Scott Dickensheets

Fiddlers provide a spirited soundtrack for the times: Friday, January 28, 2011; By Scott Dickensheets; Here’s something I learned the other night: When 15 fiddlers, four guitarists and one fella on the upright base swing into “Pig Ankle Rag,” it’s hard to think about what a mess we’re all in.

Housing crisis rife with perverse ironies: Wednesday, January 26, 2011; By Scott Dickensheets; Of the acre-feet of response I got to Friday’s column — about the moral calculation of whether to continue paying the mortgage on my overleveraged house, or walk away — none was more startling than this: I might be making the problem worse.

Imagine the state of the state two years down the road: Monday, January 24, 2011; By Scott Dickensheets; Dear fellow Nevadans, legislative colleagues, trusted lobbyists and out-of-work educators: I stand before you, here in 2013, after my first two years as governor of this great state of Nevada, having not (pause for applause) raised (pause for applause) taxes (enjoy the applause).

To walk or not to walk: Underwater homeowners face moral dilemma: Friday, January 21, 2011; Scott Dickensheets:; By Scott Dickensheets; Mine is a nice house. Big enough for a family and all of its furniture and clothing and toys and books and papers and dogs and more books and miscellaneous junk and even a cat.

In search of common ground on education spending: Wednesday, January 19, 2011; Scott Dickensheets:; By Scott Dickensheets; The comments under this paper’s story last week about the governor calling for teachers to accept a pay cut — while sometimes grammatically and syntactically challenging — were gratifying in their way.

Reading a lot into ranking: Friday, January 14, 2011; Coming in at 52 of 75 cities leaves room for Las Vegans to improve – but then, they may not want to; By Scott Dickensheets; So, Las Vegas checks in at No. 52 on a new ranking of the nation’s 75 most literate cities. Are you surprised that we placed so high — and feel free to treat this as an essay question — or a little peevish at being dissed? (Or simply relieved that we beat Bakersfield, No. 73?)

Outlooks run hot, cold at a day at the job fair: Wednesday, January 12, 2011; By Scott Dickensheets; Overheard at a gaming-industry job fair, one woman asking another: “What kind of position are you looking for?” “Pretty much anything.”

At gas pump, grocery store, inspectors improve our lives beyond measure: Monday, January 10, 2011; By Scott Dickensheets; When you buy a gallon of gas, how do you know it’s a gallon? That pound of tangelos you measured at the grocery store — you sure the scale didn’t cheat you an ounce?

Porn, pixels, poise converge in Las Vegas: Friday, January 7, 2011; CES, Adult Expo, Miss America Pageant in city at same time show how very American we are; By Scott Dickensheets; This is a big week for desire, even by Las Vegas standards, which is saying something. Here, you can satisfy your appetites any old day of any old week — in a poker room, at a table in Joel Robuchon, in the shops at Cosmopolitan, with a limo ride to Pahrump. Since the state legalized gambing, OK’d prostitution and hired its first showgirl, desire has been what we do.

Start 2011 with a good deed: Wednesday, January 5, 2011; By Scott Dickensheets; It’s been a few years since he was in the spotlight, but you remember Charles Bock, right? Once a local — his family has owned pawnshops here for many years — his novel “Beautiful Children,” about lost kids in Las Vegas, was published in 2008 to solid reviews (it was a New York Times notable book), brisk sales and an effusion of media attention. It’s solidly in the Vegas canon now.

Brian Sandoval fits right in at Jones Vargas law firm: Monday, January 3, 2011; By Scott Dickensheets; “Ahh, you can smell the anointment,” I murmured as I entered the offices of Jones Vargas for a media gathering called last week by Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval.

Dear next year: You’ve got a tough act to follow: Friday, December 24, 2010; Scott Dickensheets:; By Scott Dickensheets; Dear 2011: I know what you’re thinking: I sure hope 2010 left a little cheddar for me. After all, this year pretty much wrung everything out of Nevada and Las Vegas.

On fixing schools, please be practical: Wednesday, December 22, 2010; By Scott Dickensheets; Last week I quacked a bit about education funding, after a minion of Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval warned education leaders to brace for deeper-than-expected cuts. That, I wrote, is shortsighted and self-defeating.

There’s a (good) reason woman works nine jobs: Monday, December 20, 2010; Scott Dickensheets:; By Scott Dickensheets; It’s so tempting to focus on Las Vegas’ larger, dismal narratives.

Neon Boneyard OK with photos — within limits: Friday, December 17, 2010; By Scott Dickensheets; In honor of Time’s man of the year — Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg — let’s break down today’s column into Facebook-style likes and unlikes. It’s the least I can do for the man who made it easy for all the people who never talked to me in high school to friend me now.