Housing policy experts warn that urban sprawl creates other problems, such as the lack of transportation infrastructure needed to connect people to jobs, food and other resources.  (Photo: Elizabeth Beard, Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Nevada’s housing crisis isn’t new, nor is the push by local and state elected officials to open up federal land beyond city limits to build more affordable units.

Yet land availability is just one part of the equation, and experts say the state would be better served focusing on permanent funding for affordable housing projects on available land within the metro area’s current boundaries.

As President Joe Biden made his way to Southern Nevada in March to speak on federal solutions to address the nationwide housing crisis, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo sent a letter criticizing the White House for not making more federal land available to build more housing.

“To address the housing crisis, the State of Nevada and our local communities need to access the land that is within their respective borders,” Lombardo wrote. “Unfortunately, we must rely on acts of Congress and severely backlogged federal agencies to secure the land necessary to grow. The federal process for privatizing land for development is too slow, too complex, and contributes to higher costs for Nevada families seeking homeownership.” 

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) estimates Nevada lacks more than 78,000 affordable homes for extremely low-income households, defined as those with incomes at or below the federal poverty level, which is about $31,000 for a family of four.

“At the end of the day, what makes affordable housing affordable is the financing,” said Wally Swenson, the vice president of corporate affairs at the nonprofit developer Nevada HAND, which builds affordable housing units. “For Nevada HAND and our developers’ perspective, it’s about having robust financial resources to build, it’s having affordable and available land to build on and it’s having favorable zoning.”

The American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law by Biden in 2021, allocated billions of dollars of federal funds to Nevada. 

Former Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, pledged $500 million of ARPA dollars for housing, which gave the state needed dollars to address financing gaps and either build or preserve affordable housing projects. 

Swenson said it created an unprecedented amount of funding for the development of affordable housing. But those dollars are finite and will only go so far.

Around 3,000 units are being built statewide using federal relief money.

“It’s not going to get us out of our crisis alone,” he said. “What we can do as a community is come together to identify the different ways to address this crisis, from land availability to making additional financing available to developers.”

Lombardo didn’t respond to the Current’s emailed questions about what specific proposals, if any, his office has looked at to address financing gaps in building and developing affordable housing projects.

Yonah Freemark, the research director for the Land Use Lab at the D.C. based economic think tank Urban Institute, said some communities throughout the country have looked at identifying new revenue sources, such as various tax increases, to fund affordable housing projects. 

Maurice Page, executive director of the Nevada Housing Coalition, said the coalition is “looking at best practices around the country” but isn’t ready to back a particular idea. 

He said the state could include looking at real estate taxes or property taxes. 

“We have to be very creative in where we can raise taxes without affecting our current workforce,” Page said. “We have to be able to offset some of these costs. These are issues where we have to be able to look at and analyze to see if that would be a win for us and a win for the state.”

Another area the policymakers should consider is seeking more support for housing from corporations when they locate to Nevada, and “seeing if they would be willing to put in their budgets money for housing for their workforce,” Page said. 

With the high volume of people in need of housing – Swenson said Nevada HAND gets thousands of inquiries every week – the state has reached “a point in time where every conversation should be on the table.”

“The conversation of tax increases have been thrown out by legislators in session,” Swenson said. “That hasn’t moved forward.”

‘You push up transportation costs’

Though land is needed to build more housing, not all types of land are the same. 

The majority of federally owned lands are on the perimeter of the Las Vegas Valley, meaning its development will result in more urban sprawl.

Housing policy experts warn that urban sprawl creates other problems, such as the lack of transportation infrastructure needed to connect people to jobs, food and other resources.  

“Land plays a huge part,” Page said. “Let’s not also forget the fact that when we’re opening up more land and trying to get homes built, we also look at the infrastructure. We have to look at child care, transportation, utilities. We have to look at all of that as well. All of that costs money.” 

Alex Horowitz, the project director of the Pew Charitable Trust Housing Policy Initiative, said the further people get from work, grocery stores and school, “even if you’re adding more housing you push up transportation costs.” 

“Transportation is often the second biggest item in a families budget after housing,” he said. “If you add housing further and further out from the places people go every day, that’s usually a recipe for extending commute and pushing up transportation costs.” 

Freemark added that just because federal land might be an option, “doesn’t mean we should necessarily build housing on it.”

“I do approach the use of federally owned lands with a bit more skepticism because it’s often going to result in negative outcomes for sensitive ecologies,” Freemark said. “And frankly, it’s going to encourage more driving.”

M.J. Maynard, the CEO with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, warned Clark County commissioners in April that future revenue projections indicate the agency could start seeing a $156.3 million deficit starting in 2028. 

Those projections are just for maintaining existing roadways.

Building housing on new federal land further away from city limits would also require building, and then maintaining, new roadways and transportation infrastructure. 

While there has been a push to use federal land, there are no parameters on the type of housing could be built there if freed up. 

The Current reached out to the Howard Hughes Corporation, a real estate developer that has built master planned communities like Summerlin, to see how making more federal land available would affect their ability to develop more housing. 

They declined to comment.

Swenson said Nevada HAND’s model is to identify infill development, which utilizes existing urban spaces. The nonprofit developer, he said, has worked with local governments to address zoning barriers to build more units. 

Horowitz said there are still more solutions cities and states can research to address its housing shortage. 

“We see states making sure certain types of housing are not prohibitive by localities that have adopted exclusionary zoning,” he said, referring to laws that restrict the types of homes that can be built. “Nine states have legalized accessory dwelling units when a single family house or duplex usually has a basement or backyard apartment or they can convert a garage into an apartment.” 

Horowitz points out the City of Las Vegas is triple the size of Paris, which he added “has more than triple the population of Las Vegas.”

It’s possible to build more housing within the city limits. 

“Even though sometimes cities, you hear people say if the city is built out because if there isn’t a lot of open space or green fields to build on, we see jurisdictions can succeed at adding housing within city limits,” he said. “Often that means people can live closer to the places they go every day.”

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Lake Mead is currently only at 36% capacity. (Photo: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Federal resource managers announced $99 million in funding for a large-scale water recycling project that will save enough water in Lake Mead to serve nearly 500,000 households in Southern California and Southern Nevada annually.

The Department of the Interior announced Tuesday that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will receive millions in funding for the planning and design of the state’s Pure Water Southern California facility, a planned regional large-scale water recycling project.

When completed, the Pure Water project will produce 150 million gallons of purified water every day, enough to meet the demands of 470,000 households in Southern California and Southern Nevada annually. That water would be piped for industrial use and to replenish groundwater basins, which provide well water.

Construction could begin as soon as 2026 and the first water could be delivered in 2032, according to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

The project is a partnership between the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to create reliable and resilient water supplies for Southern California and Nevada, reduce demand on the Colorado River, and keep water in Lake Mead.

In 2021, the Southern Nevada Water Authority agreed to invest $750 million into the water recycling project. In return for the investment, Southern Nevada will get a share of California’s water in Lake Mead. The Southern Nevada Water Authority also agreed to invest $6 million for environmental planning of the project.

“Water is essential to everything we do,” said Secretary Deb Haaland in a statement Tuesday. “As the climate crisis drives severe drought conditions across the West, it will take all of us working together to safeguard our communities and enhance water reliability.”

Southern Nevada water users consume 89 gallons per person per day. Projected growth for the region can only remain sustainable if water use is cut to 86 gallons per person per day by 2035, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. State water managers have said water recycling will play a major role in reaching those sustainability projections.

Lake Mead is currently only at 36% capacity due to decades of drought in the west and the Upper Colorado Basin, a major water source for the Colorado River and the reservoir. 

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton made the announcement during a visit to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Tuesday, where she announced a total of $179 million in funding for water recycling and drought resilience projects for four projects in California and Utah.

Over the next five years, the Bureau of Reclamation will invest $8.3 billion for water infrastructure projects in western states, including water storage, conservation, water purification, and water recycling. Since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed in November 2021, Reclamation has announced more than $3.5 billion for more than 530 projects. 

“These historic investments will add a significant tool to our toolbox to bolster drought resilience in communities across the country,” said Touton in a statement.

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto praised the funding Tuesday. Cortez Masto pushed for securing funding for the Department of the Interior’s large-scale water recycling program as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“Addressing drought in the West and protecting Nevada’s water supply will require all of us to work together on innovative, sustainable solutions,” said Cortez Masto in a statement.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Southern Nevada water users consume 110 gallons per person per day. It’s been corrected to 89 gallons per person per day.

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Recent investigations have revealed that many rail companies systematically neglect crucial maintenance and push back against regulations that would mandate more rigorous safety checks and infrastructure investments. (Photo: Thomas WInz/Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

As ambitious rail projects like Brightline West push forward, Nevada stands at a critical crossroads in terms of infrastructure growth and rail safety. It’s been a year since Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed Assembly Bill 456—a bill that aimed to strengthen rail safety protocols—and the risks that haunt our tracks are not just lingering; they are intensifying. In a state known for its high stakes, gambling with rail safety seems a perilous bet we continue to make.

In addition to Amtrak trains already operating through our state, the Brightline West project will transport the most precious cargo carried by rail: people. With this fact in mind, we simply cannot continue to gamble with rail safety—the stakes are too high.

AB 456 was designed as a comprehensive response to the escalating dangers in our rail systems, featuring crucial measures like train length limitations, improved defect detection, and provisions to clear blocked crossings. These are not mere regulatory tweaks; they are lifesaving necessities, underscored by a series of derailments in and around Nevada. Each incident serves as a grim reminder of what is at stake: fiery derailments and blocked crossings that jeopardize lives and fracture communities.

Recent investigative reports, including those by ProPublica, have highlighted a national crisis in rail safety, detailing systemic failures that lead to catastrophic accidents. These investigations have revealed that many rail companies systematically neglect crucial maintenance and push back against regulations that would mandate more rigorous safety checks and infrastructure investments.

In Nevada, the situation is dire. U.S. Congressman Mark Amodei, echoing the frustrations of many Nevadans, has criticized Union Pacific for its abysmal communication and negligence, particularly around the issue of blocked crossings. These blocked crossings are not just inconvenient; they are dangerous, preventing emergency responders from reaching crises swiftly, which could be the difference between life and death.

Furthermore, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently had to suspend its safety assessment of Union Pacific—one of the nation’s largest railroads—after uncovering that the company coached employees on how to respond to safety interviews. This coaching was widespread across Union Pacific’s 23-state network, which includes Nevada, severely undermining the authenticity of safety culture assessments. Such deceit not only skews the data that regulators rely on to assess and enhance safety but also indicates a deep-rooted culture of complacency and manipulation underpinning corporate operations.

As railroads continue to boast of rising profits amidst declining revenues—the unsustainability of this is a topic for another discussion—their repeated appearances in the halls of Nevada’s government expressing cries that they cannot afford to invest more in safety are both intolerable and unacceptable.

The pervasive influence of rail lobbyists is a significant barrier to safety improvements. Their sway in stifling regulation is powerful, as evidenced by the stalled reforms even after high-profile derailments that have captured national attention. The lobbyists’ efforts ensure that profits continue to override public safety, keeping essential safety measures like AB 456 from becoming law.

As we observe the somber anniversary of AB 456’s veto, it’s crucial that we confront the reality of our legislative landscape. Nevada must not only reinstate measures proposed in AB 456 but also champion new initiatives that place safety at the forefront of rail operations. Our state should lead by example, showing that despite its reputation for gaming, it does not gamble with the safety of its citizens.

Looking ahead, particularly with the Brightline West project, Nevada has a unique opportunity to redefine rail safety standards. We must implement a proactive approach to safety, not just for Nevada but as a model for the nation. This means extensive oversight, transparent operations, and a legislative backbone strong enough to stand up to corporate pressure.

As the tracks of progress are laid down, let’s ensure they are not only fast and efficient but also safe and secure. Nevada has the chance now to place a winning bet on the lives and safety of our residents. It’s time for a shift in priorities—from corporate profits to public safety—and for Nevada to establish itself as a leader in rail safety innovation.

The post Rolling the dice on rail safety: Nevada’s high-stakes legislative gamble appeared first on Nevada Current.

Former U.S. Capitol Police officers Michael Fanone and Harry Dunn, who were overwhelmed by the mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6, are interviewed during former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 28, 2024 in New York City. Closing arguments were under way. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

WASHINGTON — Closing arguments in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president concluded Tuesday, leaving the jury to now decide if Donald Trump is guilty of faking reimbursement to his personal lawyer for hush money paid to a porn star just before the 2016 presidential election.

Just outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse during summations, the campaign to reelect President Joe Biden  held a press conference featuring actor Robert DeNiro and two former U.S. Capitol Police officers who were overwhelmed by the angry mob of Trump supporters who stormed the building on Jan. 6, 2021.

DeNiro bickered with a heckler and the Trump campaign then followed with its own press conference.

The trial’s final day of arguments wrapped up after nearly eight hours of closing arguments, during which the defense portrayed Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen as the “M.V.P. of liars” and Trump as a victim of extortion and too busy a leader in 2017 to understand the payments to Cohen.

Meanwhile, the prosecution walked jurors through excruciating details of events and witness testimony to show that Trump’s objective, along with those in his orbit, was to “hoodwink the American voter” leading up to the 2016 election, according to reporters at the courthouse.

New York does not allow recording in the courtroom but provides public transcripts of the proceedings. States Newsroom covered the trial in person on May 20.

Trump, the presumed 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is charged with 34 felonies, one for each of the 11 invoices, 11 checks, and 12 ledger entries that New York state prosecutors allege were cooked-up as routine “legal expenses,” hiding what were really reimbursements to Cohen for paying off adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Daniels, also an adult film director, testified in early May to a 2006 sexual encounter at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament with Trump, which he maintains never happened.

Cohen, the prosecution’s key witness, later told the jurors that he wired Daniels $130,000 to secure her signature on a nondisclosure agreement in late October 2016, and that Trump was aware.

Cohen’s payment swiftly followed the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump was recorded telling a TV host that his fame allows him to grab women by the genitals.

The revelation spun Trump’s campaign into a frenzy over possibly losing women voters, additional witnesses testified.

Further, Cohen testified that Trump was present during conversations to hatch a plan with the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, to repay Cohen under the guise of “legal expenses.” Cohen would eventually receive a grossed-up sum of $420,000 to account for a bonus and taxes.

The hush money trial, which began in mid-April, is likely the only one to occur prior to the November election. Three other criminal cases against the former president, two federal and one in Georgia, remain stalled.

Throughout the six-week trial, jurors heard from nearly two dozen witnesses called by the prosecution to establish Trump’s history of working to suppress negative stories.

David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher, testified to coordinating with Trump and Cohen earlier in 2016 to pay off former Playboy model Karen McDougal and bury her story of an alleged affair with Trump.

In his closing statements, Trump attorney Todd Blanche addressed the jury for nearly three hours, arguing that Trump made no such effort to influence the 2016 election by “unlawful means.”

Blanche told the jurors to put the idea of a conspiracy aside, emphasizing that the existence of a nondisclosure agreement is “not a crime.” Working with editors to buy sources’ silence and bury stories was routine, Blanche said.

“Every campaign in this country is a conspiracy,” he told the jurors, according to reporters at the courthouse.

While no hard contract existed between Trump and Cohen at the time, Blanche argued that the two had entered into an “oral” retainer agreement, and that Cohen was lying about how much work he was actually doing for Trump.

By the time Trump reached the Oval Office and personally signed nine of the 11 checks for Cohen, the then-president was too busy “running the country” to realize what he was signing, Blanche said.

As for the classification of the payments on the ledger, Blanche argued that the Trump Organization’s software featured limited dropdown menu categories, and that “legal expenses” was one of the options.

Blanche’s closing statements were largely dominated by his effort to persuade jurors that Cohen’s testimony could not be trusted.

“There is no way that you can find that President Trump knew about this payment at the time it was made without believing the words of Michael Cohen — period,” Blanche told the jurors, according to reporters in the courtroom.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 for lying to Congress.

Using another sports metaphor, Blanche told jurors that Cohen is the “G.L.O.A.T.”

“He’s literally the greatest liar of all time,” Blanche said.

He closed by urging the jurors to not send Trump “to prison” based on Cohen’s testimony.

Justice Juan Merchan admonished Blanche for mentioning prison, pointing out that a guilty verdict does not necessarily mean prison time. Merchan told the jurors to disregard that “improper” comment, according to reporters at the courthouse.

‘The only one who’s paid the price’

For just under five hours, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass led jurors through his closing argument, clocking the longest day of the trial.

Steinglass started off by telling them the prosecution only needs to prove the following: There were false business records used as part of the conspiracy and that Trump knew about them.

Steinglass reviewed earlier evidence presented to the jury — phone records, handwritten notes, recorded phone conversations and checks bearing Trump’s own signature. He also recalled the damning testimony of several Trump allies, including Pecker, the publisher.

“The conspiracy to unlawfully influence the 2016 election — you don’t need Michael Cohen to prove that one bit,” Steinglass said, according to reporters at the courthouse.

Steinglass leaned into Cohen’s seedy past, including his lying to Congress and his jail time for campaign finance violations related to hush money payments to women who alleged extramarital affairs with Trump.

These actions, he said, were taken on Trump’s behalf to defend and shield him; the irony, Steinglass said, is now they are being used against Cohen, again, to protect Trump.

Cohen transformed from a loyal Trump ally into a bitter foe who has published books titled “Disloyal” and “Revenge,” and produces a podcast called “Mea Culpa” on which he regularly lambastes Trump.

Cohen is “understandably angry that to date, he’s the only one who’s paid the price for his role in this conspiracy,” Blanche told the jurors, according to reporters, who noted Trump was shaking his head.

Steinglass attempted to humanize Cohen for the jurors, telling them one can “hardly blame” the former fixer — who now has a criminal record and no law license — for selling merchandise including t-shirts depicting Trump in an orange prison jumpsuit.

Steinglass also refuted the defense’s argument that Trump’s actions ahead of the 2016 were routine, describing the National Enquirer as “a covert arm” of the Trump campaign and “the very antithesis of a normal legitimate press function.”

“Everything Mr. Trump and his cohorts did in this case was cloaked in lies,” Steinglass said nearing the end of his closing statement. “The name of the game was concealment, and all roads lead to the man who benefited the most, Donald Trump.”

On the sidewalk just outside the New York County Supreme Court, the Biden campaign deployed DeNiro, the voice of the latest campaign ad, and former U.S. Capitol Police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone. The officers are campaigning for Biden in battleground states, the campaign said in a press release.

The campaign’s Michael Tyler, communications director, introduced the trio and said they were not in Manhattan because of the trial proceedings, but rather because that’s where the media is concentrated.

Loud protesters, whom DeNiro called “crazy,” competed with the speakers.

“Donald Trump has created this,” DeNiro said, pointing to the demonstrators. “He wants to sow total chaos, which he’s succeeding in some areas … I love this city, and I don’t want to destroy it. Donald Trump wants to destroy, not only this city, but the country, and eventually he could destroy the world.”

“These guys are the true heroes,” De Niro said, pointing to Dunn and Fanone behind him. “They stood and put their lives on the line for these low lives, for Trump.”

A protester then interrupted DeNiro to call the officers “traitors.”

“I don’t even know how to deal with you, my friend,” DeNiro snapped back during the livestreamed event.

Both Dunn and Fanone testified two years ago before lawmakers investigating the violent mob that overran the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress gathered for a joint session to certify Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. Trump still falsely claims he won the election.

Trump’s campaign immediately followed with its own press conference.

Jason Miller, senior adviser to Trump, held up Tuesday’s copy of the New York Post bearing the headline “Nothing to Bragg About,” a play on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s name.

“Everybody knows this case is complete garbage,” Miller said. “President Trump did nothing wrong. This is all politics.”

On Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, the former president posted “BORING!” in all capital letters during a break in the Steinglass summation.

Late Monday, Trump posted in all caps a complaint about the order in which closing arguments would occur — a routine, well-established series of remarks in trials.

“WHY IS THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT ALLOWED TO MAKE THE FINAL ARGUMENT IN THE CASE AGAINST ME? WHY CAN’T THE DEFENSE GO LAST? BIG ADVANTAGE, VERY UNFAIR. WITCH HUNT!” he wrote.

The post The jury now will decide Trump’s fate in hush money trial, after lengthy closing arguments appeared first on Nevada Current.

(Photo: Hugh Jackson/Nevada Current)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

A current employee at Vegas PBS has filed a discrimination complaint against the station, saying she’s risking her job because she wants to bring attention to “a culture of retaliation and racism.”

Vegas PBS Director of Marketing Terry Chi in September filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC) alleging systemic racism, retaliation against a whistleblower and workplace mobbing, or collective abuse from managers to force people out of work. She said she also contacted multiple departments at national PBS, including the diversity council, who have declined to become involved.

Vegas PBS is a public television station that reaches 400,000 weekly viewers in four Nevada counties, as well as portions of Utah, California and Arizona. It is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service and receives public funds under the federal Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, whose mission includes creating “programs addressing the needs and interests of minorities.”

Vegas PBS’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadcast license is held by the elected members of the Clark County School District Board of Trustees. Vegas PBS employees are employees of the school district, though the station operates mostly independently.

In 2023, Vegas PBS had a roughly $15 million budget, including $1.7 million in unrestricted federal grants, $8.3 million from local government appropriations, $109,000 from state funds and $32,000 from federal sources.

Chi, who is Chinese American, said the opportunity to work at a PBS member station was a “dream” because shows such as “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” and “Sesame Street” shaped her childhood and helped her learn English. But it quickly transformed into a “nightmare” that led to a vertigo diagnosis and daily heart palpitations.

“When I started, I was for several months the pet,” she said. “But quickly after a few months, I could start feeling the daggers in my back.”

‘Dismissed, disrespected, discounted, marginalized’

Chi was hired by Vegas PBS as director of marketing by President and General Manager Mary “Mare” Mazur in early 2022. 

Now Chi points to Mazur as the main reason she is speaking out. Over her roughly two years with Vegas PBS, Mazur issued Chi 15 disciplinary write-ups and multiple negative performance reviews, called three investigative hearings in front of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees (CCASAPE) union and CCSD Human Resources. She said Mazur also barred her from the Vegas PBS annual fundraising gala and “all major donor events,” which was followed by a 5-day suspension without pay.

Chi alleges the acts were in retaliation for questions about taking on extra work outside of her job description, such as membership department duties, and for objecting to racist comments.

“I didn’t work this hard in my life to be dismissed, disrespected, discounted, marginalized,” Chi said, who prior to joining Vegas PBS worked in the private sector for three decades. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

On May 19, 2022, Chi gave a presentation to the Southern Nevada Public Television (SNPT) Board, the appointed board that helps the station secure financial and volunteer support. It was later relayed to Chi, through Mazur, that in response to her presentation, Kim Walker, the board treasurer, said “Terry’s presentation was great… I wouldn’t want to meet her in a back alley.”

Chi said she immediately construed the remark as “loaded with unconscious bias, [that was made] because she is a smart, articulate Asian woman.” She said the concern was ignored by Mazur who told her to take the remark made by Walker as a compliment. 

When Chi refused to do so, she said Mazur retaliated against her through write-ups and punitive work actions. 

Walker and Mazur, who were college roommates, declined to participate in this story. Mazur was also elected to the SNPT Board last year.

According to CCSD policy, “offensive and unwelcome jokes” constitute unlawful discrimination or harassment. It also states that the CCSD Human Resources Department of Diversity and Affirmative Action is responsible for ensuring that “all persons can … work in dignity and security and are not required to endure insulting, degrading, harassing or exploitative treatment.”

Chi said after she called out what she believed was racism within the organization, things quickly began to go downhill.

“Vegas PBS and the Clark County School District has been the most racist and discriminatory environment I’ve ever experienced,” Chi said.

She filed a 35-page complaint with CCSD that documents more than three dozen allegations, including six claims of racism, two dozen accusations of retaliation, four claims that allege CCSD has enabled illegal work actions, including against a whistleblower, and one instance in which she was pressured to feel unwelcome by colleagues at a “non-work related luncheon.” Chi also wrote in the complaint that her name was removed from an award submission for “The Great Vegas Recipe” program that she produced and won an Emmy for.

Chi’s name was reinstated after the Emmy Board of Directors opened an investigation.

CCSD declined to comment on the allegations and as to whether there is an investigation into the claims.

“The workplace mobbing and the dehumanization of people of color whose lives and livelihoods are ruined without conscience is what racism looks like in the workplace,” Chi said.

Before coming to Nevada, Mazur was general manager at Arizona PBS. Ebonye Delaney, a former assistant production manager who worked under Mazur in Arizon, said Mazur interacted with her in a “drastically different” tone than with another Black woman on staff: “With me, she was very short and seemed to, just not particularly care for my dress or my appearance.”

Delaney is dark-skinned and wears her hair naturally, later transitioning into dreadlocks. She said on multiple occasions Mazur micro-aggressed by highlighting “our socio-economic differences” and dredging up “uncomfortable cultural conversations.”

“She’s not gonna outright call you a name,” Delaney said. “But it’s in her interactions with people – how she treats people, as she talks to them.”

Workplace mobbing

Chi alleges Mazur does not extend contracts beyond the probationary period for directors of color. Instead, she retained or promoted only white workers whom she identifies with.

“She surrounded herself with people who are like her,” said one former Vegas PBS employee who requested anonymity out of fear speaking publicly would affect their career. 

They said Mazur “rules by fear” and restructured the chain of command so that directors report to two directors, instead of the general manager.

Jennifer McGrew Shell, a former Vegas PBS project manager for the educational media services department, echoed allegations of retaliation and bullying at Vegas PBS. She is a white woman who worked under a director.

McGrew Shell said she was the victim of retaliation and workplace bullying which led her to file a 200-page grievance alleging a hostile work environment to CCASAPE, in March 2022, after working there for nearly three years. She said after filing a complaint with human resources in December 2021, she received a write-up once a month until her contract ended in June and her evaluations went from above average to unprofessional.

McGrew Shell wrote in the complaint to the union that her director created a culture of “fear, oppression and hostility” in the workplace. According to emails, the union determined McGrew Shell was dealing with “supervisory professionalism” rather than a hostile work environment, and told her the issue had to be “addressed by those who are within you/your supervisor’s chain of command.”

“It is the worst situation I’ve ever experienced – as a 60-year old woman – in my life,” McGrew Shell said.

Chi, who serves on the CCSD Superintendent’s Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, believes part of the solution has to include changing the policy at CCSD regarding probation periods for Vegas PBS administrators.

Vegas PBS employees have a 3-year probation period, which Chi thinks is excessive and harmful to workers, especially Black and brown people. Under Nevada statute, workers do not “have a right to employment” during the probationary period.

She hopes to work with lawmakers for the next several years until the policy is changed.

“The unions say, ‘We can’t protect you. You’re on probation,’” said Chi. “Well… Why are we paying you dues if you can’t protect our jobs?”

According to Jeff Horn, head of CCASAPE, all union members get equal protection while paying dues: “There is not a lot of protection during the probationary period,” he said via email. “However … if a probationary administrator is non-renewed without discipline or ineffective evaluation, CCASAPE would challenge.”

Chi’s contract will terminate at the end of June based on poor performance reviews.

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(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Parents in Nevada will have to wait until September to receive benefits from a popular free food program designed to cover kids during summer vacation.

Earlier this year, Nevada signed up for the first new federally funded nutrition program in decades, which established a permanent summer nutrition assistance program for children out of school for the summer.

The new federal nutrition program, known as Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (SEBT), will provide families with $40 in food benefits per eligible child, per month, for the three month summer period. 

But those summer benefits won’t make it to Nevada households until September, according to the Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services, which runs the program.

State health officials said the program was delayed until September, because the agency has not yet secured the state funding needed to run the program. However, the Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services said they are confident the $6 million needed to cover the program’s administrative costs will be approved by lawmakers during the Interim Finance Committee in June. 

“We just need to get our funding approved first,” said Kristle Muessle, a public information officer for the Nevada Division of Welfare and Support Services. “Once we have that, we’ll be able to get the system updates going, and get those contracts going.”

Although the program is largely funded by the federal government, states need to pay half the cost of administering the program.

Payments will be distributed in one lump sum to eligible households with children from Pre-K through the 12th grade. State health officials estimate that 350,000 children in Nevada will be eligible for the summer food benefits program.

The first round of summer benefits starting in September will automatically be distributed to children living in households already participating in other income-based federal assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Nevada Medicaid.

Households with children identified by the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) as eligible for the free and reduced lunch program will also automatically receive benefits in the first round of payments in September.

Those benefits will be deposited on existing SNAP or TANF cards as part of a household’s monthly benefits. State officials noted that not all children will receive their benefits at the same time.

For families who do not receive SNAP or TANF benefits, pre-loaded SEBT cards will be sent by mail starting in mid-September. SEBT cards will be mailed to the last known address the parent or guardian provided when enrolling their child in school. 

Parents who have recently moved will need to contact the school their child is currently enrolled in, prior to June 10, 2024, and provide them with a current address or mailing address to ensure they receive the summer food benefits when they are finally available in September, warned the Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services.

Children in households that are not already participating in other income-based federal assistance programs will receive their summer benefits at a later date. However, that later date has not been determined yet, according to the Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services.

Nevada also has several nutrition food programs for families who need assistance over the summer.  The Clark County School District (CCSD) announced it will serve breakfast and lunch meals to all students through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) at several locations throughout southern Nevada. A list of locations can be found here.

Summer meals served by CCSD schools will be available from May 21 to June 14, before returning from June 17 to July 17. Due to the terms of the CCSD Summer Food Service Program, all meals provided by CCSD must be consumed on-site. 

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada’s also offers free breakfast and lunch meals  to children 2-18 years old throughout summer break. A list of locations can be found here. 

The Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (SEBT) is a much needed boost for states that have seen food insecurity rise in recent years. 

Earlier this month, data released by Three Square Food Bank revealed that food insecurity in Clark, Nye, Esmerelda and Lincoln counties rose from 12% in 2022 to 14.7% in 2023. An estimated 14.6% of Clark County residents were food insecure, up from 12% the previous year. 

The highest rates are among Esmeralda and Nye counties, at 18.4% and 17.3% respectively. Both counties had a 13.9% rate the previous year.

The report also found that rates among children spiked from 17.8% in 2023 to 22%. Roughly one in five children, about 115,000 children, live in food-insecure households.

While Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed a bill in 2023 that would have provided universal free lunch for K-12 students, the SEBT program will provide much needed additional funding for childhood nutrition programs.

Last month, Democratic lawmakers also criticized Lombardo for pressuring the legislature to fund the states administrative costs related to the SEBT program from an emergency contingency account, rather than reallocating unspent American Rescue Plan Act money.

Using the emergency contingency fund for the EBT programs’ $6 million administrative needs would leave the fund with an $11 million balance–considered too low by lawmakers.

During the legislative session, $9 million in ARPA funding was set aside for the universal free lunch program, which was ultimately left unspent after Lombardo vetoed the free school lunch bill. 

Lawmakers said they intended to use part of the $9 million in unspent ARPA funds to cover the $6 million needed for administrative costs related to the SEBT program.

The post Summer EBT won’t go out until September appeared first on Nevada Current.

Former NBA player Royce White addresses a crowd after the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright in April 2021. (Photo: Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, former NBA player Royce White became an outspoken advocate of defunding the police. Over those ensuing months, he appeared at a number of protests and marches in Minnesota – demonstrations that conservative politicians and pundits excoriated.

Four years later, White accepted the endorsement of the Minnesota GOP in the state’s 2024 U.S. Senate race.

In the interim, White had appeared on the show of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, where he decried the “establishment” and “corporatocracy.” While on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, he complained that women “had become too mouthy.” Elsewhere, he lambasted the LGBTQ+ movement as “Luciferian” and described Israel as the vanguard of a “new world order.”

White’s transition from an NBA player who advocated for progressive causes to an acolyte of Jones is more common than you might think.

Many people might associate conspiracy theories with certain demographics or political leanings. But the reality is far more nuanced, with emerging research finding that there is far more diversity among conspiracists than scholars previously thought.

Conspiracy theories are just as likely to be held by your MAGA-hat wearing uncle as they are your best friend who’s a fan of the band Phish and goes to CrossFit three times a week.

Entering the margins

For the past four and a half years, I’ve immersed myself in spaces occupied by conspiracy theorists.

What began as an attempt to understand the QAnon conspiracy movement quickly expanded into an exploration of a wide range of alternative belief systems.

These include, but are not limited to, discredited intellectuals who promote race science; butthole sunners who believe that by harnessing the sun’s rays, they live longer; and semen retention enthusiasts, which is a practice that discourages ejaculation as a way to boost testosterone levels.

Most researchers have understood conspiracy theories and alternative beliefs as being a product of poor education or misinformation spread on social media. But recent research has found that support for them exists regardless of educational level or income. Some of the most privileged people in U.S. society hold deeply conspiratorial beliefs, as do sports fans, yogis and video game enthusiasts.

While some many say that believing in UFOs or Bigfoot may not be that big of a problem, these ideas can lead to real-world harms. Butthole sunning, for example, has been linked with cancer.

By understanding how conspiracy theories and alternative belief systems intersect and evolve over time, you can see how anyone – no matter their political leanings – can become subsumed by them.

Forbidden knowledge

Different conspiracy theories, forms of psuedoscience and discredited beliefs – such as the notion that the Earth is flat – occupy the same space.

They are part of a collective waste bin of discarded ideas, a phenomenon that political scientist Michale Barkun characterizes as “stigmatized knowledge.” Because they’ve been discredited by mainstream institutions, they often only emerge on the fringes of society.

Certain stigmatized narratives can also become tools wielded by politicians and media influencers who will say or do anything to make money and gain power.

For example, in their book “Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat,” Derek Berry, Matthew Remski and Julien Walker document the ways in which contemporary New Age spiritualism has been hijacked by social media influencers, who have then gone on to promote vaccine misinformation and foment government mistrust.

Social media platforms provide financial incentives for individuals creating the most engaging content. Of course, what’s engaging is not necessarily what’s accurate or truthful. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these influencers became popular by suggesting that they had “sacred” or “secret” knowledge on how to defeat the virus.

It’s one way people can go from embracing seemingly harmless ideas, like Bigfoot, to becoming open to more radical beliefs like the Great Replacement Theory, which is the conspiracy theory that illegal immigrants are colluding with Democrats to change the racial demographics of America and, in doing so, shape future elections.

The intersection of politics and alternative beliefs is not a recent phenomenon.

Some of these beliefs, like the imaginary continent of Atlantis, were used by the Nazi party to create a link to a mythical pure race. Indeed, a key component of the Nazi’s rise to power was the promotion of ideas that today would be described as New Age mysticism – a spiritual movement that emphasizes magical experiences and the notion that spiritual forces connect everything in the universe.

The complexity of conspiracists

While many pundits point to white Christian nationalists as the group most susceptible to conspiracies – and there is some truth to this claim – it’s important to pay attention to others who possess conspiratorial ideas.

The anti-vaccine movement is now a pet issue for many on the right, but it first gained notoriety among wealthy liberals. One of the most visible promoters of the movement is current presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Jacob Chansley, also known as the “QAnon Shaman,” is another well-known example of this juxtaposition: He’s been seen protesting on behalf of both right- and left-wing causes and was at the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol.

A 2021 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 23% of Republicans believe that “the government, media and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.”

The number might seem high, but probably isn’t all that surprising: It’s one of the core tenants of the right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory. But I found the survey’s other findings somewhat startling – that 8% of self-identified Democrats and 14% of independents also agreed with that statement.

Where do we go from here?

While seemingly unrelated at first glance, conspiracy theories such as QAnon and alternative wellness practices such as drinking urine share common themes. Namely, they’re united by distrust in mainstream institutions. They long for alternative belief systems that confirm their existing beliefs and ignore contradicting evidence.

Being critical of those in positions of power is a healthy thing, but there are times in which trust in leadership makes sense – like listening to firefighters evacuating a building or public health officials during a global pandemic.

In fairness, the number of Americans who believe in conspiracy theories does not seem to be rising. At the same time, conspiracies were a core motivator for many of the Jan 6 protesters who attempted to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power.

As the contributors to my forthcoming edited essay collection argue, conspiracy-laden narratives not only undermine societal institutions, but they also strain relationships with fellow citizens. They train people to be suspicious of trusted sources of information – and suspicious of one another.

None of that bodes well for liberal democracy.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The Gemini facility scheduled to begin operation this year near Las Vegas, with a planned solar capacity of nearly 700 megawatts and battery storage capacity of up to 380 megawatts, is expected to become the nation’s largest solar project. (Image: Primergy Solar construction simulation presentation of Gemini project)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

With some parts of the country already facing heat waves, the organization in charge of setting reliability standards for the American electric grid is warning that a scorching summer could lead to a shortage of power generation in some regions.

The warning comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there’s a 99% chance that 2024 will rank among the five warmest years on record and 55% chance it will be the hottest on record.

Overall, though, the analysis by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation painted a rosier picture than last year’s report, in part because of a surge in solar power development.

The nation has enough energy supply to handle normal peak demand, called “load” in the electric industry, largely because of 25 gigawatts of new solar power capacity — at full capacity that’s the rough equivalent maximum output of 25 large fossil or nuclear power plants. (The number of homes that can be powered from one gigawatt of solar can vary widely across the country). But the new panels have helped move some areas from what NERC calls “elevated risk” of power shortfalls in last year’s analysis  to “normal risk” this year.

“Resource additions are providing needed capacity to keep up with rising peak demand in most areas,” Mark Olson, the organization’s manager of reliability assessments, told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday. New power transfer agreements, growth in demand response programs, which incentivize customers to reduce power usage during times of grid stress, and delayed power plant retirements “are also contributing to an overall improved resource outlook for the upcoming summer,” NERC says.

A solar surge

A separate FERC staff presentation said solar will make up 10% of overall national electric generation capacity by the end of this summer, with natural gas providing 42%, coal providing 14% and wind power at 13%.

Solar power is growing fast across the country, with the U.S. hitting five million total solar installations (most of them residential), per the Solar Energy Industries Association. Reaching that milestone took 50 years, but the industry group projects that hitting 10 million solar installations will only take six years. Solar power for the first time accounted for more than half of new electric generation capacity added in 2023, the group noted.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects “a record addition” of new utility-scale solar power this year, with about 36.4 gigawatts projected to be installed. More than half of that new capacity is planned for Texas, California and Florida.The Gemini Solar facility, scheduled to begin operation this year about 30 miles northwest of Las Vegas, with a planned solar capacity of nearly 700 megawatts and battery storage capacity of up to 380 megawatts, is expected to become the nation’s largest solar project.

Battery storage is also growing rapidly, with more than 14 gigawatts expected to be added this year, according to the EIA. Batteries complement solar generation well, since solar’s peak production doesn’t generally line up with peak demand on the grid, which happens later in the day. Batteries allow excess solar power to be banked for when it’s needed.

But a changing power mix also comes with new challenges and risks, NERC warned.

In his presentation to FERC, Olson said that while the overall summer electric reliability outlook has improved, some regions are seeing what he described as growing risks during extreme weather.

“Shortages could occur when demand is high and solar, wind or hydro output are low,” he said.

Those regions include parts of the Midwest and South in the grid area managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, New England, Texas, much of the Southwest and California. Grid operators, though, are becoming increasingly adept at planning and running electric grids with large amounts of intermittent resources.

“It’s refreshing to finally get the recognition that renewables can help with reliability,” said Simon Mahan, executive director of the Southern Renewable Energy Association.

Shifting seasons and climate change

While most of the country has historically been “summer-peaking,” meaning regions hit their highest demand for electricity during the summer months, some areas are increasingly seeing demand spike in winter, a trend that is expected to continue as result of heating electrification, other decarbonization policies and more extreme, protracted cold weather events. Indeed, the majority of recent electric grid failures have been during severe winter weather, such as Winter Storm Elliott in 2022, which caused blackouts in several southern states and Uri in 2021, which caused a catastrophic collapse of the Texas electric grid that caused an estimated 246 deaths.

But summer heat still poses risks, NERC says, contributing to both high demand and power plant outages, such as at natural gas power plants.

“Last summer brought record temperatures, extended heat waves and wildfires to large parts of North America,” the organization said. And though energy emergency alerts were few and no electricity supply interruptions happened as a result of insufficient power resources, grid operators “faced significant challenges and drew upon procedures and protocols to obtain all available resources, manage system demand and ensure that energy is delivered over the transmission network to meet the system demand.” Utilities and state and local officials in many areas also “used mechanisms and public appeals to lower customer demand during periods of strained supplies,” NERC added.

Christy Walsh, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Sustainable FERC Project, said the reliability reports show how climate change is central to the pressures facing the electric grid.

“And it needs to be at the center of our solutions too,” she said in a statement to States Newsroom. “Earlier and more intense hurricanes brought on by increasing sea temperatures are a new and noteworthy concern, and this underscores the need for more large-scale transmission and connections between regions. Most of the new additions were wind, solar and storage, and last summer especially we saw just how crucial these resources can be during extreme heat events. We need to make sure we have a grid that can withstand the weather and move resources around during times of stress.”

The post New solar will help keep power on during scorching summer, report says appeared first on Nevada Current.

(Sam Brown campaign photo)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

After weeks of taking heat from opponents and critics Democrat and Republican alike for expressing a willingness to bring nuclear waste to Nevada, Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown on Saturday said that the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project should not be considered.

“Over the past month, I’ve invested time speaking with engineers and experts on Yucca Mountain. It is abundantly clear that the project is dead,” Brown said on social media Saturday.

“As I’ve said before, it should not, and will not, be revived as a nuclear waste repository,” Brown added. 

Brown’s campaign did not respond Saturday to a request to identify where and when he has said that before.

His statement Saturday is in stark contrast to remarks he made in 2022 but that only came to light last month, in which Brown said not allowing nuclear waste in Nevada was “an incredible loss of revenue for our state.”

In a 2022 recording obtained and reported by the Los Angeles Times last month, when asked about Yucca Mountain at a campaign event, Brown said “one of the things I’m afraid of is a lack of understanding and the fearmongering that Harry Reid and others have spread,” and “that we could miss an incredible opportunity for revenue for our state in the future.”

“If we don’t act soon,” Brown added in those 2022 remarks, “other states like Texas and New Mexico, right now, are assessing whether or not they can essentially steal that opportunity from us. And at the end of the day, we all know Nevada could use another great source of revenue and it sure would be a shame if we didn’t monopolize on that and become a central hub of new development that we can do at Yucca.”

In a statement issued by Brown in response to the Times story, he did not specifically reassert support for bringing nuclear waste to Nevada, but said “I’m always interested in economic opportunities for Nevada that better diversify our economy.”

Ever since the so-called “Screw Nevada” bill passed by Congress in 1987 singling out the Yucca Mountain site northwest of Las Vegas to be studied as the nation’s nuclear waste facility, opposition from the Nevada public and the state’s politicians of both parties has been overwhelming.

Since Brown’s 2022 statements became public, Sen. Jacky Rosen and multiple other Democrats have hammered Brown for expressing willingness to bring nuclear waste to Nevada.

And Jeff Gunter, Brown’s chief challenger for the Republican nomination to challenge Rosen in the general election, is airing an ad promising to block the Yucca project if elected to the Senate and blasting Brown’s willingness to “dump toxic nuclear waste here.”

Less than three weeks ago Brown responded to Rosen and Gunter’s attacks over Yucca by telling The Hill he is “not committed to supporting the opening of Yucca Mountain.

“However,” Brown added in that May 14 statement to The Hill, “I will consider all thoroughly vetted future proposals, with the safety of Nevadans being my top priority, while ensuring the proposals are substantially economically beneficial.” 

“Leadership means considering all economic opportunities that could better support the lives of Nevadans,” Brown added.

That too is in contrast to his statement on social media Saturday, in which Brown said, “As Nevada’s next US Senator, I’ll stand with President Trump to oppose it.”

Trump’s opposition to dumping nuclear waste in Nevada was itself a reversal of position on the former president’s part.

Yucca Mountain was officially designated as the nation’s nuclear waste “repository” during the administration of George W. Bush, in 2002. But the project was the subject of legal and regulatory proceedings for the next several years, until the administration of Barack Obama ordered the Department of Energy to discontinue its licensing application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and eliminated federal funding for the project.

While president, Trump attempted to restart funding for Yucca, but was thwarted by Congress. Trump reversed positions during the 2022 campaign cycle in an effort to help Adam Laxalt, the Republican who defeated Brown in the 2022 Senate primary but lost to Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in the general election. The Biden administration has never included funding for the Yucca Mountain project, and has assured Nevada officials that it has no plans to ever do so.

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which includes a playbook for actions the influential organization suggests should be urgent priorities in a second Trump administration, calls for resuming and funding the Yucca Mountain licensing process.

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Left to Right: Jennifer Atlas and Christian Bishop are competing in the Democratic primary for Nevada State Senate District 5 (Photos courtesy of the candidates)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The Nevada State Senate district expected to have the most competitive general election race is also having one of the most cutthroat primaries, with two well-funded Democratic candidates actively campaigning and dividing support.

State Senate District 5, which covers parts of Henderson, is considered the most flippable seat this year for Democrats, who are currently one senator shy of a supermajority in the Legislature’s upper chamber. Securing a supermajority in both chambers would allow the majority party to override any gubernatorial veto, of which there have been dozens.

Republican state Sen. Carrie Buck, the incumbent who has represented the district since 2020, faces a primary challenge from self-funded candidate Richard Frederick, but she is significantly ahead in terms of actual donations and endorsements.

Meanwhile, the Democratic primary appears less certain. Jennifer Atlas, a competitive ballroom dancer turned paralegal and lobbyist, is the preferred choice of the Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus, and has been endorsed by Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada and AFL-CIO, among others. Christian Bishop, an esports consultant and entrepreneur who appeared on a season of The Bachelorette, has the backing of Culinary Union, the Nevada State Education Association, and several veteran groups.

Bishop acknowledges there are people who are critical of him for running against a caucus-backed candidate, especially in what is expected to be a competitive general election race, but he says he doesn’t like gatekeeping. Those who think the Democratic candidate should be hand selected and not chosen by voters are undermining democracy, he said

“I’m a family man. I’m a mixed, biracial, diverse candidate. I’m young. I’m everything our Democratic Party has wanted to run,” said Bishop, who is 35. “I’m here to step up to that call.”

Bishop says he is a lifelong Democrat who since moving to Nevada eight years ago has become more active in politics, serving on the board of Henderson Democrats and canvassing and mobilizing for candidates up and down the ballot. He has contributed $100,000 toward Democratic candidates, including to Kristee Watson, who lost to Buck by less than 1% of votes in 2020.

Bishop is an esports consultant and has owned several tech companies over the years. He also appeared on the 12th season of The Bachelorette, which aired in 2016. (He was eliminated in week three.)

“I’ve been on both sides of the table — an everyday worker and a business builder who’s managing the responsibility of taking care of staff and making payroll,” he said.

Atlas comes with her own behind-the-scenes political experience, having worked as a lobbyist since 2018 and in the government affairs team for MGM Resorts. Before her political and policy work, she was a competitive ballroom dancer and teacher turned convention gig and concierge worker. After having her son, she decided to go back to school to become a paralegal, which led to her current professional endeavors.

She said her “zigzaggy” career path makes her acutely aware of the cyclical nature of the economy in Southern Nevada. What sets her apart from Bishop, in her eyes, is that she understands “how Nevada policy works.”

“I have been in this world,” she said. “I can get in on day one and work, work on health care, really start to make a difference. I feel like I’m the one that can hit the ground running and really represent the district.”

Supporters of Bishop are pointing to that experience as a negative. Strong Public Schools Nevada, a PAC associated with NSEA, sent a mailer in support of Bishop that highlighted the fact Atlas is listed as a registered lobbyist for the Athletics Investment Group, for which state lawmakers approved $380 million in public assistance to build a baseball stadium in the Las Vegas Strip. The education group vehemently opposes that project.

Atlas and Bishop both identified education as a top priority for the state. Whoever wins the Democratic primary will likely face Buck, a charter school executive.

Both Democrats expressed a passion for health care issues. Bishop noted he is married to a nurse at MountainView Hospital.

Atlas says one of her legislative priorities is to introduce a bill to automatically enroll into Medicaid babies who enter the neonatal intensive care unit. Currently, NICU babies are eligible for Medicaid but their parents must actively fill out the paperwork.

Atlas says she didn’t realize this when she gave birth to her son Beau 10 years ago, so she declined to fill out the paperwork and found herself with medical bills totalling half a million dollars, which she later had to fight.

“When I was presented with paperwork, I was sick in the ICU. I saw ‘Medicaid’ but I knew I had good insurance, so I didn’t think we qualified. We were focused on our baby. We weren’t thinking about paperwork.”

Bishop says part of his motivation for running is knowing a potential supermajority is up for grabs.

“What I’d like to see is forward thinking and a forward looking legislature, where we choose to invest, to not always be reactive,” he said. “How can we think a decade in advance, two decades in advance?”

Allegations arise

Atlas’s campaign has sent to voters mailers calling Bishop “completely creepy & seriously disgusting” and highlighting claims made by two women on She’s All Bach, a podcast focused on The Bachelorette, that he requested nude photos and canceled their hotel room after they wouldn’t have sex with him.

Nevada Legislative Victory, a PAC whose money largely comes from sitting Democratic state senators, sent an even more aggressive mailer attacking Bishop for allegedly “pressuring a young woman for sex.”

The Nevada Independent has reported on the allegations made in those mailers. Bishop has denied pressuring or expecting sex from the women.

The post Race that could decide control of Nevada Senate features testy Democratic primary appeared first on Nevada Current.