Team Clinton continues to add Nevada notables to lineup

The Clinton Machine rolls on.

Nearly lost in this week’s focus on the endgame at the Legislature was the announcement that former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller has endorsed the presidential campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who continues to show she’s focused on staying ahead of the competition in the Silver State. Miller is also co-chairman of the Clinton camp’s National Governors Council.

On Thursday, the Clinton camp announced an endorsement by Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, whose energy and grass-roots expertise are well known. Giunchigliani joins Commission Chairman Rory Reid in the Team Clinton photo for Nevada.

Although Miller’s endorsement is no shock given the former governor’s friendship with President Bill Clinton, the announcement adds one more notable player to Clinton’s Nevada lineup. Former Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa leads Clinton’s effort in the north.

Clinton has a superior machine in place, and organization will be the key to winning next year’s statewide Democratic caucus.

FEED THE NEED: Here’s a Hilton who is in the news for the right reasons.

Three Square founder Eric Hilton heads a collaborative effort that is focusing on eliminating hunger in Southern Nevada. Hilton has partnered with members of the gaming and business communities and others in a plan to serve nutritious meals to the valley’s needy.

Hilton and a group of local heavyweights will address the media Tuesday morning at the Center for Independent Living at 1417 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Tuesday is National Hunger Awareness Day.

GOOD DOGS: If every dog has its day, then some lucky canines are in for a treat Saturday at the fifth annual “Best in Show” program that benefits the Lied Animal Shelter. The show, which starts at 1 p.m. at The Orleans, will feature a lineup of homeless dogs all dolled up and ready for adoption.

RESEARCH RIDER: Las Vegas architect Windom Kimsey is set to ride 100 miles to raise money for leukemia and lymphoma research this weekend at America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride at Lake Tahoe. Kimsey’s daughter, Claire, is undergoing treatment for leukemia. Cheer him on with a donation through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (Leukemia-Lymphoma.org).

FLAG FUSS: My, that was quick. Towbin Hummer now sports a memorial at the base of its controversial flagpole. The brass plate quotes Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and is a tribute to U.S. military personnel.

ARENA UPDATE: Detroit’s REI group has some downtown residents concerned about the scale of its arena/hotel proposal. I hear the group has put $25 million in play to show its good faith in developing downtown, which by one informed count has attracted 15 legitimate parties capable of completing a real deal.

Oh, how downtown’s prospects are changing. Expect movement in as few as 45 days, one City Hall source says.

BENEATH THE NEON: Perhaps all the best storm drains were reserved. In any case, the launch party for Matthew O’Brien’s new book, “Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas,” is set for 6 p.m. above ground at the Arts Factory at 107 E. Charleston Blvd., Suite 201 in time for tonight’s First Friday celebration.

O’Brien isn’t a guy with a plumbing fetish. He’s the news editor of Las Vegas CityLife (a business relative of the Review-Journal). He spent months exploring the underground tunnels of Southern Nevada and, not surprisingly, met an eclectic mix of down-and-outers, crack junkies, and slumming angels.

With photos by Danny Mollohan, “Beneath the Neon” is already surfacing in the national reviews.

But what’s all this talk about a psycho killer cruising the concrete underworld?

ON THE BOULEVARD: It was a good week for Gov. Jim Gibbons in Carson City, where he completed his first budget battle and was close to carving out a compromise on roads construction, but a bad one for the beleaguered state boss in the pages of The New York Times, where his ample controversies and low approval ratings were highlighted. … “Faces of Freedom,” the stunning state-by-state tribute to fallen U.S. troops, is appearing on bookshelves. Edited by Rebecca Pepin, it features a profile of Marine Pfc. John Lukac written by the R-J’s Keith Rogers. … Make-A-Wish of Southern Nevada’s Destination Joy campaign starts Tuesday with the unveiling of a very special monorail wrapper featuring a new local superhero.

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.