Nevada
Justice Dept. sues Nevada over voter rolls
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Justice Department on Friday sued Nevada and three other states, claiming they’d failed to provide requested voter roll information.
Nevada officials, however, said the federal government hasn’t answered basic questions about how the information would be kept secure and questioned why officials wanted the data.
WATCH | What to know about the lawsuit
Justice Dept. sues Nevada over voter rolls
The 10-page lawsuit, filed in federal District Court in Nevada, says the government is seeking the information to enforce the provisions of the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act.
It says the Justice Department asked the state on June 25 for information including a copy of its computerized statewide voter registration list. It said the information could be sent via encrypted email or by using the department’s secure file-sharing system.
The state immediately replied, sending a copy of the voter registration list, including names, addresses and birthdates, but not drivers license information or the last four digits of Social Security numbers.
The department responded on Aug. 14, again asking for the full database and adding “the purpose of the request is to ascertain Nevada’s compliance with the list maintenance requirements of” federal election laws.
The state, according to the lawsuit, wrote back to say the federal government had no basis for the request and claimed it was concerned about privacy of voter data.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare Nevada’s refusal to provide the entire database unlawful, and order the state to turn it over.
In response, Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said in a statement Friday that the state’s concerns have gone unaddressed.
“The Department of Justice is making sweeping demands of states to hand over private voter data. Despite our simple requests for information on how they’re going to keep this data secure, they’ve given us no clear answers,” Aguilar said in the statement. “It’s my duty to follow Nevada law and protect the best interests of Nevadans, which includes protecting their sensitive information and access to the ballot.
“While these requests may seem like normal oversight, the federal government is using its power to try to intimidate states and influence how states administer elections ahead of the 2026 cycle. The Constitution makes it clear: elections are run by the states. Nevada will continue to run safe, secure and accessible elections and I’ll always stand up for the rights of our voters.”
In an interview on Friday, Nevada’s senior U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto questioned the motives of the Justice Department.
KTNV
“You’ve got to question why DOJ is asking for this information and why they’re pushing for this information,” she said. “Is it really to protect voting rights across this country, or is there some other nefarious purpose?”
Added Cortez Masto: “What I have seen is a focus on immigration, right? And their idea of purging all undocumented individuals from this country, including DREAMers, including those that are married to U.S. citizens, including those that are not violent criminals. We have seen that they are continuing down this path, and they are trying to figure out how to gather as much data as they can to use it against individuals in this country.”
President Donald Trump has falsely asserted that he won the 2020 election, nationwide and in Nevada, where Joe Biden defeated Trump by 2.39 percentage points or 33,596 votes statewide.
Six Republican electors were later indicted for sending false Electoral College certificates to Washington, D.C., part of a nationwide plot to keep Trump in office. The case was challenged on a technical issue, but the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the charges, and a trial is expected in the new year.
An email seeking comment from the attorney general’s office — which will defend Nevada in court — was not immediately returned Friday.
Do you have a question about politics in Nevada? Ask Steve Sebelius by emailing Steve.Sebelius@ktnv.com.
Gov. Sisolak, health officials urge those who can help to join Battle Born Medical Corps
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak along with the state health officials urged Nevadas to those who can help to join Battle Born Medical Corps. Nevada Department of Health and Human Services and the Nevada Health Response Center joined to call on health care providers and health care administrations to assist in the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Gov.
Reno plan targets vacant downtown stores
Reno launches pilot program to lease vacant downtown storefronts and sublet to small businesses. Program is expected to launch in fall 2026.
There’s a debate over on Reddit right now about how dogs should be kept on leashes around town, on trails, or anywhere in public that’s not a dog park.
I should clarify: When I say “debate,” I mean that several users have created posts about how dogs should be kept on leashes, and almost every response is 100% in agreement.
Go ahead and look at the posts; nobody’s putting together a spirited defense of letting their pets run around licking strangers and pooping on nature. With that kind of general consensus, I’d want to say that leashing our dogs is one of Reno-Sparks’ “unwritten rules.”
Except for two things: One, this rule is very much written (see Chapter 95.220 of the Washoe County Code: “Owners must have animals leashed no more than 6 feet in length and under immediate control at all times.”)
And also: The phrase “unwritten rules” implies that everyone goes along with it without even thinking. But we’ve all interacted with dog owners on local trails, letting their giant furballs knock over toddlers or chase goslings through the wetlands.
“Aw, he’s just a big puppy!” they’ll say, followed up with a halfhearted, “Down, Barnaby.”
Clearly, leashing dogs is not an unwritten rule because it’s constantly being broken. A true unwritten rule for hiking trails would be something that rarely ever gets broken, like “wear pants at all times.” Really, the leash thing is more like a wish list for society, alongside such things as:
- Don’t mow before 8 a.m.
- Signal your turns and lane changes.
- Merge when you see a lane closure ahead, not at the last minute. (Yes, make all your arguments about how last-minute merging saves space. It all amounts to “I’m going to cut ahead of everyone else and pretend that it’s for the greater good.”)
- If you’re driving a large vehicle, park at the far end of the lot.
- Several more things about driving, actually.
But let’s move on. I’ve been wracking my brain to think of actual “unwritten rules” for Northern Nevada that outsiders might not grasp right away, and I didn’t come up with many. But here goes:
It’s not rude to keep your favorite spots a secret, even from friends and family: Got a favorite local park or Lake Tahoe beach? You’re not even required to tell your own mother about it, because word will get out and everything will be ruined. We value our personal space, and the community is too small to keep anything under wraps.
Side note: You can’t do this with businesses, because you need your burrito spot to stay crowded and busy. If nobody goes to your secret hot springs, it’s not going to suddenly go out of business and turn into a vape shop.
On Tahoe beaches, you can claim one beach towel’s worth of space per person, and that’s it: If word gets out about your favorite beach, you’ll have to start your day battling for a parking spot (bonus unwritten rule: You can’t reserve a parking spot by standing in it.)
The slightly less annoying ― but still difficult ― territory battle will be on the beach itself. Everyone but you will have a pop-up tent, several coolers and some sort of sound system. But societal convention dictates that any group can only claim the square footage of one beach towel per person, and leave ample space to walk between their beach site and the next one over.
Twenty minutes is a long drive in Reno-Sparks, but four hours is completely reasonable if you’re heading out of town: Recent transplants from more urban places like the Bay Area or Las Vegas will drive for 45 minutes to get to the one Target they like best. Around here, that sounds like hell.
On the other hand, driving for several hours to go see ichthyosaur skeletons or attend a Basque festival or go to a Giants game is completely reasonable. I can’t explain why this is. It might have something to do with hatred of stoplights.
Settle in a bit before complaining about outsiders: Yes, we know you just got here, and you want to prove your worthiness by complaining about Californians or Southern Nevadans, because that’s our local sport.
On average, we’re not nearly as closed off as people say; only about one-quarter of Nevadans were actually born here, so most of us know what it’s like to be the new kid. But at least wait until you’ve unloaded the last box from your U-Haul before you start griping about how new arrivals are pricing everyone out.
You, on the other hand ― you, the person reading this article right now! ― know a lot more unwritten rules for Northern Nevada. Either that, or you have ideas on what should be unwritten rules. Send them my way at bmcginness@rgj.com, and we’ll debate all of them next week.
Guys, we’re bringing back Shopko
What lost places in Reno-Sparks should we bring back? That’s the question I posed last week; here’s what you said:
Let’s start with department store ShopKo, which had the highly underrated slogan, “Say hello to a good buy.” We had three ― on South Virginia, Mae Anne and Oddie Boulevard. Lauri Ferguson wrote in to compliment the selection, and noted “their products lasted too.” Sadly, the entire chain disappeared nearly a decade ago, so bringing them back might be the heaviest lift ever.
“Bring back Famous Murphy’s,” wrote E. Pollard. “Can’t believe it ever closed and was then bulldozed and has been an empty dirt lot for more than 25 years.”
For the record, it’s actually been 18 years since it closed and 11 years since it was bulldozed, but the point stands.
“The purpose of the demolition is to make way for a new development being planned at this site,” developers told the RGJ in 2015. Anyway, it’s still an empty lot.
And finally, I had lamented over the lost Century Theaters dome on South Virginia, but Kurt Kinder mentioned one even more venerable, but equally lost: the Granada Theater, which originally opened in 1916, burned down in 1953 and reopened in 1954. It was torn down in 1997 and is now the site of the Palladio.
Brett McGinness is the engagement editor for the Reno Gazette Journal. He’s also the writer of The Reno Memo — a free newsletter about news in the Biggest Little City.
Subscribe to the newsletter right here. Consider supporting the Reno Gazette Journal, too.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada veterans who say they were exposed to radiation and toxic chemicals at the Nevada Test and Training Range are one step closer to getting recognized and help.
Senator Jacky Rosen and Congresswoman Susie Lee are introducing an updated “Forgotten Veterans Act,” now renamed the Sergeant Dave Crete Forgotten Veterans Act, to force the Defense Department to document contamination on the range and identify every service member who served there.
Veterans say years of classified work have kept them from proving their exposure and getting VA benefits, even as they deal with cancer and other serious illnesses.
Under the bill, the Pentagon would have to formally list the range as contaminated, unmask where veterans served the VA, and clear up a path for them and their families to qualify for care and compensation.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
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