Briefs
Legislation prompts hunger strike at Ely State Prison
Nevada prison officials confirm a dozen inmates at Ely State Prison are on a hunger strike to protest “changes made to package and canteen protocols” according to Teri Vance, a spokeswoman for the department. Inmates who are in administrative segregation have reportedly been denied access to the commissary because of misbehavior by prisoners in disciplinary […]
Vacation rental prices skyrocket for summer
That Fourth of July getaway in the vacation home of your dreams is likely to cost more this year than pre-COVID. Vacation rental rates are up more than 50% from 2019 in some locations, according to the website TripstoDiscover.com, which found price increases may be thwarting travel to favored destinations in favor of less expensive […]
Titus seeks to restrict program alleged to hurt animals, family farmers
Remember when actor Sam Eliot told collective America that beef is what’s for dinner? The popular ad campaign was paid for through a U.S. Department of Agriculture fund used to promote and research commodities. Congresswoman Dina Titus is sponsoring legislation she says would prevent lobbyists from eating up the money at the expense of family […]
Nowhere to go but up: About Nevada’s splashy GDP growth
“The new GDP data shows that we have merged into the fast lane of the road to recovery,” Michael Brown, the head of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development said Tuesday. Brown was responding to preliminary Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicating Nevada’s gross domestic product grew 10.9% from the 1st quarter of 2020 […]
With cases rising, officials aim to intensify vaccination efforts
Coronavirus cases in Nevada have been ticking back upward even as the state’s vaccine rollout continues to unfold. The trend comes as overall cases in the U.S. have continued to decline, though Clark County is seeing cases and hospitalization increase since ending statewide restrictions. Nevada health officials reported 821 additional positive cases of the coronavirus […]
Supreme Court affirms transgender rights in declining to hear Virginia school bathroom case
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it will not hear a case of a transgender student in Virginia who was barred from using the boys’ bathroom, a decision that affirms lower-court rulings that said treating transgender students differently violates federal law. Justices on the top court offered no comment in declining to take up […]
Company demands return of drug ‘surreptitiously’ obtained for execution
The maker of the drug Ketamine is threatening to sue the state of Nevada if it does not return some 50 vials purchased for use in the scheduled execution next month of Zane Floyd. Floyd went on a shooting rampage in a Las Vegas Albertsons grocery store in 1999, killing four people. His execution is […]
Biden administration extends federal eviction moratorium for one final month
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday extended a national moratorium on evictions for another month, offering what federal officials say will be a final respite while they scramble to beef up other help for renters that could mitigate a wave of evictions once the legal protection does expire. The added month of federal eviction relief […]
Cortez Masto, Bennet, Kelly talk filibuster reform in call with supporters
Three southwestern Democratic U.S. senators during a private Zoom call with supporters on Tuesday suggested they were open to filibuster reform but stopped short of offering specifics on the kind of reform they would get behind. The senators — Michael Bennet of Colorado, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Mark Kelly of Arizona — are […]
Biden to meet with Western governors about wildfires, vows to raise firefighter pay
WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he will host a meeting next week of Western governors, Cabinet members and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials “to prepare for heat, drought and wildfires in the West.” “There’s an old expression: God made man. Then he made a few firefighters. They have a higher incidence of severe injuries than […]
College athletes score a big win in the U.S. Supreme Court in NCAA dispute
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that the National Collegiate Athletics Association cannot limit educational compensation to student athletes due to their amateur status. The 9-0 decision in NCAA v. Alston was delivered by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who said the college athletics body is not exempt from antitrust law. “Put simply, this suit involves admitted […]
Biden public lands nominee opposed by GOP over link to 1989 tree-spiking in Idaho
Republicans in the U.S. Senate are ramping up opposition to President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Bureau of Land Management after a conservative news site and other news reports detailed her connection to an Idaho tree-spiking scheme three decades ago. Without GOP support, Montana’s Tracy Stone-Manning would need the votes of every Democrat in […]