Monday, July 3, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.
Las Vegas is looking for a windfall from the federal government to guarantee the preservation of the Gilcrease Orchard.
The orchard isn't in the city; it's in a pocket of unincorporated Clark County in the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley and is surrounded by city borders.
But the orchard is seen as a vital piece of the area's history. Around for more than 80 years, it remains a working orchard, where the public can pick produce such as squash and pumpkins, depending on the season.
The orchard recently sold a 36-acre chunk for development, which should provide enough money to sustain the orchard for decades but still leaves preservationists worried about the future of the remaining 58 acres.
So now, the city is asking the federal government for $40.6 million to buy the land and preserve it as an orchard.
City Council members and staff were short on details, largely because the details haven't been worked out yet. The request is one of 20 the city is making for a piece of the money distributed to local governments from the Bureau of Land Management auctions.
If the city did receive money for this purchase, officials are not sure if the orchard would even be for sale, or for how much.
Nevertheless, the idea might have some traction.
Mary Ellen Racel, president of the Gilcrease Orchard board, said she hasn't heard anything from the city. In general, the board is interested in finding a way to ensure the orchard remains as it is, she said.
Shunning the media frenzy awaiting him at another downtown park, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman brought his battle against homelessness to the small park across the street from City Hall on Friday.
In all, eight homeless people were taken - some by city marshals - to shelters, and another man was given a bus ticket to Kentucky, after speaking with the mayor and Trina Robinson from the city's Neighborhood Services Department. Two marshals and a city public information officer also accompanied them.
And while several homeless refused the offer of assistance, many there said they liked the way the mayor was reaching out.
"This is the right idea," a man who wanted to be known as Billy said. "So long as you don't go after anybody and everybody and force it. They'll reject authority because they think they're trying to stick it to them now."
Goodman has been outspoken in his comments about the homeless in the past - with statements ranging from how he has no patience for those who choose to be homeless and ruin neighborhoods or parks with their presence, to his latest calls for police to step up efforts to put those believed to have mental problems into treatment whether they want it or not.
The mayor had said he planned to be at the Huntridge neighborhood's Circle Park on Friday to be on the front lines of the city's homeless efforts. But with other media waiting for him there, the mayor instead chose to stay close to City Hall.
Goodman said he didn't want any attention for the effort, and at one point became angry when a homeless man agreed to an interview with a reporter. The mayor even suggested that he should have the reporter arrested for talking to the man.
"We're not here for this, we're here to help," he said.
After an hour and 45 minutes, Goodman and the rest of the city staff left the sweltering park, but Goodman said the city will have someone, most likely city marshals, in at least one park every day to try to help the homeless get to a shelter or other services.
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