The Daily Rundown - November 24th, 2025
🏎️ The Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix brought glamour, drama and economic upside to the city this past weekend. Leading up to the race, Las Vegas saw a rainy week, forcing drivers to use the rarely employed wet tires during qualifying.
The conditions posed a unique challenge, but Lando Norris managed them well, taking pole position. Norris and fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri were later disqualified from the race.
Officials found excessive skid-block wear on both McLaren cars, indicating they may have been running lower than Formula 1 regulations allow. Max Verstappen finished first, followed by George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Learn more about the outcome of the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The race sold out and brought significant tourism traffic to the Strip, with several high-profile celebrities in attendance. Jay-Z and Beyoncé were among those spotted, and Beyoncé took a lap around the circuit with Lewis Hamilton. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that MGM Resorts properties on the Strip reached a 98% occupancy rate. Learn more about the
📰 For news-loving Southern Nevadans, the name Andrew Kiraly is synonymous with “local voice.” The born-and-raised Las Vegan has been a prominent writer and editor here for more than three decades. Kiraly left Nevada Public Radio in 2022, and now he’s leaving Las Vegas altogether. He talked with Desert Companion editor-at-large Scott Dickensheets about his time in the local news business, and where he predicts that business is headed.
Kiraly’s career began in 1992 at the early alt-weekly, Las Vegas New Times. He also worked for the Las Vegas Mercury and Las Vegas CityLife before becoming editor of our own Desert Companion magazine in 2010. In 2022, he created the events newsletter The List, and he currently works as the opinion editor of The Nevada Independent, a job he says he'll continue remotely. Hear the full conversation with Andrew here.
🍟 When you hear the phrase "happy foods," which dishes come to mind? Many people think of sugary desserts or fatty fast foods, says Felice Jacka with the Food and Mood Centre at Deakin University, in Geelong, Australia. After all, in the U.S., we celebrate with cake and ice cream. Parties often feature pizza. Our Thanksgiving feasts usually end in an array of pies and whipped cream. But the idea that these foods will make you happy comes directly from advertisers, Jacka says. "People are like walking wallets to food companies," and they sell you this myth that eating these foods will make you feel good.
For the past fifteen years, Jacka and her colleagues have pioneered the field of nutritional psychiatry. They study how various foods affect people's moods and mental health. And they've found some foods are uplifting and protect us from depression. While others sour our mood and increase our risk of depression. There's mounting evidence that sweets and ultra-processed foods fall squarely in the second category. Hear the full story here.
🐼 The Trump administration is trying to make big changes to the Endangered Species Act. It revealed a slew of revisions Nov. 19. It has big implications for threatened and endangered species, and their critical habitat. Supporters say the revisions will help tailor regulations to specific species, while reducing barriers for landowners. Critics say the changes will put species at risk of extinction.
“This administration is restoring the Endangered Species Act to its original intent,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a press release, “protecting species through clear, consistent and lawful standards that also respect the livelihoods of Americans who depend on our land and resources,” Hear the full story here.
📸 In a nod to our colleague Andrew Kiraly — and a little nostalgia — we took a deep dive into the archive of his extensive contributions to Desert Companion. With Nevada Public Radio gearing up for one of our signature spring events, the next Focus on Nevada photo showcase, Andrew checked in with past winners back in 2022 to ask the classic reunion question: “Where are they now?” Read the full story here.
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.
