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 Happy New Year!
We have exciting things coming in District F in 2024, from park openings to fun community events, and look forward to sharing new opportunities with you this year!
As always, please feel free to contact me and my team by phone at (702) 455-3500 or by email at DistrictF@clarkcountynv.gov. You can also follow me @JustinJonesNV on Threads, Facebook, and Instagram to keep up with the latest events and news in the District.
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Clark County needs new foster parents now more than ever. On average there are 95 children, teens, and sibling groups at the Child Haven emergency shelter waiting for caring foster parents. These children deserve to live in loving homes with caring adults.
That caring adult can be YOU! Clark County is now enrolling families in the upcoming EXPEDITED FOSTER PARENT TRAINING. Complete your foster parent training in just 2 weekends! Get started by signing up for an information session at www.clarkcountyfostercare.com
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On Saturday, December 16th, Team Jones was joined by an amazing group of community partners at the Holiday to Remember event at Cashman Park! Over 2,500 people were able to enjoy free food and desserts, play on the giant slide, get their faces painted, try their luck at some fun games, and get their photo with Santa! In addition to the fun and games attendees had the opportunity to learn about dental and health insurance, attend a health clinic, receive diapers and shelf-stable meals, get books from the CCSD Book Bus, obtain legal advice, and partake in many other valuable resources.
A huge thank you to the partners that truly made this a Holiday To Remember for the attendees and the volunteers! This event could not have happened without the support of: LVMPD Office of Community Engagement, Acelero Learning Clark County, Touro University Nevada, LVMPD Spring Valley Area Command, Jeremiah Program Las Vegas, Molina Healthcare, Health Plan of Nevada, CCSD Family Engagement, and many others!
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Wednesday, January 10, 6 pm at the Windmill Library
Wednesday, January 31, 6 pm at the Windmill Library
Tuesday, January 9, 6:30 pm at the Desert Breeze Community Center
Tuesday, January 30, 6:30 pm at the Desert Breeze Community Center
Tuesday, January 30, 6:30 pm at the Goodsprings Community Center
Wednesday, January 31, 7 pm at the Blue Diamond Library
Tuesday, January 9, 7:30 pm at the Sandy Valley Community Center
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In our modern world we can communicate with others anywhere in the world almost instantaneously and can get a letter or package to them the next day. Over 100 years ago a letter heading to Los Angeles from New York would take at least 12 weeks to arrive since it was brought by a ship that had to go "around the Horn." In the early 1900's even the fastest train would take more than 90 hours to get that letter across the country. But, all that changed when the Kelly Mail Act of 1925 allowed the USPS to contract with private airlines to establish mail routes to feed into the national system.
Western Air Express won the bid for the Los Angeles-Las Vegas-Salt Lake City contract. Four pilots were hired and came to be called the "Four Horsemen" - the first of which was war hero Maury Graham. During World War I he helped to locate 550 troops from the 77th Division called the "Lost Battalion." The troops had been cut off by Germans in the dense Argonne forest without enough medicine or food to survive for long. After two previous pilots were killed attempting the same mission, Graham and his partner were able to fly through enemy fire, successfully locate the troops, and communicate their location back to headquarters.
The first air mail flight from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City happened on April 17, 1926 with the plane piloted by Maury Graham - who won the honor in a coin toss. The aircraft was a two-seater Douglas M-2 open cockpit bi-plane that could carry 1,000 pounds of mail. The plane landed at Rockwell Field which was located in an area southeast of Sahara Avenue & Paradise Road. Over the next 4 years, Graham successfully flew thousands of hours. On January 10, 1930, the first leg of his trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas was treacherous and he had to be guided in by a large beacon shined straight up by the ground crew. Other pilots had chosen not to continue their flights, but Graham refueled and headed out. His plane carried "691 pounds of mail, averaging 40 letters to the pound, totaling 27,000 pieces of mail" and Western Air Express only got paid if the deliveries arrived on time. The plane never arrived and weeks of searching were unsuccessful.
It wasn't until June 24th when two young men building a fence noticed something shiny in the distance that the crash site was discovered 23 miles from Cedar City. On July 16th, a search party finally found Maury Graham's body, fully clothed, about six miles from his plane. He had frozen to death sitting on a log at a bend in a stream. Maury Graham was dedicated right up to the end. By staying with the plane instead of parachuting out, Graham was able to keep the mail safe and it was all eventually recovered safe and dry. A monument was erected on Kanarra Mountain in Utah not far from the crash site.
Information from multiple sources including https://www.historynet.com/mystery-missing-pilot/ and https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/maurice-graham-monument
Photos from the UNLV Archives
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