LETTERS

I just read your April 13, 2006 editorial on "Where News Comes ...?" I had it pulled out of the Las Vegas Weekly for awhile now, sitting on my desk for me to read when I had some time to wrap my mind around something for a couple of minutes—a piece of writing worthy of some thought processing is what I had anticipated. I was not disappointed.

Excellent writing, Mr. [Steve] Bornfeld! You instill me with the hope that not all Las Vegans are vapidly sucking down media culture with every turn of the head, aurally and ocularly, unchecked and unchallenged. Our nightly "news" attempting to fill our heads and hearts with terror-filled factoids is just sickening! I have thought the same thing you have since Sept. 11, 2001. Terror is a Bush Cabinet tool that has been concocted to make we as a country afraid. Not informed, but afraid, so we will illogically follow this puppet and unite against the unseen terrorists. I am ranting. I did not mean to get off on a tangent.

Simply wanted to say thank you for your wonderful article. You have a fan in me (a transplant from Portland, Oregon).

The thousands of loyal locals and tourists who groove to live music each month at the Sand Dollar Blues Room would disagree with your recent article that the Double Down and Cooler are the only non-casino music venues to survive in the city. The Sand Dollar is celebrating its 16th anniversary and just won Best Music Venue in AOL Cityguides' Best of Las Vegas, beating out House of Blues and The Joint for the honor. That's 16 years of live blues, jazz and rock every night of the week. We have been the stage to greats such as BB King, George Thorogood, Jeff Healey and only a few weeks ago, Ted Nugent. You are welcome to party with us ... and see what a real music club is all about. Peace, Love and Blues

This is in response to [Chuck] Twardy's write-up on "Condos in the Arts District" (April 27) and I must say I love the idea of condos going up right there. I have lived in this town for 31 years and in my lifetime that area of town has never been upscale but instead has been a haven for prostitution and drugs. Now there is an opportunity to bring more (legal) commerce to the area. The articles that have been written recently relating to this make it seem as if the entire arts district is doomed. Nothing can be further from the truth. The district is thriving like never before and will continue to do so. Of course there will be some victims of gentrification as property values rise but that is to be expected anywhere. Everyone forgets about the low income families who were kicked out of those cottages to make room for artists to occupy that space in the first place. Who stood up for those families?

Don't get me wrong. I do sympathize with the artists who have worked from these spaces and put their heart into them but it is still not a safe place to be after nightfall. One of the cottages is boarded up, which tends to be an eyesore and an obvious sign of dilapidation. A residential tower would help the arts district much more. Think about it. Someone has to supply art for the walls inside. And any business owner in the area that claims to oppose this tower is flat-out lying. They know the traffic they will receive once this is built.

The truth is this: The arts district is not going anywhere and First Friday will continue to grow stronger every month, tower or no tower. Local artists will always have a place to show (as long as they're good) with groups like the Avant Arts Collective, Gallery MTZC, 5ive Finger Miscount, Blank Canvas and others. I know it's always more popular to side with the little man but hell, I don't have any friends anyway so I figure I have nothing to lose by stating the obvious truth. This all sort of reminds me of that movie, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, where the rich dude wanted to build a shopping complex in the hood so all of the neighborhood kids just did a big break-dance show and raised the money to buy him out. I never realized just how silly and unrealistic that was until right now, as I am writing this.

I am a little upset with you guys. I read your mag religiously. Yet every week you disappoint me in your club section, with no mention of anything to do that's NON-casino club-oriented. I've been screaming at EVERYONE within a 5,000-mile radius ( :) ) about some other "NON-casino-club" happenings around the Valley and you guys don't seem to care or post anything on it. I'm a DJ at a goth club here, The Aruba (Formerly Thunderbird Lounge); we are gaining a following, and bringing people in the doors each week, yet we still get NO mention of this in your mag or CityLife. Not mad at you, I love the mag, just think you guys devote too much time to the casino-club thing. I don't care about some celebrity who's promoting some theme night at some club I choose not to go to, yet, I read about it EVERY week in both mags.

I'm not asking you guys to change your style, or your hard work, or anything; just asking if you could add us or mention us in some of your mags. Maybe in your review section? Or talk about the DJs who work for free (that's right, FREE) to do this for the fans as an alternative to the casino clubs?

Just be fair, in other words: I have yet to see us mentioned, except for the Hot Spots section, and I appreciate Xania doing that for us.

Thanks,

I read the Weekly pretty religiously and I think it's okay. Could be better, could be worse.

But when there is something good, well done, touching even, it shouldn't be buried. When I read this issue on Thursday [May 4], I completely missed the article "Impressions of Vegas" because it was buried under articles of little interest. After reading it today (because my brother told me about it), I thought, what a shame it would've been if I'd missed something that was actually very, very good.

Just thought you might like to know.

Editor's note:
Thank you for that stirring endorsement, Joe.