News

Coburn’s sorry, sort of

Speaking at a New York City Young Republican Club event, Oklahoma Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn said, “There’s no comity with Harry Reid. I think he’s an absolute asshole.”

The comment was reported by the New York Daily News. Some subsequent news reports said Coburn would seek a meeting with Reid, presumably to apologize. But before that could happen, Coburn elaborated on his view of Reid. “I think he’s done more damage to the Senate than any majority leader,” he said. “Seventy-five times he’s used filling the tree and filing cloture to eliminate debate, to eliminate the idea that the Senate was supposed to force consensus.” COBURN “Filling the tree” refers to a sanitychallenged practice in which a Senate parliamentarian diagrams multiple pending amendments together before any one is dealt with. The diagrams being called “amendment trees.”

Reid’s spokesperson noted that if Coburn wants to apologize, he should know the way to Reid’s office, because it will be the second such Coburn apology. Last year, Coburn told a C-SPAN interviewer that Reid is “incompetent and incapable of carrying on the tradition of the Senate.” In a later Senate speech on fiscal matters, Coburn apologized: “As an individual, he has a very difficult time, and I understand that, and … I ask his forgiveness.”

Obamacare success (except here)

While news coverage has focused on the website problems of the national health insurance program, state exchanges have gone merrily ahead enrolling consumers who find health insurance. Nationally, the state exchanges had enrolled 395,807 by Oct. 31.

Among state-run Western programs, Colorado has enrolled 19,164 and Washington has enrolled 48,995. Oregon, which has enrolled more than 56,000, has reduced its uninsured population by 10 percent.

Officials of the Nevada website, being run by the Sandoval administration, have not posted running tallies. A spokesperson said, “Nevada Health Link will report enrollment numbers on December 16, 2013 and April 1, 2014.” However, figures from state tracker Advisory.com say Nevada lags far behind other states after enrolling 1,757. It is not known why Nevada is not releasing numbers. Gov. Brian Sandoval opposes the program.

As for the states whose governors have refused to host exchanges and are having them run by the federal government, U.S. News columnist Leslie Marshall wrote, “This week, we hear Republicans say that the Affordable Care Act has failed because the website crashed. The website crashed when Twitter first launched. Has that failed?” Twitter, in fact, has become so known for crashes that Business Insider once ran an article headlined “Twitter Explains Why Twitter Crashes All The Time.”

The Nevada website encountered some early problems, but glitches have been reduced substantially. Kaiser Health News has reported that “it takes less than 20 seconds to start shopping for a health plan on the Nevada, Colorado and Connecticut exchanges where you can get a list of plans and prices by entering your zip code, age and annual income.” But other Western states appear to have done a better job of missionary work in areas populated by the working poor than Nevada. Cover Oregon sent notices to hundreds of thousands of people, using lists of state agencies with assistance programs.

In the Las Vegas Sun, a letter to the editor from Michelle Holzman read, “I am currently on a [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996]-guaranteed plan that costs me $565 a month. If I get sick and need an urgent visit, mammogram or other OB-GYN services, I have to drive to Las Vegas from Pahrump. That’s going to change. I enrolled in a [ACA] plan that will save me more than $200 a month and provide local urgent visit and OB-GYN services in Pahrump.”

—Dennis Myers

This is a graphic produced for a Nevada/Arizona  website about Interstate 11.

Road battle

Proposed freeway fires passions

State officials are trying to route a massive Canada-to-Mexico freeway project by through Nevada to the Pacific Dennis Myers Northwest, and local officials are trying to have it routed through the Truckee Meadows. “The overall goal is [for Reno Sparks markets] to have access to Canada,” said state highway department spokesperson Scott Magruder. He said at the moment, though, most of the attention is on opening Phoenix markets to Las Vegas.

“We need another north/south connector.”

Ron Smith Sparks City Council

“These are the largest metropolitan areas west of the Mississippi that do not have a north/south interstate,” he said.

But not everyone is enamored of the project.

“I really loathe the idea of a new interstate highway through Nevada on many levels,” said Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada director Bob Fulkerson. “It’s a throwback to the ’50s when nobody gave a shit about habitat loss, migratory routes impacts, water and air pollution. Just mow over anything in the way of the highway, destroy anything else for the sake of the dollar bill. This looks like a freaking disaster in the making.”

In Arizona, where planning for the project is more advanced than in Nevada, there is considerable opposition.

“It would create new areas of population, destroying wild areas that don’t need to be developed at this point,” Sierra Club Rincon Group spokesperson Russell Lowes told a hearing in Tucson.

The Sparks City Council last month voted unanimously to support the freeway on a Truckee Meadows route. Councilmember Ron Smith said, “We need another north south connector,” and said the route would promote economic growth in the valley. Asked if he had looked at the impact on the ecology, he said he would expect the Nevada Wildlife Department and similar agencies to examine those issues.

Reno City Councilmember Jenny Brekhus suggested it is too early to commit to such a project about which so little is known, particularly because other highway projects, including a northwest connector, are more advanced in planning. She did say, however, that such a project, if completed, would relieve congestion on I-5 in California, though a Fernley-area route would be less disruptive of existing communities. And she said, “We have a big distribution industry here” in Washoe County that would benefit.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has editorialized, “Unfortunately, Nevada has made its share of work on the I-11 project a decidedly low priority. That has to change. We must invest in our freeways so tourists can get here and commerce can come through here. Economic growth will follow. … At a time when our economy needs every bit of help it can get, infrastructure that can speed travel between these major markets would no doubt provide such help.”

One southern activist said the newspaper is wrong that the state has made the project a low priority. Rather, she believes, the state has tried to keep the project low key and below the radar so the public will not become aroused as it did when the MX missile system—another project that involved huge swaths of construction across the state—was fought and defeated by residents.

It appears likely that the project, if approved, would require a gas tax hike in Clark County. If a similar levy were required in Washoe, Brekhus said, it would face rough sledding. “We’re taxed, I think, 23 cents on every gallon in Washoe County,” she said. “I would have a really hard time supporting a gas tax increase.”

Nevada highway federal programs manager Sondra Rosenberg said, “There’s no funding identified for any of this.”

Fulkerson directed attention to the fragile ecology of land between Las Vegas and Reno and north of Reno to the Oregon border.

“There are major environmental impacts when you put a small dirt road to bring a drill rig in for an exploratory project,” he said. “To

talk about doing something an order of magnitude millions of time that size in the heart of Nevada, cutting off migratory bird routes, elk and antelope routes, would be a major disruption to the ecosystem for a make-work project and some corporate welfare for construction companies that are lining up their lobbies to get this done before the public knows about it. … We can’t go on paving over land, water and wildlife habitat so a handful of people can make a heck of a lot of money.”

A website funded jointly by the Nevada and Arizona highway departments contains language that critics say has an upbeat tone that suggests the proposed interstate is not being assessed, that officialdom has already decided the freeway should be built:

“I-11 is intended to be a new high-capacity, multimodal transportation facility connecting the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Phoenix. If extended north of Las Vegas and south of Phoenix, this facility has the potential to become a major north-south transcontinental corridor through the intermountain West.” Rosenberg disputes the notion that the language means the decision has been made, though she conceded, “We do see a need for it. That’s why we’re doing the study.” Nevertheless, she said, “We are assessing.” (Italics represent her vocal emphasis.)

In April 2012, U.S. House members from Western states, including three Nevadans, signed a letter that said, “The completion of this corridor would provide total commerce connectivity between the United States, Mexico and Canada in the intermountain West, which is vital to the continued economic growth of the region. With increasing port developments in western Mexico and existing congestion on west coast transportation facilities, increased north-south capacity is a high priority and was designated as such in the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Equity Act.” The Nevada signatories were Mark Amodei, Shelley Berkley and Joe Heck. An “Interstate 11 Caucus” was formed in the House that included all Nevada House members but five of nine Arizona members.

Fulkerson said the economic benefits will be for a narrow part of the community.

“The economic growth is not going to be spread out,” he said. “It’s going to be concentrated. The sacrifice and the impact doesn’t justify the cost.” One concern of critics is “generated traffic,” also known as “induced demand,” that could add to Reno/ Sparks congestion. It’s a phenomenon discovered in the 1960s, when construction or expansion of highways led to more people driving and more traffic congestion instead of less. It’s considered a contributor to urban sprawl. The transportation and construction industries like to call it the myth of generated traffic, but traffic engineers try to anticipate its effects and plan for them. The Institute of Transportation Engineers defines it this way: “Generated traffic is the additional vehicle travel that results from a transportation improvement.” In one California study, “60 percent to 90 percent of increased road capacity [was] filled with new traffic within five years. Total vehicle travel increased 1 percent for BREKHUS every 2 percent to 3 percent increase in highway lane miles. Researchers conclude, ‘it appears that adding road capacity does little to decrease congestion because of the substantial induced traffic.’” But Rosenberg said the impact on Truckee Meadows traffic is difficult to determine, given the fact that the route may not be through the Reno/Sparks area. Fernley is also a candidate route, she said, and whether there will be more or less congestion “will depend very much on where the specific alignment is and that’s way down the road.” The I-11 issues echo some of those—commerce versus quality of life—that unfolded when planning for Interstate 80 was going on in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Businesspeople, particularly the casinos, wanted the freeway right through the center of town, alongside the railroad tracks, and most community leaders echoed them. U.S. Rep. Walter Baring led an effort that killed that “Third Street route” in an effort to move the freeway north of Reno to thenundeveloped areas, but the casinos regrouped and won approval of a “Seventh Street route” that was eventually constructed and put exit ramps near the casino district. Ω

“Thislookslikeafreaking disasterinthemaking.”

Bob Fulkerson Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada

Itʼ s happening in

ACTIVITIES

SCHEELS RUNNING CLUB

Run with expert pacers and enjoy running in a group as we join the Reno Running & Fitness Tuesday night group runs. Tu, 6:30PM through 11/26. Free. Scheels, 1200 Scheels Dr. (775) 331-2700

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

Stroll through a holiday wonderland while enjoying snacks and great in-store sales. Great for fi nding that last-minute decoration or a Secret Santa gift. Sa, 11/23, 10am-5PM and Su, 11/24, 10am-5PM. Free. Rail City Garden Center, 1720 Brierley Way (775) 355-1551

TURKEY TROT

Scheels and the Sparks Parks & Recreation Department invite you to the Scheels Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day! Register at Scheels. Th, 11/28, 8:30am, $25-$60. Scheels, 1200 Scheels Dr. (775) 331-2700

HOLIDAY CRAFT FAIR

Original, handmade art by local artisans will be for sale at the fourth annual Indie Reno Holiday Craft Fair! F, 11/29, 5-9PM and Sa, 11/30, 10AM-4PM. Sparks Heritage Museum, 814 Victorian Ave. (775) 355-1144

WOMEN’S DEFENSIVE TACTICS

Designed to build confi dence through the knowledge gained by training in such techniques as Jeet Kune Do and Judo. Tu, 7-8:30PM through 12/31, $25 a month. Osk Training, 636 Greenbrae Dr. (775) 343-2526

CONVERSATION CORNER

Washoe County Library presents a series of English language learning sessions. The group will practice speaking English around various scenarios that the average person encounters. W, 4:30-6PM. Free. Sparks Library, 1125 12th St. (775) 352-3200

PERFORMANCE AND MUSIC

FREEPORT JAZZ

W, 11/6, 6PM, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

PAUL COVARELLI

Spend a well-deserved evening out and relax in the beautiful atmosphere of the Orozko Lounge. There is no cover charge and parking is free. Th, 11/7, 5:30PM, F, 11/8, 6PM and Sa, 11/9, 6PM. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

ERIKA PAUL

Enjoy Louisiana-style food and the soulful, breathtaking jazz sounds of Erika Paul on keyboards and vocals. No cover. Th, 6PM, no cover. Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen, 1180 Scheels Dr. (775) 657-8659

MIDNIGHT RIDERS

Th, 11/7, 7PM, F, 11/8, 8PM and Sa, 11/9, 8PM, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

THE KARAOKE BAR

Wi-Fi Jukebox. Karaoke starts at 9PM on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. doors 6PM. Happy hour from 6 to. F-Su through 12/31, No cover. The Karaoke Bar, 2140 Victorian Ave. (775) 313-2772

DAVE MANNING

F, 11/8, 8PM, no cover. Great Basin Brewing Co., 846 Victorian Ave. (775) 355-7711

ANOTHER ALL-STAR EVENING OF ROCK & ROLL

The Wicked Hicks always have a surprise guest or two… F, 11/8, 9PM, no cover. Sidelines Bar & Nightclub, 1237 Baring Blvd. (775) 355-1030

COMEDIAN JOHN CAPARULO

Comedian John Caparulo’s sharp wit, unique delivery and brilliant affi nity for cuss words made him a crowd favorite right off the bat. Sa, 11/9, 9PM, $25. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

80S ROCK NIGHT WITH HOLLYWOOD TRASHE

Sa, 11/9, 9PM, no cover. Sidelines Bar & Nightclub, 1237 Baring Blvd. (775) 355-1030

COLORLESS BLUE

Colorless Blue performs live jazz for your dining pleasure. Su, 1PM through 12/2, no cover. Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen, 1180 Scheels Dr. (775) 657-8659

VETERANS DAY CONCERT

A free concert on Veterans Day featuring America’s greatest songs played by the Maytan Community Band. M, 11/11, 6:30PM. Free. Arbors Memory Care Community, 2121 E. Prater Way (775) 331-2229

JOHN DAWSON

Join the fun in the Casino Cabaret for weekly live entertainment. There is also Country in the Cabaret weekly. Th, 11/14, 7PM, F, 11/15, 8PM and Sa, 11/16, 8PM, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

BRINGING ON THE FUNK

Rythym and Blues will save your music soul. So get the funk down here and get your groove on! F, 11/15, 9PM. Sidelines Bar & Nightclub, 1237 Baring Blvd. (775) 355-1030

JJ GREY & MOFRO

The New York Times review reads, “Impassioned singing, riff-based Southern rock, cold-blooded swamp funk and sly Memphis soul.” Sa, 11/16, 9PM, $20. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

JEFF KASHIWA

W, 11/20, 6PM, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

DUO BRASILEIRO

Th, 11/21, 5:30PM, F, 11/22, 6PM and Sa, 11/23, 6PM, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 3563300

BUDDY EMMER BAND

Th, 11/21, 7PM, F, 11/22, 8PM and Sa, 11/23, 8PM, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

SCOTT ALLMAN

W, 11/27, 6PM, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

ROSENDO

Spend a well-deserved evening out and relax in the beautiful atmosphere of the Orozko Lounge. There is no cover charge and parking is free. Th, 11/28, 5:30PM, F, 11/29, 6PM and Sa, 11/30, 6PM. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

FAST LANE

Th, 11/28, 7PM, F, 11/29, 8PM and Sa, 11/30, 8PM, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

JAZZ MUSICIAN BONEY JAMES

Boney James has sold more than 3 million records and was Billboard’s No. 3 Jazz Artist of the decade in 2009. F, 11/29, 9PM, $45. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

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