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Point-in-time count kicks off annual measure of area homelessness
With flashlights in hand, volunteers pierce through the darkness trying to figure out if the shadows in alleyways and underpasses are in fact people sleeping and living on the streets of Southern Nevada. Overall, Nevada has one of the highest rates of unsheltered homelessness in the nation according to the U.S. Department of Housing and […]
Mayor files for third term, announces she has breast cancer
Moments before City of Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman filed to run for her third term, she announced she has Stage 2A breast cancer. “I have been advised that this is completely contained, manageable and can be successfully treated,” she said during a press conference Tuesday morning. “Otherwise, I’m completely healthy, and can continue to […]
Sick leave, education, census among child welfare advocates’ top priorities
Education funding. Paid sick leave. Child care subsidies. Stipends for foster youth. The census. That’s right. The census. Social service, education, health care and child welfare advocates and experts will be watching the long list of policy proposals expected to be deliberated, and potentially passed, at the 2019 legislative session. The Children’s Advocacy Alliance, meeting […]
Communities in Schools CEO will lead state employment department
Gov. Steve Sisolak has appointed Dr. Tiffany Tyler, the CEO of Communities in Schools, as the new director of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). “Dr. Tyler’s unique personal experiences as well as her distinguished career helping at-risk Nevadans will be an asset to the department and my team,” Sisolak said in […]
Sisolak’s reviews: Lots of raves, but some wariness too
Enjoying the luxury of inheriting what is projected to be a growing state budget, Gov. Steve Sisolak in his State of the State speech Wednesday proposed more money for K-12 and higher education, expanded and new health programs, a raise for state employees, and additional funding for a host of public services, from foster child […]
Lawmakers see pathway to criminal justice overhaul, but will they take it?
Divisions and theatrics in Washington were briefly surmounted last month when Congress passed criminal justice reform legislation. The First Step Act is a modest, yet important, effort to ease punitive prison sentences and begin to address mass incarceration at the federal level. But the bill only addresses a sliver of the problem. States have a […]
As shutdown drags on, bills start piling up for federal workers, tribes go without
As the partial government shutdown hits nearly three weeks with no end in sight, households are about to go without paychecks, and tribal communities are shutting down services. The shutdown began Dec. 21 after President Trump refused to sign a continuing resolution funding the government because it lacked $5.7 billion for his border wall. In […]
TANF, other social services operational during shutdown, state says
In addition to 800,000 federal employees being furloughed or working without a paycheck — 3,450 in Nevada — shutdowns tend to hurt lower-income people the most. States can’t receive allocations to fund services like the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. However, Nevada is using reserved funding to keep certain services operational. “While we will […]
“Manufactured crisis” halts pay for 3,450 working Nevadans
When Daniel Patterson, who lives in Nevada and works for the Department of Interior, heard about a potential government shutdown last month, he figured lawmakers and President Trump would come up with a solution to continuing funding the government. He was wrong. Trump, who has declared he is “proud to shut down the government,” declined […]
Democratic House will “flip the script,” Horsford says
When Democrats take control of the House of Representatives next month, they will craft the agenda that will shape the 2020 election, says Democratic congressman-elect Steven Horsford. “It is incumbent upon us to bring bold proposals forward to move our country forward,” Horsford says. “Whether the Senate acts on them, whether the president passes them […]
Will Nevada end “surprise” health care bills?
You go to the hospital. You get a bill. Your insurer pays it. Then you find out one or more of the services or treatments was provided by someone who is not covered in your plan. So you get a separate bill — one your insurer doesn’t pay. Welcome to what the industry calls surprise […]
Prisons overcrowded, but DAs, cops balk at sentencing reforms
Members of an advisory commission charged with reviewing the state’s justice system are zeroing in on reforms they hope will decrease Nevada’s prison population, which has increased 7 percent in the last decade despite an overall decline nationwide. But representatives from county prosecutors and law enforcement, citing public safety, are objecting to the reforms. Meeting this […]