Nevada's experience reflects a broader cultural problem in how we discuss commercial sexual exploitation. We are drawn to the salacious details and the powerful names, but we shy away from harder conversations about the systems that make trafficking possible.

Fortunately for us, some very good writers continue to tell the Las Vegas story as they perceive it. But please don’t take my word for it. Check out some of the books I’ve been reading, and see for yourself.

For a full breakdown of who has announced so far, check out our tracker. Read further below for details on candidate announcements and how races are playing out.

With 150-year-old county buildings and aging infrastructure — including a water system built in the 1850s still used to service Virginia City — the lack of tax revenue from Tesla means Storey County is waiting on the expiration of abatements to act on its capital needs. 

Storey County commissioners voted to oppose “separatist governing control” within their jurisdiction after Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak backed a legislative effort that could result in a private technology company and major donor forming its own local government.

A licensed sex worker in Nevada is suing Gov. Steve Sisolak over what she calls the “unconstitutional” decision to keep the state’s legal brothels closed even as other businesses resume operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Services allowing physical contact around the state have been allowed to resume service, with tattoo shops, estheticians, and massage parlors open since May. Women who work in Nevada’s legal sex industry say they feel they’re being ignored not because of the risk their business poses but because of a bias against their industry.

The Storey County Commission voted Tuesday to permit a medical waste incinerator at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center near Reno, despite the plant operator’s history of regulatory compliance issues across the West and concerns raised by businesses in the area.

A medical waste disposal company with a record of environmental compliance issues is facing pushback over a proposal to build an incinerator at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center outside of Reno.

This week's edition of Indy Environment looks at environmental injustice issues, an executive order from President Trump and a lawsuit over the Endangered Species Act.

A public water district for the country’s largest industrial park has agreed to settle an eminent domain case weeks after a judge ruled that the state Constitution gave a nearby family the right to a jury trial in determining whether seizing their private land for a pipeline project was valid.

Details from the 2019 contribution and expenses reports, due on Jan. 15, detailed how much legislative incumbents and candidates raised over the last calendar year and painted a more hopeful picture for Republicans in several “swing” Assembly races, with a more mixed view in competitive state Senate seats.

Documents obtained through two public records requests offer new insight into the relationship between business and government at an industrial park that lured companies with incentives and support from the state. The letter comes amid new scrutiny of those practices. Last month, The Nevada Independent detailed how the industrial park’s public water district, which wants to use eminent domain to build the pipeline project, blurred the line between a government and private utility for decades.

The ruling overturned a lower court decision earlier this year that suggested the law did not protect online publishers in the same way that it protected newspapers. The Supreme Court concluded “that one can ‘print’ in more than one way.”

After blurring the line between a private and public utility for nearly two decades, the water district that serves the world’s largest industrial park is looking to part ways with a developer. Those actions come after The Nevada Independent reported this month that the public water district, with the governmental power to seize private property, is operated by a private entity.

This edition of the Indy Environment newsletter looks at a federal lawsuit challenging the permitting of a mine near Eureka. It is the latest challenge to a large open-pit mining proposal that has been the subject of federal and state regulatory appeals for years.

Documents, election records and interviews show an insular county gave a private water company controlled by the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center (TRIC) the power of a public entity. The deal reflects greater tensions about whether certain companies are benefiting from the region’s rapid growth and which politicians have given them an upper hand.

A lawsuit that aimed to eliminate Nevada’s legal brothels has been dismissed by a federal court judge who rejected the notion that it conflicts with federal laws.

I recently read an article by The Nevada Independent titled “At Mustang Ranch open house, Gilman says he wants ‘better respect’ for brothel industry.” The piece featured perspectives on Nevada’s legal brothel industry from a brothel owner and one of his managers.

Recent media coverage and controversy prompted Mustang Ranch owner and land developer Lance Gilman — who has kept a lower profile than the reality TV star Hof — to “throw the doors open” to his Storey County brothel last week. Gilman said he invited the media to create a sense of transparency into his business and legal prostitution overall.