February 12, 2010 by Mark Cook.

The following are provided as reminders that the HPD’s unjustified harsh treatment of our SCA senior members, Tim Stebbins and Bob Frank, may be once again reflecting a pattern of misconduct.  For some past history, see the below articles from the web:

“Excessive Force?  The Henderson Police Department faces public scrutiny”.

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/archive/2008/apr/15/excessive-force/

Joshua Longobardy

Tue, Apr 15, 2008 (12:11 a.m.)    “A suburb of the Las Vegas metropolitan area with a fraction of the annual violent crimes endured by its neighbors in the Valley, the city of Henderson maintains a widespread reputation as a leisurely place to live. “That’s why it surprises people,” says Cal Potter, a longtime local attorney, “that there seems to be, in the last four or five years, a lot of excessive force cases brought against the Henderson Police Department.” Potter himself filed such a complaint against HPD in federal court last month, on behalf of his client, a covert federal officer who claims three Henderson policemen beat him up without just reason.”

“Dating back to 2002, when a string of excessive force complaints filed against Henderson police officers drew unenviable attention to the department, complaints of police misconduct have abounded in the city of Henderson. In fact, so many have been submitted to the ACLU of Nevada that its executive director, Gary Peck, says “there are a lot of red flags, a cause for concern.” And local attorneys like Potter, E. Brent Bryson and Leo Flangas have fielded such a disproportionate numbers of complaints about HPD, compared to the other two main law enforcement agencies in the Valley, that Flangas fires off this statement with conviction:

‘There is a fundamental problem with the Henderson Police Department.’”

For the rest of this story, go to this link:

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/archive/2008/apr/15/excessive-force/

And, for a follow-up story on Henderson Police Department conduct, see this link:

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/archive/2008/apr/09/follow-up-image-is-or-isnt-everything/

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January 24, 2010 by Mark Cook.

This is a photo of our new Rec Center 3, taken from my backyard.  The building looks rather odd to me, how about you? 

Notice those very large steel trusses that are clearly visible, especially so because they have been painted white.  All during the construction I wondered when they were going to put the roof on the building!  

Also notice the three deep slots cut into the top of the wall; the sky is visible through those slots.  Yep, no doubt about it, the roof is missing.  What you see is what you get…I’ll bet the architect is still laughing. 

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March 16, 2009 by Mark Cook.

If you haven’t checked your bathtub spigot for proper installation, you might have a problem.  The spigot must be seated squarely against the wall, and sealed with caulk all around the perimeter.  This spigot was poorly installed.  It must be fixed to prevent water leaking down into the wall where it will cause mold and all kinds of other undesirable consequences.

The spigot can be removed by using a wrench inserted into the screw on the underside. 

Once the spigot is removed, all of the other parts which are under the spigot can be removed by sliding them off the end of the copper pipe.  Notice their sequence, so they can be installed properly when repairs are made.  The chrome ring should also be sealed against the wall with caulk.

Now for the horror story.  After removing the chrome ring shown above, hopefully you won’t see a sight like this.

Notice the gap around the pipe, that’s not watertight!  In this case, the plumber stuffed wadded up paper into the gap, then smeared on a little caulk.  Of course that’s very poor workmanship.  The paper stuffing and the caulk has to be removed, and the hole, which is too large and not centered in the first place, must be filled thoroughly with caulk.

 Wait at least 24 hours for that caulk to dry, then apply another layer to insure that the pipe is watertight to the wall.  Then install the chrome ring and caulk around the edge of it.  Slide the parts back on the pipe, install the spigot tightly against the wall, and tighten the screw.  Finally, apply a bead of caulk around the base of the spigot and you’ve completed the job much better than the builder. 

There’s one last point I’d like to make.  When we were having a lot of problems with construction defects, sloppy construction, you name it we saw it, a Pulte official told us “we slap the houses up then come along later and fix the problems”.   That is of course if the owner finds all of the problems before the warranty runs out.  Pulte officials bragged about building a house in 75 days.  We’d rather have quality than speed. 

Caveat Emptor. 

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February 26, 2009 by Mark Cook.

Bob Frank was hospitalized at Nellis AFB Hospital with severe abdominal pain on Monday. Tests have determined he has a fast acting infection that is responding to antibiotics and has not spread. He is expected to be released on Thursday or Friday. Bob and Kay thank the community for their concern and appreciate the quick response of the Air Force medical team at Nellis.

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February 3, 2009 by Mark Cook.

 The photo above shows the trail being constructed above the East end of Crescent Heights Avenue.  The lower photo shows the trail being constructed above the water tanks, going back up to the power line road.   It’s barely visible, you’ll have to look closely directly above the water tanks to see it. 

 Now, for the  first time in history, the power line roads that ended on each side of the valley above the water tanks have been connected for the benefit of hikers, and mountain bikers, and Henderson police officers on horseback. 

Posted in Truth Squad, Community Affairs, Lifestyle, News!, Other | Print | 1 Comment »

October 10, 2008 by Mark Cook.

Do you have a hot water recirculation pump in your home?  Is it made of yellow brass?  If so, are you concerned about how long it will last?  This photograph shows the inside of a recirculation pump, from a home in Sun City Anthem, that has been in service less than 3 years.  This is classic dezincification:

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August 4, 2008 by Mark Cook.

My fellow residents in Shadow Canyon village, Desert Sky village up to February 2008, and the newer half of Black Mountain village, here’s where the rubber meets the road:

You may have seen that picture before, and you may recall that it shows a Wirsbo C-360 brass fitting that has been in service only a little over two years. Pretty bad already, isn’t it? In another year or two, water conservation will be taken care of automatically by severely restricted water flow…and hopefully the fittings won’t fail and flood our homes in the meantime.

The material that is clogging up that fitting is zinc oxide. That is a product of dezincification of the brass. Of course we knew that all along, but the Pulte Corporation went on record stating that there is no evidence of dezincification in my residence. The above photo apparently didn’t impress them. So, that fitting was shipped off to an engineering lab for analysis, and the test not only proved that the white residue is zinc oxide, it stated that the zinc content in that specific fitting is about 35% (based upon an Energy Dispersive X-Ray, EDX, analysis).

The testing lab further states that brass containing greater than 15% zinc is susceptible to dezincification. We knew that all along, but it’s nice to have a PhD agreeing with us. The scientific analysis of that fitting could be applied to every one of your homes, if you have Wirsbo brass fittings, and if your home was constructed before February 2008. That is the date that Pulte started to use red-brass C-314 fittings rather than the yellow brass C-360 fittings which you see above.

This article is posted to show that there is really no need for further testing by Pulte or an independent contractor. We already have performed the test, and we already have the test results! The Wirsbo fittings are clogging up with zinc oxide because of the high zinc content in those fittings. Pulte, make the necessary repairs now!

If you have any questions regarding the above, feel free to ask them by commenting on this article.

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May 16, 2008 by Mark Cook.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am concerned about the safety issue with so many low flying aircraft passing over our community on a daily basis. The noise is also a significant factor, and when the Sloan Heliport is constructed, the noise problem will be compounded by an order of magnitude.

I am attempting to alert the entire community to this problem and solicit your help if you agree that it is a problem. By way of background, I am a retired pilot. I hold the FAA’s highest pilot rating, an Airline Transport Pilot Multi-engine rating, and a commercial glider pilot rating. I’ve been involved in aviation since 1948. My experience includes 3 years of flying Cessna 402 aircraft (among others) in commercial operations out of McCarran, carrying tourists to the Grand Canyon, and 27 years in the US Air Force as an instructor pilot. I spend 12 years at Nellis AFB, during three different tours (they kept sending me back) as an instructor and test project manager in the Fighter Weapons School (USAF top gun). I have spent countless hours on the local air-to-ground gunnery ranges as an instructor pilot and range control officer, where altitude judgment was paramount for safety.

That is all relevant because I believe that I am a fairly good judge of aircraft altitude, and I am well versed in federal aviation regulations, FAA operations, and commercial flight operations. That is necessary to support the following article which I have written for the community:

If you are concerned about the safety hazard and the noise of low flying aircraft, this may be of concern to you. Many will not be able to read this, but perhaps the word will slowly spread anyway. Propeller driven single and twin-engine aircraft operating out of Henderson Executive airport are violating prescribed minimum FAA altitudes for flight over a densely populated area (ours) on a daily basis. The primary culprits are the pilots of the Cessna 402 twin-engine aircraft owned by King Aire Lines.

There is only one company operating that type of aircraft out of the Henderson airport…King Aire Lines, so that makes it pretty easy to identify the source. If you live in Shadow Canyon, Black Mountain village, and Desert Sky village, and others you have seen and heard them regularly. They approach from the mountain pass just East of our community, so low that when you first see or hear them they will appear below the mountain ridge. They are required to fly no less than 500 feet over our houses, by Federal Aviation Regulations–not that 500 feet is much of a safety factor. But a few of their ‘hot pilots’ seem to have no regard for our safety or peace and quiet, and I’ve frequently observed them at 200 feet, sometimes less. It’s not likely that you can get outside quickly enough to see them, for at that altitude, and at a speed of around 120 knots, they are gone in 20 seconds.

The King Aire Cessna 402s are all white in color with narrow stripes down the side of the fuselage. The aircraft is easily recognized by the characteristic fuel tanks on the wing tips. The fuel tanks give the wing tips an upswept and streamlined look.

The reason I’m presenting this is because if we can stop this safety hazard, and the noise, we will be one jump ahead of the game in stopping the helicopter noise problem which is sure to come when the Sloan heliport is developed. You ‘”ain’t heard nothing yet” if you haven’t had a hundred helicopters passing over your house at 300 feet on a daily basis! 300 feet is the minimum altitude allowed by the FAA for those helicopters carrying passengers to the canyon so there’s nothing you can do to stop the noise. It’s illegal to shoot them down, tempting perhaps, but still illegal. ;-)

If we start now, and all complain about the low flying King Aire Line airplanes, no one can say later that no one in our community has complained for years about low flying aircraft. Whenever you observe a low flying aircraft, or wish to complain about aircraft noise, you may call Mr. Anthony Roldan, at the FAA office in Las Vegas; his number is 269-1445 ext 323. Also call the local Aircraft Noise Hotline, at 261-3694.

There’s no use calling King Aire Lines to complain, I was told to do that by Mr. Roldan, but the chief pilot refused to speak with me or return my phone calls…such arrogance. You could also notify the airport manager at Henderson Executive airport, Mr. Tom Donaldson, at 261-4802. Don’t leave this up to someone else–get involved in supporting your community. Thanks.

Mark Cook
2211 Bensley St
afkernel@cox.net

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