-in-the-ass, i-dotting, t-crossing, pencil-pushing government bureaucrats – could similarly have their cases dropped in order to save the state money. But I guess Miller just thinks some people are created more equal than others.
• “The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents decided to not consider Regent Mark Alden’s proposal to reduce the salaries of university staff during its meeting” on Friday, reports Philip Moyer of the Nevada News Bureau. “Instead, the board focused on increasing student fees and cutting programs.”
• “The direction of the board is going to be the same as government: expand the government, don’t cut salaries, and raise taxes,” said Alden after his reasonable proposal was shot down with neither a vote nor even a discussion. “That’s the same thing we’re doing here: don’t reduce payroll, and increase student fees.”
• Remember this the next time you hear these sob stories about cutting higher education. The people in charge would rather screw the poor students than professors and administrators earning six-figure, taxpayer-funded salaries.
• Guy DeMarco of 8 News Now has come up with some pretty nifty ideas for new politically-related “apps” for your i-Phone. For example, he suggests The Brian Sandoval Position Tracker. “Now, it’s easier than ever to keep track of all of Brian Sandoval’s shifting positions. I’m working with probability scientists and the Weather Channel on this one.”
• Then there’s The Harry Reid Gaffe of the Day app. “This wonderful little application will keep track of everything the Senate Majority Leader says and provide you with his most embarrassing and controversial statement each day. I already have plans for an upgrade that includes a daily apology/correction from his press office.”
• But my favorite is The Ultimate John Ensign app: “This application has it all. It can provide different ways of saying, ‘I won’t resign.’ It will give you a list of Nevada companies where you can send your lover’s husband to go work. It can detect reporters and TV cameras within a one-mile radius and gives you escape routes. And, if you just need to kill some time, there is a game called ‘Pin the Tail on Doug Hampton.’ A must-have for any I-Phone owner.”
• Rusty McAllister, president of the firefighters union in Las Vegas, told the Las Vegas Sun that they were unwilling to budge on hiring additional firefighters to cut down on the outrageous amount of taxpayer-funded overtime being spent on these pampered princes because it’s not in their current contract.
• However, McAllister did say this was something that could be discussed in contract talks currently being negotiated for a new deal. “Anything is negotiable,” the union boss said. “If I’ve got something you want, we can barter.”
• Did he actually say “barter”? Someone needs to contact Phoebe Sweet over at the Nevada Democrat Party and see if we can get our hands on her chickens and goats! We might have a breakthrough here in the negotiations. Maybe Sue Lowden, a well-recognized and nationally known expert on bartering, could take some time from her U.S. Senate campaign and step in to mediate this.
• And finally, Republican state assembly candidate Ellie Lopez-Bowlan reports that two of her 4×8-foot signs were run over and destroyed on Thursday in Reno. Does anyone know where Ty Cobb was that day?
