Judge: No 'competent evidence' in Nevada primary challenge
By The Associated Press
A judge who dismissed Republican Joey Gilbert's lawsuit challenging his defeat in Nevada's gubernatorial primary says Gilbert failed to present "any competent evidence" that he received more votes than GOP nominee Joe Lombardo. Carson City District Judge James Wilson said in a formal order issued Thursday that Gilbert failed to provide evidence "sufficient to raise reasonable doubt as to the outcome of the election."
Gilbert finished second in the June primary to Lombardo by 11 percentage points, or about 26,000 votes. Without providing any evidence, he had claimed a hand recount of ballots would show he really won the nomination by more than 55,000.
After fall of Roe, some young women considering permanent solutions to birth control
Ivana Martinez, KUER News for the Mountain West News Bureau
Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and some states in our region are moving to ban abortion, some young women are more seriously considering permanent solutions to birth control.
At 36 years old, Sara Reyes knows she doesn’t want children. She’s already on birth control, but with the fall of Roe v. Wade and the Supreme Court’s suggestion that contraceptives could be next she’s thinking of getting her tubes tied.
“I'm thinking about it all the time now because it's frightening because it's, like, well, I take the depo shot every quarter, and, so, I'm, like, well, is that something that they would come after?” Reyes said.
Some Utah OB-GYNs say they are seeing more young women seeking out sterilization to prevent unwanted pregnancy.
Erica Fryer is a 27 year-old-mother of two from Kearns. After facing health complications in both of her pregnancies, she knows she won’t have more kids. Fryer is planning to talk to her doctor next week about getting her tubes tied.
“I mean, I had even thought of getting a hysterectomy just fully just getting everything taken out, but it's something that I am seriously going to discuss with my doctor and with Roe v Wade turning I just can't risk that. I can't risk it with my two kids and my husband,” Fryer said.
But even when providers are willing to perform these kinds of procedures on young women, there still are legal hoops to jump through.
Due to staffing shortages, Nevada DMV will go appointment-only starting Aug. 15
By Maria Palma
Nevada's major DMV offices will end most walk-in services and switch to offering appointments only, beginning Monday, Aug. 15, according to a press release.
Staffing shortages and high customer demand hastened the move to limit walk-in services at the six largest DMV offices in Nevada, including Reno.
However, walk-ins will still be accepted for vehicle movement permits, license plate drop-offs, driver’s license reinstatements, past-due debts, kiosk transactions and vehicle inspections.
DMV offices that open on weekends, and commercial and rural offices will not be affected by this change.
The government agency is also reminding customers that many of the services are offered online, including address change, driver's license renewal, and others.
Book a DMV appointment here. Learn about DMV online services here.
Large solar projects pose challenges to big game, according to new report
By Emma Gibson, Mountain West News Bureau
A recent paper highlights the challenges that utility-scale solar projects pose to big game, like elk and deer, across the region.
The federal governmentexpects solar energy could account for as much as 40 percent of the nation’s electricity by 20-35.
Hall Sawyer is the lead author on the paper that he says is the first to look at the industry’s impact on big game. They monitored pronghorn populations in Wyoming before and after a solar facility was built. One of the issues was the fencing’s impact on herd movement.
“I think in general the better approach is to try and make these things permeable to wildlife, rather than trying to deter wildlife from them,” Sawyer said.
He suggests facilities build outside big game habitat, and when they can't, to add wildlife paths through the fenced site. Sawyer says that with trial and error developers can determine how big these spaces should be.
Newsom: California must boost water recycling, desalination
By The Associated Press
California's governor wants the state to invest tens of billions of dollars in water recycling, storage and desalination to shore up its supply over the next two decades. Gov. Gavin Newsom was set to announce the plan Thursday at a desalination plant.
The state predicts its water supply will decrease 10% by 2040 as the U.S. West gets hotter and drier. Interest in recycling treated wastewater for drinking is growing across the West. California is in the third year of a drought and the state's 39 million people aren't conserving as much water as Newsom wants.