Nevada
Former Nevada official stands trial for murder of investigative journalist
![Former Nevada official stands trial for murder of investigative journalist Former Nevada official stands trial for murder of investigative journalist](https://gdb.voanews.com/BD290563-96F9-44FB-89C4-B031021EB788.jpg)
As the trial into the murder of a Las Vegas investigative journalist got underway this week, defense attorney Robert Draskovich argued in court that “killing a journalist does not kill a story.”
The statement came on the opening day of the trial against Robert Telles. The 47-year-old former Clark County public administrator is accused of murder with a deadly weapon against a victim aged 60 or older.
The victim is Jeff German, a 69-year-old reporter at The Las Vegas Review-Journal, who was found stabbed to death outside his suburban Las Vegas, Nevada, home on September 3, 2022.
Telles has pleaded not guilty.
German had reported on alleged mismanagement in Telles’ office. When Telles later lost a reelection bid in 2022, he posted a letter online in which he attacked the Review-Journal for its coverage.
In court on Wednesday, prosecutors outlined what they have previously said is “overwhelming” evidence against Telles, including that the former public administrator had downloaded images of German’s house onto his work computer and had done research on German’s car. Prosecutors have also previously said that DNA matching that of Telles was found beneath German’s fingernails and on his hands.
“In the end, this case isn’t about politics. It’s not about alleged inappropriate relationships. It’s not about who’s a good boss or who’s a good supervisor or favoritism at work,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly said. “It’s just about murder.”
As part of the defense’s argument, Telles’ attorney said that his client did not have a motive to kill German because “killing a journalist does not kill a story.”
Multiple press freedom experts told VOA that line of reasoning stood out to them as shocking — including because it’s factually incorrect, they said.
“That’s absurd. It’s a little preposterous,” Kirstin McCudden, vice president of editorial for Freedom of the Press Foundation, told VOA. “Killing a journalist kills stories. It kills stories every day, all over the world, and it certainly has a chilling effect on any journalist who wants to hold powerful people to account.”
Other press freedom experts agreed.
“It makes no sense. Very often the death of a journalist is the death of a story. No one knows what additional reporting Jeff German could have done if he were still alive,” Clayton Weimers, the head of the U.S. bureau of Reporters Without Borders, told VOA in an email.
In the first week of the trial, three of German’s neighbors testified, including the man who first found German’s body. Other witnesses included detectives, a medical examiner and former associates of the defendant.
Based on surveillance footage, former Metropolitan Police Department homicide detective Cliff Mogg testified that he believed Telles’ vehicle, a maroon Yukon Denali, “was the one used in the commission of Jeffrey German’s murder.”
After German’s killing, police publicized images of the suspect walking on a sidewalk near the reporter’s home and the Denali car driving away.
Real estate agent Zackary Schilling, who helped sell homes through the public administrator’s office and first met Telles in 2020, testified that he recognized the suspect’s walk, his shoes and the vehicle.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner asked, “Who was the person you were thinking of?”
“I was thinking of Mr. Telles,” Schilling said. When asked about the suspect’s shoes, Schilling said, “They’re the cheap Nikes he always wore.”
Schilling also testified that he knew about the stories German had written about Telles and that he saw images published in the media of the suspect’s vehicle.
“It just came down my spine,” Schilling said. “I was like holy crap. I didn’t want to believe it, but the facts are the facts. That was Rob Telles’ car.”
The case is the first in U.S. history in which an elected official is accused of murdering an American journalist.
“Understanding that this is believed to be a crime about the work that he was doing is incredibly chilling and scary for journalists,” said McCudden, who is based in New York.
Journalist killings are rare in the United States. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, in New York, 17 journalists and media workers have been killed in the U.S. since the watchdog started keeping records in 1992. Of those, the CPJ has said it believes 15 cases — including German’s — were in relation to the journalist’s work.
And while impunity is high globally — journalist murders go unpunished in nearly 80% of cases around the world, according to the CPJ — pending a verdict in the German case, no journalist murder in the United States that has gone entirely unpunished since the group started keeping track.
Accountability in these cases is especially important because it sends the message that targeting journalists is unacceptable, according to Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S. and Canada program coordinator at the CPJ. Attacks against journalists can also have a chilling effect on other reporters, she said.
“Because of that public face that many journalists have, killing them does have a ripple effect throughout the community,” she told VOA.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Nevada
10 service members injured, airlifted after naval training incident in Nevada: Reports
![10 service members injured, airlifted after naval training incident in Nevada: Reports 10 service members injured, airlifted after naval training incident in Nevada: Reports](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/07/12/USAT/a6a4273b-e7f7-48bd-be39-87fa88966691-NV-01.png?auto=webp&crop=3891,2189,x658,y471&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Navy tracks Russian warships en route to Cuba close to the US
Russia’s Ministry of Defense released video this week of Russian military vessels practicing naval maneuvers somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
Scripps News
Ten U.S. service members from the Naval Air Station Fallon were flown in to Reno, Nevada after injuries sustained from a training incident Thursday night, according to local reports.
Two MH-60S Seahawk helicopters assigned to the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 12 were involved in an incident at the Fallon air station on Thursday, Commander Beth Teach with the Naval Air Forces told USA TODAY.
The 10 sailors suffered non-life threatening injuries, Teach said.
They were in two helicopters that landed at Pickett Park in Reno at approximately 9:15 p.m., KRNV reported. Fallon is located in the Nevada desert about 62 miles east of Reno, which is near the California border.
Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno told KTVN that the 10 service members were being treated there, but did not confirm their conditions.
USA TODAY has contacted the Reno Police Department for more information.
Nevada
US Imposes Continued Water Cuts on Arizona, Nevada, Mexico
Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico will face the same water restrictions from the Colorado River next year that they are experiencing this year, announced the US government on Thursday. Despite recent water-saving efforts, the long-term issues for the 40 million people relying on the river persist. The Colorado River is essential for the Western US, supporting seven states, numerous Native American tribes, and vast farmland, while also generating regional hydropower.
The new cuts will maintain the currently established “Tier 1” reductions, with Arizona losing 18% of its water allocation and Mexico 5%. Nevada, having the smallest allocation, will continue experiencing a 7% reduction. The figures—which are calculated based on Lake Mead water levels—are released months ahead of time so that cities and farmers can prepare.
The cuts were first introduced in 2022 to address the river’s critical state due to years of overuse and rising temperatures. Although predictions for Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which are only at 37% capacity, have slightly improved due to rain and conservation efforts, challenges loom. A number of the guidelines that direct water usage from the river expire in 2026. (This story was generated by Newser’s AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
Nevada
Would a Harris win mean a cabinet post for Cortez Masto?
![Would a Harris win mean a cabinet post for Cortez Masto? Would a Harris win mean a cabinet post for Cortez Masto?](https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/19510421_web1_VP-HARRIS-20.jpg)
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto has become a key confidant for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, though she brushed aside claims that she is being eyed for a cabinet position should Harris wins in November.
Axios reported last week that Democratic strategists have floated some names for top cabinet positions under a Harris administration, including Cortez Masto as attorney general.
Cortez Masto told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a Thursday interview that those are rumors, and she is “more than happy” with what she is doing now representing Nevada. When asked if she would consider taking on the role if Harris asked her to, Cortez Masto answered by saying her focus is on Nevada.
“This is what I was re-elected to do,” she said. “I am 100 percent into working on behalf of Nevada, finding solutions for the families and businesses here, and making sure we’re doing everything we can to support working families and businesses.”
Nevada’s senior senator might have come up as an possible hire due to her close relationship with Harris. They got to know each other when they both served as attorneys general in the neighboring states of Nevada and California.
They worked together on issues their states had in common, such as the banking crisis as well as transnational crime that was coming across the southern border, Cortez Masto said.
“It was just over the course of being attorneys general, we bonded and built a friendship as well,” Cortez Masto said.
Since Harris has stepped up as the Democratic presidential nominee in July, the Nevada senator has taken on a role as an adviser to Harris’ campaign, serving on a vetting team to pick Harris’ vice presidential running mate.
“She knows she can trust me,” Cortez Masto said. “I’m always candid with her.”
She said she comes from a swing state and understands the issues Nevadans care about, which she said is important to the Harris campaign. She also made it through a tough re-election bid in 2022, securing her victory by less than one percentage point.
Leaving her position as one of Nevada’s senators could leave the Democrats’ control of the Senate vulnerable, as her narrow 2022 victory maintained the Democrats’ lead in the Senate. Her replacement would be appointed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo until a general election is held, according to Congressional Research Service.
Cortez Masto said if a presidential candidate comes to Nevada and talks to voters, understands the issues and focuses on solutions, then “you’re going to be pretty much successful anywhere else because we’re such a diverse state, and we really are a microcosm of the rest of the country.”
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.
-
Ohio3 days ago
Ohio taxpayers sent families $966 million for private school tuition: Capitol Letter
-
World1 week ago
Ex-Catalan leader Puigdemont headed back to Spain despite fear of arrest
-
Politics1 week ago
Kamala Harris shuts down anti-Israel protesters during campaign speech in Michigan: 'I'm speaking'
-
World1 week ago
Foreign minister: Italy 'ready for any event' in Middle East crisis
-
News1 week ago
Map: 5.2-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Southern California
-
Politics1 week ago
Blinken pressured to freeze Afghanistan aid after revelation nearly $300M could have gone to Taliban
-
Politics1 week ago
Kristen McDonald Privet wins Dem primary for Rep Dan Kildee's open blue Michigan seat
-
Politics1 week ago
With 30 days until voting starts, 'election season' kicks off sooner than you think