Today's News

The city of Las Vegas should hire a lobbyist to help it get more money from the state government, a state lawmaker advised local officials last week.

State Rep. Richard Vigil, D-Ribera, said the city should have its lobbyist all year long, not just during legislative sessions.

He said a lobbyist could be especially helpful between annual sessions. That’s when interim committees meet and their members could really gain an understanding of the city’s needs, he said.

UP thumb  MONUMENTAL ELECTION. Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected President of the United States this week, bringing tears to the eyes of millions of Americans regardless of culture, place or color.

It was a national moment of reconciliation. Blacks and whites and every other color in the American rainbow were liberated from our racially divided past and, finally, we got to see ourselves as one. All our racial divisions won’t disappear at this junction in history, but neither will we ever again be the same.

The community has one womens club, but it had many others in town recently.

The Las Vegas Womens Club, a member of the General Federation of Womens Clubs, hosted the groups District II Convention last month at the Plaza Hotel.

The members were taken on a historic tour of the Plaza area led by Elmo Baca of the Citizens Committee for Historic Preservation.

Mayor Tony Marquez gave the welcome to Las Vegas at the opening ceremony, and the Rev. George Salazar of Immaculate Conception Church gave the invocation.

When the Las Vegas Fire Department asked for help during a recent fire, the community responded, a top fire official says.

On Nov. 1, a fire destroyed one house in the 1100 block of Douglas Avenue and severely damaged another. A woman, Connie “Cuca” Vigil, perished in the fire, and Maria “Esther” Bartee-Ortega, has been charged with murder for allegedly starting the blaze.

It was the first major fire in town for more than a year.