An order is forthcoming on whether Henry Ruggs III’s medical records will be released to prosecutors. [8NewsNow]
Chip Siegel explains why the medical records are important. [KTNV]
Ozzie Fumo speaks on bringing change to DA’s office. [Nevada Current]
Details begin to emerge on how CCSD Board and Superintendent Jara intend to resolve their differences (spoiler: it’s mediation and assurances/concessions by the majority of the Board). [Las Vegas Sun; RJ]
Student denied emergency relief in Nevada vaccination suit. [AP News]
Judge Walsh attended Illinois State University for his undergraduate studies, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with a Minor in Legal Studies and Economics in 1982. In 1989, he went on to receive his Juris Doctorate from John Marshall School of Law. He was admitted to the Nevada State Bar in 1989 and the Illinois State Bar in 1990. Judge Walsh is also a member of the Clark County Pro Bono Project.
Prior to being appointed to Las Vegas Justice Court Department 1, Judge Walsh sat as a Judge Pro Tem for Las Vegas Justice Court and North Las Vegas Justice Court. He maintained a successful law practice as Senior Partner at Walsh & Friedman, Ltd. Judge Walsh is an active member of the Las Vegas community; he is the Community Advisor for the Assistance League of Las Vegas, President of the Las Vegas Chapter of The Unforgettables Foundation and has been a Board Member for the Peoples Autism Foundation.
Judge Robert Walsh was appointed to Las Vegas Justice Court Department 1 in February 2018 and will serve for the remainder of the current calendar year.
Elana Graham is the current JP in Department 1, so I'm assuming he's a Pro Tem. Are we really allowing Pro Tems to make these decisions? Who is he filling in for?
If you were a JP, and didn't want to make a difficult or publicly controversial decision, maybe you would calendar the matter for a day when you were off, so that a Pro-Tem could take the heat. Maybe? Perhaps the upcoming election cycle is a consideration. Maybe.
re: CCSD
Good morning all. Can you tolerate a rant today?
I have heard it reported that CCSD ranks about 49 out of 50 states. I didn't find that stat, but 8th grade math performance is in the 27th percentile. Other subject scoring is similar.
Now consider that in the late 60's CCSD was also one of the worst in the nation. I came into the system from a southern state not known for scholastic achievement, Georgia. Yet I sailed through high school without cracking a book.
We spend a huge amount of money for Nevada schools (check your property tax bill for a list of added on taxes for schools). After all these years, you would think that a competently run school (and a helpful union) could have pulled CCSD from a bottom ranking to at least "average". Instead, the district, I have heard, recently decided that no student could ever receive less that a 50% grade. I also understand that the grading structure has also slid, so that it is easier to obtain a "C" and domino like, "A"'s and "B"'s. All part of a culture that every student should get a trophy for participation.
Thank for listening.
When you say things like participation trophy, you undermine your credibility. Other than that comment, you actually make some good points.
CCSD's problems have little to nothing to do with a participation trophy culture. I came through CCSD schools and they were terrible back then. They have NOT gotten better. The district spends millions on administration, but has had a problem attracting and retaining good teachers because they pay poverty wages.
The teachers' union (contrary to popular belief) does not actually protect the teachers or help them. I remember when I was in high school there was a vote – take a couple thousand dollar bonus or an incremental percentage raise. The union took the bonus which was worth significantly less than the raise over the course of a few years.
I had friends in college who interviewed for a teaching job at CCSD, but couldn't afford it because the starting pay was so low.
Meanwhile, the ed shed is overflowing with high salaries and bloated budgets.
CCSD is a major liability in family relocation cases because unless the other parent is trying to relocate to Alabama, every other state has better schools.
A good start to fixing the district would be to fire at least 1/2 the administration. A good second step would be to dissolve the board of trustees and start appointing trustees who are actually qualified instead of the morons they've got there now.
CCSD has serious problems, sure. First and foremost being that they have 320,000 kids to educate without a serious tax base. I love Nevada, and I love that we are relatively low cost of living, but it has consequences. I disagree that there are bloated budgets. Everyone is on a shoestring, and that includes the Ed Mansion. Second, there are complaints about administrative bloat. One superintendent can't oversee 374 schools with any reasonable amount of attention to detail. It just can't be done. So it's broken down into 7 regions, and each region gets its own regional superintendent and 4 assistants. If you were to break it up and make seven smaller districts, you'd still have the same amount of staff, minus maybe one overarching superintendent. Not because of kingdom building or acquiring more fiefs, but because overseeing 15 high schools, 18 middle schools, and 70 elementary schools is not a one-person job.
San Jose's metro area has a similar population to Las Vegas metro area: about 2 million. It is served by 19 school districts. The largest, SJUSD, is about half the size of any given region of CCSD. Its budget is 446 million. So take SJUSD, double it, and multiply by 7, and you get $6.2 billion. CCSD's actual budget? 2.4 billion.
Don't get me wrong, 2.4 billion with a B is a whole lotta chedder. But, uh, once you actually need to service 320,000 students, many with ESL issues, it doesn't go nearly as far as you think it might. Teacher salaries are crap, but that's because the revenue pool is crap. Don't even get me started on teachers who get degrees from diploma mills so that they can get pay raises.
You won't get any argument from me about the quality of our trustees.
Not the same at all. At least with a law degree there's a chance of making a six-figure salary out of law school. Not even remotely close to being a teacher, knowing there is a 100% chance you will not be paid a high.salary.
The only viable reason to keep CCSD together would be if it was efficiently implementing some type of economies of scale. However, as 1:13 has pointed out, that simply is not possible and – frankly – it is not happening. One superintendent cannot oversee 56 high schools, 60 middle schools, and 235 elementary schools. So, CCSD has been broken up into 3 regions (each with its own region superintendent and 4 associate superintendents). Now, not only are we paying Dr. Jara's inflated salary of $430k+ (plus whatever John Bailey takes the County for as a result of the Board of Trustees' incompetence), but also the salaries of 15 ADDITIONAL SUPERINTENDENTS… Where you normally would keep an enterprise this big together for the purposes of cost sharing, here, there is none. Everything CCSD has done is duplicative. If we are going to keep the region supers, cut the highest earners and send Jara back to Florida. Its way past time to break up CCSD and get rid of this structure where we have superintendents over our superintendents.
It is not possible, politically, to break up CCSD. There are too many employees with a personal financial stake in the status quo. They will fight like hell to protect their interests and fiefdoms. In contrast, the parents who are most likely to fight to break up CCSD have their kids in charter or private schools (as our family does) and have developed a feeling of indifference towards CCSD problems. The parents of kids in CCSD are disproportionately less educated and overworked. They do not have the power to break up CCSD. The sun will consume the earth in a fire ball of glory before CCSD breaks up.
Billing will be the death of me. Not the work that results in the billing – but the actual data entry. I would rather slit my wrists and bleed out than sit here and do this crap which at this point is nearly two weeks late. Every month, for one day a month, I age an entire year year. At this rate I will, in fact, be dead soon so it's been nice knowing you. End of rant.
Flat fee which are inherently more fair, in alignment with every single supplier, retailer, shopkeeper, provider of services in the entire history of the world (even in bartering societies – yes, I was a history major, I knew it would come in handy one day hahahah), and clients like it better, it is perfect, except, oh wait, yeah, the long-arm of Biglaw, I mean the Nevada State Bar, hates Flat Fees (despite almost every other state bar accepting them – Google it).
I hate billing. 1:41 is correct, do it every day (do as I say, not as I do). Getting a bill app on your phone so you can enter the data into your billing system. If your firm can't or will not get a system with smart phone compatible app, then quit.
Guest
Anonymous
December 9, 2021 9:42 pm
It's way more efficient and easy to bill as you do something. I know a guy who spends a week at the end of every month entering all time which makes no sense to me.
Hard to say if any of the advance opinions are interesting when they're unavailable on the website.
This may be a silly question, but who is Judge Robert Walsh? I don't find him on the Justice Court website as a sitting judge.
Robert Walsh
Department One
Las Vegas Township Justice Court
Appointed February 2018
Christine Moreno, Judicial Executive Assistant
(702) 671-4624 • (702) 671-3342 Fax
Judge Walsh attended Illinois State University for his undergraduate studies, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with a Minor in Legal Studies and Economics in 1982. In 1989, he went on to receive his Juris Doctorate from John Marshall School of Law. He was admitted to the Nevada State Bar in 1989 and the Illinois State Bar in 1990. Judge Walsh is also a member of the Clark County Pro Bono Project.
Prior to being appointed to Las Vegas Justice Court Department 1, Judge Walsh sat as a Judge Pro Tem for Las Vegas Justice Court and North Las Vegas Justice Court. He maintained a successful law practice as Senior Partner at Walsh & Friedman, Ltd. Judge Walsh is an active member of the Las Vegas community; he is the Community Advisor for the Assistance League of Las Vegas, President of the Las Vegas Chapter of The Unforgettables Foundation and has been a Board Member for the Peoples Autism Foundation.
Judge Robert Walsh was appointed to Las Vegas Justice Court Department 1 in February 2018 and will serve for the remainder of the current calendar year.
I think a Pro Tem
So he's been on Justice Court for almost 4 years and has never stood for election??
JPs have six year terms. This one expires next year.
Elana Graham is the current JP in Department 1, so I'm assuming he's a Pro Tem. Are we really allowing Pro Tems to make these decisions? Who is he filling in for?
Yes he is a pro tem. And we let pro tems/seniors make decisions on whatever comes before the Court.
If you were a JP, and didn't want to make a difficult or publicly controversial decision, maybe you would calendar the matter for a day when you were off, so that a Pro-Tem could take the heat. Maybe? Perhaps the upcoming election cycle is a consideration. Maybe.
Ruggs is in Department 13 in front of Baucum.
re: CCSD
Good morning all. Can you tolerate a rant today?
I have heard it reported that CCSD ranks about 49 out of 50 states. I didn't find that stat, but 8th grade math performance is in the 27th percentile. Other subject scoring is similar.
Now consider that in the late 60's CCSD was also one of the worst in the nation. I came into the system from a southern state not known for scholastic achievement, Georgia. Yet I sailed through high school without cracking a book.
We spend a huge amount of money for Nevada schools (check your property tax bill for a list of added on taxes for schools). After all these years, you would think that a competently run school (and a helpful union) could have pulled CCSD from a bottom ranking to at least "average". Instead, the district, I have heard, recently decided that no student could ever receive less that a 50% grade. I also understand that the grading structure has also slid, so that it is easier to obtain a "C" and domino like, "A"'s and "B"'s. All part of a culture that every student should get a trophy for participation.
Thank for listening.
Our terrible school district isn't the result of a single factor, but many. CCSD should be broken up, but that alone is not a panacea.
When you say things like participation trophy, you undermine your credibility. Other than that comment, you actually make some good points.
CCSD's problems have little to nothing to do with a participation trophy culture. I came through CCSD schools and they were terrible back then. They have NOT gotten better. The district spends millions on administration, but has had a problem attracting and retaining good teachers because they pay poverty wages.
The teachers' union (contrary to popular belief) does not actually protect the teachers or help them. I remember when I was in high school there was a vote – take a couple thousand dollar bonus or an incremental percentage raise. The union took the bonus which was worth significantly less than the raise over the course of a few years.
I had friends in college who interviewed for a teaching job at CCSD, but couldn't afford it because the starting pay was so low.
Meanwhile, the ed shed is overflowing with high salaries and bloated budgets.
CCSD is a major liability in family relocation cases because unless the other parent is trying to relocate to Alabama, every other state has better schools.
A good start to fixing the district would be to fire at least 1/2 the administration. A good second step would be to dissolve the board of trustees and start appointing trustees who are actually qualified instead of the morons they've got there now.
CCSD has serious problems, sure. First and foremost being that they have 320,000 kids to educate without a serious tax base. I love Nevada, and I love that we are relatively low cost of living, but it has consequences. I disagree that there are bloated budgets. Everyone is on a shoestring, and that includes the Ed Mansion. Second, there are complaints about administrative bloat. One superintendent can't oversee 374 schools with any reasonable amount of attention to detail. It just can't be done. So it's broken down into 7 regions, and each region gets its own regional superintendent and 4 assistants. If you were to break it up and make seven smaller districts, you'd still have the same amount of staff, minus maybe one overarching superintendent. Not because of kingdom building or acquiring more fiefs, but because overseeing 15 high schools, 18 middle schools, and 70 elementary schools is not a one-person job.
San Jose's metro area has a similar population to Las Vegas metro area: about 2 million. It is served by 19 school districts. The largest, SJUSD, is about half the size of any given region of CCSD. Its budget is 446 million. So take SJUSD, double it, and multiply by 7, and you get $6.2 billion. CCSD's actual budget? 2.4 billion.
Don't get me wrong, 2.4 billion with a B is a whole lotta chedder. But, uh, once you actually need to service 320,000 students, many with ESL issues, it doesn't go nearly as far as you think it might. Teacher salaries are crap, but that's because the revenue pool is crap. Don't even get me started on teachers who get degrees from diploma mills so that they can get pay raises.
You won't get any argument from me about the quality of our trustees.
Why do so many teachers go into teaching to then complain about the pay? I'll never understand.
Same reason so many 22 year olds go to law school then complaint that the back end salary isn't worth the student loan debt.
Not the same at all. At least with a law degree there's a chance of making a six-figure salary out of law school. Not even remotely close to being a teacher, knowing there is a 100% chance you will not be paid a high.salary.
1:13 PM, that's a really excellent comparative breakdown.
The only viable reason to keep CCSD together would be if it was efficiently implementing some type of economies of scale. However, as 1:13 has pointed out, that simply is not possible and – frankly – it is not happening. One superintendent cannot oversee 56 high schools, 60 middle schools, and 235 elementary schools. So, CCSD has been broken up into 3 regions (each with its own region superintendent and 4 associate superintendents). Now, not only are we paying Dr. Jara's inflated salary of $430k+ (plus whatever John Bailey takes the County for as a result of the Board of Trustees' incompetence), but also the salaries of 15 ADDITIONAL SUPERINTENDENTS… Where you normally would keep an enterprise this big together for the purposes of cost sharing, here, there is none. Everything CCSD has done is duplicative. If we are going to keep the region supers, cut the highest earners and send Jara back to Florida. Its way past time to break up CCSD and get rid of this structure where we have superintendents over our superintendents.
It is not possible, politically, to break up CCSD. There are too many employees with a personal financial stake in the status quo. They will fight like hell to protect their interests and fiefdoms. In contrast, the parents who are most likely to fight to break up CCSD have their kids in charter or private schools (as our family does) and have developed a feeling of indifference towards CCSD problems. The parents of kids in CCSD are disproportionately less educated and overworked. They do not have the power to break up CCSD. The sun will consume the earth in a fire ball of glory before CCSD breaks up.
https://www.thescopeofpractice.com/why-are-teachers-more-likely-than-physicians-to-become-millionaires/
Bless the CCSD with the idiots in charge there.
Billing will be the death of me. Not the work that results in the billing – but the actual data entry. I would rather slit my wrists and bleed out than sit here and do this crap which at this point is nearly two weeks late. Every month, for one day a month, I age an entire year year. At this rate I will, in fact, be dead soon so it's been nice knowing you. End of rant.
Bill each day. Or better yet, at the end of each task. It's not easy, but you'll eventually get into the habit. Good luck!
Flat fee which are inherently more fair, in alignment with every single supplier, retailer, shopkeeper, provider of services in the entire history of the world (even in bartering societies – yes, I was a history major, I knew it would come in handy one day hahahah), and clients like it better, it is perfect, except, oh wait, yeah, the long-arm of Biglaw, I mean the Nevada State Bar, hates Flat Fees (despite almost every other state bar accepting them – Google it).
I hate billing. 1:41 is correct, do it every day (do as I say, not as I do). Getting a bill app on your phone so you can enter the data into your billing system. If your firm can't or will not get a system with smart phone compatible app, then quit.
It's way more efficient and easy to bill as you do something. I know a guy who spends a week at the end of every month entering all time which makes no sense to me.