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Clark County School Board president to defend seat, voting history against four challengers
Clark County School Board Trustee Irene Cepeda cast the deciding vote in a 4-3 decision last October to fire the district’s superintendent. Then, less than a month later, she voted to rescind the vote, reinstating Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara until his contract ends early next year. The about-face thrust Cepeda, who was […]
Some not-so-fun facts about Nevada, from a national analysis of health data
A new analysis of health factors and outcomes by county has put some numbers to Nevada’s health care provider shortage. Nevada has fewer primary care physicians, dentists and mental health providers per capita than the United States overall. Clark County, which contains approximately three-fourths of the state’s population, has one primary care physician for every […]
Private school voucher group loses second legal challenge
Education Freedom for Nevada, a political action committee attempting to establish a private school voucher system, was dealt another legal blow Monday, as a district court judge ruled their proposed statutory initiative petition cannot move forward. Judge Charles McGee found that Education Freedom’s statutory initiative contained “an insufficient explanation of the affect of the initiative […]
$715 million: LVMPD to request 8% increase in budget, but no new officers
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is requesting more than $715 million for its operating budget next year — an 8.17% increase over its current budget. In a letter accompanying the budget request, Sheriff Joe Lombardo acknowledged that the request is “considerably larger than recent years.” The outgoing sheriff, who is now running for governor […]
Lack of mental health resources increases demand on NV’s child welfare system, say administrators
Nevada’s shortage of mental health providers is putting additional stress on the state’s child welfare systems, county administrators told lawmakers last week. New data presented to an interim legislative committee on health and human services last week suggests what child and family welfare program administrators have long said: that some children are finding themselves in […]
GOP primary for secretary of state highlights increasing partisanship of a once moderate office
Once seen as a mostly non-partisan position despite its partisan election process, the perception of the position of secretary of state is changing. For proof, look no further than this year’s GOP primary. In Nevada, as in most other states, the secretary of state is the top elections official. The elected official is tasked with […]
Concerns about oversight cloud enthusiasm for $250M investment in affordable housing
Lawmakers on the Interim Finance Committee on Thursday universally acknowledged the need to address Nevada’s affordable housing shortage, but several committee members, from both sides of the aisle, expressed concerns that a $250 million investment will not have legislative oversight. Nevertheless, the committee, which approves state spending when the full Legislature is not in regular […]
Thanks, Tesla? Nevada praised for transparency of economic development programs
A nonpartisan watchdog group is praising Nevada in a new report for increasing transparency around its economic development programs but notes that “there is still a lot of room to grow.” Good Jobs First on Tuesday released a ‘report card’ grading how transparent states’ public subsidy programs are. They considered variables such as whether economic […]
Creating new voter database system, state aims to ‘do it right,’ not cheaply
Nevada’s plan to implement a top-down voter registration system is not on track to meet its January 2024 deadline, a top elections official suggested Friday. In 2021, state legislators passed a bill requiring the Secretary of State to establish and maintain a centralized database for voter registration information. Currently, voter information is collected and maintained […]
Switch to electric vehicles could save billions of dollars and hundreds of lives in Nevada, says report
A widespread transition to electric vehicles could save nearly 700 lives and $7.5 billion in public health spending in Nevada between 2020 and 2050, according to a new report by the American Lung Association. The ALA report attempts to calculate the benefits of a national shift to 100% sale of zero-emission passenger cars and light-duty […]
One-third of Nevada workers are paid less than $15 per hour
More than a third of all Nevada workers are making less than $15 per hour, according to a new report by Oxfam America. The vast majority of these workers are adults, many of them are parents with children to support. The analysis, which uses U.S. Census Bureau data and advocates for raising the federal minimum […]
What role does transportation play in charter school inequity? A lot, argues one charter
When David Blodgett and other founders of Nevada Prep began recruiting prospective students to their charter school, they didn’t know where exactly their physical building would be, but they made parents a promise: We will get your kids there. The charter school, which enrolls students in kindergarten through eighth grade, decided early on that it […]