LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada kicked off their cookie season with a Mega Drop event at Cowabunga Bay on Saturday morning.

During the event, 29,629 cases, totaling 355,548 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, were distributed to ensure local troops are fully stocked for the season.

Additional inventory was also distributed through the council office.

This annual event supports local Girl Scouts in building entrepreneurial, leadership, and goal-setting skills.

Cookie season is officially underway, offering a perfect opportunity to support local Girl Scouts by purchasing your favorite cookies.

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The College of Southern Nevada is offering free e-scooter and e-bike safety classes for families as Nevada prepares to study statewide regulations for the increasingly popular electric vehicles.

The two-hour classes at all CSN campuses teach road rules, proper safety equipment and accident prevention techniques as hospitals report a surge in serious injuries from e-scooter crashes.

“The motorcycle program manager for CSN said she’s seeing too many kids, too many adults breaking road rules or not knowing what they’re doing,” said FOX5 reporter Jaclyn Schultz, who covered the safety initiative.

Parents unaware of vehicle capabilities

Many parents purchase e-scooters and e-bikes without understanding their speed capabilities or legal requirements, according to Schultz’s reporting.

“They go to Costco, Sam’s Club, even get it from Amazon or just online,” Schultz said.

Some electric vehicles classified as motorcycles require riders to be 16 or older, but can be purchased online without age verification.

“Parents don’t know what their kids are getting,” Schultz said.

Safety gear required to prevent serious injuries

Unlike traditional bicycles and scooters, high-speed electric vehicles can cause severe trauma requiring emergency room treatment rather than basic first aid.

“When these things are going 25, 35, 45 miles an hour, then you’re talking serious head trauma injuries, concussions, broken skulls, broken bones, major physical therapy. These people don’t end up in the urgent care, they’re in the ER,” Schultz said.

The CSN classes teach that many e-scooters require motorcycle-grade safety equipment rather than standard bicycle helmets.

“So many people don’t know that for an e-scooter or some of those fast devices, you need a motorcycle helmet. Anything less won’t protect you. You might need motorcycle gear on your body, like a jacket or pants with armor. You might need wrist guards,” Schultz said.

Accident surge after holidays

Sunrise Hospital trauma center reported increased accidents in the beginning of 2026.

“I did a story recently on a surge of accidents being seen at Sunrise Trauma from adults, from children. They’re even suspecting that maybe a lot more children are getting hurt because they got presents over the holidays,” Schultz said.

Nevada launches comprehensive study

State lawmakers plan to study e-scooter regulations over the next several months after declining to address the issue during a recent special legislative session.

“Lawmakers are going to get testimony from law enforcement, from school officials, public safety officials, and medical experts… to try to bring it back for the next legislative session,” Schultz said.

A CSN motorcycle instructor described the current situation as “the wild, wild west” due to the lack of comprehensive regulations.

“Every state, every community is grappling with how to make laws keep pace with the pace of technology,” Schultz said.

Potential statewide regulations could include mandatory helmets, speed limits, safety gear requirements, and age restrictions for different vehicle classifications.

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Fourteen students from South Korea’s National University of Education (KNUE) visited the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada, Reno at the start of the Spring 2026 semester. They visited several local schools and institutions to learn about the U.S. educational system and culture during the weeklong program.  These students are studying in teacher preparation programs in South Korea.  

During the week, the students visited several local public schools, including Doral Academy, Hug High School, Debbie Smith Academy and Herz Middle School. Students had a chance to tour each school and visit classrooms to get a firsthand look at how U.S. students learn. On the University campus, students sat in on several College of Education and Human Development courses throughout the week and visited the Child and Family Research Center. The students also visited the University’s Lake Tahoe campus. 

KNUE students enjoyed s’mores at the University’s Lake Tahoe campus.

For both universities, this program gives students and faculty the opportunity to collaboratively build a global perspective on education. By learning from each other’s ideas, both cultures can strengthen and grow their own education systems. And for KNUE, building this globalized, interconnected culture is a top priority. 

“I want our students to be interconnected with the University of Nevada, Reno,” said Joosang Lee, a KNUE faculty member who accompanied the students on the trip. “And then they will have an open mind about other people, other cultures and other countries.” 

“I went on this trip because I wanted to learn more about diversity around the world,” said Chaeyun Lee, a student studying music education at KNUE. “I wanted to meet people from all over the world and have conversations with them. And I wanted to learn how the U.S. education system works and how students communicate with their teachers and professors.” 

Cultivating connections among students has been an important part of the program. Several events throughout the week were held for both University of Nevada, Reno and KNUE students, where they had a chance to mingle while learning about each other’s cultures. The event organizers wanted to create opportunities for students to learn about each other’s broader cultures in a curious, inclusive space. 

“That’s something I really admire about our environment here,” said doctoral student Hanine Haidar, who helped coordinate this year’s program. “The way we don’t minimize people to just food, or singular elements of their culture, but we maximize them by accepting them for who they are.” 

The program was first established by an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed between University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval and Korea National University of Education President Kim Jongwoo in late 2023, and the first visit by South Korean students was held in January 2024. Each year since, students from both universities have visited each other’s countries and institutions.

In May, several University of Nevada, Reno students will visit KNUE. This program gives an opportunity for this year’s cohort of University of Nevada, Reno students to meet the South Korean students now, so they will already have connections when they visit South Korea in March 2026.  

“This program has provided excellent opportunities for our future teachers to experience diverse educational settings and cultures, enhance their understanding of different educational approaches and build friendships through interactions with pre-service teachers from two different countries,” said Hyun-Joo Jeon, Ph.D., professor of Human Development and Family Science, who developed and led the short-term exchange program.

(From left to right) Mehmet Tosun, Joosang Lee, Man Seob Lee, Mihyun Koh, Hyun-Joo Jeon, Ramya Fernandez and Dean Donald Easton-Brooks.

“It was very important for us to create events where these students would get to interact a lot over this week, so that when our students go to South Korea, they have some connections that they made from their visit here,” said Ramya Fernandez, CPA, MPH, assistant dean of operations, who helped coordinate this year’s program.