The Daily Rundown - July 31st, 2026
🚖 Zoox robotaxis will begin charging for rides next month.
The company made the announcement on July 30, after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a series of actions to accelerate American automated vehicle innovation.
The move allows the company to now deploy its robotaxi fleet commercially. The fully autonomous vehicles, or AVs, have offered free rides on Las Vegas roads since last fall.
The approval is temporary while Zoox and the AV industry work to prove the technology is safe over the next two years.
Zoox, which is owned by Amazon, has been working with state regulators on safety requirements, according to a press release from the company.
✈️ Harry Reid International Airport reported a drop in passengers at the midyear mark last month.
According to new data released on July 30, airport officials saw an overall decrease of more than 9% in passengers.
Just more than 4.2 million passengers traveled through the airport last month, both domestic and international. That's down from more than 4.7 million in June 2025.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that it's the steepest decline this year.
Earlier in the week, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority also reported a decrease in visitation when comparing June 2026 to the previous year.
📚 The Nevada Department of Education has eliminated 16 annual reports in an effort to cut administrative red tape, according to reporting by KNPR's Paul Boger.
The move follows a petition from the Nevada Association of School Superintendents, which described the state reports as obsolete and redundant.
Education officials say it should help reduce reporting demands on superintendents, principals and teachers by allowing more focus on student achievement.
According to the department, there are roughly 400 reports currently required by the state. Education officials have identified 89 reports — 22% — for near-term elimination, modification or consolidation.
In addition, NDE says it has partnered with the newly established Education Service Center to implement a more efficient approach to reporting.
Officials hope that the reduction in reporting could redirect nearly 2,800 hours of administrative work back to classrooms.
💧 Arizona, California and Nevada would take less water from the Colorado River under a proposal announced Friday by the federal government to stave off crisis in the beleaguered waterway.
The proposal from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spares Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming from facing mandatory cuts for now. But it's a temporary fix as the states that rely on the river still fight over a long-term management plan for the dwindling resource that powers huge swaths of the Western U.S.
Under the plan, the Lower Basin states could face collective cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet (130 billion cubic feet) through 2036, "subject to hydrology," according to a press release by the Department of the Interior. That's about enough water to serve more than 25 million people a year.
The plan would also allow annual releases between 5 million and 12 million acre-feet from Lake Powell, the basin's second-largest reservoir. Under the 10-year federal framework, water management decisions will be made every two years.
"This framework provides the flexibility to respond to changing hydrologic conditions while preserving the opportunity for the Basin States to continue working toward durable, consensus-based solutions," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in the press release.
The proposed cuts in the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada would be the biggest to date and could have huge impacts across cities and farms — higher water prices, increased groundwater reliance, more agriculture out of production and conservation mandates in places where none have existed before.
The federal plan comes after years of deadlocked negotiations and a record-dry winter that tipped Colorado River reservoirs to combined record lows. Federal officials are expected to finalize the plan in the coming days.
🎬 One Hollywood icon is prepping for a comeback. The Cinerama Dome — one of the most famous movie theaters in the world — has been closed since the COVID pandemic. But it's now got a new lease on life, thanks to Sony Pictures and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
The studio announced it will lease, restore and reopen the famous theater in 2028. Alamo Drafthouse plans to program and operate it and 14 other screens at the adjoining multiplex.
"Hot damn! We're bringing the Dome back, baby," Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman said in a statement. "We believe in moviegoing down to our soul, and no venue on Earth stands more for that than the one-of-a-kind Dome."
"There's a lot of passion behind this theater," says Michael O'Leary, who heads Cinema United, the global association of movie theater owners. He says while the Cinerama Dome's closing was a symbol of the pandemic, its recovery is proof the pandemic is behind us and movie theater-going is back.
"It's really exciting," agrees Escott Norton, former executive director and current board member of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. "There's been a lot of people waiting with bated breath to see when the dome is going to reopen. People think of this as the ultimate Hollywood experience."
Hear the full story by NPR's Mandalit del Barco 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.
