RIP Harry Reid

  • Law

  • RIP boxer, lawyer, and senator:  Harry Reid. [TNI; RJ; RGJ]
  • RIP former County Commissioner and significant figure in the development of family court, Myrna Williams. [eighthjdcourt blog; RJ]
  • Metro will pay $525,000 to settle with man who was shot while fleeing naked and unarmed. [RJFox6 Milwaukee
  • Here’s your friendly reminder that the CLE deadline is Friday.
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 5:51 pm

Why do I need to learn about settlements by LVMPD by the Fox affiliate in Milwaukee?

Quickdraw McLaw
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Quickdraw McLaw
December 29, 2021 5:55 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Sorry, we're on vacation and missed that it was in the RJ already. Added the link.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 6:04 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I appreciate you and was not meaning to take a shot at the Admins. More a shot at the local media and at how often I learn about local legal happenings from foreign media.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 6:21 pm

RIP John Madden and Myrna Williams. She seemed like a cool lady

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 6:31 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Amongst other all of her accomplishments was the trivia that she was the sister of the Velvet Fog.

anonymous
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anonymous
December 29, 2021 9:27 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Someone who hasn't been talked about much in the last several years, but in her day she was a force to be reckoned with, and she did a tremendous amount of good for this community. RIP.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 10:11 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Was she not one of the county commissioners in her later years who was not put in jail or removed for ethic issues? It is funny, I always was intrigued by her voice.

anonymous
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anonymous
December 29, 2021 11:28 pm
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This comment has been removed by the author.

anonymous
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anonymous
December 29, 2021 11:30 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

She was not implicated in the scandal, but some last-minute campaign mailers insinuated otherwise.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 30, 2021 6:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Chris G. falsely smeared Myrna for her own gain. I like Chris but it was filthy stuff at the time from a woman married to her campaign consultant Gary Gray. I will not speak ill of the dead but it was dirty stuff from Team G.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 10:41 pm

Whether or not you are a Harry Reid supporter, no other political figure from our sparsely populated state has even remotely achieved his degree of national success on the Washington leadership stage, and it may well be that none ever does.

For those who were not fans of his in his later Washington leadership years, let's dig back a few years earlier to something hopefully most of us can agree on.

Back in the early and mid-90's(prior to him ascending to highly visible leadership positions) he was quite effective in blocking the Nevada Test Site become a nuclear depository. Most of us agreed we did not want huge quantities of nuclear waste(which can never really be destroyed or effectively decomposed) shipped from back east and elsewhere, to be stored here.

And the rationale offered was that we were sparsely populated, and that therefore the waste could be stored in areas not too close to human habitation–something which is not possible in densely populated eastern states.

We were also fed the highly nebulous, very vague bullshit that it would benefit us to accept other state's nuclear waste as this would "create jobs" for Nevadans.

Just how many jobs it would create, and what the overall effect on the Nevada economy would be, was never addressed in any detail whatsoever. We were simply fed the spineless, defeatist argument that we did not have the power to fight it, it was inevitably on it's way, so that it behooved us to be prudent and negotiate the best goodies we could from this debacle

Of course what was really occurring was quite simple, and did not really focus primarily on it being more safe to store the waste in sparsely populated areas, and had nothing to do with wanting to create jobs for Nevadans or to stimulate the local economy.

The hard truth was simply that we were a state of(relatively speaking) very small population, and no political clout. Therefore we were targeted.

Like him or not, Reid fought the good fight on that and was very effective.

But so far, I have not seen Yuca Mountain mentioned in any of the articles surrounding his death–the articles just tend to focus on his early life struggles and later Senate leadership years.

But for those of us who remember, when Reid fought so hard to prevent the waste from being shipped here, for that moment he appeared to have so much solidarity and support from Republicans and Democrats alike, as well as independents. Over 90% of Nevadans approved of his hard stanch on this critical health and safety issue

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 10:57 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Adam Laxalt will some day be president

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 11:42 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I can credit Reid for that Unfortunately, didn't Judge Du roll over and allow nuclear waste to our state without restriction? I thought I read that a few years ago.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 30, 2021 12:55 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Sorry to hi-jack the Reid praise, but @2:41 is a little hysterical. The whole Yucca Mountain thing is a distraction from the very real problem of where to store nuclear waste. That stuff is piling up all over the country and is a security risk opportunity for terrorist.
Yes, I get it, "Not in my back yard". But then where?

BTW, there is raw radioactive material all over the test site. Hmm…

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 10:47 pm

2:41, I am always one to give the devil his due, and in the wake of his passing I agree we should not focus on polarizing party politics, but should recognize something he accomplished that I believe benefits all of us.

People forget what a huge issue Yucca Mountain was 25 or 30 years(or even 35 years) ago. The issue dragged on for years.

And yes, most of us were in solidarity. I knew no one who supported the waste being shipped here. The "create Nevada jobs" mantra, or that it was "inevitable, so don't bother fighting it" was pretty much just the domain of a handful of compromised politicians in my view. I knew of no non-politician who wanted it here.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 30, 2021 2:06 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I remember when the LVRJ did a series of articles on the science of how the repository was supposed to work, and they did a really good job of showing how much of a "junk science" project it truly was. There were so many "I don't know" answers given when technical questions about the project were asked.

Virtually anybody in their right mind who read these series of articles ended up turning against the entire concept of the Yucca Mountain repository. Yes, the science was really that bad, not only because of the radiation issue but because of the many incomplete holes that were in the project.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 29, 2021 10:54 pm

As a supporter, I can say he accomplished a great deal more than his early Senate career crusade against Yucca Mountain.

But, yes, non-supporters of Reid who remember this issue, and his fight on it, generally give him the credit he is due.

Problem is, most people probably don't remember much about it. They either largely forgot as it was so long ago, or were not yet living in Nevada, or were too young at the time, or whatever be the case.

But for those of us who remember and highly approve of Reid's approach on that issue(which even includes the apparent Non-Reid supporter who posted at 2:47) very well done,Sir.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 30, 2021 1:50 am

First, there were originally two dump sites for radioactive waste, Nevada and Maine. But with Sen. George Mitchell (D Me.) as majority leader, the Maine site was killed without fanfare.

Second, then Congressman Reid was instrumental in getting Nevada's first (and I think still only) national park – Great Basin National Park. I was on his House staff at the time and the rural and mining interests came at us with both barrels. That's his legacy, as well.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 30, 2021 2:55 am
Reply to  Anonymous

The mining interests that ultimately make Reid rich? I think that part of his legacy is why people call him a fraud, using his position for his own financial benefit.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 30, 2021 8:19 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

@5:50
Correction there was a longer list of possible dump sites. After the initial study, the were three (not two) sites in the running. Yucca Mountain geological studies began in 1978, and is widely regarded as the most studies ground in the world. Because of criticisms, the the study was restudied many times by respected institutions. All found the site suitable. The "junk science" that someone mentioned, as I recall, came from the Nevada opposition.