J. Patrick Coolican

Story Archive

The jail shouldn't be our community's largest psychiatric facility: Wednesday, March 7, 2012; Between 25 and 30 percent of inmates at the Clark County Detention Center are prescribed psychiatric medication. The largest psychiatric facility in Clark County? The jail.
Coolican optimistic about Vegas' future — or at least as optimistic as he ever is: Tuesday, March 6, 2012; We think of the Great Depression era as a time of hunger and darkness, when economic activity stopped and our grandparents learned to stuff money in the mattress. The reality is far more complex.
DA's decision not to prosecute Henderson officer will erode confidence in police: Monday, March 5, 2012; New Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson was met with an early test when confronted with whether to prosecute Sgt. Brett Seekatz, the Henderson police officer seen on video kicking a man in the head while he’s restrained.
Firefighters' newfound health has me feeling a little sick: Friday, March 2, 2012; I’m sure I’m not alone in thanking the good Lord that Clark County firefighters have experienced a miraculous wave of good health. Not long ago, our firehouses were sicker than your average kindergarten class. Sicker than Ferris Bueller.
What to learn from Las Vegas' many mistakes: Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012; "We can either use our hard times to set up the next period of growth and prosperity, or sit around waiting for the good ol’ days to return."
HOA infighting an all-too-familiar Las Vegas experience: Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012; At the Casablanca Homeowners Association, a 55-and-older condo community in central Las Vegas, residents are in open combat, with nasty allegations being hurled at the board president.
Proposed water rate hike still gives some an almost-free lunch: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012; The Southern Nevada Water Authority announced last month that it would raise water rates because its financial model — a perpetual stream of new residents paying to build water infrastructure — has collapsed with the end of growth.
Veterans suicide rate: The war at home: Friday, Feb. 24, 2012; We know that suicide is a terrible problem in Nevada, with a rate 50 percent higher than the national average. Among military veterans and especially young veterans, however, it’s a crisis, according to new data from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.
College program might go away, and with it help for people, economy: Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012; There are 122 job openings for occupational therapists in Southern Nevada, and another 78 openings for occupational therapy assistants. People trained in the field help the disabled or people undergoing physical or cognitive changes become active and independent.
The trippy high school reunion of the celebrity impersonator convention: Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012; Sun columnist J. Patrick Coolican spends some time with Robert De Niro, Pee-wee Herman and more.
Was life really better when the Mob ruled Las Vegas?: Monday, Feb. 20, 2012; Things were better when the Mob ran this town. We hear this often enough to make it almost a cliché, and with last week’s opening of the Mob Museum, er, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, it seems like an argument worth examining.
Henderson police chief's retirement adds final scandal ingredient: Money: Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012; The city of Henderson has done its darndest over the past week to erode the already depleted stores of public trust in government.
Deconstructing the good old days on display at the Mob Museum: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012; Sun columnist J. Patrick Coolican examines the "things were better when the Mob ran this town" argument.
Las Vegas’ image may discourage professional women from taking up residence: Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012; Las Vegas hosted the Lingerie Bowl during Super Bowl weekend, naturally. Following last year’s Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas Stiletto Dash, we have cemented our place as the premier city for athletic contests involving women who are scantily clad and/or in heels.
Coolican: Henderson officials out of loop on police brutality case, raising red flags: Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012; Henderson City Councilwoman Gerri Schroder only learned Monday that a Henderson Police officer was caught on tape kicking a restrained man in the head five times during a botched traffic stop in October 2010 that wound up costing the city $257,000.
Creativity, strong support system make for thriving city: Preview Las Vegas 2012 speakers offer hope, suggestions for improvement; Friday, Feb. 10, 2012; I’m generally skeptical of and resistant to pom-pom boosterism. So at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Preview Las Vegas 2012 on Thursday, I snickered some at the optimism and good cheer.
Are less-than-progressive portrayals of women preventing young professional women from moving here?: Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012; Sun columnist J. Patrick Coolican detects an old-boys club in town.
Our success may hinge on embracing a bohemian philosophy: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012; Richard Florida, author of “The Rise of the Creative Class,” argues that if cities are to be prosperous, they must embrace the “three Ts”: talent, technology and tolerance. He adds a seductive twist: To capture these three Ts, we must also embrace bohemianism.
Degradation of the Republican Party on display in Las Vegas: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012; It was a fitting closing chapter in the Republican presidential nominating contest, which has had all the gravitas of Mardi Gras. Donald Trump, the nation’s charlatan-in-chief, endorsed likely nominee Mitt Romney on Thursday in his fabulously classy, super glamorous, totally loathsome building near the Las Vegas Strip.
Who is Mitt Romney? Despite rising support, his flip-flopping still nags: Republican candidate's conflicting positions on key issues have kept voters from fully embracing him; Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012; This week the website BuzzFeed posted a video titled, “A Mitt Romney Vs. Mitt Romney Debate.” Until he joined BuzzFeed, Andrew Kaczynski was a YouTube hound with a knack for finding obscure and devastating videos of politicians contradicting themselves. This Romney bit doesn’t disappoint.
Is the key to Las Vegas' future bohemianism?: Richard Florida brings his three Ts to Preview 2012; Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012; "To have a cubicle army, Florida might say, we must have Foster the People for their earbuds."
Dissecting one of Ron Paul's dangerous ideas: Why anti-Fed message of libertarian congressman — on the stump in Southern Nevada — is flawed; Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012; Reaction to Rep. Ron Paul usually veers from mild amusement at the crotchety uncle or respect for his consistency. Sure, he wants to do away with Medicare and Social Security, but hey, he hates all the wars and would legalize pot, so go Ron Paul.
Experiencing hunger in Las Vegas: $3.39 a day buys little food, lots of lessons: Monday, Jan. 30, 2012; Try eating on $3.39 a day. Some Las Vegans learned last week that it’s doable but difficult. Luckily for them it was just a one-week experiment, whereas for hundreds of thousands of our neighbors, it’s an ongoing challenge.
UPS CEO Scott Davis talks Obama, economy and compromise: Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012; I talked to D. Scott Davis, CEO of UPS, for a few minutes after President Barack Obama’s appearance at a local UPS facility today, and his comments were insightful because he seems like a perfect representation of the average voter.
This is not a double entendre: J. Patrick Coolican takes his first trip to the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo; Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012; A guy is taking a photo of a kink woman in latex who is in turn taking photos of lifelike polymer sex dolls, also in latex.
Shrewd, smaller Vegas resorts show that innovating, renovating can do wonders: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012; When I look at the hand-painted psychedelia of the piano; the ornate, custom-made pool table; and shoe fetish art in the lobby of the Royal House, I feel a little hopeful, which hasn’t been a very common emotion these past few years.
Your next landlord in Las Vegas could be a hedge fund: Big-time investors testing the water in the land of underwater homes; Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012; Hedge funds could be the next big player in the Las Vegas real estate market. And I’m not talking about apartment complexes or commercial property. I’m talking single-family homes.
Addiction to growth has left water authority in financial straits: Monday, Jan. 23, 2012; Breaking news! There is no free lunch! OK, this is actually not news to most of you. But that’s the take-away from the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s troubled finances and need to raise water rates to pay its significant obligations.
Should Vegas housing go back to the drawing board?: Architect laments shoddy planning for area homes, anticipates eventual need to start all over again; Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012; I’m standing with architect Eric Strain outside a home perched on a hillside in Summerlin. The sun is setting behind us, the salmon-colored sky now bleeding into indigo darkness. We are looking east toward the Strip, its lights just beginning to shimmer.
With megaresort construction on hold, it’s time for Vegas to spruce up what it already has: Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012; Although construction of large resorts is on hold, numerous properties are in the middle of big renovation projects.
18 rounds in 5 seconds: How Glock became 'America's gun': Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012; We’re at Desert Hills Shooting Club near Boulder City, and Paul Barrett steps up with a Glock 17. He fires the 9 mm semi-automatic pistol 18 times in about five seconds and hits the target every time. In that five seconds, he demonstrates why the Glock is beloved by gun enthusiasts and police officers alike. It’s fast, reliable and offers a lot of stopping power, with three times the number of rounds as the old police favorite, the Smith & Wesson .38 revolver.
Valley residents talk of struggle out of Jim Crow South: Monday, Jan. 16, 2012; This is what life was like for Dorothy Stepp and her family in Louisiana in 1957. Her father was a pipe-fitter, and her mother worked in the kitchen of a cafe — she wasn’t allowed to be out with the white customers. Dorothy and her 19 siblings picked cotton and worked as maids for white families. “We shared beds. We shared clothes. We shared everything,” she said.
So many questions linger after priest who stole to gamble is sent to prison: Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012; My heart went out to the parishioners of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton outside a federal courtroom Friday. They were there to support Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe, who was sentenced to 37 months in prison for stealing $650,000 from church funds to feed a gambling addiction.
In search of the dumbest technology at CES: Memory card knives, pool-worthy computers and robots among off-the-wall finds; Friday, Jan. 13, 2012; I’m at the International Consumer Electronics Show, where one of my missions is to find the dumbest technology available. Right inside the doors, I see phones and a tablet computer submerged in an aquarium.
Looking for—and finding—dumb stuff at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012; "Finally, I can check Facebook in the pool."
Coolican: Civility alone won't win Hispanics to Sen. Dean Heller: Friday, Jan. 6, 2012; Poor Dean Heller. Our accidental U.S. senator wants Hispanics to like him, so he showed up at a Hispanics in Politics breakfast meeting this morning and flashed his usual grin. The problem of course is that he favors policies anathema to Hispanics. And to make matters worse, his Republican friends have this impulsive need to insult Hispanics.
Michael Roberson, State Senator: 12 to watch in 2012; Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012; If he can get enough Republicans elected, he could wind up majority leader.
Sun columnist Patrick Coolican sets out to prove we're a much drunker city than people think: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012; The Daily Beast ranks Las Vegas No. 14 of America's drunkest cities. Is this accurately reflective of our city?
Time for real conversation about prostitution: Monday, Jan. 2, 2012; Like much else in Las Vegas, we treat prostitution with a wink and a nod. Although our police agencies fight it with varying degrees of success, our culture is so nonchalant about it that the rest of the country thinks it’s legal here.
Hopeful predictions for a likely disappointing 2012: Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012; I have a warring nature: I’m an optimist who expects the worst to eventually happen. So here’s what I’m hopeful about this year, though I’m sure it will be terrible.
Looking forward to 2012—or not: Predictions, with caveats: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011; Sun columnist J. Patrick Coolican offers a forecast (with provisions) for 2012.
The best and worst of 2011: Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011; The Sun's columnist looks back on the stories of 2011 he'll be be happy to forget, but probably won’t, including a well-intentioned back-to-school fair in a working-class neighborhood, the ignorance of evolution of Miss USA contestants and efforts by some legislators to get credit for arming our students and professors. He'll look back with fonder memories on meeting great, selfless people who have done remarkable things, such as the Rev. Mary Bredlau, who ministers to the dead and their loved ones.
Metro sets its sights on pimps who currently get off light: Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011; Metro has changed its focus from prostitutes to pimps.
Coolican: Responding to my critics after a Marathon column: Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011; As we scream fire in the proverbial crowded theater about whether some Las Vegas Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon runners got sick from tainted water, maybe it’s time to recall the origins of the marathon.
Academy in Las Vegas stands tall in a troubled school district: Friday, Dec. 16, 2011; We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming of sadness and woe, incompetence and corruption to bring you some good news: a story of achievement and hope for our valley from Advanced Technologies Academy in Las Vegas.
Hey, Reno: Cry it out with a tire fire and a keg: Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011; I feel a bit of guilt making fun of Reno, which has recently endured an air show crash and a bad fire. But Reno gives me no choice, being so Reno and all.
Preliminary testing does not point to water as source of marathon infection: Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011; The burning question: was the water really tainted?
Scuffle at NRC has stench of industry influence behind it: Committee expresses 'concerns' about leader who's helping keep nuclear waste out of Nevada; Monday, Dec. 12, 2011; Let’s apply the usual Washington rules — nothing is what it seems and the motives of the accusers are often questionable — to a dust-up at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
From sunrise to sunset, Las Vegas goes from serene to surreal: Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011; The day begins with a somber reminder of the sacrifice of military families. The day ends 16 hours later with a reminder of how many of us use the freedom those military families secure: We execute our God-given right to be fat, drunk and stupid.
Next year's campaign season, in a nutshell: Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011; I realize you hate politics, and you have every right to. The inscrutable gibberish, the meaningless bickering. The jargon, the gridlock. The bad comb-overs. You hate it because it was stated with utmost seriousness that global warming legislation died last year because it snowed in Washington.