Columnist Jeff German: When will Las Vegas get back to normal?

Friday, March 15, 2002 | 4:55 a.m.

BEFORE SEPT. 11 Las Vegas rarely had to worry about downturns in the national economy.

No matter how tough life got in other parts of the country, Americans still found time to visit the entertainment capital of the world and unwind.

And Las Vegans were there to help them forget about their stress at home.

The booming tourism business made Las Vegas one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. Life was good.

Today, however, in the wake of Sept. 11, the tables are turned. A slumping local economy has put Las Vegans under stress. Working single mothers and fathers, and seniors on fixed incomes, are having a tough time staying afloat. So are small business owners.

Suddenly life isn't as good as it used to be six months ago, and the little guy isn't getting any breaks.

The Sept. 11 attacks forever changed the tourism industry here.

With vivid images of terrorists crashing jetliners into the World Trade Center on their minds, many Americans were afraid to fly after Sept. 11. Fewer people taking to the airways meant fewer tourists visiting our city.

Terrorism not only brought down the World Trade Center in New York, but it nearly halted tourism 3,000 miles away in Las Vegas.

And how did the bottom-line casino companies respond? They panicked. They began laying off thousands of loyal workers, many of whom still are unemployed six months later, even as the companies start to show profits again.

Then Nevada Power added more stress to the gloomy economic picture when it decided the public should pay for the millions it lost in questionable past business dealings. The company asked the state Public Utilities Commission for an outrageous $922 million rate hike.

Critics have argued that the increase does nothing but allow the arrogant fat cats at Nevada Power to continue to make bad decisions at the public's expense.

If approved, Las Vegans once more will take a financial hit, this time in their monthly power bills. They also will see a rise in the price of goods and services they purchase, as businesses pass along their soaring energy costs to consumers.

But the stress doesn't stop with greedy Nevada Power.

The crisis over medical malpractice insurance is threatening the quality of health care for Las Vegans, and eventually it will hit them in their pocketbooks, too.

Dozens of physicians, facing skyrocketing insurance rates, have told patients they may be forced to close up shop and leave town because they can't afford to pay for insurance. The city's only 24-hour trauma center came close to shutting down because of the crisis.

State and county officials last week found a temporary fix to the problem, but it left many fearing that Las Vegas no longer is a good place to get sick.

On top of everything, President Bush now wants to send 77,000 tons of the nation's high-level nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Call it the president's way of thanking the state for the four electoral votes that got him elected in 2000.

Bush apparently wants to keep tourists away from Las Vegas on a permanent basis. That's what will happen the first time there's an accident or a terrorist attack on the local highways involving a truck carrying the deadly waste. Property values along the shipping routes also are sure to take a nosedive once the radioactive stuff starts coming here.

It's true that the economy is rebounding from Sept. 11, and that Americans no longer are terrified of flying. For the time being, tourists are coming back and once more looking to Las Vegans to help them forget about their stress at home.

But when will the stress end for Las Vegans? When will the little guy get a break? When will life be good again?