[logline]

Yeah, right. Take on Carl Icahn... good plan.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by logline

Yeah, right. Take on Carl Icahn... good plan.

Easier than Wynn or Sheldon.

[Cyborgt800]

Hey, why not play like some nations do and play middleman/mischief maker and get Wynn and Adelson to take on Icahn?

[tijlover]

Long ago, if the casino's had shoved some of their profits into creating another Boeing, or buying Boeing, we might have averted the boom in Macau and elsewhere.

Much faster planes, more SST's with larger capacity, would have helped greatly! And, today, we still have planes slow-poking about at 650 miles an hour!

Who wants to suffer the torture of a trans-Pacific flight of 13-14-15-16 hours? And, you have to suffer the return torture!

Even a flight today to NYC spells torture to me!

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by lvoc

We are no where near the worse in the nation. That is simply untrue.

Nevada Education Ranked Last In Country By 'Kids Count' Report, Parents Consider Moving Out Of State

Nevada's High School Dropout Rate Worst in Nation

Report: Nevada dropout rate grows to worst in the country - Las Vegas Sun News



Here are three (of dozens) reports and rankings, plus my wife's 1st-hand experience all say we're dead last. We can't start FIXING the problem until we acknowledge the problem.

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Nevada Education Ranked Last In Country By 'Kids Count' Report, Parents Consider Moving Out Of State

Nevada's High School Dropout Rate Worst in Nation

Report: Nevada dropout rate grows to worst in the country - Las Vegas Sun News



Here are three (of dozens) reports and rankings, plus my wife's 1st-hand experience all say we're dead last. We can't start FIXING the problem until we acknowledge the problem.

What does your wife feel is at the root of the problem?

Interestingly, in the book "Freakonomics" the numbers said that the best predictor of academic success was growing up in a home with lots of books in it.

Personally, I think the problem is in the lower grades, not necessarily the high schools. If kids never learned to read properly or to do basic math in elementary and Jr. High, they are going to struggle like hell in HS.

[modhatter]

Your not addressing the question at hand. What has the Nevada legislators done to lure companies to Las Vegas. Has anyone followed any articles on this subject? As far as Macau not being as good as Las Vegas, that might be true, but it doesn't negate that they are getting record number visitors there due primarily to the proximity of it, compared to coming to the States. Same as local casinos taking away business from Vegas. As for the reservation casinos, they may not yet rival the biggest and best of Las Vegas, but they sure are becoming more appealing for local state visits. And as each bigger and fancier one gets built, that is one or two percentage points less business for Las Vegas.

I am not trying to put Vegas down in any way. It has been a top notch entertainment town. But it is becoming even more vulnerable now and I think that planning for the future might be a smart way to go.

When your economy is based almost solely on an industry like gambling and entertainment, you stand a unquestioned drop of tourists during bad financial times, sending much greater numbers of people to the unemployment lines. Much more so than if you had a mix of industry. Entertainment is the first item people cut back on when times are questionable.

It is for these reasons I think it healthy for the state to try and encourage more diversity and establish the "reason" for large corporations reluctance to move to Las Vegas (a geographically pleasant place to live) and a goal to overcome the obstacles at hand whatever they may be. Phoenix has done it. What's with Vegas?

Are they trying to do anything? Is it a subject on the political agenda?

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Nevada Education Ranked Last In Country By 'Kids Count' Report, Parents Consider Moving Out Of State

Nevada's High School Dropout Rate Worst in Nation

Report: Nevada dropout rate grows to worst in the country - Las Vegas Sun News



Here are three (of dozens) reports and rankings, plus my wife's 1st-hand experience all say we're dead last. We can't start FIXING the problem until we acknowledge the problem.

You want CCSD compared to NYC, LA, Chicago etc. It is the fifth largest school district in the US.

What actually happens is you are comparing CCSD and the Washoe County District to the other US states. Of course it does badly...But compare it to its equivalent and it does not look so bad.

Easy to fix if you wish. Just break up CCSD into four districts. You will end up with two good ones, One less than average and one terrible.

[von949]

Originally Posted by lvoc

You want CCSD compared to NYC, LA, Chicago etc. It is the fifth largest school district in the US.

What actually happens is you are comparing CCSD and the Washoe County District to the other US states. Of course it does badly...But compare it to its equivalent and it does not look so bad.

Easy to fix if you wish. Just break up CCSD into four districts. You will end up with two good ones, One less than average and one terrible.

All the teachers I have spoken to agree with this. CCSD needs to be broken up. The chain of command is just too big for anything to get done properly.

Take the air conditioning problem for instance. This year there were multiple schools with HVAC issues. It was so bad that some schools shut down for a day or two. My daughter's was one of the schools that almost did. Teachers and the principle advised that the parents call all the CCSD offices(top dogs)to complain.

They told all the parents that there was nothing any teacher or principle could do. It was out of their hand and above their pay grade. Maybe budget issues, maintenance staff issues, short falls...

It was very bad timing with the CCSD bus driver pick up/drop off schedules mix up going on at the same time.

The district is just too big. The same group of people up top are dealing with too many issues at all levels. They can't handle the load and need to admit it.


Sent from cell...

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by modhatter

Your not addressing the question at hand. What has the Nevada legislators done to lure companies to Las Vegas. Has anyone followed any articles on this subject? As far as Macau not being as good as Las Vegas, that might be true, but it doesn't negate that they are getting record number visitors there due primarily to the proximity of it, compared to coming to the States. Same as local casinos taking away business from Vegas. As for the reservation casinos, they may not yet rival the biggest and best of Las Vegas, but they sure are becoming more appealing for local state visits. And as each bigger and fancier one gets built, that is one or two percentage points less business for Las Vegas.

I am not trying to put Vegas down in any way. It has been a top notch entertainment town. But it is becoming even more vulnerable now and I think that planning for the future might be a smart way to go.

When your economy is based almost solely on an industry like gambling and entertainment, you stand a unquestioned drop of tourists during bad financial times, sending much greater numbers of people to the unemployment lines. Much more so than if you had a mix of industry. Entertainment is the first item people cut back on when times are questionable.

It is for these reasons I think it healthy for the state to try and encourage more diversity and establish the "reason" for large corporations reluctance to move to Las Vegas (a geographically pleasant place to live) and a goal to overcome the obstacles at hand whatever they may be. Phoenix has done it. What's with Vegas?

Are they trying to do anything? Is it a subject on the political agenda?

Actually the entertainment industry did not do all that badly. Visitors peaked at 39.2 million in 2007. At the nadir it was 36.3 in 2009. Likely to be reach the 2007 number this year or next.

So the strip maintained perhaps 90% of its employment and has pretty much recovered.

The real hit was in "growth"...that combination of residential and commercial real estate that was our second biggest employer and was cut to less than half of its pre-burst size.

Nevada shows as low a tax and pro-business view as any state. In fact it would likely have to increase taxation to do much more. Providing improved land and such costs. It has a ready and willing labor force of some size. Not a great technical or professional staff but lots of willing workers. It has one major disadvantage...it is a place where the labor unions are quite strong. So anyone coming in has to deal with that...probably a killer for factories.