LETTERS

Dear Las Vegas Weekly

In answer to "Rev. O.D.'s" remarks regarding "Biking While Black," maybe YOU should do some research yourself! As someone who doesn't have a car, I think I have a lot better idea of the ratio of white-to-ethnic "criminals" Downtown. I'm on those buses, harassed on the street, and terrified by just as many whites as "other than's." While I too feel that the artist was out for attention, I've seen racial profiling in action in this town, and it is worse here than any city I've ever lived in, including Biloxi, Mississippi. I'm sorry a black man stole your stereo, but what about the white pawnshop owner he'd sold it to? By the way, I'm way older than 16, and I don't have a car either. Unless you're going to buy me one, shut up.

In Truth,

To Josh Bell,

Obviously you don't have a f****** clue about how the film business works or about films in general.

I read your review (online) and will be happy to relay the facts that Standing Still has already received theatrical offers from a number of distributors, many of which I have been sitting on for over eight months.

In addition to that it has been test-screened by the NRG (Nielsen Research Group) to its target audience, which gave it 88 percent "excellent" and "very good" ratings. So obviously you are in the minority here, as the theater I sat in the other night was laughing the whole movie.

Before you make a bold statement about a movie going straight to video when it's guaranteed to at least go into limited theatrical release, you might want to check your facts.

Also for the record, the movie was made in three weeks on a very low budget, so any release is a huge success.

Reality is, you didn't hope to write anything positive on our film as you were just looking to take a shot, as you are just another jealous reporter who has nothing better to do than that.

It must take real talent to write movie reviews for the Las Vegas Weekly. You should be real proud ...

So go f*** yourself, pal. The good news for me is your reviews have absolutely no credibility in Hollywood as you are just a very small-time local writer who obviously has some serious jealously issues.

I'll look forward to crossing paths with you in the future. Maybe you'll get promoted to an even more impressive job as a writer. You definitely seem to be on your way.

Best,

Dear Las Vegas Weekly,

To quote from your article in the June 16-22 paper, "Asbestos Removal Raises Questions":

"Union representatives claim they just want to get on the property—Leyvas has been turned away from going up to the third floor. 'Whether they're doing it properly or not, I don't know,' says carpenter Lenny Taylor. 'It seems very suspicious; they're trying to hide something.'"

Just who the hell do these flaming dickwads think they are?? They, and their union, are NOT involved in this project, so how the hell do they think they have the right to barge in? If I was running a project without them or their union being part of it and they tried to stick their noses into it, I'd tell them to get the hell off my property and keep their f--king noses out of my business. They don't have any special rights being that they're "union workers" because union workers are not involved in the Hilton project. If they wanted to see what was going on, then their union should have taken the offer to work on the project.

It didn't, so they have no reason or business being there. As per the following:

"Sternberg questions the union's involvement, pointing out that it has no jurisdiction on the project. He adds that the Hilton offered the union jobs in other parts of the hotel. 'They did not take up our offer.'"

I think that those in charge of the Hilton project should get a legal injunction to remove these dickheads from the area because said dickheads are not part of the workforce and have no business bitching about the job being done. OSHA has already inspected the area and given it a clean bill of health. If these asswipes don't agree with OSHA then let them try violating some of the OSHA regulations on their next union job and see just how quickly they're shut down.

Get these union dickwads away from the project and let the REAL contractor do the job without interference!

Tell them to grab their ear lobes and pull down until they hear a loud, resounding pop ... that will be their heads coming out of their asses.

A makeover of the UNLV area is a good idea and an interesting idea. Trouble is, they want to make over the wrong end of the horse!

True, Maryland Parkway around the campus isn't anything to write home about. It does not have the atmosphere of Mill Street in Tempe, The Hill in Boulder, Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, Westwood, or even downtown Flagstaff. It's hard to imagine protest marches or demonstrations on Maryland Parkway, as is prone to happen around a college campus, and street vendors, sidewalk cafes and eclectic little stores are in short supply. When Nevada State was proposed, I was hoping it would go in near Water Street in Henderson or Boulder City so maybe a little college town-type area could develop around there.

But rather that rip down existing buildings, and especially any residential buildings, as if this area hasn't lost enough housing with convention center and hotel expansions, and narrow down Maryland Parkway, a street that struggles to handle its six lanes now, the area that is screaming for redevelopment is the area around the corners of Paradise Road, Swenson Street and Tropicana Avenue on the other side of the campus.

Right now, this area is dominated by parking lots. To me, this is the face of UNLV that most people see, when going to a game or concert, coming into town from the airport or passing by on busy streets seeing UNLV's dry waterfall sign. An ideal area for a college area is a piece of land bounded by Tropicana, Paradise, Swenson, and Naples. Naples is a happening little block with several nightclubs at the top of the parcel, and you could build several blocks of buildings on that vacant land, and the streets are already narrower. The university could replace the Thomas and Mack/Cox parking lots with a parking garage and create a grand entrance there, and possibly new buildings. Further up on Paradise and Swenson are several hotels, casinos, including the Hard Rock Cafe and Hotel, and the Hofbrau house. This side of the campus could use some sprucing up, as well as the other side of the Tropicana/Swenson/Paradise intersections. There is a lot of potential here, without the expense and hassle of remaking an existing area and gridlocking a major street.

This part of Las Vegas has lost a lot of housing over the past 10 years, with the Las Vegas Convention Center expansion between Desert Inn and Sierra Vista, Sands Expo's parking lot on Twain, and now housing along Harmon and Tropicana was lost or is disappearing with hotel expansions and condo-tower projects. A neighborhood does need to be rebuilt around the UNLV campus at affordable prices, but in my opinion, the west side is the best side for a makeover.