🏠 Prices for luxury homes in Las Vegas are nearly 60% higher than they were seven years ago. At the end of 2019, the median price for a luxury home in the Las Vegas Valley was just under $753,000.
May statistics from Realtor.com show prices are now closer to $1.2 million. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that although mortgage rates are extremely high, the luxury housing market remains popular.
That could be due to affluent buyers using cash to purchase luxury homes, thus bypassing the need for a mortgage.
🚁 Officials have named the second pilot who died last week fighting a wildfire in Utah. Chris Andersen was from Stateline, Nevada, a resort community on the southeast shore of Lake Tahoe.
The other pilot is Miles Elliott of California. Their helicopter crashed on Friday fighting the Widemouth 2 Fire in the Fishlake National Forest.
Flags across Utah will remain at half-staff in their honor until both men are buried. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox praised Andersen and Elliott for dedicating their lives to serving others, saying they made the ultimate sacrifice.
🗳️ Some swing voters might not be quick to reject socialist political candidates. NPR observed two online focus groups of Nevada voters on Tuesday night, and 10 of the 12 participants said they wouldn't automatically think negatively of a politician who identifies with the left-wing ideology.
The voters, who supported Joe Biden in 2020 and then cast ballots for Donald Trump in 2024, had a mix of political affiliations — six self-described independents, four Republicans and two Democrats.
“I don't just take one thing and then label or judge somebody just for that,” said Jasmine, a 33-year-old independent voter. (The participants agreed to take part in the focus groups on the condition that their last names would not be used.) “I need to just get to know them completely before I make a judgment or a decision on who I'm going to vote for.”
The focus group participants offered their opinions on Tuesday, during the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary, which a self-described democratic socialist narrowly lost. There's a debate in the Democratic Party about whether recent wins by democratic socialist candidates will spell trouble with more centrist voters come November.
A recent Pew Research Center survey found that about a third of Democratic voters view democratic socialist leaders positively and that a plurality of all Americans neither like nor dislike democratic socialist politicians. Read the full story by NPR's Ashley Lopez here.
🏒 Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart is now suspended from Hockey Canada through late 2027.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the suspension stems from a violation of the organization’s code of conduct.
The 2018 sexual assault case involving five players from Canada’s 2018 World Junior hockey team is the offending conduct in question. Hart and the other players involved were charged and acquitted.
This decision has no effect on Hart’s eligibility to play in the NHL. The league already imposed a period of ineligibility, which ended in December of last year.
🎓 Along the back of the gallery in the Clark County Commission Chambers sits a large group of Native American high school students from Nevada, Arizona and Montana. They’re all wearing black T-shirts that read “UNLV … 2026 Native Youth Camp.” Tick Segerblom, Clark County commissioner for District E and former state lawmaker, sees them from the dais and walks up.
“Thank you all for coming, it means a lot to us,” Segerblom tells the group. “Don’t gamble, though.”
The students are a part of this year’s UNLV Native Youth College Camp. Over four days, they explore the city and receive presentations from industry experts about the career paths available when they attend college. Camps like these help Native American students visualize themselves studying the fine arts, STEM, hospitality, policy and law.
One of the students planning out her future is Brooklyn Williams, an enrolled member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe who’ll enter her senior year of high school in the fall. But she already knows she wants to attend UNLV to pursue either hospitality or law. Since the college is in Nevada, and she is a member of a federally recognized tribe, Williams would also qualify for the Native American Fee Waiver, which makes school even more affordable.
Read the full story by Jimmy Romo in the newest edition of Desert Companion, available now. See where Desert Companion is available near you!
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.
