The Bureau of Land Management held a scoping meeting on Thursday, Feb. 4 in the city council chambers at Mesquite City Hall.
It was standing room only for the meeting, which gave the public an opportunity to discuss revisions to the BLM's Resource Management Plan.
The amount of interest in the desert and its proper management was obvious by the packed house of concerned citizens who wanted their input heard.
The initial Resource Management Plan was adopted about 10 years ago but has faced increasing demands on a number of different issues.
The BLM officially started the revision process last month with the first step being public input on relevant issues that will determine proper use of desert resources.
After completing the Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), the revised plan will replace the current Resource Management Plan.
Bob Ross, Field Manager for the Las Vegas Field Office of the BLM, started off the scoping meeting by explaining the procedures of revising the plan and said citizen input was very important to the process.  [Read full story]

The United States Air Force's Golden West Concert Band will present a free concert of standard band literature at Virgin Valley High School on Friday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
It is being sponsored by the Mesquite Arts Council.
Although the concert is free, tickets are required as there is limited seating.
They can be picked up at the Mesquite Community Theater Box Office. Hours for the box office are Thursdays and Fridays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
The concert will focus on a variety of styles, from traditional wind ensemble repertoire, patriotic music, marches and performances by soloists.
The band will be led by Major Michael Mench, Commander of the Band of the Golden West.
The United States Air Force Band of the Golden West is stationed at Travis Air Force Base in California.
As the only remaining active duty Air Force band west of the Rockies, its geographic area of responsibility includes Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho and California.  [Read full story]

The rain fell hard on round three of Saturday's Tristate Motocross Championship, causing the Mesquite Motocross track to become a track of mud.
Racers will tell you though that once you get racing in your blood, a little thing like rain isn’t going to stop you.
“When you ride motocross, you like playing in the dirt,” said Mike Chambers, a team member from Las Vegas.
The number of racers were thinned out, with the more adventurous braving the rain to score points in the six round championship.
The track was getting very treacherous after the first few races with deep grooves in the corners that claimed many riders.
Some ruts were seemingly impassable as rider after rider went down in the deep mud.
For the safety of the riders the very exciting uphill leg of the course was not used due to the potential for accidents on the downhill portion. [Read full story]

Board meets behind closed doors before making decision

While the historic firing of Mike Winters reverberated around the conference room, another high profile Virgin Valley Water District official survived on Tuesday.
Mike "Boomer" Johnson, the water district's chief hydrologist, endured a one hour closed session that began just minutes after the 3-2 vote by the water board to fire Winters on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
The packed conference room was cleared of spectators as the board declared a "closed session" for Johnson's annual performance evaluation.
The board did not use a closed session for the evaluation of Winters, and did not use a closed session to evaluate Winters or Johnson in 2008 or 2009.
The water district's attorney, Bo Bingham, explained before the conference room was cleared because "Mike Winters was in a different kind of position. Law requires it for a public meeting. Mike Johnson is a different kind of employee."
Bingham did not elaborate the distinction between the positions held by Winters and Johnson, who were both "at will" employees. [Read full story]

The Mesquite Police Department is requesting assistance from the public in identifying a man who is wanted for questioning.
Police are investigating a series of quick change scams at local casinos in Mesquite during the month of January.
Anyone with information about the individual shown in the accompanying photos, or who knows his identity, is asked to please contact Detective Celia Hoggard of the Mesquite Police Detective Division at (702) 346-8826. [Read full story]

Collection of Mesquite Casino Chips Worth Thousands

When you live in a community, it's important to know the town's history.
Usually, that involves seeking out an "old timer," someone who's lived in the town for years.
The last place you would expect to get a history lesson is from someone who moved here permanently less than a month ago.
But that's exactly the person you would want to talk to about the history of casinos in Mesquite, if that person happens to be Ronnie Whitaker.
Whittaker and his wife Debbie moved to Mesquite just after the first of the year.
However, when it comes to a discussion of casinos in Mesquite and other small towns in Nevada, Whitaker can reel off dates and names like someone who was born here.
That's because the North Carolina native has spent years researching his newly adopted hometown.
And his research materials don't involve trips to the museum or plowing through a tedious history book. [Read full story]

The curtain fell on a 16 year career Tuesday evening, as the Virgin Valley Water District voted to fire Mike Winters from his job as the district's general manager.
Winters was the first and only general manager at the district since its inception in late 1993.
He was terminated by a 3-2 vote of the board following a discussion and debate that went on for more than 90 minutes as part of the regular semi-monthly board meeting.
Winters has been under the gun for months, a situation which came to a head recently when it was disclosed that he has been the subject of a long-running investigation by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department over allegations of misconduct.
But based on the discussion Tuesday, that was only a small part of the decision to let Winters go.
Mesquite City Councilman Karl Gustaveson, a new member who was sworn in as a board member just two weeks ago, introduced a litany of issues at the water district which stretched back several years. [Read full story]

Barely two weeks after the departure of longtime board member Cecil Leavitt, the Virgin Valley Water District will tackle the difficult question of whether to retain Mike Winters as general manager.
Today's regularly scheduled meeting of the VVWD board includes a "performance evaluation" of the only general manager the water district has ever had since it was formed by an act of the Nevada legislature in 1993.
The agenda item states "possible action may include, but is not limited to, termination, suspension, demotion, reduction in pay, reprimand, promotion, endorsement, engagement, retention, salary increase, or "no action."
The item goes on to say that "the board of directors may consider character, alleged misconduct, professional competence, physical or mental health."
While the evaluation is routine, and part of the general manager's normal annual evaluation cycle which occurs around this time of year, it comes just weeks after allegations of misconduct surfaced. [Read full story]