New year, continuing evolution of The Henderson Press. To start, there's some new writers in this fifth issue, which is Vol. 1, No. 5., December 30, 2010 to January 14, 2011. In the staff list as contributing reporters are Jack Bulavsky, Don Logay, Royal Hopper (I love that name!), and Frances Vanderploeg (as if there isn't enough to attract me to Henderson, people there have unique last names). On the front page, Vanderploeg's article is about Santa visiting Robert Taylor Elementary School on Saturday, December 18. I had to get used to Vanderploeg's writing style, reminding myself that The Henderson Press is split into sections across its pages, but at times, hard news can mingle with what could be considered feature articles, such as this one. So reading this sentence on the front page, "You can't say Santa doesn't have style -- since his reindeer were resting in preparation of Christmas," was jarring at first, but it's a community newspaper, meant to feel like a community, and it does with a story like this, though the writing could obviously be better. Yet an article by Jeremy Twitchell, headlined "Henderson Employees Get Week Off," makes me feel better, knowing that hard news still has a place on the front page, where it belongs.
Here's what else is going on in this issue:
- There's a guitarist and vocalist named Jimmy Limo, who performed at Skyline Restaurant & Casino. The number of musicians in Southern Nevada is staggering, but they're a sliver of what keeps the area interesting.
- Don Logay's article about torrential rains raising the water level at Lake Las Vegas is one of the best articles I've read in The Henderson Press thus far. He has a curt writing style, more ramrod straight than Twitchell, which would be off-putting, except that he seeks out details as well as Twitchell does. He knows where the story is, and how to keep it interesting. I hope he lasts.
- Ok, that's just freaky. In my previous entry about The Henderson Press, I said, "I hope there's a full-on profile about Sweet Bubble Soap Cafe in a future issue." There is, in this issue. It's a full profile, about the origins of the Sweet Bubble Soap Cafe, as well as the 60 "individually scented soap bars" sold there, including Mango Gelato and Ginger Crumb Cake. This is my favorite part of the article by Fred Couzens:
"For the food-like soaps, called soap souffles, there's the added step of making the colorful cookies, berries, whipped cream and graham crackers that turns ordinary soap into a [sic] artful centerpiece that imitates the real thing."
Unfortunately, Couzens doesn't elaborate on this, such as if the soap can be used, and how that "added step" is done.
- On page 14 is a photo of the Floating Ice Rink at Montelago Village Resort, taken by a photographer associated with the property. I wish they included the name of that photographer because they know how to take atmospheric early evening photos. I'd want this framed.
- Royal Hopper is either the actual person in charge of the opinion page, or is either a pseudonym for someone who is. I lean toward the former, because considering how hard the reporters work at their articles, I doubt any of them would have time to oversee this page. But the name does seem like a pseudonym at first.
- On a page of the coupon section, there's two coupons from Villa Pizza, one for two large cheese pizzas for $26.95, and a large cheese pizza and wings for $28.95. For those prices, that had better be damn good cheesy pizza, with a lot of cheese, and wings.
- The back page is an ad for Lakes Discount Outlet at 1110 E. Lake Mead Parkway, "Up to 90% Off Brand-Name Clothing." My almost year-round wardrobe is jeans and pop culture t-shirts. Maybe they have decent sweatshirts and jeans there. I'd go there at least once.
I'm not making any hopeful predictions for the next issue like that apparently accurate one for a profile of the Sweet Bubble Soap Cafe. But I am hoping for another article by Don Logay. If he can make rainfall sound interesting, I wonder what he can do with desert heat. Maybe that happens in a future issue.
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