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IN BUSINESS TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITIES TRYING NEW WAYS TO CURB TAXI LONG-HAULING By Richard N. Velotta senior staff writer W ith long-hauling of unsuspecting taxi customers still running rampant, enforcement officers with the Nevada Taxicab Authority have begun new tactics to stop the illegal practice. Ruben Aquino, chief for the state agency that investigator regulates Clark County's 16 cab companies, said there would be random enforcement checkpoints and undercover stings to discourage cabdrivers local from taking their passengers on long routes that result in higher fares. Most involve trips long-hauling from International Airport incidents McCarran to resorts on the Strip via the tunnel beneath the airport's east-west runways, which can increase a fare by $10-$20. Aquino said after two days of well- publicized administrative checkpoints in early June in which officers had electronic sign boards marking their cracking down on violators. Two days later, the agency had a second checkpoint and cited drivers who were long-hauling. "The way we were set up, we had a good view of where drivers had to make a choice between going the shorter route or going through the tunnel," Aquino said. "Some of them slowed down, like they were thinking about whether they wanted to go that way or not. Some even backed up and went the right way." location, the Taxicab Authority is ready to nab long-haulers without warning. "We thought start it was only fair to all the drivers to thoroughly explain what we're doing so that everybody would understand before we drivers," Aquino said. citing plans The Taxicab Authority announced for a briefed proactive about the awareness checkpoint last month. At that event, cabs leaving McCarran were flagged and authority RIGHTHAVEN, FROM PAGE 12 RECEIVER TRYING TO FIRE CEO pen when a company is taken over through a receivership action. who prevailed against Righthaven in the copyright lawsuits. But with no cash and its trademark and website already auctioned off, Righthaven so far hasn't paid off its debts. The federal court in Las Vegas hasn't yet acted on Pearson's request that it ratify her move to fire Gibson. Gibson hasn't indicated if he'll op- pose Pearson's effort to fire him and force Righthaven to drop its appeals. Lichtenstein is known in Las Ve- gas for free speech work as general counsel for the ACLU of Nevada. But in the Righthaven case, he's op- erating as a private attorney, as the ACLU is not involved. Lichtenstein for a time in 2010 rep- resented one of the websites that had been hit with one of Righthaven's no- warning lawsuits — windaction.org, a nonprofit in New Hampshire. Perhaps confusingly, that means Lichtenstein has now both fought against and represented Righthaven. But that type of thing can hap- Meadows Bank is proud to announce the hiring of Selma Bartlett You can reach Selma at: (702) 471-2073 Or by email at: sbartlett@meadowsbank.com With approximately $49 Million in capital as of March 31, 2012, we are a well capitalized Nevada chartered full-service community bank which provides loan and depository products and services including: • Commercial loans and lines of credit • Equipment financing • Owner-occupied and investor commercial real estate loans • SBA 7(a)* and 504 financing • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans • Lockbox and Cash Management services • Remote Deposit Capture • Courier service *Meadows Bank is a SBA "Preferred Lender" Las Vegas' No.1 Business Resource Has Never Been More Important. Lichtenstein said June 29 his role will be to represent the receiver in whatever she decides to do — she's al- ready disclosed plans to wind down the company and has threatened to sue Gibson for malpractice. "Her job is to clean up the mess that was created," Lichtenstein said, add- ing Righthaven was a legal house of cards that was bound to collapse be- cause its lawsuits lacked legal merit. He said the job of representing Pearson interested him because of his passion for free speech and be- cause of what he felt were threats to such speech posed by Righthaven. Critics said the Righthaven suits infringed on free speech by inhib- iting the flow of information, even when the sharing of information was protected by the fair use doctrine of copyright law. Righthaven, how- ever, said the defendants it sued had harmed newspapers by using their information without paying for it. Get your one-year subscription to and we'll include our best leads via email. All for only $50 a year. 8912 Spanish Ridge Ave., Suite 100 | Las Vegas, Nevada 89148 702.471.BANK (2265) | www.meadowsbank.com | 9 JULY 2012 | For additional information call 800.254.2610 or email subscriptions@gmgvegas.com VEGASINC.COM/SUBSCRIBE 13