Although two Ely schools built more than a century ago hold a special place in the hearts of the thousands of students who passed through their doors, officials say the buildings have many issues that make them unsuitable for learning.

The Senate and Assembly are considering separate, but similar, bills that would implement a program to buy back and retire water rights in some of the state’s most over-appropriated basins.

The Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) provided more than $32 million worth of firefighting equipment and services to other states between 2020 and 2024 without billing for those services, according to a state audit of the division.

The state plans to issue $25 million in grants to retire groundwater rights in places where use exceeds what is sustainable.

Along with savings from the canceled projects, myriad ARP-funded projects have come in under budget, leaving lawmakers with more than $60 million to obligate before a deadline at the end of 2024. 

Following an outcry from Nevada businesses over a little-noticed state law adopted this year, state lawmakers have adopted a regulation meant to “provide clarity" on a major liability insurance bill.

Since 2011, just 15 percent of legislators were more likely to vote toward the middle of the ideological spectrum in a given session than toward the farthest left or right.

A little-noticed 2023 bill tweaking Nevada’s liability insurance laws has prompted an emergency regulation amid fears from state officials that it could sharply reduce the availability of liability insurance and increase costs.

Republican legislators were more likely to buck their party, with 415 out of nearly 15,000 votes this year in support of bills that the majority of their caucus opposed.

This year, party leaders in particular had the most success in getting their bills passed. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) recorded a Legislature-topping 85 percent success rate, with 11 of 13 bills signed into law. 

When classes resume in August, White Pine County students will have to continue to make do with century-old elementary and middle school facilities.

In this week’s Indy Environment, we talk with outgoing Sen. Pete Goicoechea about his career, Nevada politics and life after retirement.

With drastically reduced water levels, Walker Lake is on the brink of collapse. Following a record-breaking snow year, vast amounts of water are finallyflowing into the lake, and those trying to save it are wondering if this is the year is reborn.

The number of mule deer and desert bighorn sheep across Nevada plummeted this year as the deer, weakened by two years of successive drought, struggled to find food sources during one of the snowiest winters on record and the sheep battle widespread disease.

With the Legislature’s biennial 120-day session over, this edition of the Indy Environment newsletter looks at what measures made it to the governor’s desk and what legislation did not.

Some were left behind as part of high-level deals between the governor and legislative leaders, and others were simply considered too fraught or too expensive to advance in the 120-day session.

With fewer than four days until the Legislature’s 120-day session ends June 5, lawmakers are finalizing bills, amendments and making last-minute deals in an attempt to get their legislation and the state budget across the finish line.

The White Pine County School District is facing an urgent crisis, and it is clear that it cannot solve this problem alone. The community is asking for our help, and it is our responsibility to respond with urgency and compassion.

For more than two decades, we have explored tax policy changes, traditional and nontraditional financial arrangements and other options to build a new school, but all have been fruitless.

A bill aimed at addressing one of Nevada’s most pressing issues — the overallocation of groundwater — remains stuck in a budget committee with less than two weeks left before the Legislature adjourns.