Governor

If you're the new school on the block and the state is facing record budget shortfalls, not actually having a building at the school is akin to putting a "cut me from the budget" target on your back.

But buildingless no more, the Nevada State College now has "its own, permanent, beautiful, state-of-the-art building."

Which right now has Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-Sparks) scratching his head to figure out how we still manage to cut this thing in the spring.

The R-J has the full story here.

In case you missed it: the ethics complaint filed by the Nevada Democratic Party against Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons is available online. Democrats allege that Gibbons took a property tax break he wasn’t entitled to on his Elko County property, a point the Governor strongly denies. The Ethics Commission will decide next month if they should hold a hearing.

Gov. Jim GibbonsGov. Jim Gibbons will appear before a two-member panel on Sept. 11 to review an ethics complaint filed against him charging he used his position to pressure a local official to give him a tax break on a parcel of land he owns in Elko County.

The panel will look at all evidence in the case and either dismiss the complaint, or pass it along to the entire state ethics commission.

State Democrats filed the complaint against Gibbons last month after Elko County Assessor Joe Aguirre told a reporter he felt tacit pressure from Gibbons to reclassify the parcel to qualify it for lower tax rate.

Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-Sparks) makes it two weeks in a row on the Winners list, with former staffer Diane Cornwall making the Losers. Find out who else made this week's list... | CLICK HERE

Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-Sparks) makes an uncharacteristic appearance on the Winners list, and Bruce Woodbury (R-Henderson) makes a strange appearance on the Losers list. Find out who else made this week's list... | CLICK HERE

Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-Sparks) named Christopher G. Nielsen as his new general counsel yesterday.

Nielsen will take over for Josh Hicks, who is being promoted to Gibbons' chief of staff.

"I appreciate the opportunity Governor Gibbons has given me," Nielsen said in a statement. "It is a great honor, and I look forward to continuing to serve the state, and the administration, in my new role as General Counsel."

How do you save the state when you face a record budget shortfall, have already cut to the bone, and have painted yourself into a corner with a "no taxes" pledge?

Turn to the gays.

If Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-Sparks) could just get around that pesky constitutional amendment, we could marry gays here and probably make some good coin doing so.

State Sens. Bill Raggio (R-Reno) and Dina Titus (D-Las Vegas) both have reasons to be pleased in this week's Winners & Losers. The governor had another bad week, although we're starting to ask ourselves: if every week is a bad one, is it time to recalibrate? Please, governor -- just take a week's vacation and we'll put you on the Winner side next time. Find out who else made this week's list... | CLICK HERE

Anjeanette Damon at the Reno Gazette-Journal wrote Wednesday about a listening in on an apparently one-sided telephone poll, which seemed to push U.S. Rep. Dean Heller (R-Carson City) and pan his Democratic opponent, Jill Derby.

In her Inside Politics blog on the RGJ website, Damon questioned if Heller's campaign played a part in commissioning the telephone survey, which featured a pollster speaking in glowing terms about the freshman congressman and not-so-subtly calling Derby's record into question.

An excerpt of Damon's post is below:

The caller asked about U.S. Rep. Dean Heller's ability "to get things done" and his willingness to put constituents' interests over partisan politics. She asked if Heller is "one of us" sharing the same experiences, "worries and hope for the future."

Listing a number of positions, the caller asked if one was more or less likely to vote for Heller for his proven ability to work on a bipartisan basis, his support of English-only ballots, his fight against wasteful spending and his work to secure funding for DNA testing. My favorite: Heller "knows you can't haul supplies with a hybrid" and that "we need pick up trucks."