US District Court Judge Larry Hicks, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001, was killed in a crash in Nevada, officials confirmed.

“Today’s news regarding the Honorable Judge Larry R. Hicks who served Nevada for over 53 years is tragic,” Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said in a X post.

The Reno Police Department and the Washoe Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Hicks was hit and killed by a car outside the federal courthouse in downtown Reno, Nevada at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.

The 80-year-old was rushed to a local hospital where he later died, police said.

Authorities said the driver involved stayed on scene and is cooperating with the investigation.

Judge Hicks began his legal career in 1968 as a prosecutor in Nevada and served as the District Attorney from 1974 through 1978.

In 1978, Hicks became a partner in a private practice before he was appointed as a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Nevada by President George W. Bush.

“Despite his notable accomplishments, Judge Hicks once stated, ‘My greatest thrill in life is my family.’ His life philosophy was based on a balance of family, work, and self,” Balaam said.

Judge Hicks was remembered for his love for his family and community.

“Larry Hicks was a one of a kind man, revered in our community and, most importantly, beloved by his family,” Balaam said. “On behalf of my family and the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office, we extend our deepest condolences to Larry’s son Chris, the current District Attorney, and all of Larry’s family. Judge Hicks’ legacy will forever be noted in Washoe County.”

Tornadoes and flooding across much of the nation’s midsection have put tens of thousands of people in harm’s way.

Four Red Cross volunteers from Nevada are headed to hard hit areas of Texas and Arkansas for two weeks to help other disaster relief teams, according to an American Red Cross news release.

“Our Nevada Red Cross volunteers are ready to help those in need as severe weather continues to cause damage,” said Rachel Flanigan, executive director of the American Red Cross Southern Nevada Chapter. “Their unwavering commitment to assisting others, not just locally but nationwide, is truly commendable. We take pride in our team’s readiness to lend a helping hand in times of need.”

The veteran team of Nevada volunteers deploying to Arkansas includes Tammy Brandl from Pahrump, who has been deployed 25 times with the Red Cross; Linda Gong of Las Vegas with 13 deployments; and Michale Algier from Carson City going on his first deployment. Dene Shaver from Pahrump, who has 29 deployments, is going to Texas for disaster relief.

The holiday weekend brought the busiest severe weather day of the year so far, with 26 reported tornadoes across 10 states and more than 60 reports of strong wind or hail across some 20 states. Storms continue to move across Texas, knocking out power to more than half a million customers, during a time where many are also under the threat of triple-digit temperatures.

Red Cross disaster relief teams from across the nation are mobilizing to support evacuees in states slammed by storms this past weekend.

“As a Red Cross volunteer, responding to disasters to aid residents is more than a duty — it’s a calling, to be there for people when they need it most,” said Shaver. “Knowing that our actions can bring comfort and hope to those affected drives us to stand with communities during their most challenging times.”

Support people affected by disasters

You can make a gift to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit RedCross.org/Donate, call 1-800-RED CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Decades ago, a rural Nye County town rallied behind an unlikely environmental cause — the Amargosa toad.

The small, slimy toad became the unofficial mascot of Beatty when environmentalists sounded alarm bells over the species’ dwindling numbers. Ranchers, scientists and concerned residents formed a working group to find local solutions to preserve the groundwater and freshwater springs on which the toad relies.

But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wasn’t on board when it came to federal protections. Two petitions — one in 1994 and another in 2008 — to list the toad under the Endangered Species Act failed, though local efforts to monitor the toad’s numbers and preserve habitat have persisted.

It’s also considered “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

After Wednesday, the federal agency will get a chance to reconsider: The Center for Biological Diversity has filed an emergency petition to list the Amargosa toad as an endangered species. If that happens, the agency would use federal funds and resources to restore the amphibian’s population and preserve its habitat.

The petition claims an estimated 2,000 Amargosa toads are left in the wild.

“Despite [community-led] efforts, the Amargosa toad’s population continues to remain in a highly precarious state, and today faces a new existential threat, which did not exist when previous petitions were under evaluation,” the petition asserts.

The “existential threat” at the heart of the latest argument for federal protections? Seven proposed gold mines that an independent hydrologist has said would lower groundwater levels to an unsustainable level.

One of them is the North Bullfrog Mine, a massive project currently under federal environmental review that would disturb more than 3,000 acres of land in the area.

“Oasis Valley is set to become the epicenter of a vast new gold-mining district, putting huge stress on the delicate aquifer that sustains the Amargosa River and threatening rare species like Amargosa toads who don’t live anywhere else in the world,” Krista Kemppinen, a senior scientist at the center, said in a statement. “The Fish and Wildlife Service really has to act now.”

Why protect a toad?

Gold mining has long been a part of Nevada’s history. Along the delicate Amargosa River in towns like Beatty, biodiversity of species found nowhere else in the world has been, too.

Jaina Moan, of Nevada’s chapter of the global nonprofit The Nature Conservancy, said her organization has worked with Beatty residents since the 1990s to keep tabs on the population. The organization became the largest private landowner in the area after the purchase of two ranches to preserve water resources and species in Oasis Valley.

New mines, Moan said, could wreck decades of conservation work that represents millions of dollars.

“We’re really fearful that they could pose a threat to the toad, other at-risk species and all of this conservation work that’s taken a lot of work to do,” Moan said.

Whether the Fish and Wildlife Service will see a scientific argument for awarding protections remains to be seen.

Mining in general has the potential to affect not only species like the toad but homeowners who rely on groundwater for domestic use, said Mason Voehl, executive director of the Amargosa Conservancy, a nonprofit that closely tracks threats to the Amargosa River.

An endangered species listing would be like a reward for many years of Beatty residents’ hard work, he said.

“The community deserves a ton of praise,” Voehl said. “It’s, in some ways, a celebration of what the community has accomplished for what has always been an imperiled species.”

Contact Alan at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.