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Nevada Test Site and Contaminated Water

Featheriver — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:51:17 +0000

Contaminated groundwater

The Pahrump Valley Times has an article today about the Nevada Test Site (currently called the Nevada National Security Site aka NNSS) and a problem about contamination in Nye County.

Nye County Commission Chairman Gary Hollis reportedly has told a Nevada State senate panel that “the nuclear testing program at the Nevada Test Site has created a legacy of contamination that Nye County and its residents will have to live with for generations to come.”

Since I live in Nye County anytime I read about contamination it captures my interest.

Then I read “Hollis said we have been denied access to even test the water to determine if it even is contaminated.”

Well, shades of Erin Brockovich! Remember that true story portrayed in the movie about “Erin’s exhaustive investigation uncovered that Pacific Gas & Electric had been poisoning the small town of Hinkley’s Water for over 30 years. It was because of Erin’s unwavering tenacity that PG & E had been exposed for leaking toxic Chromium 6 into the ground water. This poison affected the health of the population of Hinkley. In 1996, as a result of the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind, spear-headed by Erin and Ed Masry, the utility giant was forced to pay out the largest toxic tort injury settlement in US history: $333 million in damages to more than 600 Hinkley residents. [See the official website of Erin Brockovich]

Hinkley is located near Barstow, California, not all that far from Nye County.

“The federal government is concerned pumping even uncontaminated water could exacerbate the spread of radioactive contaminated water off the NNSS near Pahute Mesa, Darrell Lacy, director of the Nye County Nuclear Waste Project Office told the committee.”

Our very own Nevada District 36 Assemblyman Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa Valley, introduced a letter of concern from Kathy Keyes, a homeowner in Sarcobatus Flat.

Just where is Sarcobatus Flat, you ask?

Sarcobatus Flat, Nye County, Nevada

Sarcobatus Flat is in Nye County. “Several dirt roads access the area from Highway 95, which is mostly in Nye County, Nevada, east of Death Valley, between Beatty and to north of Scotty’s Junction.”

“The Pahute Mesa range is directly behind my property. I have several concerns regarding the DOE finding contaminated water outside the NNSS in this area, first being my health I used and drank this water daily from 2004-2009 and second being my property value,” Keyes wrote.

Map showing Pahute Mesa, Nye County, Nevada

Aerial photo of Pahute Mesa, Nye County, Nevada

Goedhart says, “the federal government detonated 921 nuclear warheads underground at the NNSS from 1951 until 1992. He said the subsurface contains more than 93,000 curies of radiation.”

What’s that? Radiation? Glory be.

“A former Nye County geo-hydrologist, Tom Buqo, estimated that the underground tests polluted 1.6 trillion gallons of water, the same as the amount of water the Southern Nevada Water Authority is allowed to withdraw from the Colorado River in 16 years.”

Hollis said Nye County has been denied money to do water testing near Pahute Mesa under its independent science program to verify if the contaminants migrate farther, but the county doesn’t have the money to drill five wells 2,000 deep.

So, what’s the problem you ask?

Just think about the water contamination in Hinckley, California and compare it with water contamination in Pahute Mesa, just a few miles north of Pahrump. And, I think, it’s downhill from there to Pahrump.

Glass of water anyone?

Mortgage Fraud in Nye County?

Featheriver — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:44:01 +0000

On June 17, 2010 the Nevada branch of the Department of Justice issued a press release.

The press release was titled, “Nevada Mortgage Fraud Task Force Announces Results of “Operation Stolen Dreams” Targeting Mortgage Fraudsters .”

Today I received a forwarded e-mail which I quote in full:

From: Nye County Granny <nyecountygranny@gmail.com>
Subject: Granny Tells It Like It Is
To:
Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2010, 6:08 PM

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

I have been a resident of Nye County for close to 30 years. Never have I seen the local economy this disjointed. It doesn’t matter whether I am in Scolaris or Smith’s, everytime I go and buy a bag of groceries it is costing me more and more. For many of my friends and neighbors things are getting financially desperate, and we are all looking for some relief from our county, state and federal government.

I would like to share some information with you.

Did you know that recently our county has been visited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation? Yes, Nye County granny has learned from a few confident sources that federal agents have been visiting our county and collecting information. They have been out asking questions. And why?

On November 19, 2009 The Las Vegas Sun reported that the FBI’s Southern Nevada Mortgage Fraud Task Force had accumulated evidence in 300 cases of real estate and mortgage fraud. On June 17, 2010 newspapers and TV news reported that the FBI arrested 123 people in Southern Nevada. Those people were charged in a loss of over 246 million dollars in fraud. The 123 included 30 loan officers, 24 Real Estate Agents, 6 loan processors, 4 mortgage officers, 2 appraisers, and one builder.

The actual U.S. Dept of Justice FBI press release added 5 settlement agents to the list. Please feel free to read what the press release said at :

http://lasvegas.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/lv061710.htm

The Las Vegas Sun article said that FBI agents told them that real estate related industry personnel, after being arrested, were giving up other names like criminals do during drug related arrests and that cases were “mushrooming fast”. Fellow Nye County Residents, this was just the first planned wave of arrests. That FBI investigation (which now also includes the IRS among other agencies) has now come over the hump to Pahrump, and even north to Tonopah. Granny does not question that there will be another wave of arrests including some prominent names in Nye County, Arizona and Southern California.

So what does the arrest of these people mean to you and me? Why should you care that a bunch of criminal real estate agents, bank and loan crooks, and even a builder got busted?

What if I told you that there was a gang of real estate agents, real estate developers and mortgage industry people trying right now to take over your county government by election? Yes it is true, and it could easily happen.

Nye County granny has been close to the real estate industry all her life. I was raised in Palm Springs and during high school summers and college vacations I worked for my Aunt Sally and Uncle Harry who were both Palm Springs real estate agents. I learned much about the industry, such as how cut-throat competitive it is, and how many real estate agents work around laws and codes, and who you needed to “schmooze”.

Over the years living in various areas of Nye County I have seen the real estate industry swell here, to where now, there are simply too many real estate agents in our county. Most are good apples, in my opinion, but there are a few very rotten apples too.

This year all four of the basic county offices that you or I are likely to use have someone running against the incumbent. Every last one of them running against the current office holder is, or has been recently, a licensed real estate agent. Nye County Assessor Sandra Musselman found herself running against Shirley Matson, a real estate agent. Nye County Clerk Sam Merlino is being challenged by real estate broker Norma Jean Opatik. Nye County Recorder Byron Foster has been challenged by Deborah Beatty who also has a real estate agent license. Nye County Treasurer Gary Budahl has Michael Maher running against him. Mr. Maher was not only a former Nye County Manager but his real estate license expired 8/31/2009.

It wouldn’t be so noteworthy but these are the county offices that you and I are most likely to need services from. We are much less likely to need to address county commissioners, or the D.A. or anyone else. The assessor, clerk, recorder and treasurer are important offices and conduct much of the county business.

Earlier this year a group of people from Pahrump began publishing their own grammatically challenged “newspaper” called “Voice of the people, by the people, for the people, Shining the Light of ‘Truth‘ “. They took some issues of merit, such as how the prison location in Pahrump turned into a fiasco, and some other issues that did have a ring of truth and expanded from there. But really the “newspaper” was a forum where one could buy advertising, and the newspaper felt by it’s June 4, 2010 4^th edition issue that it could be distributed to all of us telling “we the people” how to vote in the primary. Not surprising, their newspaper endorsed a large number of real estate agents who happen to be running for office and who advertised heavily in their “newspaper”. (Granny, in all fairness, wants you to know that this endorsement list did not include Michael Maher)

In that same edition, a center page ad of some proportion was paid for by a fellow named Butch Clendenen letting us know who to vote for because they “can’t be bought” and they “have no special interest, connections or associations!”

Nye County granny laughed, because you see, I have looked at the campaign contributions of all four of these challengers running for assessor, clerk, recorder and treasurer. It’s easy to do and a matter of public record. Someone please tell Mr. Clendenen that recorder hopeful Deborah Beatty has taken contributions from Tim Hafen and Nye County Construction, an affiliate company, and a contribution from M Kent Hafen. I can tell you as a long time Nye County resident, Mr. Clendenen, that when Mr. Hafen is funding your campaign and willing to drive you in the Fall Festival Parade that you are a very well “connected” candidate. In fact every real estate agent endorsed by the Voice newspaper, or by Mr. Clendenen are all well connected politically. One is even chairperson of the Nye County Republican Central Committee. Who did the publishers of the Voice think they were fooling?

Clerk hopeful Norma Jean Opatik has endorsed paper ballots, and is thinking of new voting machines. We’d have to pay for them (NRS 293B.125). The machines we use are used throughout the state and no one from the other counties is complaining about them. And the much touted recount because Sam Merlino runs “crooked elections” just proved she isn’t. Attorney and unsuccessful candidate for D.A. Nancy Lord admitted publicly there were no problems and apologized. Much of what else Opatik promotes is already state law and routinely done by all county clerks. She’s sending up a lot of useless political flak folks.

Mr. Maher is intelligent and always polite. In granny’s opinion he is probably smarter than our current treasurer Mr. Budahl. I have no doubt he could run the office of treasurer. But on a TV program on May 20^th, 2010 on Channel 41 called “Court Reporter; Stovall & Associates“, Mr. Maher suggested that both technology and a reduction of departmental deputy staff could help solve financial problems. If The Real Estate Gang Of Four get elected, all of them will be candidates who have no experience. Untried and frankly untrained the departmental deputies left would have to train them. With the reduction of county staff recently with the buy-out, what is left of the deputies would also be needed to cross train other departments if Maher’s plan was adopted. In an article titled “Assessor ‘may lack’ staff to do reappraisals of county property” (PV Times October 6, page A 7) we learned that the loss of employees may require the state to send in appraisers to help. In this period the county does not have the time to be fooling around with training. I do not know why Mr. Maher did not get his contract as county manager extended, but granny heard a rumor of “empire builder“.

Recorder Foster has felt the ire of some, but not of all of the real estate community. He has a letter from the Nye County District Attorney’s office advising him that guidelines sent to him by the Nevada Dept of Taxation are valid and shall be followed by his office. He upholds the law. The technological changes during his time as Nye County Recorder have been remarkable. There is no reason to replace him. He does his job, and well. My late Aunt Sally the career realtor would have held a lot of respect for the man.

Granny is here to tell you that the current clerk, recorder and treasurer are competent, hard working honest people, who are not carrier politicians, but people trying to keep their jobs. You’ll notice that the FBI isn’t investigating them, it’s the real estate and mortgage industry that should be looking over their shoulders! Won’t you please send this email to a friend? God bless you, God bless America and God bless our troops, one of whom is my grandson fighting in Afghanistan.

Note: I don’t know who “Nye County Granny” is and I don’t normally post such things on this blog, but I thought this one was worthy of passing on. I don’t vouch for the accuracy of what “Granny” has written. Any credence you give to what she has written is up to you.

Let Them Eat Cake?

Featheriver — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:51:28 +0000

Republican opposition in Congress has stalled legislation that would extend much-needed benefits to unemployed workers.

There are more than 14.5 million people out of work and another 2.5 million who are discouraged and have given up looking for work, according to the Labor Department.

As we have noted before, some conservatives stunningly argue that benefits keep people from looking for work.

Nevada leads the nation in the percentage of people unemplyed at 14 percent. There are 120,000 Nevadans out of work, and that doesn’t include those who have given up looking.

Despite arguments to the contrary, this isn’t about people being spoiled or lazy. There aren’t jobs available. This is about ideology: The right-wing crowd doesn’t like government, and they are willing to let millions of Americans suffer to get their way. That is tragic.

[Source: Las Vegas Sun]

I wonder how many of those unemployed, who need this extension of unemployment benefits, are unemployed Republicans?I also wonder how those unemployed Republicans are going to vote come November?

Nye: America’s Worst Run County

Featheriver — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:42:36 +0000

Gawker calls it America’s Worst-Run County: Nye County, Nevada.

Citing the Wall Street Journal, Gawker says it has the entire sordid tale of the management case study that is Nye County.

Looks like everyone and his dog is getting their fill of Pahrump and Nye County, Nevada.

Pahrump, Nye County Makes the Wall Street Journal

Featheriver — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:36:00 +0000

Sheriff Tony DeMeo DA Bob Beckett

It isn’t every day that Pahrump and Nye County makes the Wall Street Journal. The headline in the Journal issue of July 6 heralds “High Noon in Pahrump, Nev.: Sheriff Arrests the District Attorney.” The sub headline reads “The D.A. Chooses Not to File Charges Against Himself, Investigates His Nemesis.”

The article begins “Like a scene from a Western movie, the two top lawmen here are settling their scores in public.” Forging onward the Journal reports the D.A. appointed a special prosecutor “to investigate possible abuses of power by the sheriff’s office and other public officials.” The special prosecutor filed felony charges against deputy sheriff, David Boruchowitz, for arresting Beckett.

The Journal article proceeds to explain the arrest of District Attorney Robert Beckett by Sheriff Tony DeMeo’s deputy for allegedly “misusing public funds.” Then it points out that “…the D.A., refuses to charge himself.”

“[A]fter he (Boruchowitz) was summoned to lock himself in the corrugated metal county jail, he sent out a press release with his own mug shot announcing he had been arrested. A judge later rejected the charges, contending Mr. Beckett didn’t have the power to appoint a special prosecutor. So Mr. Beckett refilled the charges himself.”

The Journal then describes Nye County as “twice the size of New Hampshire…Most of the county is so desolate that for years the military conducted atomic testing here.…Its sparse local economy includes a gold mine and a dairy farm, as well as seven brothels whose fees finance the county’s ambulance services.” Pahrump gets its mention as being 45 minutes from Las Vegas and the “local government struggled to keep up with the proliferation of houses and mini-malls strewn across the desert.”

The Journal characterizes the beef between DeMeo and Beckett this way. “Mr. DeMeo complains that his department arrests people who never get prosecuted. Mr. Beckett contends that some of the sheriff’s cases aren’t solid.”

“I’ve often said they need a mother to stop the fighting,” said Mr. Beckett’s wife, JoDee Beckett. “It’s like two little boys.”

Noting the cases against Beckett and Boruchowitz “got bogged down” because the other legal figures had some connection to the “two suspects,” the two district court judges and justice of the peace recused themselves. The Nevada Attorney General can’t get involved because one of its lawyers is running for district attorney (that would refer to Brian Kunzi.)

One defense attorney is quoted as writing in a legal filing “A review of the Internet reveals that Nye County is the laughing stock of the known universe.” The Journal also notes, “Public officials in Nye County have frequently have been accused of misconduct” citing two bribery cases, an arrest of a former county commissioner for alleged securities fraud, and attempts to recall public officials in 2009.

“Chief Deputy District Attorney Kirk Vitto said he’s concerned ‘the sideshow will take over the circus.’”

The Journal’s article has received a number of comments to its article. Michael McBride of Sydney, Australia writes “This is the U.S. legal system at its best. The legal systems across the country are in no better shape, somewhere else there would have been a back room deal and back scratching with nobody being charged.”

“Sounds more like a Dukes of Hazzard episode,” wrote Mark Holdgrafer. “Is this a Monty Python skit?” asked Denise Pace. Three hundred thirty-one (331) Facebook users expressed that they “like” the WSJ story.

TPM Muckraker refers to the matter as “an intractable boondoggle for the poor desert county where they live.” “Damn. I was hoping for an actual ten paces turn & fire duel,” wrote Acewrap to the TPM coverage. Even MSNBC gets in the coverage of Nye County.

Take Psy 101 at Great Basin College-Pahrump

Featheriver — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:43:09 +0000

Lisa Kohbarger of Pahrump writes me that:

Great Basin College in Pahrump campus needs a couple more students for the PSY 101 summer class for it to go; it’s a fast class July 6-Aug 6; this is a great way for anyone to get this pre-requisites or co-requisites done and out of the way; it’ll be here in the class room at the Pahrump campus; maybe if somebody reads it on your blog they’d sign up; we have about a 1 week and half for people to sign up for this one.. any help is appreciated–thanks so much!!!! I’m in but we need a couple more peeps thanks Jack–take care ”

“It’s the general psychology class on campus here at GBC on Calvada-main campus. PSY 101 is typically a pre-requisite for associate or bachelor degrees. anybody can call the main campus here in Pahrump at 727-2000 and ask for Jeff the advisor to get instructions on how to sign up if they cannot manage the http://www.facebook.com/l/1d0c7271LdX51uYngHMarDy3pkQ;www.gbcnv.edu website and go to Pahrump campus schedule. This is a one month course, in the classroom, not online and you receive a full three credits vs. taking it the entire semester.

Good idea. You can learn a lot by taking Psy 101. I took it years ago.

America meets Sharron Angle

Featheriver — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:58:00 +0000

Republican Sharron Angle of the Tea Party Express has now come into national politics. Americans across the nation are becoming acquainted with her and Nevada politics. She is shown here at a Tea Party rally held last March in Searchlight, Nevada, hometown of Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid.

Early Voting Turnout in Nye County

Featheriver — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:47:40 +0000

The Nevada Secretary of State reports that the early voting turnout in Nye County, Nevada is 10.14%. Nye County is running ahead of the Nevada state average of 7.45%. Clark County turnout is 7.06%. Pershing County leads the state with 15.64%. [Nevada Secretary of State]

Nye County DA arrested for embezzlement!

Featheriver — Thu, 06 May 2010 02:48:33 +0000

Nye County District Attorney, up for re-election, has been arrested and being held in jail.

News 3 has confirmed that Nye County District Attorney Robert Beckett has been arrested.
He is facing numerous charges including embezzlement and misappropriation of funds. His bail has been set at $207,500.
According to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office, Beckett operated a “bad check program” through his office.
It has been alleged that an audit revealed Beckett made numerous donations with funds collected through this program to numerous organizations throughout the community, some of which directly benefited his family members.
One donation is alleged to have been made to help a friend pay off a loan.

It appears that Beckett’s campaign for re-election as DA of Nye County is over. Even if he is ultimately found not guilty it will likely come too late to save his job. [Source: News3]

Update May 6, 2010: Las Vegas Review-Journal. Some additional information has been publicized in the Review-Journal:

Beckett, who was arrested without incident, has said the investigation was the result of political enemies.

“They don’t have their facts straight,” Beckett said Wednesday evening. “They misinterpreted the law, and then they took exceedingly inappropriate action.”

Beckett, who was arrested in a bizarre DUI incident in California more than a year ago, seeks his fifth term and is in a heated race that includes Ron Kent, his former chief civil deputy; disgraced former Clark County Family Court Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio; and Brian Kunzi, a senior deputy attorney general.

Beckett was released by midafternoon on his own recognizance. Because he is the district attorney, a special prosecutor will be named to handle the case, DeMeo said.

DeMeo denied the heated election was behind the arrest.

“This wasn’t motivated by politics,” he said.

Beckett has been charged with more than 40 counts, including 20 counts of fraudulent appropriation of property, 20 counts of misconduct of a public officer, one count of malfeasance of office and one count of embezzlement.

DeMeo said he was unsure how much money is involved because the account “was rapidly depleted” and had about $15,000 left.

“One thing that was interesting is we found evidence a car payment was made for a family friend,” DeMeo said.

“That’s not true,” Beckett said. “I never used that account to pay off anything for family or friends.”

Beckett said the funds were given to charities, but DeMeo said it doesn’t appear the money was used for “altruism.”

The bad check fund had never been audited in 13 years, Beckett said.

DeMeo was unsure whether that was accurate, but he said Nevada law spells out that such accounts must be audited by county treasurers.

Beckett reportedly had skipped several meetings requested by Nye County Treasurer Gary Budahl and Dan McArthur, the county’s independent auditor.

The bad check fund receives its money from people charged with writing bad checks. The money is supposed to be used to reimburse victims of bad checks. Bad-check writers also must pay fees on top of their reimbursements.

DeMeo said he did not know how many people were fully reimbursed.

Beckett last week said the fund was being phased out because “people aren’t writing bad checks anymore.”

He said he would call a news conference “once I sort through this mess. Until then, I can’t say anything else.”

Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal. com or 702-254-5512.

Lowden named worst person in the world by Olbermann

Featheriver — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:14:36 +0000

After nearly a month of national ridicule, Lowden’s campaign manager’s (Robert Uithoven) outrageous comments while discussing health care reform and BarterGate on Face to Face culminate with he and Lowden being named Worst Persons in the World.