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Teachers, Schools Awarded Grants for Classrooms 
Twenty teachers who wrote winning essays about motivating and educating their students received $500 checks to use in their classrooms.
This was the fourth year Commissioner Weekly has teamed with Citi to reward exceptional educators from District D schools. Citi provided the money awarded to the teachers and gave the Brinley, Gibson and West middle schools $5,000 each. The grants for the middle schools fund after-school tutoring in reading, math and science and have helped those schools improve in those areas during the last four years.
The teachers were recognized during an Oct. 23 ceremony at the Clark County Government Center.
"Education is the foundation of success," Weekly said. "We all must do all we can to support our students, teachers and schools. I am proud to recognize these truly inspiring teachers and I am thankful they have chosen to teach in our community. I know this money will help them bring additional resources to their classrooms."
Joining Weekly at the ceremony were Commission Chairman Rory Reid, Clark County School District Superintendent Walt Ruffles, and Barbara Mulholland, vice president chief state officer of Citi in Nevada.
Commissioner Scoops and Sells for United Way 
Commissioner Weekly builds an ice cream sundae during an Oct. 24 event at the Clark County Government Center. Weekly and his staff raised $300 for the United Way in a little over an hour.
I n early September, an open house and dedication ceremony welcomed the John Chambers Apartments to District D.
The apartments are a wheelchair accessible, affordable, independent living community for adults with physical disabilities. The apartment building, located at 2030 Camel St. Las Vegas, was developed and is now being managed by Accessible Space Inc.
The twenty-five one and two-bedroom apartments there comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines and provide a number of adaptive and accessible features such as lever-action handles on 36-inch wide doors with lowered "peep" holes and wheelchair kick plates; an open apartment floor plan that eliminates hallways and tight corners; raised electrical outlets and lowered light switches; roll-under counters and sinks in the kitchen and bath; and oversized roll-in showers with adjustable shower heads.
The building also provides a "hands free" proximity reader controlled access entry system. Common areas and other public spaces are also fully accessible, and hallways are extra wide to allow individuals in wheelchairs to pass each other without interference. Additional apartment and community features include on-site laundry facilities with front loading washer and dryer, an outdoor patio with gas grill, a community room and an on-site resident maintenance caretaker.
Qualifying households pay rent based on 30 percent of their monthly income, with rental assistance provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
"This project helps fill a critical need in our community by creating affordable housing opportunities for the disabled," Commissioner Weekly said. "Clark County is proud to be a financial partner in this endeavor. We have worked with Accessible Space, Inc. to develop accessible housing projects throughout our community. This increases housing choices for the disabled so they can stay closer to friends and relatives."
The development and construction of John Chambers Apartments was made possible with funding provided by a number of sources including $2,954,700 from HUD's Section 811 Supportive Housing Program, and $904,347 from county sources.
For more information about the apartments please call Accessible Space, Inc. at 1-800-466-7722 or TTY/TDD at 1-800-627-3529.
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BINGO
A man eyes the Bingo prizes from Commissioner Weekly. The Commissioner helped with Bingo and chatted with folks at the Walnut and Martin Luther King senior centers over the summer.
Marching Back to School 
The Canyon Springs High School Marching Band provided some unexpected but welcome entertainment for the Back to School Fair, which was held in late August at the Walnut Senior Center. More than 2,500 children took home free backpacks and schools supplies from the event that gave District D families a little help getting ready for school.
Nearly 200 local students came together for Commissioner Weekly's fourth annual Hispanic Youth Leadership Summit on Sept. 28.
The half-day conference, held at the West Las Vegas Library, featured lectures and discussions on money management and banking, leadership and social responsibility and goal setting.
State Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen joined the commissioner to speak to the students, who came from the Advanced Technologies Academy, Canyon Springs High School, Cheyenne High School, Desert Pines High School, Las Vegas Academy, Rancho High School and Western High School.
"It was a great conference," Weekly said. "These teenagers and young adults heard about the importance of education from some of our business and political leaders."
The summit was sponsored by the Bank of Nevada, Latin Chamber of Commerce, The Peter Guzman Corp., Magic Brite Janitorial, Ahern Rentals and Veolia Transportation.
Teen Town Hall
Commissioner Weekly and special guest host Justin Guarini of 'American Idol' fame hosted a frank discussion of concerns and issues facing our youth during the commissioner's Oct. 4 Teen Town Hall.
More than 200 students from area high schools packed the Commission Chambers at the Clark County Government Center to talk about school uniforms, cheating on tests and school safety.
The teens were also concerned about the city's focus on entertainment for those over 21 and said there isn't enough for teens such as themselves to do.
Before the town-meeting style discussion, the students perused presentations from union apprentice programs and local colleges.
"It is important to let our youth raise their concerns and have them discussed in a safe and organized environment as we did here," Weekly said. "It was also important to show them a few of the career and higher education opportunities out there."
The participating schools were the Advanced Technologies Academy, Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, Canyon Springs High School, Cheyenne High School, Desert Pines High School, Las Vegas Academy, Rancho High School and Western High School.
The organizations on hand before the Town Hall meeting included the College of Southern Nevada, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada State College, Local Union Painters & Allied Trades Joint Apprenticeship Training Program, Plasterers & Cement Masons Apprenticeship, The Center for Academic Enrichment Outreach, and the North Las Vegas Police Cadet Program.
Senior Luau 
Hawaiian food, hula dancing, and live music filled the room for Commissioner Weekly's fifth annual Senior Luau on Oct. 11.
About 300 senior citizens from housing authority senior apartments, senior centers and community centers in District D attended the party, which was held at the World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas.
In addition to the entertainment provided by the group "Hot Lava," prizes including a $1,000 shopping spree were raffled off.
"It was great to see so many of my friends and neighbors come together for an evening of food and fun," Weekly said. "I'm happy to have been able to again give this thank you to those people in the community who have done so much to make us who we are."
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