Source: Clean Edge News

Solar, Inc. recently announced that it will build a 10 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) power plant for Sempra Generation near Boulder City, Nevada. First Solar will design, engineer and construct the turnkey PV power plant and will provide monitoring and maintenance services for the plant over its lifetime. Sempra Generation will be the developer for the project, and will own and operate the PV power plant once completed. Construction began in July, and the 10 MW PV power plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. The solar modules to be deployed in this ground-mount project will be produced at First Solar's manufacturing facility in Perrysburg, Ohio.

"Sempra Generation has a proven track record for successful energy resource development and we are pleased to work with them to bring additional renewable electric generation to the region," said Mike Ahearn, chief executive officer of First Solar. The 10 MW PV power plant will be adjacent to Sempra Generation's existing El Dorado combined cycle natural gas plant. By co-locating this new PV power plant with existing infrastructure and the associated interconnection and transmission facilities, Sempra Generation will maximize their land and transmission. As a result, the impact to the immediate environment is minimal and the project completion timeline will be shorter. The PV power plant will serve customers in California and the Western United States.

"This new solar project is another step in Sempra Generation's long- range plan to emerge as a leading renewable-energy developer," said Michael W. Allman, president and chief executive officer of Sempra Generation. "The combination of Sempra Generation's experience in developing power-generation projects in the region with First Solar's expertise in advanced, thin-film photovoltaic solutions is a natural fit."

First Solar is the cost leader in the solar PV industry, driven by an advanced thin film semiconductor manufacturing process. At the end of 2007, over 300 MW of First Solar PV modules had been installed worldwide and First Solar expects to ship 420 to 460 MW of PV modules in 2008. Together with its project partners, First Solar modules have been deployed in several of the largest ground and rooftop PV power plants in the world.

Strickland survives recall attempt, raises questions about petition drive

Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller tossed out the names of 15 signers of the recall petition against Councilwoman Linda Strickland June 26 after his office had received 16 sworn affidavits from persons who claimed under penalty of perjury they had been misled into signing the petition.

Under state law, according to the Secretary of State's Recall Guide, "a person shall not misrepresent the intent or content of a petition for recall; the person who violates this provision is guilty of a misdemeanor."

The Request to Strike Signature forms dating from June 9 to June 11 were gathered by Strickland after she compared the signatures of those who signed not only the recall petition, but an opposing no recall petition, as well.

"I asked myself why was there this inconsistency," she said. "I started calling them, asking them if I did something to make them change their minds. Some of them said sometimes there was completely false information given them as to what they were signing. When (the petition circulators) go and say the document is different than what it is, then it's a complete misrepresentation."

The names and addresses of those who circulated and gathered signatures on the recall petition are given on the last page of each of the four-page documents; however, some are illegible even though they're printed.

Strickland said she hadn't gone through the process of seeing who circulated the petitions, but she did call the professional circulators who went to homes to gather signatures as "paid mercenaries."

According to Christine Milburn, one of the three recall organizers along with Ed Waymire and Bob Draney that formed the organization Protect Our Future, said last week that the group had contacted iPolitical, a political consulting business owned by Bradley Mayer.

Mayer is listed with the Secretary of State's office as the sole officer of Icon Political LLC with offices on West Flamingo Road in Las Vegas.

Al Navarra, one of the supporters of the recall effort and a Protect Our Future member until June 27 when he dropped out of the organization, said any circulator who would mislead voters or misrepresent facts while under his supervision would have been terminated immediately.

"I knew a lot of the paid people," said the 64-year-old former New York City police officer who continuously manned the recall table at the Boulder Dam Credit Union and worked passionately to gather signatures. "There was one man, Tom Sports, Tom Spotto or something like that ... who's a professional canvasser that I supervised. When he was on Elm Street, I personally supervised him and listened to him to hear what his pitch was. If any of the people I supervised lied or said anything misleading, I would have had these people fired."

But one of the 16 people who signed the affidavit to have their names taken off the recall petition, Charles Calabrese, who lives on Appaloosa Road, said the document he was presented had the corner folded over so he couldn't see its title.

"I was approached by a person who came to my door asking me to sign a document involving the recall," his affidavit states. "I told them I was not in favor of the recall and had signed a paper at the Credit Union supporting councilmembers Strickland and Chandler. He said that the document he wanted me to sign was not for the recall, and that the state wanted those that signed the papers supporting the councilmembers to sign again. I signed the document believing that it was a document in support of councilmembers Strickland and Chandler. As the man left my door, he dropped a paper. I picked it up that (sic) saw that the document that I signed was a recall petition. I feel that I was tricked into signing the recall petition."

The retired 78-year-old United Airlines mechanic, who lives alone following the death of his wife, Henriette, 11 years ago, said the circulator did not wear any identification and that he felt he'd been "targeted" since, instead of going door-to-door, the circulator drove down the street, turned around and went to another home on Appaloosa Road.

Before leaving, though, he said the man collecting signatures dropped a flyer, which Calabrese still had that was titled, "Why the Recall?"

One of the statements on it says, "We will bring the recall petitions to you for your signature."

It also says it was paid for by Protect Our Future and lists a number to call for information, which is Milburn's home phone number.

Affidavits from other petition signers asking to have their names removed said things "about a person who came to my door" like, "I am currently 89 years of age ... (and) at the time that he was speaking to me, I got a call on my telephone and I became confused," while another wrote they had gone to the credit union and talked to someone about the petition, adding "... this person told me many things which made me doubt whether these councilmembers were doing a good job. Because of this information, I signed the recall petition. However, later on, I learned that the information that I was provided by the recallers was false."

Another one states, "I was approached by several persons on numerous occasions asking me to sign a document involving the recall. They 'hounded' me. On the last occasion they indicated that it was not a recall petition, but actually a document to get more information ..."

The names, addresses and telephone numbers of the other 14 people were not immediately released. Also, Miller's office did not say which of the 15 Request to Strike Signature forms was not accepted.

Early on in his conversation with the professional circulator, Calabrese stood his ground and let the young man know exactly where he stood on the issue by saying, "I told him I believe in doing a recall, but I also believe you're trying to recall the wrong people."

City answers call for more dispatchers

Adding two new police dispatchers might not sound like a big deal, but for the five dispatchers at the Boulder City Police Department now on duty who are doing the job of eight, the extra personnel will be a huge relief.

The Police Department had fallen short of meeting its goal of having two police dispatchers on duty at any one time because of two vacancies and a dispatcher on extended sick leave.

"It's definitely minimum staffing, so we don't want to fall below five," Deputy Police Chief John Chase said. "If we absolutely have to, we have two trained officers, Jen Ford and Tiffany Driscoll, who can dispatch in a pinch. In fact, Ford was a dispatcher before she became an officer."

The department duty roster's loss earlier this year of dispatcher Sandy Anderson, who is waging a battle against cancer, added to the other dispatchers' woes of having enough coverage during the day, swing and graveyard shifts. Anderson is on an indefinite leave of absence.

"With us being short-staffed sometimes, it can be pretty hectic around here," said Rose Sandoval, a graveyard shift dispatcher.

To address the situation, the department currently is in the process of hiring one new dispatcher from Texas, with yet another hiring expected to occur in coming months, according to Chase.

"The applicant from El Paso has had her background check completed and we've offered her the job of dispatcher," Chase said. "She's done dispatching before and wants to relocate to Southern Nevada. We have a couple of other viable applicants who are from California and Alaska and are still in background checks. The applicant from Alaska worked there with the same computer system as we have that was installed last September."

The attempt to increase the number of dispatcher jobs to eight within the Communications Bureau has not been easy despite the increased need for personnel.

According to the 2007 fiscal year budget, there were six full-time dispatchers and one part-time dispatcher in approved positions and a request was put in to hire one more dispatcher. City Manager Vicki Mayes denied that request for the $58,879 position despite the department's justifying remarks that said, "(The dispatcher's) workload has increased over the years. Whenever one is sick, on vacation or in training, we have no one to cover."

Mayes, instead, approved call back and overtime pay for dispatchers that was far less than a full-time dispatcher's pay.

Then, in the fiscal 2008 budget, for the bookkeeping year that ended June 30, 2008, Mayes approved the creation of an eighth dispatcher position after Police Chief Tom Finn said in his budget request, "Vacations and sick days create an overtime issue and the need for meal breaks and bathroom breaks forces an officer to come off the road to cover the desk. Additionally, a recent 21 percent increase in uniformed officers due to the 'More Cops' funding program has proportionately increased the dispatcher's workload. Since the dispatchers provide services for police, fire and EMS calls, it is essential that the bureau be fully staffed by eight dispatchers."

The total of eight includes Anderson's position, which will remain unmanned indefinitely while she remains on sick leave, meaning that seven dispatchers will share the workload after two new employees join the staff.

Not only was a $61,074-a-year (the salary is $42,067 with $19,007 in benefits) position created for the 2008 fiscal year, but Mayes also approved $18,000 in overtime pay and $14,000 in call-back pay for dispatchers in the last fiscal year.

Both years, the request for a new dispatcher's position was the Police Department's No. 1 priority, putting it ahead of cars, computers, Tazers and other items needed to be replaced or acquired for effective law enforcement.

For the current fiscal year, covering the period from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, no additional funds for dispatcher positions were requested; however, Mayes again approved $20,000 for overtime pay and $15,600 in call-back pay.

According to a set of performance indicators for the dispatchers, the budget shows 92,279 calls are expected to be received this year, a 4.7 percent jump over the last fiscal year; 6,264 contacts with citizens are expected, an 18.5 increase from last fiscal year; and calls for service are anticipated to be 29,711, up 4.8 percent from FY 2008.

The dispatcher's position pay starts at $22.19 per hour. All new Police Department employees have to be certified to a 12-month probation period.

Everett Chase doesn’t measure the economy in million-dollar increments like those big businesses on the Strip. In his little bookshop in Boulder City, $100 means a great day.

The 71-year-old is unconcerned about gas prices or the number of visitors to the small town, because he doesn’t worry much about making money selling atlases, used novels and the occasional Area 51 T-shirt to tourists who stop in Boulder City on the way to Hoover Dam.

“It just gives me something to do,” he says.

Yes, gas prices are soaring. This has been reported. The economy is slumping. That too has been much discussed. But those realities have a different effect in Boulder City, which seems content to draw some tourists going to the dam.

Chase’s bookstore is in a business district comprising shops that hawk antiques and collectibles. He’s next to an insurance salesman and across the street from a brew pub.

“I think it’s the best corner in town,” Chase says, looking out the window into the meandering traffic.

Even if nobody stops.

Around town there’s no consensus on how the economy’s playing out on the small scale. Bill Smith, who runs Back in Thyme, an antiques store on Nevada Way, says business hasn’t been too bad. Summer’s always quiet.

“July’s always the slowest month,” he says. “Once it gets hot outside, people aren’t out.”

Boulder City Councilman Mike Pacini, who serves as the city representative on the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said it’s tough to tell how gas prices and the economy have affected the local shops.

“I’ve talked to several businesses and they are feeling the pinch,” he says. “The boat people aren’t coming from Southern California.”

But he says nobody has ever tracked how many people pass through Boulder City in any day, week or year. The idea that people aren’t driving to the dam — or aren’t taking their boats to Lake Mead — cannot be proved.

Statistics from the National Park Service show 2.2 million people have visited the Lake Mead Recreation Area this year through April, a 4 percent increase from the 2.1 million who visited in the first four months of 2007.

But the area has several entrances, not just the one off U.S. 93 outside Boulder City. And not everybody who goes to the lake stops in town.

“The number of people who go to the lake doesn’t equal the number of people who visit Boulder City, or else we’d have boats everywhere in the city,” says Rose Ann Miele, a city spokeswoman. “You see boats at the gas stations and boats at the supermarkets. You don’t see the boats parked on the streets.”

There may even be a plus side to the high gas prices in Boulder City. The town has tried to market itself to its own residents as the perfect place for a “staycation” — clean air, hiking, shopping and dinner only 30 minutes from Las Vegas. Stay here for your vacation!

This weekend the city hosts its annual 4th of July Damboree and the local merchants are hoping for a big weekend.

Pacini says he’s sure everyone will be using the weekend’s activities to take the measure of the local economy.

Roseanne Shoaff already has her results. She manages the Boulder Dam Hotel and is excited that all 20 rooms are booked.

European travelers have been good to the town, she says.

“We’ve been fortunate that we haven’t felt the crunch,” Shoaff says. “We’re still getting the business that doesn’t want to spend the big bucks at the casinos. We get people who just want to relax.”

Chase said he’ll be open during the weekend festivities — but not so much because he wants to make money. That, he admits, would be a stupid reason to own a bookstore in the Internet Age.

He wants the store to be open because talking to potential customers helps pass the days.

In fact, since he opened this version of his shop he’s never turned a profit. He says he’ll probably close when his lease runs out in September.

Previous incarnations of Chase the Bookseller have fared just as poorly.

But they have always given him a steady stream of people to talk to.

In a telling sign of the times, Chase’s best-seller has taken a nose dive. It seemed for a while, when he opened the shop in early April, road atlases were huge. They were No. 1 on the Chase Best-seller’s list, an easy sale to make to out-of-towners driving through the Southwest — typically from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon.

But lately the atlases have fallen down the list. Chase ordered a dozen of them a few weeks ago and half of the $9.99 books are still in stock.

In Boulder City, that’s as good an economic indicator as any.

Dripping wet political hopefuls and confetti-coated lawns ushered in Boulder City’s 60th annual Damboree — a scene reminiscent of the town’s early Fourth of July celebrations.

Independence Day morning, Nevada Way swelled with thousands of spectators, and about 120 floats crawled along the parade route — a tractor-trailer, a boat and a band of horses among them.

Some paraders suffering in the swelter opted to battle the crowd with water guns, plastic bottles and anything else that could hurl the cool liquid. All along the parade route, spectators came equally prepared with hoses and water balloons, trying to hold their fire until the “Water Entry” section of the parade arrived.

Not even firefighters unleashing hydrants were missing, as they did in the 1950s to cool off the sun-soaked parades — which began the water tradition.

The first Damboree, in 1949, was a three-day, American Legion-thrown bash in city parks. The original dances on the tennis courts, baseball games and beauty contests faded out in time, but the parade, midway booths and visits from senators and other political hopefuls stuck.

Like U.S. Sen. Pat McCarran before her at the 1950 Damboree, State Sen. Dina Titus spoke on a grandstand after the parade.

In Broadbent Park on Fifth Street, Titus called the day “a fabulous way to remember those small-town, good American values.”

“It’s not a day for partisan politics but for holding hands with friends and family,” she said. “That’s what I want to do, and I know that’s what you want to do.”

William Kephart took his run for District Court Judge — and his family — to the parade and the park.

“It’s very important for people to take their concerns directly to me,” he said from under a tent facing Fifth Street. “And personally, I like the idea of coming out here. It’s like a picnic.”

Kephart said Boulder City and other small towns like Mesquite and Laughlin are important to his race.

“Boulder City’s got a voice,” he said, as a familiar face interrupted to ask him how the campaign was going.

A few tents down, Stefany Miley, a candidate for a different seat on the District Court bench, said that speaking face to face with voters matters, since she can’t run on a platform.

“It’s important for people to meet judicial candidates, because we can’t take positions,” she said. “Unlike someone running for County Commission, I can’t say what I’d change, but I can say I’d be fair and ready.”

Miley’s husband and children accompanied her on the parade route while she passed out fans to spectators. She said she’d been to the parade before, but only for fun.

Shrieks of children pelting each other with confetti-filled eggshells and the distant squeals of rogue fireworks rang out over the stumping as Miley said this time, while she was there for politics, it was fun too.