Nevada
Regents District 4 candidates skeptical of removing board from constitution • Nevada Current
The responsibilities of the Board of Regents include overseeing the Nevada System of Higher Education’s more than $2 billion budget, setting tuition prices, and hiring a chancellor and school presidents. They oversee four community colleges, two universities, one research institute, and one state college.
Currently, the board consists of 13 elected nonpartisan regents serving six-year terms. However, state lawmakers passed a bill last year that will reduce the board to nine regents serving four-year terms starting 2028.
Voters in District 4, which includes part of east Las Vegas and the City of North Las Vegas, can choose between Aaron Bautista, a Clark County School District special education teacher, and Tonia Holmes-Sutton, chair of the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority.
Both candidates vying for the position said they are not sold on Nevada’s ballot Question 1, which would remove from the Nevada State Constitution provisions that establish the Board of Regents as the governing body of NSHE.
If approved, the ballot question would give the state Legislature the ability to review and change the governing organization of public universities.
Bautista said he believes removing the Board of Regents would give the legislature too much say over the direction of higher education.
“I’m not for it,” said Bautista. “In Florida, they removed the Board of Regents and what ended up happening is that the Republican legislature got rid of some of the African American Studies classes because the Board of Regents wasn’t there. It prevents academic freedom, depending on who’s in office.”
Holmes-Sutton told the Nevada Faculty Alliance in April this year that she was against the proposed constitutional amendment. However, in an interview with the Nevada Current last week, Holmes-Sutton said she is currently “still processing” her position.
“I’m still making a decision myself as to what my position will be, ” Holmes-Sutton said. “I definitely believe that it is of importance to continue to research and engage with colleagues around the intentions and also opportunities that exist as the Legislature seeks to reform the Board of Regions governance.”
Holmes-Sutton noted that she wasn’t certain about Question 1’s chances of passing this election, after a similar ballot measure was narrowly defeated in 2020.
Affodability & accessibility
Bautista, who teaches at the Ellen Stewart Special School, received a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Nevada State College, and a master’s degree in special education from Grand Canyon University.
His campaign reported raising nearly $3,000 during the first six months of his campaign. In financial fillings, Bautista listed his party affiliation as the Democratic Party.
He’s been endorsed by a number of unions, including AFL-CIO, the Clark County Education Association, SEIU Nevada, Laborers Local 872, IBEW, and Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Service Technicians, Local 525. He was also endorsed by Hispanics in Politics and Make the Road Nevada Action.
Bautista said he would like to see NSHE address the state’s teacher shortage by establishing a state loan forgiveness program for educators working in the state, similar to programs offered in California and Alabama.
“In Nevada, where we have this big shortage, we don’t have programs like that at all,” Bautisa said.
Both candidates said they plan to approach their regent duties with college affordability and accessibility in mind, and emphasized the importance of college readiness to prepare students for the pressures of higher education.
Bautista advocated for reexamining enrollment requirements under the Nevada Promise Scholarship, which requires students to sign up for a minimum of 12 credits to qualify. Bautista said many students are too intimidated by the required course load to apply for the scholarship and give higher education a try.
Safety & equity
Holmes-Sutton advocated for expanding dual credit programs, which allow high school students to earn college credits while in high school. Not all students in Nevada have equal access to dual credit programs, especially rural students where less resources are available, she said.
Holmes-Sutton has a master’s and doctorate of education from UNLV.
In addition to chairing the state Charter School Board, she serves the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Board of Directors and the WestEd Board of Directors. She previously served on the Nevada State Board of Education.
She reported raising about $5,500 during the first six months of her campaign, and spending about $2,500. In financial fillings, Holmes-Sutton listed her party affiliation as nonpartisan.
Holmes-Sutton has received endorsements from a number of military-focused groups, including the Nevada Democratic Veterans and Military Families Caucus, and the Nevada Veterans Association. She also received endorsements from the Nevada Faculty Alliance and Ironworkers Local Union 416.
Both candidates said they would prioritize improving student safety and mental health services.
Holmes-Sutton recounted how she herself has faced gun violence at four distinct periods in her life. Her daughter also faced gun violence as a student at UNLV who was attending classes when the Dec. 6 shooting at UNLV took place.
“You cannot focus on learning and teaching if you are fearful for your safety,” Holmes-Sutton said. “Well being, safety, and mental health are intrinsically linked in such a way that we must attend to them in a comprehensive manner.”
Newly elected regents will have no shortage of issues to address, including dealing with the fallout of higher education budgets devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In December, the board voted to raise tuition and fees by 5% to help pay for 11% raises for NSHE professional employees.
Bautista said he believes equity should be top of mind when considering the budget and how best to allocate resources.
“When it comes to spending I’d like to look at equity. What institutions are at a disadvantage? Resources need to be distributed so students and faculty are not at a disadvantage when going to a certain university,” Bautista said. “We have to look at the budget and where it’s being spent and where it could be spent better.”
Holmes-Sutton said balancing funding needs and college affordability is one of the most significant responsibilities of the board, and requires expertise and research.
“We can examine how other states have addressed some of the challenges that they experience around funding. We can learn by way of research and experience from others to be able to inform the decisions that we make,” Holmes-Sutton said. “It’s important to engage in a way that is transparent and that seeks the expertise and experience of others in making the decisions that are best for our community.”
Nevada’s List of Excluded Persons — the notorious “Black Book” filled with names of people forever banned from the state’s big casinos — is expected to change over the next few months as the Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday will consider the addition of the 39th person to be listed and a petition from a person already listed to be removed.
The five-member commission will consider the inclusion of San Juan Capistrano, California, resident Mathew Raymond Bowyer, who pleaded guilty to federal charges of running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and filing a false tax return. He took sports bets from an estimated 700 gamblers, including Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter and de facto agent for Los Angeles Dodgers baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani.
Thursday’s commission meeting begins at 9 a.m., an hour earlier than when the panel normally gathers. The meeting is in Las Vegas and is livestreamed on the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s YouTube channel.
Bowyer served about five months of a one-year, one-day sentence that began in October. He was released from a federal prison in Lompoc, California, to a halfway house in March and will be on supervised probation for two years.
Won’t fight inclusion
In a February telephone interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Bowyer indicated he does not expect to fight inclusion to the list, citing the expense of hiring an attorney to represent him. As of Tuesday, there was no indication from Gaming Control Board representatives that Bowyer would attend the hearing, although he has been notified of it.
But in his interview with the Review-Journal, Bowyer expressed his disdain for being considered for inclusion in the book, which lists the worst of the worst criminals that regulators say should be banned from Nevada casinos for committing crimes that hurt the gaming industry and could bring a bad reputation to the state.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that they are telling me I can’t set foot in a licensed gaming property in the state of Nevada,” Bowyer said in the interview. “I mean, I understand that they don’t want me to be able to gamble again, but to tell me I can’t take my 4-year-old boy to Circus Circus or go have dinner at Javier’s at Aria to me is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of.”
Fall guy
Bowyer said he believes he is “the fall guy for everything and everybody in this situation.”
He said the day before the RJ interview that he was visited by two Control Board agents who notified him of his nomination to the list and explained his options for fighting inclusion. But he doubts he’ll fight it because he said he can’t afford the legal representation needed to make his case before the commission.
In the wake of Bowyer’s case, three casino companies have been disciplined by the Gaming Commission and fined.
Bowyer’s name has come up in three previous disciplinary actions taken in 2025 involving fines of $10.5 million assessed to Resorts World Las Vegas and its parent company, Genting Berhad, in March; an $8.5 million fine against MGM Resorts International in April; and a $7.8 million fine against Caesars Entertainment Inc. in November.
Those actions involved the second-, fourth- and fifth-highest fines ever assessed in a gaming disciplinary matter.
Nicole Bowyer
There’s still unfinished business before the Gaming Commission for Bowyer’s wife, Nicole Bowyer.
More than a year ago, on Jan. 30, 2025, the Gaming Commission delayed action on a complaint against Nicole Bowyer, who worked as an independent agent for Resorts World Las Vegas.
Nicole Bowyer faced at least a five-year ban as an agent who encourages a gambler to play at a specific casino and is paid a commission from the casino based on the player’s losses.
Commissioners put off a decision on a stipulation for settlement with her because they wanted to see her hit with stiffer penalties. Commissioners separately said they wanted to see Nicole Bowyer fined or possibly have her agent status revoked for life.
Mathew Bowyer alleges that Resorts World never trained his wife about money-laundering compliance, saying casino operators “never did one ounce of AML (anti-money-laundering) training.”
“That was something that was supposed to be done,” he said. “I found out later because I knew nothing about being a casino host and nor did my wife because they were so hungry for our business. They clearly were OK with that. But the fact that they did zero training. I feel like it’s just completely, you know, unfair would be the best word I could use.”
Since Resorts World was fined, Genting has made several moves to bolster AML compliance, including applying for and receiving licensing for two board members, former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and former Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett.
If approved for inclusion on the list, Bowyer would become its 39th member, after commissioners unanimously approved the inclusion of Newport Coast, California, resident Wayne Nix as No. 38 in February.
Nix, a former minor league baseball pitcher, is an illegal bookmaker whose casino play at MGM Grand, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and other MGM Resort properties led to former MGM Grand President Scott Sibella pleading guilty to failing to report to federal officers about illegal gamblers playing at the casino when he worked there in 2018.
Prospective removal
While Bowyer’s inclusion would add to the list, commissioners also will consider the unprecedented removal of a living person from it.
Scheduled right before the Bowyer hearing is discussion of a petition for the removal of Francis Citro Jr., 80, whose attorney asked in November for a hearing on the matter.
A popular entertainer at Las Vegas’ Italian American Club, Citro is hoping his removal from the list would enable him to perform his collection of bebop music, Italian folk songs, jokes and stories about Las Vegas’ mob past in a casino lounge setting some day.
Las Vegas attorney Michael Lasher submitted the 10-page request to be removed from the list in November saying Citro has changed his life since he was placed on the list Nov. 21, 1991.
In a hearing in January, Lasher said, “In the decades that have passed, petitioner’s character and reputation have become stellar. He is a reformed man, doing good for his community by charity fundraising as an entertainer.”
In January, commissioners opted to delay a hearing by a month and then Citro asked for a further delay until April in order to prepare his case.
No decision Thursday
At Thursday’s hearing, commissioners aren’t expected to render a decision on removal, but to decide whether to schedule a comprehensive hearing on Citro’s request. If commissioners vote against it, the matter would be considered resolved and Citro would remain on the list. If a hearing is set, Citro could bring witnesses to testify to his character before a decision on removal is considered.
If successful, Citro would be the first living person ever removed from the list.
The Gaming Commission routinely peruses the list to remove people who have died over the years. Currently, there are at least two people on the list who have died in recent years.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
TOP FINES
Here’s a list of the top 10 fines imposed by the Nevada Gaming Commission for disciplinary action against casinos.
1. Wynn Resorts Ltd., $20 million, 2019.
2. Resorts World Las Vegas, $10.5 million, 2025
3. Steve Wynn, $10 million, 2023.
4. MGM Resorts International, $8.5 million, 2025
5. Caesars Entertainment, $7.8 million, 2025
T6. CG Technology (then known as Cantor G&W Holdings), $5.5 million, 2014.
T6. Wynn Resorts Ltd., $5.5 million, 2025.
8. The Mirage, $5 million ($3 million fine, $2 million compensatory payment), 2003.
9. Stardust, $3 million, 1985.
10. Santa Fe Station, $2.2 million ($1.5 million fine, $700,000 compensatory payment), 2005.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — UNLV turned its student union plaza into a push to save lives as Nevada faces a need for organ donors.
University police and Nevada Donor Network hosted “Dogs, Donuts and Donate Life,” using K9 meet-and-greets and free donuts to get students and staff to stop by, learn about donation, and sign up on the spot.
“Partnering with police agencies, our first responders, is important here during Nationals April’s Donate Life Month because we can spread awareness about organ, eye, and tissue donation together as a trusted community source and also answer any myths or misconceptions, questions people might have about the donation process here in our community,” said Samantha Savalli of Nevada Donor Network.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada Donor Network achieves record-breaking year for organ transplants
People can register at the DMV.
According to Nevada Donor Network, more than 100,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant right now including more than 700 people in Nevada. More than 1.6 million Nevadans are already registered as organ donors, but the need is still urgent.
For more information about organ, eye and tissue donation, visit www.nvdonor.org .
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Fierce widespread winds return to Southern Nevada on Tuesday!
TODAY
Wind alerts are in place across the Silver State, including HIGH WIND WARNINGS for Esmeralda and Nye County for wind gusts up to 60 mph.
Locally, a WIND ADVISORY will be in effect from 2:00 pm to 11:00 pm today in Clark County for sustained south winds 20-30 mph and wind gusts around 45 mph. Higher wind speeds 50-60 mph will be possible in the mountains. Similar gusty winds will occur across Lincoln County as well.
Rain/snow showers will be possible mainly across northern and central Nevada as this storm passes with the snow level dropping to 5,000-6,000 ft. Around a foot of snow is forecast in parts of the Sierra above 10,000 ft in elevation.
Meanwhile, we’ll see lots of sunshine in Las Vegas with “cooler” high temperatures reaching 86 degrees. That’s down from yesterday’s high of 90 degrees officially at the airport. Winds will start off light, increasing to 15-25 mph sustained winds this afternoon with wind gusts 35-45 mph.
Air quality is ranked ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ for ozone and blowing dust. Pollen levels are ‘low.’
TONIGHT
We’ll see mostly clear skies, gusty winds and colder valley low temperatures dropping to the mid 50s.
Winds will continue out of the southwest, 20-30 mph.
WHAT’S NEXT
Temperatures will drop around 10 degrees by Wednesday with valley highs in the mid 70s. Breezes will linger with west/southwest winds 10-15 mph with gusts around 25 mph.
We have a brief warm-up Thursday and Friday, ahead of another weather maker moving in this weekend. As of right now, weather models indicate breezes picking up Saturday and Sunday (SW winds 10-15 mph with gusts to 25 mph). A slight chance of mountain showers will be possible (20% odds Saturday & 30% odds Sunday on Mt. Charleston).
Temperatures will start warming up again beyond the 7-day with valley highs back in the low 80s NEXT Tuesday through Thursday.
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