School board member Enge assaulted at club

Carson City School Board member Joe Enge reported to police Sunday that he was assaulted by a stranger at a casino nightclub.

Enge, 44, filed the report about 1:30 p.m., some 12 hours after the 1 a.m. incident outside the Club Vu at the Carson City Nugget.

"I went to the restroom and three young guys come in. The guy in the lead knows exactly who I am. He's coming right at me, very belligerent, it was very clear this guy hates my guts and he pegged me and knocked me down," said Enge on Monday.

Enge said the man hit him more than once, then the group left the bathroom.

"And I just went back to my wife, and just kind of blew it off," he said.

Enge said that a short time later the same guy came up to him as he sat with his wife and challenged him again, making "derogatory" statements. Enge said he was unable to recall what the man said.

"It just happened so quick, I knew whoever it was knew who I was," he said.

The man was eventually told to leave the casino, Enge said.

He said this is the second time he has been assaulted by someone he didn't know and it makes him wonder about the motivation.

Enge is a controversial character in Carson City education. In 2005, after the history teacher and author was let go from Carson High School for unsatisfactory classroom evaluations, Enge fired back that he was being singled out because he disobeyed orders to stop teaching history before 1865. The battle made national headlines.

In the last election, Enge surprised many people when he won a school board seat.

Since he's been in that position, he's filed two complaints of open meeting law violations.

Enge also writes articles as an education analyst for the Nevada Policy Research Institute, that often bring about ire.

"I'm a hundred percent sure it's related to who I am. But is it something I wrote, is it something on the school board?" he asked.

Anyone with information on the Saturday assault is asked to call the Carson City Sheriff's Department non-emergency dispatch number at 887-2007.

• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.