The world has once again discovered Las Vegas.  Everyone from the History Channel, to the Public Broadcasting System, to the dozens of books that have been written about the history of our community are full of major mistakes.

    The mistakes get repeated over and over again because many of them start with the “official” history on government websites.

     Today we begin a review of these sites, and will point out those that should be eliminated from the history disinformation food chain.

     With a new Clark County Sheriff, we selected the Las Vegas Metropolitan police Department’s website for our first review.

    What I found was an official history that would flunk a polygraph test.

   Here’s the link to the metro site, http://www.lvmpd.com/about/history.html, before you check it out, please read the information linked here.

Submitted by: Robert Stoldal

     First, a ‘mission statement.’   No.  Make that an action statement, and a commitment.   The focus of this blog is the history of Nevada and Las Vegas. 

    So, let’s start with a prediction.  The historic Huntridge Theatre WILL BE TORN DOWN within the next twelve months.  However, it may happen in the the next six months.

      “Historic theatre, where?”  Located on the southeast corner of Charleston and Maryland Parkway, the Huntridge was one of few movie houses that were permitted to be built during World War Two.

    Designed by internationally known architect S. Charles Lee, the Huntridge has a long and colorful history. 

    The Huntridge Theatre is listed on the Nevada as well as the National Register of Historic Places.   It was also listed this year as one of Nevada’s Most Endangered sites.

http://www.unlv.edu/Colleges/Liberal_Arts/History/preserve_nevada/2006_sites.htm

    The theatre has been shut down for more than a year, and we are hearing that the owner is now telling people he “can’t keep the thing.” 

   He has been holding private talks with city redevelopment folks and is pointing out he may have a mold problem as well as a bird problem in the building.

   Would like to develop a list of people that worked at the Huntridge, knew someone who worked there, or can provide a moment of their own connection with the theatre.

  If you would like to read more on how the Huntridge got to the point to where it will be torn down, click here.

Submitted by: Robert Stoldal

NOTE:   Please read the above within the following context, I serve as Chair of the City of Las Vegas Historic Preservation Commission; I worked as an usher at the Huntridge Theatre, and serve on the Preserve Nevada Board

    In the new spirit of bi-partisanship, may I recommend the abolition of references to "red" and "blue" states?

   At first it was novel, and somewhat useful to see the US in those terms during the 2004 Presidential election.  The media certainly picked up on the paradigm, and most media outlets are still referring to the two colors, now, 2 years later. 

   Staring at the entire US map as a whole, it’s not hard to deduce that Democratic and/or liberal-leaning areas make up densely populated centers primarily on the East and West coasts (blue); and states verging on the right, or Republican-leaning, held sway in-between and in the South.  Or at least that’s what seemed convenient as a stereotyped tool when you need to talk generalities, and there are some exceptions (Minnesota, for example).

   But if you take care to examine any state’s county-by-county outbreak of red and blue, you realize what a mish-mash of colors it is…almost purple.

    Statisticians and electoral college vote-counters HAVE to paint each state one color according to constitutional principles, but if the US ever forsook that system, and went for a majority-vote-rules system, we’d see shades of red, bleeding into purple, seeping over to blue in a never-ending blend of color. 

    Right-leaning Country ‘n’ Western music fans abound in New York City, and left-leaning Joe six-packs proliferate in Birmingham, Alabama.  Gone are clear distinctions, only broad generalities apply, and even then, they’re frequently wrong.

    So it’s with those thoughts in mind that I again say:  Red and Blue State references need to go the way of an all-Republican Congress, in favor of a purple bi-partisanship.

—-submitted by Dave Courvoisier