Nevada
Lt. Gov. Anthony forms task force to bar trans athletes in women’s sports
Nevada’s lieutenant governor formed a task force this week aimed at preventing transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports and exploring how to create fair competition for the sexes.
Reached by phone Friday, Republican Stavros Anthony said he formed the “Lieutenant Governor’s Task Force to Protect Women’s Sports” to address what he described as potential unfairness from women and girl’s playing in athletic competitions against transgender female athletes.
“I wanted a very focused laser beam working together approach in the state of Nevada to make sure that we ban biological men playing in women’s sports,” he said.
Anthony said he didn’t know how many trans athletes play in Nevada, but he has “been told” that there are high school and college players. He said he didn’t believe the effort was wading into “transgender issues.” Instead, he said the task force is focused on biological sex.
The purpose of the task force will be to “promote policies that prioritize fairness, protect women’s safe spaces, uphold opportunities for women, and preserve the integrity of competition,” according to the Tuesday announcement. Anthony said the task force will meet, host town halls and rallies on the issue to spread awareness and hear opposing views.
Anthony said he was spurred to create the task force following the controversy faced by University of Nevada, Reno’s volleyball team. In October, the team forfeited a game against the San Jose State Spartans because of allegations of a transgender player on the team. UNR did not have enough players to compete because “a majority” of players said they would sit out in protest of the participation of transgender women in sports.
The task force’s chair will be Marshi Smith, a Henderson resident, former college athlete and co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports. Other members of the 11-person group include Sen. Carrie Buck, R-Henderson; Assemblyman Bert Gurr, R-Elko; Nevada System of Higher Education Regent Stephanie Goodman and Washoe County Commissioner Clara Andriola.
Buck said she intends to introduce legislation that would promote transparency in athletic leagues. It would create co-ed leagues at the high school and collegiate levels and would require female leagues to inform athletes that the league may have transwomen teammates or competitors. She said the bill is still being drafted.
“I have empathy for those that are transitioning,” Buck said. “But inevitably, I also feel for that biological girl that is competing in the sport and is just going to be taken out because men are better at some sports.”
Advocates push back
LGBTQ advocacy groups described the task force as an attack on transgender Nevadans and a political move. Andre Wade, Silver State Equality’s state director, called it a losing strategy and said youth sports participation should be available to all.
“Our schools should be focused on providing the best possible education and helping to improve the well-being of all students, not actively harming students’ mental health and creating a hostile environment by singling out certain individuals,” Wade said in a statement. “Every child deserves equal access to these opportunities.”
It’s not clear how many transgender student athletes participate in Nevada sports. In a December Senate hearing, NCAA President Charlie Baker said there are fewer than 10 transgender athletes he’s aware of competing in collegiate sports.
Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said he didn’t expect the proposals from task force members and conservatives broadly to become policy in Nevada because of the Democratic-controlled Legislature and state Equal Rights Amendment protections voters added to the Nevada Constitution in 2022. He also argued that trans athletes playing in girls’ and women’s leagues are rare.
He said he suspects the topic has received so much attention because of its place in “culture wars.”
“There’s been tens of millions of dollars across the country poured into attempting to paint every trans athlete, effectively, as LeBron James in drag, which is the furthest thing from reality and what’s happening across the country,” Haseebullah said.
“I think the majority of legislators that I’ve spoken to are focused on fixing public education.”
Despite its low prevalence, the issue continues to be top of mind for both parties. A federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s attempt to strengthen Title IX protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in a ruling on Thursday, ruling the Education Department had overstepped on sex discrimination and First Amendment grounds.
More than half of states ban of transgender girls and women participating in sports aligned with their gender identity through legislation or state rules, according to the Movement Advancement Project think tank.
A 2020 Idaho ban – which included a sex dispute verification process that would require someone to undergo medical exams to verify their sex — faced an injunction from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The June 2024 decision said it likely violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The state has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.
President-Elect Donald Trump has vowed to take up the issue through the executive branch.
Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.
Home prices in Southern Nevada dropped from record highs to end 2025 and less homes sold last year compared with 2024.
Approximately 28,498 existing homes sold in the region last year, which is down almost 9 percent from the 31,305 homes that sold in 2024, according to trade association Las Vegas Realtors, which pulls its data from the Multiple Listing Service. This is the lowest number of homes sold in a year in Southern Nevada since 2007 right before the Great Recession.
The median sale price for a house sold in Southern Nevada in December was approximately $470,000, a 3.9 percent drop from November, according to LVR. By the end of December, LVR reported 6,396 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s up 28.8 percent from one year earlier.
Despite a down year in sales, the local market did end on a high note.
George Kypreos, president of Las Vegas Realtors, said he is optimistic the housing market could turn around this year. The LVR report noted that home sales in Southern Nevada have seen “peaks and valleys” in recent years, generally declining since 2021 when a record 50,010 properties sold.
“Although it was a relatively slow year for home sales, we’re seeing some encouraging signs heading into the new year,” said Kypreos in a statement. “Buyer activity locally and nationally is starting to improve. Home prices have been fairly stable, and mortgage interest rates ended the year lower than they were the previous year. Most trends are pointing to a more balanced housing market in 2026.”
Freddie Mac currently has the average price for a 30-year fixed-term mortgage rate at 6.1 percent. That mortgage rate has not gone below 6 percent since 2022.
The all-time high median home sale price in Southern Nevada was broken multiple times last year, and currently sits at $488,995 which was last set in November while the condo and townhome market has dropped substantially from an all-time high that was set in October of 2024 ($315,000) to $275,000 to end 2025.
Major residential real estate brokerages are mixed as to where the market will head this year as Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com have all put out their 2026 projections, and they expect a similar market to 2025. Mortgage rates aren’t expected to drop enough next year to unlock the country’s housing market, new builds will continue to lag, and prices will remain relatively elevated.
Realtor.com said in its report that it predicts a “steadier” housing market next year and a slight shift to a more balanced market. Redfin’s report says 2026 will be the year of the “great housing reset,” which means the start of a yearslong period of “gradual increases in home sales and normalization of prices as affordability gradually improves.”
Finally, Zillow said the housing market should “warm up” in 2026 with “buyers seeing a bit more breathing room and sellers benefiting from price stability and more consistent demand.”
Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.
TRUCKEE, Calif. — An avalanche in California’s Sierra Nevada on Monday buried a snowmobiler in snow and killed him, authorities said.
Rescuers responded after a 911 call around 2:20 p.m. reported a possible avalanche near Johnson Peak and Castle Peak in Truckee.
The snowmobiler was initially reported missing but then was found under the snow several minutes later, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Fellow recreationists found him but he didn’t survive despite lifesaving efforts, according to the statement.
Emergency personnel were working to safely extract the victim late Monday and to confirm no others were buried.
The sheriff’s office said more avalanches could occur and recommended that people avoid the area.
Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center. The center’s current map shows high risk spots in Utah and Washington and areas of considerable risk in California, Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming.
Nevada Preps Winter Sports Rankings
Records through Sunday
Boys basketball
Class 5A
1. Liberty (10-5)
2. Democracy Prep (9-6)
3. Coronado (5-6)
4. Bishop Gorman (9-7)
5. Desert Pines (11-4)
Class 4A
1. Clark (8-5)
2. Las Vegas High (10-4)
3. Losee (7-5)
4. Faith Lutheran (11-5)
5. Shadow Ridge (11-4)
Class 3A
1. Virgin Valley (9-2)
2. The Meadows (9-5)
3. Boulder City (9-5)
4. GV Christian (8-6)
5. Pahrump Valley (5-7)
Games to watch
All games at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted
Tuesday
Losee at Las Vegas
Faith Lutheran at Liberty
Wednesday
Bishop Gorman at Desert Pines
Virgin Valley at The Meadows
Thursday
Coronado at Mojave
Clark at Durango
Friday
Desert Pines at Las Vegas
Virgin Valley at Boulder City
Saturday
Big City Showdown at Coronado
Liberty vs. Desert Pines, 4:30 p.m.
Bishop Gorman vs. Coronado, 8 p.m.
Girls basketball
Class 5A
1. Bishop Gorman (11-1)
2. Democracy Prep (7-4)
3. Centennial (6-3)
4. Liberty (10-7)
5. Shadow Ridge (3-4)
Class 4A
1. Mojave (9-4)
2. Mater East (10-4)
3. Losee (14-5)
4. Del Sol (13-3)
5. Cimarron-Memorial (9-2)
Class 3A
1. Virgin Valley (6-5)
2. Boulder City (8-6)
3. Moapa Valley (8-4)
4. Coral Academy (7-4)
5. Pahrump Valley (4-7)
Games to watch
All games at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted
Wednesday
Faith Lutheran at Shadow Ridge
Centennial at Liberty
Mojave at Desert Oasis
Thursday
Sierra Vista at Cimarron-Memorial, 5 p.m.
Friday
Mater East at Desert Oasis
Virgin Valley at Boulder City
Saturday
Big City Showdown at Coronado
Bishop Gorman vs. Centennial, 6:15 p.m.
Flag football
Class 5A
1. Desert Oasis (8-0)
2. Shadow Ridge (10-1)
3. Arbor View (10-1)
4. Palo Verde (10-3)
5. Liberty (6-2)
Class 4A
1. Virgin Valley (5-3)
2. Sierra Vista (5-2)
3. Mater East (6-3)
4. Clark (7-4)
5. Spring Valley (5-2)
Games to watch
All games at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Palo Verde at Desert Oasis
Coronado at Bishop Gorman
SECTA at Arbor View
Friday
Shadow Ridge at Palo Verde
Canyon Springs at Arbor View
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