Long-sought supermarket to make life in West Las Vegas a bit better

By Sam Skolnik (contact)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | 2 a.m.

It took determined efforts by lots of people and a willingness to believe they could succeed where others had failed.

For years, finding a supermarket willing to root itself in Ward 5 seemed about as likely as the city landing a top-flight professional sports team.

But miracles do happen.

After suffering through years of dashed hopes, Ward 5 has a grocery store coming by the end of the year, a Buy Low Market at Owens Avenue and H Street, thanks to Councilman Ricki Barlow and city redevelopment officials.

Ward 5 residents have been without a full-service supermarket since a Vons on that site closed in August 2004.

Former Councilman Lawrence Weekly and his successor, Barlow, made several unsuccessful attempts over the years to replace the Vons and to find grocery stores for other Ward 5 locations.

In late 2005 the owner of Edmond Town Center said he expected a supermarket to land at the Vons site by the following year, though nothing ever happened. And in September 2006 city officials announced they were close to an agreement with an unnamed supermarket chain for a store at Lake Mead and Martin Luther King boulevards — but the deal fell through at the last minute.

This time, agreements have been signed.

“It’s very gratifying for me because I know how hard-pressed the residents of West Las Vegas have been in not having a grocery store in their area,” Barlow said.

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Even more than most Las Vegas department chiefs, Jorge Cervantes faces two overarching issues that will affect how he’ll run his department: the region’s unceasing population growth and the recent economic downturn.

According to Cervantes, the new director of the city’s Public Works Department, at least initially he’ll be spending much time petitioning for federal grants and other money to make up for lowered revenue to his department from the gasoline tax.

The department, with 375 employees, oversees road construction, flood control efforts and wastewater treatment, among other things. The department is in the midst of about 150 projects, worth a total of about $1 billion, Cervantes said.

Although growth management is an obvious if complex and demanding issue, he said his most pressing challenge will be to raise sufficient funds. The high price of gas hasn’t helped.

“As people drive less and drive more fuel-efficient vehicles, that means reduced revenues,” Cervantes said.

Cervantes, 46, who began work for the city in 1998, succeeded Charles Kajkowski, who retired.

•••

Everyone knows gangs are bad and parents should do whatever they can to keep their kids out of them.

But just in case local parents need a little help, on Sunday, KCLV Channel 2, Las Vegas’ government access television station, began airing a 30-minute special, “Las Vegas Gangs: Not Our Kids!” hosted by local TV journalist Nancy Byrne.

The show, which will be rebroadcast several times through June 22, focuses on the gang problem in Las Vegas. Go to the city’s Web site — www.kclv.tv — for show times.

The special provides little-known details about gang life in Vegas, including that there are more than 300 gangs represented in the region. It also features an interview with a former gang member and a ride-along with the Metro Police Special Gang Unit.

And the show touches on programs that help educate teens and their parents about the realities of gang life and other efforts to reduce gang violence.