SPOTLIGHT
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Fast tracking new land use changes would only elevate Tahoe’s already dangerous wildfire threats • Nevada Current
On Monday, Jan. 6, Washoe County planners held the first of two barely noticed workshops to discuss proposed, far-reaching changes to the Washoe Tahoe Area Plan (TAP). These changes didn’t come from Tahoe community members. They originated with a Portland-based consulting firm tapped by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) with help from developers prioritizing their bottom lines, not public…
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The dynamics that polarize us on social media are about to get worse • Nevada Current
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced big changes in how the company addresses misinformation across Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Instead of relying on independent third-party factcheckers, Meta will now emulate Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) in using “community notes”. These crowdsourced contributions allow users to flag content they believe is questionable. Zuckerberg claimed these changes promote “free expression”.…
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The time a Trump sympathizer radicalized into a violent extremist but nobody cared about that • Nevada Current
“This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call,” reads a line in written notes authorities made public last week from Matthew Livelsberger, the driver of the Cybertruck who killed himself in the vehicle shortly before it exploded in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day. The combat veteran’s writings include poignant…
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Canada as a 51st state? Republicans would never win another general election • Nevada Current
Since his re-election, Donald Trump has drawn plenty of attention for neo-annexationist propositions made on social media about the Panama Canal, Greenland and Canada — including in the hours following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement. For a supposed anti-interventionist, it’s odd that Trump is enthusiastically embracing ideas from the era of intense American imperialism. Maybe that’s what Trump is…
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Western self-sufficiency in computer chips is just not going to happen • Nevada Current
American microchip giant Intel is looking for a new CEO following Pat Gelsinger’s shock resignation. This represents more than just a corporate shake-up. It’s the end of an era in which one company could totally control a strategically vital American technology. Under Intel’s roof is the entire process for making computer chips – from research to design to complex fabrication.…
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Can Nevada Democrats defy their 21st century duodecennial disintegration? • Nevada Current
In 2002, no U.S. Senate seat was on the ballot in Nevada and it wasn’t a presidential election year, so the only thing approximating a high profile race was the one for governor. And that race was a yawner. All the industries and big shots and their money lined up behind Republican incumbent Kenny Guinn, while the Democratic “Reid machine,”…
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Year-end selections and reflections from the Nevada Current staff • Nevada Current
Note: As we do near the end of every year, each writer on the staff took a little time to highlight some of their work from the year and say whatever they wanted to say about it. April Corbin Girnus Whenever someone asks me what I write about at the Nevada Current, I often say “state policy and politics —…
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Nixon’s official acts against his enemies list led to a bipartisan impeachment effort • Nevada Current
The Nixon administration’s enemies list inspired bipartisan revulsion. Its purpose was, in the immortal words of President Richard Nixon’s White House counsel, to “use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.” The revelation of the list’s existence during the Watergate hearings of 1973 provoked conservative columnist and Nixon supporter William F. Buckley Jr. to use the f-word in…
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Foreshadowing a dreary legislative session, Dems hype modest education plan as ‘major’ • Nevada Current
Nevada state Senate Democrats emailed out a missive Wednesday morning proclaiming that their leader, Nicole Cannizzaro, has announced a “major education policy bill.” The bill doesn’t exist yet. But there is an outline. It says charter school teachers should maybe be licensed. Better late than later, s’pose. The outline of the bill also has some preliminary language about making private…
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5 of the most frustrating health insurer tactics and why they exist • Nevada Current
The U.S. has made great progress in getting more people insured since the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2014. The share of uninsured Americans ages 18 to 64 fell from 18% before the ACA to 9.5% in 2022. And preexisting conditions no longer prevent coverage or lead to an increase in premiums. Yet even for those with health insurance,…
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