Disappointment That Fortunately Does Not Represent Henderson

My writerly crush on The Henderson Press has come to a sad end. At the beginning, it was justified. Jeremy Twitchell made Henderson's City Council come alive in ways that could make other city councils across the country wish they could be covered like this. He had such passion for policy and exchanges between each member of the council that made you feel like you were there. It was important because these were issues that affected the city at large, and he made sure readers knew. He was part of the first wave of earnest reporters that made The Henderson Press good from the start, if a bit shoddy in its construction as those behind it tried to figure out what it should look like. But if the design looked a little wonky, the writing never was. Oh sure, Fred Couzens got a little too cute in his articles, but give him an issue with a lot of technical details, like the Pittman Wash, or what the Regional Transportation Commission was up to with the bus system in Henderson and he could help you understand it as if you had come up with the policy yourself. Give him any bloated jargon by the representatives of any business that had things to attend to in Henderson and articles by him would appear that probably helped those representatives understand their own business better too. Between him and Twitchell, I felt like I was part of Henderson, deeply invested in it, even though I'm not there yet. Whether as a frequent visitor or resident, I'm still not sure yet, but I felt such a strong connection to the city because of those two.

And Don Logay. Don "Lake Las Vegas Booster" Logay. But whereas a booster will promote the heck out of something with overly flowery language, Logay had such a passion for Lake Las Vegas that he never showed outright. He preferred to let readers suss it out for themselves, as it should be since he was reporting on activities in Lake Las Vegas and impartiality should be the number one consideration. Because of him, I learned more about Lake Las Vegas than I had when I was near there, but not completely there, when I visited the Las Vegas Valley the past few times. Because of him, I want to walk those cobblestone streets and feel what he felt through those articles.

I don't know what the factors were that led to Twitchell's departure. I do know that he was interim editor for a time while a new editor was sought, and did The Henderson Press even have a regular editor when it started? I can't be sure because it was never listed in the masthead. Maybe Twitchell had overseen it all this time and this was the first time he was credited. When I was interim editor of the weekend Escape section of The Signal for five weeks, I didn't want the full-time job. I couldn't have the full-time job. I don't drive in the Santa Clarita Valley, which is important for gathering stories, and they wanted someone who did. I didn't mind because I hated the stress of the job. I could meet the deadlines, but with the exception of Tom, who worked with me, putting the section together for me and suggesting where each article should go, I got very tepid support. I heard not a peep from the editor nor the publisher, only when something had to be changed, and then I wasn't informed about that change until after the issue had been published. With a better support system, it would have been easier.

Perhaps Twitchell wanted to be the editor, and he was passed over, and didn't like that this was the respect he got after how much time and effort he devoted to the newspaper, and decided to leave. However, his wife had had a child in the meantime while also writing for the paper, so perhaps he wanted to spend more time with his family than with the paper. Understandable. But the transition from the Twitchell Era to what exists now was rough, and still is from the standpoint of Vol. 2, No. 37, dated November 10-16, 2011.

But I have to go back further, to a little after editor Carla J. Zvosec took over. Under Zvosec, the City Council is pushed nearly to the back of the newspaper under "Council Briefs," and, so far, they're only allowed at the front if there's something potentially scandalous, such as the resignation of City Attorney Elizabeth Quillin over three DUI misdemeanor charges. On hard news, she's a fine writer, but the newspaper is missing a lot.

For example, articles end awkwardly, such as with Don Logay's "Bettie Page Suits Henderson," in the August 11-17, 2011 issue about a couple bringing Bettie Page stores to the Las Vegas Strip and around the country. Logay ends the article "The Golden Age of Fashion is back . . . thanks to Khomyakova and Bettie Page." This is not Logay. And it is not up to Logay in an article like this to declare that, since it's a profile that should not smack of boosterism like that. Just write the profile on the couple and leave it to readers to decide what they think. I suspect it's more Zvosec's influence than Logay's decision on that one, and I wish Zvosec would stop trying to push readers like this. The story is enough without editorialization. If the story is lacking, then gather more information, or find an angle that allows a fuller story to be told.

Jenny Twitchell used to write great columns about her life as a parent. Zvosec's influence, in the same issue as Logay's article, pushed her to include where Moms with sudden time on their hands from kids going to school can find activities, such as book clubs, and knitting groups. She couldn't trust Twitchell to filter it through her own experience, to figure out what interests her and mention what she researched in the attempt? This is not the Jenny Twitchell whose columns I grew to like. This is Jenny Twitchell via Carla Zvosec. By this, I sense a distinct lack of trust in the writers and reporters.

That's not even the worst of it for me. An article by Lori Wilk in the September 8-14, 2011 issue (Vol. 2, No. 28) about PRISM, an on-the-job fatigue software system, to determine if employees are fatigued, has no local angle. Do any Henderson businesses use this sytem? We don't know. Is the Henderson Chamber of Commerce aware of this system and are any of its member businesses planning to use it? Wilk doesn't say. Has PRISM been presented to businesses in Henderson? We don't know that either. There is nothing in this article to tie it to Henderson. It's interesting on its own, but being that this is a community newspaper, everything in it should have a connection to Henderson.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal can't cover Henderson all the time. The Henderson Press is the greatest link its residents have to learning about what's going on, a closer look at all of that, no matter that it's a weekly paper. But besides the annoying boosterism, which makes articles seem more like press releases as written by The Henderson Press (See the article about Sweet Tomatoes Express opening in Henderson in the same issue as the Wilk article, as one of many examples), there are painful missed opportunities as well.

In the "Community Events" section in the September 22-28, 2011 issue (Vol. 2, No. 30), the "Hot Spot of the Week" event is "Rick's Cafe Americain featuring jazz vocalist Laura Shaffer," at the E-String Grill on West Sunset Road, billed as "a re-creation of the famed music and ambience of the movie Casablanca." Why wasn't there a story about this?! Casablanca is one of the greatest, most famous movies ever made, and there are so many local angles to pursue! Who is Laura Shaffer? How did she get involved in this? Did she create the program? How many times did she and her bandmates (if they are her bandmates) watch the movie in order to pin down the sound and how long did they rehearse until they got it right? What interested the E-String Grill in hosting this? Who brought this in? This is a story! And all it got was a spot in the community events calendar.

I've peeked at later issues, including the latest, May 24-30 (Vol. 3, No. 21), and I'm seeing more of the same. More boosterism at the expense of actual reporting. Boosterism only works if you show. I can't entirely fault Jamie Barnard, an editorial intern, over the article about The Lakeshore Learning Store, but this sentence bothers me: "Lakeshore Learning Store, located in the Warm Springs Promenade at 1243 W. Warm Springs Road in Henderson, offers fun and unique products that really get kids excited about learning." Foul! Editorializing, yet again. Don't tell it; show it. And this is probably nitpicking, but I'll chance it: I don't think "Henderson" needs to be listed in that sentence. The newspaper is called The Henderson Press. I think those who read this will know that the store is in Henderson by dint of it being in this paper.

As for Josh Morris's movie reviews, which look like they've been around for a bit, I can confidently say that I'm relieved that Josh Bell is still the film critic at Las Vegas Weekly. He's my tonic after reading Morris, who writes too much about the plot and not enough of his opinion, or even to thread his opinion throughout his description of the plot and characters, which should always be a mix of both. I can't fault him though. I used to be as bad as this. I hope he gets better.

Also, Henderson has an Historical Society that I'm sure The Henderson Press hasn't tapped yet. There's a steady stream of stories to explore, moreso than just the gray "Historical Henderson" box under the Sudoku puzzle.

I'm disappointed in what The Henderson Press has become. It used to not be able to get enough of Henderson. Through Twitchell, Couzens' easygoing nature with technical details, and Logay's deep interest in Lake Las Vegas, it always wanted more and more and more and wanted to give just that much to readers. It used to be inside Henderson. Now it feels like it's above Henderson, looking out at all the land, bored with it. Fortunately, The Henderson Press is not representative of the entire city because I know it's more interesting than it makes it out to be. It holds its own next to Las Vegas. To me, it's just as interesting. I wish The Henderson Press felt that way and returned to being as hungry as it used to be for stories. They're out there, and they should be filling space instead of press releases in the guise of articles.

Even with all my grievances, I am glad that The Henderson Press is around. The events calendar is at least interesting, and the paper should pay more attention to that too in order to find more stories. There are so many people to talk to, to interview, to find out what's going on and to bring more vibrancy to this city through these pages. Those opportunities should not go to waste. It's become complacent, too comfortable with itself. It should do more in the city than just existing. It doesn't feel like Zvosec is pushing this latest crop of reporters to get better at this, to find more interesting stories, to dig deeper, to try harder, to perhaps even get more excited about Henderson. However, I'll never stop hoping that it gets better.

But I just can't do it anymore. I can't read every issue from front to back, every article from beginning to end. I skim now, because it's about all I can stand to do. The only real use I've been getting out of it under the Zvosec Administration is the crime map in order to learn street names, because I want to find out why these are the names (See, Henderson Press? That could be an article or a few). Otherwise, I see what the Henderson Libraries are up to when there's an article about them, though I can be stopped dead in my tracks by a well-written article, which does happen at least once each issue. So there is that. But it used to be more than just once an issue.

The skimming gets me closer to starting on the 5,432 issues of Henderson Home News on the Henderson Libraries website. Henderson Home News is what there was from 1951 to 2009 and I will read all those issues. I wonder if Zvosec has looked into that history, explored what that paper was like all those decades ago, what people cared about back then. Some of those issues are present today. I looked at that first page of that first issue of Henderson Home News and there's a lot going on on that first page alone. The Henderson Press, even with 24 pages, should look to emulate that. I always say that if you can't write in Las Vegas, you should quit. There are just as many stories in Henderson. If local businesses continue to be profiled, then there should be more about what drives those business owners, what makes them passionate about what they do, what brought them to Henderson if they're relatively new. There was an article about a frozen popcorn business that dips briefly into how it's made, but nothing about what interested that owner in creating this business, how much time it took to perfect that process, or how they attained the materials necessary to start that exploration. Just those two words, "frozen popcorn," are enough to trigger such curiosity about how it all happened, and those details weren't even covered. Businesses are important in Henderson, but there should be more about the nuts-and-bolts of them. The right angle, one that goes deep, can produce a great story.

The Henderson Press should bring people together as much as the city does on its own. I hope it gets better somehow. There are so many chances for that. They need to take them. What's the worst that could happen? Increased circulation?

Another Reason to Learn the History of Street Names

I've found the inverse of my displeasure over Spiced Wine Avenue in Henderson, and another reason to learn the history of the city's street names. In the slightly revamped issue of The Henderson Press (smaller type, no e-mail addresses under bylines, addresses on the crime map pressed together rather than space in between), Vol. 2, No. 23, dated August 4-10, 2011, "Tobble Creek Ct." is listed under "Vehicle Theft" on the crime map.

I love that name! It's wonderfully unique, and a Google search of it reveals only numbered addresses in that area. No history in other parts of the United States, no reason for the name. It sounds like a sci-fi name, but I want to know perhaps who came up with it, but mostly how. It sounds like science fiction, and a Google search of the name alone shows a platform sandal by Jessica Simpson of that name, a slanted-sphere toy, and a slang term for a hot water bottle. Also a character in World of Warcraft, though that doesn't seem like a possible reason because surely this street name existed long before World of Warcraft. I'll see. I will find out. Once a resident, I want to explore every inch of the Las Vegas Valley and in this case, that includes street names, with this and Spiced Wine Avenue being my first missions.

Tired, But Satisfied

A call last night from the automated sub system for the Hart School District. A request for me to sub for the campus supervisor with my favorite hours, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The first time I've subbed since December, since furlough days made the campus supervisors skittish about taking time off during this latter half of the school year. Disappointing, but it was great to have work again, an hourly rate, and a check to come soon. I'm not sure if I'll be called in during the final week of the school year coming up, but I loved doing the job again.

I'm exhausted, of course. First, I had to go to bed earlier than I usually do, which I've no complaints about, even though my body made an epic attempt to get used to getting up at 6 a.m. instead of 10 a.m., and I was still tired on the way to work, also stemming from having gone to bed at 12:30 and having a little over five hours of sleep. I have to make adjustments. I need to start getting to bed earlier even though there's not a job coming up just yet. I need to because I need my body to be used to it by the time we move to Las Vegas. I need to be ready for job interviews and hopefully that position as a full-time campus supervisor.

I love the work. I love walking around an empty campus while the kids are in class, looking at the architecture (which isn't anything remarkable, since the buildings at La Mesa Junior High look the same as the buildings at Valencia High, my sister's alma mater), thinking about my reading, my writing, and, of course, seeking out some kind of history. At this moment, I'm thinking of all of La Mesa sitting there in the dark, gates locked, ghosts of history gradually emerging, more than they did today, even though I could sense them. There are untapped memories there. It's keeping in the style of the Santa Clarita Valley that brief glimpses of history are there, but aren't allowed to fully bloom. Always the future, as I've mentioned before.

Today was a busy day, mainly because on my first day back, I always overdo it. After the bell rang and the kids went to class for first period, I walked around and around and around the campus. John, the head campus supervisor, disappears into the campus supervisors' office, near the front gate, after the bell rings. I get it, because unless you're called, why expend the energy that you need for later, in supervising brunch (15-minute break) and lunch? I wasn't looking to impress anyone since I already know that I do a good, faithful job there. I should have taken it slower. But first, I wanted to get reacquainted with the campus, then have a few uninterrupted opportunities to look at the adobe-style building across from the office, and imagine that I was in New Mexico, where I hope to be many times in the years to come.

Most of my day was spent walking back and forth from the P.E. building. Kids to bring to the office to leave early, kids to go to the guidance counselors, one girl brought to one of the assistant principals because of a lighter in her backpack. By 11 a.m., I was already yawning. I wasn't all that tired, but my body sure wasn't happy. If there was a second day, a third day, I'd be used to it again.

I felt so satisfied today. This is what I want to do. I realized, though, that I have to make a few other adjustments, none troublesome. For one, in my finances, I need to put in a shoe budget. I'm going to wear out a lot of pairs of velcro sneakers, and I also have to buy protective insoles because I don't want to buy shoes with those already in them. I want velcro, and thus far only a certain brand that I wear right now. I'm happy to do that, because I'll be fully part of a middle school campus that I'll take as much pride in as I have at La Mesa. I've felt close to La Mesa, but not close enough. I can do the job, but I want to feel that connection in my job. I will in Las Vegas.

Generally, in this job, your days off are when the school has days off. You have the summer all for yourself, though I'll also seek work during the summer, in freelance writing. When the workday is over, it's over. You don't have to bring any work home with you, and you don't have to think about the day. The rest is yours, and your paycheck is secure. What more could I ask for? It's good, solid work. And in hindsight, it was probably inevitable, what with hanging around empty school campuses where my mom and dad worked, the same campuses where I attended middle school and high school.

To have a job I like in a hometown I love will more than make up for these nearly nine years in an unfeeling region. Judging from today, I still love it, so it'll be the easiest transition.

My Favorite Henderson Press Article

I've read 25 issues of The Henderson Press thus far, and have liked many articles, but none have struck me as a favorite until now. Vol. 2, No. 20, dated Thursday, July 14, 2011, has an article on page 14 about 25-year Master Floral Designer Jill Ann Ferrero, who makes all the floral entrance displays at the Casino MonteLago in Lake Las Vegas. She also makes new arrangements in front of an audience every Thursday morning at the casino in the "Cerimonia dei Fiore" (Flower Ceremony). Ferrero is the kind of creative person I love to read about, and I'm relieved that writer Don Logay isn't as breathless in this article as he usually is about everything else in Lake Las Vegas. This was a terrific article with beautiful photos of two types of arrangements. It's going to be hard for any future article to top this.

Spiced Wine Avenue? Come On.

Ever since The Henderson Press became a weekly newspaper in Volume 2, No. 8, they've added a few things to fill more pages besides longer articles, including a City of Henderson Crime Map, pointing out where in Henderson burglaries, robberies, assaults, sex assaults, vehicle thefts, family disturbances, and narcotics happened. I read it just to learn street names. Crime will happen anywhere, and I'll just be careful and alert enough, keeping myself safe.

But now I've got research to do. I want to know who came up with these street names and why, if it was one person per area or many people. I like some of these names, such as Blueberry Lane, Warm Springs Road, Tullio Way, Coralino Drive, West Horizon Ridge Parkway, Zinnia Circle, and Bugle Bluff Drive. On the crime map in the Thursday, June 9, 2011 issue, Volume 2, No. 15, a vehicle theft happened on the 1500 block of Spiced Wine Avenue.

Spiced Wine Avenue? I thought some effort was made to give streets names that correlate to that particular area, either historically, or in observation of what a particular area faces, or something totally random but which makes sense in the context of the city. Some don't make sense, like Windmill Parkway, but it gives off a bit of imagination. Where the hell did Spiced Wine Avenue come from? Some wine-drinking contingent from Southern California that was assigned to name these streets? I want to know its origin, not necessarily to mock, but just to be able to shake my head knowledgeably. I can't accept that one.

It's Time

For the past few days, I've been feeling it acutely: It's time to go. It's time to pack it up here after nine too-long years, taking only what we really need, and head on out to Las Vegas and start a new life that we've needed for all those nine years. I did some good here in Santa Clarita, writing a while for the Canyon Call at College of the Canyons, being the interim editor of the Escape section of The Signal for five weeks in early 2008, and I gained a few then-new favorite writers (now they're reliable favorites), but that's not enough. I've never felt close to any part of these lands, the people, the buildings. What I want, what Mom wants, what Meridith wants, what I hope Dad wants, is in Las Vegas.

I'm able-bodied. I can work. I want to be a full-time middle school campus supervisor. I've studied campuses closely since kindergarten, and known them intimately since 6th grade, when Dad resumed his teaching career first as a substitute teacher after 19 years at Southern Bell (which became BellSouth in the process). I followed him to Silver Trail Middle in 7th grade, in which the first half of that school year was spent at a cluster of portables near our condo in Grand Palms Golf & Country Club in Pembroke Pines (nothing fancy; we lived way in the back end), and then during that winter break, teachers and administration moved into the new school site that had just finished construction. I walked around that school many, many times, before any of my classmates and other students occupied it. I also spent 8th grade at Silver Trail, and then in 9th grade, at Flanagan High School, I went back to that former Silver Trail campus of portables, which became Flanagan's, because the main campus was so overcrowded that they had to place us 9th graders somewhere else. Mom was working on the main campus in their copy machine center, making copies for all the teachers, and then I joined her on that campus for 10th grade. In 11th grade, she moved to Hollywood Hills High School as a library assistant, and I went to school there for my final two years.

Attending College of the Canyons here, I loved late Friday afternoons when my cinema class let out (always an easy "A"), when the campus was empty and I walked around, looking at those hallways, feeling that utter peace that spread throughout those enormous three floors. And then being a substitute campus supervisor at Dad's school, La Mesa Junior High, I was very happy in that job. I love studying the architecture of these campuses, even if most of it is the same in this valley, as what's at La Mesa is the same at Valencia High. I didn't mind it. There was one building, across from the office, that felt like adobe architecture. I'd look at that and imagine that I was in New Mexico, where I want to be in the years to come, to travel throughout it.

I can be comfortable at any middle school campus in Las Vegas. I look forward to getting to know those kids, to making sure they behave while outside, to keep the school in good standing. I'm excited about this chance because I will finally be in an area whose history I can feel, whose history I want to explore. Not only is there one book I want to write about a certain aspect of Las Vegas history that has interested me for the few years I've known about Las Vegas, but I had an idea for a novel set in Las Vegas that I want to pursue. I won't be looking to prove anything about Las Vegas as other novels tend to do. It is a hedonistic paradise, and that's where I want to be. That's how I want to live. It'll be set in 1950s Las Vegas, because the historical figure involved lived during that time and visited Las Vegas during that time. There's a lot of research to do not only about 1950s Las Vegas, but about this figure himself, and the famous gambler who it's claimed escorted him around town, but apparently cannot be confirmed.

This will be my home. This is where I belong. This is where I can place roots and have a home base, and travel to the presidential libraries and smaller presidential museums I still want to visit, and travel throughout New Mexico, and know that I have a home to come back to. It's a comforting thought that I haven't had all that often because of how many times we moved throughout Florida and then here to Southern California, to Valencia, and then to Saugus a year after we arrived. It's there. It's all there. I told Meridith today that I'm going to be so relieved to have a library card, because more than that driver's license to come at the Nevada DMV, it means I have somewhere I belong. A home. A library. A home library. Home in all its forms. Streets and businesses and casinos and amusements to explore every single day. If you can't write in Las Vegas, you might as well give up writing. I can write there for sure. And I can live there for sure. I know it.

More DVD Reviews

I've figured out how to write my main character in my somewhat art-driven novel, why he's so devoted to his art, what he hopes to continue to accomplish by it. I'm not sure yet why he's going to do what's presented to him, but I'll map it out soon. When I'm not working on this novel or my other books, I'm still keeping myself limber by writing DVD reviews, and I see that I haven't posted links to new DVD reviews since April 29. There have been a lot since Car 54, Where Are You?: The Complete Second Season. Out of this new batch, I'm most proud of my review of Raw Faith. 95 Miles to Go comes in second:

Carlos Mencia: New Territory

The Big C: The Complete Second Season

Tom and Jerry: Around the World

Raw Faith

Happiness Is... Peanuts: Team Snoopy

Young Goethe in Love

95 Miles to Go

Hazel: The Complete Third Season