Working + The Economy
Universal basic income touted as answer to automation
Earlier this month, the Vdara Hotel & Spa added two relay robots that deliver snacks, sundries and spa products directly to guest suites. While charmingly decorated as a Golden Retriever and Dalmatian dog with Vdara-themed collars, the new robots — named Fetch and Jett — may be a sign of what’s next for Las Vegas. In 20 years, about 65 […]
Amid threats to their industry, sex workers question pushback on rally
Early last month, approximately 150 people donned red outfits and took to the sidewalks in downtown Las Vegas to advocate for the complete decriminalization of sex work. They marched about half a mile. They celebrated afterward with speciality themed cocktails at a supportive downtown bar. By all accounts, everything went smoothly — but the event […]
Cash, cleanliness, black market are biggest worries on legal weed anniversary
If money is a curse, there’s a powerful hex over Nevada’s fledgling cannabis industry. Barely a year old and the legal weed business is smashing projections for sales ($433.5 million in the ten months reported so far) and tax revenue (projected at $50 million for the year, revenue has reached $55.5 million after ten reported […]
Is the Green rush leaving women and minorities behind?
How do you create equity in the cannabis industry so people of color, low-income communities and those disenfranchised by marijuana laws can benefit from a multimillion-dollar business? A year into recreational sales bringing new employment and business opportunities to the state, Nevada is still trying to answer that question. “In my opinion, (the state) […]
Nevada unions condemn Supreme Court’s “extreme decision”
In Nevada, workers can already opt out of paying union dues and still reap the benefits of better wages and benefits and job security protections negotiated through collective bargaining. But Nevada’s “free rider” status didn’t stop labor organizations in the state from blasting the Supreme Court’s Janus decision as part of a deliberate attempt to […]
Are job drug tests for weed on the way out?
Nevadans and our visitors love legal marijuana. Sales are topping $40 million a month and tax revenue will far exceed the projected $50 million for the first year. That’s a lot of people smoking weed, eating edibles and vaping concentrates. Twenty percent of Americans now live in a state where marijuana is legal and […]
What the bond between public education and private labor looks like
Two days before Southeast Career Technical Academy held its graduation ceremony at Orleans Arena, a much smaller celebration took place in a rec room on the school’s eastside campus. There were inspiring speeches, cupcakes, proud parents… and a $70k electric car. It was a celebration for approximately two dozen students from SECTA, Desert Rose High […]
Flu season was nasty this year. Did you have paid sick leave?
This flu season – October through May – was brutal in Southern Nevada. Sixty people died from the flu, according to the Southern Nevada Health District – compared to only nine flu-related deaths the previous season. There were a total of 1,345 confirmed cases and 975 hospitalizations. Last season there were 689 cases and 454 […]
Bubble? What bubble? Fitch, Forbes wrong, LV experts say
A Fitch Ratings report published by Forbes designating Las Vegas as the most overvalued real estate market in the nation has homeowners who survived the foreclosure crisis jittery and real estate agents angry. But experts say contrary to increasingly frequent warnings from Fitch and others, Las Vegas is not in danger of suffering another housing […]
The downside of pushing economic development
“Average hourly earnings have increased by nearly 20% since January 2007,” reads one of the charts presented to state economic forecasters by the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA) earlier this month. “Tesla Update! Going Strong!” added a graphic presented by the Reno-based Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN). Like LVGEA, EDAWN is part […]
Discrimination victims win at Dotty’s
The company that owns Dotty’s, the ubiquitous strip mall slot parlors, will pay a $3.5 million to victims of discrimination to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC said in a statement Wednesday. “Since at least 2012, Nevada Restaurant Services violated federal law by maintaining a well-established companywide practice […]
Nevada has an affordable housing crisis, but no affordable housing policy
In 1940, the median value of a single-family home in the U.S. was $2,938. Well, it was 1940. Gas was 18 cents a gallon. You could get a Ford sedan (this was back when Ford still made sedans) for less than $800. A loaf of bread was 8 cents. Adjusted for inflation, 18 cents for […]