TMFPD receives federal grant for fuel reduction
By Gustavo Sagrero
A little under $800,000 will be awarded to the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District for wildland fuels reduction programs. They’ll focus around the Sky Tavern Ski Area and along the Mt. Rose Highway. That means more money for potential projects like controlled burns, and forest mastication, which is when animals are brought in to clear away fuel for wildfires.
The money is sourced from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, which sells federal lands in the Las Vegas Valley to raise funds. The programs will begin later this year.
Search and rescue training to begin in Truckee area
By Gustavo Sagrero
Search and rescue training will start next week at the Van Norden Meadow near Truckee for California’s National Guard and the Tahoe National Forest. The training will last for a week starting Monday and is not open to the public. Air guard members will be using the Truckee Tahoe Airport as they conduct their training. The Van Norden region was chosen because of the unique attributes of the mountainous region.
Incumbents have big money edge in Nevada's U.S. House races
By The Associated Press
Congressional incumbents continue to enjoy big fundraising advantages over their challengers in Nevada, where at least two of the four House seats are expected to be hotly contested.
Third District Democrat Susie Lee has raised $2.5 million and reported nearly $1.8 million cash-on-hand as of Dec. 31. Fourth District Democrat Steven Horsford has raised nearly $1.9 million with nearly $1.7 million cash-on-hand.
Nevertheless, the top Republican challengers in both key swing districts have raised more than one-half million dollars. April Becker in the 3rd and Samuel Peters in the 4th both have ample money in their campaign coffers to make a run at turning those seats red.
Palace Station and Station Casino workers fight for new union contract
By Gustavo Sagrero
Service and hospitality workers will picket in front of Palace Station in Las Vegas Friday, amid a lawsuit against the company. Labor organizers say this is to create pressure for a union contract to be formed with Palace Station Casinos, which withdrew recognition of the union in 2020. The lawsuit alleges the company illegally withdrew that recognition from the union using the COVID-19 pandemic to weaken union support.
DOJ scaling up efforts to combat missing and murdered Indigenous women
By Bert Johnson, Mountain West News Bureau
The U.S. Department of Justice said this week it will scale up efforts to confront the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, along with Two-Spirit people. The D.O.J. will prioritize grant funding to help tribal governments reduce sex trafficking in their communities. It’ll also compile online educational material aimed at protecting Native youth.
Taylor Patterson is executive director of the Native Voters Alliance Nevada and a member of the Bishop Paiute Tribe. She said the need for federal resources is greater than ever because the pandemic is making it harder for people to leave dangerous situations.
"A lot of people that would have been able to leave home or would have been able to find safe haven have not been able to do that," Patterson said.
Two-Spirit people belong to a nonbinary gender category that was honored by many Indigenous cultures before colonization.
"It's going to take a lot. I'm hopeful, though, that there's getting to be more and more attention on this topic, and more and more people are getting involved in how to stop it," Patterson said.
Last year, the Department of Interior announced a task force to help coordinate investigations into those cases by federal and tribal authorities.
Gold 'N Silver bought by Jacobs Entertainment
By KUNR Staff
Jacobs Entertainment has purchased Gold 'N Silver Inn, a popular restaurant that has been passed through three generations of local ownership. The Reno Gazette Journal reports the sale was made final earlier this year.
The widely revered restaurant continues to operate 24 hours. Jacobs Entertainment has been buying up properties in the area with plans to demolish some buildings and develop them for housing.
