U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, was senior legal counsel for the Christian right law firm Alliance Defending Freedom from 2002 to 2010. (Getty Images) Policy, politics and progressive commentary When Mississippi Solicitor General Scott G. Stewart presented Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2021, he argued that state lawmakers should be able to ban abortion at any time in pregnancy, not just after so-called “viability,” the point where a fetus could survive outside of a uterus. The U.S. Constitution, he said, does not specif ..read more

Policy, politics and progressive commentary On a campaign stop in Las Vegas Friday, President Joe Biden reclaimed “Bidenomics,” announcing billions in new infrastructure spending on high-speed rail in Nevada and nationwide. The president kept jabs toward his predecessor Donald Trump relatively light, instead highlighting his own administration’s economic accomplishments, including legislation to lower prescription drug costs, expand high-speed internet, infrastructure investments, employment growth and more. “They started off making fun of it calling it ‘Bidenomics.’ Well guess what? It is Bi ..read more

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Policy, politics and progressive commentary Up to 95% of survivors of mass shootings experience PTSD in the aftermath, but supportive services and mental health resources can help improve outcomes for survivors, and resources are available in Las Vegas for those who need them in the wake of the shooting at UNLV shooting on Dec. 6   Resources For services To access CAPS services call  (702) 895-3627 or email caps@unlv.edu.  VSRC, at 2915 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 100, offers services from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. People in n ..read more

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama speaks at a press conference on Thursday, Dec. 7, with other Republican members of the U.S. Senate, on talks over border security. From left, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) Policy, politics and progressive commentary WASHINGTON — Members of Congress left the Capitol on Thursday without a deal on sought-after changes to immigration policy that’s tied to aid for Ukraine and Israel — leaving them just one week to resolve ..read more

Tina Cordova, a founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, protests at the Trinity site on Oct. 21, 2023. She called the recent striking of the expansion of a fund to pay victims of radiation exposure ‘shockingly immoral.’ (Photo: Source New Mexico) Policy, politics and progressive commentary Negotiators struck an expansion of a fund to compensate people harmed by radiation from the federal government’s testing of atomic weapons. The provision taken out of the compromise version of the $866 billion national defense budget bill would have recognized, for the first time, communities ..read more

UNLV Police Chief Adam Garcia addresses the press with Metro Sheriff Kevin McMahill looking on. (Photo: Dana Gentry/Nevada Current) Policy, politics and progressive commentary The shooter who killed three UNLV faculty members Wednesday mailed at least 22 envelopes without a return address to education professionals across the country before entering the campus with a Taurus handgun and 11 magazines of ammunition, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill revealed at a news conference Thursday afternoon.   One envelope contained a white powdery substance that is being analyzed by police.&n ..read more

Republican presidential candidates (L-R) former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy participate in the NewsNation Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the University of Alabama Moody Music Hall on Dec. 6, 2023 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Policy, politics and progressive commentary Half of the four Republican presidential candidates on a debate stage in Alabama on Wednesday night focused their attacks on former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who’s vying for the prized second place in ..read more

“There is no law that prevents the federal government from issuing permits for mines that will destroy Native American sacred sites on public land,” said Will Falk, the attorney representing the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. Policy, politics and progressive commentary Native American tribes opposing a mine over what could be the country’s largest natural lithium deposit have decided to abandon efforts to halt its construction through the courts after a series of legal setbacks. But that doesn’t mean they are abandoning the fight. On Tuesday, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony announced the tribe won ..read more

President Joe Biden signs an executive order at the 2023 White House Tribal Nations Summit at the U.S. Department of Interior on Dec. 6, 2023 in Washington, D.C. President (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Policy, politics and progressive commentary WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that would make it easier for tribal nations to access and invest federal funding on their own terms. “It’s hard work to heal the wrongs of the past and change the course and move forward,” Biden said. “But the actions we are taking today are key steps into that new era of tribal sover ..read more

Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald in August, 2020. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Policy, politics and progressive commentary Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford on Wednesday announced the indictment of six Republicans who served as fake electors after the 2020 presidential election. Ford, a Democrat, had previously suggested no charges would be brought against the group of Republicans for attempting to award Nevada’s electoral college votes to former President Donald Trump despite his clear loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Their actions were part of a coordinated attempt made ..read more