Friday morning update on Airport Fire burning east of Bishop, California
By KUNR Staff
The Airport Fire, burning east of Bishop, California, has grown to more than 4,000 acres with 30% containment, as of 11 a.m. on Friday. Evacuations related to the fire have been lifted. Roughly 700 personnel are fighting this fire and they expect full containment in about a week.
This web post published Friday morning and is not being actively updated by KUNR staff. For the latest updates on this fire, go to Calfire's website or follow the CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit on Twitter.
Nevada using tax-exempt bonding authority to fund affordable housing
By Gustavo Sagrero
The Nevada Housing Division has earmarked around $300 million of the state’s tax-exempt bonding authority to go towards developing affordable housing units, including apartments, in the state.
This money won’t just be used to build new units but to renovate old ones as well. The goal is to create an incentive for private developers to invest in these kinds of homes. By 2024, the state expects 14 housing projects will provide nearly 3,000 affordable units overall.
They’ll be kept at a low rate of rent for a minimum of 30 years.
Seniors and families that make a low income can find a listing of affordable and market rentals by visiting nvhousingsearch.org.
Poll: Conservation concerns up across region
By Emma Gibson, Mountain West News Bureau
After almost 3,500 interviews for the Colorado College State of the Rockies poll, the results show 70% of voters are concerned about the environment’s future.
Pollster Lori Weigel of New Bridge Strategy said during the first poll in 2011, 40% of voters were concerned about inadequate water supplies. This year, that number jumped to 70%, and it’s not a partisan worry.
“When you get a 30-point increase in terms of concern about water, that means everyone is more concerned about water today than what they were before,” Weigel said.
People say climate change is the main reason they are pessimistic about environmental issues. Almost 80% support a national goal to conserve 30% of land and water in the U.S. by 2030, a proposal by President Joe Biden.
Nevada’s Center for Neurodegeneration and Translational Neuroscience gets millions from NIH
By Gustavo Sagrero
The National Institutes of Health has awarded roughly $11 million in grant money to the Center for Neurodegeneration and Translational Neuroscience in Nevada.
The center is focused on making sure new advancements in understanding how diseases work are incorporated into how people are treated in a more effective way. A bulk of their projects involve research into Alzheimer's and addressing its effects on the human body.
Sand Hill Dairy voluntarily recalls its whole milk in Nevada
By Gustavo Sagrero
Sand Hill Dairy, located in Fallon, has issued a recall of their gallons, half-gallons, and pints of whole milk with the 'best by' date of March 4. During an inspection by the Nevada Department of Agriculture, test results showed insufficient levels of pasteurization in a single batch.
Pasteurization works to prevent bacterial growth in milk. There are a few ways to pasteurize milk, including keeping milk at high temperatures for extended periods of time, or employing High Temperature Short Term pasteurization. No illnesses have been reported because of the milk that has been recalled.
Grocery stores in Nevada have already been notified.
Worker killed in accident at Nevada mine, company says
By The Associated Press
An employee at a mine in northern Nevada was killed in an equipment accident, the Elko Daily Free Press reported. The worker at Nevada Gold Mines’ Cortez Hills Underground Operation was killed late Monday night in an accident involving power haulage, which is equipment such as shuttle cars, scoops, locomotives and front end loaders.
The company told the newspaper that the area where the incident occurred has been secured and operations in the immediate vicinity have been suspended until further notice. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration has been notified and is on site.
Clark County Commission moves Spirit Mountain resolution forward
By Lucretia Cunningham
Commissioners in Clark County have agreed to push forward a resolution urging Congress to designate Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument. Parts of Avi Kwa Ame or “Spirit Mountain” are already considered protected lands in the Mojave Desert. The resolution would ensure the rest of the designated 380,000 acres are also protected.
The county has invested in the conservation of Spirit Mountain for over 20 years now and this year plans to spend another $3.8 million for habitat restoration and mitigation.
The Avi Kwa Ame landscape is considered sacred to about a dozen Native tribes and encompasses a portion of the world's largest Joshua Tree forest.
Clark County to buy new machines to count mail-in ballots
By The Associated Press
The Clark County Commission has agreed to spend nearly $1 million to buy four high-speed counting machines to tabulate mail-in ballots for the upcoming primary and general elections. The move comes after the Legislature made permanent last summer a law that automatically sends mail ballots to every active registered voter in Nevada elections.
More voters cast their ballots by mail in the 2020 election than any other way in both Clark County and statewide. About 46.5% of Clark County voters cast their ballots by mail in 2020. About 42% voted early and about 11% on Election Day. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the commission voted unanimously to spend $950,000 for the machines on Tuesday.
