The Daily Rundown - November 17th, 2025
📊 Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero struck a cautiously optimistic tone about the city’s outlook for 2026 in her State of the City address last week, highlighting new housing projects and casinos in development while noting slower economic growth in Southern Nevada this year.
“While there are some positive signs of national economic indicators, at the local level we are seeing signs of weakness, instability and slowing growth,” Romero said. She added that the repercussions of the longest government shutdown in history, trade wars and ongoing inflation could strain residents and businesses. Henderson is facing flat or declining revenues, she said, but the city’s budget is balanced with strong reserves. The city remains “well-positioned” to meet its current financial commitments, she said.
🍼 The Southern Nevada Health District says that while there have been no cases of botulism in Clark County possibly linked to ByHeart Whole Nutrition Infant Formula, it is encouraging parents and caregivers to review recall information and take appropriate steps. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration are investigating 15 reported cases of infant botulism in 12 states.
All infants were hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported. ByHeart has expanded its recall to include all batches of its Whole Nutrition Infant Formula. The health district says the product should not be used, and any bottles, scoops, counters, or feeding items that may have come into contact with the formula should be cleaned or sanitized.
😂 You know Alonzo Bodden as a regular guest on NPR’s news quiz show, Wait Wait! Don’t Tell Me. But did you know he’s also a Nevadan? Last year, the comedian moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for a change of pace. Not that he’s always hanging out at the neighborhood bar or anything — besides his appearances on Wait Wait, he’s constantly doing standup at venues around the country. In fact, Bodden's got a homecoming run of dates November 17 through 23 at the Comedy Cellar at the Rio. And during his conversation with KNPR's Mike Prevatt, he's got no shortage of observational witticisms for his various gigs. Hear some of what Bodden had to say.
🔓 As a former employee of the U.S. Forest Service, Max Alonzo knows how hard shutdowns can be; he’s lived through a couple. “We were a one income house, and I had to do side jobs just to, you know, make enough money to put food on the table and put gas in the car during that time,” he said.
Now Alonzo is the national secretary-treasurer for the National Federation of Federal Employees. He’s glad that furloughed federal workers are back on the job after the longest shutdown in U.S. history. He’s also relieved that the funding bill guarantees they’ll get back pay, after President Trump had warned that some workers would not be eligible. Hear the full story.
👀 It’s brutal out there. But it’s not that great in here, either — here in the quiet spaces of my head and home, where I try to maintain a little equilibrium amid the madly fluxing state of this union. It ain’t easy. Out there won’t let me unwind. My morning coffee ripples with the stomp of each day’s fresh tyranny: the president’s political enemies targeted, troops and agents surging through cities, the Constitution treated like a novelty placemat.
I’m not the only one who feels it, either. For many of us still loyal to the bedraggled niceties of the American Experiment — suddenly disposable concepts like the Bill of Rights, pursuit of happiness, e pluribus unum — this chaos can sink us into a kind of jellied anxiety that I, for one, find it hard to squirm out of.
This, I submit, is no way to live, even under a would-be despot. Especially under a would-be despot.
The obvious solution is a darkened room and a gonzo supply of noise-canceling gummies. But I have a household to run, so that’s out. No, perhaps what I really need is for Las Vegas, particularly at this most festive time of the year — and with fewer visitors underfoot, haha — to work its fabled magic. What can I do around here to calm my nerves for a minute? Read the full piece by Scott Dickensheets in Desert Companion.
Part of these stories are taken from KNPR's daily newscast segment. To hear more daily updates like these, tune in to 88.9 KNPR FM.
