Nevada

Las Vegas may ask Nevada Supreme Court to review another Badlands case

Published

1 year ago

September 3, 2024

Las Vegas may ask Nevada Supreme Court to review another Badlands case

Litigation related to the defunct Badlands golf course might again appear before the Nevada Supreme Court.

The Las Vegas City Council could vote Wednesday on whether to petition the state’s highest court to review one of the four cases against the city, according to this week’s meeting agenda.

Lower court judgments in that case have ballooned to just over $80 million for 17 acres of the defunct golf course near Alta Drive and Rampart Boulevard, court records show.

The cost includes nearly $48 million for “fair market value” of the land, more than $2 million in property taxes and attorney fees and nearly $30 million in back interest, court documents show.

Interest is accumulating at a daily rate of $21,121.53 until the $48 million is paid, records show.

The yearslong court battle began shortly after EHB Cos. bought the 250-acres golf course in 2015. The company, which is led by CEO Yohan Lowie, has argued that the city illegally “took” the property by not allowing the developer to exercise land-use entitlements and build homes on the property.

Judges in three of the lawsuits — one each for three of the four parcels Lowie had purchased — have agreed. The Nevada Supreme Court previously upheld a $64 million judgment in another one of the cases.

Meanwhile, city officials are bracing for a fallout that could exceed more than half a billion dollars if court opinions don’t shift, Las Vegas City Manager Mike Janssen wrote to staff earlier this summer.

“The cost to file the frivolous appeal is unjustifiable,” wrote EHB partner Vickie DeHart to council members in a letter shared with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The letter outlined the city’s losses in the previous Supreme Court decision for a 35-acre plot.

The city has began paying that $64 million judgment, earmarking $60 million from the 2024 fiscal year liability fund.

EHB argued in the letter that city attorneys have previously admitted that the case is “factually identical” to the one involving the 35 acres and that the Supreme Court could enter a summary judgment based on previous deliberations.

Both parties have expressed interest in settling the cases out of court, and an attorney for EHB said recently that talks appeared promising.

To offset accumulating costs, Janssen told staff that the city was exploring freezing open positions, and that officials were considering pausing projects and selling public land and properties.

The potential city liability of half a billion dollars would represent a quarter of the city’s total annual $2 billion budget.

A previous version of this story misattributed a statement that cases involving 17- and 35-acre portions of EHB’s property are “factually idential.” The statement was made in a filing by attorneys representing the city of Las Vegas.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.

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Nevada

Earthquake swarm rattles central Nevada near Tonopah along newly identified fault

Published

4 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Earthquake swarm rattles central Nevada near Tonopah along newly identified fault

A swarm of earthquakes has been rattling a remote stretch of central Nevada near Tonopah, including a magnitude 4.0 quake that hit near Warm Springs Tuesday morning.

Seismologists said the activity is typical for Nevada, where clusters of earthquakes can flare up in a concentrated area. “This is a very Nevada-style earthquake sequence. We have these a lot where we just see an uptick in activity in a certain spot,” said Christie Rowe, director of the Nevada Seismological Lab.

The latest magnitude 4.0 quake struck east of Tonopah near Warm Springs. The largest earthquake in the swarm so far has measured a 4.2.

What has stood out to researchers is the fault involved. Rowe said the earthquakes are occurring along a fault stretching along the southern edge of the Monitor and Antelope ranges — and that it was previously unknown to scientists. “We didn’t know this fault was there. It’s a new fault to us — not to the Earth, obviously — but it was previously unknown,” Rowe said.

For now, the earthquakes have remained moderate. Rowe said the lab would not deploy additional temporary sensors unless activity increases to around a magnitude 5 or greater.

Seismologists said they are continuing to watch the swarm closely as Nevada works to bring the ShakeAlert early warning system to the state. The program, already active in neighboring states, can send cellphone alerts seconds before shaking arrives. “For me, it’s a really high priority. That distance to the faults gives us enough time to warn people — and that can make a big difference in reducing injuries and damage,” Rowe said.

Seismologists encouraged anyone who feels shaking to report it through the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Did You Feel It” system, saying even small quakes can help scientists better understand Nevada’s seismic activity.

Experts said the swarm is worth monitoring but is not cause for alarm. They noted that earthquakes like the 5.8 that hit near Yerington in December 2024 typically happen in Nevada about every eight to 10 years, and said they will continue monitoring the current activity closely.

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Nevada

Kalshi Enforcement Action Belongs in Nevada Court, Judge Says

Published

16 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Kalshi Enforcement Action Belongs in Nevada Court, Judge Says

Nevada state court is the proper venue for reviewing whether KalshiEX LLC is improperly accepting sports wagers without a license, a federal district court said.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board showed that the state statutes under which it seeks relief don’t require interpreting federal law, Judge Miranda M. Du of the US District Court for the District of Nevada said in a Monday order. The board’s action is now remanded to the First Judicial District Court in Carson City, Nev., the order said.

The board in 2025 urged Kalshi, a financial services company, to get a gaming license, but the …

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Nevada

EDITORIAL: Nevada still vulnerable as tourist downturn continues

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

EDITORIAL: Nevada still vulnerable as tourist downturn continues

Strip gaming executives can put their best spin on the numbers, but local tourism indicators remain a major concern. Casino operators seeking to draw more people through the door still have much work to do.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board released January gaming numbers Friday. The news was underwhelming. The state gaming win was down 6.6 percent from a year earlier. The Strip took the largest hit, an 11 percent drop. But the gloomy returns were spread throughout Clark County: Downtown Las Vegas was off 5.2 percent, Laughlin suffered a 3.3 percent decline and the Boulder Strip dipped by 7 percent.

For the current fiscal year, gaming tax collections are up a paltry
2.1 percent, below budget projections.

The red flags include more than gaming numbers. Recently released figures for 2025 reveal that visitation to Las Vegas fell nearly 8 percent from 2024, which represented the lowest total since the pandemic in 2021. Traffic at Reid International Airport fell more than 10 percent in December and was down 6 percent for the year. Strip occupancy rates fell 3 percent in 2025.

To be fair, this is not just a Las Vegas problem. International travel to the United States was down
4.8 percent in January, Forbes reported, the ninth straight month of decline. Travel from Europe fell 5.2 percent, and passenger counts from Asia fell 7.5 percent. Canadian tourism cratered by 22 percent.

No doubt that President Donald Trump’s blustery rhetoric has played a role in the decline, but there’s more at work. International tourism has been largely flat since Barack Obama’s last few years in office. But domestic travel has held relatively steady although it is “starting to cool,” according to the U.S. Travel Association. Las Vegas hasn’t been helped by high-profile complaints last year about exorbitant Strip prices for parking, bottled water and other staples. Casino operators responded by offering discounts, particularly for locals, and they’ll need to continue those policies into 2026.

The tourism downturn has ramifications for the state budget, which relies primarily on sales and gaming tax revenues to support spending plans. “Nevada’s employment and economic challenges reflect deep structural factors that extend beyond cyclical economic fluctuations,” noted a recent report by economic analyst John Restrepo. “The state’s extreme concentration in tourism and gaming creates unique vulnerabilities.”

The irony is that state and local politicians have been talking for the past half century about “diversifying” the state economy. In recent years, that effort has primarily consisted of handing out millions in tax breaks and other incentives to attract businesses to the state. A dispassionate observer might ask whether that approach has brought an adequate return on investment.

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