The Daily Rundown - June 12, 2026
🗳️ Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar is urging those who used a mail ballot to vote in Tuesday’s Primary to watch for a message from election officials in case there is a signature issue. The deadline to fix, or “cure,” a problem is this Monday, June 15, at 5 p.m. The problem would most likely be a missing signature or one that doesn’t match the one on file. Voters can go to the website Cure.nv.gov to cure the signature or they can contact local election officials.
👶 Clark County's Court Appointed Special Advocate program, also known as CASA, welcomed new leadership on June 8, inducting Vickie Wilson as its new program administrator. The nonprofit CASA serves abused and neglected children in foster care. The organization recruits and trains judge-assigned volunteers to advocate for the best interests of children in the family court system.
Wilson’s previous work in both volunteer management and child welfare has motivated her work today. She says the more she saw, the more she wanted to help. Wilson stepped into the role just over a week after previous administrator Sheila Park’s retirement. Now, Wilson will lead and support the staff and volunteers of the program.
There are approximately 3,400 children in Clark County's foster care system on any given day.
📚 "Home Alone could have never been set in Vegas,” I told my husband recently. I’d been thinking how a city like this one, with its many baked-in stereotypes, would be tough to casually write in as a setting. “You can’t just set a story in a nondescript neighborhood in Summerlin without Vegas playing a major role in the plot,” I argued.
When I mention this to Krista Diamond, author of the forthcoming Close Relationships with Strangers, one of four Southern Nevada-area authors with new books on the way, she agrees. But for her, that’s part of the appeal. “I actually moved to Las Vegas ... because it’s a fascinating and challenging place to write about,” she explains.
“So much media that I’ve seen about Las Vegas goes one way or another. It’s either totally set on the Strip and it’s like nothing else exists, or it’s set in the suburbs. I wanted to write something that shows both realities.”
Novelist Maile Chapman says Las Vegas automatically “adds a layer of mystique” to any story. Chapman, who has lived in Las Vegas for 20 years and teaches English in UNLV’s creative writing MFA program, wanted her portrayal of Las Vegas to feel real. Read the full story by Reannon Muth in Desert Companion's newest issue available now, or find it here.
🛒 Voters in the Historic West Side of Las Vegas hit the polls early on primary day, June 9, to begin casting their ballots According to reporting by KNPR's Rafaela Gandolfo.
The Doolittle Community Center near Lake Mead and MLK Boulevard saw steady traffic in the morning as handfuls of people shuffled in and out of the community center. Among a majority of voters, one concern remained consistent: high costs of living and healthcare.
Dinisha Mingo is a mental health practitioner and the founder of the nonprofit Solutions of Change. Though she usually votes as an independent, she registered as a democrat for this year’s primary.
“One of the biggest things that [is] very difficult for me is to see the rising costs in the cost of living, and watch those people who I know, who are working daily, fail to buy groceries ...” Mingo said. “Looking at the cost of produce, looking at the cost of gas, not being able to drive, sometimes even just to their jobs.”
Echoing concerns of many in the area, Mingo said she hopes her vote will have an impact on more than just herself, uplifting her community at large.
Las Vegas’ Historic West Side has a predominantly Black and Hispanic population, and the median household income for the area is $34,000 a year, according to nonprofit Healthy Connect.
🧗 Over the next 2 months, the Department of the Interior is soliciting comments on how climbing should be managed in Red Rock Canyon and other federal lands. In particular, a release from the agency said it is attempting to establish “common-sense standards for evaluating and managing climbing activities, including the use of fixed anchors.”
Red Rock Canyon is considered a premiere climbing area, holding some of the hardest-graded climbs in the world.
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.
