Gibbons Scissorhands

Another week passes, another budget plan appears out of the top secret inner corridors of the Governor’s mansion, carefully timed to appear when most people wouldn’t notice. The Gube is praised in excelling at one thing: sneakiness. (LVSunSucks,LVSunSucks)

In response, one of those lobbyists who were once Governor of Nevada tells us:

I think that it is important for everybody, including the governor, not
to make a precondition to discussions. I think it’s unfortunate that at
the present time the governor said, “I will never raise taxes under any
circumstances, period.” I don’t personally think that’s good public
policy. And you have to have everybody included in a discussion as to
what the state needs. And you can’t have somebody draw a line in the
sand (with a commitment to no new taxes) at that point. So I hope that
line in the sand wavers in some fashion and that there is a unified
combination of leadership in the governor’s office, in the Legislature
and in the private sector addressing what are the needs in this state
and how are we going to pay for them. (LVSunSucks)

"Leadership in the governor’s office." Now, that’s funny.

And I wonder which one of those former-Governor Lobbyists will take responsibility for the Fernley levee bust:

The Truckee-Carson Irrigation
District, which operates the aging canal under a contract with the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation, was slapped with its first lawsuit by a
homeowner on Thursday.

Both the irrigation district and Bureau of Reclamation are unsure
what caused the earthen berms to give way as Northern Nevada was lashed
with a powerful winter storm. An investigation continues into the cause. (RJ)

Don’t stop:

Animals are such a problem that the irrigation district spends about
$10,000 a year in small rewards to people who bring in beaver and
gopher tails, said Dave Overvold, the district’s project manager.

District officials visually inspect the canal once a year and monitor
measurement devices, which can show whether water is seeping out.

But Martha G. VanGeem, a principal engineer at Illinois-based CTL
Group, which assesses damaged structures, said that was probably not
enough. A canal with rodent problems, she said, is best checked monthly.

"If it’s broken twice now," she said, "that should be two red flags." (LAT)

Hmm. Couldn’t have anything to do with all that privatization and budget cutting the former, and present, Gubes are so proud of. Maybe the irrigation district should offer up some money for politician toupees along with those gopher tails.