Small-school choir gets taste of big-time show business
The choir at diminutive Sandy Valley High practices well outside the spotlight. The school is located approximately 50 miles southwest of Las Vegas.
But tonight, its dedication under the guiding hand of instructor Jenny Auer will pay an unexpected dividend when its members take the stage at the Primm Valley Resorts’ Star of the Desert Arena to back up Foreigner on the rock super group’s hit, “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
Under that intense spotlight, choir members will get a chance to watch Thom Gimbel in action. He’s Foreigner’s talented multi-instrumentalist. Gimbel moves easily from guitar to saxophone and occasionally other instruments.
Gimbel’s such a seasoned pro the young singers would be forgiven for not thinking of the years of practice and lessons that went into his craft.
It’s no surprise Gimbel has great respect for his music teachers and musical influences. He knows that a dedicated teacher can make a big difference in a young person’s life. That’s why he’s taught lessons himself at times during his career.
“I think anyone who has done any amount of teaching realizes you learn a lot by doing it,” Gimbel says. “You have to crystalize ideas in your own mind to put those ideas across.”
Although his touring schedule prevents him from teaching as much as he once did, “I still try to sort of mentor some of the people we meet along the way.” Whether it’s a tip on how to adjust a saxophone reed or the proper mouthpiece to use, he knows a well-placed pointer can make a big difference to a beginner.
“I still love talking about it,” he says. “I think teaching is definitely one of those things
Alumni will join in spotlight
Rusty McAllister with the Professional Fire Fighters of Nevada. “We have no problem with putting our documentation out online.
“But we also believe, let’s not just talk about public employee organizations. Managers, supervisors … those contracts never see the light of day,” he said.
“If the public has the right to know, we agree. Let’s do it. But let’s do it for everybody,” McAllister said.
An effort to amend the bill with that requirement failed in the Senate.
Others complained Friday that local governments routinely approve contracts worth millions of dollars on consent agendas, where numerous items are approved with a single vote and without discussion.
That raised concerns by Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, who said lawmakers passed legislation a decade ago requiring evaluations of supervisors and administrators to be public. Goicoechea agreed. “I’m saying that is the law now,” he said. “So putting it in this bill, does that help?”
The committee also debated Senate Bill 168, which seeks to define a “fiscal emergency” that could trigger reopening of collective bargaining pacts.
Under the bill, presented by state Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, a fiscal emergency would occur if a local government’s general fund revenue falls 5 percent or more from the preceding year, or the ending fund balance drops to 4 percent of actual expenditures in the previous year.
Additionally, the bill would set aside 25 percent of a local government’s budgeted expenditures from labor negotiations and states those funds cannot be considered by an arbitrator when determining a local’s government’s ability to pay union-bargained compensation.
The percentage under current law is 8.3 percent.
Critics of the bill, including some Democratic lawmakers, said the bill could allow governments to divert money from their general coffers into other funds to declare an emergency and reopen bargaining.
The committee took no action on either measure. Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Find her on Twitter: @SandraChereb.