KLAS-TV: Metro Youth Program

Metro Sees Success in Youth Program (KLAS-TV, 2/25)

Metro's Police Athletic League has succeeded in steering some students away from gangs. Now they're going for another goal for the youth program.

Officers work closely with these students and many now want to go into law enforcement. But as mentors, officers wanted to show there are a lot of options out there, regardless of where you come from.

"A lot of the kids love sports, so we kind of use that as a carrot to get them in and get them tutoring and get them help in school," said Melissa Lardomita with the PAL program.

PAL has lured about 300 students into gyms, getting them off the streets and on the right track.

It's kind of obvious that the more stable adult attention you give to kids, the more they are going to be diverted from drugs, gangs and crime. These programs tend to work while the "scared straight" programs don't.

The only problem is that there is never enough adult attention to go around. In America, youth programs have always taken a back seat to pure enforcement, and with budgets being cut, that's only going to get worse.

AP: Child Services Cuts Debated

Child Services Cuts Debated
(AP, via KLAS-TV, 2/17)

Representatives from Washoe and Clark counties, Nevada's largest, told legislators at a joint Senate-Assembly budget hearing that they're anticipating a ripple effect in the need for services because of the economic downturn.

L.A. Times: States Face Budget Pain

Nevada has the nation's worse budget shortfall, according to this article....

States' only option now is budget pain
(Los Angeles Times, 2/8)

Washington state's predicament illustrates the brutal reality lawmakers are facing in the hardest-hit states. Washington's budget gap for 2010 will total 18.5% of its general fund, making it the sixth-worst situation in the nation. (Nevada is facing the most serious shortfall, with a 38% gap; California's 22% gap is the fourth-worst, behind Arizona at 28% and New York at 24%, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.)

L.V. Sun: Teen Sentencing

Driver, 16, in crash that killed teen gets six months
(Las Vegas Sun, 2/6)

The teenager driving the truck Coronado High School sophomore Olivia Brandise Hyten, 15, was riding in when she died in a crash last fall will spend the next six months in youth detention

Just about the only punishment there is in juvenile court is six months detention. (It's actually an indeterminate amount based on the youth's behavior.)

R-J: Democrats Offer a "Plan to Make a Plan"

NEVADA LEGISLATURE: Democrats tout agenda: Leaders plan hearings to assess budget needs
(Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1/30)

Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons has challenged the Democrats, who hold the majority in both legislative houses, to come up with better ideas if they do not like Gibbons' proposed cuts to teacher salaries and higher education.

But Horsford said legislators want to make budget determinations through a transparent, deliberative process in which the public, the business community and other interests all can have a say. ...

Gibbons said he was pleased to see Democrats share his concern for renewable energy and long-term budgeting. But when it comes to this year's budget, he said, Democratic leaders have had months to consider the budget crisis but still have no specifics to offer.

"Our citizens expect us to find solutions to the economic crisis instead of making excuses as to why we have not found those solutions," Gibbons said. He termed the Democrats' budget process nothing more than a "plan to have a plan."

Let me clarify what is happening here: State revenues are drastically down, so things have to be cut, but nobody in the political arena wants to do the cutting, because the constituencies that are affected are going to be very, very unhappy. The governor has proposed his solution, and Democrats are bitching about it, but they are not offering an alternative.

Any solution that anyone comes up with is going to involve an unpalatable mix of cuts to important services and/or (Heaven forbid!) tax increases. The Democrats don't REALLY want to take the blame for cutting someone's pie; they'd rather have the governor take the heat. At the same time, politics require that they throw a tizzy fit about whatever the Governor is cutting. It's all just theatrics.

In a crisis like this, things will only get done by strong executive action. The Democrats can hold all the hearings they want, but they are not likely to come up with a coherent plan on their own, so the Governer's plan will probably be passed by default. —G.C.

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Here is a Las Vegas Sun article on the same topic but with a lot more depth. (The Sun beats the R-J again!)

The Tax Debate Begins

The serious debate on taxes has finally begun. This in-depth article in the Sun is an indication...

A tax system by default, not by plan
At first, Nevada expected little revenue from gaming. Here’s how that changed over time.
(Las Vegas Sun, 1/25)

Taxes in Nevada will have to rise. There is simply no choice, other than abandoning all functions of government (like child welfare and juvenile justice). I believe that the debate will end with a state income tax, but it will be a painful process getting there. There will be endless posturing and beating around the bush by politicians, but it has to happen.

Here is my newsletter on taxes a year ago.

Area Teen Up To Something

Area Teen Up To Something
(The Onion, 1/24)

GREENFIELD, OH—A local teenager, standing on the corner of Spring Street and Dunlap Lane, is clearly up to some kind of no good, neighborhood sources reported Thursday.

The teenager, spotted by Greenfield residents at approximately 4:36 p.m., has been described as tall, suspiciously quiet, and almost certainly looking for trouble. According to concerned sources, the teenager has absolutely no business being out there like that. ...