Grass surrounding ballfields at Hemenway Park and Veterans Memorial Park will be replaced with trees and shrubbery that consume less water.

The city predicts the change will save $3,400 and 5.7 million gallons of water every year — 55 gallons per square foot.

Work began last month and should finish in mid-December on the $231,380 project, which will remove 104,400 square feet of turf, City Engineer Jim Keane said.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority and Clark County Regional Flood Control District will refund the city $200,159, he said.

The balance will come from residential construction tax revenue.

Keane said grass on slopes outside the fences of fields at both parks was difficult to mow and wasted water, which flowed downhill.

At Veterans Memorial Park, trees and shrubs will cover half of the area the lawn did, and landscape gravel will fill the rest.

At Hemenway Park, the area to be converted is a storm water detention basin, so half of new look will be trees and shrubs and the other half will be larger rocks.

The city last month replaced a smaller grassy area at the Public Works shops on Railroad Avenue, and a year and a half ago converted lawns at ABC Park to desert landscape.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or cassie.tomlin@hbcpub.com.

Source: lasvegassun.com

One woman died and a man was critically injured Oct. 1, when their truck veered off U.S. 93 at Pacifica Way.

The driver, 50-year-old Theresa Lynn Bettler, of Pahrump, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 51-year-old passenger was taken by helicopter to University Medical Center trauma.

The 1995 Toyota pickup heading southbound on U.S. 93 swerved off the road and rolled just after 6 p.m. No other vehicles were involved, Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Kevin Honea said.

Bettler was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle, he said.

About 6:45 p.m., traffic both ways was halted for 20 minutes while the helicopter landed on the highway, Boulder City Police Chief Thomas Finn said

He said the truck was driving erratically and at a high rate of speed.

A cat was badly injured when it was ejected from the car and was euthanized by Boulder City Animal Control, Finn said.

source: lasvegassun.com

Despite a storm damaging 30 booths and lower spending amid a nationwide economic crisis, Art in the Park made much more money this year than last year, Boulder City Hospital officials said.

Though revenue tallies hadn't been finalized Monday, Wendy Christ-Kyser, the Boulder City Hospital Foundation director and fair organizer, and Yvonne Waggner, the hospital's chief financial officer, said the event brought in more than last year's $143,000.

The 46th annual Art in the Park, a two-day show benefiting the Boulder City Hospital Foundation, drew about 100,000 people to browse 360 artists, food booth and bands throughout downtown parks.

The event Saturday and Sunday overcame more than the weather and the timing of the presidential campaigns, always a less fruitful period for art shows, Christ-Kyser said.

Neither she nor Waggner heard any complaints about the cost of shuttles to downtown parks from overflow parking at the old airport hangar on Nevada Highway, they said. The rides cost $1.25 each way.

This year, because of federal charter laws, the Regional Transportation Commission couldn't provide the bus rides for free as it had for seven years.

Also, ArtEve, the inaugural pre-festival reception at Boulder Dam Hotel on Friday, drew about 200 people, and raised extra money for the Boulder City Hospital Foundation.

Storms Saturday night had Christ-Kyser and company up until 2:30 a.m. Sunday calling artists whose booths had been toppled, she said.

Rain and wind destroyed some artist's collections, forcing them to pack up that night and ditch the second day of the show, she said.

Others reported decent sales this year, though as Christ-Kyser noted, "People are leery of spending $2,000 or $3,000 on a painting this year."

Bob Wilfong, who brought his work to Art in the Park for the third year, said his bronze pieces survived the storm, and he even sold a couple.

The Las Vegas banker-turned-sculptor with a background in biology said, considering the current political and economic situation, he was content with the show.

"People can justify buying functional art," he said, motioning to next door booths selling pottery and jewelry boxes. "My work is functional, but it performs at a different level."

Wilfong said his figures and shapes are healing and allude to a different consciousness. "But people don't see that when they're hungry."

Even if he hadn't sold a thing, he said, his goal as an artist was realized if his sculptures had a positive effect on people.

"There are places, like this festival, to go to enjoy art," he said. "Because of what art gives (artists,) we have a responsibility to give back in a public place."

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or cassie.tomlin@hbcpub.com.

source: lasvegassun.com

The students in Boulder City High School's Club 328 are proving themselves to be movers and shakers — literally.

Club 328 students are members of the special education program at the school. They've renamed themselves to get away from any stereotype that normally comes with being special education, Jackie DeSilva, program teacher, said.

With a few students showing off their moves on the dance floor Sept. 26 during a Southeast Region special programs get-together at Foothill High School, they demonstrated some of the enthusiasm they pour into all aspects of their lives.

"It's to promote as much normalcy as possible," Pam Charles, Foothill teacher, said. "Our kids enjoy seeing each other. They like going to dances, and they want to be social."

The students go on weekly outings to various places. Some of the trips have included such practical destinations as Jack in the Box to learn how to fill out job applications and Albertsons to shop for supplies.

"We do a trip a week, even if we have to beg, borrow and steal to do it," DeSilva said.

The students have shown themselves to be pretty good at making money. The five students in the program run the student store before school and in the afternoons, making $20,000 for the school each year.

Foothill acted as their weekly outing on Sept. 26, where a dance provided fun for the students.

It was themed "Back to Rydell," and several students and teachers showed up in "Grease"-appropriate costumes, including a few Pink Ladies jackets and a lot of poodle skirts, jeans and leather.

"I actually think it's really cool," Maegan Leggett, 14, said.

Leggett said she enjoys the movie, especially the main male lead, Danny Zucko, played by John Travolta.

"It would be nice to meet him," she said. "He's so hot."

Other activities were available for the students, including bingo, hoop tosses, face painting and fishing.

Beyond playing the games, Leggett enjoyed being able to see old friends, including one boy who used to attend her school but moved to Henderson during the summer.

Tieler Wells, 16, the club historian, brought his camera to the event to take pictures of his friends and teacher enjoying the activities.

Photography is one of his hobbies, he said, and he makes sure to take his camera everywhere so he can capture all of the fun things they do.

He had a smile on his face each time he pulled the camera out of his pocket to capture another moment.

Frances Vanderploeg can be reached at 990-2660 or frances.vanderploeg@hbcpub.com.

source: lasvegassun.com

Two Gals, a longtime popular Nevada Highway breakfast and lunch joint, closed this month after its owner was served an eviction notice.

The shuttered cafe and adjoining Two Gals Too Lounge leave behind a loyal following of morning feasters and afternoon drinkers who say there was no place quite like it.

Elmer Marshall, the landlord, said he plans to rent the place to a new owner for a new restaurant later this year.

Marshall said the new Two Gals owner, Donald Douffrant, was four months behind on rent payments and owed $11,000 when a constable was sent earlier this month with a notice to vacate.

On Sept. 3, Douffrant didn't show up to work, canceled his business license, and the restaurant has been closed since, Marshall and city officials said.

Efforts to contact Douffrant were unsuccessful. He is not listed in the phone book and had no phone number on file with the city or the Chamber of Commerce.

Douffrant took over the business from John and Vicki Harr in May 2007, but the place opened in the 1970s as Two Gals from Cal.

Dib Campbell was a ringleader of a group of friends who met weekly at Two Gals for breakfast. For seven years, every Tuesday at 7 a.m., ROMEO — short for Real Old Men Eating Out — assembled in the lounge.

It was the kind of thing small town cafes are made of: same time, same place, no agenda and a full house of regulars.

"We had an outstanding lady that was our own waitress sort of, and it was a come and go thing," he said.

But Campbell said he was as shocked as anybody to learn the restaurant had closed, and now the ROMEOs are without a hub.

Two Gals was quiet and private and would accommodate the group of a dozen to 20 regulars, he said.

"We're treading water now. We don't have a place that meets our needs that we can find," he said.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or cassie.tomlin@hbcpub.com.

source: lvrj.com