By Henry Brean, Las Vegas Review-Journal

More than 1.1 million public comments have poured in so far on the Trump administration’s review and possible rollback of national monuments in Nevada and elsewhere.

Conservationists in the Silver State hope to push that number even higher in the closing days of the comment period.

The Department of Interior will accept public input through Monday as part of its review of 22 national monuments created or expanded by presidential decree since Jan. 1, 1996.

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By Nicole Raz, Las Vegas Review-Journal

A new WalletHub study ranks Nevada as the 35th best state in which to start a new business, but Nevada officials question inclusion of some of the metrics used in the study.

It’s a low score compared with the rankings the state has recently received. A January study from Gallup found Nevada leads the country in job creation, while a May report from The Innovation Group found Nevada leads the country in dynamism, or how well economies can adapt to change.

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By Arthur Kane, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nevada governments are using the underfunded state pension system to boost the income of public employees.

The practice, which is legal but often based on decades-old or misused exemptions to the law, costs taxpayers at least $23 million a year in pension and salary, a Las Vegas Review-Journal investigation found.

Two dozen elected officials collect salaries and pensions at the same time, including eight politicians who use the arrangement to make more than $250,000 a year.

There is little accountability or transparency in the system.

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By Jenny Kane, Reno Gazette-Journal

Nevada dispensaries licensed to sell recreational marijuana are running out of pot less than a week after the legal market came to life, according to the state Department of Taxation. 

On Friday, taxation officials announced that Gov. Brian Sandoval had endorsed the department’s “statement of emergency,” allowing state officials to consider adopting an emergency marijuana regulation that could alleviate the shortage.

The Nevada Tax Commission will vote on the regulation on Thursday.  

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By Associated Press

California’s emergency services director fired off a sharply worded letter to the U.S. Forest Service this week that said the agency had stiffed local governments $18 million for fighting wildfires on federal lands last year and raised the prospect the state may stop protecting national forests during blazes.

“I cannot continue to support the deployment of resources to protect federal land that ultimately may bankrupt our local governments,” Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said in the letter sent Monday to Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell.

The dispute stems from longstanding commitments that coordinate and reimburse firefighters for work on federal lands. Nearly half the land in California is federally owned, and the greatest percentage of that is in National Forests.

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By Lake Tahoe News

Cindy Gustafson, general manager for the Tahoe City Public Utility District, is quitting to become CEO of North Lake Tahoe Resort Association.

She is leaving one agency mired in controversy to join another with its own issues.

Cindy Gustafson

Gustafson has been with TCPUD for 26 years, with the last nine as the top executive.

On Aug. 2 she assumes her new role. Last December Sandy Evans Hall tendered her resignation as executive director of the NLTRA, giving the agency six months to find her replacement.

TCPUD is in talks with North Tahoe Public Utility District to merge. While both deal with sewer and water, TCPUD has had a more recreation oriented approach. The debt from pension obligations, age of the infrastructure, and amount of lines are concerns by ratepayers who are wary of combining resources.

At the NLTRA, Gustafson steps into a quagmire with Placer County saying it will be reducing the tourism agency’s role. Talks are ongoing to resolve differences.

Gustafson will be able to walk into her new job knowing many of the players. With TCPUD having a role well beyond sewer and water, she should not have a steep learning curve.

Going in she wants to help tackle affordable housing – which is key to her constituents’ ability to find workers; transportation – for locals and tourists; and revitalization of commercial areas.

By Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle

 Hate crimes in California are increasing, particularly attacks on Muslims and gay men, after nearly a decade of decline, the state attorney general’s office reported.

There were 931 hate-driven incidents reported by local law enforcement agencies in 2016, an 11.2 percent increase over the 2015 total and a 20 percent jump from 2014, according to the state’s annual report on the crimes.

Before that, the statewide tally had dropped every year since 2007. Even with the recent upturn, last year’s report still showed a 34.7 percent decline in hate crimes from the 2007 total of 1,426.

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By Jenny Kane, Reno Gazette-Journal

The four Reno dispensaries licensed to sell recreational marijuana each raked in “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in the past four days from the state’s first legal recreational marijuana sales, according to Will Adler, executive director of the Sierra Cannabis Coalition. 

The Nevada Department of Taxation will not release numbers for state revenue from recreational marijuana sales until late September, according to department spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein, but industry leaders said sales were on par with expectations for the first week.

Nevada Dispensary Association Executive Director Riana Durrett “very roughly” estimated that Nevada made $1 million from taxes between Saturday and Tuesday, and dispensaries as much as $3 million. 

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Bill Evers

By Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle

Bill Evers, a San Francisco attorney who co-founded the League to Save Lake Tahoe and served as head of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Economic Development under George Moscone and Dianne Feinstein, has died.

Mr. Evers died June 28 at his home in Pacific Heights after a short illness. He was 90, and he had still been driving to work at his law office on Van Ness Avenue.

During a long and distinguished career, Mr. Evers switched between private practice and public service.

Mr. Evers was involved in the opening of the Alpine Meadows ski area, which opened in 1961, and Boreal Ridge, which opened in 1964.

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By Associated Press
 
The San Jose Earthquakes say Matheus Silva has emerged from a coma, two days after the Brazilian defender was rescued from Lake Tahoe.

Silva came out of the coma Thursday morning. He was responsive and able to speak, but will undergo additional testing.

The 20-year-old was playing this season on loan for Reno 1868 FC, which is part of the United Soccer League.

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