Free Republic

On Tuesday morning, the braintrust of President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign gathered a select handful of reporters to make a simple case: the incumbent has a number of different paths — five, to be exact — he can follow to win the 270 electoral votes necessary to secure a second term. Since we’ve spent lots and lots of time breaking down the electoral map — and making the case that Obama is stronger than his job approval ratings indicate — we thought it might be fun to look at each of the paths laid out by his team to see...

Pay increases given to 42 Las Vegas city employees is raising some eyebrows as the cash-strapped city deals with a multimillion-dollar budget deficit. The city recently gave employees identified in a salary compensation study pay increases averaging $6,302 a year. The largest: $25,179 to an engineering program manager whose base annual salary is now $121,566. The smallest: a $2,291 increase to an office specialist, who now makes $48,108 a year. In total, $264,677 dollars in pay increases were given.

But when I learn that a cultural affairs manager at Las Vegas City Hall quietly received a nearly 20 percent raise during this recession to a new salary of $107,000, I fear my goodwill is misplaced. When I learn that four dozen other employees also received pay increases as the city demanded concessions and cut services — a total cost of $265,000 — I wonder if these people have any sense at all. And when I learn that the average salary of those who received raises was — please put down any sharp objects — $77,557 — and that the...

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. (AP) -- A man whose wife had recently died was only a few feet away from his own tombstone in a family burial plot when he pointed a loaded gun at a deputy and was fatally shot, authorities said Thursday. David Pendleton, 77, died Wednesday at the Gardnerville Cemetery after summoning police with an anonymous report of a dead body outside a white truck, police Sgt. Jim Halsey said in a statement.

President Obama’s uphill battle to re-election is getting steeper. A report released today by the centrist think-tank Third Way showed that more than 825,000 voters in eight key battleground states have fled the Democratic Party since Obama won election in 2008. “The numbers show that Democrats’ path to victory just got harder,” said Lanae Erickson, the report’s co-author. “We are seeing both an increase in independents and a decrease in Democrats and that means the coalition they have to assemble is going to rely even more on independents in 2012 than it did in 2008.” Amid frustrating partisan gridlock and...

RENO, Nevada — A woman says she was fired as a baggage handler at Nevada's Reno-Tahoe International Airport after she refused to load an emaciated hunting dog on a plane. Lynn Jones says her supervisor told her to load the dog last month because the animal's paperwork was in order and its condition wasn't her concern.

Rooftop solar panels to help Nellis AFB, NAS Fallon meet energy needs at lower costWashington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid today applauded a new residential solar project that will install more than four megawatts of solar photovoltaic panels on 1,400 housing units at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB) and Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon.  The project, known as SolarStrong, is a privately-financed nationwide venture that will build more than $1 billion in solar projects on as many as 120,000 military housing communities. The project is expected to be the largest residential photovoltaic solar project in U.S. history.  “I applaud...

Democrats in Congress have proposed a new racial profiling ban that could thwart state and local laws on immigration enforcement, such as the controversial Arizona law currently tied up in federal court, by witholding federal funding for state and local law enforcement agencies engaged in "racial profiling" and empowering the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file lawsuits against state and local governments. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and lead sponsor Ben Cardin, D-Md., are pushing the End Racial Profiling Act of 2011, which would, among other things, "withhold federal law enforcement funding if local and state governments failed to adopt effective...

CARSON CITY – A conservative Nevada think tank today filed a complaint in district court against Sen. Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, saying the separation of powers clause in the state constitution prohibits government employees from serving in the Legislature. Denis works for the state Public Utilities Commission as a computer technician. Attorney Joseph Becker with the Nevada Policy Research Institute’s Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation said his client William Pojunis is qualified to perform, and would like to apply for, Denis’ job.

A 75-year-old lawyer who fought private property rights battles alongside Idaho U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth and her Nevada rancher husband Wayne Hage in the 1990s is still cultivating the Sagebrush Rebellion's roots. Fred Kelly Grant has been slowed by age and heart surgery, but he's in demand from counties — and tea partyers who attend his $150-per-person seminars — as conservative elements in the West's continue to clash with the federal government. California's Siskiyou County is paying Grant $10,000 to help block removal of four Klamath River dams. Montana and Idaho counties have enlisted him to trim hated wolf populations...

Building First Segment Will Employ More Than 100,000 People over Next Five Years WASHINGTON - U.S.  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today awarded a $928.6 million grant to the California High-Speed Rail Authority for initial construction of California High-Speed Rail. Construction will begin next year in Fresno, creating tens of thousands of jobs in California. “California’s population will grow by 60 percent over the next 40 years,” said Secretary LaHood. “Investing in a green, job creating high-speed rail network is less expensive and more practical than paying for all of the expansions to already congested highways and airports that would be necessary to accommodate the state’s...

In yet another wake-up call for Nevada policymakers, the state ranks in the bottom half of a new Forbes magazine list of the best states for business. Nevada ranks 36th overall and came in dead last in the subcategory of “economic climate,” which measures job, income and gross state product growth. Other factors in the economic climate analysis include the unemployment rate and the number of big public and private companies headquartered in the state. That said, Nevada ranked No. 2 on a separate Forbes list projecting employment gains, which is good news in a state enduring 13.4 percent unemployment...

Waitresses at the Heart Attack Grill dress in nurse uniforms to serve up artery-clogging fare, including the Quadruple Bypass Burger seen here You can't say you haven't been warned if you order up a gut busting 8,000-calorie burger meal at the Heart Attack Grill. If the name of the restaurant isn't enough to make your arteries quiver, the Quadruple Bypass Burger should be all the clues you'll need. It contains four half-pound beef patties, cheese and bacon and comes with a milkshake containing the world's 'highest butterfat content' (with an extra pat of butter) and 'Flatliner Fries' that are deep-fried...

In head-to-head matchups, Romney leads Obama among registered voters in swing states by a single percentage point The swing states just aren't swinging President Obama's way. Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Herman Cain are either winning or are neck to neck with Obama in the states deemed the most critical to winning the 2012 presidential election, a USA Today/Gallup poll released Friday found. In head-to-head matchups, Romney leads Obama among registered voters in swing states by a single percentage point, 47% to 46%. But the commander in chief is ahead against Perry in those states by a...

Washington, D.C. - Nevada Senator Harry Reid issued the following statement after the release of unemployment figures for October. According to the Department of Labor U.S. payrolls increased by 80,000 and unemployment fell from 9.1 percent to 9.0 percent.“Americans are still hurting and Congress needs to remain focused on creating jobs. Unfortunately, just yesterday Senate Republicans voted unanimously to block a bill that would have put hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work –including 3,300 Nevadans– rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges and modernizing our air traffic control systems. This proposal was supported by the vast majority of Americans;...

Heart Attack Grill Owner Serves 8,000-Calorie BurgerBy Mikaela Conley | ABC News – Tue, Oct 11, 2011 If you’re going to laugh in the face of obesity by opening a restaurant that serves an 8,000-calorie burger, you might as well open it in Sin City. And that’s just what Heart Attack Grill owner Jon Basso is doing. On Wednesday, the owner opens the doors to his third Heart Attack Grill location, this time in Las Vegas. The restaurant offers a Quadruple Bypass Burger that contains four beef patties, cheese, bacon and reportedly, about 8,000 calories. Along with its staple sandwich,...

Surface Transportation Board to permit high-speed rail project that will create more than 32,000 Nevada jobs October 26, 2011 Washington, D.C. — Nevada Senator Harry Reid today applauded the decision by the Department of Transportation’s bipartisan Surface Transportation Board (STB) to grant an exemption for DesertXpress to build and operate a 190-mile high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Southern California that could create more than 32,000 Nevada jobs.  “I’m pleased that the DesertXpress project is getting the green light to proceed, which will not only put tens of thousands of Nevadans to work but ultimately bring more tourists to...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration on Thursday identified 17 sites in six Western states as prime candidates for solar energy projects on public lands, continuing a push for solar power despite the high-profile bankruptcy of a solar panel maker that received a half-billion dollar federal loan. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the latest "Solar Energy Zones" refine and improve on a draft released in December that identified two dozen areas in California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

A Nevada man was arrested on his wedding day, authorities say, after he carried his 56-year-old mother out of the church when she arrived to stop the ceremony. The wedding never happened. Justin Lew Harris, 35, is facing disorderly conduct and coercion charges for the incident, which occurred at Carson Valley United Methodist Church in Gardnerville, Nev., on Monday, Oct. 17. He was released from the Douglas County Jail on his own recognizance two days later. According to the Record-Courier newspaper, Harris's mother said her son had invited her to witness his marriage to his 30-year-old fiance, but carried her...

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- President Barack Obama has a Sin City problem that won't go away. Obama is counting on Nevada's support for reelection next year. He easily won the Las Vegas Valley in 2008 and will probably win the largely Democratic, urban center again next year.