BEST OF MESQUITE Today’s Mesquite Local News hosts the final printing of ballots for the 2017 Best of Mesquite Contest. This is the first time that ballots have been collected during the win- Mesquite ter months while many of Mesquite’s snow- birds are still in town. The submission deadline is noon on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Results will be pub- lished in the March 30 edition of the LocaL NewsVol. 13, No. 15 MLN. THE WEEK OF JAN. 26, 2017 CITY COUNCIL City gains new revenue from billboards By Barbara Ellestad MG, which owns the Virgin River and CasaBlanca ca- Tomasso provided a map of all the billboards along MLN Editor sinos, can either use the billboards themselves or sublet the interstate through Mesquite that included current them to another party. In the latter case, any revenue rent payments to various companies. Rents range from The city of Mesquite stands to gain $4,000 a month in collected in excess of the $1,000 per billboard face, there $1,075 to $1,900 depending on the location. new revenue after councilors unanimously approved a are four of them, goes to the company, not the city. He added that MG has worked well with the city on new agreement with Mesquite Gaming, LLC that gives Currently, the city does not receive any revenue from other issues, namely improving the looks of the walk- the casino owner control of two billboards on the I-15 any entity that uses its billboards. way bridge that crosses Mesquite Boulevard near the corridor. Tomasso explained that a previous agreement be- CasaBlanca casino. When the city approached MG Richard Tomasso, Mesquite Gaming vice president tween the city and the Mesquite Resort Association about cleaning up the north end of the bridge, Tomasso for government affairs, told the city council at its Tues- arranged for MRA to take over the billboards and run explained the company spent $150,000 on that and im- day, Jan. 24, meeting that the company has contracts for signs dealing with Mesquite events. The MRA basically proving the parking lot where many public events are more than 100 billboards between Las Vegas and Salt consists of MG’s two casinos and the Eureka Casino. held. Lake City, thus, is very familiar with the business. “We did that for 10 years. We continued even after the He added that Anthony Toti, MG CEO, has donat- In addition to the monthly income, MG will foot the lease ran out,” Tomasso said. He explained that Mes- ed more than $250,000 to various groups and events bill for all maintenance, lighting and other utilities as- quite Police Chief Troy Tanner had asked the company around Mesquite. sociated with the billboards, one at the Nevada Arizona to put up a sign that was not directly associated with or border and one on the west side of the city. promoted MG. “We did that and bore all the cost for it.” > See COUNCIL, Page 6A vvwd Former water officials receive prison time By Barbara Ellestad MLN Editor lawful activities; all gross misdemeanor arranged for water purchases and trades charges. in 2008 with Southern Nevada Water Saying probation was not an option, Johnson was also convicted of miscon- Authority (SNWA) in which VVWD Clark County District Court Judge Rich- duct of a public officer while Coache was came out $3,8885,000 on the short end. ard Scotti sentenced two former water found not guilty of the same charge. The complaint specifies that Johnson officials to a minimum of three years in Judge Scotti sentenced the two men and Coache received $1,327,500 from prison plus restitution of $1.3 million equally giving them 364 days on several Lonetti for their alleged actions in the to the Virgin Valley Water District on counts concurrently and 12 to 32 months 2008 deal. Lonetti was not charged in the Wednesday, Jan. 18. on other counts concurrently. However, criminal case and charges against Win- Former VVWD Chief Hydrologist the separate sentences will run con- ters were dropped in 2014. Michael “Boomer” Johnson and Robert secutively giving them a total of 36 to Deputy District Attorney Mark DiGia- Coache, former Deputy State Engineer, 94 months in the Nevada Department como, who prosecuted the case said, “I State of Nevada Division of Water Re- of Corrections. They will be eligible for am extremely happy to get justice for the sources were convicted in November on parole after three years. The monetary Virgin Valley Water District ratepayers. felony charges of extortion by a public restitution was split equally between the The corruption was caused by a state of- officer, a public officer asking for and- re two men. ficial who is supposed to be protecting Barbara Ellestad ceiving a bribe, money laundering and The maximum range of prison time their rights and a hydrologist who is Former Virgin Valley Water District illegal financial transactions. They were that could have been levied against them supposed to be working for them. That Chief Hydrologist Michael “Boomer” also found guilty of conspiracy to com- was 48 to 187 years. Lonetti was willing to give up $1.3 mil- Johnson is led away in handcuffs mit extortion by a public officer, conspir- Johnson, Coache, local businessman lion to get this deal done, tells you that after he was sentenced to a minimum acy by a public officer, and conspiracy John Lonetti and former VVWD Gen- of three years in prison on 51 felony to use monetary instruments from un- eral Manager Michael Winters, allegedly > See PRISON, Page 8A counts including bribery and extortion. CaSaBLaNCa rESOrT CrIME Winter weather bursts Arizona Strip has busy weekend By Stephanie Clark balloons but not spirits MLN By Teri Nehrenz “We suspect it was intentional,” said Beaver Dam Fire MLN Department Battalion Chief Andre Ojeda. “There were no plates on the vehicle and it was pretty much a com- After six balloon festivals and more than a few plete loss when we got there.” failed attempts at balloon flight during the fes- Ojeda spoke of a suspicious car fire that was found in tivals, the question in many minds is, “Why do the Desert Springs area during the early morning hours they keep holding the balloon festival in January on Jan. 22, about a quarter mile off of the freeway along a if the weather doesn’t usually cooperate?” dirt road. That was just one incident that kept the depart- There is a very good explanation for why ment on their toes. they do. The average hot air balloon costs It was already a busy weekend for Beaver Dam Fire De- about $40,000 at the lower end and up to about partment and other agencies in the Virgin Valley as they $200,000 on the higher end. Prices range due to had just left a structure fire off of Jones Flat and Manzani- size, decoration and difficulty of the creation of ta in Beaver Dam just minutes before. That fire was sus- the canopy (the actual “balloon” portion of the pected to have been caused by an electrical short in one aircraft). of the bathroom’s light fixtures, which ignited and spread For the balloon to rise, the inside balloon tem- to the attic of a double-wide home. Due to the extremity perature must be a minimum of 100 degrees of the fire, Beaver Dam called upon Mesquite Fire for as- hotter than the outside air temperature. For in- sistance. stance, if it is 50 degrees outside, the inside tem- “The owner of the home had already held back some perature has to begin at 150 degrees to get any life of the flames with a garden hose,” Ojeda said. The fire at all. Basket, burner and passenger weight are Teri Nehrenz was extinguished and is estimated to only have cost a few also taken into consideration and the increased The lovebirds were amazing, perched 60 feet in the thousand dollars in damages. air, spanning 75 feet across and weighing in at a > See BALLOONS, Page 8A whopping 290 pounds. > See STRIP, Page 6A Get your daily news in our newsletter! Sign up at MesquiteLocalNews.com 2A Mesquite LocaL News The Week of Jan. 26, 2017 The Week of Jan. 26, 2017 MESQUITE LOCAL NEWS 3A pOLICE BLOTTEr arrEST rEpOrT Editor’s note: The following was taken Mesquite Boulevard and Riverside Road JaN. 15-21 from the pages of the Mesquite Police De- on a two-car collision. Injuries were Statistics supplied by Mesquite Police Garcia-Martinez, Luis R partment blotter from Jan. 15-27 treated by Mesquite Fire and Rescue Department. Disclaimer: These names Mesquite and one citation was issued. were reported in the Mesquite Police 1/15/17 JaN. 15 Phone Harassment: An officer took Department’s arrest report released Jan. DUI Lost Property: Police took a report a report for a neighbor dispute on Sun 23. Persons should be presumed inno- for a lost wallet. Valley Drive. cent until convicted in a court of law. Huck, Gary G DUI: Police responded to a report of Burglary: Officer took a report of an St. George, UT a suspicious vehicle. After investigation attempted burglary from a local resi- Alanazi, Turki 1/16/17 one adult male was arrested for driving dent. Cedar City, UT Open container of alcohol in vehicle under the influence of alcohol. Traffic accident W/O injury: Officer 1/18/17 Found Property: Police recovered a responded to a North Sandhill Boule- Jail housing agreement Isherwood, Kimberly found bicycle. The bicycle was placed in vard business regarding a two-car colli- St.