Free Republic

Whenever your humble correspondent dips a strawberry into the chocolate fountain at the Golden Corral, one thought always comes to mind: Mark Warner bribery. Why? Because back in 2006 when Warner was governor of Virginia he attempted to influence the Daily Kos convention in Las Vegas, then known as the YearlyKos, into favoring his possible bid for the presidency with a lavish party at the Stratosphere. As we shall see, the Kossacks absolutely loved the idea that they were being bribed as they feasted on the sushi, drank down alcoholic concoctions, and dipped into the chocolate fountain. Therefore it is...

Beleaguered Las Vegas Wedding Industry Pins Its Hopes On Gay Marriage The Wedding Capital of the World has been hurting badly since the recession, but business owners expect a ‘tremendous boost’ from same-sex couples looking to get married 10 October 2014 The managers at Vegas Weddings have extra ministers on call. The tux and gown shop is fully staffed, all ten wedding planners are available in the reception area and the coordinators are prepping to handle ceremonies for not one, but two brides at a time. They can also expect many pairs of grooms. This is the first full day...

WICHITA, Kan. — Tea Party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) waded into the Kansas Senate race Thursday, touting beleaguered Republican incumbent Pat Roberts as the contest’s only true conservative. The conservative hero's support is crucial as Roberts tries to energize his campaign and ward off a challenge from well-funded independent Greg Orman in a race that could jeopardize the GOP's hopes of winning Senate control. Cruz vouched for Roberts despite raising money earlier in the cycle for the Madison Project, a conservative group that supported Roberts’s primary challenger Milton Wolf. Wolf has not yet endorsed Roberts in the general election....

A group of horseback riders drew stares, honks and a few handshakes and high-fives along Redwood Road Thursday, hooves clattering on pavement in a protest ride of federal land management policies. The Utah trek of the Grass March Cowboy Express hit Salt Lake City and continued east up Parleys Canyon, with Tooele County Commission Chairman Bruce Clegg and Utah Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, riding in tandem. With them they carried a mail pouch sporting a letter demanding the resignation of a BLM field office manager who ordered grazing reductions in Battle Mountain, Nevada, and petitions from rural Utah counties...

Clark County granted its first same-sex marriage license just after 5 p.m. Thursday, ending days of legal wrangling and waiting for gay and lesbian couples across Nevada. That license went to Theo Small and Antioco Carillo, one of eight couples that challenged that state’s gay marriage ban. That came after Clark County Clerk Diana Alba got the go-ahead from U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan. Carillo and Small picked up their license ahead of 12 other couples queued up at the Clark County marriage bureau, but they aren’t be the first same-sex couple married in the state. That distinction could...

LAS VEGAS — Proponents of a ballot measure that would remove a mining-tax cap from the Nevada constitution said the industry has a sweetheart deal that keeps it from paying its fair share, while opponents said the measure is the first step toward raising taxes and discouraging mining companies from doing business in the state. The remarks came during a debate on Question 2 that was scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Thursday on Vegas PBS. Passing the measure would repeal a 150-year-old constitutional provision that applies a 5 percent cap to taxes on the net proceeds of minerals and...

....About 10 same-sex couples were waiting in line at the Clark County clerk's office as the announcement came shortly after 5 p.m. that gay marriage licenses would be issued, eliciting cheers and tears of joy from the crowd. Officials said the county Marriage License Bureau issued 40 licenses to same-sex couples Thursday. "It's amazing. This is it," Theo Small....

Crapitalism author Jason Mattera wanted to ask Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) a simple question: How did Reid, who was born in poverty, become so rich while working for the government? So he caught up with Reid recently to ask him about it. Reid refused to answer at all. Suddenly, one of Reid’s bodyguards took it upon himself to stop the questioning. He attacked Mattera while Reid just kept silently walking on. Take a look. (Video at source) By the way, Jason has accepted Bob Beckel’s challenge to fight, after Mattera targeted IRS targeting scandal honcho Lois Lerner.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has temporarily blocked an appeals court ruling that declared gay marriage legal in Idaho and Nevada. The order came minutes after Idaho on Wednesday filed an emergency request for an immediate stay. The state's request said that without a stay, state and county officials would have been required to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at 10 a.m. EDT. Kennedy's order requested a response from the plaintiffs involved in Idaho's gay marriage lawsuit by the end of day Thursday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared gay marriage legal in Idaho and Nevada...

Finding that Nevada’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage imposes “profound legal, financial, social and psychic harms” on many of its citizens, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned the prohibition, paving the way for gay unions in the Silver State. The court reversed a U.S. District Court ruling in favor of the state’s voter-approved ban and remanded it back to District Court “for the prompt issuance of an injunction permanently enjoining the state, its political subdivisions, and its officers, employees, and agents” from enforcing the constitutional provision. The ruling also overturned Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage. Clark...

.....Las Vegas, the land of wedding chapels, is ready for gay weddings. On Tuesday, Nevada and Idaho joined the growing number of states where same-sex marriage is legal when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that gay couples' equal protection rights were violated by the gay marriage bans in both states. .....Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapels, which is gay-owned and operated, already hosts about 500 same-sex commitment ceremonies each year, said General Manager Brian Mills, who doubles as an officiant, often times in costume. In October, one of the chapel's busiest months, he could be Dracula for one...

WASHINGTON—The San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday struck down same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada, setting the stage for legal gay marriages in five more Western states. The unanimous decision comes a day after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand lower-court rulings that ended bans in five other states, a move that effectively expanded the right to gay marriage to 30 U.S. states. The Ninth Circuit decision will apply to five states with marriage bans in that appellate circuit, likely expanding to 35 the number of states with legal same-sex marriage.

Taxpayers are apparently buying welfare recipients booze and cigarettes for the road — at times a very exotic road. A Watchdog.org analysis of a Colorado Department of Human Services welfare ATM withdrawals database shows that $3.8 million was withdrawn by Colorado welfare recipients outside the state in the past two years. There were withdrawals at out-of-state liquor stores and tobacco outlets, as well as vacation destinations like Hawaii, Las Vegas and even the Virgin Islands. ... Colorado welfare withdrawals at liquor stores and casinos despite federal and state law banning such actions and welfare recipients taking out money at the...

A former detention assistant contends she was fired by the Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice Services for complaining about excessive force against a juvenile inmate. Kisha Norman of Las Vegas filed an employment discrimination lawsuit Thursday against the department and its assistant manager of detention, Patrick Schreiber, who fired her in April 2013. “Norman was not wanted because she was not part of the racist culture inside DJJS that accepted, condoned and ratified excessive force against juveniles,” the federal lawsuit alleges. In an email Thursday, spokesman Erik Pappa said the county does not comment on pending litigation. According to...

CARSON CITY — An ethics complaint has been filed against Secretary of State Ross Miller on allegations that he used an online election portal to unfairly gain support for his candidacy for attorney general. The Web portal was set up by his office for military and overseas civilian voters to participate in the Nov. 4 general election. The complaint dated Sept. 29 was filed by Kirk Lippold, a retired U.S. Navy commander of the USS Cole who at one point had sought the 2nd Congressional District seat when it became vacant after Dean Heller was appointed to the U.S. Senate....

RENO, Nev. — Nevada tourism officials are planning a three-day festival in Reno next fall to celebrate and promote the city as the birthplace of what became modern blue jeans. Reno tailor Jacob Davis created riveted denim jeans in 1871 in a downtown shop. Two years later, he and Levi Strauss & Co. patented the pants with the rivets to the corners and pockets that made them the sturdy favorites of miners, loggers and cowboys who helped tame the West. The “Blue Genes Jam” next Oct. 2-4 will celebrate the iconic trousers’ impact on popular culture with concerts, fashion shows,...

SALT LAKE CITY — Five Utah men have been slapped with federal charges for taking part in an ATV protest ride in southwestern Utah earlier this year that the group said was to call attention to the federal government’s overreaching control of public lands. Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday they have charged the five southern Utah men with misdemeanor conspiracy and illegal use of all-terrain vehicles Wednesday in connection with a ride organized to show displeasure with the federal government. Prosecutors say the May ride through southwestern Utah’s Recapture Canyon was an illegal protest. “We respect the fact that the citizens...

Angry parents descended on a Clark County School District Board of Trustees meeting this week after discovering the content of a proposed new "comprehensive sex education" curriculum that includes teaching 5-year-olds about masturbation. The proposed curriculum would include education about homosexuality as early as ages 5 through 8, teaching children to give everyone “respect regardless of who they are attracted to.” School children in kindergarten through grade 3 would also be taught that “touching and rubbing one’s genitals to feel good is called masturbation.” “You want to teach my 5-year-old how to masturbate?” challenged parent Julie Butler. "We certainly should...

Another warrant has been issued for the arrest of one of rancher Cliven Bundy’s sons, a little more than a month after he was released from jail. Bundy’s 34-year-old son, also named Cliven Lance Bundy, failed to appear in court this week for a hearing before Judge Linda Marie Bell, who issued a warrant for his arrest. Bundy was arrested last month for criminal contempt and parole violations on burglary and weapons theft charges. Bell had issued a warrant for Bundy in July after he didn’t appear for a drug diversion program hearing. He had undergone hip surgery the day...

A private investigator working on what’s become a botched murder case sought evidence North Las Vegas police didn’t: video from the suspect’s alibi. That suspect was Patrick Wayne Harper, the 16-year-old cleared in the killing of Andrea Lafon. Police said she died during a marijuana deal gone bad. Investigator Toby Tobiasson, working for lawyer Kristina Wildeveld, got a court order for surveillance video from the convenience store Harper said he was at when Lafon was shot about 7:15 p.m. Sept. 5. The video shows Harper leaving the AMPM at 5th Street and Washburn Road — more than two miles from...