The Daily Rundown: October 13, 2026
🏎️ Drivers in Las Vegas should expect extensive road closures, detours and lane restrictions throughout the Las Vegas Strip corridor in the coming weeks.
It’s part of the prep work for the upcoming 2026 Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix.
As Fox 5 reports, the biggest disruption is the closure of the intersection at Koval Lane and Flamingo Road, where about 50,000 vehicles pass through daily. The intersection shut down Sunday, Oct. 11, and will remain closed until 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16.
Crews are using the shutdown to install the temporary Flamingo Vehicular Bridge, but race organizers warn the installation timeline could face adjustments depending on weather conditions.
Businesses in the area will remain accessible, while sidewalks on the north side of Flamingo Road will be partially closed for pedestrian bridge work. Other roads will face traffic restrictions, including Harmon Avenue and Sands Avenue, through Friday, Oct. 16.
Setup for the Bellagio Fountain Club will continue through Nov. 9. The hotel will remain accessible with periodic lane shifts. Southbound traffic will be impacted with two lane closures.
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada also announced several temporary route disruptions through Sunday, Oct. 25.
The 2026 Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix begins Nov. 19.
🏀 The developers of Area15 say they would like to add an NBA arena to their entertainment mix.
The real estate firm Fisher Brothers told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that they want to partner with a group bidding on an expansion team. The goal, says the company’s CEO, is to create “the premier entertainment district in the country.”
He said the arena, as he sees it, would have between 18,000 and 20,000 seats, but the number would be worked out with the bidding group. The NBA is considering adding expansion teams to Las Vegas, Seattle or both.
It’s expected that the group getting the rights to a Las Vegas team will pay a fee of $12 billion to $13 billion, with between $2 billion and $3 billion going toward a new arena.
🕯️ On Oct. 1, 2017, a flurry of shots rang out at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, leaving 58 people dead and hundreds more wounded. Nine years later, a permanent memorial to the victims of that tragedy is one step closer to reality.
Last week, state and local leaders, survivors and victims’ families broke ground on the Forever One Memorial at the former festival site. Attendees included Albert Rivera, the father of Jordyn Rivera, one of the 58 killed that night, who spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony Friday, Oct. 2.
"We believe God is near to the brokenhearted, and we believe Jordyn is not gone," said Rivera. "She is held, she is whole, she is home. And together we have learned that remembering Jordyn is part of how we keep going. Remembering her, and remembering all 58, is how we honor the love that continues long after life has changed."
For Tennille Pereira, executive director of the Vegas Strong Fund, the event marked a milestone years in the making. Hear the full conversation with KNPR's Paul Boger here.
🏫 The Clark County School Board will name a new elementary school in the northwest Las Vegas Valley after Nevada educator and legislator Joyce Woodhouse.
The Clark County School Board approved the choice last week.
Woodhouse, who died in May at 82, spent 40 years as a teacher and administrator in Clark County before moving on to the state Senate, where she was a vocal education advocate, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
A group of 87 elected officials, policymakers, legislative staff and lobbyists who worked with Woodhouse signed a letter asking that the school be named after her.
Construction of the school started in June and is expected to be completed in time for the 2027-28 school year. It will have a capacity of 850 students.
🏢 Data centers are unpopular. A recent Emerson College poll found that nearly 59% of Nevada respondents opposed building data centers in or near their communities.
They're so unpopular, in fact, that many voters list concerns about data centers as one of their top issues heading into the midterm election. So it's no surprise that data centers, and the tax incentives lawmakers created to spur their development in the Silver State, have become a hot-button issue this election cycle.
So, where do the candidates running for Nevada's top elected position stand on data center development?
Of course, data centers are not just a local issue. Increasingly, voters are calling upon Congress to enact guardrails on the development and use of artificial intelligence and the data centers that make them possible.
To learn more about the role data centers are playing on a national level, KNPR's Yvette Fernandez spoke with incumbent Democratic Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada's 1st Congressional District. Hear the full conversation 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.
