The Little League World Series in again wrapping up in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where another Nevada team was able to qualify. That makes three in the state’s history.

Here is a closer look at how each fared when competing in the event:

Mountain Ridge (2014)

The first team in Nevada history to qualify for the Series certainly made the most of its trip. Led by star players like Austin Kryszczuk, who would go onto play collegiately at UNLV, the team moved through the bracket with wins against South Dakota, Chicago and Pennsylvania.

Mountain Ridge fell to Chicago 7-5 in the United States final, but later was crowned U.S champion when it was learned Chicago used ineligible players.

After a journey that began with thousands of All-Star teams across the country earlier in the summer, things ended for Mountain Ridge on the final day of the Little League season when it lost to Japan 5-0 in a consolation game.

“I want the team to be remembered for the motto on the back of the shirts we wore — ‘Always Earned, Never Given,’” said Ashton Cave, the Mountain Ridge manager speaking five years following the tournament. “I hope they learned there is so much more to life than baseball. Work hard. Make a difference in the lives of those you come in contact with. Be mentors to young kids who, to this day, still look up to you. Be good, quality people. Be good fathers and husbands.

“Don’t be remembered for just a moment in time, but for the young men you have become in society because of that time.”

Henderson (2023)

The second team from Nevada to make the World Series lost just twice by a total of three runs. In each defeat, Henderson ran into some of the best pitching the tournament offered.

It first encountered Connor Curtis and his 15 strikeouts in a 3-1 loss to Rhode Island. Then, in an elimination game, Henderson was held to just two hits by Tennessee pitcher Lucas McCauley in a 2-1 defeat.

“At some point, everything must come to an end, right?” said an emotional Ryan Gifford, the Henderson manager. “I couldn’t be prouder of these boys. Great kids, great families, great baseball. When we started this thing back in May, we knew we were pretty good. To be one of the final six teams in the (United States) still playing — we definitely exceeded our expectations. It was an amazing run. We’ll take this with us forever.

“My message to the kids was to keep their heads up, keep working, keep battling, keep getting better every day. I love these kids, and I’m very grateful for having the opportunity to have done this with them. I’m very proud how they represented the state of Nevada.”

Paseo Verde (2024)

Adam Johnson took time away from his job as assistant equipment manager for the Raiders to manage Paseo Verde. Needless to say, the NFL team was fine with his absence given the reason.

Paseo Verde finished the World Series with a 2-2 record, eliminated by Lake Mary, Florida, 6-3 one win away from the U.S. championship game.

“It hurts right now,” Johnson said. “But these boys showed up as a team, and they’re leaving as a team. They definitely need to have their heads up. They played well, and they represented our area well.”

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.

Can the major industries of gaming and cannabis ever co-exist in Nevada? Policy experts, industry insiders and local leaders are discussing the possibilities within state law, all to give tourists and locals more consumer options.

UNLV’s Cannabis Policy Institute and the UNLV International Gaming Institute recently held a panel on federal regulations, state and local laws, and interest from industry leaders in gaming and cannabis.

Chair Tick Segerblom weighed in on the panel, and tells FOX5, some resort owners are looking ahead.

“They can see the synergy, especially with food and entertainment,” Segerblom said.

“You’ll start to see more and more conversations about ways these two industries could merge,” said Riana Durrett of the UNLV Cannabis Policy Institute, launched in 2023, helping government and medicine navigate the legal new frontier of cannabis regulations.

It would take major federal changes until Nevada could see a distant scenario: a cannabis dispensary or a lounge in a casino. Cannabis is still currently a Schedule I substance, with federal leaders moving towards a Schedule III classification. Federal banking laws also prohibit cannabis sales and transactions, which pose barriers for federally-regulated casinos.

“Attitudes have wildly changed in the last 10 years,” said Durrett. Since Nevada legalized recreational marijuana in 2017, numerous states have followed.

“We’re pretty far off from that point where we will see a consumption lounge or dispensary in a casino, but that is why I think it’s an interesting conversation. There are more opportunities out there that don’t involve going straight for a consumption lounge in a casino,” Durett said, noting options for changes in state and local laws that could amount to smaller steps to provide consumers more access.

One of the easier changes? Laws or regulations on cannabis deliveries.

“I think the ones that are the most subject to further discussion are ones like the prohibition on legal delivery to the strip corridor. There could be legal delivery to-non gaming establishments on the Strip corridor, and that wouldn’t put the gaming establishments in violation of federal law,” Durett said.

State regulations also prohibit cannabis delivery beyond private residences. “I do think that’s going to be looked at, this legislative session,” Durett said, and tells FOX5, a state lawmaker is looking into policy changes.

Any changes would start to chip at a decade of state and local restrictions.

In 2014, the Gaming Control Board warned licensees against participation in the cannabis industry. In 2017 and 2018, gaming regulators confirmed and expanded prohibitions, Durett said.

In 2017, Clark county prohibited legal delivery to the Strip.

In 2019, the Legislature imposed a 1,500 foot separation between gaming and cannabis establishments.

2024 ushered in a new era: legal cannabis lounges.

Durett tells FOX5 that policymakers could explore lessening regulations there, such as whether gaming could be in a consumption lounge off the Strip.

The next step: surveying casino leaders to see their interest in cannabis, if federal restrictions were lifted.

Copyright 2024 KVVU. All rights reserved.

Former president Donald Trump’s first campaign event in Nevada since his Democratic rival Joe Biden dropped out was billed as an event to tout Trump’s “no tax on tips” policy.

But that message was overshadowed by Arizona independent candidate Robert F Kennedy’s announcement that he was dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump.

“We just had a very nice endorsement from RFK,” Trump said at the Las Vegas campaign event Friday. 

Trump said it was “a great honor” to receive Kennedy’s endorsement, adding he would be meeting with him soon to discuss his support. Despite Kennedy’s declining polling numbers and past controversies, Trump praised him and his endorsement.

“Not everyone agrees with everything he says. That’s true of everybody, but he’s a very respected person. He’s a very beloved person in many ways,” Trump said.

Kennedy joined Trump during a campaign event in Arizona on Friday following Trump’s Las Vegas event.

With Kennedy no longer campaigning in critical battleground states, his voters are up for grabs in tight swing states. Following the endorsement, Trump’s campaign team said they believe a majority of Kennedy’s Nevada voters will break for Trump based on their own internal modeling, making his exit a net positive for Trump in major swing states.

The latest The New York Times and Siena College poll shows Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, his new rival for the presidency, neck-and-neck in Nevada — a state Biden won four years ago — with Trump leading Harris 48% to 47%.

“We’re going to win. The state is looking very good,” Trump said Friday.

It’s far from clear what if any impact Kennedy’s departure from the race will have in Nevada. Trump’s lead over Harris was actually larger when the NYT-Siena poll included Kennedy in the mix, putting Trump at 45%, Harris at 42%, and Kennedy garnering 6%. 

Friday’s campaign event was Trump’s first Nevada appearance since rival Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris earlier last month.

The low-profile affair held in a Las Vegas restaurant also came within 24 hours of the last night of a raucous Democratic National Convention that officially nominated Harris.

Trump declares support for subminimum wage

Trump delivered remarks pushing his “no tax on tips” policy proposal at the Toro E La Capra restaurant, located near Sunset Road and Decatur Boulevard. The proposal would abolish federal income taxes on tips.

Trump first unveiled the policy during a campaign rally in Las Vegas in June. The policy was quickly endorsed by the politically connected Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas.

At Friday’s event, Trump suggested his declaration to end the federal taxation of tipped income would earn him voters from Culinary workers.

“We want to get the Culinary Union,” Trump said. “A lot of them are voting for us, I can tell you that.”

The Culinary, however, has endorsed Harris, and prior to Trump’s remarks Friday, Culinary officials held an event and issued a statement slamming Trump.

“Kamala Harris has promised to raise the minimum wage for all workers – including tipped workers – and eliminate tax on tips,” said Culinary Vice President Leain Vashon.

Vashon said Trump didn’t help tipped workers while he was president, so “Why would we trust him? Kamala has a plan, Trump has a slogan.”   

While details on Trump’s tax policy are scant, the policy proposal quickly gained steam, leading Nevada Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen to back a “no tax on tips,” bill introduced by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

Harris later proposed her own “no tax on tips” policy. 

“Kamala Harris is now pretending to endorse my policy,” Trump said. “She’s a copycat. She’s a flip flopper.”

Harris’ position — similar to legislation Nevada Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford said he will sponsor — eliminates federal taxation on tips, but would also eliminate the federal subminimum wage on tipped incomes, which can be as low as $2.13 an hour. 

Trump Friday criticized Harris’ support for legislation in 2021 to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, noting that legislation also would have eliminated the federal “tip credit” provision.

That is the provision in federal law that allows employers to pay tipped workers less than the federal minimum wage. 

“Kamala supports a bill to eliminate the federal tip credit, which would force restaurants to impose large service charges on diners, meaning customers will not leave tips at all, and you’ll be stuck with a minimum wage,” Trump said. “I will never let that happen under the Trump administration.”

Horsford has said his legislation would also include guardrails designed to prevent employers or high-end earners from exploiting the elimination of federal taxation of tips.

The policy may have some appeal in the Silver State. Nevada has one of the largest shares of tipped workers in the nation. Nevada is also one of only seven states that have abolished the subminimum wage for tipped workers altogether.

Nationally, as many as 4.3 million people work in predominantly tipped occupations in the United States, according to the National Employment Law Project. Women also make up more than two-thirds of the tipped workforce, according to the National Woman’s Center. Tipped workers are also more than twice as likely to live in poverty compared to the overall workforce.

Neither the Culinary nor congressional backers can provide an estimate of how much of a financial impact would actually be realized if tips weren’t taxed. 

An analysis by the left-leaning Center for American Progress projects that “exempting tips from income taxes does nothing for tipped workers whose earnings are so low that they are already exempt from income taxes.”

The group points to an estimate from the Yale Budget Lab indicating at least a third of tipped workers don’t make enough to pay any income taxes, and for moderate wage tipped workers who do pay income taxes, any tax relief from not taxing the tipped portion of their income would be small.

Harris and Trump are set to debate Sept. 10.