J. Patrick Coolican

Columns

After stadium boondoggle, what's next for Henderson after Andy Hafen's re-election?: April 5, 2013; With Henderson voters -- or the 12 percent of them who bothered to turn out -- giving Mayor Andy Hafen a second term, can a marching band of 76 trombones be far behind?

The Steven Brooks saga points to much bigger problems: April 3, 2013; The unfortunate truth is that story of expelled Assemblyman Steven Brooks, sad as it is, could have been even more tragic.

Photographer documenting homeless families finds no place like Las Vegas: April 1, 2013; Craig Blankenhorn has spent most of his professional life on film and TV sets — “Sex in the City” and “The Sopranos” among them — shooting photos for the big advertising displays you see in newspapers and magazines. But now he’s also traveling the country, documenting the lives of homeless families. In Las Vegas he met Tom, Angela and little Kaleb, who is one of 1.6 million homeless kids in the United States, and he won't soon forget them.

Why the construction defect fight is likely to get nasty this session: March 21, 2013; As my colleague Anjeanette Damon reports this week, the Groundhog Day legislative battle over construction defect litigation has broken into the open, with state Sen. Michael Roberson using some legislative legerdemain to move his bill from a hostile committee to a friendly one.

Why lobbyists are confused by what one Nevada lawmaker is up to: March 19, 2013; Here’s the question everyone here at the Legislature is asking: What’s Michael Roberson’s game? The question arises because twice in just the past two weeks the Republican Senate leader has taken on powerful interests.

Why I'm bothered that the chancellor has silenced college bosses: March 15, 2013; Dan Klaich, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, has told college and university presidents to be publicly silent about their misgivings with the proposed funding formula to divide up state money for schools.

Where are the Democrats in extracting more taxes from the mining industry?: March 8, 2013; The surprise move this week by Nevada Senate Republicans to offer up a mining tax increase as an alternative to the business margins tax offered up some fascinating political theater and intriguing questions.

The tragedy of Stanley Gibson's death began days before he was shot by police: March 7, 2013; Reading accounts and watching the video of last week’s public fact-finding panel on the Metro shooting of Stanley Gibson was like watching a brutal car accident while being helpless to do anything about it.

Hey governor, please allow us 15 miles of toll-free interstate down here: Feb. 27, 2013; A free road for the north, a toll road for the south. Someone with a sharper wit than I came up with it, but the metaphor neatly encapsulates Southern Nevada’s raw deal compared with the rest of the state.

California, Nevada take opposite stances when disciplining the same doctor: Feb. 22, 2013; Dr. Sean S. Steele was able to practice medicine in both California and Nevada until last year. That’s when the California Medical Board publicly revoked his license, based on evidence and testimony from a woman who said he sexually assaulted her in the back of a Mercedes during an evening of drinking. In Nevada, however, Steele, an internist, is still licensed and maintains privileges at several Las Vegas Valley hospitals, including UMC.

Harry Reid to get in NV Energy's face during remarks to Legislature: Feb. 20, 2013; Sen. Harry Reid, who has a long history of taking on the the state’s electric monopoly NV Energy, will do so again today in his biannual speech to the Legislature in Carson City. According to sources familiar with the speech, Reid will talk broadly about diversifying Nevada’s economy and specifically press legislators to strengthen the state’s renewable energy mandate. A law known as the renewable energy portfolio sets out the percentage of energy delivered to Nevadans that must come from renewable sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric.

Of course we need more cops, and yes we have to pay for them: Feb. 17, 2013; I’m sure I’m not the only one concerned by the news that crime was up 9 percent last year in the area patrolled by Las Vegas Metro Police. Crime is still down 20 percent from five years ago, so we needn’t panic, but this should get our attention.

Las Vegas' political outsiders learn to play the inside game up in Carson City: Feb. 15, 2013; Before the Paulsens embark on their journey to influence the Nevada Legislature, David Paulsen says he needs to pick up a couple of quarts of oil for the 1994 Ford Econoline van.

If goal is recovery, why stop drug testing at welfare recipients?: Feb. 8, 2013; When Florida started drug testing its welfare applicants, a study found welfare applicants were far less likely to use drugs than the rest of the population. But ideas can be zombies, especially in Nevada.

Why is a Henderson councilman sidling up to an attorney being sued by the city?: Feb. 4, 2013; Does it seem appropriate that a Henderson City Council member is seeking the help of an attorney in raising money for his election campaign, even as the attorney is being sued by the city for his role in an alleged fraudulent proposal to build a sports complex in the city?

Blog

On this, anyway, father and son agree: Turning schools into armed fortresses a bad idea

Dec. 21, 2012 6:40 p.m.
Steve Wynn much better suited to casinos than politics

Nov. 15, 2012 2 a.m.
Republicans nationally can learn from Nevada GOP … at least in some respects

Nov. 8, 2012 2 a.m.

All blog entries »

J. Patrick Coolican was born in Connecticut to a large, Irish Catholic family and then studied dead white male authors at the University of Notre Dame. He started his career during the 2000 presidential campaign, writing for a Web site he created with two friends. He's written for The Seattle Times, The Nation, LA Weekly and, since early 2006, for the Sun.