Image 01 Image 03

Nevada Tag

Jacky Rosen hopes to unseat Sen. Dean Heller, the only Republican incumbent in a state failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won. Rosen has a three-point lead over Heller and the DNC has poured a lot of money into her campaign. Rosen has bragged about building a small business in Nevada. The Reno Gazette Journal and Daily Caller both reviewed public records and found no evidence that Rosen's software consulting business actually existed.

President Trump needs to keep both the House and the Senate in order to fulfill even more of his campaign promises and to get more of his agenda passed.  However, things have not been going well for the GOP in special elections since Trump's own election. Recognizing how important Congressional majorities are to his Make America Great Again agenda, President Trump intervened in Nevada, convincing Senator Dean Heller's primary challenger to drop out so that Heller can focus on beating the Democrat without first getting beaten up by his own party's primary candidate.

Last October, Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and injured hundreds more when he opened fire on a concert crowd in Las Vegas, a city with cameras everywhere. However, we know almost nothing about this case and it's about to get worse. Clark County Nevada Coroner John Fudenberg has refused to obey a court order and release Paddock's autopsy.

Federal Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who is accused of leading a standoff against the government in 2014. The trial includes his sons Ryan and Ammon and Montana militia leader Ryan Payne. Navarro "tentatively set a new trial date for February" and said that the prosecutors "willfully withheld critical and 'potentially exculpatory" evidence from the defense."

A few GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate have announced they are open to legislation that will ban bump stocks, a device allegedly used by Stephen Paddock in the Las Vegas massacre. This device "is a sliding stock that when pressed against a shooter’s shoulder allows a semi-automatic gun to shift backward and forward with the recoil of each shot fired." Authorities found bump stocks in Paddock's room, but we do not know for sure if he used them during the massacre.

Earlier this month, Mary blogged about Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett claiming that he was racially profiled and victimized by Las Vegas police.  Bennett, an early supporter of former 49er Colin Kaepernick's anti-American protests, further claimed that one of the officers threatened to "blow [his] head off." Police responded to reports of gunfire in a casino, appropriately entered the casino with guns drawn, ordered those present to get down, and saw Bennett fleeing the scene. Additional police body cam footage, along with various security camera footage, has been released and shows that Bennett defied police orders and ran from the casino.  We do not hear whether or not Bennett was threatened with having his head "blown off," however, because that officer's body cam was not on.  This officer may be disciplined for the lapse.

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett accused Las Vegas officers of racial profiling and excessive force after the Mayweather-Mcgregor fight in August. Bennett claimed that the police singled him out and one even threatened to "blow his head off." The NFL backed Bennett's story, but the Las Vegas Metr0 Police Department (LVMPD) has strongly come out and denied all of Bennett's claim. The two arresting officers are Hispanic males. Detective Steve Grammas, the president of the Las Vegas Metro Police Protective Association, has even asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to investigate Bennett's actions.

For the second time, a jury refused to convict participants in the Bundy ranch standoff in 2014. Tuesday, not only did a jury find Ricky Lovelien and Steven Stewart not guilty, but they were acquitted of all charges. Scott Drexler and Eric Parker were also found not guilty on most charges. They were accused of threatening and assaulting federal agents in the cattle roundup that turned into a states' rights battle.

Businessman Danny Tarkanian, who has run for different political offices in Nevada,  announced on Fox this morning that will challenge Republican Nevada Senator Dean Heller next year in the primary. Tarkanian called Heller a "Never-Trumper" and promised to carry out President Donald Trump's policies. From NBC News:
Heller charted a meandering course through the Affordable Care Act repeal debate, leading Tarkanian to say the senator had “turned his back on us.” Heller stridently opposed an early version of the GOP health care plan before voting for the final bill in the Senate.

OJ Simpson has received parole for his 2008 conviction of an armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers. From Fox News:
Commissioner Tony Corda begins. He says Simpson committed a crime and was sent to prison. He says Simpson has no prior convictions and is low risk. He has community support and has heard from Simpson and his victim. "The question is if you have served enough time in this case." Corda votes to grant parole.

As the nation's opioid crisis continues to grow, some cities are taking dramatic steps to deal with its associated problems. Las Vegas has actually introduced vending machines which dispense clean syringes for free. The Daily Caller reports:
Syringe Vending Machines Hit Las Vegas Amid Heroin Crisis Las Vegas will get the nation’s first vending machine for drug syringes to combat spiking heroin deaths in the state and reduce the transmission of HIV.