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State warns of ‘major’ vacancies in agency overseeing services for vulnerable populations

The state agency charged with overseeing services to Nevadans with disabilities or special health care needs is facing “major vacancy rates,” with the largest shortfall among social workers and specialists who provide oversight to state long-term care facilities, lawmakers were told Wednesday. The Aging and Disability Division, which is part of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, told the Interim Legislative Committee on Seniors, Veterans and Adults with Special Needs that nearly one in four of the division’s authorized positions are unfilled.

Nevada Gold Mines invests $50,000 towards Nevada Outdoor School programming across rural Nevada

WINNEMUCCA — Nevada Outdoor School (NOS) received $50,000 from Nevada Gold Mines (NGM) to support their FY24 youth focused programs serving ages 4–17 across rural northern Nevada. Programs include school-based Nature in My World programs for K-8th graders, Nature in the Park programs for ages 4–7 and Nature Explorers summer camps for ages 8–17.

Nevada spent $15 million to help 350 people find jobs

Job development agencies in Nevada spent $44,769 per person — the highest of all 50 states and 20 times the national average — to provide career services to 350 newly unemployed workers in fiscal year 2022, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Nevada launches first phase of $72 million unemployment modernization project

The first part of Nevada’s long-awaited plan to modernize its unemployment insurance system went live this week, almost four years after an unprecedented surge in pandemic-era unemployment claims overwhelmed the platform.

AG Ford, Speaker Yeager are top Nevada recipients of trips paid for by outside groups

Brazil, India, South Korea — those were just a few of the faraway destinations prominent Nevada leaders visited in 2023 during trips paid for by third-party groups. Among nearly 70 lawmakers and statewide elected officials, no one was more well-traveled than Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas), who recorded trips to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Bayeux, France; Oslo, Norway; Dublin, Ireland; and Mexico City, Mexico, as well as a half dozen other trips and events within the United States — altogether valued at nearly $39,000.

Pieces of Nevada’s history are endangered. Historians are raising awareness to help save them.

What makes something worth saving? Is it age? Sentimental value? Cultural significance? 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.

Nevada judge strikes down independent redistricting commission ballot petitions

A Carson City judge ruled Thursday that a pair of proposed ballot questions seeking to establish an independent redistricting commission are legally deficient and cannot be placed on the ballot. A senior judge appointed to the case, Robert Estes, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs represented by Bravo Schrager and Elias Law Group, a pair of Democrat-aligned law firms, with Estes agreeing with their arguments that the petitions would violate the Nevada Constitution by creating an unfunded mandate.

SOS: Coding issues to blame for errors in online voter history records

The Nevada Secretary of State’s office announced it had fixed coding errors in files used to provide nightly updates on voter registration history that led to misreported records. In a statement issued by the office, officials said that some of the steps county workers are required to file in the system “were not taken, resulting in inaccurate data” and re-emphasized that the errors did not affect the results of the presidential primary election.

Long after tragic mysteries are solved, families of Native American victims are kept in the dark

It was the winter of 2021 when Philbert Shorty's family found his abandoned car stuck in the mud outside the small community of Tsaile near the Arizona-New Mexico state line. "We knew something happened from the get-go," said his uncle, Ben Shorty. "We couldn't find any answers."

Nevada issues first license to a lounge in Las Vegas where cannabis can be consumed recreationally

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada regulators have issued the first license to operate a lounge where cannabis can be consumed recreationally, marking the first of what are expected to be dozens of such operations.

Commission adopts resolution in support of domestic sheep industry

The domestic sheep industry is rapidly shrinking while the foreign industry accounts for over 70 percent of the market today, making it the first livestock sector in the United States to be primarily sourced from foreign countries.

Design process for new aquatics center advances

The design of a new 29,400 square-foot municipal swimming pool facility is taking shape and the Winnemucca City Council reviewed the plans for the exterior renderings at its regular meeting on Feb. 20 (with all Council members present).

New online tool allows public to look at Nevada’s budget in real time

Officials say Nevada’s state budget will be more accessible than ever thanks to a new Nevada Open Finance Portal launched Tuesday. Controller Andy Matthews spearheaded the effort to build a user-friendly online tool that shares detailed information on state spending. In the portal, Nevadans can see information on the state’s budget, payroll, pension disbursements, even state employees’ overtime benefits, all of which are updated nightly.

Elon Musk's Neuralink moves legal home to Nevada after Delaware judge invalidates his Tesla pay deal

Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink has moved its legal corporate home from Delaware to Nevada after a Delaware judge struck down Musk's $55.8 billion pay package as CEO of Tesla. Neuralink, which has its physical headquarters in Fremont, California, became a Nevada company on Thursday, according to state records. Delaware records also list the company's legal home as Nevada.

In rural Utah, concern over efforts to use Colorado River water to extract lithium

GREEN RIVER, Utah (AP) — A plan to extract lithium — the lustrous, white metal used in electric vehicle batteries — in southeast Utah is adding to an anxiety familiar in the arid American West: how the project could affect water from the Colorado River. An Australian company and its U.S. subsidiaries are analyzing the saline waters in a geologic formation shared by Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, an area called the Paradox Basin. The area's groundwater is rich in lithium salts and other minerals from when it was a marine basin millions of years ago that repeatedly flooded and drained.