Lombardo raises $800K, has five times Heller’s haul in 2022 first quarter
By Riley Snyder, The Nevada Independent
Clark County sheriff and Republican gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo raised $824,000 through the first three months of 2022, a total that puts him at the top of the crowded GOP primary pack.
Lombardo’s campaign confirmed the fundraising total and said the candidate has nearly $3 million in cash on hand. The total still lags behind incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, who raised more than $1.5 million over the three-month fundraising period and has more than $9.5 million in cash on hand.
Fundraising totals reported Friday are the final look at candidate finances ahead of the June 14 primary.
You can read the rest of this story at The Nevada Independent.
RSIC increasing efforts to stop Thacker Pass lithium mine
By Kaleb Roedel, Mountain West News Bureau
A planned lithium mine in remote Northern Nevada has drawn protests and a lawsuit from local tribes. One tribe has increased its efforts to stop the project.
The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony sent a letter to the archeological firm that recently began excavation work at the mine near Thacker Pass. The tribe says the site is on sacred lands where their ancestors were massacred in 1865.
“These sanctioned excavations are inappropriate and they’re unethical,” Michon Eben said, who is the tribe’s historic preservation officer.
Last fall, a federal judge ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that a massacre took place there. The tribe says that’s because the federal government has failed to consult all area tribes who attach religious and cultural significance to Thacker Pass.
Mine developer Lithium Nevada says it’s working with the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe to ensure artifacts are protected and preserved. In an emailed statement, the company said, “We’ve always been committed to doing this the right way and respecting our neighbors.”
Lithium is a key component in making electric vehicles.
Nevada court wants to answer public employee-lawmakers issue
By The Associated Press
The Nevada Supreme Court wants to finally settle a question that has hung for decades over public employees who are elected to the state’s part-time Legislature: Should a person who makes the law also enforce the law?
The seven-member court unanimously called Thursday for additional fact-finding hearings by a lower court on a Nevada Policy Research Institute lawsuit that would unseat two Republicans and seven Democrats, including the two top Democrats in the Legislature.
The Nevada Constitution says a person can’t serve two elected offices or in multiple branches of government at the same time. Thursday’s ruling authored by Justice James Hardesty calls separation-of-powers too important to have to keep arguing over and over.
Colorado River tops list of most endangered rivers compiled by conservation group
By Dave Rosenthal, Mountain West News Bureau
A new report by a prominent conservation group lists the 10 most endangered rivers in the U.S.
The report from American Rivers puts the Colorado at number one. Mainly because management plans are based on the river having much more water than it actually has.
Our long drought – and other pressures from climate change – are making things worse. American Rivers says now is the time to figure out how to adapt to a hotter, drier future, and federal infrastructure funds can help make that happen.
Second on the list is the Snake River, which runs through Idaho. The group calls for removing four dams to restore the river’s salmon.
Eighth is the San Pedro in Arizona. Some stretches have dried up because so much groundwater is being pumped out for development.
Community activists protest outside Bureau of Indian Affairs in Carson City this week
By Gustavo Sagrero
Community activists organized a protest Tuesday at Bureau of Indian Affairs offices in Carson City to demonstrate against what they say is the unjust treatment of a portion of residents in the Winnemucca Indian Colony.
Multiple elders from the colony showed up. They’ve been concerned about evictions and cleanup efforts by the colony council. The elders, and people who support them, have had multiple encounters with the BIA because of these disputes with the council. The group of roughly 15 protesters made signs and taped them up to the side of BIA offices.
Carson City Sheriff’s Office Captain Clay Wall, who was present at the protest, said he was informed there was no one in the building at that time. The BIA closes its offices during lunch hours, which is when the protest started. The protest continued until mid-afternoon.
BIA spokesperson Robyn Broyles says alongside COVID-19 guidelines, internet services were down at the main office, and only a few staff were physically present.
Carson City to receive a total of $7 million for community projects
By Lucia Starbuck
A total of $7 million will go to Carson City for water treatment, the construction of an emergency operations center and infrastructure to make walking and bicycling safer.
U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen toured the Quill Water Treatment Facility in Carson City earlier this week to tout the funding she helped secure for the facility, among other projects in the state’s capital.
More than 50 community projects across Nevada will receive funding from the federal spending package. The entire Nevada congressional delegation voted in support.
Lucia Starbuck is a corps member forReport for America, an initiative of theGroundTruth Project.
