Las Vegas R-J: Helping the Homeless, but How?

TENT CITY: Help the homeless but how? Officials don't think number of homeless has risen during recession (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Hosteling in Las Vegas

Hostels: Alternatives To High Priced Resorts
(KLAS-TV, 3/23)

Tourists coming to Las Vegas are finding a cheaper way to stay in Las Vegas. At least three local businesses are offering cheap lodging. Tod's Hostel, one of three in town are seeing a big boost of tourists who are looking for a cheap and comfortable place to stay.

Ran Tadmore, the general manager of Tod's says when the economy started tanking a year ago he converted part of his motel into a hostel modeled after the successful European style of traveling. He offers free pick up and drop off along with breakfast to give him an edge over Las Vegas Strip hotels.

He says since the conversion rooms are almost always booked, the best part about it is the interaction guests have with each other. "From the kids point of view they get a better atmosphere if they stayed in regular hotel they don't know who their neighbors are or interact hostel environment makes them interact with kids from all over the world."

You don't have to be a student to stay at this hostel or international travelers for that matter, different hostels have different rules. But generally what they do offer is cheap rates. The three hostels here in Las Vegas the price per night ranges from $15 to $20.

I am a big fan of hostels in Europe, I would never have predicted an unrestricted hostel in Las Vegas. The USA Hostel on Fremont street caters only to international travelers, but when you open a hostel in the USA to everyone, you end up attracting low-life druggie scum from the city. I wonder how Tod's keeps them out.

Here is their listing on HostelWorld and another article on them from the Las Vegas Weekly (5/22/08).

I tend to believe that unrestricted hosteling and America don't mix, due to the criminal element and psychological space issues, but we'll see if the recession changes that.

I just checked the HostelWorld listing for the USA Hostel. They've added a new wrinkle: You can stay there if you have a US Passport and an out-of-state driver's license. This is clever, because most of your low-life druggies don't have passports.

Las Vegas Home Prices Dropping by Half?

Total decline in median price of homes could top 50 percent
(Las Vegas Sun, 2/2)

Moody’s Economy.com projects the total decline in the market will reach 52 percent by the end of the first quarter of 2010, says Mike Helmar, director of industry services and an economist who oversees Nevada forecasts.

“We don’t have much good news for you,” Helmar says. “We do have them continuing to go down.”

The firm listed the median price of Las Vegas homes reaching a peak of $320,000 in 2006’s first quarter and projects it dropping to $153,000 by 2010.

Las Vegas: Father Chains Daughter to Bed to Prevent Overeating

Dad admits chaining daughter to bed: Father told officers he restrained girl to keep her from overeating
(Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1/21)

Robert Blue was frank with police officers when they confronted him at his home last week to determine whether his 15-year-old daughter was being restrained against her will.

He "voluntarily stated that his daughter was chained to her bed to keep her out of the kitchen and from overeating," a police report states.

An officer then saw the 165-pound girl in her room and realized that Blue was telling the truth.

Las Vegas Sun: Nevada 42nd least healthy state

Nevada drops to 42nd least healthy state
(Las Vegas Sun, 1/6)

Nevada dropped to among the 10 unhealthiest states due to low graduation and high crime rates in an annual report issued in December.

Las Vegas Sun: Leaving Las Vegas

The latest trend: Leaving Las Vegas
(Las Vegas Sun, 1/6)

Young is part of the new migration trend: Clark County is now losing population, according to county officials — 10,000 from July 2007 to July 2008, based on the number of empty houses and apartments.

U-Haul measures the trend a different way: Are there more trucks coming to town or leaving? In 2007, outbound U-Haul rentals just barely outpaced those arriving here, the company said. In 2008 the number of outbound rentals was 1 percent greater than that of those arriving.

L.A. Times: Gambling Runs Dry in Mesquite

Out in Nevada desert, gambling runs dry

(Los Angeles Times, 1/3)

Locals and travelers passing through have long kept Mesquite's casinos afloat. But like the spent mines that have busted many Western towns, Mesquite's source of wealth ran out. As the economy soured, tourists hoarded their cash, and the town's gross gambling revenue plummeted 11%. Visitor volume fell 7.4% last year; the average daily room rate fell 35.4%.

Coyote Springs Update: No Change

Another traveler passed by Coyote Springs recently and posted some new photos....

Southeast Nevada

Coyote Springs is the new community an hour north of Las Vegas that has an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and nothing more. This supplements my own photos of Coyote Springs.

Within the past week, the Clark County Commision approved a zoning change to allow a casino to be build here, but that won't change anything. The community is destined for ghost town status even before the first house is built.

Family Court: Presumptive Certification Struck Down

Nevada's "presumptive certification" law for juveniles has been struck down. See an AP article...

Juvenile Court Certification Law Erased (AP, 11/26/08)

The Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday declared unconstitutional a law that made juveniles admit guilt to charged crimes to avoid trial as an adult -- and let prosecutors use the admissions if juveniles wound up in adult court anyway.

The Supreme Court's ruling, overturning an earlier high court decision that had upheld the law, was sought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, the national Juvenile Law Center, public defenders of Washoe and Clark counties and other groups and activists. ...

While the decision does away with the "presumptive certification" law, justices said prosecutors who want to try juveniles as adults can still petition "in appropriate cases" under a separate discretionary certification provision that remains on the books.

Also discussed in a Las Vegas Review-Journal article: Law set to prosecute youths cut (11/27/08)

This law was essentially giving all discretion to prosecutors to decide which youth should be tried as adults in a broad category of felonies. Now, there should be more of a balance in the process.

I described juvenile certification in one of my newsletters: CERTIFICATION NIGHTMARE!

Blog Post: "What Do You Do With 8 Bedrooms, 9 Bathrooms and 19000 SF?"

A realtor in Las Vegas wrote a blog article using some of my photos (with permission):

What Do You Do With 8 Bedrooms, 9 Bathrooms and 19000 SF?

The story is about the mansion of a newspaper tycoon in Las Vegas. After the man's death, the family gave the property to Clark County for use as a child welfare training facility. Shortly thereafter, I visited the property and wrote a report.

It is curious how people will create shrines to themselves if given the resources. The tycoon transported his entire childhood home to Las Vegas and set it beside his ugly "mansion." The guy's still dead, however, and his mansion is being demolished, proving that you can never really make yourself immortal.