It may have been a day late, but lawmakers on Tuesday passed SB1, the legislation that pays for operation of the legislative session. SB1 is traditionally passed as an emergency measure on day one of the regular legislative session. While it made it through the Senate Monday late, the Assembly didn’t take action on it until Tuesday. SB1 is now headed for Gov. Steve Sisolak’s desk. The bill provides a General Fund appropriation of $15 million to pay for operations of the 2021 Legislature through the end of the 120-day session. That is the same amount appropriated for the 2019 Legislature. The s ..read more

Carson City Health and Human Services (CCHHS) is reporting 1 additional death due to COVID-19 in the Quad-County Region. The individual was a male Carson City resident in his 70s.  CCHHS is also reporting 12 new cases and 93 additional recoveries of COVID-19 in the Quad-County Region. This brings the total number of cases to 10,798, with 7,363 recoveries and 191 deaths; 3,244 cases remain active. Total Cases  Active Cases Recoveries Deaths *Population Carson City 5,720 1,698 3,916 106 56,546 Douglas County 2,396 724 1,643 29 49,695 Lyon County 2,610 808 1,748 54 57,987 St ..read more

Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, on Monday introduced legislation to raise the cap on what state officials can be paid. Long standing state law has capped what state officials can be paid at 95 percent of what the governor makes. The exceptions to that limit are primarily medical doctors, psychiatrists and dentists plus employees of the university system. Gov. Steve Sisolak currently makes $149,573 a year. Ninety-five percent of that is $142,094. SB81 would change the rule to allow state officials to make up to 150 percent of the governor’s salary — $224,359. Some officials have long complained ..read more

Robin Bates, veteran sergeant-at-arms for the Nevada Assembly, died Monday evening of COVID-19. In a statement issued Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, said Bates passed Monday evening at home with his wife and two sons at his side. Frierson said the members of the Assembly are sharing in their grief, “because we all shared in our love for Robin.” “He was our friend, our trusted confidant, and our biggest cheerleader. His laugh was immediately recognizable when it rang through these halls – it was bold, loud, and joyful.” Bates joined the sergeant-at-arms staff in 2001. Fr ..read more

A bill introduced on day one of the 2021 Legislature would give Nevada’s district court and appellate judges $30,000 a year pay raises. But it’s not what it looks like. Chief Justice Jim Hardesty said Senate Bill 3 is designed to clean up several “anomalies” in the statutes controlling the judicial branch that have been enacted over the years. First, he pointed out that those pay raises won’t actually take place for six years since all the district court judges, all three appellate judges and all but three Supreme Court justices were just elected in November and the Nevada constitution prohibi ..read more

RENO — A former U.S. Postal Service worker has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $30,000 worth of valuable coins that were sent through the mail. Federal prosecutors say 58-year-old Russell Marks of Reno pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of theft of mail by a postal employee as part of a plea bargain agreement. A federal grand jury in Reno originally indicted Marks in July on five counts of theft and two counts of interstate transportation of goods while he was working as a letter carrier in Carson City. Prosecutors say he stole from five mail packages at the post office sent by Nort ..read more

LAS VEGAS — Nevada recorded its deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic in January but, in a promising sign, the monthly death toll in Washoe County was only about half what it was in December. Eight additional deaths reported statewide over the weekend boosted Nevada’s death toll for the month to 1,132 — more than a quarter of the 4,278 deaths since the pandemic began. The vast majority have been in Las Vegas and Clark County, the state’s most populous county accounting for 77% of the deaths. And while January brought the second highest monthly total of COVID-19 deaths to date in Washoe C ..read more

Nevada legislative leaders stressed bipartisanship on the opening day of the 81st legislative session. Lawmakers kicked off their 120-day legislative session on Monday with swearing-in ceremonies scaled back to just staff and press in Carson City At the end of the evening, the Assembly adjourned without passing the bill, Senate Bill 1, that actually funds the operations of the legislature. SB1 contains a $15 million appropriation to pay for the legislative session. Staff will be paid for Monday’s work but there have been a number of people in the past who argued if lawmakers can’t even pass th ..read more

Ralph said I should title this column, “Cooking One-Handed.” I had rotator surgery earlier this month, and for six weeks my right hand is in a sling, which limits most everything you do, especially cooking. I did some cooking and freezing of soups ahead of time and Cream of Wheat has become my new favorite in the mornings these days. I’m grateful for family and friends bringing over meals, goodies, homemade breads and helping out with the shopping as well. Lucky for me, Ralph is a good cook and we haven’t gone hungry. Starting this year, I am going to take a little break in my columns for the ..read more

Carson City Health and Human Services (CCHHS) is reporting 1 additional death due to COVID-19 in the Quad-County Region. The individual was a female Lyon County resident in her 60’s. CCHHS is also reporting 17 new cases and 189 additional recoveries of COVID-19 in the Quad-County Region. Quad-County COVID-19 Weekend Update On Saturday, January 30, 2021 there were 20 new cases (11 Carson City, 4 Douglas County, 5 Lyon County, 0 Storey County), 67 recoveries (21 Carson City, 26 Douglas County, 20 Lyon County, 0 Storey County), and 1 additional deaths to due COVID-19 in the Quad-County Region. Th ..read more