The Daily Rundown: October 20, 2026
🚌 For the 2026 fiscal year, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has put significant effort into improving safety on public buses and at facilities.
Of the nearly 58 million passengers carried this year, there’s been a nearly 29% reduction in passenger-on-operator assaults. However, passenger-on-passenger assaults have increased by a little more than 50% since 2025.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that since July 1, RTC security officers have helped save 19 lives by administering Narcan to people who showed signs of overdose or extreme intoxication.
At the RTC’s last board meeting, six officers were presented with Crystal Bus Awards for their lifesaving actions.
🦩 A jury convicted a man on felony and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges yesterday [Monday, Oct. 19] for snatching a flamingo from its habitat at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino.
Mitchell Fairbarn of Canada remains on house arrest pending sentencing Dec. 1 and faces up to four years in prison. Fairbarn has been unable to leave the U.S. while awaiting trial, including for his father’s funeral.
Reports say the 27-year-old flamingo is doing better physically but shows anxiety and nervous behavior during medical examinations.
🗳️ The Justice Department announced on Oct. 19 it was charging 28 noncitizens with election crimes in California, signaling a further escalation over the state's voting system that looks like it will continue through Election Day and beyond.
The DOJ also filed an emergency request in federal court to stop California from processing ballots returned by people on the voter rolls whom the federal government says are "likely noncitizens." The state has asked for specific information on how the federal government came to its conclusions, but has not received it.
Noncitizen voting has never been found to be a widespread problem in American elections, but the Trump administration is devoting significant resources to uncovering the ineligible voting that does occur. The DOJ has been announcing handfuls of new charges almost every day as early voting gets underway in many states.
The Justice Department's latest request in federal court is a continuation of a saga that began this summer with President Trump's prime-time speech on election integrity.
It took a major turn last week with the delivery of a flash drive to Los Angeles County that contained 20,000 names and a 48-hour deadline to investigate them. Local and state officials declined to do so, and the federal government sued.
Read the full story by NPR's Miles Parks and Jude Juffe-Block here.
⚾ The Athletics have hired 31-year-old Taylor Smith as their new president of baseball operations, the team announced on Oct. 19. He comes from the Boston Red Sox, where he served as senior vice president and assistant general manager.
Known as an analytics guru, he oversaw Boston’s analytics, sciences, systems and technology and led player acquisitions, development and baseball operations, according to MLB dot com.
He spent seven years with the Tampa Bay Rays before that. The A’s, formerly based in Oakland, are scheduled to play in Las Vegas starting with the 2028 season.
🏀 UNLV women’s basketball great Desi-Rae Young will have her No. 23 jersey retired Nov. 6 when the Lady Rebels open their home schedule against UTSA, the school announced yesterday [Monday, Oct. 19] morning.
The Las Vegas native is the fourth player in program history to have her jersey retired. The number will still be available to future players, though. The two-time Mountain West Conference MVP had more than 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
Over four seasons, Young helped UNLV win three straight Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles and reach three consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
🎬 For Ryan and Cody LeBoeuf and Rachel Alterman, working with UNLV’s Filmmaker Vision Lab is a proud full-circle moment. All three graduated from UNLV’s film school (now known as the School of Cinematic Arts), and returning to their alma mater as mentors and collaborators is a sign of how far they’ve come as filmmakers.
“UNLV for me was the place where I found my film family, and it reinforced me wanting to be a filmmaker,” Alterman says.
The LeBoeuf brothers are veterans of the local film scene, as writers and directors of numerous short films, as well as two previous features. While still students at UNLV in 2013, they received the Johnny Brenden Filmmakers Award, giving them $25,000 toward the production of their first feature, Rabbit Days (later retitled The Beast for its streaming release).
Their second feature, horror anthology The Haunted History Tour, is currently seeking distribution, but they’re already looking ahead to the next project.
That’s where Alterman comes in. She’s now the director of development at Los Angeles-based Alcon Entertainment, whose recent productions include The Garfield Movie and Practical Magic 2. When she caught a screening of The Haunted History Tour, she knew that she had to team up with the LeBoeufs as a producer.
Now all three are collaborating on a proof-of-concept presentation for It Came From the Swamp, the feature film they hope to make together. As part of the Filmmaker Vision Lab, they will work with a crew of UNLV students on the shoot this August, with the goal of attracting investor interest for the full movie.
Read the full story in the newest edition of Desert Companion, available now. See where you can find a copy 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.
