Commentary
If you can’t beat ’em, nullify their votes: Trump’s latest suit against Nevada and its voters
Donald Trump along with the Republican National Committee and the Nevada Republican Party, both wholly owned Trump subsidiaries, sued Nevada Friday saying any mail ballots that are not received by or on Election Day must not be counted. Nevada law requires mail ballots to be counted as long as they are postmarked no later than […]
Calling Jeff Gunter a swamp creature would be an insult to swamp creatures
Jeff Gunter’s self-financed Senate campaign has thus far earned him little chance of winning the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen in the general election. But it has secured him a spot among the ranks of the most offensive office-seekers in Nevada political history. Last month Gunter ran an attack ad on the […]
Wanted: Transparency at the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN), which regulates utility companies like NV Energy and Southwest Gas, must consider the daily challenges of Nevadans when making decisions that will directly impact our lives. The PUCN serves as the regulatory body to ensure utility companies operate while serving the public interest of customers and shareholders. Last […]
A starfish and a mountain lion walk into a bar: A look at the dark side
Sixty years ago, an ecology professor from the University of Washington traveled to the Washington coastline to conduct a simple yet revealing experiment. He selected two separate distinct rocky patches of coastline with common characteristics. Each patch contained a similar mixture of marine organisms, ranging from limpets, snails, and mussel up to and including an […]
Tahoe planning group exerts outsized influence on legislative oversight committee
Overtourism, conflicts of interest, developer-initiated blight, vast pollution combined with microplastic contamination, and the lack of a comprehensive Tahoe basin evacuation plan are just some of the public safety and environmental problems raised by Tahoe residents during public comment at this year’s first two interim Nevada legislative oversight committee hearings. Unfortunately, members of the Legislative […]
Trust in the shadows: How loyalty fuels illicit economic transactions
When you think about economic activities that society tends to frown on – like offering bribes, paying for the services of a sex worker or even selling human organs – “trust” and “loyalty” might not be the first things that come to mind. But these seemingly positive characteristics play a key role in letting people […]
Cool. Now do transit for people who live here.
Both of the state’s U.S. Senators, three-fourths of Nevada’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, your governor, and several lesser mortals lined up together to get their pictures taken Monday at a groundbreaking ceremony for a high-speed train. Scheduled to begin operating in 2028, the Brightline train […]
Still can’t afford an EV? Here’s why.
It might seem like there’s never been a better time to buy an electric vehicle. If you go by the headlines, you might be forgiven for thinking you can afford to upgrade your old gas-guzzling sedan with a sleek new zero-emissions EV. And if you can’t, government rebates will knock thousands off the price tag, right? Well, not […]
Trump, RNC promise ‘aggressive’ election interference in battleground states
Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee on Friday announced a “100,000 person strong” program designed to harass election officials and their employees and discredit democracy in Nevada and a dozen other states. In a statement announcing its Orwellian named “election integrity program,” the RNC said it is “establishing a robust network of monitoring, and […]
Yucca 2025
Some Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives went full-on blast-from-the-past last week, re-upping the idea of putting the nation’s nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. And so at a Senate Energy Committee hearing Tuesday, Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto had U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm confirm yet again that nope, the Biden […]
Supreme Court to consider outlawing sleeping outside even if no inside space is available
Ed. note: Las Vegas and Henderson are among numerous cities nationwide that have filed amicus briefs in support of the Grants Pass law against sleeping in public even if people have nowhere else to go. On April 22, 2024, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could radically change how cities respond to the […]
Billionaires are bad for democracy. Taxing them is good for it.
A new, disturbing milestone has been confirmed in the latest Forbes World Billionaires List. The U.S. billionaire class is now larger and richer than ever, with 813 ten-figure oligarchs together holding $5.7 trillion. This is a $1.2 trillion increase from the year before — and a gargantuan $2.7 trillion increase since March 2020. The staggering upsurge shows […]