Las Vegas

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Newly named state Senate Minority Leader Mike McGinness is adding his name to the list of Nevada policy makers who believe the state retirement system needs major change to head off a growing unfunded liability.

Sharron Angle is by no means done with politics. So she said to a crowd of 70 conservative grassroots activists during a surprise visit to a Republican town hall meeting Wednesday evening in Las Vegas.
“I have a lot of options,” said Angle. “I am looking at these options. I can’t stop.”
When the crowd welcomed her with a standing ovation and loud cheers, Angle’s eyes filled with tears. She expressed her gratitude to the small group in a voice filled with emotion.
“Thank you so much,” said Angle quietly. “That means so much to me.”

By Nevada News Bureau staff
CARSON CIY — Average wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles’ busiest offices have dropped to under 60 minutes due to upgrades to the agency’s computer system using federal grant money.

By Nevada News Bureau staff
CARSON CITY – State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford today announced the creation of 10 standing committees and his selections for the chairs of the panels for the 2011 legislative session.
He also established a new select committee on economic growth and employment.

By Nevada News Bureau staff
CARSON CITY – The private attorney working on Nevada’s challenge to the new national health care law says a federal judge in Florida should rule on the case by January, setting the stage for an appeal that ultimately is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Veteran Republican state Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, won’t be minority leader in the upcoming 2011 session, withdrawing his name from consideration for the leadership post today after getting GOP criticism for backing Sen. Harry Reid in the Tuesday general election.

In case you have not yet seen it, Dear Readers, check out my story about the lengths to which Harrah’s executives in Las Vegas went to try to help the Harry Reid campaign during early voting last week. It was featured on the National Review front page and made national headlines today.
We will be talking more about this story tonight during elections coverage on KTNV Channel 13 Action News. Tune in.

The Northern Nevada Special Olympics program will support training and competition for 97 new bowlers this year and wants all area bowlers to participate in a fundraiser.

The "Bowl for the Gold" community fundraiser will take place on Friday, Nov. 12 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. Sign-in begins at 5 p.m. Bowling begins at 6 p.m. This is the inaugural "Bowl for the Gold” event in Reno.  A “Bowl for the Gold” event has been hosted for three consecutive years in Las Vegas to support southern Nevada bowlers. 

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Senate Democrats are running a slate of candidates across the state in the hopes of winning a 14-seat, veto-proof majority for the upcoming 2011 session.
But Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said he does not expect it to happen, and he has not discounted the possibility of the GOP winning the majority.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – The state Assembly’s Democratic Caucus failed to disclose more than $120,000 in donations from its own members earlier this year, but a Democratic leader says they weren’t legally required to do so.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
RENO – Secretary of State Ross Miller said today there have been no complaints filed with his office about suspicious voter activity despite email rumors and media accounts that at least some electronic voting machines are pre-programmed to support U.S. Senate candidate Harry Reid, D-NV.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – The question of how well the Gibbons administration has done in quickly and efficiently deploying Nevada’s share of stimulus dollars is difficult to quantify.

Dozens of Nevada’s nonprofit groups, service providers and others met this week in Reno and Las Vegas to consider the looming threat of deep cuts to the state budget cuts which threaten to eliminate or dramatically reduce health care, education, and human services.

Service agency and nonprofit directors from Lyon and Storey counties attended the Monday meeting, hoping for insights on how to plan for the upcoming deep cuts to Nevada’s public education, health and social services that will hit the rural areas especially hard.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
RENO – An enthusiastic crowd of several hundred Tea Party supporters showed up to cheer on former GOP Alaska Gov. and U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin today at one of what will be many stops across the county in advance of the Nov. 2 general election.

Under a proposed state budget plan, four of Nevada's museums operated by the Division of Museums and History would close, including the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, said Peter Barton, acting administrator for the Division of Museums and History.

Other museums on the proposed state budget chopping block are the Nevada Historical Society in Reno, the state's oldest museum which opened in 1905; the Lost City Museum in Overton; and the Nevada Northern Railway Passenger and Freight Depot in East Ely.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
A much-anticipated face-to-face debate between U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and his GOP opponent Sharron Angle on Thursday displayed stark contrasts between the two candidates but provoked little in the way of controversy.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – A national group that supports judicial restraint is opposing a measure on the Nevada ballot to change the way judges are selected from direct elections to appointment and retention.
The Judicial Crisis Network also presented a survey of Nevada voters’ views on the change that shows a majority oppose the idea of appointing instead of electing members of the state Supreme court.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
A debate Wednesday between Democrat Secretary of State Ross Miller and his Republican opponent Rob Lauer spent most of the time on past controversies, including Lauer’s alleged assault of a woman in a bar and Miller’s track record of prosecution as a Clark County deputy district attorney.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada remains in limbo over the status of Yucca Mountain as a potential repository for the nation’s nuclear waste even with a work stoppage on the project review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission due to funding limitations, a state official says.

Nevada's statewide gaming win shot up 11.51 percent in August compared to the prior year, according to the Gaming Control Board report out today.

The Las Vegas Strip — the state's most profitable gaming area — did great business in August, with a 21 percent increase over prior year. That offset loses in other areas of the state, such as Washoe and Elko counties.

The Carson Valley area that includes Carson City saw an increase of 7.73 percent. South Lake Tahoe's win increased by 7.2 percent.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
Taxes, the state budget and a looming revenue shortfall in 2011 took center stage Thursday in the second debate between the two major party candidates for Nevada governor.

CARSON CITY – Republican state treasurer candidate Steve Martin said today the Democratic incumbent is playing politics by delaying a discussion involving an unprecedented $50 million investment loss until after the Nov. 2 general election.

Nevada News Bureau staff
Nevada’s state and local governments have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars over the past two years through lavish and wasteful spending – in some cases by outright theft – according to a new study from the Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI) and Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – State Assemblyman John Hambrick has requested four bills for the 2011 session to continue with his mission of eliminating child prostitution in Nevada.

An advocacy group that helps parents with autistic children and adults with the neurological disability will demand an apology today from GOP Senate Candidate Sharron Angle.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto will hold the first statewide Domestic Violence Fatality Review Summit in Las Vegas on Friday, bringing together over 120 people from around the state to address the issue of domestic violence deaths in Nevada.
The summit will take place at the Suncoast Hotel Casino, 9090 Alta Drive, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

CARSON CITY – Catherine Cortez Masto points to a number of accomplishments in her first term as attorney general, from reducing methamphetamine production in Nevada to cracking down on mortgage fraud, all while having to live with major budget cuts and fewer staff.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau

A deal was struck that allows registered firearm owners to take their guns into Nevada's state parks, reports the Las Vegas Sun. The lawsuit was brought on in July by a Colorado-based Second Amendment foundation.

By Nevada News Bureau staff
CARSON CITY – Nevada state Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson has been selected to serve as vice chairman of the Council of State Governments-West in 2011.
The organization of state legislators from the Western U.S. holds regular meetings on issues and concerns common to western states.