Nevada
Dinosaurs in the driveway: the Nevada man delighting kids with his free prehistoric theme park
Amid the endless winding streets of Henderson, Nevada, one house breaks the mold. Its front yard – no grass, just desert rock – is home to 62 rainbow-painted dinosaurs, dragons, turtles and spiders. A sign on the garage reads: “Shan-gri-la Prehistoric Park”, complete with visiting hours.
On a recent spring Friday at noon, the garage door hums open, letting in the harsh sun. Steve Springer, or “Dinoman” as he’s lovingly known by regulars of the park, ties a short black apron printed with cartoon dinosaurs around his waist. At 72, he likes to wear flip-flops with black socks and round glasses that make his eyes look tiny.
We are at Steve’s Dinosaur House, a makeshift project aiming to provide education in an entertaining way for the general public. Steve spends about half of his retirement income keeping the park running – about $2,000 a month.
Parked inside the garage is his pride and joy: the Dinomobile, a mid-1990s sedan wrapped in digitized dinosaur graphics and electric green rims. Playful dinosaur stuffed plushies peer out from every window, and the rear license plate shouts in all caps: “DINOMAN”. In the corner hangs an LED TV screen playing a six-hour loop of dinosaur videos Steve has pulled and edited from YouTube. Along each wall, candy, chips and cookies are lined up neatly on folding tables.
It’s a funhouse, an arcade, a makeshift carnival where the mood is always joyful. “No talk of politics or religion is allowed. You come here to get away from the world,” Steve insists.
Inside the house, Steve quickly prepares for the day, placing sour pops in the empty freezer. “It’s just me here, so I eat out about six times a week,” he says. His bookshelves are neatly lined with thousands of horror and science fiction films. Awards for outstanding teacher are hung on the wall.
With summer around the corner, Steve packs up the inflatable Easter decorations, stores the pastel LED lights and eggs, and switches themes again: “Summer Dragon Days”. His back porch holds aisle after aisle of clear plastic bins stacked 10 ft high, labeled: July 4, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas, Halloween, summer. Inside: disco balls, pool floats, water guns, bunny inflatables, Valentine hearts, fabric donuts.
Out front, people start to trickle in. “How we doin’ today? We got new stuff,” Steve calls out, grinning.
Janam Riffle and his mom, Jenny, are regulars. “He’s now 10, and we’ve been coming since he was five,” she says. “While I was waiting on my disability to go through, I was very poor, and this was somewhere I could take him and it didn’t cost anything. You know when you go to Disneyland as an adult and it still makes you happy? That’s the feeling I get when I come here.
“We really needed to come today. The school held a fire drill and Janam is disabled, making it hard for him to do the stairs, so I said: ‘Let’s go to Dinoman to cheer up.’”
As the day wears on, the line stretches down the driveway and into the street. Scooters and bikes pile up while kids wait. Everyone gets a turn – and everyone plays for free. At the entrance, they sanitize their hands and grab a plastic grocery bag. Each person chooses three items from bins filled with Cow Tales and Starbursts, Takis and Lays, bouncy balls, rubber ducks, squishy creatures. “Hooray, we got a winner!” Steve cheers, pulling a ticket from his apron. Lucky guests get bonus toys or coveted “Dinobucks”, good for things like cooking sets, Barbie dolls and skateboards.
“Dine-do-man,” a tiny girl calls. “Help me reach this toy!” Her parents wait in the car – she’s got the routine down cold. Several high schoolers walk straight to the snack section, grab their food and gun it home – a free munchies oasis in the walled suburban villages outside of Las Vegas.
Dinoman knows the regulars. And he knows the kids that need an extra snack or two as well.
“Santa has one day and I have the other 364,” he says.
Tiffany and Ken Koo and their two kids, Aiden and Kaiden, eight and nine, have been coming since they were born. They make the 30-minute drive every Friday and often give back by volunteering their time polishing the neon green rims of the Dinomobile or cleaning the back patio with their dad. “We love to help Dino Steve because he helps us so much,” Ken said. The couple also run a free clinic for their local Buddhist temple.
For them, going to a movie for a family of four and buying popcorn costs more than $70. “Even the gumball machine is a dollar. Here, all of us can play. It’s entertainment for the whole family,” Tiffany said. They exit to the front yard to play a series of games.
Steve spends thousands on his project every month, but he also receives donations, and he can rely on his credit card.
After three decades of teaching middle school and running a classroom candy shop, Steve missed the kids. “My dad was a workaholic,” he says. “I knew early I didn’t want that.”
He shrugs. “I’ve got everything I want. What else should I do with the money?”
When he dies, he plans to sell off the dinosaurs, the Dinomobile and the house to fund scholarships.
Inflation means fewer toys, but Steve does his best to keep the magic alive. At 4pm, he shuts the garage and moves the perishables and chocolate inside. His feet ache, but he climbs into the Dinomobile and drives 12 minutes to The Pit, a crowded local restaurant.
At his table, he unpacks a few plastic dinosaurs and a sign advertising the park. He brings his own croutons, parmesan and cracked pepper – items not supplied by the restaurant – then orders his usual: salad, a rare Pit burger, fries cooked exactly 60 seconds and a Dr Pepper slushie.
After dinner, he heads across the lot to Dollar Tree, weaving through aisles he knows by heart. Twenty years of running the park has taught him what works. He tops off the night at the Sinclair dinosaur-themed gas station, then swings back to The Pit for one last Dr Pepper slushie.
It’s Friday night. Dinoman has done enough for one day.
The Las Vegas Raiders have orchestrated many groundbreaking moves this offseason, but none as important as the impact they made at a fundraising event.
Over the weekend, the Raiders hosted the Silver & Black Gala, raising $2.5 million for mental health in Nevada. Sunday marked the third time the organization had hosted the event, which has produced a tremendous turnout.
Several individuals spoke during the event, including Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis and president Sandra Douglass Morgan, who each highlighted the importance of acknowledging mental health.
Davis’ Thoughts
- “We’re here to raise money for mental health, which is one of the most important things we can all deal with,” Davis said. “Every one of us is impacted by mental health and our families, friends, or anywhere else, we are all directly affected. That’s why it’s so critical to raise money for our community. We’re grateful for you all, and appreciate you being here.”
Morgan’s Thoughts
“Mental health remains one of the most urgent issues across Nevada,” Morgan said. “Through the Silver & Black Gala, the Raiders Foundation is helping expand access to trusted, community-based resources that meet people where they are. This year’s recipients reflect the depth and complexity of that work, supporting our community in schools, clubhouses, homes, shelters, and family systems statewide.”
The Raiders also honored former player Carl Nassib and NFL broadcaster Jay Glazer on Sunday night as the winners of the Commitment to Excellence award. Here is what each of them had to say.
Glazer’s Thoughts
- “First, this is incredible what the Raiders are doing,” Glazer said. “God blessed me with the ability to communicate, so I’m going to use that to try and help other people. When we’re willing to share our scars, we turn them into strength—into something that connects us as teammates with nothing to hide. That’s what builds a true team, a championship team. I’m proud to stand with you and be part of this team tonight.”
Nassib’s Thoughts
- “It is truly a privilege to be up here,” Nassib said. “We’re creating space for people to be vulnerable—and that work is truly lifesaving. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about showing up and reminding people they’re not alone.”
Overall Thoughts
This has been a tremendous event over the last few years, and the Raiders’ organization has done a great job of raising awareness for mental health. This will be an event that the team will continue to host in the future.
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Nevada
Nevada workers fear homelessness as housing, jobs vanish before July deadline | Fox News Video
The final casino resort in Primm, Nevada, will close this summer after years of declining tourism, ending gaming operations in the once-busy border town and putting hundreds of employees out of work.
Primm Valley Casino Resorts is shutting down its remaining hotel and casino operations in July as experts point to increased competition, changing travel habits and post-pandemic losses behind the decline.
RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo (R) is in a strong position heading into the thick of his 2026 reelection bid — a huge war chest, almost universal name recognition and strong favorability numbers among the electorate.
Though Lombardo is likely focusing on the general election already, he faces 6 longshot candidates in the GOP primary seeking to upset him in June.
Nevada Governor GOP primary: 6 longshot candidates taking on incumbent Joe Lombardo
The challengers face a ‘Herculean’ task, said Mike Noble, CEO and founder of Noble Predictive Insights, an Arizona-based nonpartisan pollster focusing on the Southwest region.
“I see it as a Herculean task for anyone. If someone was coming in with like, I don’t know $10 million or something to spend, sure I can see that might be competitive, but I don’t see any of them coming anywhere near close to that. And so again, I just think I think it’s a non-factor at this point,” Noble said.
RELATED | Ballot Battleground: Nevada podcast: Early Noble poll shows dead heat in governor’s race
Despite the long odds, News 4-Fox 11 reached out to all candidates requesting an interview as part of our commitment to 2026 election coverage and our Know Your Candidates series. Three of the 7 running interviewed with us — Irina Hansen, Kameron Hawkins, Lombardo and Jose Zelaya did not respond to multiple emails requesting an interview.
We asked them similar questions about Gov. Lombardo’s leadership as governor, how they would pass a balanced budget and whether they support taxpayer subsidies for sports teams or major projects.
Click the candidate’s name to watch their full interview. Quotes below have been edited for space and clarity.
Donald J. Beaudry Jr. is an entrepreneur who founded BlkEdgeAi, a financial technology firm specializing in AI-driven trading systems and market strategy, according to his campaign website.
He told News 4-Fox 11 that Nevada has been drifting the last four years with ‘no captain, no vision.’ He believes his Wall Street-like trading market called NGEX (Nevada Global Exchange) would generate enough revenue to eliminate sales taxes, property taxes, business taxes and vehicle registration fees.
“I completely blueprinted it out and calculated that this model could generate enough revenue in this state that we could eliminate all the state taxes and fees that are currently in place and use that as the revenue source for the state and make everybody, every man, woman and child throughout Nevada, a shareholder in the dividends of that exchange … it would be a kind of Wall Street type of stock market, but far broader, more advanced, and exponentially more profitable.”
Matthew Rian Winterhawk is the founder of SmartSlaps foundation, a nonprofit that works to help schools and students with civic engagement and community responsibility.
If elected, he described going through a DOGE-like review of the state budget to determine which areas can be cut or kept depending on their ‘dollar to impact’ ratio.
“What I would like to do is go through every department, I’m talking top to bottom, from here from the primary to the beginning. We will cut every piece of administrative bloat across the system … I need more money for my teachers. Teachers never see it, students never see it, the impact never reaches the classroom. It’s 100% administrative bloat.”
The son of immigrants, Barak Zilberberg is now an entrepreneur and real estate investor based in Las Vegas. He ran for governor in 2022, earning 0.2% of the vote in the GOP primary. He told News 4-Fox 11 he’s also running for President in 2028.
He said he’s running for governor to improve the educational system, bring jobs to Nevada and open up federal land to build more affordable housing.
“We’ve got get high-speed railing systems in here where we can transit very easily, efficiently, and basically moving around between economies of both cities. Not only that, I’d like to bring Disneyland here and the Olympics, sponsor the Olympics here. I just want to make this a well-known place of entertainment, a hub.”
To help voters make informed decisions this election year, News 4-Fox 11 is publishing and broadcasting dozens of interviews with candidates who will appear on the June primary ballot.
In fairness to all candidates, they were asked a series of similar questions. We are posting the full interviews online so voters can watch their responses in their entirety.
Visit our Know Your Candidates 2026 page to view other race previews and meet other candidates.
Email reporter Ben Margiott at bjmargiott@sbgtv.com. Follow @BenMargiott on X and Ben Margiott KRNV on Facebook.
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