Nevada has joined an 18-state coalition that has filed suit against various federal land agencies for essentially rewriting the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) to in effect give themselves potential veto power over any use whatsoever on every square foot of rural land in the country. Though the ESA gives the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authority to protect “critical … [Read more...]
Trump Appointees May Hold Key to Nevada’s Economic Future
What does a Donald Trump presidency forebode for Nevada? It is hard to say, because Trump has never kept a firm grip on any political position for more than a few hours, seemingly changing stances depending on with whom he has spoken most recently. On the topic of who should control the public lands in Nevada — where currently 87 percent of the state’s land mass is … [Read more...]
Nevada Election Results: The Tail Wags the Dog
Welcome to the state of Clark. The land mass that is Clark County was added to Nevada three years after statehood, carved from a corner of Arizona. It was a part of Lincoln County until 1909, when the Legislature split off Clark County. Clark dangles on the map like a vestigial tail on the nether region of Nevada. On Election Day 2016, the tail wagged the dog. This … [Read more...]
Senate Candidates are on Opposite Ends of Political Spectrum
The race to fill the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Sen. Harry Reid offers voters a marked contrast in candidates, especially rural voters. Reid has handpicked former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to be his Democratic heir apparent, while Republicans have nominated Congressman Joe Heck, an emergency room physician by profession and a brigadier general in the … [Read more...]
Nevada Taking Lead in Challenging New Overtime Rule
New labor rules being arbitrarily foisted on the private and public sectors by the Obama administration in his final year in office will cost the economy $80 billion — nearly half of that, $33 billion, due to a new rule raising the number of workers who must be paid overtime by 12.5 million — and eliminate 150,000 jobs over the next decade, according to the the National … [Read more...]
Education Savings Accounts Not Yet Saved
Though the Nevada Supreme Court this past week jettisoned most of the arguments that somehow the state’s education savings account (ESA) law is unconstitutional, it still barred enforcement of the law, saying lawmakers failed to properly appropriate money for the ESAs. It is now up to lawmakers to fix that flaw. The justices found that Senate Bill 515, which sets aside … [Read more...]
Congressional Candidate Ruben Kihuen Tied to FBI Investigation
A public relations firm for which Congressional District 4 Democratic candidate Ruben Kihuen has been employed has received an FBI subpoena for records related to a probe of a Las Vegas city councilman, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper. The investigation into the handling of campaign funds by Las Vegas City Councilman Ricki Barlow has resulted in a … [Read more...]
Lawmakers Should Punt on Stadium Funding Plan
Gov. Brian Sandoval is calling the Legislature into special session in October to consider raising the room tax on Las Vegas tourists by almost 1 percentage point to put $750 million toward a $1.9 billion domed football stadium for the Oakland Raiders and the UNLV football team. So, why should anyone other than those tourists who will be shelling out a couple bucks more a … [Read more...]