The Hollywood Aquatic Center will be the newest addition to the Hollywood Community Park. Once all of the funding has been secured, it will be a single-story masonry building with a mostly glass enclosed indoor pool that will be able to take full advantage of the Las Vegas valley views. This project consists of a 25 yard x 25 meter competitive pool, side teaching pool and a 7,368 square-foot outdoor activity pool. The building will also have a training room, locker rooms, restrooms and administrative spaces. The entire building footprint will be 29,470 square feet and an additional 200 parking spaces will be provided at the center for the public.

This facility will hold high school swim competitions, swimming classes, free swim daily and various other water exercise activities during the entire year. 

During the summer months, the outdoor activity pool will be open to the public. Featuring a zero depth “beach” style entry, the outdoor activity pool will include 2 waterslides, several other water play toys, with a “lazy river” area and over 17,000 square feet of usable pool deck. With the environment in mind, the Hollywood Aquatic Center focuses on being “green” by including many recycled building materials, utilizing local regional products and also incorporating the use of solar energy to help heat the pools. This aquatic center will provide a relaxing, fun & environmentally responsible facility for all of the residents of this district.

Fifth-Grader Gets Her Art Displayed on Anti-Graffiti Bus

Article Courtesy of Regional Transportation Commission

RTC Unveils Grease Bus on Earth Day

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) unveiled its 40-foot long grease-powered bus last month. The environmentally friendly bus will bare sustainability-themed artwork on its sides.

The artists who will have their artwork displayed on the bus are Rolf Pangilman of Becker Middle School and Kiana Spengler of Mojave High School. 

The grease bus will be used as a training vehicle and will travel throughout the valley. The oil in the bus will be strained and then directly mixed with diesel, requiring less processing than biodiesel fuel. It will run on recycled grease from the kitchen of N9NE Steakhouse, co-owned by Jenna Morton.

Ah, what to wear for prom? It's an age-old question high school junior and senior girls ask themselves before donning that special dress, which invariably ends up in the back of the closet after the big night is all over.

Prom Fairy, a non-profit organization, offers to take those slightly used and oft-ignored dresses and accessories and donate them to underprivileged teens in need of a special night of their own. 

In order to be eligible to receive a dress, girls must show their student identification, maintain no less than a C average and qualify for the free or reduced student lunch program. A teacher or counselor can also refer a student to the program. 

Anyone wanting to donate dresses, shoes, jewelry and other accessories can go to www.thepromfairy.org to find out where to donate. Donations are taken all year long and can  be sent by mail to: The Prom Fairy Foundation, P.O. Box 93281, Las Vegas, NV 89193.

Unsafe Pools in Your Area

One way to protect our families is to make sure that our swimming pools are secure. Each year we are faced with many near-drowning and drowning deaths of our youth. One near-drowning is one too many.  

There are many vacant homes with swimming pools. If there is a vacant home in your neighborhood with a pool, and the backyard is not secure, please contact Clark County Code Enforcement at (702) 455-4191 or my office immediately at (702) 455-3503. 

This is considered an immediate public safety hazard and I will work with staff and the Southern Nevada Health District to get the site secured and the pool drained if possible. We would like to make sure all of these homes are secure before school is let out for summer break.

What To Do With Stagnant Pools in Your Neighborhood

The Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) will respond to all citizen-generated complaints of stagnant swimming pools. Code Enforcement agencies are available to assist, however they do not have chemicals to prevent mosquito breeding. Each code group has different pool response protocols; therefore, we will tailor our referral methods to match their response. 

Clark County Code Enforcement:
● Code Enforcement will refer all pool complaints to the health district if the pool appears to be the only issue. 

● Refer complaints to Code Enforcement if the property has solid waste or other code violations in conjunction with the pool. 

● Code Enforcement will immediately drain pools that pose an imminent danger such as missing or broken protective barrier gates.

● Suzanne Riddle is the central Code Enforcement contact, SXR@co.clark.nv.us; Office: (702) 455-7655; Fax: (702) 455-2080 

● If complaints are referred to Code Enforcement for solid waste or imminent danger hazards such as missing or broken protective barrier gates, notify Suzanne via e-mail. Use the property address as the subject, add photos as necessary.

If you live within an incorporated city, please contact the following agencies:

City of Henderson: Dan Parrott,  phone: 267-3955 Dan.Parrott@cityofhenderson.com

City of Las Vegas: Vicki Ozuna, phone: 229-4915, vozuna@lasvegasNevada.gov or Tony Guarino, phone: 229-5103,      tguarino@lasvegasNevada.gov

City of North Las Vegas: Terry Kozlowski, phone 633-1581 KozlowskiT@cityofnorthlasvegas.com

Join Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani on May 14 for "Living for Good Health," a health fair hosted by the Senior Advisory Council and Senior Advocate Office at the Parkdale Senior Center at 3200 Ferndale, Las Vegas.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Government organizations and healthcare providers throughout the county will be on hand to provide information on services and programs for seniors as well as health screening and testing.

A public information meeting regarding the ACE Boulder Highway project is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at the Whitney Community Center:

What:       Public Information Meeting

When:     Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 4 to 7 p.m.
Where:    Whitney Community Center, 

                   5712 Missouri Ave., Las Vegas

The ACE rapid transit system represents a new age of transit for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC). The sleek, modern service will ultimately connect all corners of the valley. ACE rapid transit will have the look and feel of a light rail system, but have the flexibility of running on regular streets. The new vehicles are sophisticated and stylish, but cost considerably less than a light rail system.

The ACE Boulder Highway corridor Rapid Transit system will run on a 17-mile stretch of the Boulder Highway corridor, from Casino Center Boulevard to Horizon Drive in Henderson. From north of Harmon on Boulder Highway, the vehicle will run along the curbs. From south of Harmon, it will operate in the right lane of Boulder Highway.

The key elements of this rapid transit are:

• Dedicated lanes where there will be only the rapid transit vehicle, to avoid congestion and provide rapid service 

• Station platforms with amenities such as protection from the weather and sun, generous lighting, ticket vending machines and displays announcing the time estimated to the next vehicle arrival 

• Platforms located near major centers of use for greatest efficiency; 

• Transit ways designed to complement the corridor and adjacent land uses and 

• Transit signal priority. 

The ACE Boulder Highway rapid transit system will be a fast, reliable, cost-effective, very modern transit network.

The RTC is funding, designing, constructing and implementing this transit way, in cooperation with the Nevada Department of Transportation. The RTC has coordinated with the planning departments of Clark County, and the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson in the process of studying and planning this transit system.  For more information, contact the RTC at 676-1500.

Clark County provides the following resources to registered NPZ’s:

• Graffiti removal training
• Supplies for removing graffiti, trash and debris
• Educational information regarding Clark County Code Enforcement
• Information on the availability of neighborhood grants

After meeting for several weeks, the Vegas Manor II NPZ plans a neighborhood cleanup that will take place in May.  Photos and results will be featured in the June newsletter.  For more information, please contact Tamara at 455-0560.

Federal Government Targets Mortgage Scam Companies

Unscrupulous mortgage companies are targeting unsuspecting and often struggling homeowners by promising to refinance their home using money from the Obama administration.

Frauds often involve companies with official-sounding names. The Federal Trade Commission has warned 71 companies and filed compliants against the Federal Loan Modification Law Center, based in Northridge, Ca; Bailout.hud-gov.us of Newport Beach, Ca; and Home Assure LLC, based out of Clearwater, Fla.

There are currently 2,100 mortgage fraud cases under investigation by the FBI, an increase of about 400 from five years ago. 

Homeowners can locate free housing counselors at http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov or by calling (888) 995-HOPE. 

Message From the Feral Cat Colony Central Sponsor

When you start trying to manage something, it is important that you have some way to measure progress and success. It is generally accepted that managing feral cats with Trap, Neuter, and Return (TNR) is a good thing to do but when government resources are involved concrete answers need to be provided. 

At the individual colony level, several things are looked at. The first is a colony caretaker being actively involved with managing the colony. This is vital to the long-term success of the project. Spay/neuter rates must be very high. A 70 percent rate will hold the population stable. A 90 percent-plus rate is required for truly effective management. The high S/N rates will reduce the number of kittens born in the colony to virtually none. The number of complaints from neighbors should decline as the behavior of the cats improves. Population levels of the colony should decline over time, as members being lost are not replaced with new kittens. The colony is turned from an active breeding colony into a retirement community. 

For overall success, each colony needs to be managed properly and there needs to be a sufficient number of colonies under management. As the Central Sponsor I am tracking the colonies being registered, the spay/neuter rates and problems with the colonies. The number of registered colonies is steadily increasing and I hope to have about 250 by the end of the year. 

At the community level, other things are used as measures. One of the most popular is the euthanasia rate at the shelters. These numbers are influenced by not just feral cats but also by surrendering of owned pets. In some communities this rate has been reduced by as much as 50 percent. This is not only better for the cats, it saves taxpayer money that could be better used for other things. With the reduced numbers and improved behavior of managed feral cats, the number of complaints to Animal Control should be reduced. This will free up resources for other priorities. With increased awareness of TNR the low cost or free spay/neuter surgeries should become more available. Currently projects are in the pipeline to double the capacity to do high quality, low cost surgeries. 

As our progress is monitored, we will continue to develop and refine the way things are done to provide the greatest benefit for the cats and the community as a whole.

For information on upcoming TNR classes and the TNR process, please visit my Web site at http://www.clarkcountyferalcats.org.

Go "Where Fun Happens"

Looking for something to do? Click here for a list of events going on in Clark County parks this week.

District E Map