In this edition of Behind the Bar, public financing for Grand Sierra Resort project raises questions, and frustrations over copyright continue.

“She was a careful, creative, and critical thinker who read broadly and thought deeply. With Carole’s passing, she leaves behind a legacy that will long-serve as a benchmark for all Nevadans,” NTA President Cindy Creighton said in a statement. 

Threats, lobbying, accusations of tyranny, dealmaking and eventually litigation are all part and parcel of Nevada’s redistricting process.

This week’s Indy Environment newsletter looks at a legislative effort to protect a unique population of Rocky Mountain juniper trees in an area known as Bahsahwahbee, or “the sacred water valley” in Shoshone. For Indigenous communities, the area means everything.

Wadhams conceded that mining could pay more in taxes, but did not specify a number and warned that excessive taxation could drive mines out of business or drive the industry out of the state — and that commodity prices can be volatile and thus are not ideal for propping up the state’s tax base. Martin suggested that essential services including education and health care have been slashed in Nevada and that mining needs to contribute more to the state budget. And Malkiewich provided historical context and legal interpretations of a fight that dates back to the signing of the state Constitution in 1864.

In this edition: Recapping a Q&A with the head of the state mining association, how one lawmaker went viral on TikTok and details on a bill aimed at getting more Native American involvement in the naming of geographical places. Plus, a look ahead at this week’s major bill hearings.

For 30 years I had the honor of serving this state, working for the finest service agency I have ever known, the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau (known throughout the state simply as the “LCB”).

During a legislative interim meeting on Friday, state lawmakers voted to proceed with an in-house, outside recruitment process for Comb’s replacement, with a meeting expected in February 2020 to select a replacement director.

George Will, in writing about Representative Justin Amash, stated that Amash does not “spurn the idea of offering temperate voters a choice of something other than a choice between bossy progressivism and populist Caesarism.” As a member of that group hated by both progressives and the right wing, a moderate, I instantly related to the description of the choice I will likely face in the next Presidential election.