This week’s Indy Environment looks at legislation that seeks to require employers provide water, shade and hydration breaks for outdoor and indoor workers exposed to extreme heat.

Jim Seebock, an assistant sheriff with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, has the lead in preliminary results for the Henderson City Council Ward 1 special election, although counting is expected to continue for several days as mail ballots trickle in.

Thirty-seven Democratic lawmakers received an average of $11,326, compared with an average of $10,261 for 21 Republican lawmakers.

The council oversees how land is used in the city — a critical function as Southern Nevada’s population is expected to flourish while facing historic drought and cuts to the state’s allotment of Lake Mead. Council members vote on development plans, business licenses, property taxes and how to split its $814 million budget between public safety, community programs and other projects.

Even with more than half of their members not returning to the Legislature, Assembly Republicans are feeling confident heading toward the 2023 session that they can capture more seats.

Southwest Gas, based in Nevada, is planning its future as it faces pressure from climate groups to decarbonize and from investors over its management decisions.

In the vaccination campaign, mandates may just be the final frontier. If scientists, public health officials, family doctors, and cash prizes can’t convince people, the thinking goes, maybe a mandate from their employer will.

On Friday, committee members voted 4-3 to pass the measure with the promise that another amendment will be filed prior to a floor vote. The bill previously passed out of the Assembly on a party-line 26-16 vote in April.

Mario Sandoval was a waiter at Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel’s steakhouse in downtown Las Vegas for 36 years but has not worked since mid-March of 2020 — when casinos were closed because of the pandemic — along with thousands of Nevadans in the tourism and hotel industry.

There is near-universal agreement that the state of health care in Nevada leaves something to be desired. Where there is less agreement, though, is what should be done about it.

The amended version of the bill, SB267, would require the Department of Taxation to annually survey corporations and government agencies with 1,000 or more employees about the diversity of their workforces, with a focus on women and women of color. Reports of that data, with personal information redacted, would then be made publicly available online.

The bill, SB386, garnered emotional support testimony Wednesday from laid-off workers looking to return to work and the backing of labor unions, while businesses, including some Las Vegas casinos, opposed the measure, arguing that it would result in inappropriate costs and litigation.

Ten candidates are entering the final weeks of their campaigns for the Clark County Commission, campaigns begun months before COVID-19 was on their radar. Democrats are dramatically outpacing their challengers in funding for three of these spots while a fourth is host to a high-dollar contest between two high profile politicians.

Clark County Superintendent Jesus Jara said the nation’s fifth-largest school district is eyeing a possible return to in-person instruction for the second semester, but the decision will hinge on local health metrics.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is working to change the conversation around the Clark County lands bill proposal, especially as it relates to conservation. To do that, the senator’s staff began floating legislative language — known as a “discussion draft” — Tuesday that aims to resolve some of the most controversial aspects of the county’s plan.