The Daily Rundown - June 8, 2026
📚 The remaining three employees at UNLV’s Black Mountain Institute are leaving. In an Instagram post on June 5, executive director Colette LaBoeuf, associate director of programs Charlotte Wyatt, and communications head Joshua Cohen said they were leaving the 20-year-old institution. Cohen is moving into an expanded communications role at UNLV, according to the post, while Wyatt moves to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in Iowa City, and Colette goes to the Taos Center for the Arts in New Mexico.
The other people previously working at BMI departed in 2025. That followed an announcement last year that the organization’s primary donor, The Rogers Foundation, was withdrawing funding to focus on other investments. If BMI were to close, Southern Nevada would have no other standalone literary institute.
📖 School's out. It’s officially summer in Nevada, which means it’s ... time to hit the books?! Sort of. In an effort to keep kids — and adults — reading through the season known for vacations and playtime, libraries typically launch reading challenge programs to boost literacy. And over the years, those efforts have become more creative.
Washoe County Library System has curated reading challenge lists to reflect its theme of dinosaurs, archaeology, and paleontology. Meanwhile, the North Las Vegas Library District is kicking off its reading challenge with live science shows. Henderson Libraries also offers a summer challenge. Las Vegas Clark County Library District has a few tricks up its sleeve, as well.
Its popular summer reading program rewards both kids and adults with free books and prizes. Besides drawing people to the library, it addresses the so-called "summer slide" during the mid-year academic break and encourages reading in a state with the 5th lowest literacy rate in the country. LVCCLD also programs complementary events throughout its 25 branches. Hear the full story by KNPR's Mike Prevatt & Anne Davis here.
🥢 Las Vegas’ legendary Thai restaurant, Lotus of Siam, celebrated the grand reopening of its original Sahara Avenue location on June 4, according to reporting by KNPR's Rafaela Gandolfo. Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom joined restaurant leadership in commemorating its return to the Historic Commercial Center.
James Beard Award-winning Chef Saipin Chutima originally opened Lotus of Siam in 1999, weaving family recipes into its menu. Since then, the spot’s Northern Thai cuisine has received recognition from American Chef Anthony Bourdain and Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold. Owners have also opened two other locations, on Flamingo Road and at Red Rock Casino.
The spot’s rise to recognition hasn’t been without challenge. The Sahara Avenue location has closed twice before: once after storm damage in 2017, and again in 2021, due to staffing challenges. So, why return? "You build the community around it, you make it stronger. You just don't leave it just because you feel like it doesn't do you any purpose, right?
And so, that's what Commercial Center is to us," said Saipin Chutima's daughter, Penny Chutima, who manages Lotus of Siam. She describes the Sahara location as home and says she’s hopeful that their homecoming can bring more culture to the plaza. The restaurant will feature an exclusive new cocktail bar, Naam Jai, along with a 6,000-bottle wine cellar and throwback dishes that honor the eatery’s origins.
💻 Remote work has soared in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic. But, a new study suggests the practice has made workers more socially isolated, anxious and depressed compared to people who work in-person in offices and other settings.
"Other studies have found that workers are willing to give up 4 to 10% of their earnings in order to have the ability to work remotely," says Natalia Emanuel, an economist at Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the main author of the new study published in the journal Science. "So there is a great desire for remote work."
Yet she and her colleagues found that people in remote jobs have seen a rise in hours spent alone during the workday, and more visits to mental health care providers. In self-reports, they also assess their own mental health negatively. Read the full story by NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee here.
🗳️ Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo will face six Republican challengers in a state primary on May 9th, while six Democrats will compete for the nomination to reclaim the seat in November. Other races on the ballot include primaries for U.S. House and a variety of state offices, as well as a mayoral election in Henderson, Nevada’s second largest city. The winner of the governor’s mansion in the key swing state could play a pivotal role in the 2028 presidential campaign, assuming Nevada maintains its slot as the first-in-the-West nominating contest for both parties.
Lombardo was elected in 2022, when he was the only challenger in the country to defeat an incumbent governor. He edged Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak by 1.5 percentage points. The Democratic field includes state Attorney General Aaron Ford and Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill.
With no presidential or U.S. Senate race on the ballot in Nevada this cycle, the gubernatorial contest has been the main driver of campaign ad spending in the state, including by dark-money groups that can raise and spend unlimited amounts and are not required to disclose their donors. Read the full story of what to expect for Nevada's state primary 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.
