In early December of last year, the City of Sparks released a Call for Artists to paint 10 signal boxes around Prater and Oddie Boulevard. The public art initiative was launched to help highlight local and regional artists and contribute to the overall beautification of the city. When the application period closed on February 12, 2024, the city received 77 … [Read more...]
Higher interest rates, home prices result in fewer sales at start of 2024
By Carly Sauvageau The Nevada Independent Four years after the onset of COVID-19, housing in Nevada is still feeling the ripple effects of the pandemic as people adjust to a market that is stabilizing at a much more expensive rate than before the crisis. Housing prices reached an all-time high during the pandemic, peaking in May 2021, when the median cost of a … [Read more...]
Esmeralda County activists want to recall clerk over resistance to hand counting ballots
By Carly Sauvageau The Nevada Independent Esmeralda County Clerk LaCinda Elgan is one of the few election administrators who has been in her position for more than a decade and has not been part of the significant turnover the election workforce has seen in the past four years. However, that could change if Elgan’s critics, who want to recall her because she pushed … [Read more...]
Pieces of Nevada’s history are endangered. Historians are raising awareness to help save them.
By Amy Alonzo The Nevada Independent Historic mining towns, Nevada’s famous dark skies, Indigenous American languages and early 20th Century motor courts all share something in common — they are threatened and, in some cases, in danger of disappearing. Preserve Nevada, the first statewide advocacy organization geared toward protecting Nevada’s cultural, historical and … [Read more...]
After delays, lawmakers release $56 million to fund educator raises at 7 districts
By Rocio Hernandez The Nevada Independent An interim legislative committee on Thursday approved about $56 million to fund additional raises for teachers and support staff at seven school districts, including three whose representatives returned before lawmakers for a second time after they faced application issues, questions on their plan for raises or tardiness at a … [Read more...]
KTMB announces monthly Saturday cleanups; first one will be March 2
Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful (KTMB) is kicking off Saturday morning monthly cleanups in Washoe County, giving more opportunities for the community to get involved in preserving the Truckee River and recreational spaces that surround it. The first cleanup will be held on Saturday, March 2 at the Oxbow Nature Study Area in Reno from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then the second one … [Read more...]
Sleeping in vehicles, on sidewalks a misdemeanor in Sparks
By Carly Sauvageau The Nevada Independent Sleeping on a sidewalk or in a vehicle on public property is now a criminal misdemeanor in Sparks after the city council voted unanimously Monday to approve an ordinance change. The ordinance, initially passed in August 2023 without much public outcry, was brought back to council members after city staff said the law needed … [Read more...]
‘I have something to give back:’How Washoe County’s interim registrar went from ice cream to elections
By Carly Sauvageau The Nevada Independent Cari-Ann Burgess’ favorite ice cream is vanilla soft serve mixed with a blue raspberry slushie, a concoction she consumed nearly every day while managing an ice cream shop in Ocean Isle Beach, a seaside town in North Carolina. This idyllic moment provides a stark contrast to her new reality: elections. Burgess was appointed to … [Read more...]