WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? from Tech Gains to New Practices in Patient Care, Frontline Health Workers Share the Pandemic’S Lessons for the Future

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DESERT COMPANION in SouthernNevada dialogue aboutracialjustice necessary, andoverdue inawide-ranging, engage as activists andartists — politician, ascholar, aswell Six localBlackleaders—a VEGAS LAS POWER IN RACE AND 58 FEATURES

AUGUST 2020 for thefuture and whattheymightmean lessons ofthepandemic, professionals talkaboutthe COVID-19, five medical After monthsofbattling WE LEARN? WHAT DID 73

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August August DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS VOLUME 18ISSUE 4

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DEPARTMENTS 32 HISTORY What Las Vegas can learn about re- bounding from disaster by looking back at the 1980 MGM Grand fire By David G. Schwartz 40 SOCIETY A local gym specializes in helping veterans deal with their injuries — not all of which are visible ALL THINGS By Hayleigh Hayhurst 11 RACE Notes on the dangers of mistaking symbolic change for real progress By T.R. Witcher 14 16 19 DAY TRIPPIN’ ODE REVIEW For a change of There’s something to A new book ponders perspective, visit the be said for soaking in the end of time — large, mysterious a kiddie pool, and this using LV as a lens Blythe Intaglios is the guy to say it By John Hay By Kris Saknussemm By Andrew Kiraly 22 ENTERTAINMENT Looking back at Ocean’s 11 on its 60th anniversary By Steve Bornfeld 28 FOOD Chicken scarce in a pandemic? Guess I’m a vegan (for now)! By Soni Brown 29 STREET FOODIE There’s more to Black cuisine than soul food (but the soul food is great, too) By Brent Holmes PROTEST: CHRISTOHPER SMITH; BLYTHE INTAGLIOS: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; BURGER: BRENT HOLMES; NICK COMBS: CHRISTOPHER SMITH CHRISTOPHER BRENT HOLMES; NICK COMBS: BURGER: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; INTAGLIOS: SMITH; BLYTHE CHRISTOHPER PROTEST:

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION 6 96 Christopher Smith

TOP EDITOR’S NOTE SENSE OF PLACE TAKING THE DOCTORS OPEN WIDE AND SAY “AH” FOR THE NEXT STEP VALLEY’S BEST In the struggle for MEDICAL equality, symbolic PROFESSIONALS headway isn’t the same as moving After years of discussion about the racial insensitivity of forward

SOUL FOOD, PLUS TOP STREET FOODIE EATS its mascot, UNLV removed its Hey Reb statue. What that HIS WAY THROUGH DENTISTS THE MANY SIDES OF MAKE SURE YOUR LV’S BLACK-OWNED MOUTH IS IN GOOD means, and doesn’t mean By Frank Johnson RESTAURANTS HANDS WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? From tech gains to new practices in patient care, U.S. $4.99 AUGUST 2020 frontline health workers share the pandemic’s lessons for the future 4 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 shop your vegas 30+ DINING OPTIONS | 8 DEPARTMENT STORES | 250+ STORES

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1. Developed a habit of binge-watching noxious garbage TV as a desperate bulwark against the tentacles of our increasingly grimdark reality? Same. Speaking of, we’d like to remind you that 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of Showgirls, the 1995 box-office bomb about dancer Nomi Malone trying to hustle her way to the top in Las Vegas. 2020 also marks the release of You Don’t Nomi, a documentary that examines the more-complex-than-you-think legacy of Showgirls. Read an interview with doc director Editor’s Note Jeffrey McHale at desertcompanion.com. HERE WE ARE AGAIN, AGAIN

acknowledge this as a false belief, but tough times call for, uh, sometimes indulging a forgivable weakness for a little personal religiosity I cooked up in your head. Mine is: Las Vegans are extraordinarily hos- pitable. It’s in our DNA, it’s a civic character trait, it’s a native truth, it’s nurtured into our collective nature by our marquee economic engine — put it however you want — and our sense of hospitality is embedded with 2. Updated Back-to-School Supply List: values such as tolerance, acceptance, patience, even compassion. Yeah, I 1. Fresh copy of Dick and Jane Throw a Tan- know I’m probably spiritualizing an industrial prerogative or maybe even trum at Costco. 2. New crayon color: Fragile abetting the internalization of capitalist voodoo or whatever, but I suppose White. 3. Opera glasses for socially distant test there are worse things to base a metropolitan identity on. copying. 4. Clorox jeans. 5. Wall-size flow chart I’m not going to offer that as a balm to the woes besieging the city right to keep track of school district’s reopening now, but it can’t hurt to let a little higher awareness of that — hospitality as plan. (Scott Dickensheets) a meaningful value — drip into our bloodstream at this moment, what with the pandemic stomping back amid a cataclysmic vacuum of leadership and 3. If you’re a Desert Companion subscriber or fresh outcry over racial wounds ignored for far too long. Nevada Public Radio member, keep an eye on They are not distinct and unrelated ills. In this issue, we attempt to address your email come August 20. That’s when the both. Our roundtable, “Every Voice: Race, Protest, and Power” features six first issue ofFifth Street, Desert Companion’s local luminaries discussing racial justice in Nevada — from how to translate new weekly email newsletter, is scheduled to protest into policy to the massive enterprise of building true economic hit your inbox. Replete with riffs, reflections, inclusion. And in our feature, “What Have We Learned?,” we talk to five recommendations, and all the fine storytelling minds in healthcare about the lessons they’ve learned while working amid the you expect from Desert Companion, it’s our lit- pandemic. Many of their lessons are practical and concrete; others ring with tle way of saying, “As the demise of print media richer, and sometimes poignant, human truths. These are not comfortable is only accelerated by the pandemic, yikes, we conversations, nor should they be. Which, I suppose, is a defining feature need to find another revenue model.” Check in of the kind of hospitality I’m talking about: To allow others to feel safe and later this month at desertcompanion.com for welcome, you often have to venture out of your comfort zone. information on how to subscribe.

Andrew Kiraly editor

6 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 PUBLISHER Jerry Nadal DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE SUPPORT Favian Perez EDITOR Andrew Kiraly ART DIRECTOR Christopher Smith DEPUTY EDITOR Scott Dickensheets SENIOR DESIGNER Scott Lien SENIOR WRITER & PRODUCER Heidi Kyser GRAPHIC DESIGNER Brent Holmes

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AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 7 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS

ANTHONY J. PEARL, ESQ. chair The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas RICHARD I. DREITZER, ESQ. vice chair Fennemore Craig KATHE NYLEN treasurer

JERRY NADAL secretary

DIRECTORS

NEHME ABOUZEID LaunchVegas LLC

CYNTHIA ALEXANDER emeritus Dickinson Wright PLLC CRAIG BILLINGS Wynn Resorts

DAVE CABRAL emeritus Business Finance Corp.

LOUIS CASTLE emeritus Amazon Games Seattle

PATRICK N. CHAPIN, ESQ. emeritus

ELIZABETH FRETWELL emeritus Switch BOB GLASER BNY Mellon WILLIAM GROUNDS Infinity World Development Corp. DANIEL HAMILTON UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law DON HAMRICK Chapman Las Vegas Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram GAVIN ISAACS

FRED J. KEETON Keeton Iconoclast Consulting, LLC

JOHN R. KLAI II emeritus Klai Juba Wald Architects TODD-AVERY LENAHAN TAL Studio

LAMAR MARCHESE president emeritus

WILLIAM MASON Taylor International Corporation AMANDA MOORE Live Nation

CHRIS MURRAY emeritus Avissa Corporation

JERRY NADAL emeritus

WILLIAM J. “BILL” NOONAN emeritus Boyd Gaming Corporation

MARK RICCIARDI, ESQ. emeritus Fisher & Phillips, LLP

MICKEY ROEMER emeritus Roemer Gaming

TIM WONG emeritus Arcata Associates RENEE YACKIRA

ISSN 2157-8389 (print) • ISSN 2157-8397 (online) 8 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 Nothing is more important than your safety.

Whether you’re visiting UMC for a routine procedure or a serious emergency, you can rest assured that our hospital offers the state’s most comprehensive COVID-19 prevention protocols. In fact, UMC is the only hospital in the state to provide COVID-19 testing for every admitted patient. To further ensure your safety, our team has introduced strict health screenings at all entrances, additional hand hygiene stations, exhaustive cleaning policies and dedicated isolation areas. UMC helped lead Nevada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now it’s time for us to lead the recovery.

Nevada’s Highest Level of Safety. Nevada’s Highest Level of Care.

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Nevada’s Leader Strict Health Commitment to Expanded Commitment to in Testing Screenings at Hand Hygiene Cleaning Policies Social Distancing UMC is the only All Hospital Hand sanitizer remains Our Environmental UMC understands hospital in the state Entrances readily available Services Department the importance of to provide COVID-19 To protect the health in hundreds of and clinical leaders social distancing, testing for every of our patients and locations across the have introduced which is why we have admitted patient. staff, UMC has hospital, including comprehensive introduced a wide

introduced strict all entrances. Our cleaning and range of new policies

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including temperature continue to follow the to ensure the safest in public areas such as

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Immediate Isolation: UMC remains committed to swiftly identifying and isolating patients with suspected cases of COVID-19, offering dedicated isolation areas to prevent the spread of the virus. Defenseman. First Round Pick. Cup Finalist. Diagnosed at 23.

“You can train for the game, but there’s no training for cancer. You have to get ahead of it. Learn to self-screen. Get checked. Early detection can save your life. Make the smart play. Defend yourself against cancer.” — Shea Theodore IDEAS, CULTURE, FOOD, AND OTHER WAYS TO USE THISA CITY LLTHINGS

ANNALS OF CHANGE he June protest was small, maybe 100 people, held Downtown on the streetside patio of Jamaican restau- T rant Jammyland. Family members from across the country told harrowing stories of how their loved ones were killed by police. Different It was, in its way, a modest protest — organizers had bottled water on hand, and everyone wore a mask. It was just a few days after the protests on the Strip that resulted in both a protester, Jorge This Time? Gomez, being shot and killed by Metro police officers, and a police As the movement toward racial justice gathers officer, Shay Mikalonis, being shot in the head, allegedly by Edgar momentum, there’s a danger of mistaking symbolic Samaniego. But the emotions were heavy. change for the real thing As the crowd chanted the names of victims, many speakers fought back tears to tell the stories of those unable to tell their own. “We BY T.R. Witcher are fighting for you on the other side of the fence,” said Katrina Johnson, whose cousin was killed by police in Seattle three years ago. “We are fighting so your loved ones don’t die, so that you don’t die. So that you never feel the pain that we feel.”

SINCE GEORGE FLOYD’S death on May 25 in Minneapolis, we have seen

PHOTOGRAPHY Christopher Smith AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 11 protests sweep the nation unprecedented since the 1960s. George Floyd’s face is being Hear More Listen to a discussion about change and reform at Metro on “KNPR’s State of Nevada” at knpr.org; search “Metro reform” painted on murals around the world. What has changed now? Floyd is only the latest in a long line of Black victims of police violence: Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Lives Matter the largest protest movement may be possible. But if they ameliorate that Philando Castile, Eric Garner. In Las Vegas, in American history. discomfort too readily, too easily — post a Byron Williams. Ideas floating around progressive circles BLM-positive message on Facebook and Why now? Part of it was the grisly specta- for years are quickly becoming normalized. you’re good — then we’re apt to squander the cle — the naked indifference Derek Chauvin White privilege. Defunding the police. moment. We’ll end up, for instance, celebrat- embodied as he pinned Floyd to the ground Ending mass incarceration. Universal basic ing the renaming of the NFL’s Washington for almost nine minutes, and his colleagues income. Even, a little farther out there, Redskins and not give much consideration stood by and did nothing. Part of it was abolishing whiteness itself as a category. to life as it is lived on Native reservations. the timing of similar tragedies — Ahmaud Seeing the reality of racism on TV or on- The fact that the March 1965 “Bloody Sun- Marquez Arbery was gunned down by white line is having a galvanizing effect on people, day” clash between civil rights protesters and vigilantes in Atlanta in February; Breonna especially white people, many of whom are Alabama state troopers on the Pettus Bridge Taylor was gunned down by Louisville cops experiencing an “I didn’t know shit was in Selma, Alabama, was televised to millions executing a no-knock search warrant in that bad” moment. That’s good. What the of Americans helped pushed the Voting March. Part of it was the exposure of a gen- larger society is starting to realize is that Rights Act through. White discomfort with eration’s worth of limp “diversity training,” the problem of “race relations” is (and has the status quo is mandatory before there can best exemplified when Amy Cooper tried always been) about the way white people be real change. But it’s not enough. What we to weaponize the cops on Chris Cooper, a have tilted every lever to their advantage, as need is white outrage at the status quo. And Black birdwatcher in Central Park. well as their own profound and unresolved we need real, not symbolic, change. Throw in three-plus months of quarantine, fears about Black people. What is real change? Legislative action. three-plus years of Donald Trump, and It’s a heady moment. It feels real, too, a Laws or policies that would systematically 300-plus years of racial moment that could sustain itself longer than close racial gaps in education, incarcera- oppression, and here just a moment. But I am concerned, in our tion, police interaction, and income- and EVERYWHERE A SIGN we are. According to spectacle-addled culture, that people will wealth-building. Even in fairly well-integrat- The largest protest The New York Times, think some of the symbolic changes we’ve ed Clark County, Black median income trails actions in decades saw hundreds of between 15 million and seen, such as the removal of offensive statues, white median income by almost $23,000. demonstrators 26 million have partic- are the change. I’m not saying they aren’t a I don’t know what those laws are. But repeatedly take to the Strip to demand ipated in some kind of start. If these gestures put enough psychic city by city, state by state, we need to drill justice. protest, making Black discomfort in the body politic, lasting change into the thicket of laws and policies we

12 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS have on the books that are contributing to our increasingly unequal world, and write better laws, and enforce them. It’s the difference between, asThe Atlantic points out, social radicalism (a Black CEO is named at Company X) and economic radicalism (Black workers at the same company are paid the same as white workers). The road from symbolic change to actual change won’t be an easy one. The Black Lives Matter movement is strong because it’s not centralized around a leader who can be targeted, marginalized, critiqued. It’s diffuse and pervasive. Activists, journalists, politicians, corporate CEOs, regular people taking video with their smartphones — all of these people can take part in the movement, if only for a critical moment. But this can be a liability, too. New York Times writer Jay Caspian Kang worries that “if white people keep coming to the protests, how do you prevent this Black protest movement from becoming a vehicle for white progressives to try to advance all Unmatched Academic Results their other hobbyhorses?” Fair enough, al- Visit ChallengerSchool.com to learn more. though this implies that there is a definitive goal of Black protest that can be hijacked. The diffuseness of Black Lives Matter means An independent private school offering preschool through eighth grade that the movement will likely have to decide what that goal is: specific reform to police departments and the criminal justice sys- Challenger School offers uniquely fun and academic classes tem or a broader agenda that engages the for preschool to eighth grade students. Our students learn to intersection of Black people with a host think for themselves and to value independence.

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AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 13 of massive societal challenges, such as the climate crisis or increasing automation. Or is the goal to move beyond the hierarchical structures of capitalism itself? If we’re not prudent, these symbolic changes will herald only a generation of Central Park dog owners who wear Black Lives Matter T-shirts and know better than to call the cops on innocent Black people, but still inadvertently displace poor Black residents in gen- trifying neighborhoods and still profit from access to greater capital — social, educational, and financial. If the end game is reparations, let’s have the debate. Author Nikole Hannah-Jones rightly notes that “this nation must move beyond slogans and symbolism,” but she argues that the real hurdle is mustering the political will. “The technical details, frankly, are the easier part.” I think she has it backward: The technical details will be the key to garnering the political will.

AT THE END of the June protest, we walked along Charleston Boulevard DAY TRIP to Boulder Plaza in the Arts District. We chanted; the protesters at the front carried a sign, “Families are the front line.” Passing drivers honked Strange their horns. The sun set, a few more speakers told their heartbreaking stories, and it was clear that, modest as it was, these folks would carry this Messages ache with them the rest of their lives. A short drive away but a world apart: exploring the We should not be looking to return mysteries of the ancient Blythe Intaglios to the more comfortable days before George Floyd, before COVID-19, before BY Kris Saknussemm Trump. Because those days weren’t that great. And we shouldn’t settle for hope and rhetoric. We should carry the lame it on the Hardy Boys. The Mystery of the Desert Giant got ache, too, this year of utter heartbreak, me interested in massive “geoglyphs,” and specifically the and use it to decide what kind of na- B Blythe Intaglios. Carved into the Colorado Desert 16 miles tion and people we will be. American north of Blythe, California, near the junction of Highway 95 preeminence is no longer a guarantee. and Interstate 10, these colossal cryptic figures fit into the peculiar cat- China will eventually surpass our egory of earth art that’s best and sometimes only truly viewed from the economic reach. The United States’ air (created before there was air travel). Think of the great Chalk Horses response to COVID-19 has been out- and Giants of England, and, of course, the best-known work, the Nazca classed by dozens of other countries. Lines in Peru. (Closer to home and in time is the famous Spiral Jetty If our diversity is indeed our greatest, created by the late Robert Smithson on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. most competitive advantage, it’s time He had these much older and puzzling works in mind as inspirations.) we did our damnedest to make sure our The Blythe Intaglios can also be considered in the context of Native most historically disadvantaged people, North American earthworks such as the Plains Indians’ medicine wheels Black people, are made whole. The full and the Midwestern raised-earth configurations like the Great Serpent equality of Black citizens, de facto and Mound in Ohio. The riddle, though, is that none of the Colorado River de jure, is the foundation with which Native Americans have acknowledged construction of the Intaglios. No we can build an America that we can one has. Radiocarbon dating indicates creation between 900 BCE and

be truly proud of. ✦ 1200 CE, which makes them significantly old in world terms (the Nazca WIKICOMMONS INTAGLIOS:

14 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

American Democracy and the Race for the White House

Special Convention Coverage: 5 – 8 p.m. Democratic: Monday – Thursday, August 17 – 20 Republican: Monday – Thursday, August 24 – 27 Lines have a similar age). The truth is, we don’t know who made them. Judy Woodruff will anchor coverage in the We also don’t know why they were made. convention skybox with reports from the floor As with similar baffling creations around and podium as well as outside the venue. the world, archaeologists, anthropologists, geologists, and astronomers have advanced many theories. The principal one is always Complete Coverage on magical-religious, communications or cel- Broadcast and Digital on ebratory “offerings” to sky gods — or the ever-tempting “ancient astronauts.” Getting PBS and the PBS Video App more down to earth, there’s the hypothesis that these works form some kind of primitive observatories. While there may possibly be some explainable astronomical elements to them, there’s no professional agreement on this point, and still many questions. Why do they take the pictorial forms they do, which vegaspbs.org | @vegaspbs need to be seen from the air? Structures such

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 15 as Stonehenge can be viewed and interacted visual terms, they represent profound tural genius of the unknown creators of the with at ground level. They have much more design and engineering capabilities, and Blythe Intaglios may have been leaving us a obvious potential astronomical utility. How are also triumphs of social cooperation and very topical message — to seek an aerial view do you “work” a desert giant? project management over time, a dreamlike not only of space and earth, but of time. ✦ Other notions focus on geographic use construction of some alternative idea of (clues to flows of water, types of soil, naviga- history before there was history. Kris Saknussemm is the author of the novels tional aids, etc.) or diagrammatic “theaters” In this complicated era, when far-ranging Zanesville and Private Midnight, the memoir for now lost-in-time ritual practices. The travel is tricky, it’s important to remember Sea Monkeys, and the play/short film The only point at all even remotely agreed upon that curious places aren’t far away. The cul- Humble Assessment. by the experts is that the ultimate answer may be a convergence of reasons, a min- gling of both sacred and highly practical motivations. Native Americans in the region did know ODE of the forms, but these enormous gravel pictographs were only documented with photos and geological surveys in 1932, when a pilot named George Palmer realized he The Soaker was flying over something remarkable. He saw three human figures (the largest is over In praise of the cheapo kiddie pool 170 feet long), two four-legged animals, and a spiral shape, which is a widely repeating motif in world mythology and art. don’t know why I didn’t get an inflatable pool earlier. Oh, wait, yeah I do — I’ve investigated the Intaglios from both historically, I had a perpetual all-access family pass to my siblings’ suh-weet, airplane and helicopter, and I’ve made I brochure-ready backyard oases, proper pools resplendent with waterfalls, two extended pilgrimages on foot (highly bubbling spas, beach entries, and cocktail grottoes — a privilege snatched recommended). Although surrounded by away by the pandemic and relegated to the same purgatory of memory and longing chain-link fencing for preservation, I still where so much of our old normal life is now warehoused indefinitely. felt an uncanny psychological sense of But I didn’t just rush out and buy one. It took a little convincing. I had been presence and intentionality, both inviting harboring a kind of neurotic block against owning a cheapo kiddie pool, some knot and strange. No wonder the Hardys were of deep, class-based conditioning. On the one hand, I think I considered it frivo- intrigued. Even if you can’t fully grasp lous, broadly unbefitting adulthood, declassé, desperado posh, this idea of a their design at ground level, I think this grown-ass man nursing a tumbler of grocery-store rosé adds all the more to the magic of the crea- in three feet of water because lol loser can’t afford a tures’ meaning and the mystery of their real pool. It was the sort of thing, I secretly thought, construction. you should only see on the cover of a rockabilly album. Complex artistic and practical challenges On the other hand, I suspect I had some long-forgotten were overcome. The desert ground can revenant subscription to a principled disgruntlement be very hard. The summer temperatures (maybe punk rock, maybe puritanical) with the tradi- sear, and winter can get raw. Then there’s tional forms of suburban comfort, whose mode has the matter of materials at hand, the tools always entailed industrializing your personal environ- needed — and the necessary labor for the ment — that is, enlisting outlandishly resource-gobbling scale of endeavor. The great Paleolithic cave systems to make our lives a little bit cooler, wetter, art and most of the petroglyphs around the funner. (Think of the elaborate machinery that runs our air conditioners, waters world (including the brilliant examples seen our yards, filters our pools, powers our digital home entertainment suites.) A in Utah) could’ve been created by individual cheapo kiddie pool was a venial gateway sin to a morally queasy realm. artists. Not so with works like the Intaglios. I got over myself hella quick when it started getting hot. Thirty dollars later, Most importantly, there’s the problem of I’m chinchilliiiiiing in my backyard, feeling like I’m rightly participating in a revered perspective, which remains a perplexing Vegas ritual. Today I endorse buying a kiddie pool, and encourage all adults to do feat of vision, and highly counterintuitive. so. Here’s one little trick to getting over any feelings of juvenile atavism that may A key related point that’s often over- prick your overdeveloped conscience: Don’t think of it as a pool per se. Instead, looked (as the giant figures themselves were think of it as an outdoor waterbed, or a pleasingly puffy chaise lounge that a race of for long years) is that such art inherently mer-people gifted our species in a gesture of fraternity and goodwill. Better yet, a required a plan. Even the most luminous of kiddie pool’s pleasures provide all the summery, evocative swoon of a legit in-ground the cathedral cave scenes could’ve unfolded pool without the expense and infrastructural intensity — the oneiric heave and sway in an improvised, cumulative way. No one of water hugging your body; lounging afterwards in your damp trunks in the digs giant figures into the desert without skin-dazzling honey pockets of late afternoon warmth; that lazy, sun-drunk, wa- some kind of pre-construction sketches. terlogged waddle to the fridge for another round of beers; that bracing blast of Think of the conceptual aspect. Think sunblock to your back as you prepare for another meditative soak. O portal to a of the communal agreements needed. As parallel timescape of permanent three-day weekends, bottomless screwdrivers,

compelling as these figures are in pure and endless summer laze, cheapo kiddie pool, this ode is for you. Andrew Kiraly POOL: COURTESY

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THE BIG PICTURE n January 2018, Ben Ehrenreich packed up his car and left his home in Joshua Tree to spend the next few months living in Downtown Las I Vegas on a fellowship with the Black Mountain Institute. During his residence, Ehrenreich journaled his thoughts about life in the desert in Winding the 21st century, and these thoughts became Desert Notebooks: A Road Map for the End of Time (Counterpoint, July 7, $26). The fellowship seems to have been a mixed blessing; it gave him the resources he needed to write the book, but it also obligated him to live in a city that filled him with anxiety and despair. Down Like almost everyone these days, Ehrenreich can’t shake the feeling that we are In Desert Notebooks, author Ben Ehrenreich ponders the future through hurtling toward the apocalypse. Every time he checks the news, he sees another the lenses of climate change, the desert, report about violent uprisings in the Middle East or disappearing glaciers in the Arctic Circle. “The plots of every science fiction novel published since the 1960s mythology, time — and Las Vegas are unfurling all at once,” he writes. Although composed before the emergence BY John Hay of the coronavirus pandemic, Ehrenreich’s book resonates powerfully with our current moment, in which the prospect of a shining, prosperous future has, for many, been replaced by visions of ruins and wastelands. Perhaps it should come as

PHOTOGRAPHY Matteo Di lorio / unsplash AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 19 no surprise that William Butler millions of folks making a living anticipated apocalyptic scenarios. The Unit- Yeats’s hundred-year-old poem in Las Vegas. They might have ed States was conceived as a “new” nation “The Second Coming” (“Things expanded his sense of what it devoted to progressive, Enlightenment fall apart; the centre cannot means to inhabit this desert values. But progress is rarely unlimited. hold”) has recently become city. Instead, Ehrenreich most- Just as frontier expansion ended with the more famous than ever before. ly kept inside his Downtown settlement of these desert areas at the Desert Notebooks criticizes apartment, checking the news turn of the last century, Western writers the Western myths of urban, and reading up on the Enlight- imagined that a much greater catastrophe industrial, and technological enment, emerging only to pop was imminent. Arizona became the last “progress” and recommends in- in earbuds and jog past decaying contiguous state admitted to the Union, stead the restorative properties buildings and homeless camps. in 1912; in that same year, Jack London’s of the wilderness. Ehrenreich No wonder it felt like the end short novel The Scarlet Plague described combines his personal obser- of the world. a pandemic swiftly reducing the global vations about the American Nevertheless, Ehrenreich’s population to just a few hundred souls. In Southwest with a wide range contempt for our commercial 2020, our anxieties remain the same. As of references to his readings age is often compelling. He Ehrenreich notes, the Doomsday Clock has about the history of time. The doubtless embraces his role as been set closer than ever before to midnight. result is a compendium of short, a voice crying out in the wilder- Of all the historical anecdotes in Desert fascinating anecdotes about ness (often against the president Notebooks, the best is about Martial Bour- Native American mythology, of the United States, whom he din, who in 1894 attempted to blow up the Middle Eastern history, Enlight- repeatedly and exclusively re- Greenwich Royal Observatory in England, enment philosophy, and modern fers to as “the Rhino”). A fierce home of the prime meridian and Greenwich literature. The traditions of the Mohave and protector of this wilderness, he astutely Mean Time. Bourdin was unsuccessful — he Chemehuevi people are especially important observes that “most of us still see only two managed only to blow up himself — but to Ehrenreich, who argues that we have lost options for the desert: dig it up or blow it his action was considered mysterious by and overlooked valuable stories about how up.” This certainly applies to the mining and the authorities. It appeared to be an act of to conform our lives to the natural rhythms military legacies of Nevada. Ehrenreich’s terrorism (and inspired Joseph Conrad to of the desert — a landscape that “shrinks you attempt to offer a counterhistory — with write his 1907 novel The Secret Agent), but and puts eternity in the foreground.” informational vignettes on topics such as why would anyone target an observatory? It Rather than a sustained narrative, Desert the Native American Ghost Dance of the was, concludes Ehrenreich, as if Bourdin’s Notebooks presents disconnected snippets 1890s — presents a very different way of enemy was time itself. ✦ of text — some as long as several pages, some thinking about our place in space and in time. as short as a single sentence — that describe My own scholarly work on end-of-the- John Hay is an associate professor of English personal excursions, summarize news re- world fantasies in American literature at UNLV and author of Postapocalyptic Fan- ports, and relate historical curiosities. While convinces me that we have always anxiously tasies in Antebellum American Literature. the subject matter occasionally becomes academic (the works of the philosopher Walter Benjamin are such a big touchstone that Ehrenreich begins dreaming about him), this anecdotal form makes for a breezy drive down the road to doomsday. BOOK REVIEW And for those who enjoy exploring our national parks and wilderness reserves, Ehrenreich’s book offers beautiful descrip- tions of the local flora and fauna and of the Unwelcome in feelings of serenity and eternity that often accompany treks through the desert. But lovers of Las Vegas may be disappointed Fabulous Las Vegas by his sustained distaste for a city he char- A UNLV professor examines the immigration mess as it plays acterizes as “a brutal, gleaming, plasticized out in the streets and “strip-mall courtrooms” of Las Vegas absurdity.” Leaving the city each weekend, often for California, he records dreading BY Chuck Twardy his returns to a place that he perceives as “vibrating with despair.” In one such trip to San Francisco, Ehren- f prodded by a recently popular Twitter meme to describe The Battle to reich visits his mother, Barbara Ehrenreich, Stay in America in the most boring terms, I’d say, “Author pulled over who is the author of Nickel and Dimed, a I for broken brake light, given warning.” bestselling book about the difficulties of For the author, attorney Michael Kagan, and for most middle-class working-class life in America. Given that white people, this thank-you-officer moment amounts to an inconvenience. connection, it’s a shame that Ben Ehren- If your skin is brown and your name Hispanic, the irritation might expand, at reich didn’t seem to talk with any of the minimum, into harassment — being told to go back to where you came from,

20 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS for example — or it could lead to a jail cell and deportation. Kagan, director of the Immigration Clinic and Joyce Mack Professor of Law at UNLV, describes both scenarios in Battle. The first involves a United States citizen and the second an undocumented immigrant who had lived and worked in Las Vegas for more than a dozen years when a faulty light provided a pull-over pretext. As director of the Immigration Clinic, which aids undocumented immigrants in the fight referenced by the title, Kagan knows the value of illustrative narratives. “Details make it real. Details win these cases,” he stresses. This is why he and other clinic attorneys often have to torment the people they are trying to help, pulling stories of murders and rapes from them to impress a judge in a strip-mall courtroom. (“To be fair, Las Vegas is really a city of strip malls,” Kagan observes, a touch that lends the book an oh-yeah familiarity for any valley resident, native or immigrant.) And by “judge” he does not mean an official of the judicial branch. Im- migration judges are employees of You schedule physical checkups to manage your health the Justice De- partment, and but when was your last financial health checkup? prosecutors are At InTouch Credit Union, we have been helping members of the from Immigra- community for over 40 years with their financial well-being. Whether tion and Custom you have questions about spending, saving, borrowing or business Enforcement. The solutions, we are here for you! Because at InTouch Credit Union, whole process is your membership matters! rigged in favor of ICE, and Las Visit us at www.itcu.org to review services available to you, our nearest Vegas has a poor locations, and more! record of granting asylum — just 7 percent. The Federally insured by NCUA. national average is 34 percent. Meanwhile, Ka- gan notes, Nevada has more undocumented people Castle Connolly, per capita than the trusted source of any other state. Matters were grave enough before Top Doctors for over 25 2017, but the Obama administration, at least, focused on deporting violent years, is the proud criminals. But after a presidential cam- partner and provider for paign launched with anti-immigrant calumny, the Trump administration The Official Top Doctor Directory: Desert Companion’s has done everything possible to ex- Empowering Patients to Choose pand deportation. Law-enforcement with Confidence Top Doctor List agencies in Nevada and elsewhere have www.castleconnolly.com

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 21 helped by turning undocumented arrestees over to ICE. Infamously, it tried to undo Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, ENTERTAINMENT which granted temporary legal status to some undocumented ONCE UPON A children. Kagan’s deadline with University of Nevada Press left RING-A-DING- that issue before the Supreme Court, which this June halted DING the dismantling of the pro- On the 60th anniversary of Ocean’s 11, the gram. Even more infamously, film that introduced Sin City’s fizz to the the same administration that world, a trip back in time caged children also compelled them to represent themselves BY STEVE BORNFELD in deportation proceedings. Along with the stories of several undocumented valley residents, Kagan tells some of his own. He and his wife have adopted daughters from Ethiopia. Hearing of Trump’s election, one feared they, too, would be deported. After de- tailing a dreadful debate with an Uber driver, he provides a handy guide to refuting anti-immigration arguments: Yes, immigrants pay taxes; no, they do not get “welfare.” And while he notes some failures, he cel- ebrates Nevada’s turn to more progressive immigration policies, including passage last year of “one of the most sweeping pro-immigration occupational licensing bills in the country,” as well as the decision by both Sheriff Joseph Lombardo and the City of Las Vegas to halt ICE detainers. Battle is a fairly short book, and you could wish for more heft, more examination of the history and depth of the United States’ exclusionary and racist policies. But what makes it valuable is its focus on how those policies play out in one city — one that, for all its quirks, exemplifies the nation at large. Clearly, the battle is nowhere near over, but recent skirmishes have offered some hope. Next objective: November 3. ✦

The Battle to Stay in America: Immigration’s Hidden Front Line, by Michael Kagan, Uni- versity of Nevada Press, $27.95

22 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 ILLUSTRATION Chris Morris DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

“The Sands was built in 1953, but 1960 When the world was younger than today Lawford’s bro-in-law) streamed into the was the year Las Vegas popped.” — with all the playful innocence that implies, Sands’ Copa Room every time the gang (or — Author James Kaplan, blissfully unaware of the tortured social/ some combination of them) came to town. Sinatra: The Chairman cultural growing pains yet to come — six With due respect to Elvis, Liberace, and words turned Las Vegas into Vegas, baby!: countless other superstars, it was these guys “The Rat Pack at the Sands.” who turned this town into THE TOWN. And ould this fly today? Otherwise known as Frank Sinatra, Dean when they arrived for the January/February Dino sings the opening Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, 1960 filming of the Vegas portions ofOcean’s W bars of “Did You Ever See a and Joey Bishop at the Sands. 11 — while simultaneously wowing the Copa Dream Walking,” the word That was six decades ago. And that was crowds nightly — they were elevated to “walking” pole-vaulting up several notes, their shtick — Jewish, Italian, Black, and legendary status in our collective memory. per the beloved standard’s melody. Sorta. redneck jokes (plus a song snippet immortal- Yes, they were of their time — imagine “Did you ever see a Jew JITSU? ...” Dino ized by a white-man-in-blackface superstar Frank’s “Swing, baby, swing!” ethos running sings. of his era) in about 90 seconds, just to start. smack into #MeToo today — but they were Frank’s hand shoots up: “Well, I did!” Audiences screamed (yes, in laughter). magic. As we grapple now with poisoned Enter faux-furious (and genuinely Jewish) In August 1960, their Rat Pack-edness politics, racial strife, demonstrations, and Sammy, faux-restrained by Frank. (and the sights and sounds of classic Vegas) a pandemic that crippled America and Sammy yells: “Be fair, that’s all I ask! was immortalized with the release of Ocean’s the globe, including our vaunted Strip, Would you like it if I came out here and said, 11 — the original that inspired four later films we could use their bursting-at-the-seams ‘Did you ever see a Wap-SICLE? Well, I did!” and became our global calling card. Crowds spirit — minus the cultural flaws and anach- Frank attempts to croon an Al Jolson (including prez-to-be John F. Kennedy, ronisms — to reignite our own Vegas Vibe, classic. “I’m Alabam-y-bound ...” hopefully soon. Sammy interrupts: “You’ll go there by So, through the magic of time-trippin’, yourself! Leader or no leader, I ain’t goin’ we return you to the sunset of Eisenhower’s wit’cha, baby! They gonna have to come up America and the sunrise of JFK’s Camelot here to get me!” — that historical sweet spot that launched the Rat Pack rocket to fame.

THE RUNDOWN

So … what’s the plot?: WWII vets Danny Ocean (Sinatra) and Jimmy Foster (Law- ford) enlist nine of their comrades from their unit in the 82nd Airborne to simultaneously rob five Vegas casinos — the Sahara, Riviera, Desert Inn, Sands, and Flamingo — on New Year’s Eve with military-style precision. How … exactly?: Josh Howard (Sammy) takes a job as a sanitation worker driving a garbage truck, while others get gigs at the various casinos. Sam Harmon (Dino) entertains in one of the hotel’s lounges (which is how we get Dino’s “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head”). Demolition charges are planted on an electrical transmission tower, and the backup electrical systems are covertly rewired in each casino to open the cages. At midnight, they blow the tower, the Strip goes black, the inside men sneak into the cages, hold up the cashiers and dump the bags of loot into the hotels’ garbage bins. Then Sammy’s truck picks up the booty and glides through the police blockade. Snotty promotional tagline: “In any other town, they’d be the bad guys!” Starring the Rat Pack with support from … Angie Dickinson, Cesar Romero, Richard Conte, Akim Tamiroff, Henry Silva, Ilka Chase, Norman Fell, Patrice Wymore, Buddy Lester; and cameos by Shirley Ma- cLaine (getting drunk and smoochy with

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 23 Dino), Red Skelton, George Raft, and Louis let them borrow one measly garbage truck. CRITICAL RECEPTION Prima and Keely Smith. Retroactive apology, anyone?: The Low Rat on the Pack: Yes, the movie infamous blackface scene. In the cab of the The New York Times: “A surprisingly “starred” the Rat Pack (for the record, sanitation truck. Lawford, Dino, and Frank nonchalant and flippant attitude toward Sinatra preferred calling themselves “The apply black shoe polish (for plot-driven crime — an attitude so amoral it road- Clan” and their live performances “The reasons) while Sammy drives — and gig- blocks a lot of valid gags — is maintained Summit”). But the opening animated cred- gles. Frank: “What’s so funny?” Sammy: through Ocean’s 11. … Frank Sinatra, who its has the movie “starring” Frank, Dean, “I knew this color would come in handy is the power behind the picture, should Sammy, Peter — and Dickinson and Conte. someday.” Dino: “How do you get this stuff have a couple of his merit badges taken Joey Bishop? Listed third down under the off?” Sammy: “Well, what I usually …,” away. … There is no built-in implication “also starring” title card in smaller font, then realizes he’s being teased. “Ha ha ha.” that the boys have done something wrong. even though he is the first character to Cringe. There is just an ironic, unexpected, and appear in the film, and narrates, kicking Crash or burn?: Originally, the script’s decidedly ghoulish twist whereby they off the action. Nor is he on the main poster, ending had the gang escaping with the are deprived of their pickings and what replaced by Dickinson. (Is it possible she cash in a chartered plane — that crashes. seems their just desserts.” had more sex appeal?) Plus, Joey — who Deciding it was too downbeat, the writers The Los Angeles Times: “(The movie) also wrote most of the Rats’ Copa Room rewrote it so the fellas lose the dough when has a pretty good surprise twist at the material — is saddled with one of filmdom’s it’s stashed alongside the corpse of one of finish and is, of its type, a pretty good worst character names: “Mushy.” their colleagues, to be collected after the comedy-melodrama.” No Rat on the Pack: Up-and-comer funeral — except the corpse is cremated. The Washington Post: “Nothing more than Steve McQueen turned down a role in So’s the dough. Cheerier, no? a whopping sick joke in Technicolor ... It’s Ocean’s after being counseled by gossip a completely amoral tale, told for laughs.” queen Hedda Hopper to be his own man, WHOOPS! not a Sinatra “flunky.” Smart. CLOSING CREDITS Location, location, location: Despite When Dino performs “Ain’t That a Kick its status as a totem of Las Vegas, Ocean’s in the Head,” a trumpet solo is prominently One week after its nationwide release, The 11 does not, in fact, show up in Las Vegas heard. Check out the jazz combo backing Hollywood Reporter declared Ocean’s 11 was until one hour and three minutes in. Then him. See any trumpeter? Warner Bros’ (and Sinatra’s) most profitable Sin City takes over, with scenes shot at After the power goes out, an emcee at pic to that point. And the Rat Pack’s familiar the casinos and on the Strip, as well as one of the casinos tells the orchestra leader stomping grounds — that’s us — exploded. one lensed at the former Las Vegas Union to keep playing … on a working PA system. Las Vegas became Vegas, baby! Pacific Depot. Dino’s character jokingly says he’d like Lawford was the first Rat gone, dying on Work all day, sing all evening, carouse to “repeal the 14th and 20th Amendments. December 24, 1984, at age 61, of cardiac ar- all night — repeat: Or so the legend goes, Take the vote away from women and make rest complicated by kidney and liver failure. when the Pack Rats played the Sands while slaves out of them.” Actually, he’s talking Sammy left us on May 16, 1990, at age 64, filmingOcean’s 11. The truth, depending on about the 13th (abolishing slavery) and the of throat cancer. the source, is more nuanced. One account 19th (granting women the right to vote) Dino passed on December 25, 1995, at insists Joey is the most obedient Rat, always amendments. age 78, from lung cancer. punctual for the traditional 9 a.m. start; The wartime buddies are supposed to Lead Rat Frank died on May 14, 1998, at Lawford will only work mornings; Dino have served together with the 82nd Airborne age 82, of a heart attack. and Sammy show up midafternoon; and, during World War II — except that the Army The last surviving and longest-living Rat, finally, Frank ambles in at 5 p.m. was segregated during that war, which would Bishop, succumbed on October 17, 2007, at Coming up short: Wooden blocks had have excluded Sammy’s character, who age 89, from organ failure. to be added to the pedals of the garbage would have instead been with the 555th Sixty years after they gave Vegas an adren- truck for Sammy to reach them. However, Parachute Infantry Regiment. aline injection that catapulted us into the one of the producers’ biggest headaches When Sinatra’s Danny asks the cashier stratosphere, we need that breezy pleasure was persuading Clark County officials to for $25 in chips, he hands over a single bill. rush shot back into our veins. ✦

THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF KD MATHESON

t takes an epic descriptive bank shot — imagine H.R. Giger making images of myth- ical ancient rituals as seen through the shimmering gray light of Betelgeuse! — to get I anywhere close to KD Matheson’s art. Even then, you’ll fall short, so mantled is his work in mystery and otherworldly beauty — it’s “an encyclopedia of symbols,” as critic Dawn-Michelle Baude notes. Among other things, Matheson’s work proposes a surreal time slip between an unfathomably distant past and an unrecognizable future, neither one, perhaps, entirely human. Which makes his exhibit, Diversion Immersion, your first-class ticket on a strange new voyage. August 26-November 7, Core Contemporary Gallery, 900 Karen Ave. #D222, corecontemporary.com Scott Dickensheets COURTESY KD MATHESON COURTESY

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AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 25 FOOD + DRINK DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS FOOD + DRINK

RIBTASTIC The barbecue at Annie’s Kitchen has long been a delicious West Las Vegas culinary landmark. See page 29.

PHOTOGRAPHY Brent Holmes AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 27 HOW WE EAT NOW The Accidental Herbivore Worried about meat supplies, we join the growing ranks of quarantine-minted vegans

BY SONI BROWN

itching meat wasn’t in our plans for 2020. Yet now, months after D panic purchases drove consumers to hoard toilet paper and stock their freezers with grocery buys, we’ve stopped eating meat. But our pandemic diet wasn’t a typical vegan decision. It’s more about trying to control one aspect of existence while outside our home a virus, news of police brutality against citizens, and other social maladies continue unabated. We are meatless for now. What people online refer to as pandemic vegans because we wouldn’t be otherwise. Pandemic vegans still want animal products, but our coronavirus-related shopping patterns call for simple meals with fresh produce. With the times being what they are, simple is always better. For my family, it started with the missing chicken. Online grocery shopping is now the default way I obtain groceries. Twice a month, I send an order into the ether, and somewhere, in a manner that only exists in my imagination, a machine similar to Rosie, the maid from The Jetsons, executes Charlotte’s Web. Without chicken, we on the shelves, the demand was 13 percent the list with military precision. No human became accidental vegans. higher than that of the same period in interfacing is involved. At first, we panicked. Then we decided to 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet order after electronic order got filled embrace going meatless as the COVID-19 Furthermore, consumers saw a rise in food minus the chicken, the one animal protein crisis exposed stress points in the U.S food prices. Data from the Bureau of Labor we could afford that everyone would agree markets. The virus caused temporary clo- Statistics (BLS) found the food-price index to eat. Beef prices were outrageous enough sures of numerous meatpacking plants and increased 1.5 percent in April, following a that restaurants were adding a surcharge a slower pace of slaughter at others, which 0.3 percent increase in March. Buyers of for it, and we haven’t been able to convince led to tightening supplies of some meat meats, poultry, and fish saw the index rise our son to eat pork since reading him products. For foods that were available sharply, by 4.3 percent.

28 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 ILLUSTRATION Delphine Lee DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

And these numbers don’t show the STREET FOODIE vast variation in price changes across different products. Prices of ground beef rose by 4.4 percent, while prices of boneless stew beef fell slightly. Soul Food That’s why shoppers have had a hard time getting the meat they want, and why stores have put limits on the amount you can get at one time. and Beyond African-American cuisine and Black-owned restaurants jazz up I recall news reports that told us the valley’s food scene plenty of meat was warehoused in freezers, but I noticed the difference TEXT AND PHOTOS BY Brent Holmes in our grocery bill and in the missing chicken. We deliberated on eliminating meat during a family meeting. The children didn’t seem to care — a good thing since they don’t contribute to the household beyond being cute. One thing on which we all agreed was to avoid the mock meats. Our aim instead was to try to be happy creating colorful, nutrient-dense dishes made with vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. I hoped that providing mealtime consistency without worrying about wildly fluctuating meat supplies would offer a measure of stability in this increasingly unstable world. Has it worked? It turns out that it can be hard to win over the family, a SIMPLY PURE dinner of beans and rice settling un- VEGAN CAFÉ easily in their stomachs, while cheesy pepperoni goodness stretches across a pizza on television. My preschooler lack culinary traditions are as significant a contribution to the asks for cereal and milk just as we history of American creativity as any made by the people of the sit down to a hot bowl of cornmeal B African diaspora. Many flavors we perceive as central to American porridge cooked in coconut milk cuisine originated in kitchens run by Black people. If you’ve ever and vanilla beans and sweetened enjoyed a potato chip, you have indulged in a Black American delicacy as de- with dark brown sugar. A lunch of finitive as a Jimi Hendrix solo. Las Vegas may not be a soul food hub such as fried cabbage over rice prompts the Houston, Atlanta, or even Washington, D.C., but it is a place of deep diversity, pretween to suggest a list of things and many of the most beautiful expressions of Blackness in our valley can be he could sell if we’re struggling for found in its kitchens and dining rooms. money. “Mom, I can sell my skate- boards, scooter, and baseball gear, ANNIE’S KITCHEN Just north of U.S. 95 is a veritable ghost town hidden and the telescope you got me that within our city. Once upon a time referred to as the Black Strip, the historic I didn’t really want,” he says. Then Westside is a beautiful neighborhood that has seen its wealth looted and its pleads, “Can we please just get some growth stifled. There is scant activity there, save Sunday mornings when Popeyes chicken?” So, meal-based the churches are in session. However, a regular hub of activity does reside stability has proven elusive. within our metropolitan erēmus: Annie’s Kitchen. This place has been I want my son’s life to return to making barbecue longer than Street Foodie has been on these streets. Well- normal. We all want it. I know my smoked meat; skinny tamales rolled in foil and smoked like little cigars; deep, pandemic veganism is my way of delicate collard greens; candied yams that feel as familiar as your granny’s adjusting to a new idea of normal. My living room; and a sauce somebody put their foot in. I’ll say this once as a children’s solecisms are reminders friend: Get the ribs, get the brisket, and then get more ribs, all coated in a that change, no matter how well-in- subtle, smooth sauce that provides the foundation for the classic soul food tentioned, is probably not what helps flavors you’ll experience here. Little wonder that while the neighborhood people adjust in difficult periods. struggles, Annie’s Kitchen has been a West Side institution for decades. 1212 Still, no Popeyes yet. ✦ D St., 725-214-6062

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 29 YOURWAY BREAKFAST + LUNCH

PANDORA’S BURGERS

BIG JERK CARIBBEAN

CEREAL KILLERZ

BIG JERK CARIBBEAN Here is Street Foodie’s concoction. In the Downtown Container whole frosted strawberry Pop-Tart. Sure, shortcut to the Caribbean. Drive south on Park, simplypurelv.com there are more moderate choices, such as the 15 to Silverado Ranch Boulevard, exit, the Loxacado, avocado toast with smoked and head east. When you see the sign for Big YOURWAY BREAKFAST + LUNCH After begin- salmon — but, as Street Foodie says, lean Jerk Caribbean, you’ve arrived. Now go in ning with a food truck called Gold Box, this into the crazy. Pack in bowl after bowl of and order the ackee and saltfish and enjoy crew of six young, born-and-raised Las the crunchy, sweet goodness your mother a rare treat. Ackee is a fruit native to Ghana, Vegans moved into this brick-and-mortar would never buy; there are more than 100 imported to the Caribbean along with more in October. YourWay is a build-your-own kinds here. Or get an iced coffee like the dubious cargo. When cooked, the fruit attains breakfast spot focused on high-quality S’more Fire Thing. Toasted marshmallows a velvety texture that almost melts on your ingredients and swift service. Three eggs, and chocolate whipped cream, with that jolt tongue. Sautée it with salted cod, onions, a side of meat, hash browns or breakfast of caffeine your tired, haggard body requires and peppers, and you end up with enough potatoes, and three unique toppings, rang- to feel alive. In the Galleria Mall, Henderson, contrasting textures and flavors that you may ing from bell peppers to chorizo, make for a thecerealkillerz.com start plotting your own Tacky’s Rebellion mighty satisfying first meal of the day. The (look it up). For something more familiar, open kitchen lends a sense of immediacy PANDORA’S BURGERS There are burgers and try the oxtail. Big Jerk’s oxtail is made with to the food’s preparation. Street Foodie then there are burgers. The Pandora Burger love — but if love isn’t enough, it’s also coated recommends you sweeten the mix with is the latter, a monument to American in a rich brown sauce that carries its flavors a waffle — delightfully spiced, crispy, and gastronomy, one that Street Foodie has no to a higher plane. All that and they produce light, they’re waffle good. The goal for this interest in tearing down. A quarter-pound some of the more perfect Jamaican patties founding group of friends is a franchise-like of beef with seasoning reminiscent of its (think spicy Hot Pockets) in the township expansion. Street Foodie would be thrilled creator’s Louisiana roots, it’s a sizable meal. of Paradise. 430 E. Silverado Ranch Blvd. to see YourWays on corners around the As indomitable as your humble Street #100, bigjerkcaribbean.com valley. 6121 W. Lake Mead Blvd. #110, your- Foodie can be, he couldn’t topple it in one wayrestaurant.com sitting. Most oversize burgers are produced SIMPLY PURE VEGAN CAFÉ Black people more for novelty than flavor, but Pandora are not a monolith. Our cuisine does have CEREAL KILLERZ These days, you may re- makes every bite an earnest affair. Along its proclivities, but there is more to our quire a second breakfast or more than one with soul food standards such as catfish culinary identity than soul food. Simply dessert. Indeed, a high-carb diet may be the and hot links, the menu also provides more Pure offers some of the valley’s most dy- fuel you need if you’re engaging in intense diverse fare. The stuffed turkey legs will namic vegan food. After seven years in cardiovascular activities, such as taking keep even the most distracted diner’s at- business, chef Stacey Dougan must be doing long walks, perhaps while carrying signs tention. And the peach cobbler should be something right. Street Foodie adores their protesting inequality, or dodging heavy taken seriously — get a second order to go. spring rolls, which are brighter and fresher police action. If so, all of the mono- and 3131 W. Craig Road #110, 702-636-9859 ✦ than any I have had in many Vietnamese disaccharides are waiting for you at this wild restaurants. The vegan nachos grande are cereal-themed sweets joint. Steel yourself for For more Black-owned eateries, search straight fire. No cheese or beef necessary for breakfast mutations like the Killerz Pop-Tart: “Street Foodie” at desertcompanion.com for this complete nacho flavor. Wash it all down strawberry ice cream, with strawberry cereal our tours of island food and Martin Luther with the High Octane, a cleansing juice stacked high, riddled with fresh berries, and a King Jr. Boulevard in particular.

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HISTORY IT TOOK A FIRE TO CHANGE US

Could the Strip become a model of safety in a post-pandemic world? The response to the 1980 MGM fire might offer some lessons

BY David G. Schwartz

veryone who was in Las Vegas rooms were filled with sleeping guests who, Pupich told the Review-Journal. Smoke on the morning of November 21, if they were lucky, were woken by shouting detectors, fire alarms, and sprinklers had E 1980, remembers what they were and banging. not been required by law when the MGM doing when they heard that the That day saw heroism — helicopters from Grand had been built in 1973. As they stood MGM Grand was burning. Nellis Air Force Base rescuing guests from in 1980, county building codes required all It was the worst disaster in the city’s the hotel’s 26th-story roof, iron workers using those fire safety features, but the building history, and, at the time, the second-worst their scaffolding to help others out of their code was not retroactive, so the MGM only hotel fire in the nation’s history. (The 1946 windows, the 200 firefighters who battled had sprinklers in its theater, kitchen, lobby, fire in Atlanta’s Winecoff Hotel, which the blaze. Yet there was also the sense that basement, and top floor. claimed 119 lives, had that dubious honor.) this tragedy was avoidable. This tragedy was also a public relations All told, the MGM Grand fire would claim 87 That the disaster may have catastrophe for Las Vegas. The lives. Thursday night had ended normally. At been less deadly had there been newest, most modern hotel was FLAME BLAME 7:15 that Friday morning, a fast-moving fire fire-safety equipment provoked The fire in the MGM revealed as a death trap. Cer- erupted from the hotel’s deli, racing through outrage. Grand (now Bally’s) tainly images of black smoke led to changes in laws the casino and sending toxic smoke through “There was no alarm, not a regarding fire safety. billowing from the MGM Grand

the hotel tower. Most of the hotel’s 2,000 thing, just panic,” guest John as guests desperately tried to PRESS ASSOCIATED

32 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020

HISTORY

escape — some jumped or fell to their deaths by July 1, and they also announced the the month, it had gotten far enough along — were not going to encourage tourists to establishment of a $1 million fund to assist that it had already assembled a list of 11 make travel plans. employees who had been thrown out of ways existing hotels could be retrofitted. National press coverage was macabre. “A work by the Grand’s closure. Other local By early February, the commission was Life-and-Death Gamble at MGM Grand,” businesses started a complementary relief prepared to file its report, which recom- read the headline to a UPI wire story. “Gam- fund, and labor unions and relief organi- mended adding some sprinklers, smoke blers all, some of them bucked impossible zations distributed donations of food and detectors, and emergency stairwell lighting odds, betting their lives on the strength of clothing to both out-of-work employees to existing high-rises. Some still protested a bedsheet and plunging to a loser’s death,” and stranded tourists. that these measures might not be fully the article began. Fire Chief Roy Parrish Even before survivors of the fire had necessary, that they might be too expensive did not help matters when he told a press left town, concerns about the economic to enact. Although it seemed obvious that conference that, all things considered, only impact of the fire blossomed. Las Vegas was only retrofitting all hotels with sprinklers one percent of the 8,000 human beings in already amid a recession, and 4,500 newly and other expensive safety systems would the MGM Grand at the time died. When he unemployed casino workers, as well as more prevent another fire like that at the MGM got on the scene, he’d figured “hundreds” than 2,000 rooms out of service, boded ill Grand, the commission, bowing to pressure would be dead. News that personal items for the city’s recovery. Already, some were from the gaming industry, did not require left behind when guests fled the blaze had fretting about how the city could absorb the it in existing structures. been looted added insult to injury. 55,000 conventioneers slated to arrive for Within a week of the inferno, several the Consumer Economics Show in a few DISASTER STRIKES TWICE multimillion dollar lawsuits had been filed, weeks. And removing the MGM Grand from as other Strip hotel executives claimed that the tax rolls, experts thought, could subtract THEN, ON FEBRUARY 10, tragedy struck again. such a disastrous blaze could never happen up to $5 million from tax collections. Eight guests died in a rapidly spreading at their resorts — though a quick check Looking to the future, the first instinct for fire in the Las Vegas Hilton’s East Tower. revealed that many of the city’s high rises both public officials and casino executives Fifteen hours later, Senate Bill 214, which lacked smoke detectors, alarm systems, had been to deny that a problem existed. But required all hotels install sprinklers in all and sprinklers. with bad press continuing, it was impossible guest rooms and back- and front-of-the- For their part, MGM executives made to deny. Governor Bob List convened a house areas, was introduced in Carson City. it clear that the hotel would be reopened fire-safety commission chaired by Kenny Some still, however, argued that the state Guinn in Decem- should continue to let local jurisdictions ber; by the end of remain responsible for fire safety.

AFTERMATH OF A TRAGEDY Below, burned slot machines line the floor of the MGM Grand after a fire, started by an electrical short, swept through the casino to the main entrance on Nov. 21, 1980, killing 87 people and injuring hundreds of others. Top right, firefighters remove the remains of one of the victims of the MGM Grand fire. Bottom right, hanging sheets from broken windows illustrate the panic that occurred when the fire swept through the resort, trapping hundreds on the upper floors of the 26-story hotel. ASSOCIATED PRESS ASSOCIATED

34 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

But with the second high-rise disaster, the guests fearful; according to news reports at FROM LAGGING BEHIND TO ‘SAFEST IN THE WORLD’ reality became clear: However expensive the time, some avoided hotels whose design fire mitigation systems might be, they were they perceived as dangerous or refused to cheaper than the alternatives. stay in a room on an upper floor. OF COURSE, REOPENING the MGM Grand “Before the Hilton fire, the Legislature Las Vegas bore the brunt of the negative didn’t immediately reverse the city’s eco- was diametrically opposed to retrofitting publicity from the fires and the ongoing nomic decline, and it didn’t assuage the with sprinklers,” said state Sen. Joe Neal, a recession. After a decade of successive in- worries of all potential Las Vegas visitors. cosponsor of SB 214. “After the Hilton fire, creases, a record 11,941,524 visitors made it Retrofitting the state’s high-rises was not no one was opposed.” to Las Vegas in 1980. The numbers dropped an easy or quick task; it was not until the By the time in early March that List’s the following two years, the longest and third anniversary of the MGM fire that fire safety commission delivered its find- proportionally largest decline in visitation most structures were in compliance, and it ings, some casinos were already installing in Las Vegas history (so far). took several more years for all of the Strip protective systems. On June 15, List signed Las Vegas reached a milestone on the to pass muster. a bill turning the commission’s recommen- road back on July 30, 1981, when the MGM But by 1983, Las Vegas was seen as taking dations into law, requiring that about 33,000 Grand, after eight months and $50 million the lead on fire safety. The Hilton and MGM structures throughout the state undertake of reconstruction work, reopened. Although fires had led to Nevada adopting what was expensive retrofitting projects that would Dean Martin was the featured entertainer called “the toughest safety code in the na- ensure that all buildings over 55 feet tall for the reopening, the real star was the tion,” with individual casinos going above would have smoke detectors, fire alarms, hotel’s new $5 million, state-of-the-art fire and beyond it to show their concern for exits, improved emergency lighting, and suppression system. It featured a fireproof guest safety. other safety improvements. command center from which personnel Still, uneasiness remained. A February Beyond the economic impact of the fires monitored a computer capable of auto- 1986 series of arson attacks at the Dunes, — and the costs of retrofitting — was the matically activating 1,000 safety actions. Holiday Inn (now Harrah’s), and Sands emotional impact on potential visitors of “This is the safest place in the world,” were mostly extinguished by sprinklers, hotels everywhere. The fires, combined Martin reassured his audience. “I ordered but some felt that Las Vegas got lucky. with the collapse of a skywalk at the Kansas smoked salmon for breakfast in my room The bankruptcy-prone Dunes, which had City Hyatt Regency that July, made many and the sprinklers went off.” several times requested extensions for its

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 35 HISTORY

retrofitting because of financial problems, Hotel, which claimed 96 lives, reflected $3.5 million in damage. Still, no one died, had a main casino that still lacked sprinklers indirectly the work that had been put into and though the fire was serious enough to or an alarm system. The Marina Hotel had improving safety for Las Vegas resorts. Only halt gambling in the casino (which suffered failed to install non-combustible panels on Massachusetts and Florida, it was noted, had water damage), most of the resort returned its exterior windows to prevent a repeat laws as stringent as Nevada’s. Presumably to operation within hours. of the Hilton tragedy — in which flames these ordinances would prevent disasters A Review-Journal editorial used the oc- jumped from window to window — and was like that at the MGM Grand — or at the casion to declare the retrofitting program, headed to court. The Flamingo Hilton and Dupont Plaza. which had cost resorts more than $200 Landmark were not yet compliant, but they million, a success. Although it had taken were close to the finish line. ‘IT HAS BEEN WORTH strict enforcement to bring the Strip into The litigation sparked by the MGM Grand EVERY DOLLAR’ total compliance, “it has been worth every fire dragged on for years; the hotel never dollar, as the aftermath of the Riviera blaze quite recovered its pre-disaster momentum IRONICALLY, A SERIES of fires may have ce- showed,” the R-J proclaimed. and was sold, along with the MGM Grand mented the narrative that Las Vegas hotels And visitors returned. Visitation to Las Reno, to Bally Manufacturing in April 1986. were now fundamentally safe. On June 8, Vegas started rising again in 1983. From 1985 A few months later, with the completion of 1988, a housekeeper discovered a fire in a until 1990, the city added, on average, more the necessary work at the Marina, Clark pile of linens on the 24th floor of Fitzger- than a million new visitors a year, bringing County Inspections Administrator Brad alds (now The D). An employee quickly the total from less than 12 million in 1980 Remp announced that all resorts in the smothered the fire with a fire extinguisher; to almost 21 million in 1990. county were now fully compliant with all it never became intense enough to activate fire-safety ordinances. the sprinkler system. However, the alarms FROM DISASTER, A LESSON “I would say,” he said, “the tourists that did trigger, and three floors of the hotel come here can be very secure in knowing were evacuated, and play continued in the THE RETROFITTING AND recovery of Las that any major facility they stay in can be casino without interruption. A more serious Vegas after the MGM Grand fire can serve counted among the safest in the world.” September 1989 blaze at the Riviera, sparked as a playbook for how resorts adapt and Media coverage of the December 31, by construction on the high-rise, led to the town recovers from its current crisis. 1986, fire in Puerto Rico’s Dupont Plaza the evacuation of 3,000 guests and caused The immediate disaster and its economic

36 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020

HISTORY

impact were the worst of it, but the long-term a half-decade, as an example of responsible appear healthy and safe should another viral implications were worrisome too: With planning — two words not usually paired in outbreak occur here might eclipse the fire public confidence shaken, there were real discussions of Sin City. safety retrofitting of the 1980s. Certainly it fears that tourists would stay away. So far this year, Las Vegas has suffered would have an even bigger impact on how The February 1981 Hilton fire, which a calamity whose death toll and economic people live, work, and play in Las Vegas. claimed fewer lives but garnered more impact already dwarf that of the fire. But the So, in the new Las Vegas, expect stringent national media attention, underscored the lessons of that tragedy, painfully learned, health measures. Expect messaging about need for real action. The 1981 fire-safety can continue to point the way to the future. how, while it’s fun, Las Vegas is also safe legislation, though it was expensive, ended While the first instinct may be to deny and responsible. up giving resorts a blueprint for improving or minimize health and safety concerns After the fire, casino executives learned safety. Some found it onerous, others strug- about traveling to and vacationing in Las to rely on fire-safety experts, whose advice gled to pay for it, but in the end the public Vegas, ultimately the public will demand helped them make changes that restored demanded safety, and Nevada’s leaders a response to those concerns. With the public confidence. Post-pandemic, virologists made the decision to embrace it. gaming industry already in recession in and public health experts will likely play a With the state’s resorts reopening during 1981, spending money on retrofitting was a similar role in Las Vegas. the pandemic, there are few certainties. huge financial burden — but one the industry History has one final lesson. The prog- Will tourists want to travel? Will they want accepted, after the Hilton fire proved the nosis for Las Vegas looked terrible by 1981. to visit casinos? Will a spike in cases force MGM Grand disaster was no fluke. For But within two years, the city’s recovery was a second closure? But there are general years, some hotel guests insisted on staying well underway. By the end of the decade, principles to be learned from the pain of the in rooms below the ninth floor, the highest the city — welcoming nearly twice as many MGM Grand fire four decades in the past. elevation fire ladders could reach. It was visitors as before — was on the verge of even Las Vegas is a city built on public relations. only the existence of robust safety systems greater growth. ✦ Coming back from the fire demanded that that proved themselves literally under fire at the city undertake costly, time-consuming Fitzgeralds and the Riviera that fire became Before becoming associate vice provost, retrofitting before it could be promoted as less of a concern. gaming historian David Schwartz was safe. The eventual adoption of fire safety in It’s not hard to imagine that the labor the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Las Vegas led to the city being hailed, within and effort it will take to make Las Vegas Research.

38 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020

SOCIETY xercise was Jimmy Hardy’s way of coping with the PTSD from his time in Iraq. “A lot of things that I did for fitness and stress relief was E exercising and running,” says Hardy, an Army veteran who deployed from Germany to Iraq in 2006 and 2008. After his four years in the BUILDING service, he was put in the reserves from 2009 to 2013, and was assigned to a Las Vegas chemical unit. His motorcycle was his other form of stress relief. In 2012, while Hardy was riding toward the intersection of Flamingo and Decatur, a car made a U-turn in MUSCLE, front of him. Hardy hit the car’s back panel on the driver’s side at 52 miles per hour. He lost his right leg, suffered a compound fracture in his right arm, tore his stomach open, and punctured his liver and kidney. “When I lost my leg, I lost the ability to vent (through exercise) and do those REBUILDING kinds of things. For the first couple of years, it was really hard for me to cope and I ended up gaining a bunch of weight,” he says. “I did the last year and a half of the reserves as an amputee. I went into a darker place, mentally and physically. I got in trouble with the military because of my attitude. I didn’t give LIVES up completely, because I still participated the best that I could, but at the same time I didn’t have that ‘care’ attitude.” Hardy’s first workout at Branded One CrossFit at age 32 was a reminder of Branded One CrossFit gym what he had been missing. It wasn’t easy. specializes in serving disabled “I wasn’t able to do the workout on the first day. If I remember correctly, it was veterans. But physical fitness is pull-ups and snatches, but I couldn’t do any of those motions. I was still trying only part of the regimen to learn my prosthesis.” But the coach was able to adapt everything to Hardy’s abilities and show him that he was capable of whatever he put his mind to. BY Hayleigh Hayhurst You wouldn’t expect such personalized attention at your average gym, but Branded One CrossFit is anything but average. At first glance, it looks typical

. 40 | DESERT COMPANION AUGUST 2020 PHOTOGRAPHY Christopher Smith DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

FEEL THE WARM In the days before mandatory masks, Branded One CrossFit members warm up beneath the stars and bars. . enough: There are plenty of pull-up bars, rowing machines, and weights. But the walls are adorned with U.S. flags and military memorabilia, which reflect a deeper mission. Branded One is a gym that specializes in assisting service men and women with disabilities — not as a business model, but as a community service. “I saw a need for a gym offering assistance for the mental and physical health of veterans with disabilities,” says owner Nick McCombs, who opened the gym in 2016. “Some of the members wouldn’t have been able to afford to come to a CrossFit gym because they may live paycheck to paycheck with the money they get from the government. It’s enough money to live, but just barely. It’s not enough for them to really take care of themselves.” McCombs offers free memberships to service people, including law enforcement, firefighters, military, and first responders, whether they have a disability or not. “It’s not about the ability they used to have, it’s about where they are right now and keeping them safe,” McCombs says. As a nonprofit, Branded One relies on community donations and paid memberships, which allows it to offer free memberships to service people. The free memberships account for about half of Branded One’s 100 memberships. The coaches create workouts that can be readily modified to fit all ability levels. All members are expected to do the same “work- “It’s not about out of the day,” the ability they but for members used to have, with disabilities, it’s about where modifications are they are right usually a must. now and keeping Hardy had gained them safe.” about 40 pounds after his motorcycle accident, but after developing a modified workout regimen at Branded One, he saw his strength level go up and his weight go down. A new series starting “When it comes to challenges of over- coming my physical disabilities, I always August 6 on have an issue because I did these exercises, like push-ups, pull-ups, and running before I was an amputee. When I get in the zone, I always forget I have an amputation because I mentally go back to when I was in the military and was pushing through it. I will

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 41 SOCIETY

SAFE SPACE Below, Nick Combs, Branded One’s owner, fosters an atmosphere in which members such as Elizabeth Freeman, right, can work on injuries that aren’t always visible.

for six years, deploying as part again. I saw terrible things in war, and I of Operation Iraqi Freedom for started realizing that we are people and if nine months. these people are capable of these horrible “I’m a 42-year-old female, but situations, we all are.” when I got out of the Air Force, A good workout can only do so much. I was 28. People don’t want to Branded One and Team RWB typically also believe that I am a veteran. I have a monthly social event outside the don’t have any noticeable phys- gym for members and veterans to connect ical injuries. The majority of my with each other and feel more at home. The injury is PTSD. I’ve had a lot of events help Hardy not only trust human- judgment in my life, even from ity again, but help him manage his PTSD, other veterans.” She was the first knowing that he has support from other veteran to receive a member- members. These events have also helped try and do a squat or bend down for a push- ship from Branded One after McCombs Freeman break out of her shell, cope with up, and because I can’t bend down on my partnered with an organization in which her mental health challenges, and make right side, I kind of stumble.” Freeman was active, Team Red, White, and new friends. Hardy persisted through the challeng- Blue, which encourages physical activity Inside and outside the gym, a sense of es, and today he calls his membership to as a way of connecting veterans to their structure also seems important. Coach Branded One a “gamechanger.” “After just communities. Freeman has been going to Leonard offers his support to members going for two or three weeks, they helped Branded One ever since. through fitness guidance and encouraging me adapt to a lot of the different exercis- “What is nice about Branded One and advice — and being a stickler for routine. es, which I thought were pretty amazing. Team RWB is that they aren’t expecting He says he’s seen members become more (Coach) Jeremy Leonard showed me a level you to be a broken-down veteran,” she says. confident within just a few weeks, because of competitiveness and what I can achieve.” “They both understand that veterans suffer they’re sticking to a routine and seeing Gym owner McCombs had that mental from invisible injuries. I don’t feel judgment results. factor in mind just as much when he started from people I meet in those organizations. “Schedules keep a lot of people sane because the gym. He’s aware of the high rate of Having the welcoming Branded One family it keeps them accountable,” he says. “I think suicide and prevalence of mental health really calms down the anxiety.” that for the members, just being in a space issues in the veteran community. Hardy, too, still copes with PTSD and that they feel at home in and knowing that For member Elizabeth Freeman, working still has vivid nightmares about his time other people in the room are going through out has been crucial in coping with the in active duty. “When I was in the military, similar things that they are can be comforting. mental aftermath of military service. She I had a couple things go awry. It was hard We really try to make people know that they joined the Air Force at 23 and was active for me mentally to get to trust humanity can just come in and talk.” ✦

42 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020

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• Wash your hands • Cover your cough or To day. often with soap and sneezes with a tissue water for at least 20 or sneeze into your If you need care, don’t delay. Across ourhospitals andcare sites—from our seconds. If soap and elbow. Throw the emergency rooms to our Birth Centers—every step we take is toward healthier days. water are not available, tissue in the garbage and We’veredesigned our waitingrooms to add extra space between each seat. use an alcolhol-based hand make sure to clean your hands Cleaning is more stringentand more frequent than ever. And behind every sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. afterwards. mask you see is a friendly face. Because we thinkthat safety should extend • Practice social distancing by putting beyond sanitizing anddistancingto include understanding and peace of mind. • Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or 6 feet of distance between yourself and people who don’t live in your We want youtofeelconﬁdentingetting thecarethat you need. And as mouth, especially always,we’ll do everything we canto help makethathappen. with unwashed hands. household. • Wear a face mask in • Avoid close contact with people public settings and who are showing symptoms of when around people illness. who don’t live in your household, especially • Clean and disinfect frequently when other social distancing touched objects and measures are difficult to maintain. surfaces. • Be alert for symptoms like fever, Learn more about how we’re keeping you safe at • Stay home when you cough, shortness of breath, StRoseHospitals.org/Safety. are sick. fatigue, headache, loss or taste or smell, etc. Getthe care Stay Safe you need. and Healthy Prevent COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses by following these tips:

VOICERACE, POWER, AND PROTEST IN LAS VEGAS

A ROUNDTABLE ON RACIAL JUSTICE IN LAS VEGAS

photography by BRENT HOLMES

58 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS idespread protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd have W sparked a national conversation about racism. On July 9, Desert Companion hosted a live Zoom event, “Every Voice: Race, Protest, and Power in Las Vegas,” a roundtable on racial justice in the valley. How can street rallies translate into real change? What can be done to reform the police

and expand economic opportunity in communities of color? How does a movement evolve into a coalition that bridges the divides of race, class, and gender identity? These are just a few of the questions panelists discussed. Moderated by writer and CSN English professor Erica Vital-Lazare, the 90-minute discussion included panelists Aaron D. Ford, Nevada attorney general; Tenisha Freedom, organizer and activist; Tyler D. Parry, assistant professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at UNLV; Lance L. Smith, a multidisciplinary artist, illustrator, and teacher; and the Reverend Vance “Stretch” Sanders, Baptist youth pastor and president of All Shades United. The following is a transcript of the roundtable discussion, edited for length and clarity. You can find a link to the recorded video of the Zoom event at desertcompanion.com.

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 59 ERICA VITAL-LAZARE: When we were thinking about how to meaning in the sense of it’s 2020, and we’re still saying Black Lives home in on a theme for this discussion, we kept coming back to Matter. It’s 2020, we’re still asking and demanding Black power. “What’s different?” How is this current civil rights movement, It’s 2020, racist police officers and officers of color are getting which feels so different, actually different in your personal away with killing Black, brown, oppressed people. It’s 2020, Black experience? How does it compare to similar ones in the past? folks are still being lynched on trees. It’s 2020, we’re still being abducted, kidnapped with our organs missing. It’s the same old AARON D. FORD: In the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s song, just a different tune. But what can be different this time killing, I didn’t think anything was different. I didn’t expect is I do see a huge emergence of older people and young people anything would be different. I thought it would continue to be who have taken to the streets, but also taken to the community yet another example of a Black man dying at the hands of police, to organize, because we understand that protesting is temporary, and nothing happening. I have been, I hate to say the word and protesting and mobilizing is something that we do to bring “surprised,” but I have been surprised at where we are now, which awareness. What’s going to really bring the actual change is is on the precipice of actual policies being implemented. But the 365 (days a year) work, right? Giving folks knowledge of beyond implementation, being enforced. And on the precipice self, political education classes, and the community giving out of laws being passed at a state legislative level that are seeking resources to the people. That’s how essentially we bring change. to address some of the concerns that have been raised from So I see where there’s a shift. I just hope that this shift is generations past. not temporary. Because right now, it’s cool to be an activist, What I am also surprised at and “happy” to see — I use the everybody’s an activist now, everybody’s a community leader, word happy in quotes, right, because who’s happy to talk about everybody wants to be on panels and speak on behalf of work this in the context of another man’s killing? — but happy to see they’ve never really done. I just hope that spirit is not people that law enforcement at the outset began to voice their outrage just playing revolutionary dress-up or playing activist dress-up, at what we saw in Minneapolis. but they really understand this is bigger than George Floyd.

TENISHA FREEDOM: What’s different this time as far as after the VITAL-LAZARE: Lance, can you talk about the way this movement George Floyd murder? I think that the video was so clear. The feels different, and how it is informed by the image of George audio was so clear. It was something that was kind of broadcast Floyd in that street, Michael Brown laying for hours in the as a horror film, broadcasted live across the country, and it was street. What impact does that have on the psyche of a nation, undisputable. I think that’s what led to some of the reaction what impact does such imagery have on the psyche of Black and change and demands that are happening right now. This people in particular? isn’t new. We’ve had four centuries of racial capitalism leading the country. We’ve had decades of police terror haunting our LANCE L. SMITH: We understand this is psychological warfare. communities. But what’s changed is social media — videos being The torrent of images of Black death on our televisions are in the hands of everyone being able to record it and put it out meant to destabilize us. I think it’s very deliberate. And when quickly without it being edited. In these last few months, we’ve you think of things like, you talk about the lynching tree going seen COVID change the dynamic of the economy and the way from the tree to our streets, it’s just, again, visual representations people are moving as well. We’re seeing so much corruption, so of how we as Black people do not matter in this place. I think it’s much poverty, so much of a division between the high elite and important as an artist, and I see all of us as artists, to figure out the wealthy and the poor. It’s starting to touch people that it’s ways to transmute those horrors. That’s the gift of us being able never touched before. We’re seeing an uprising of people and to create, being able to see the horror front on and being able to the unity of people because of that. transmute it into something we can use for our power.

TYLER D. PARRY: One thing that was distinct with George VITAL-LAZARE: Minister Stretch, you keep an eye on the Floyd’s death is the sheer length of the video, what the public movement nationwide. How does Black activism and Black life was able to see. Juxtaposing that with what happened to Byron in Southern Nevada differ from that in the rest of the country, Williams — that was filmed, too — but LVMPD only released particularly where the movement is involved? part of the video for public viewing, and apparently showed a few people, including family members, the entirety of the video, SANDERS: Vegas is a different city. You look at the history of which is where you hear him repeatedly say, “I can’t breathe,” not just the movement from Black Lives, but if you look at the multiple times. Whereas what we have with George Floyd is history of the Vegas civil rights movement, other cities’ leaders nearly nine minutes of prolonged pleading for the officer to get back in the ’60s were ministers. Vegas was different. Their off of his neck, and the callous nature of other officers simply leaders were Bob Bailey, an entrepreneur; Charles Kellar, a watching and, in fact, getting very disgruntled with the crowd lawyer; Dr. Charles West, who was a dentist; Dr. James McMillan, that was forming around them. It was just a visual that most who was a doctor. Vegas’ leaders were people who owned their people were horrified by. own businesses, people who were successful, not preachers or working-class folks. That same energy is transferred today. So REVEREND VANCE “STRETCH” SANDERS: For the most part, you look at the leadership of Las Vegas now, it differs from a lot not much has really changed. Yes, this feels different. Yes, the of the leadership in other places. Vegas considers leadership climate is different, but when I say not much has changed, I’m politicians, that’s their leaders. In Chicago, the leaders are the

60 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS “I hate to say ‘surprised,’ but I have been surprised at where we are now: on the precipice of actual policies being implemented.” — Aaron D. Ford

people at the bottom of the barrel, the leaders are the people sold us down a creek, they sold us out continuously. Now they’re who run community centers. Those are the leaders in other community leaders and now they’re speaking out against what’s cities as well. going on, but they’ve been quiet about Byron Williams, they’ve It’s definitely different, but that’s not a bad thing. Because there’s been quiet about Tashii Brown Farmer. They were nowhere also room to grow a movement in Las Vegas. But because Vegas is to be found then. But now that it’s a global thing, now some of traditionally not known for having a progressive movement, we’re our Black elected officials want to play superhero. They were not going to have the same energy as L.A. or Detroit. And people elected to represent us, and so I want to see the people stand are sometimes frustrated because they wish we would “Turn it together. If that includes politicians, obviously, then they will up like Oakland!” Sometimes I do, too. And we wish that Vegas be welcome. But I want the people to stand together, and that was like Detroit or Chicago, but it’s not, because unfortunately means the sister who’s on the corner, the brother who’s selling people move here from all over. When we move here, we don’t dope, the grandmother who raised her grandkids. bring whatever skill or culture or knowledge that we have. We We need to get to the people and get rid of some of the com- leave that back where we’re from. And for those who were born mercialization of the movement, because the Vegas movement and raised here, they didn’t grow up seeing movements, they to me is becoming very commercialized, because you got folks didn’t grow up seeing struggle, so they learned about what they who are trying to co-opt, stop, hijack the movement, and turn know from other places. it into something that it’s not. I want to continue to keep this Vegas has a history of having movement moments but not a movement as authentic and as original as possible. movement. So they protest and they shut down the Strip, but then after that, a year later, there is no result of that protest, VITAL-LAZARE: Professor Parry, what are we doing now? What there is no result of that energy. That’s why it’s so important are activists old and new doing now? How does this now fit into because Vegas does not have a consistency of activism. We have the continuum of history, how does Las Vegas now fit within to make sure those who are currently in activism are laying that continuum? down the foundation. PARRY: I’ve been reaching out to educators in the Clark County VITAL-LAZARE: So, you feel like you’re going back to the original School District. I was just curious, what is being done as far as ministry of movement, really replacing, or standing alongside, pedagogical strategies that are being implemented within the politicians and other activists in this movement, but you want classroom? What are the children learning? What are they learning to bring the ministry back into the movement? Is that your goal? about Las Vegas history? Because I can tell you as a person who went through the school district, most of what I learned about SANDERS: Not necessarily, because for me to bring the ministry racism or discrimination within Las Vegas came from either to the movement means I have to force religion on people, and discussing it with elders within the community, or learning it I think that people have the right to practice whatever spiritual after I graduated from high school. Addressing anything about practice they practice. For me, my movement is my ministry. But race or discrimination either within the United States or within ministry also means serve, so it doesn’t have to be a religious the city itself was largely a side note in most of the curriculum. thing. My goal is to continue — there was a movement going on The thing I’m worried about is, thus far from what I’m hearing before there was a Stretch Sanders — so my goal is to make sure from educators, is that very little has changed. There’s an elective that we can sustain. of African American studies that students can choose to take, but My mother always said it’s not about what you obtain, it’s what they’re not entirely sure how much of this is actually addressed you maintain. And Vegas will brag about, “Oh we did that 20 years in U.S. history. And I understand that teachers are pressed for ago,” but what are you doing now? We have a lot of leaders in Las time, and they’re following particular guidelines that come Vegas who live off things they did 20 years ago, but if you ain’t down from administrators and the higher levels. But I think worked in 20 years, then it’s like that work is kinda in vain. So if that we have an opportunity now to at least introduce the idea we get into the movement, there’s no such thing as saying, “Oh, I that this needs to be addressed for young people, that they need used to be an activist.” When you’re in this life, you’re in this life. to know about this. As far as standing with the politicians, I think we’ve tried that Once I learned about a lot of these things after I graduated and I’m open to that, but I think it has to be the right politicians from high school, I became very resentful. People had lied to me. because we know that we have a whole lot of politicians that this is They were trying to cover it up. They didn’t trust me with this a career for them. So most, even all, the Black politicians, they’ve type of knowledge. Something that I’m going to be pursuing is

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 61 “Police reform is the most basic request of this movement. Whose responsibility is it?” — Erica Vital-Lazare

to try to form some type of alliance between educators within curriculum in the schools. It doesn’t exist, so it is voluntary and the K-12 CCSD system, and faculty, activists, or anybody who’s optional if they even present any Black history to our children. interested in aligning themselves, to introduce a curriculum that So we have a couple of options. Either we demand that this will talk about these things and discuss them and strategize how curriculum is included, or we begin to organize our own schools to help students understand the history of this city beyond just and our own curriculums that include it. the tourism and the Mafia stories that we typically get. One time, for Malcolm X’s (birthday), which is May 19, we went I agree with the minister, Las Vegas history is unique. But at out into the community for Malcolm X Day, and we had books the same time, it mirrors many other parts of the country. You for the children, we had fruit, and we had some informational have students coming into my classroom thinking that racism fliers on Malcolm X. And it just happened that a school bus got only exists in the South. But at the same time, they’re coming off. And this is a Black and brown neighborhood right in the from a city (in a state) that was called the Mississippi of the West middle of the Westside. All Black children getting off the bus, and with pretty good reason. It wasn’t until 1971 when Black probably about 30 or 40 of them, and not one of them even knew people could move out of the Westside. who Malcolm X was. So we understand that’s on purpose, we This is not ancient history. I think students need to know and understand that’s by design, that some of our Black liberation understand that. What we need to do is adjust the curriculums leaders are not known, and they’re certainly not taught in these to meet the needs of this current movement. school systems.

VITAL-LAZARE: Tenisha, in your movement, how do you include VITAL-LAZARE: I wanted to hear from you, Attorney General education that’s a component in building awareness, also in Ford, about police reform. It is the most basic request of this building numbers for protest on the Strip? movement. Whose responsibility is it, what has to happen at every level to get more day-to-day accountability for institutionalized FREEDOM: It’s important to note, like the professor did, that Las violence against Black people? Vegas is not exempt from racism. In very recent years, Blacks were not allowed to frequent casinos. Even our entertainers weren’t FORD: It’s everybody’s responsibility. Each of us has a role. We’ve allowed to perform in the same guise as white performers. Las heard the speakers before me talk about what they do relative to Vegas Metro Police Department is not exempt from racism, is grassroots or being the voice of the people. I think people have not exempt from saturating Black and brown communities, is several voices. I don’t think anyone has a monopoly on the way not exempt from our youth being tagged and really targeted that they’re able to serve. I understand that some politicians in for felonies as gang members. The Las Vegas Metro Police fact do nothing. Some do more than nothing. And part of my job Department is not exempt from murder and excessive force in as the top law enforcement officer in the state is to utilize the our communities. So we have to know that Las Vegas is not unique influence that I have in my position to be able to effectuate policy in some of those areas of racism and oppression, as we want to changes, but also the enforcement of those policies. put out there that it’s all about tourism. The tourism aspect is It’s not so much again the institution of a policy to de-escalate a reason why so little is known about what really happens here or the institution of a policy to take implicit-bias training or on some of those fronts, because there’s a lot of money there to use-of-force training. That’s not the issue. The truth is, many hide it. A part of what we’re doing is exposing that it is here, but of our departments have those, and they are state-of-the-art also exposing the politicians, or people that are in power and policies. But what’s not happening, though, is the enforcement police that are not speaking on it, that are not pushing reform of those from a disciplinary and oftentimes judicial enforcement on it, that are not defunding these entities that don’t work to perspective. eradicate it. So we’re wanting to call out some of those names. When I saw the killing of George Floyd, my immediate thought We have the attorney general with us as well. What stance is was, here we go again and nothing’s going to happen. That’s he taking? What areas can he use his power in to make sure that because I am conditioned at some level to believe that actual we’re united on some of these fronts, and using that power and justice will not be made in any circumstances, and that helps position for the people’s voice? As activists in the community, contribute to the lack of trust between law enforcement and we serve the people. We are the voice of the people. We try to the communities they serve, particularly the Black community push the people’s narrative, and we try to push the people’s right now. It’s partially my responsibility as an individual who agenda and our goals. has a level of influence to be able to talk to and about police We know that CCSD does not have a mandatory Black history departments, but also to and about legislators, and also utilizing

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“We don’t want reform. We want revolution. We want complete, total change.” — Rev. “Stretch” Sanders

my statutory authorities and abilities given to me that I’m asking see the response that we’d like. What the people are demanding for that I have not yet received. is that these people in positions of power and representatives If, in fact, a police department is being alleged to be racially of the so-called elite begin to speak out and share some of the discriminating in the way that it enforces justice or enforces narratives that we have, that they take a political stance in it, laws, then the attorney general’s office can be an entity that that they push the agenda. can operate in the oversight perspective. It can add an extra Even in the know-your-rights types of forums. They hold level of transparency. I don’t have that authority right now. The these forums to bring the youth together, bring the community Department of Justice at the federal level has that authority, and together so you know your rights, know how you should respond I have asked — along with 17 other attorneys general across the if the police is apprehending you or if you have an encounter with nation — that Congress give us that authority under federal law. the police. The issue is that we know our rights, and the police But I have also simultaneously asked that our state Legislature know our rights, and instead they’re impeded and blocked and authorize that authority within my office, so I have belt and disregarded time and time again. suspenders of sorts, if you will. There are additional opportunities So our distrust with the police is a branch of it. But unfortu- that I think we all have vis-à-vis holding people accountable. We nately, it escalates up the entire tree and down to the roots. The all have a role in this. police are just the branch of enforcement, but we know who’s really pulling the strings: The people in these political offices VITAL-LAZARE: Tenisha, Metro announced (recently) that it that are simply not doing what the people are asking them to changed its policy on neck restraint technique to only allow it in do. We want defunding, we want disarming, we want disbanding life-threatening situations. So I wanted to know your thoughts of the police, and we also want those resources redistributed to on that and how grassroots organizing might have influenced our communities. that change in policy. What we can do from our end from the grassroots and organizing part of it is start to withhold our resources, so instead of FREEDOM: We believe that grassroots organizing is a major begging them to redistribute the budget, we start impacting the influence on mainstream platforms or policy creations. We’ve budget. So that’s what we’re looking to organize, look at ways that seen that happen historically on many issues. People do set the we can impact the budget so our resources never even get into tone for these discussions. Years ago, we weren’t hearing anything the state’s hand of control. We keep it in our hands for control. about defunding the police. It was kind of one of those “radical ideas” that was only talked about in a few groups that were more VITAL-LAZARE: Minister Stretch, Tenisha is talking about considered to the left. So now we’re seeing that, we’re hearing defunding, disarming, disbanding. Is this part of your philosophy that every day, and now you can google “defund the police,” and as well? Do you think that the type of revolutionary change that it comes up as a very palatable discussion. Tenisha is pointing toward is a solution? Although I’m not sure exactly what the attorney general’s powers are, but I do know these people rub elbows with each SANDERS: I probably agree with 90 percent of the ideology that other, they go to dinner with each other, they go to lunch with she has. We don’t want reform. We want revolution. The root each other. These conversations of what the people are demanding word of revolution is revolt. To revolt means to break away. So need to be top priority, then tuning in and then attending our we want abolishment. We don’t want a cleaner version. It’s like, protests, our gatherings, our forums, and saying, “Hey what do almost, either be raped or be murdered. We don’t want those you guys want? What can we deliver to you?” Because they are options. We want complete, total change. So I wholeheartedly supposed to be the people’s servants. We’re not seeing that. So, believe, as a liberation activist, that if we’re going to bring change, as far as the Metro initiating yet another law or another policy, the people got to have the power. they have a use-of-force policy, they have a don’t-choke-hold The police can’t police the police. Because there’s a silent code. policy. But they seem to somehow be able to be immune to It’s even like that with the politicians. They do rub elbows, they whatever policy or whatever procedures are in place. Like the do go to lunch, they do have a code of conduct to each other. To attorney general said, there’s no accountability, and that we see Attorney General Ford’s point, I agree that we all play a role. over and over again. But the issue is, those who are supposed to play roles who are in We saw this week a budgeting forum where the governor took elected office positions are not playingany roles. I’m not saying millions of dollars away from education again. And nothing every politician in the state of Nevada has to play a role, but what taken away from police forces. So we hear it. However, we don’t I’m saying is the masses of them who should be playing roles are

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 65 “It’s not always about looking for the state or anyone else to deliver these types of opportunities, but for us to create them ourselves.” — Tenisha Freedom

not playing roles. They’re playing the role of, “I’m trying to get When I look at panels such as the “Solutions, Strategies & Service re-elected, so I’m gonna say what’s popular. I’m going to make Summit” (hosted by Clark County Commissioner Lawrence sure I don’t be too radical or too Black.” Weekly and moderated by rapper and entrepreneur Tip T.I. It would be so powerful if politicians would not only come Harris on June 24 at Pearson Community Center), there were out to the protests, but also come out when folks are giving out several activists who were on there listed as community leaders. food and giving out resources. If I go to most of the Westside What qualifies as a community leader? Because if that’s the case, housing projects like Sherman Gardens and ask them, “Have are we paying for this? Is this like a membership, because these you ever saw an assemblyperson in person? Have you ever folks were nowhere to be found two months ago. Nowhere! But saw the Attorney General in person, have you saw the Black now that T.I.’s in town, everybody’s a leader. councilman that’s supposed to be in this area?” They would say We’ve got to do better. This is not a game. People are harassed. no. That’s problematic. So imagine how powerful, a councilman Phones are tapped. Houses are watched. We can be killed doing coming and bringing food every other week. You start changing this work. We don’t like to have people who make a mockery of the trajectory of the people and you start actually being a voice. this. Yes, we all play a role, but play the role that you were elected Just because you have a voice box don’t mean you have a voice. for and put in a position to play. So you have people who have voice boxes, but they’re not using them. So you ended up in a position of power, but you’re not VITAL-LAZARE: Who are the community leaders? What qualifies using that power. I think that so many of our elected officials, as a community leader? including Attorney General Ford, definitely have to step their game up. We commend them for speaking out now, but they’re still SMITH: The thing that really kind of blows me away is that silent on Byron Williams. Sheriff (Joseph Lombardo) said on TV, we’re not talking about racism as a social construct that gains “This is not Minneapolis.” Like hell it ain’t! This is Minneapolis. capital. The invention of the police force was to police Black This is Baltimore. This is Chicago. This is Ferguson. The police bodies, period. Attorney General, I thank you for all you do, terrorism has been going on in Las Vegas since the beginning but we can’t mince words here. It’s always life or death if you of time. This is nothing new. are a minority in this space. So when you ask what can you do, When our elected officials and some so-called leaders, when I totally agree with Tenisha and Stretch: It’s about making our they get on TV and they say, “This is not Minneapolis, we’re own, and understanding that this system is built to kill us. Period. going to be sure,” then you’re erasing history because Byron We can pontificate and try to be cute and dance around it. The Williams was just killed in September for riding a bike! When a attorney general knows that he’s indoctrinated in a system Black man rides a bike, he’s suspicious. But when a white man that’s built kill us. rides a bike in Summerlin, he’s bike-riding. I can’t put all the pressure on Attorney General Ford. It’s also FORD: Let’s be clear. Everyone has their experiences. I’m not on community folks. It’s also on the pastors and the preachers originally from here. I’m from inner-city Dallas, Texas. I’ve had and so-called leaders like the teachers. We’ve all got to step our my fair share of negative experiences with law enforcement. I game up, but particularly those who were supposed to be elected know my experiences, and I don’t run from it and I don’t shy away to be the voice of the people have to step it up. We all can agree from it. I also know what my role is. And I utilize my position to that the politicians in Las Vegas and Nevada are definitely not effectuate policy change in the way that I think is appropriate. as revolutionary, radical, and vocal as they can be. They were Is it going to please everybody? Absolutely not. Is it pleasing not speaking out about Byron Williams, they were not speaking some of those on this screen? Clearly not. But does that deter out about Tashii Brown Farmer and Trevon Cole. They were not me from doing what I think is most appropriate in the position speaking out about so many others. That’s just the Black folk. that I hold? It does not, and it will not. We’re not talking about the Hispanic families that got killed. We But I don’t purport to speak on behalf of other elected offi- can’t sit here and acknowledge George Floyd had been killed and cials; I will speak on my own behalf and to say that absolutely everybody’s like well, this is a good time to celebrate Metro. No, indoctrination has occurred. Professor Parry talked about Metro is the biggest gang in the state of Nevada. It’s not just us indoctrination in the educational system. Education has always bullying and picking on Metro, but before you can clean up a been used to indoctrinate. wound you have to acknowledge who made that wound. What I’ve told the story several times before, when my young Black we’re looking for as different activists and revolutionaries is we kid was taking a test in Texas, a multiple-choice exam that need all of our people who are so-called leaders to be leaders. required him to pass to get to the next grade, and the question

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“Once I learned about a lot of these things after I graduated from high school, I became very resentful. People had lied to me.” — Tyler D. Parry was multiple choice. Simply, what was the cause of the Civil War? built on the backs of trafficked Black bodies, there’s always been Two answers he was able to get rid of. The last two answers were this sense of hierarchy. At the top, there’s someone to punch states’ rights and slavery. And, according to the Texas curriculum, down at. Would we be marching the way we were if it were just the right answer was states’ rights, not slavery. Obviously, I was about Breonna Taylor? When we think about the life expectancy up in arms about that and explained to them this is no reason of a Black trans woman being 35, we should have all been up in why that should be the more correct answer. It was the states’ arms about those things. When you think about the way that rights to own slaves. the Black Lives Matter movement willfully ignores and often And so in the context of the worst, most racist institution of ostracizes LGBTQI people as if we had not been here from the our country’s history, you can’t acknowledge that that in itself start. So I think everyone is speaking from a place of privilege, was the cause of the Civil War. It’s no wonder people say Black but also we need to be transparent about the fact that if the most people are too sensitive when it comes to race. It’s indoctrination. marginalized of us are free, then we’re all free. And just because Absolutely. Does the system indoctrinate? It absolutely does, you have a tier to sit on, please believe, this nation will figure but does it also take people inside the system to try to help out a way to take you down from it. So if you’re not for everyone, undo it? I believe so. I believe that there are some of us who are including queer people, trans people, non-binary people that being effective. For example, when I was in the state Senate, happen to be Black as well, then you’re not for any of us. (we passed) laws that helped to remove the ability to racially We’re extremely fractured. We can’t even have the conversation. profile and beyond that, to prosecute those who actually do it. I’m not upset at the attorney general. He’s doing what he needs That’s necessary, and it runs parallel with what’s happening at to do inside of the system that he’s working in. Again, we’re the grassroots level. mincing words, and we’re not talking about real root — Black Not everyone looks to be seen, not everyone looks to be heard. bodies in this place do not matter. Us walking outside, us literally Some folks actually just want to be in the background and do breathing is violent. Is seen as violent. It’s not violent when a some work and effectuate the change in the best way that they bunch of white guys go to a town hall with a bunch of guns. But can. And one of the ways to do that is to vote. Some of the people as soon as one of us raises our voice, it’s violence. in our communities push back even on that particular concept. I want to talk about erasure and not talking about Black And when my grandmother and my great grandmother and my women. We can focus our energy on what Black men are going in-laws tell me about their struggles to vote in Texas, it appalls through, not to say that it is not a plight, but Black women have me that folks would pooh-pooh on the notion of voting when to carry so much more. I don’t feel like they are protected. My they were the ones that were having dogs sicced on them and question for everyone is how are we protecting Black women? water hoses turned on them. How do we prioritize the Black women — not just our mothers Let’s be clear. I am the top law enforcement officer in the state. and our sisters — but the Black women around us? How do we I wear a badge. I don’t run from it. And that does mean that I deal with colorism? How do we deal with all these hierarchical can’t do certain things in good faith — for example, appear at a systems that make it so there are certain people who are always protest when I have to enforce a law that says you’re not supposed at the bottom, proverbially, and there are some people that are to be in groups of 50 or more. higher up? And how do we make it a line instead of a stair step? Now what I can do and what I did do in that context is put out I am angry, because I know the way that I show up in spaces is a notice about what your rights are, relative to your interactions. seen as a threat because I’m Black, but also seen as sometimes To be sure, some people know their rights, but not everybody outside of the Black movement because I’m queer. Multiple does. And so understanding that there are opportunities for us things can be true at one time. I’m asking for everyone involved to educate, even in our positions of “power,” putting “power” in to acknowledge that those things are real, that a Black trans quotes because some folks don’t want to acknowledge it. There woman can be found at a river chopped into pieces and none of are still ways that we can influence what’s going on here. you will know her name.

VITAL-LAZARE: Lance, I want to ask you about privilege and SANDERS: I made a video recently because on my timeline I marginalization. What is the underlying idea of really representing see folks that say, “Black lives can’t matter to a Black gay couple all marginalized people within this movement, centering them, because they can’t even have biological children.” It really grinds moving everyone toward lives of parity? my gears because that’s so wrong. Obviously, me being a Christian minister, we know in the Christian faith, homosexuality is not SMITH: When we think of the entirety of how the Americas was exactly welcome. I do catch a lot of flak because I do speak up

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 69 “We need to be transparent about the fact that if the most marginalized of us are free, then we’re all free.” — Lance L. Smith

and defend LGBTQ+ lives. I believe that you have to stop picking a speech that’s not often mentioned of his, but it’s a speech that and choosing the Black lives we’re going accept. All Black life I revisit again and again, and that speech at the Riverside City is valuable. As Black folks, we can’t pick and choose the Black Baptist Church on the Upper East Side (of New York) is “Beyond life we think is valuable, because if we do, then we’re not really Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” (April 4, 1967). He said, “A for Black lives. true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring Nobody talks about the fact that people like Marsha P. Johnson, contrast of poverty and wealth.” How can we foster Black wealth who was a transgender woman who was found in a river back in in Las Vegas, particularly in spaces where exclusion was deliberate ’92, and nobody has yet talked about that. And this was a time and supported by policy? Professor Parry, what happened to the where being Black and trans was looked as like, “Yuck, get away Westside over the past three decades? Economically, why is this from me.” district still in blight?

SMITH: It still is. PARRY: There’s a long history within the Westside. One thing to understand about it, though, was during the 1950s and 1960s, it SANDERS: Exactly. And it’s not on Lance to call it out, right? was a middle-class area. Money traveled within the community. It’s up to people like Attorney General Ford and Sister Erica and In the common narrative of the United States, people talk about Tenisha. We have to stand just like when we say we want white Black Wall Street, which is outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma, as one folks to defend us when it comes to racism. We have to stand and of these areas of Black achievement. The internal communities tell our queer brothers and sisters, “You get back, we got this one.” supported one another. And the Westside functioned as many We all need to make sure that we hold each other accountable Black neighborhoods did throughout the country in a very as family do. When family gets off the deep end, we have to call similar way. that out, and Lance is right: We do have to protect Black women. After 1971, when the Fair Housing Acts were signed, you start Black women are not seen as human, not seen as valuable, trans to see the Black middle class moving out into the suburbs. That women the same thing. Until we correct those issues, the Black was their choice. That was perfectly reasonable because the life is never going to matter. Black lives will never matter until legislation had changed. Now, what happens, though, is the way it matters to Black folks. integration or desegregation has been done historically in the So every Tuesday, my organization, we’re starting our com- United States has always left communities behind. And what munity patrols. And I was messaged by politicians, who told me replaces the middle-class occupants is a heavier form of policing. they thought I was trying to put together a militia. My question So it didn’t take very long, until about the mid 1980s, when to them is why whenever we come together, it’s a negative thing, crack cocaine comes into the Las Vegas so-called “inner city.” it’s a militia. You just got done telling me that you felt bad about Much like it did in Los Angeles. The story of Los Angeles and the young Black girl who was lured away from the McDonald’s South Central very much parallels what we know as the Westside on MLK and Lake Mead, and was found miraculously in a sewer today. Alongside that comes a heavy police force that’s not there dead. You just said you were upset about that. Okay, here we offer to be of civil service. It’s there to intimidate, exploit, and bully to go do something about it, and then that’s looked down upon. the neighboring populations. The pressure is not going to be on the police. We tried them. It One thing that’s not often discussed is that when we talk about doesn’t work, right? The pressure can’t just be on the politicians. social distancing or the inability to gather in large crowds, Metro They’re overwhelmed. They got excuses. The community as a actually instituted that policy strictly within the Westside in whole has to step up. the early 1990s. They wouldn’t allow more than three people I believe that voting on a local level and a state level is defi- together within that neighborhood. So, first you have economic nitely beneficial, and it’s definitely important. But if folks are deprivation, the introduction of drugs, and then heavy policing — going to the voting booths hungry, then to me it’s in vain. Yes, essentially the stop-and-frisk policy that’s commonly associated people need to vote, but we also need to be in the community with New York City. But it was very much in place within the and made sure people feel safe voting. Right? So that people are Westside at this point. not being intimidated by white supremacist groups, people are So consider this entire history: From 1990 to 2011, a study was not voting in bright lights at Pearson Center then getting home conducted that found that the LVMPD was the third-highest and lighting candles. officer-related shooting per capita city within the United States. Think about what that does. Despite all the reforms that have VITAL-LAZARE: Dr. King is one of my personal heroes. There is been encouraged and conducted, despite all the changes that continued on Page 94

70 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

DOCTORS, SPECIALISTS, AND MEDICAL STUDENTS SHARE THE SOMETIMES photography by AARON MAYES DIFFICULT LESSONS THEY’VE LEARNED IN THE AGE OF COVID-19

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 73 LAS VEGAS NEEDS MULTILINGUAL MEDICAL Whether they’re toiling on the EDUCATION front lines or helping from the The process started with all our events getting canceled one by one, because the sidelines, healthcare workers are learners could not congregate, for their navigating a strange new world own health. The university shut everything down. The Simulation Center was among the in the pandemic age. We’ve all first invited to reopen, because healthcare read stories about doctors and education was considered essential. We need to be graduating as many healthcare nurses working to exhaustion as workers as we can. That process must not COVID-19 strains our healthcare be slowed down. We went back to the drawing board and system. But there are other started to reimagine how we deliver a modal- stories that, while less daunting ity so based on human interaction, physical touch, being in the room with someone, and dramatic, tease out some nu- and giving them feedback on the nuances. anced lessons about public health We needed a simulation about COVID-19. People had thought of that and written it, and community welfare. We but it was intended for use with an avatar, asked five people, from doctors AI, or mannequin. The thing that struck me about it was, I can look at this and reimagine to technical specialists to medi- it with a live human being, but also, what cal students, to express in their occurred to me, because of my perspective as a bilingual, bicultural person was, it was own words what they’ve learned all geared toward native English speakers. during their work amid the In Las Vegas, we have a large percent of our population for whom English is not the pandemic. Answers have been primary language. And also, we invite people edited for length and clarity. from around the world — our economy is based on tourism — who don’t speak English as their first language. When the pandemic hits and you have a multilingual population and a virus that doesn’t discriminate, how GIGI GUIZADO will healthcare professionals help them? DE NATHAN So, I wrote a simulation to address that. STANDARDIZED PATIENT COORDINATOR IN THE NECESSITY IS THE CLINICAL SIMULATION CENTER OF LAS VEGAS MOTHER OF INVENTION

hat Gigi Guizado de Nathan Visually, it’s not unlike what we’re looking W has learned from the pandemic at right now — Skype or Zoom. The scenario comes from her unique back- is, a patient who is ill, a Las Vegas resident ground. For some 20 years (10 in Las Vegas), whose first language is not English, calls the she’s educated standardized patients. What’s UNLV School of Medicine COVID-19 call that? Imagine a scenario in which a medical center, because they’re sick. Assuming they or nursing school student is being trained have a medical interpreter, they have another or tested through a simulated interaction person (a physician) come into the meeting with a patient — kind of like role-playing. and then the conversation continues with Who plays the sick person? An actor, called the interpreter. It becomes a three-way call. a standardized patient. Guizado de Nathan I train the bilingual standardized patient so got her formal education in acting and has the medical student can see how to engage continued to act alongside her day job over- that person effectively and have the skills seeing the local SP program. In addition, they need to help that patient. she’s bilingual, having been raised speaking I’ve been pleasantly surprised and re- Spanish. minded of how much we can accomplish if we

74 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS set our minds to it. And, I’ve been pleasantly people immediately volunteered their fam- surprised by how well we’re doing in this ily members. I couldn’t even offer them online environment. It’s out of hardship, a guarantee they’d get paid. (I asked the but I do believe that, moving forward, when director of finance if they could, and she maybe all this online work isn’t required said yes, eventually.) But even under those anymore, we might retain some of it because circumstances — outside their comfort zone we found that it was useful. and they may not get paid — they jumped on board without a second thought and THERE IS EAGERNESS were proud to do so. It touched their heart, TO HELP UNDERSERVED and they couldn’t have been happier to be We learned that we POPULATIONS there. Heidi Kyser need to be more self-reliant and much I have a collection of moments that stuck better prepared for with me. In general, I was moved by how similar pandemics. moved other people were by the recognition DR. DEREK MEEKS We were not ready that we’re all human and we don’t all speak MEDICAL DIRECTOR, EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT, BOULDER CITY for this pandemic. the same language and if we don’t do this HOSPITAL work, there will be undue suffering. I did not limit it to Spanish. That’s my go- r. Derek Meeks is a 23-year resident to, because that’s my skill set, but being well D of Southern Nevada. He serves as a aware Las Vegas has multiple communities trustee on the Clark County Med- that speak a variety of languages, I reached ical Society board and is vice dean of Touro out to my colleagues in the simulation center University Nevada College of Osteopath- and we were able to translate it to Tagalog ic Medicine. He is a medical provider for (a Filipino dialect). Envision Emergency Medicine Physicians At a staff meeting I asked, “Is there group, which oversees roughly half of the anyone among us that could help?” and ERs in the valley.

Dr. Derek Meeks

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 75 Cassandra McDiarmid

BE PREPARED EARLY great stockpile, you were at risk. normally would have come in, but they were AND OFTEN People didn’t know how to use them: Do so scared of COVID. The longer you wait, you change it after every patient? Do you the more irreversible damage is going to We learned that we need to be more change it once a shift? What do you do? occur. It broke our hearts to see people wait self-reliant and much better prepared for What do you need? Do you need masks, eye for something that they didn’t even really similar pandemics. We were not ready protection, caps, foot protection? This stuff need to be concerned about. Because your for this pandemic. There were so many was all unclear, and there definitely was too likelihood of catching the coronavirus in the shortages, which put us and the patients few of these as well as ventilators. ER is so remote since we’re all using masks at risk at times. We were so short on PPEs — the patients and the doctors — and we’re (personal protective equipment). EDUCATE NON-COVID-19 social distancing. It was just heartbreaking People did inventories in their hospitals, PATIENTS ON THE BIG PICTURE to see stuff like that. and they started making decisions right The result of these patients not coming then about how we are going to utilize the Patients actually stopped coming to the to ER resulted in shifts being cut for staff, limited number of PPEs, realizing that the ER out of fear of catching the disease. At nurses, and physicians. The hospital’s los- whole country is going to be demanding times they even stopped coming when they ing a lot of revenue, and it happened also whatever’s left from the companies that had an actual really serious condition, like a with doctors’ offices. The last stats I saw make these. So many of the PPEs and other stroke or a heart attack, which was probably is that they’re seeing about 50 percent things were built in other countries that worse than if they would have caught COVID. less than their normal patient loads. So were also facing similar problems, so they I had a patient who came in a couple days they’re having to cut staff and questioning didn’t really want to sell them to us. That late for a stroke. I had patients who came in if their practices will survive. So my fear is led to a huge shortage. If you didn’t have a a couple days late for a heart attack. They that if this continues and practices close,

76 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS our medical shortage could reach really medical school at Touro University, pursuing they want to be able to help every student, disastrous levels. a focus on OB/GYN, when the outbreak hit but it’s hard because you can’t give that What I’ve been hearing is that doctors who and shutdown began, disrupting her medical individualized time to 30-40 students all at were closer to retiring are saying, “This is education. But the pandemic didn’t disrupt once during the week. It’s just too difficult. now my time to retire,” whereas they may her will to help. With fellow Touro students We wanted to provide help with that. not have retired for another three to five Parisun Shoga and Ashlie Bloom, McDi- years. I have one in our practice who hasn’t armid launched #MedReady (tun.touro. THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS gone to work. He’s a bit older, but still a great edu/medready), a website that organizes TOO MUCH INFORMATION doctor and able to practice. And he hasn’t volunteers to offer free K-12 tutoring; medical come to work at our place or in other places undergrad and Medical College Admission Another part of our website that we have Downtown because of the coronavirus. Test tutoring; and community help such as is an information corner. We have a Twitter senior grocery pickup and COVID-19 screen- account, and our students are going through FORTIFY YOURSELF ing assistance. The site also includes a news articles and they’re doing research, they’re FOR ISOLATION and research section, “Getting It Right,” checking their facts, they’re making sure that which features weekly capsule summaries of everything is accurate before they share it. It’s been really lonely. When you’re ex- the latest research on the novel coronavirus But just finding another place to put accurate posed to a patient as a physician or a health and COVID-19. information like that — you can never have provider, and you know that patient has the too much. Not everyone knows how to look coronavirus, you then have to decide how HELP HOWEVER YOU CAN through the research, how to do fact-check- will you interact or distance to keep your ing. Scientific papers can be dense. That’s why family safe. What do you do when you go It’s interesting, because if (the pandemic) we wanted to have our students go through home? What I would do is I’d shower and happened two years from now, I would and put that information into a common bring an extra pair of clothes and change be out there right now, I’d be in my first vernacular so that everyone can understand. my shoes before I left work. And then I’d year of residency, I’d be in the hospitals Part of the problem is a lack of trust among come home and I’d isolate myself. I secluded working and taking care of people. But we people. And it’s true, the information that myself on one side of the house, my spouse were just finishing up our second year of came out in the beginning is not the same on the other. medical school, and so, unfortunately, we as the information that is factually accurate When my kids came with their families, had not yet had any clinical experiences. that’s coming out today. People think, “Oh, I couldn’t see them. My daughter had been So we weren’t really able to go into the well, they said this six weeks ago, and today, out of the country with her family for a few hospitals and help out in that sense. So we that’s not the case anymore.” But that’s what months. When they returned, her kids (ages had to come up with other ways to help, like science is. A lot more research is being done 3 and 5) started to run up to me to hug me provide volunteer opportunities. Actually, a on the virus, and that’s why the information because that’s what they’re used to doing. lot of my classmates — and a lot of the class is changing. For some people, it’s kind of hard Their parents had to grab them and stop below mine who were just finishing their to understand that, yes, what they told us them. That was extremely heartbreaking first year — reached out to ask what they six weeks ago was accurate six weeks ago, because they didn’t understand. For two could do. Could we put them in touch to but as we’re continuing to learn, things are weeks I couldn’t see them. help volunteer and help out the community? changing. For instance, the coronavirus You’re in there seeing patients. It’s stress- Obviously, we are future physicians going infectivity rate has increased because the ful because you worry about everything you into healthcare, and part of that is you want spike protein on the virus has actually touch, everything you breathe in. You’re to take care of people, you want to give back, mutated, which enables it to more easily worried about how you’re taking care of you want to help out in any way that you can. infect us. So the virus itself has changed. these patients, where we don’t have a clear- Things are changing, and the information cut pathway. So you’re stressed, and then RESPOND TO NEEDS being given is accurate at the time it’s being you come home and you’re alone. It’s hard. THAT HIT HOME given. Yes, it will contradict some of the Paul Szydelko older information, but it’s because we’ve Part of the reason we offer K-12 tutoring learned more. Andrew Kiraly is because my boyfriend’s parents and sister are teachers, and a lot of our classmates CASSANDRA are married to teachers. We saw what was MCDIARMID happening in education at the time when all DR. RAKESH KALRA the schools were shutting down, and they PRACTICE MANAGER, MEDICAL STUDENT AT INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE TOURO UNIVERSITY were trying to figure out how to do distance learning. Just knowing that there are parents s is the case with all of us, the out there who aren’t able to help their kids ith 10 Intermountain Healthcare A pandemic happened while Cas- out with schoolwork at home — maybe it’s W (formerly HealthCare Part- sandra McDiarmid was making a subject that they don’t understand — and ners) practices around South- other plans. She was in her second year of then hearing from the teachers about how ern Nevada under his purview, Kalra, like

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 77 Dr. Rakesh Kalra

most physicians, had been watching the devastating. So, imagine, a half a million, coronavirus closely since the beginning it’s just unthinkable. of the year. When it came to the U.S., he We’re already focusing on the next crisis, says, his company immediately turned because we’re anticipating this flu season their clinics inside-out, changing indoor to be devastating with the coronavirus. operations to protect both caregivers and So, we’re turning our clinics inside-out to patients from contracting the virus, while take care of those patients. We’re actually setting up outdoor stations for people who building permanent structures to continue What’s hard is the feared they had it. Kalra himself was on the drive-up testing and have rooms available unknown. We’re on front lines, doing nasal swabs and personally outside to treat patients with respiratory the front lines, so calling all the patients who tested positive. symptoms. We’re focusing on PPE. We were lucky that we did not have a shortage we’re scared for our- PREPARE FOR THE WORST within in our company, but we want to selves, our families, be well-stocked, because we feel the next and you have to stay We weren’t prepared to go to this extent. season, coming in a few months, will be just positive to take care It helped to turn our operations around, as bad as it was back in March. of patients. but (nobody was) anticipating this type of pandemic. The major lesson is, this HEALTHCARE WORKERS NEED is a serious virus. When it first came on MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT board, we were thinking it was similar to the flu, but it’s really serious. It’s taken What’s hard is the unknown. We’re on the over 10.5 million people, 500,000 lives (to front lines, so we’re scared for ourselves, date). Personally for me, even one life is our families, contracting the virus, and

78 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS you have to stay positive to take care of sumer campaign, which is our providers on our video-conferencing platform had patients. They’re already concerned, so if seeing patients (via the internet) in their connection speeds of 350 kilobytes per we’re negative, it’s not going to be a good homes. Up until March, we had developed second. That’s (a baseline). If you get below experience for them. all the clinic algorithms: What’s appropriate 350 kilobytes per second with our platform, My personal frightening experience was, to see at home? What can you effectively you start getting poor audio and poor video. a family member who was asymptomatic treat? We were just getting ready to launch So 83 percent of the sessions were above got coronavirus. We often preach about that program when COVID hit. Holy cow! that in February. For the month of April, 45 wearing a mask and staying away from For the months of March and April, I didn’t percent were below that. Because everybody patients unless you’re taking care of them, sleep! Within a week, we launched our was at home and everybody was drawing but when it hits home, it’s harder to deal program. March 16 was our go-live date. We bandwidth, we lost capacity for all these with. It’s more easily said than done, and went from 200 telehealth visits a month to patients to connect. it’s frightening. My family member was almost a thousand visits a month overnight. sick. I have young children in the home, and We have gone from a handful (about 12) of CAPITALIZE ON THE MOMENT we had to have them wear masks, we were virtual providers to every single provider wearing masks, isolating (the sick person) (close to 100) in our organization. Anybody in the telehealth field is very in a room, and that really has an impact on Prior to COVID, there were a lot of obsta- passionate about what we can do — in- everyone emotionally and mentally. It was cles. There were providers who just aren’t creasing access to care, reducing cost, all hard. So, seeing that firsthand, I was able to interested in doing this. There are patients those things — but has constantly struggled relate better to patients’ fear. who aren’t interested in doing this. You can with acceptance and changing the culture train hands-on, you can train through video, across the board — patients, providers, and … AND PATIENTS NEED you can train through documents. If people administrators. IT, TOO aren’t motivated, it can be difficult to do COVID, having forced patients, providers, that. Once COVID hit, I couldn’t manage and administrators to use telehealth, has We’ve dealt with many patients, unfor- the requests: “Can I be next for training? given us, the telehealth industry, the kick- tunately, whose spouses passed away and I want to go live tomorrow.” There was start to make them try it. We knew if we who also tested positive, so we kept in close absolutely no resistance from the providers could get patients to try it, if we could get touch with them. Both would come in at the and no resistance from administration. And providers to try it, they would recognize the same time, test positive, and one would pass what’s really crazy? No resistance from the amazing benefits that telehealth has for our away, and the other would get well. It was patients. The patients were saying, “God patients. Patients would recognize this is so really tough with one patient — she needed bless you. Thank you for doing this. This much easier, so much better. Patients like clearance to get back to New York and bury is an amazing program. What would we do that the provider is completely dedicated her husband. It was very tough working with without this?” to them during that encounter and some- them and supporting them. HK times feel like (it is) more dedicated than STOCK UP ON TECH GEAR an in-person appointment. All the positive things of telehealth So not only are you looking for PPE are being (showcased). It’s not just Co- CORIE NIETO and sanitizer wipes, but you’re looking rie spouting it out anymore. It’s “I have DIRECTOR OF TELEHEALTH SER- for webcams. And they were sold out! experienced it and I like it and I’m going VICES, NEVADA HEALTH CENTERS You could not get a webcam if you tried. to do it going forward.” That is a positive orie Nieto has been involved in the You have two or three providers in an consequence about what has happened C telehealth industry in the state since office, all doing virtual care. Well, now they because of COVID. 2010 and has been instrumental in need headsets, because otherwise you’re We need a NVHC tech squad. We can starting two telehealth programs from the hearing three conversations and there’s not have open house or have videos on how to ground up. After implementing virtual meth- privacy for those patients in their virtual make the technology work because that will ods for patients to see providers from one of appointments. Well, you couldn’t get a be our biggest restriction going forward, 18 NVHC locations, three mobile programs headset! So we’re moving doctors so that which is amazing. It’s not culture anymore. and 25 schools, she was just getting ready we can get them a private place because we We’ve moved the needle on acceptance for to introduce the healthcare organization’s can’t offer a headset and it’s just coming this type of care and excitement for this direct-to-consumer service through smart- out the speaker. We fortunately had quite type of care, so now we just need to fix the phones, tablets, and desktop computers when a few laptops in the organization, so we’re technology, fix the bandwidth to make sure the pandemic hit. dedicating a laptop or two per front-office we can have good solid connectivity with person or provider so that we could manage our patients. PS PUT MORE RESOURCES it from a technology standpoint. INTO TECH Our (telehealth) vendor is able to assess the bandwidth connectivity rates of all of (Before COVID), next on our (telehealth) our participants. Prior to the pandemic strategy was to launch our direct-to-con- in February, 83 percent of all the sessions

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 79 SHUTTERSTOCK

80 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 Top Doctors & Top DentistsThe valley’s best physicians and dental professionals, as chosen by their peers

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 81 Top Doctors databases online on other sites HOW THE TOP DOCTORS and/or in print. Castle Connolly was acquired by Ev- ARE SELECTED eryday Health Group (EHG), one of the world’s most prominent digital healthcare companies, in late 2018. EHG, a recognized astle Connolly Top Doctors is a screening process to select top doctors leader in patient and provider education, healthcare research company on both the national and regional levels. attracts an engaged audience of more than C and the official source for Top 53 million health consumers and more Doctors for the past 25 years. areful screening of doctors’ than 780,000 U.S. practicing physicians Castle Connolly’s established nomination educational and professional and clinicians to its health and wellness survey, research, screening, and selection C experience is essential before websites. EHG combines social listening process, under the direction of a doctor, final selection is made among data and analytics expertise to deliver highly involves many hundreds of thousands of those physicians most highly regarded by personalized healthcare consumer content physicians as well as academic medical their peers. The result: Castle Connolly and effective patient engagement solutions. centers, specialty hospitals and regional and identifies the top doctors in America and EHG’s vision is to drive better clinical and community hospitals all across the nation. provides you, the consumer, with detailed health outcomes through decision-mak- The online nominations process — locat- information about their education, training informed by highly relevant data and ed at castleconnolly.com/nominations — is ing, and special expertise in its paperback analytics. Healthcare professionals and open to all licensed physicians in the United guides, national and regional magazine consumers are empowered with trusted States who are able to nominate physicians “Top Doctors” features, and online di- content and services through the Everyday in any medical specialty and in any part of rectories. Health Group’s flagship brands, including the country, as well as indicate whether the Doctors do not and cannot pay to be Everyday Health®, What to Expect®, Med- nominated physicians is, in their opinion, selected and profiled as Castle Connolly Page Today®, Health eCareers®, PRIME® among the best in their region in their Top Doctors. Education and its exclusive partnership medical specialty or among the best in Physicians selected for inclusion in this with MayoClinic.org® and The Mayo Clinic the nation in their medical specialty. Once magazine’s “Top Doctors” feature also ap- Diet®. Everyday Health Group is a division nominated, Castle Connolly’s physician-led pear online at castleconnolly.com, or in of J2 Global Inc. (NASDAQ: JCOM), and is team of researchers follow a rigorous conjunction with other Castle Connolly headquartered in New York City. ABBY ANADAY/UNSPLASH ABBY

82 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

FOAD MOAZEZ, MD COLON & RECTAL SURGERY & Plastic Surgery Nevada Cardiology Associates 2615 Box Canyon Drive TOP 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #460 OVUNC BARDAKCIOGLU, MD 702-998-9001 702-233-1000 UNLV Medicine Hair Loss in Women, Acne, DOCTORS Arrhythmias, Pacemakers/ Department of Surgery Facial Rejuvenation, Botox Defibrillators 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., #160 2020 702-671-5150 Minimally Invasive Surgery, DEVELOPMENTAL- CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Colon & Rectal Cancer, Robotic BEHAVIORAL PEDIATRICS Surgery, Hemorrhoids The 268 best physicians SEAN S. AMELI, MD MARIO J. GASPAR DE ALBA, MD in Southern Nevada, as Ameli-Dadourian Heart Center LESLIE K. BROWDER, MD UNLV Ackerman Center 400 S. Rampart Blvd., #240 Women’s Cancer 630 S. Rancho Drive, #A chosen by their peers 702-906-1100 Center of Nevada 702-998-9505 Cholesterol/Lipid Disorders, 3131 La Canada St., #241 Autism Spectrum Disorders, 702-693-6870 HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE Echocardiography-Transesopha- ADD/ADHD Medical specialties are listed geal, Preventive Cardiology, Microsurgery, Pelvic Floor Disorders, alphabetically. Doctors are listed Hypertension Diverticulitis, Crohn’s Disease alphabetically beneath those DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY specialty areas, with subspecial- RICHARD CHEN, MD ties below that. Note that some Nevada Cardiology Associates DERMATOLOGY RAJNEESH AGRAWAL, MD physicians may require referrals. 3121 S. Maryland Pkwy., #512 Desert Radiology 702-796-7150 ALAN J. ARNOLD, MD 2020 Palomino Lane, #100 Coronary Artery Disease, Couture Dermatology 702-759-8600 Interventional Cardiology, & Plastic Surgery Neuroradiology, Interventional Angioplasty & Stent Placement, 2615 Box Canyon Drive Radiology Echocardiography-Transesopha- 702-998-9001 ALLERGY & IMMUNOLOGY geal Mohs Surgery PAUL BANDT, MD JIM CHRISTENSEN, MD Desert Radiology BERGE J. DADOURIAN, MD MIRIAM BETTENCOURT, MD 2020 Palomino Lane, #100 OptumCare Lung Ameli-Dadourian Heart Center Advanced Dermatology & & Allergy Care 702-759-8600 400 S. Rampart Blvd., #240 Cosmetic Surgery Interventional Radiology, 4750 W. Oakey Blvd., #1A, 702-906-1100 861 Coronado Center Drive, 702-724-8844 x3 Nuclear Radiology Peripheral Vascular Disease, #100, 702-257-7546 Asthma & Allergy, Urticaria, Interventional Cardiology Melanoma, Mohs Surgery Pediatric Allergy & Immunology ASHOK GUPTA, MD Desert Radiology VANESSA GASTWIRTH, MD MICHAEL G. BRYAN, MD 2020 Palomino Lane, #100 JOEL KATZ, MD Nevada Cardiology Associates Las Vegas Skin & Cancer Clinics Allergy & Asthma Center 702-759-8600 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #460 880 Seven Hills Drive, #260 2625 Box Canyon Drive Abdominal Imaging 702-233-1000 702-588-6730 702-360-6100 Hair & Nail Disorders, Mohs Food Allergy, Immunotherapy, DIANNE MAZZU, MD SAMUEL E. GREEN, MD Surgery, Cosmetic Dermatology Insect Allergy, Asthma Desert Radiology Nevada Cardiology Associates 2020 Palomino Lane, #100 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #460 VICTORIA G. FARLEY, MD DAVID H. TOTTORI, MD 702-759-8600 702-233-1000 Vivida Dermatology Tottori Allergy Body Imaging, Mammography, Nuclear Cardiology, Echocardi- 6460 Medical Center St., #350 & Asthma Associates Ultrasound, CT Scan ography-Transesophageal 702-255-6647 4000 E. Charleston Blvd., #100 Cosmetic Dermatology, 702-240-4233 x3 RAJASHREE C. VYAS, MD THOMAS L. LAMBERT, MD Dermatologic Surgery, Acne & Asthma & Allergy, Food Allergy, Desert Radiology Cardiology Specialists Rosacea, Psoriasis Eczema 2020 Palomino Lane, #100 of Nevada 702-759-8600 DOUGLAS FIFE, MD 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #135 Pediatric Radiology, Musculo- Vivida Dermatology 702-598-3999 skeletal Imaging CARDIAC Interventional Cardiology, Heart 6460 Medical Center St., #350 ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY 702-255-6647 Failure ALAN WEISSMAN, MD Mohs Surgery Desert Radiology ROBERT LEWIS BAKER, MD 2020 Palomino Lane, #100 Nevada Cardiology Associates LIONEL J. HANDLER, MD 702-759-8600 3121 S. Maryland Pkwy., #512 CHILD & ADOLESCENT Strimling Dermatology, Laser & 702-796-7150 PSYCHIATRY Vein Institute Cancer Imaging, Musculoskele- tal Imaging, Nuclear Medicine Sudden Death Prevention, 10105 Banburry Cross Drive, DEBORA A. BARNEY, MD Radiofrequency Ablation, Atrial #350, 702-243-6400 Center for Emotional Health LISA K. WONG, MD Fibrillation Pediatric Dermatology, Laser 6284 S. Rainbow Blvd., #110 Desert Radiology Surgery, Cosmetic Surgery ARJUN V. GURURAJ, MD 702-257-0140 x200 2020 Palamino Lane, #100 Nevada Heart & Vascular Center Autism Spectrum Disorders, ROBERT B. STRIMLING, MD 702-759-8600 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #320 Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Strimling Dermatology, Pediatric Radiology 702-240-6482 x2 Mood Disorders Laser & Vein Institute Arrhythmias, Catheter Ablation, 10105 Banburry Cross Drive, Heart Failure, Atrial Fibrillation #350, 702-243-6400 ENDOCRINOLOGY, CHILD NEUROLOGY Mohs Surgery, Laser Surgery, DIABETES & METABOLISM NIUTON KOIDE, MD Cosmetic Dermatology, Varicose HealthCare Partners MONICA M. CHACON, MD Veins W. REID LITCHFIELD, MD Medical Group Neurology Center of Nevada Desert Endocrinology 3131 La Canada St., #140 2380 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy. CANDACE THORNTON 2415 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., 702-933-9400 702-247-9994 x415 SPANN, MD #100, 702-434-8400 Arrhythmias Neurophysiology, Epilepsy Couture Dermatology Diabetes, Thyroid Disorders AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 83 QUANG T. NGUYEN, DO FRANK J. NEMEC, MD INFECTIOUS DISEASE INTERVENTIONAL Las Vegas Endocrinology Gastroenterology Associates CARDIOLOGY 229 N. Pecos Road, #100 6950 S. Cimarron Road, #200 BRIAN J. LIPMAN, MD 702-605-5750 702-796-0231 10001 S. Eastern Ave., #307 JOHN B. BEDOTTO, MD Hypertension, Metabolic Gastrointestinal Functional 702-909-7170 HealthCare Partners Syndrome, Nutrition & Obesity Disorders, Digestive Disorders AIDS/HIV, Pneumonia Sunset Cardiology 9280 W. Sunset Road, #320 FREDDIE G. TOFFEL, MD CHRISTIAN DIAZ. STONE, MD RONALD A. SHOCKLEY, MD 702-534-5464 2700 E. Sunset Road, #D34 Comprehensive Digestive Infectious Disease Partners 702-736-2021 Institute of Nevada 3483 S. Eastern Ave. Floor 2 JAMES A. LALLY, MD Diabetes, Hormonal Disorders 8530 W. Sunset Road, #230 702-309-2311 Heart Center of Nevada 702-483-4483. AIDS/HIV 700 Shadow Lane, #240 Inflammatory Bowel Disease/ 702-384-0022 FAMILY MEDICINE Crohn’s, Colitis, Digestive Arrhythmias Disorders, Colon & Rectal Cancer INTERNAL MEDICINE KIMBERLY ADAMS, MD SANJAY MALHOTRA, MD Total Wellness Family Medicine NICHOLAS A. TIBALDI, MD Nevada Heart & Vascular Center Southwest Medical Associates VALERIA ASIMENIOS, MD 4275 Burnham Ave., #100 5225 S. Durango Drive Southwest Medical Associates 702-253-9355 4750 W. Oakey Blvd. 702-240-6482 x2 702-877-8330. Hemorrhoids, 4835 S. Durango Drive AIDS/HIV, Adolescent Medicine, 702-877-5199 Sports Medicine, Chronic Illness Crohn’s Disease, Irritable Bowel CRES P. MIRANDA, MD Syndrome, Ulcerative Colitis Nevada Heart & Vascular Center LAWRENCE S. COPELAND, MD HERVE BEZARD, MD 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #320 653 Town Center Drive, #101 Family Doctors of Boulder City 702-240-6482 x2 GERIATRIC MEDICINE 702-243-7483 895 Adams Blvd., 702-293-0406 Coronary Angioplasty/Stents, Concierge Medicine Preventive Cardiology ESTEBAN HENNINGS, MD MICHAEL GUNTER, MD Humanitas Primary Care RAMA HAROUNI, MD Canyon Trails Family Practice JANMEJAY J. PATEL, MD 3201 S. Maryland Pkwy., #414 University Medical Center - HealthCare Partners 7455 W. Washington Ave., #445 702-685-7700 702-804-5138 Quick Care Medical Group Primary Care Sports Medicine 9320 W. Sahara Ave. 3131 La Canada St., #140 702-383-3850 HAND SURGERY 702-933-9400 SUNGWOOK KIM, MD Preventive Medicine Brighton Family Medicine ANDREW J. BRONSTEIN, MD REZA MOJTABAVI, MD 1720 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Bronstein Hand Center MATERNAL & FETAL Avencia Medical Center #140, 702-566-5445 10135 W. Twain Ave., #100 MEDICINE 702-458-4263 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #240 SHARI KLEIN, DO Wrist Reconstruction, Elbow 702-445-7770 WILSON H. HUANG, MD 8571 W. Lake Mead Blvd., #100 Surgery, Pediatric Hand Surgery, High Risk Pregnancy Center 702-545-0283 Carpal Tunnel Syndrome MOHAMMED NAJMI, MD 2845 Siena Heights Drive, #350 Concierge Medicine Medical Group at Sun City 702-382-3200 DAVID FADELL, DO 2440 Professional Court, #110 Prematurity/Low Birth Weight DARREN RAHAMAN, MD Hand Surgery Specialists 702-240-8155 Infants, Ultrasound Nevada Health Centers of Nevada Chronic Illness, Eating Disor- 1799 Mount Mariah Drive 9321 W. Sunset Road ders, Nutrition BRIAN K. IRIYE, MD 702-383-1961 702-645-7800 High Risk Pregnancy Center Trauma, Arthritis, Elbow RUSSELL N. NEIBAUR, MD 2011 Pinto Lane, #200 LARA WENNER, MD Surgery, Shoulder Surgery Concierge Care Physicians 702-382-3200 HealthCare Partners Nevada 2450 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Prenatal Diagnosis, Ultrasound, 3960 W. Craig Road, #101 WILLIAM T. STEWART, MD #150, 702-990-0622 Diabetes in Pregnancy, Multiple 702-473-8380 Desert Orthopaedic Center Gestation 2800 E. Desert Inn Road, #100 CANDICE H. TUNG, MD 702-731-1616 Jerry Schwartz & Associates PATRICIA PIERCE, MD GASTROENTEROLOGY Arthroscopic Surgery, Sports 7395 S. Pecos Road, #102 High Risk Pregnancy Center Medicine, Joint Reconstruction 702-737-8657 2011 Pinto Lane, #200 TAREK AMMAR, MD Concierge Medicine, Diabetes 702-382-3200 Comprehensive Digestive JAMES VAHEY, MD Pregnancy-High Risk, Ultra- Institute of Nevada Hand Center of Nevada JOHN A. VARRAS, MD sound 8530 W. Sunset Road, #230 8585 S. Eastern Ave., #100 UNLV Medicine 702-483-4483 702-798-8585. Hand & Upper 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., #230 STEPHEN M. WOLD, MD Endoscopic Ultrasound, Pancreatic Extremity Surgery 702-671-5060 High Risk Pregnancy Center & Biliary Disease, Colon & Rectal Weight Management, Diabetes, 2011 Pinto Lane, #200 Cancer, Digestive Disorders Heart Disease, Preventive 702-382-3200 HEMATOLOGY Medicine Pregnancy-High Risk GREGORY M. KWOK, MD Gastroenterology Associates RUSSELL GOLLARD, MD RAJI VENKAT, MD 6950 S. Cimarron Road, #200 OptumCare Cancer Care Dignity Health Medical Group MEDICAL ONCOLOGY 702-796-0231 3175 St. Rose Pkwy., #200 10001 S. Eastern Ave., #101 Gastrointestinal Functional 702-724-8787 702-616-5801 x1 FADI S. BRAITEH, MD Disorders, Gastroesophageal Comprehensive Cancer Reflux Disease (GERD) CLARK S. JEAN, MD SANDHYA WAHI GURURAJ, MD Centers of Nevada Comprehensive Cancer UNLV Medicine 3730 S. Eastern Ave. WAI LI. MA, MD Centers of Nevada 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., #230 702-952-3400 GI Excellence 7445 Peak Drive, 702-952-2140 702-671-5060 Gastrointestinal Cancer, Lung 9260 W. Sunset Road, #203 Hematologic Malignancies, Preventive Medicine, Hyperten- Cancer, Breast Cancer, Colon & 702-476-2822 Leukemia & Lymphoma sion Rectal Cancer

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KHOI M. DAO, MD NICHOLAS J. VOGELZANG, MD SYED I. SHAH, MD SHANKER N. DIXIT, MD Comprehensive Cancer Comprehensive Cancer Kidney Specialists of Southern Neurology Center of Las Vegas Centers of Nevada Centers of Nevada Nevada 2480 Professional Court 10001 S. Eastern Ave., #108 3730 S. Eastern Ave. 500 S. Rancho Drive, #12 702-405-7100. Clinical 702-952-3444 702-952-3400 702-877-1887 Neurophysiology, Stroke, Epilepsy/ Hematologic Malignancies, Prostate Cancer, Mesothelioma, Transplant Medicine-Kidney Seizure Disorders, Headache Colon Cancer, Lung Cancer Kidney Cancer, Genitourinary Cancer MARWAN TAKIEDDINE, MD ERIC FARBMAN, MD OSCAR B. GOODMAN, MD/PHD Nevada Kidney Disease & Roseman Medical Group Comprehensive Cancer ANN M. WIERMAN, MD Hypertension Centers 5380 S. Rainbow Blvd., #120 Centers of Nevada 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #200 2450 Fire Mesa St., #110 702-463-4040. Parkinson’s 9280 W. Sunset Road, #100 702-749-3700 702-853-0090 Disease/Movement Disorders, 702-952-1251 Breast Cancer, Lymphoma, Lung Hypertension, Cholesterol/Lipid Huntington’s Disease, Deep Brain Genitourinary Cancer, Prostate Cancer Disorders Stimulation, Alzheimer’s Disease Cancer, Bladder Cancer VINCENT YANG, MD LE HUA, MD REGAN HOLDRIDGE, MD Kidney Specialists Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Comprehensive Cancer NEONATAL-PERINATAL of Southern Nevada Center for Brain Health Centers of Nevada MEDICINE 7316 W. Cheyenne Ave. 888 W. Bonneville Ave. 1505 Wigwam Pkwy., #130 702-877-1887 702-483-6000 702-856-1400 ELMER S. DAVID, MD Diabetes, Hypertension, Kidney Multiple Sclerosis, Neuro-Immu- Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, A Las Vegas Medical Group Disease-Chronic, Kidney Stones nology Colon Cancer 4043 E. Sunset Road 702-733-0744 ZOLTAN MARI, MD H. KESHAVA-PRASAD, MD Neonatal Nutrition NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Comprehensive Cancer Center for Brain Health Centers of Nevada DEREK A. DUKE, MD 888 W. Bonneville Ave. 3730 S. Eastern Ave. 702-483-6000 NEPHROLOGY The Spine & Brain Institute 702-952-3400 861 Coronado Center Drive, Movement Disorders, Parkin- Leukemia & Lymphoma, Lung #200, 702-896-0940 son’s Disease Cancer, Palliative Care ADIN BOLDUR, MD Kidney Specialists Brain & Spinal Surgery, Spinal Surgery CHRISTOPHER MILFORD, MD EDWIN KINGSLEY, MD of Southern Nevada Silver State Neurology Comprehensive Cancer Centers 500 S. Rancho Drive, #12 2585 Montessouri St., #100 702-877-1887 JASON E. GARBER, MD of Nevada Las Vegas Neurosurgical 702-272-0694 Hypertension, Kidney Failure 3730 S. Eastern Ave. Institute Clinical Neurophysiology, 702-952-3400 3012 S. Durango Drive Electromyography (EMG) Hematologic Malignancies JAY K. CHU, MD Kidney Specialists 702-835-0088 Spinal Surgery, Minimally Invasive MARWAN N. SABBAGH, MD/PHD ANTHONY V. NGUYEN, MD of Southern Nevada Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo 500 S. Rancho Drive, #12 Spinal Surgery, Spinal Surgery-Com- Comprehensive Cancer plex, Peripheral Nerve Surgery Center for Brain Health Centers of Nevada 702-877-1887 888 W. Bonneville Ave. 1505 Wigwam Pkwy., #130 702-483-6000 RADHIKA R. JANGA, MD RANDAL PEOPLES, MD 702-856-1400 Las Vegas Neurosurgery Alzheimer’s Disease, Memory Gastrointestinal Cancer, Lung Nevada Kidney Disease & Disorders Hypertension Centers & Spine Care Cancer, Anemias & Red Blood 8285 W. Arby Ave., #220 Cell Disorders 6970 W. Patrick Lane, #140 DYLAN P. WINT, MD 702-732-1586 702-737-7070 Pediatric Neurosurgery, Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo RUPESH J. PARIKH, MD Center for Brain Health BINDU KHANNA, MD Pain-Back & Neck, Spinal Cord Comprehensive Cancer Injury 888 W. Bonneville Ave. Centers of Nevada Kidney Specialists 702-483-6000. Neurodegenera- 10001 S. Eastern Ave., #108 of Southern Nevada tive Disorders, Neuro-Psychiatry, 500 S. Rancho Drive, #12 MICHAEL E. SEIFF, MD 702-952-3444 The Spine & Brain Institute Cognitive Impairment-Mild, Hematology 702-877-1887 Behavioral Neurology Fluid/Electrolyte Balance, 8530 W. Sunset Road, #250 Glomerulonephritis 702-851-0792 WOLFRAM E. SAMLOWSKI, MD Brain & Spinal Surgery, Chiari Comprehensive Cancer Centers Malformations, Minimally NUCLEAR MEDICINE of Nevada LAWRENCE M. LEHRNER, MD Kidney Specialists Invasive Surgery 9280 W. Sunset Road, #100 BHARAT R. MOCHERLA, MD 702-952-1251 of Southern Nevada 500 S. Rancho Drive, #12 Las Vegas Medical Research Melanoma, Sarcoma, Kidney 8530 W. Sunset Road, #300 Cancer, Merkel Cell Carcinoma 702-877-1887 NEUROLOGY Kidney Disease-Chronic, 702-750-0222 PET Imaging, CT Scan HAMIDREZA SANATINIA, MD SAMIR BANGALORE, MD Comprehensive Cancer DEEPAK NANDIKANTI, MD Nevada Neurosciences Institute Centers of Nevada Kidney Specialists 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #765 9280 W. Sunset Road, #100 of Southern Nevada 702-961-7310 OBSTETRICS & 702-952-1251 500 S. Rancho Drive, #12 Epilepsy GYNECOLOGY Hematology 702-877-1887 JEFFREY L. CUMMINGS, MD NADIA A. GOMEZ, MD CHIDI C. OKAFOR, MD Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Women’s Healthcare JAMES D. SANCHEZ, MD Kidney Specialists of Southern Center for Brain Health of Las Vegas Comprehensive Cancer Nevada 888 W. Bonneville Ave. 3196 S. Maryland Pkwy., #209 Centers of Nevada 500 S. Rancho Drive, #12 702-483-6000 702-944-2888 7445 Peak Drive, 702-952-2140 702-877-1887 Alzheimer’s Disease, Clinical Gynecology Only, Minimally Leukemia & Lymphoma, Lung Hypertension, Dialysis Care, Trials, Neurodegenerative Invasive Surgery, Robotic Cancer Dialysis-Peritoneal Disorders Surgery, Tubal Ligation Reversal

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 85 JOHN V. MARTIN, MD WILLIAM N. MAY, MD C. EDWARD YEE, MD BERNARD C. ONG, MD Women’s Health Associates Wellish Vision Institute Las Vegas Ophthalmology 8551 W. Lake Mead Blvd., #251 of Southern Nevada 10424 S. Eastern Ave., #100 2980 S. Jones Blvd., #A 702-796-7979 2050 Mariner Drive, #120 702-733-2020. Cataract 702-362-3937 Joint Replacement, Sports 702-255-2022 Surgery, Dry Eye Syndrome Corneal Disease & Surgery, Medicine, Fractures, Knee Pregnancy LASIK-Refractive Surgery, Reconstruction STEVEN N. MONTGOMERY, MD Cornea Transplant DONNA M. MILLER, MD Shepherd Eye Center DEIRDRE D. RYAN, MD For Women OB/GYN 3575 Pecos-McLeod Interconnect MEHER YEPREMYAN, MD Children’s Bone 861 Coronado Center Drive, #131 702-731-2088 Retina Consultants of Nevada & Spine Surgery 725-777-0414 653 N. Town Center Drive, #518 9050 W. Cheyenne Ave., #110 Pregnancy-High Risk, Pap Smear TIMOTHY PEROZEK, MD 702-369-0200 702-998-5200 Abnormalities, Menopause Problems See Right Now Retinal Disorders, Retina/ Neuromuscular Disorders, 653 N. Town Center Drive, #212 Vitreous Surgery Trauma, Foot Deformities EDMOND E. PACK, MD 702-982-1360. Glaucoma, Women’s Health Associates Diabetic Eye Disease/Retinopa- ROMAN SIBEL, MD of Southern Nevada thy, Intraocular Lens Replacement ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY Orthopedic Foot 2580 St. Rose Pkwy., #140 & Ankle Institute 702-862-8862 HELGA F. PIZIO, MD HUGH BASSEWITZ, MD 3175 St. Rose Pkwy., #320 Minimally Invasive Surgery, New Eyes Desert Orthopaedic Center 702-997-9833 2800 E. Desert Inn Road, #100 Endometriosis, Gynecologic 2020 Wellness Way, #402 Foot & Ankle Deformities, Charcot 702-731-1616 Surgery, Robotic Surgery 702-485-5000. Cataract Surgery, Foot, Clubfoot, Diabetic Leg/Foot Intraocular Lens Replacement, Spinal Surgery, Spinal Disc Replacement, Scoliosis PETAR PLANINIC, MD Eyelid Surgery/Blepharoplasty, DAVID G. STEWART, MD UNLV Medicine Women’s LASIK-Refractive Surgery Children’s Bone & GREGORY T. BIGLER, MD Healthcare Center of Las Vegas Spine Surgery Knee & Shoulder Institute 3196 S. Maryland Pkwy., #209 GRACE S. SHIN, MD 1525 E. Windmill Lane, #201 9499 W. Charleston Blvd., #200 702-944-2888 Ideal EyeCare 702-434-6920 702-933-9393 6028 S. Fort Apache Road, #101 Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, Shoulder, Knee Surgery, Arthroscopic TAMMY REYNOLDS, MD 702-896-2020 Scoliosis, Fractures-Complex & Surgery, Arthritis, Sports Medicine Women’s Health Associates Pediatric Ophthalmology, Non-Union of Southern Nevada Cataract Surgery, Glaucoma, ANDREW CASH, MD 2050 Mariner Drive, #120 Macular Disease/Degeneration MICHAEL D. THOMAS, MD 702-255-2022 Desert Institute of Spine Care 9339 W. Sunset Road, #100 Nevada Orthopedic SURJEET SINGH, MD 702-630-3472 & Spine Center K. WARREN VOLKER, MD/PHD Nevada Eye Physicians 7455 W. Washington Ave., #160 Healthcare Partners Spinal Surgery, Minimally 1505 Wigwam Pkwy. 702-258-3773 9260 W. Sunset Road, #100 Invasive Spinal Surgery 702-819-6640. Cataract Surgery, Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, 702-255-3547 LASIK-Refractive Surgery, ROBERT JEFFREY GRONDEL, MD Scoliosis, Spinal Deformity Gynecology Only, Minimally PRK-Refractive Surgery Invasive Surgery, Pelvic Surgery Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson TROY S. WATSON, MD MATTHEW SWANIC, MD 10561 Jeffreys St., #230 Desert Orthopaedic Center OPHTHALMOLOGY Las Vegas Eye Institute 702-565-6565 2800 E. Desert Inn Road, #100 9555 S. Eastern Ave., #260 Arthroscopic Surgery-Shoulder, 702-731-1616 MARK W. DOUBRAVA, MD 702-816-2525 Sports Medicine, Cartilage Foot & Ankle Surgery, Ar- Eye Care for Nevada Cataract Surgery, Corneal Damage & Transplant throscopic Surgery, Sports The Lakes Business Park Disease, Glaucoma, LASIK-Re- Injuries-Foot & Ankle, Dance/ 9011 W. Sahara Ave., #101 fractive Surgery STEVEN R. HOER, MD Ballet Injuries 702-794-2020 Orthopaedic Institute LASIK-Refractive Surgery, ALLEN BRADFORD THACH, MD of Henderson JOSEPH YU, MD Cataract Surgery, Corneal Retina Consultants of Nevada 10561 Jeffreys St., #230 Total Sports Medicine & Disease & Surgery, Cornea 653 N. Town Center Drive, #518 702-565-6565 Orthopedics Transplant 702-369-0200 Joint Replacement 10105 Banburry Cross Drive, Retina/Vitreous Surgery #445, 702-475-4390 EMILY FANT, MD ERIK N. KUBIAK, MD Sports Medicine, Joint Shepherd Eye Center TIMOTHY H. TWEITO, MD OptumCare Orthopaedics Replacement, Shoulder & Knee 3575 Pecos-McLeod Nevada Retina Center and Spine Surgery, Cartilage Damage Interconnect 6980 Smoke Ranch Road, #110 4750 W. Oakey Blvd. 702-731-2088 702-732-4500 702-724-8877 Diabetic Eye Disease/Retinopa- Reconstructive Surgery JEFFREY HART, MD thy, Retina/Vitreous Surgery, OTOLARYNGOLOGY Center for Sight Retinal Disorders MICHAEL MIAO, MD 5871 W. Craig Road Desert Orthopaedic Center CHRISTINE MIRABAL, MD 702-724-2020 KENT L. WELLISH, MD 2800 E. Desert Inn Road, #100 Ear, Nose & Throat Wellish Vision Institute 702-731-1616 Consultants of Nevada RODNEY HOLLIFIELD, MD 2110 E. Flamingo Road, #211 Arthroscopic Surgery, Sports 3195 St. Rose Pkwy., #210 Retina Consultants of Nevada 702-733-2020 Medicine, Reconstructive Surgery 702-792-6700 653 N. Town Center Drive, #518 Corneal Disease & Surgery, Ear Disorders, Nasal & Sinus 702-369-0200 LASIK-Refractive Surgery, Cataract JASON H. NIELSON, MD Disorders, Throat Disorders Retina/Vitreous Surgery Surgery, Dry Eye Syndrome Children’s Bone & Spine Surgery MATTHEW NG, MD JAY K. MATTHEIS, MD JASON CRAIG WICKENS, MD 1525 E. Windmill Lane, #201 UNLV Medicine Wellish Vision Institute Retina Consultants of Nevada 702-434-6920 5380 S. Rainbow Blvd., #324 2110 E. Flamingo Road, #211 653 N. Town Center Drive, #518 Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, 702-992-6828 702-733-2020. Dry Eye Syn- 702-369-0200 Pediatric Sports Medicine, Neuro-Otology, Skull Base drome, LASIK-Refractive Surgery, Retina/Vitreous Surgery, Dance Medicine, Arthroscopic Surgery, Otology, Acoustic Cataract Surgery, Glaucoma Macular Degeneration, Trauma Surgery-Hip Neuroma/Schwannoma

86 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

SEAN D. PALACIOS, MD MICHAEL J. MCKENNA, MD 1524 Pinto Lane Floor 3 nary, Fetal Urology, Hypospadias, Nevada Ear & Sinus Institute McKenna, Ruggeroli & Helmi (709) 660-8658 Undescended Testis 3692 E. Sunset Road 6070 S. Fort Apache Road, Nutrition 702-735-7668 #100, 702-307-7700 ANDREW H. HWANG, MD Neuro-Otology, Hearing & Pain-Chronic, Pain-Cancer, Las Vegas Pediatric Urology Balance Disorders, Skull Base Pain-Back, Head & Neck PEDIATRIC 653 N. Town Center Drive, #407 Tumors, Sinus Disorders/ HEMATOLOGY-ONCOLOGY 702-728-5686 Surgery ANTHONY RUGGEROLI, MD Transplant-Kidney McKenna, Ruggeroli & Helmi ALAN IKEDA, MD 6070 S. Fort Apache Road, JAMES C. PLAIRE, MD WALTER W. SCHROEDER, MD Cure 4 The Kids Foundation #100, 702-307-7700 Children’s Urology Associates Ear, Nose & Throat 1 Breakthrough Way Pain-Musculoskeletal, Pain-Inter- 6670 S. Tenaya Way, #180 Consultants of Nevada 702-732-1493 ventional Techniques 702-369-4999 3195 St. Rose Pkwy., #210 Bone Marrow Transplant, Sickle Undescended Testis, Inconti- 702-792-6700 Cell Disease, Gene Therapy, nence, Congenital Anoma- Head & Neck Surgery, Nasal Sur- Stem Cell Transplant gery, Throat Disorders lies-Genitourinary PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY ROBERT C. WANG, MD RUBEN J. ACHERMAN, MD PEDIATRIC UNLV Medicine PEDIATRICS Children’s Heart Center Nevada INFECTIOUS DISEASE 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #112 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #690 702-671-6480 JAMES A. BAKERINK, MD 702-732-1290 DAVID DI JOHN, MD Wee Care Pediatrics Head & Neck Surgery UNLV Medicine Neonatal Cardiology, Arrhyth- 4785 S. Durango Drive, #101 1524 Pinto Lane Floor 3 mias, Fetal Echocardiography 702-889-8444 RANDALL T. WEINGARTEN, MD (709) 660-8658 Southern Nevada ENT Newborn Care, Preventive WILLIAM J. CASTILLO, MD Vaccines, Travel Medicine Medicine, Adolescent Medicine, 10410 S. Eastern Ave., #110 Children’s Heart Center Nevada ADD/ADHD 702-617-9599 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #690 Head & Neck Surgery, Thyroid & 702-732-1290 PEDIATRIC NEPHROLOGY BLAIR DUDDY, MD Parathyroid Surgery, Sinus Fetal Cardiology, Echocardiography Disorders/Surgery Southwest Medical Associates MICHAEL O. AIGBE, MD 2704 N. Tenaya Way WILLIAM N. EVANS, MD Children’s Nephrology Clinic 702-877-5199 LARRY YU, MD Children’s Heart Center Nevada 7271 W. Sahara Ave., #110 Diabetes, Nutrition Ear, Nose & Throat 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #690 702-639-1700 Consultants of Nevada 702-732-1290 3195 St. Rose Pkwy., #210 Kidney Disease, Kidney Failure, PAMELA GREENSPON, MD Hypertension Desert Valley Pediatrics 702-792-6700 ALVARO GALINDO, MD 10105 Banburry Cross, #370 Nasal & Sinus Disorders Children’s Heart Center Nevada 702-260-4525 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #690 Nutrition, Newborn Care 702-732-1290 PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY Interventional Cardiology, KAMI LARSEN, MD OTOLARYNGOLOGY/FACIAL Cardiac Catheterization CRAIG T. NAKAMURA, MD PLASTIC SURGERY Children’s Lung Specialists Nevada Health Centers 98 E. Lake Mead Pkwy., #103 GARY A. MAYMAN, MD 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #315 702-868-0327 SINA NASRI-CHENIJANI, MD Children’s Heart Center Nevada 702-598-4411 Lubritz & Nasri Physicians 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #690 Asthma, Lung Disease, Sleep BEVERLY NEYLAND, MD 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #340 702-732-1290 Disorders/Apnea, Cystic Fibrosis UNLV Medicine 702-804-4729 Fetal Echocardiography 1524 Pinto Lane, Floor 3 Head & Neck Surgery, Facial DAVID P. PARKS, MD 702-944-2828 Plastic & Reconstructive ABRAHAM ROTHMAN, MD UNLV Medicine Surgery, Voice Disorders, Children’s Heart Center Nevada 1524 Pinto Lane, Floor 3 RYAN M. NISHIHARA, MD 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #690 (709) 660-8658 Thyroid & Parathyroid Surgery Meadows Pediatrics 702-732-1290 Lung Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, 9030 W. Cheyenne Ave., #120 Interventional Cardiology Pneumonia ROBERT J. TROELL, MD 702-436-7337 Beauty By Design Adolescent Medicine 7975 W. Sahara Ave., #104 702-242-6488 PEDIATRIC SURGERY WESLEY ROBERTSON, MD Facial Plastic Surgery, Eyelid PEDIATRIC GASTROENTEROLOGY Sunshine Valley Pediatrics Surgery/Blepharoplasty, NICHOLAS F. FIORE, MD 7455 W. Washington Ave., #300 Rhinoplasty, Reconstructive Pediatric Surgery Associates HOWARD I. BARON, MD 702-363-3000 Plastic Surgery 653 N. Town Center Drive, #412 Pediatric Gastroenterology & 702-233-8101 Nutrition Associates LAURA H. WEIDENFELD, MD 3196 S. Maryland Pkwy., #309 Sunshine Valley Pediatrics MICHAEL SCHEIDLER, MD PAIN MEDICINE 702-791-0477 9091 W. Post Road UNLV Medicine Inflammatory Bowel Disease, 702-363-3000 3121 S. Maryland Pkwy., #400 DANIEL L. BURKHEAD, MD Eosinophilic Esophagitis, 702-650-2500 Innovative Pain Care Center Gastrointestinal Motility Trauma 9920 W. Cheyenne Ave., #110 Disorders PHYSICAL MEDICINE & 702-684-7246 REHABILITATION Pain-Chronic, Pain-Interventional ELIZABETH MILETI, DO Techniques, Sciatica Pediatric Gastroenterology & PEDIATRIC UROLOGY BEVINS K. CHUE, MD Nutrition Associates Rehabilitation Specialists HO VIET DZUNG, MD 3196 S. Maryland Pkwy., #309 CLARE CLOSE, MD of Henderson Innovative Pain Care Center 702-791-0477 Close Pediatric Urology 1669 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., 9920 W. Cheyenne Ave., #110 2653 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., #100, 702-386-1041 702-684-7246 REBECCA L. SCHERR, MD #100, 702-220-4006 Arthritis, Musculoskeletal Disorders, Pain-Back & Neck UNLV Medicine Congenital Anomalies-Genitouri- Neuromuscular Disorders

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 87 ANDREW B. KIM, DO 702-369-1001 NANCY HOLDER, MD RAUL T. MEOZ, MD Desert Orthopaedic Center Cosmetic Surgery-Face & United Critical Care Comprehensive Cancer 2800 E. Desert Inn Road, #100 Breast, Liposuction & Body 6040 S. Fort Apache Road, Centers of Nevada 702-731-4088 Contouring, Hair Restoration/ #100, 702-476-4900 9280 W. Sunset Road, #100 Musculoskeletal Injuries, Transplant Critical Care, Sleep Medicine 702-952-1251 Musculoskeletal Disorders, Pain Brachytherapy, Stereotactic Management JOHN J. MINOLI, MD JOAQUIM TAVARES, MD Radiosurgery Smith Plastic Surgery United Critical Care NIANJUN TANG, MD 7650 W. Sahara Ave. 6040 S. Fort Apache Road, SUSAN A. REISINGER, MD Centennial Medical Group 702-838-2455 #100, 702-476-4900 21st Century Oncology 4454 N. Decatur Blvd. Facial Plastic Surgery, Chronic Obstructive Lung 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #100 702-839-1203 Rhinoplasty, Eyelid Surgery/ Disease (COPD), Lung Cancer, 702-894-5100 Pain Management Blepharoplasty, Botox Critical Care, Asthma Breast Cancer, Stereotactic Radiosurgery, Brain Tumors, JEFFREY J. ROTH, MD GEORGE S. TU, MD Prostate Cancer PLASTIC SURGERY Las Vegas Plastic Surgery Comprehensive Cancer 6140 S Fort Apache Road, #100 Centers of Nevada MICHAEL T. SINOPOLI, MD HAYLEY BROWN, MD 702-450-0777 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #125 Comprehensive Cancer Desert Hills Plastic Botox, Breast Augmentation, 702-869-0855 Centers of Nevada Surgery Center Breast Cosmetic Surgery, Sleep Disorders/Apnea, 7445 Peak Drive, 702-952-2140 10001 S. Eastern Ave., #406 CoolSculpting Emphysema, Pulmonary Fibrosis Prostate Cancer, Lung Cancer, 702-260-7707 Breast Cancer, Stereotactic Facelift, Blepharoplasty, LANE SMITH, MD Radiosurgery Breast Augmentation, Breast Smith Plastic Surgery RADIATION ONCOLOGY Reduction 7650 W. Sahara Ave. RITCHIE STEVENS, MD 702-838-2455 MICHAEL J. ANDERSON, MD Radiation Oncology ARTHUR M. CAMBEIRO, MD Breast Augmentation, Facelift, Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada SurgiSpa Liposuction & Body Contouring, Centers of Nevada 3980 S. Eastern Ave. 2370 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., CoolSculpting 10001 S. Eastern Ave., #108 702-463-9100 #130, 702-566-8300 702-952-3444 Brachytherapy, Prostate Cancer, Facelift, Liposuction & Body SAMUEL SOHN, MD Head & Neck Cancer, Prostate Gynecologic Cancers Contouring, CoolSculpting, Hankins & Sohn Plastic Cancer, Brachytherapy, Breast Augmentation Surgery Associates Intensity Modulated BEAU JAMES W. TOY, MD 60 N. Pecos Road Radiotherapy (IMRT) Radiation Oncology MICHAEL C. EDWARDS, MD 702-948-7595 Centers of Nevada Plastic Surgery Vegas Cosmetic Surgery-Breast, Body ANDREW M. COHEN, MD 624 S. Tonopah Drive 8530 W. Sunset Road, #130 Contouring after Weight Loss, Comprehensive Cancer 702-463-9100 702-822-2100 Cosmetic & Reconstructive Centers of Nevada Stereotactic Body Breast Cosmetic & Surgery, Botox 7445 Peak Drive Radiotherapy, Image Guided Reconstructive Surgery, Breast 702-952-2140 Radiotherapy (IGRT) Augmentation, Breast Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Reduction, Breast PSYCHIATRY Prostate Cancer, Image Guided PAUL TREADWELL, MD Reconstruction & Augmentation Radiotherapy (IGRT) 21st Century Oncology ALISON NETSKI, MD 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #100 W. TRACY HANKINS, MD 6375 W. Charleston Blvd. DAN LEE CURTIS, MD 702-990-4767 Hankins & Sohn Plastic 702-671-6475 Comprehensive Cancer Pediatric Cancers, Breast Surgery Associates Psychosomatic Disorders, Centers of Nevada Cancer, Gynecologic Cancers, 60 N. Pecos Road Geriatric Psychiatry, ADD/ 655 N. Town Center Drive Hodgkin’s Lymphoma 702-948-7595 702-233-2200 ADHD, Psychiatry in Physical Cosmetic Surgery-Face & Illness Prostate Cancer, Brachytherapy, Breast, Liposuction & Body Head & Neck Cancer, Cosmetic Contouring DANIEL SUSSMAN, MD Dermatology REPRODUCTIVE 4205 Mont Blanc Way ENDOCRINOLOGY/ TERRENCE B. HIGGINS, MD GREG A. DEAN, MD 702-493-5203 INFERTILITY Plastic Surgery Vegas Radiation Oncology Psychoanalysis, Geriatric 8530 W. Sunset Road, #130 Centers of Nevada Psychiatry 702-822-2100 3980 S. Eastern Ave. JEFFREY FISCH, MD Liposuction & Body Contouring, 702-463-9100 Green Valley Fertility Partners Cosmetic Surgery-Breast, Facial 2510 Wigwam Pkwy., #201 Rejuvenation, Microsurgery PULMONARY DISEASE FARZANEH FARZIN, MD 702-722-2229 Comprehensive Cancer Infertility-IVF, Menstrual CHRISTOPHER KHORSANDI, MD JOHN B. COLLIER, MD Centers of Nevada Disorders VIP Plastic Surgery Comprehensive Cancer 3730 S. Eastern Ave. 2779 Sunridge Heights Pkwy., Centers of Nevada 702-952-3366 EVA D. LITTMAN, MD #100, 702-608-1318 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #125 Breast Cancer, Intensity Red Rock Fertility Center Cosmetic Surgery, Breast 702-869-0855 Modulated Radiotherapy 9120 W. Russell Road, #200 Augmentation, Hand Surgery Critical Care, Lung Disease, (IMRT), Stereotactic 702-749-4834 Sleep Disorders/Apnea Radiosurgery Infertility-IVF, Preimplantation JOHN M. MENEZES, MD Genetic Diagnosis, Egg & UNLV Medicine WAEL EID, MD CARLOS ALBERTO. LOPEZ, MD Embryo Freezing 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., #190 United Critical Care Radiation Oncology 702-671-5110 6040 S. Fort Apache Road, Centers of Nevada JOHN PHELPS, MD Craniofacial Surgery, Cosmetic #100, 702-476-4900 624 S. Tonopah Drive UNLV Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery Asthma & Emphysema, Chronic 702-463-9100 Women’s Healthcare, Ob/Gyn Obstructive Lung Disease Intensity Modulated Radiothera- 3196 S. Maryland Pkwy., #209 STEPHEN M. MILLER, MD (COPD), Interstitial Lung py (IMRT), Stereotactic 702-944-2888 8435 S. Eastern Ave., #100 Disease, Sleep Disorders/Apnea Radiosurgery Infertility, Gynecologic Surgery

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BRUCE S. SHAPIRO, MD/PHD PETER A. CARAVELLA, MD THORACIC & O. ALEX LESANI, MD Fertility Center of Las Vegas Las Vegas Surgical Associates CARDIAC SURGERY Las Vegas Urology 8851 W. Sahara Ave., #100 8930 W. Sunset Road, #300 7150 W. Sunset Road, #200 702-254-1777 702-258-7788 QUYNH FEIKES, MD 702-233-0727 Infertility-IVF Cardiovascular Surgery of Reconstructive Surgery, SOUZAN EL-EID, MD Southern Nevada Robotic Surgery, Urinary Comprehensive Cancer 5320 S. Rainbow Blvd., #282 Reconstruction RHEUMATOLOGY Centers of Nevada 702-737-3808 9280 W. Sunset Road, #100 Cardiothoracic Surgery, 702-255-1133 LAWRENCE H. NEWMAN, MD NEIL BRAUNSTEIN, MD Endovascular Surgery, Las Vegas Urology Southwest Medical Associates Breast Cancer & Surgery, Esophageal Surgery Cancer Surgery 7150 W. Sunset Road, #201 4750 W. Oakey Blvd. 702-316-1616 702-251-3670 JUAN ENRIQUE. MARTIN, MD DANIEL KIRGAN, MD Bladder Surgery, Prostate Autoimmune Disease, Fibromy- Cardiovascular Surgery of UNLV Medicine Benign Disease (BPH), Erectile algia Southern Nevada Department of Surgery 5320 S. Rainbow Blvd., #282 Dysfunction, Kidney Stones 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., #160 MICHAEL E. CLIFFORD, MD 702-737-3808 702-671-5150 7151 Cascade Valley Court, #103 Robotic Cardiac Surgery, Heart SARAH RYAN, MD 702-944-5444 Cancer Surgery, Breast Cancer & Valve Surgery-Aortic, Minimally Urology Specialists of Nevada Surgery, Melanoma, Sarcoma Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Invasive Surgery 2010 Wellness Way, #200 Arthritis, Lupus/SLE, Osteoporosis 702-877-0814 DEBORAH ANN KUHLS, MD MICHAEL G. WOOD, MD Urology-Female, Incontinence UNLV Medicine EWA OLECH, MD MountainView Cardiovascular & Department of Surgery Access Health Thoracic Surgery Associates MICHAEL P. VERNI, MD 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., #160 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #260 Rheumatology Consultants Urology Center 702-671-5150 702-962-5920 7200 Cathedral Rock Drive, # 653 N. Town Center Drive, #302 Trauma, Critical Care Cardiac Surgery-Adult, Heart 110, 702-489-4838 702-212-3428 Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus/SLE, Valve Surgery, Thoracic Aortic ALLAN DAVID MACINTYRE, DO Pediatric Urology, Endourology Inflammatory Arthritis, Clinical Trials Surgery, Heart Valve Surgery- Desert Surgical Associates Mitral 3131 La Canada St., #217 JASON ZOMMICK, MD 702-369-7152 Urology Specialists of Nevada SPORTS MEDICINE Bariatric/Obesity Surgery, UROGYNECOLOGY/FEMALE 58 N. Pecos Road Robotic Surgery, Trauma/ 702-877-0814 TIMOTHY JAMES TRAINOR, MD PELVIC MEDICINE Critical Care, Minimally Prostate Benign Disease (BPH), Advanced Orthopedics & Invasive Surgery & RECONSTRUCT SURGERY Sports Medicine Vasectomy & Vasectomy Reversal 7195 Advanced Way IRWIN B. SIMON, MD GEOFFREY C. HSIEH, MD 702-740-5327 Vegas Valley Vein Institute Women’s Cancer Arthroscopic Surgery, Shoulder 2450 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Center of Nevada & Knee Surgery, Shoulder #100, 702-341-7608 3131 La Canada St., #241 VASCULAR & Arthroscopic Surgery, Fractures Minimally Invasive Vascular 702-693-6870 INTERVENTIONAL Surgery, Vein Disorders, Urogynecology, Pelvic Recon- RADIOLOGY RANDALL E. YEE, DO Varicose Veins, Hair Resto- struction, Incontinence-Urinary, Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repair Advanced Orthopedics & ration/Transplant STEVEN H. DAVIS, MD Sports Medicine Red Rock Radiology 7195 Advanced Way DARREN W. SOONG, MD 7130 Smoke Ranch Road, #101 702-740-5327 Surgical Weight Control Center UROLOGY 702-304-8135 Arthroscopic Surgery, Cartilage 3802 Meadows Lane Angioplasty & Stent Placement, Damage & Transplant, Knee Surgery 702-313-8446 SCOTT BARANOFF, MD Chemoembolization & Tumor Bariatric/Obesity Surgery, Las Vegas Urology Laparoscopic Surgery-Advanced, 9053 S. Pecos Road, #2900 Ablation, Radiofrequency Tumor Ablation SURGERY Minimally Invasive Surgery 702-735-8000 Impotence, Incontinence, AARON PETERSON, MD JAMES DEE. ATKINSON, MD CHARLES R. ST. HILL, MD Urologic Cancer, Kidney Stones Surgical Weight Control Center UNLV Medicine Red Rock Radiology 3802 Meadows Lane Department of Surgery JOSEPH V. CANDELA, MD 7130 Smoke Ranch Road, #101 702-313-8446 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., #160 Las Vegas Urology 702-304-8135 Bariatric/Obesity Surgery, 702-671-5150 7500 Smoke Ranch Road, #200 Laparoscopic Surgery-Advanced, Cancer Surgery, Gallbladder 702-233-0727 Minimally Invasive Surgery Surgery, Hernia Urology-Female, Urologic Cancer VASCULAR SURGERY ANNABEL BARBER, MD FRANCIS W. TENG, MD SHELDON J. FREEDMAN, MD UNLV Medicine Advanced Surgical Care 653 N. Town Center Drive, #308 EARL COTTRELL, MD 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #112 3150 N. Tenaya Way, #508 702-732-0282 General Vascular Specialists 702-671-6480 702-838-5888 Erectile Dysfunction, Vasecto- 7200 W. Cathedral Rock Drive, Robotic Surgery, Colon & Rectal Bariatric/Obesity Surgery, my-No Scalpel, Kidney Stones, #130, 702-228-8600 Cancer & Surgery, Gastrointesti- Minimally Invasive Surgery, Prostate Cancer Endovascular Surgery, Varicose Laparoscopic Surgery, Robotic nal Surgery, Endocrine Surgery Veins Surgery VIJAY GOLI, MD Las Vegas Urology PANKAJ BHATNAGAR, MD MARGARET A. TERHAR, MD 7500 Smoke Ranch Road, #200 BRUCE HIRSCHFELD, MD Advanced Laparoscopic & Comprehensive Cancer 702-233-0727 General Vascular Specialists General Surgery Centers of Nevada Kidney Stones, Inconti- 7200 W. Cathedral Rock Drive, 6240 N. Durango Drive, #120 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., #270 nence-Male & Female, #130, 702-228-8600 702-791-7855 702-369-6008 Minimally Invasive Surgery, Endovascular Surgery, Varicose Laparoscopic Surgery-Advanced Breast Disease, Breast Surgery Prostate Cancer-Cryosurgery Veins

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 89 database is available at usatopdentists.com. HOW THE TOP DENTISTS For more information, call 706-364-0853; write P.O. Box 970, Augusta, GA 30903; email WERE CHOSEN [email protected], or visitusatop- dentists.com. topDentists has used its best efforts in assembling material for this list f you had a patient in need of a den- and status in various dental academies can but does not warrant that the information tist, which dentist would you refer play a factor in our decision. contained herein is complete or accurate, I them to?” Once the decisions have been finalized, and does not assume, and hereby disclaims, This is the question we’ve asked the included dentists are checked against any liability to any person for any loss or thousands of dentists to help us determine state dental boards for disciplinary actions damage caused by errors or omissions who the topDentists should be. Dentists to make sure they have an active license and herein whether such errors or omissions and specialists are asked to take into con- are in good standing with the board. Then result from negligence, accident, or any sideration years of experience, continuing letters of congratulations are sent to all the other cause. education, manner with patients, use of new listed dentists. Copyright 2008-2020 by topDentists, techniques and technologies, and of course Of course there are many fine dentists who Augusta, GA. All rights reserved. This list, or physical results. are not included in this representative list. It parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any The nomination pool of dentists consists is intended as a sampling of the great body form without permission. No commercial use of dentists listed online with the American of talent in the field of dentistry in Nevada. of the information in this list may be made Dental Association as well as all dentists A dentist’s inclusion on our list is based on without permission of topDentists. No fees listed online with their local/regional dental the subjective judgments of his or her fellow may be charged, directly or indirectly, for societies, thus allowing virtually every dentists. While it is true that the lists may at the use of the information in this list without dentist the opportunity to participate. times disproportionately reward visibility permission. Dentists are also given the opportunity or popularity, we remain confident that our to nominate other dentists that they feel polling methodology largely corrects for should be included in our list. Respondents any biases and that these lists continue to are asked to put aside any personal bias represent the most reliable, accurate, and or political motivations and to use only useful list of dentists available anywhere. their knowledge of their peer’s work when evaluating the other nominees. DISCLAIMER This list is excerpted from the Voters are asked to individually evaluate 2020 topDentists™ list, which includes the practitioners on their ballot whose work listings for more than 150 dentists and spe- they are familiar with. Once the balloting is cialists in Southern Nevada. The complete completed, the scores are compiled and then averaged. The numerical average required for inclusion varies depending on the average for all the nominees within the specialty and the geographic area. Borderline cases are given a careful consideration by the ed- itors. Voting characteristics and comments are taken into consideration while making decisions. Past awards a dentist has received SHUTTERSTOCK

90 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

CHAD R. HANSEN WILL BAALBAKY #100, 702-260-0102 Las Vegas Endodontics Elite Family Dental gvdentalgroup.com TOP 6655 W. Sahara Ave., #A-106, 7835 S. Rainbow Blvd., #28, 702-876-5800. 702-898-8448 JASON L. DOWNEY* DENTISTS lvendo.com elitefamilydental.com 8876 Spanish Ridge Ave., #100, 702-871-4903. DARIN K. KAJIOKA PETER S. BALLE smileslasvegas.com 2020 Endodontics of Las Vegas Balle & Associates* 9750 Covington Cross Drive, 2801 W. Charleston Blvd., #100, MARK D. EDINGTON #150, 702-878-8584 702-877-6608. balledds.com Modern Dental Care* The 150 best dentists endodonticsoflasvegas.com 9895 S. Maryland Parkway, #A, LAURIE S. BLOCH-JOHNSON 702-372-4039 in Southern Nevada, RONALD R. LEMON Exceptional Dentistry* moderndentallv.com as chosen by their peers University of Nevada Las Vegas 9501 Hillwood Drive, #A School of Dental Medicine 702-463-8600 DONALD J. FARR 4505 S. Maryland Parkway drlauriesmiles.com *denotes cosmetic 2458 E. Russell Road, #B 702-744-2731 dentistry services 702-798-4595 unlv.edu/people/ronald-lemon DERRYL R. BRIAN donaldjfarrdds.com Nevada Trails Dental JASON T. MORRIS 7575 S. Rainbow Blvd., #101, BARTON H. FOUTZ DENTAL ANESTHESIOLOGY Nevada Endodontics 702-367-3700 Foutz Family Dentistry 2510 Wigwam Parkway, #200 nevadatrailsdental.com AMANDA J. OKUNDAYE 2510 Wigwam Parkway, #100 702-263-2000 702-792-5929 8855 W. Flamingo Road PAMELA G. CAGGIANO nevadaendodontics.com foutzdental.com 310-486-6656 Excellence In Dentistry* anesthesiabydramanda.com 321 N. Pecos Road, #100 KATHLEEN F. OLENDER JAMES B. FRANTZ, JR. 702-732-7878 Desert Dental Specialists* Green Valley Dental Group pamelacaggianodds.com 7520 W. Sahara Ave. 710 Coronado Center Drive, ENDODONTICS 702-384-7200 #100, 702-260-0102 COLIN M. CAMPBELL dentalimplants-lv.com GVDentalGroup.com BENJAMIN J. BARBORKA St. Rose Family & Cosmetic Dentistry* Las Vegas Endodontics GLEN GALLIMORE DOUGLAS R. RAKICH 780 Coronado Center Drive, 6655 W. Sahara Ave., #A-106, 702Dentist 702-876-5800 Endodontic Associates #110, 702-387-5900 6950 Smoke Ranch Road, #125 3455 Cliff Shadows Parkway, lvendo.com strosedental.com 702-869-8840 #130, 702-839-0500 702-dentist.com W. SCOTT BIGGS SANDRA CHAN Moore Family Dentistry Micro Endodontics of Las Vegas DANIEL I. SHALEV IRWAN T. GOH 10624 S. Eastern Ave., #N 4450 N. Tenaya Way, #240 Nevada Endodontics Smiles by Goh* 702-407-6700. lvsmiles.com 702-463-5000 2510 Wigwam Parkway, #200 2653 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, lasvegasendo.com 702-263-2000 #110, 702-732-3754 ASEEM CHAWLA nevadaendodontics.com smilesbygoh.com WILLIAM D. BRIZZEE Bella Smiles Las Vegas* 6040 S. Rainbow Blvd., #B-2, Las Vegas Endodontics RYAN C. SHIPP CHAD N. GUBLER 702-307-7777 6655 W. Sahara Ave., #A-106, Shipp Endodontics Gubler Dental bellasmileslv.com 702-876-5800 9053 S. Pecos Road, #3000 11221 S. Eastern Ave., #200, lvendo.com 702-798-0911 702-558-9977 GUY L. CHISTECKOFF shippendodontics.com gublerdds.com MATTHEW O. COX Island Smiles Cosmetic & Family Dentistry* 8460 S. Eastern Ave., #B STEVEN L. HARDY 8940 S. Maryland Parkway, 702-492-6688 Paradise Family Dental #100, 702-270-6501 coxendo.com GENERAL DENTISTRY 6825 Aliante Parkway islandsmiles.org 702-294-2739 WILLIAM J. DOUGHERTY, JR. drstevehardy.com Sunset Endodontics STANLEY S. ASKEW STEPHEN H. CLARK II Island Dental Center 2820 E. Flamingo Road, #B 54 N. Pecos Road, #B GEORGE HAROUNI* 9750 Covington Cross Drive, 702-732-2333 702-436-4300 731 Mall Ring Circle, #201 sunsetendo.com #100, 702-341-7979 stephenclarkddslv.com islanddentalcenter.com 702-434-9464 georgeharounidds.com JOHN Q. DUONG KENNETH M. COX Lakeview Dental STEVEN A. AVENA* 6615 S. Eastern Ave., #106 2291 S. Fort Apache Road, #104, 3117 W. Charleston Blvd. 702-735-3506 GREGORY M. HEIDEMAN 702-869-0001 702-384-1210 6950 W. Smoke Ranch Road, karentrandds.com stevenavenadds.com CHRIS S. COZINE #150, 702-304-1902 8579 S. Eastern Ave., #A lhdentalcare.com DAVID C. FIFE ERIC AVITIA 702-739-8289 Fife & Steffen Endodontics Aary Dental cozinedental.com EMILY R. ISHKANIAN 1975 Village Center Circle, #110 7945 W. Sahara Ave., #101 Flores Family Dental 702-360-2122 702-363-0421. TODD L. DAVIS 6536 N. Decatur Blvd., #120, Sunstone Dental Care 702-242-3373 drdavidfife.com aarydental.com 1701 N. Green Valley Parkway, floresfamilydental.com ADAM GATAN #7-A, 702-837-6555 Seven Hills Endodontics & STACIE BAALBAKY sunstonedental.com BRIAN R. KARN Microsurgery Center Elite Family Dental Encore Dentistry* 2810 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, 7835 S. Rainbow Blvd., #28, MARK DORILAG 9406 W. Lake Mead Blvd., #105 #200, 702-384-0053 702-898-8448 Green Valley Dental Group 702-331-9966. lvrootcanal.com elitefamilydental.com 710 Coronado Center Drive, drkarn.com AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 91 THOMAS P. KEATING WILLIAM G. PAPPAS ZACHARY SOARD JOHN J. DUDEK Keating Dental* 7884 W. Sahara Ave., #100 Dentistry for Families Mountain View Oral Surgery 880 Seven Hills Drive, #240 702-367-7133 1306 W. Craig Road, #H 6970 Smoke Ranch Road, #150 702-454-8855 702-633-4333 702-259-6725 keatingdds.com SAM PARTOVI dentistryforfamilies.com mtvieworal.com Desert Smiles Dental JAMES G. KINARD* 10175 W. Twain Ave., #120 STEPHEN W. SPELMAN JESSE J. FALK 2780 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, 702-202-2300 Spelman Dental Care* Canyon Oral & Facial Surgery #20, 702-719-4700 desertsmilesdental.com 3450 S. Hualapai Way 6200 N. Durango Drive, #100 702-871-6044 702-867-2763. WILLIAM P. LEAVITT stephenspelmandds.com canyonofs.com University of Nevada Las Vegas MARIELAINA PERRONE School of Dental Medicine 2551 N. Green Valley Parkway, BRADLEY S. STRONG* RYAN GIBSON 1001 Shadow Lane, #SLC-D 260 #A-405, 702-458-2929 2931 N. Tenaya Way, #200 Gibson and Leavitt Oral & 702-774-2641 drperrone.com 702-242-3800 Maxillofacial & Implant Surgery dentalschool.unlv.edu bstrongdds.com 670 S. Green Valley Parkway, JAMES B. POLLEY* #115, 702-685-3700 TON V. LEE 1875 Village Center Circle, #110 RONALD R. TAYLOR ryangibsonoralsurgery.com Summerlin Smiles 702-873-0324 Las Vegas Dental Care 9525 W. Russell Road, #100 dentalsummerlin.com 3505 E. Harmon Ave., #A STEVE J. HUANG 702-579-7645 702-605-1819 Henderson Oral Surgery & summerlinsmiles.com JOHN M. QUINN dentistrylasvegasnv.com Dental Implant Center Smiles for Life Family Dentistry 1701 N. Green Valley Parkway, ROBIN D. LOBATO* 8930 W. Sunset Road, #190 MICHAEL J. TOMITA #2-E, 702-270-2999 9061 W. Sahara Ave., #101 702-795-2273 Island Dental Center oralsurgeryhenderson.com 702-877-0500 lvsmilesforlife.com 9750 Covington Cross Drive, drlobato.com #100, 702-341-7979 GREGORY J. HUNTER RICHARD A. RACANELLI islanddentalcenter.com Nevada Oral & Facial Surgery NICHOLAS E. LORDS Stunning Smiles of Las Vegas 6950 Smoke Ranch Road, #200 Rainbow Park Dental* 6410 Medical Center St., #B KAREN T. TRAN 702-360-8918 2950 S. Rainbow Blvd., #200, 702-736-0016 Lakeview Dental nevadaoralandfacialsurgery.com 702-227-6510 lvstunningsmiles.com 2291 S. Fort Apache Road, #104, 702-869-0001 BRENDAN G. JOHNSON SPENCER LUTH CRAIG R. ROSE karentrandds.com Nevada Oral & Facial Surgery Luth & Heideman Dental Care Rose Family Dentistry 6950 Smoke Ranch Road, #200 6950 W. Smoke Ranch Road, 8490 S. Eastern Ave., #C TERRIE X. TRAN 702-360-8918 #150, 702-304-1902 All Smiles Dental 702-914-0000 nevadaoralandfacialsurgery.com lhdentalcare.com 10545 S. Eastern Ave., #140, rosefamilydentistry.com 702-492-9399 KATHERINE A. KEELEY KENT A. LYSGAARD allsmilesbydesign.com 2649 Wigwam Parkway, #102 Lysgaard Dental DAVID B. SANDQUIST Sandquist Dentistry* 702-263-9339 2911 N. Tenaya Way, #101 JAMES J. WHITE* 2650 Lake Sahara Drive, #160 drkeeley.net 702-360-9061. drlysgaard.com 1140 N. Town Center Drive, #170, 702-734-0776 702-562-8833 sandquistdds.com MATTHEW M. KIKUCHI DAVID L. MAHON jameswhitedds.com Kikuchi Oral Surgery & Dental Siena Dental DOUGLAS D. SANDQUIST Implant Center 10075 S. Eastern Ave., #107, JOHNATHAN R. WHITE Sandquist Dentistry* 5765 S. Fort Apache Road, #110, 702-567-0000 Aesthetic Dentistry* 2650 Lake Sahara Drive, #160 702-876-6337 sienadental.com 8084 W. Sahara Ave., #G 702-734-0776 omssnv.com 702-823-3000 sandquistdds.com RONALD R. MARSHALL jbwhitedds.com BRYCE LEAVITT 6891 W. Charleston Blvd. TAMMY SARLES Gibson and Leavitt Oral & 702-255-6768. rrmsmile.com BRAD A. WILBUR Maxillofacial & Implant Surgery 8650 Spring Mountain Road Green Valley Dental Center 702-869-0032 670 S. Green Valley Parkway, GEORGE J. MCALPINE 275 N. Pecos Road #115, 702-685-3700 University of Nevada Las Vegas 702-896-8933 ryangibsonoralsurgery.com School of Dental Medicine NATHAN D. SCHWARTZ gvdentalcenter.com 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., #290, Henderson Family Dentistry 537 S. Boulder Highway CARLOS H. LETELIER 702-671-5130 DERREK A. YELTON The Center for Oral unlv.edu/dental 702-564-2526 2625 S. Rainbow Blvd., #D-103, hendersonfamilydental.com Surgery of Las Vegas 702-365-1743 10115 W. Twain Ave., #100 D. KEVIN MOORE 702-367-6666 Moore Family Dentistry A. THOMAS SHIELDS lasvegasoms.com 10624 S. Eastern Ave., #N Shields Family Dentistry 702-407-6700 653 N. Town Center, #508 ORAL AND 702-228-8777 MAXILLOFACIAL JEFF E. MOXLEY lvsmiles.com Moxley Oral & shieldsfamilydentistry.com SURGERY Maxillofacial Surgery E. ORLANDO MORANTES* MICHEL DACCACHE 3663 E. Sunset Road, #403 3412 N. Buffalo Drive, #107 PATRICK A. SIMONE* 1701 W. Charleston Blvd., #520, 702-898-8350 702-794-0820 70 N. Pecos Road, #A 702-750-9444. nevadaoms.com drjeffmoxley.com morantesdds.com 702-735-2755 patricksimonedds.com MARK I. DEGEN PATRICK A. O’CONNOR JOHNNY E. NASSAR Red Rock Oral and Maxillofacial O’Connor Oral Smile Design Center SUSAN S. SMITH* Surgery Centre & Maxillofacial Surgeon 10120 S. Eastern Ave., #375, 8275 S. Eastern Ave., #101 4730 S. Fort Apache Road, 630 S. Rancho Drive, #B 702-361-9611 702-967-1700 #390, 702-253-9090 702-870-2555 smiledesigncenterlv.com susansmithdds.com redrockomsc.com drpatrickoconnor.net

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DANIEL L. ORR II SCOTT E. LEAVER BRYAN Q. BUI ERIC BERNZWEIG Medical Education Building Leaver & Gardner Orthodontics Cavitybusters Advanced Gum and Dental 2040 W. Charleston Blvd., #201, 6005 S. Fort Apache, #100 6910 S. Rainbow Blvd., #104, Implant Solutions 702-383-3711. orrs.org 702-878-0764 702-362-5437 6835 W. Charleston Blvd. leavergardner.com cavitybusters.org 702-869-0114 STEVEN A. SAXE ericbernzweigddsms.centu- Advance Oral & JAMES K. MAH RYAN S. BYBEE rylinksite.net Maxillofacial Surgery University of Nevada, Las Vegas, The Kid’s Dentist 1570 S. Rainbow Blvd. School of Dental Medicine 375 N. Stephanie St., #211 EDILBERTO DE ANDRADE 702-258-0085 4505 S. Maryland Parkway 702-454-1008 Anthem Periodontics and nvjawdoc.com 702-774-2535 kidsdentistofhenderson.com Dental Implants 2610 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, JEREMY S. MANUELE ALICE P. CHEN Hamilton & Manuele #202, 702-270-4600 ORTHODONTICS Red Rock Kids Dental Orthodontics 11700 W. Charleston Blvd., #180, 401 N. Buffalo Drive, #220 RYAN S. GIFFORD 702-242-2436 Periodontics Unlimited* VICTORIA CHEN 702-243-3300 redrockkidsdental.com hamiltonortho.com 3811 W. Charleston Blvd, #201, Significance Orthodontics 702-259-1943. 6018 S. Fort Apache Road JEFFREY A. COX lvperio.com 702-213-4799 CAREY B. NOORDA Anthem Pediatric Dentistry Okuda & Noorda Orthodontics significanceorthodontics.com 10400 S. Eastern Ave. ALLEN W. HUANG 1701 N. Green Valley Parkway, #1, 702-531-5437 702-737-5500 Significance Dental Specialists* DAVID A. CHENIN apdkids.com 2430 E. Harmon Ave., #6 Chenin Orthodontic Group drnoorda.com 702-733-0558. 10730 S. Eastern Ave., #100, CHAD W. ELLSWORTH sdsdental.com 702-735-1010 ALANA SAXE Anthem Pediatric Dentistry cheninortho.com Saxe Orthodontics 10400 S. Eastern Ave. CURRY H. LEAVITT 3555 S. Town Center Drive, 702-531-5437 Red Rock Periodontics & #104, 702-541-7070 apdkids.com STEPHEN T. CHENIN saxeortho.com Implantology Chenin Orthodontic Group ASHLEY E. HOBAN 7475 W. Sahara Ave., #101 10730 S. Eastern Ave., #100, DOUGLAS K. SIMISTER Summerlin Pediatric Dentistry 702-834-8900 702-735-1010 Las Vegas Braces 635 N. Town Center Drive, #104, redrockperio.com cheninortho.com 8710 W. Charleston Blvd., #150, 702-838-9013 702-256-7846 summerlinpediatricdentistry.com BRIAN MANTOR ERYN E. ENCE lasvegasbraces.com Periodontics Unlimited Ence Orthodontics DAWN L. MCCLELLAN 3811 W. Charleston Blvd., #201, 8490 S. Eastern Ave., #A Dental Care International 702-500-1742. ROBERT H. THALGOTT 702-260-8241 1750 Wheeler Peak Drive lvperio.com Chenin and Thalgott vegascoolsmiles.com 702-272-1100. dcare.org Orthodontics JAMES K. ROGERS 1945 Village Center Circle, #110 JEDEDIAH M. FELLER TODD S. MILNE Canyon Ridge Periodontics 702-364-5100 Feller Orthodontics Children’s Dental Center 3575 S. Town Center Drive, #110, thalgott.com 2871 N. Tenaya Way 2085 Village Center Circle, #120 702-966-0300 702-341-8668 702-240-5437. cdclv.com canyonridgeperio.com fellerorthodontics.com MARK TRUMAN Truman Orthodontics MANNY RAPP, JR. DAVID J. TRYLOVICH MICHAEL C. GARDNER 10000 W. Sahara Ave., #110 Adaven Children’s Dentistry Periodontics Unlimited* Leaver & Gardner Orthodontics 702-500-1112 2843 St. Rose Parkway, #100 3811 W. Charleston Blvd., #201, 6005 S. Fort Apache Road, trumanorthodontics.com 702-492-1955 702-259-1943. #100 adavenkid.com lvperio.com 702-602-9066 leavergardner.com ZACHARY B. TRUMAN GARY D. RICHARDSON Truman Orthodontics Adventure Smiles PROSTHODONTICS JAMES L. GIBSON 880 Seven Hills Drive, #170 8995 W. Flamingo Road, #100 Gibson Orthodontics 702-221-2272 702-838-5437 EVANGELINE CHEN 70 E. Horizon Ridge, #170 trumanorthodontics.com adventuresmiles.com 702-564-1037 Greater Las Vegas Dental 8867 W. Flamingo Road, #100 gogibson.com LANCE L. WHETTEN JOSHUA L. SAXE 702-880-5858 4540 S. Pecos Road A Childrens Dentist greaterlasvegasdental.com JOHN C. GRIFFITHS 702-436-0999 8710 W. Charleston Blvd, #100, Las Vegas Braces whettenfellerorthodontics.com 702-255-0133 NELSON D. LASITER 8710 W. Charleston Blvd., #150, achildrensdentist.com 702-256-7846 2255 Renaissance Drive, #B lasvegasbraces.com TRACY D. WYATT 702-798-1987 Wyatt Orthodontics MICHAEL D. SAXE A Childrens Dentist nelsonlasiterdmd.com R. CREE HAMILTON 7550 W. Lake Mead Blvd., #6, 702-242-9777 8710 W. Charleston Blvd., #100, Hamilton & Manuele 702-255-0133 MARCO T. PADILLA wyattorthodontics.com Orthodontics achildrensdentist.com Clear Choice Las Vegas* 401 N. Buffalo Drive, #220 6460 Medical Center St., #300, 702-243-3300 702-430-2372 hamiltonortho.com PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY PERIODONTICS clearchoice.com/locations/ dental-implants-las-vegas BLAINE R. HANSEN TODD J. BAGGALEY DAVID A. ARPIN Hansen Orthodontics Dr. B’s Dentistry for Children Desert Dental Specialists* STEVEN L. RHODES 3600 N. Buffalo Drive, #110 5705 Centennial Center Blvd., 7520 W. Sahara Ave. 501 S. Rancho Drive, 702-568-1600 #140, 702-998-7100 702-384-7200 #E-29, 702-384-4896 hansenortho.com centennialhillspediatricdentist.com dentalimplants-lv.com srhodesdds.com

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 93 EVERY VOICE Continued from page 70

have been instituted or spoken about since 2011 or 2015, we have an entire generation of Black men and women who have learned to distrust the police because they never saw the police as allies to them. They saw them as a restrictive force that was essentially there to prey upon them. So, first the money’s taken away. And then, the police force with guns and systemic racism comes into the community. And the predominantly white police force at this time essentially institutes generations of distrust and systemic racism against one section of the city.

VITAL-LAZARE: Attorney General Ford, how do we get to eradicating racism through economic inclusion?

FORD: One of the recurring themes is that this is systemic. This isn’t just about cop training and not just about police interactions. And frankly, it’s not just about the criminal justice system. It’s beyond that, and what Mr. Parry just spoke about, you combine that with redlining in housing; with educational opportunities that are diminished; with economic opportunities and with employment opportunities that have, generally speaking, not been afforded to African Americans on a fair basis. You combine all of these systems, not to mention the political system, which in and of itself has institutionalized racism, engaged in Attorney General Aaron D. Ford it and ingrained in it. This is a dynamic problem. Anyone who says there’s one answer to fix this is not really looking at the entire picture. It’s systemic, and it’s inclusion help bend that long arc toward by force in many ways turn our backs on going to require a dynamic solution to justice, so that it completes the job of erad- one another? this problem. icating racism? And I’m going to digress to talk about VITAL-LAZARE: Tenisha, I want to end something Lance mentioned, which is the SMITH: I deeply feel that racism will dis- our time together with you. You espouse protection of all lives, trans lives in this appear when it’s not profitable, and it will a radical ideology. It is needed against op- context, trans Black lives in this context. always be profitable. Especially in this pression. What does that look like? Is there Recognizing that again from my role as nation. I don’t know about the idea of eradi- a place in your approach for neighborhood the top law enforcement officer in the cating racism. I think there are deep-seated redevelopment, let’s say, on the Westside? state, I have something purely within my things we have to address. But just like with Is that part of economic revolution? jurisdiction. And that’s the law. That’s me anything, addressing a deep wound like racial being able to file lawsuits. Or to push back disparity in this country — it was brought FREEDOM: Yes, absolutely. Malcolm X spoke against federal actions, for example, that forth by death, and there will have to be about it in (his) “The Ballot or the Bullet” attempt to discriminate. And go to court, more death for it to stop, unfortunately. speech. He spoke about using Black nation- and win in court, and to set standards in the But economics and racism go hand in hand. alism and using Black internationalism to law that if they are not met, there’s recourse They feed on one another. I have a strong create some of those self-help programs. that can be brought to bear. No one else, I belief that most things are energy. White In economics as well, he spoke about us believe, on this panel has that ability. And supremacy is energy. And what does it eat? creating businesses, creating employment, again, this is what I’m talking about when Poor people, Black people, brown people. creating our own opportunities. So it’s not I say we all have a role to play. That’s what it eats. So how do we address always looking for the state or anyone else that energy? How has that energy made to deliver these types of opportunities, but

VITAL-LAZARE: Lance, does economic us as individuals who were brought here for us to create them ourselves, empower GENERAL ATTORNEY OF THE OFFICE NEVADA COURTESTY

94 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS ourselves to determine what our narrative ways of getting our agendas and our needs the university has made promises to invest is, our goals, and then actually design those met without waiting for the state to do it. in the long-term work that is necessary to programs that are of true liberation, not just ensure the safety of UNLV students. the illusion of liberation. SMITH: Tenisha brought up ancestors. One I approach the pedestal and the tree pot. I do believe that the attorney general and of the things I hope, for any of the Black I want to sit at its base and think. But I can others in positions of power can put pressure people hearing the sound of my voice: I still imagine the Rebel statue, and I refuse on one another and on their constituents want them to understand that their an- to sit at the feet of a Confederate soldier, to support the narrative of the people. cestors went through a lot of pain, and that even the ghost of one. So I circle it. It takes However, the people need to continue to pain is in our bones. But through all of the less than 10 steps. I think of how small the organize and not rely on these positions of horrors of being brought here, and slavery statue really must be. To be gone all of a power as the only ways to get things done. and redlining and overpolicing, there was sudden, like it was never there. I think of We know that the American Civil Lib- always resistance. And that is the thing that how easy it was to remove the statue, and erties Union, for instance, is sitting on we need to remember always. Even in the conversely how hard it will be to make stories that have happened in the last few face of abject horror or annihilation, there’s UNLV feel safe, let alone welcoming, for weeks of protesters here that have been always resistance. ✦ its Black students. There are far too few attacked and terrorized by the police in Black studies courses and too few Black our community. Our most recent protest professors to teach them. There are too on July 4, we were denied water. We can’t SENSE OF PLACE many police officers outside most major have water out here. Those are the type Continued from page 96 buildings on campus and at nearly every of stories that I wish that the attorney event, despite the size of attendance. There general and those in power would listen to fixtures made it especially hard to see on that are periodically graffiti found in the library and work on changing, in their positions side of campus at night. Hence, dark side. or student union that say “Kill the Blacks.” of power in the areas that they’re able to During my undergrad years, 2011-2016, There was a statue of a Confederate soldier change and not allow those sort of attacks there were a number of attacks on students I passed every time I walked onto campus. to happen. walking on the dark side of campus at night, They have painted his face all around UNLV, many of whom were women. The student even on our clothes. From my first day here, FORD: Absolutely, and I didn’t know that. government and student organizations lob- there has always been something telling me For that type of story, you absolutely should bied for years to get more lights on campus, I’m an unwelcome guest, that I should go. reach out to me. You claim that I rub el- and in 2018 UNLV installed 19 high-tech So, what of all of this? What of the statue’s bows. That ain’t entirely accurate, but I can light poles with cameras and police call removal? What does it mean that UNLV rub some elbows when it comes to having boxes, with plans to eventually install 100. has only now made the decision to remove conversations about that type of atrocity The community pressed its case over and Confederate imagery from its campus? What that’s taken place. I’m sorry to cut you off, over until the university finally responded distinguishes this moment from the others but that made my jaw drop to say that you and took action to protect its vulnerable in which the university was petitioned to were denied water. Ridiculous. students. address the problematic nature of the mas- The Angelo and Frances Manzi Courtyard cot? What does it say about the machinery FREEDOM: The professor mentioned the in front of the alumni center, where the of the university and its leadership that this crack coming into our communities. I think statue used to stand and where I’m currently level of oversight has been the standard? that we need to be clear, and it’s been proven, standing, is technically where the dark side Where else and to whom has the university’s that this didn’t just happen. This was a and the rest of campus meet. It’s not as negligence done harm? How can that harm state-designed and carried-out program pitch black as “the dark side,” but the thing be addressed? that purposely occurred to oppress our is — all of UNLV is pretty dark at night. The I don’t know all the answers. These people in these particular communities. new light fixtures can’t really make me feel questions are for the administration and So we need to stop being liberal on some of safe. They can’t erase the shared cultural leadership of UNLV. What I do know, though, our terminology with, “Oh this just kind of memory students and faculty have of the is that the UNLV community — students, happened.” We see these sort of state attacks attacks. And they certainly aren’t helping faculty, alumni, everyone — has to recognize that are purposeful. They happen to our to dismantle rape culture, which is truly the that the removal of the Hey Reb statue, like communities to keep the foot on our necks, root cause of the problem. Of course, they the installation of the lights on campus, is so to speak, to keep us oppressed, to keep can’t do those things, they’re just lights. only the beginning of a process of reckoning, us in a position of being in an undeclared Still, UNLV hasn’t just thrown its hands not the culmination of one. war against our people. So we believe that up and told its students that the problem is I slide my headphones back up over my we should solve our problems with self-de- too big. The same semester they installed ears and press play. I’m going to take another termined goals. the call boxes, campus police also started lap between the student union and The Some of our ancestors did fight to vote, offering a free women’s self-defense course Flashlight before I head to my car. When but some of us, our ancestors, also actively every semester. UNLV police are also now I walk away from the pedestal, and the fought for liberation. So, unfortunate- available to escort folks to their car at night. alumni center, I look back, trying to see if ly, we don’t push “vote or die.” We push They come to introductory classes to tell new it’ll start to look normal, not like there’s a “organize or die.” And what we mean by students about apps like bSafe and other shadow of something there. I turn away that is just organizing the people. We be- best practices for staying safe on campus without expectation. UNLV is still dark. It lieve that the people have the ability to at night. There’s so much that needs to be still feels haunted. I’m not sure when that put together goal-oriented, self-reliant done, and a lot that might not be possible, but will change. ✦

AUGUST 2020 . DESERT COMPANION | 95 96 SENSE OF PLACE

onight, I take a walk I haven’t taken in a long it had been allowed to remain the symbol of my THE DARK while. I park my car on University Avenue, university, which boasts the most diverse student T just east of Maryland Parkway, and cross body in the nation. the street onto UNLV’s campus. I veer I’ve heard about the statue’s removal, but I want SIDE OF left in the parking lot and walk in front of the art to see for myself. I take my headphones off because it building and follow the path as it bends right at the feels darker than usual and something is unsettling entrance to the Richard Tam Alumni Center. I have me. It’s not just that I want to be sure I can hear CAMPUS taken this walk hundreds of times in the last nine the police approaching if they should pass by and years, but I haven’t been here since April. Tonight, consider me suspicious, though that is part of it. At something is different. The pedestal in front of the night, UNLV can feel spooky, even haunted. Somehow, What the alumni center has a clumsily placed tree pot on it. the absence of the statue makes me feel some other removal of the The Hey Reb statue is gone. presence. I try to shrug off the jitters, but I remind The recent decision to take down the Hey Reb statue myself that my fears aren’t entirely irrational. Hey Reb statue comes amid the removal of Confederate monuments It’s quite common for students or faculty to refer means — and across the nation, and only after the resurfacing of to the location of a class or event on campus as being doesn’t mean conversations and critiques at UNLV that are as old on the “dark side.” The “dark side” refers to the side as the mascot itself. In case you don’t know, Hey Reb of campus north of Harmon, where the STEM and BY Frank Johnson is a rebel of the U.S. Confederacy. He was adapted in fine arts buildings are, along with the Cottage Grove 1983 from UNLV’s original mascot, Beauregard, a parking garage. The density of trees and lack of light wolf dressed in a Confederate soldier’s uniform. As a student, I of course loathed the mascot. I hated how continued on Page 95 HEY REB COURTESY UNLV HEY REB COURTESY 96 | DESERT COMPANION . AUGUST 2020 GUTTER CREDIT LEFT GUTTER CREDIT LEFT 101 | DESERT COMPANION . SEPTEMBER 2017 SEPTEMBER 2017 . DESERT COMPANION | 102