© 2024 KUNR
Illustration of rolling hills with occasional trees and a radio tower.
Serving Northern Nevada and the Eastern Sierra
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KUNR’s spring fund drive is happening now, and your gift to the station will go twice as far with a matching pledge from the KUNR Advisory Board!

Now is the time to act –
click here to make a gift to KUNR today or increase your sustaining membership and have it matched.

KUNR Today: Nevada Extends Eviction Moratorium, Contact Sports Coming Back

Vincent Sosa
/
Creative Commons, CC BY-NC 2.0

Here are your local news headlines for the morning of Wednesday, Mar. 31, 2021.

Sisolak Extends Nevada Eviction Moratorium Until End Of May
By Lucia Starbuck

Nevada’s eviction moratorium has been in place for nearly a year as part of the effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. As the pandemic surged, Sisolak extended the pause on evictions multiple times, but with increases in vaccinations and declines in new daily cases, Sisolak has set the end of the moratorium for May 31.

Under the new directive, landlords must give tenants information on rental assistance programs when serving them an eviction notice.

Speaker of the Assembly Jason Frierson said the extension will give both tenants and landlords time to get their affairs in order.

“I want all of the stakeholders to know that we have heard you. We understand that there are tenants in need, but we also understand that there are landlords in need,” said Frierson.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended the federal government’s eviction moratorium earlier this week. It’s scheduled to stay in effect until the end of June.

State courts will again accept eviction notices that month, but renters will still receive some protections.

Nevada Sees Fewer Than 200 Daily Cases Of COVID-19, On Average, Over Last Two Weeks
By Lucia Starbuck

Nevada is averaging fewer than 200 new daily cases of COVID-19. That’s according to Nevada’s Covid Response Dashboard which provides an average of new daily cases over a two-week period.

Health officials are also reporting a decline in the state’s test positivity rate. Currently, only about 4.2% of all COVID-tests performed in Nevada are coming back positive.

Daily deaths are in decline as well, with the state reporting three COVID-19 deaths a day on average.

The Washoe County Health District is reporting roughly 42 new cases of the virus per day.

You can learn more about COVID-19 vaccinations in Nevada here, along with the state’s COVID-19 dashboard here, and Washoe County’s here.

Second Case Of U.K. Variant Reported In Quad-County Region
By Lucia Starbuck

Carson City Health and Human Services is reporting the region’s second case of the B.1.1.7 strain of COVID-19, better known as the U.K. variant.

The Douglas County resident doesn’t have a travel history or a known connection to the previously reported B.1.1.7 case in Carson City reported Friday.

Mountain West Could Be Vulnerable To New Coronavirus Surge
By Savannah Maher, Mountain West News Bureau

Federal officials are warning of another coronavirus surge if Americans let their guards down, and that could leave our region vulnerable.

Wyoming and Montana have already lifted statewide mask mandates. Utah plans to lift its mandate next month. Idaho never implemented one. Every Mountain West state has allowed for business to re-open to some degree.

Glen Mays is a professor at the Colorado School of Public Health. He said some of the easing of restrictions was in response to a late winter dip and plateau in nationwide case numbers.

"Now, we’re moving back in the wrong direction again. We’re back to seeing increases in cases, increases in hospitalizations," he said.

Mays said even with vaccinations ramping up, mask wearing and social distancing are essential.

That’s something our region’s Tribal Nations have taken to heart and are taking the lead on. Despite high vaccination rates, they’re still not open for business.

On Tuesday, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez urged continued caution after a fully-vaccinated tribal citizen tested positive for the U.K. variant.

"We just want to let everybody know to not let up. Wear your mask, social distance and stay home as much as you can," Nez said.

Nevada Unemployment Insurance Claimants Soon Required To Search For Work Again
By Lucia Starbuck

Nevadans receiving unemployment benefits will soon have to start actively looking for work again.

The Nevada Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), the agency which oversees the state’s unemployment insurance program, says the requirement will go into effect May 1.

Claimants must, once again, file paperwork with the business name and address of any job for which they apply, and provide justifications if they refuse work.

DETR waived the mandate early in the pandemic when there were widespread business closures statewide.

Read more about the requirements here.

Full And Close-Contact Sports Can Resume In Nevada
By Lucia Starbuck

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak signed an emergency directive reinstating close and full-contact sports Monday.

Sports leagues, associations and clubs will have to develop COVID-19 testing and mitigation plans before resuming competitions, games or matches.

Read the directive here.

Lucia Starbuck is an award-winning political journalist and the host of KUNR’s monthly show Purple Politics Nevada. She is passionate about reporting during election season, attending community events, and talking to people about the issues that matter most to them.
Savannah comes to Wyoming Public Media from NPR’s midday show Here & Now, where her work explored everything from Native peoples’ fraught relationship with American elections to the erosion of press freedoms for tribal media outlets. A proud citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, she’s excited to get to know the people of the Wind River reservation and dig into the stories that matter to them.
Related Content