In The News: Department of History
As you know, for many years, this feature was written by Frank Wright, who was a curator for the Nevada State Museum. If there was an equivalent of Frank in northern Nevada, as the go-to guy for history, it was Phil Earl. We’re sad to report that Phil died early this year just before his eighty-second birthday, and we would like to tell you more about him.
Only five years after Nevada became a state in 1864, White Pine and Elko Counties were born. This year they turn 150.
Record numbers of 19-century immigrants arrived in American port cities from the UK and Western Europe following the War of 1812—but that’s only if they managed to survive the journey. Many of the new arrivals were desperately poor, paid very little for their passage and were treated as nothing more than cargo by shipping companies.
The Clark County Planning Commission approved a developer’s plan to turn Bonnie Springs Ranch into a housing development.
Mark Bailus wants back on the Clark County District Court bench after losing as an appointed incumbent in November.
Last time we were talking about efforts in Nevada to pass the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to outlaw alcohol sales. An initiative got the question on the general election ballot in 1918. It turned out to be like … a political campaign.
A century ago, America decided to get dry. We’re still feeling the effects, and Nevada was part of the whole process.
In all the hurly-burly of life, it’s easy to lose sight of two things, but there are two life enhancements that can elevate your game.
Shannon Smith knew this would be unlike any home he’d ever sold.
Suzanne Lenglen was about as badass as you could get for a sportswoman in the 1920s. The ‘first diva of tennis’ had a serious temper, she drank from a flask between sets, smoked and had many lovers. She scoffed in the face of customs and traditions, and played to win. And she wanted to look damn good doing it, too.
In the span of 18 months in 2007 and 2008, Nevada was the scene of 12 worker fatalities at casino construction sites. The disasters were not small: A 7,300-pound wall collapsed and crushed two men. An elevator struck an operating engineer. A beam broke and an ironworker fell with his safety harness still attached to the beam. A post collapsed and dropped a safety engineer five stories. Every six weeks on average, a worker died.
As Nevada state lawmakers prepare to kick off their annual legislative session next month, they'll be bringing home salaries that are comparatively low for the role that the part-time legislators are reluctant to raise.