Beatty’s burros both a symbol and a problem

Beatty is known for its burros, and a recent roundup by the Bureau of Land Management isn’t likely to change that.

In fact, some residents wish the federal government would do more to control the population of wild donkeys in and around the Nye County town 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The BLM just wrapped up a twoweek operation that removed 404 burros from the area, but Laura Cunningham can’t see much difference from her ranch house about 5 miles north of Beatty.

“We have a huge number of burros just outside our fence,” she said. “Right now, they’re braying out there and eating down the vegetation.”

Beatty has long embraced its resident donkeys, which serve as living symbols of the community’s roots as an early 20th-century mining camp.

BURROS

between U.S. Highway 95 and

Marks Street, and he wanted to know whether city officials plan to repainttheroad.

Blame it on the local weather, said Kathleen Richards, a spokeswoman for the city of Henderson.

“The Southern Nevada climate presents unique challenges for pavement markings,” Richards said. “There is no film or paint product currently on the market that can holduptotheextremeheat,so lane markings can easily fade and are difficult to clean.”

The city usually touches up the street lanes when needed and during major road rehabilitation projects, Richards said.

Crews recently repainted the street markings along eastbound Sunset between U.S. 95 and Marks, Richards said. Soon, the city will add new striping along Horizon Drive between U.S. 95 and Boulder Highway.

Caring for Karen

Paul from Las Vegas wanted to know when Clark County crews plantofixthebrokenpavement and potholes along eastbound Karen Avenue near Joe Brown Drive, justeastofthestrip.paulsaidhe never received a response after filing a complaint with the county’s Public Works Department.

County spokesman Dan Kulin said crews completed pothole repairs in May. Meanwhile, county officials are designing a project that calls for the reconstruction of Karen between Paradise Road and Maryland Parkway.

Flashing yellow arrow

Sue from Las Vegas wanted to knowwhythetrafficsignalatsahara and Burnham avenues no longer offers a flashing yellow arrow that allows drivers to yield while making a left turn. The flashing arrow had existed before city officials completed an improvement project, she said.

“Ever since the improvements, drivers on Sahara have to sit through two or more signal cycles before a green arrow ever shows up,” Sue said. “I’ve noticed many motorists drive past the intersection, make a U-turn and then turn onto Burnham.”

Margaret Kurtz, a spokeswoman forthecityoflasvegas,saidtraffic engineers had determined that the flashing yellow arrows were no longer “appropriate” after the intersection upgrade was completed. As a result, the signals were switched to protected-only left turns.

The city’s traffic engineers will take another look at this intersection to determine whether the signal detection equipment is properly working, Kurtz said.

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