Mineral County Land Expansion Comment Period Extended
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Hawthorne The Week of January 3, 2019 America’s Patriotic Home Mineral County 75¢ | Vol. 87 • No. 48 | A BattleIndependent-NewsIndependent-News Born Media newspaper The oldest continuous privately owned business in Mineral County. Published in Hawthorne, Nevada, since 1933 opinion | 10 sports | 12 Ending net neutrality speeded up Internet Wolf Pack wins Arizona Bowl Fallon range training Complex eConomy Land expansion comment period extended Report: Nevada’s infrastructure By Heidi Bunch tation for residents of Mineral County on to be considered for the final EIS. All MCIN Staff Dec. 10. The presentation explained the comments submitted become public needs reflect potential environmental and financial record and substantive comments will The comment period for the expansion impacts that the proposed moderniza- be addressed in the final EIS. Comments the state’s of the Fallon Range Training Complex tion of the Fallon Range may have in the can be submitted online at http://www. Modernization draft Environmental Im- county. The modernization may include, FRTCModernization.com or sent to: rural-urban divide pact Statement (EIS) has been extended the renewal of the Navy’s current pub- Naval Facilities Engineering Command for the public review and comment pe- lic land withdraw, additional withdraw Southwest, Attn: Code EV21.Sg, 1220 Pa- By Daniel Rothberg riod an addition 30 days. of public lands for a larger land range cific Highway, Bldg. 1, 5th Fl., San Diego, The Nevada Independent Those wishing to make a comment expansion, expansion of airspace and CA 92132. have now been extended to Feb. 14, 2019 range infrastructure modifications and To review the draft EIS, visit the fol- When it comes to infrastructure, there for their comments to be considered in upgrades. lowing: http://www.FRTCModerniza- are two Nevadas. the final EIS. Written comments must be post- tion.com. A draft EIS is also available at A report released last week by the The U.S. Navy had prepared a presen- marked or received online by Feb. 14 the Mineral County library. American Society of Civil Engineers gave the state’s overall infrastructure a “C” grade, but said the mediocre grade only told half the story. Engineers who nevada mineral County compiled the study found a stark divide between infrastructure in the state’s con- centrated urban areas and the sparsely populated rural areas, which comprise New laws lift about 90 percent of the state. “One thing we have to remember is we sort of have a tale of two states — where ‘pink tax,’ edit we have two vibrant areas with most of the population — and 15 rural counties without the same means of securing campaign public revenue for their infrastructure,” said Chuck Joseph, one of the lead au- thors. finance rules The report came with several policy recommendations to raise the grade, By Michelle L. Price urging rural counties to adopt fuel tax Associated Press indexing, a tool to raise local revenue for road repairs by tying county-wide gas- LAS VEGAS — Tax-free feminine hy- oline taxes to inflation. Voters in Clark giene products and an overhaul of state County and Washoe County have already campaign finance rules are among the adopted fuel indexing, but a ballot mea- changes Nevada will see in 2019 as new sure to enact similar rules in rural coun- laws take effect. ties failed in 2016. Nevada’s last legislative session was in Most of the state’s $450 million road re- 2017, and most of the laws passed took ef- pair backlog exists in rural areas that see fect in 2017 or on Jan. 1, 2018. Only a hand- Heidi Bunch photos less traffic, the report said. Even so, the A 27-year-old woman died while jailed at the Mineral County Detention Center in ful of other measures take effect Tuesday: engineers argued the disparity can have July of 2017. economic consequences. “PINK TAX” “Adequate investment in our roads Nevada voters in November opted to ex- and bridges is critical to ensuring that empt feminine hygiene products from sales freight move seamlessly throughout and use tax until at least 2028. Proponents Meeting held to discuss the state,” said the study, which is re- of removing the so-called pink tax argued leased with an infrastructure report that feminine hygiene products should be settlement in death of inmate card. “Tourists are easily able to access treated like groceries, prescription drugs the parks, casinos and other forms of and other necessities that aren’t subject to By Heidi Bunch entertainment; and our rural citizens tax. According to state estimates, eliminat- MCIN Staff can enjoy the same quality of life as our ing the tax on tampons and sanitary nap- urban residents.” kins is estimated to cost Nevada between On the last day of 2018, the Mineral The report also recommended that about $5 million to $7 million annually. County commissioners met with coun- legislators fund the State Infrastructure sel to discuss a settlement agreement in Bank, which was authorized last year. VOTING RIGHTS RESTORATION regards to Kelly Coltrain, a 27-year-old The bank would provide local govern- A new law expands the restoration of woman who died while jailed at the Min- ments with the ability to obtain loans voting rights for some of those who have eral County Detention Center in July of and grants that could fund infrastruc- served time for crimes. 2017. ture improvements. In the 86-page re- Nevada felons have been able to get The recessed meeting was conducted port, civil engineers also stressed that their voting rights back if they complete in closed session pursuant to Nevada Re- budgets should provide enough funding their sentence, fulfill the terms of their vised Statute 241.015(2)(b)(2). for operations and maintenance for new probation or parole and paid all restitu- After discussion with legal counsel in infrastructure, a preventative action that tion or proven they can’t pay restitution closed session, the commissioners re- would defer more costly future improve- because of an economic hardship. opened the meeting and made the fol- ments. Under the new law, those who were lowing, “Motion to approve the proposed Of the 12 infrastructure categories ex- dishonorably discharged from probation agreement reached at the settlement con- District Attorney Sean Rowe is shown amined by the report, dams scored the or parole, meaning they didn’t pay full ference Dec. 13 at Federal District Court in closed session with legal counsel lowest on the report card, earning a “D+,” restitution or otherwise didn’t fulfill the under Judge McQuaid and to have our Mondayin regards to the settlement which the rubric described as “Poor: At terms, also get their voting rights back. legal counsel from POOL/PACT prepare agreement regarding the death of Risk.” The measure also allows voting rights and sign as representative of Mineral a Mineral County Detention Facility Despite being the most arid state in the to be restored after two years for those County Commissioners on the matter of inmate in 2017. West, Nevada has more than 656 dams who were convicted of lower-level felo- James Coltrain, et al., v. Mineral County, and regulators believe 154 of them have nies such as robbery if the person com- et al, case number 3:18-cv-00420.” The cell by the night shift jailer. He then noti- a “high hazard” potential, meaning a pletes their probation or parole and the motion was made by outgoing commis- fied his supervisors. The Washoe County breach could lead to fatalities or property crime did not result in “substantial bodily sioner Jerrie Tipton. Medical Examiner would rule the young damage. Most of the state’s dams are used harm” to a victim. There was no public comment from woman’s death as “accidental, caused by for irrigation or flood control, though those in attendance. complications of drug use.” Toxicology some impound mine tailings. Others play CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTING The story of Kelly made national head- showed that she was positive for heroin a role in supporting fish habitats and cre- A broad campaign finance law retool- lines when released at the end of August, in her system. ate hydropower. ing a number of state reporting require- 2018. She had been arrested by Walker The lawsuit for Kelly was brought for- As with roads, funding remains an is- ments takes effect Tuesday. River Tribal Police after failing to take care ward by attorneys Terri Keyser-Cooper sue in dam improvements. The changes require candidates and of traffic tickets in Clark County in July and Kerry Doyle, claiming a wrongful The report floated the price tag of about political action committees to offer more of 2017. She was booked into the Mineral death lawsuit stating that the sheriff’s of- $40 million to fix critical dams, and the information about their campaign fund- County facility. Upon booking, Kelly re- fice ignored Kelly’s life-threatening med- study noted that state funding and staff- raising and spending, including report- fused to answer questions regarding her ical condition “despite knowing that she ing for high hazard dams is about half of ing their cash on hand at the end of a re- medical history but after being informed was suffering from withdrawals and had the national average. porting period. that she would not be able to make bail, a history of seizures.” These lawyers feel “Additional funding is needed to bridge It also requires more transparency Kelly informed then detention sergeant that her medical condition was treatable the gap between the state’s dam safety about campaign expenses made with a that she was dependent of drugs and had and her death preventable.