(The Center Square) – A newly released report from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (NV DHHS) said it may take a long time to recover from the economic, education and behavioral health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While states have comparable stories, Nevada had over 900,000 cases, and more than 12,000 people died in the state.
Meanwhile, businesses were shuttered, especially in 2020, after Gov. Steve Sisolak declared a state of emergency.
Jobs and wages suffered as a result.
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The damage was so extensive that researchers say “most industrial sectors were negatively impacted by the number of jobs and wages that were lost due to these closures.”
Even though remote learning helped combat the spread of COVID-19, NV DHHS said it caused problems for school-age children.
While states have comparable stories, Nevada had over 900,000 cases, and more than 12,000 people died in the state. AP
“The impact of remote learning can be seen through student’s assessment results on the NAEP and the ACT,” says the report.
“Symptoms of the Disease: The Epidemiological, Economic, and Public Health Impacts of COVID-19 on the Battle Born State.”
Students in elementary school had the biggest problems, with scores dropping just over six points for fourth graders. Middle and high school students were also found to have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, but NV DHHS says it was not to the same extent.
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Geoffrey Lawrence, Director of Research at Nevada Policy Research Institute, said restrictions on personal freedom implemented by then-Gov. Steve Sisolak represented a panicked attempt by his administration to respond to one type of risk while ignoring all other risks.
“In reality, we live in a world of numerous uncertainties, but people have been able to adapt to these uncertainties by developing elaborate, entrepreneurial systems to produce and deliver to people the things they need to overcome the challenges presented by the natural world,” said Lawrence.
Meanwhile, businesses were shuttered, especially in 2020, after Gov. Steve Sisolak declared a state of emergency. Getty Images
In pre-modern times, Lawrence says pestilence, famine and disease were all quite common events, to say nothing of the reduced quality of life individuals experienced for lack of education, individual rights, or material abundance.
Nevada’s response to the pandemic harkened back to this pre-modernity by embracing what Lawrence calls “fear of a new uncertainty as a rationale to break all the systems society has developed” to grapple with these many other existing uncertainties.
“It’s therefore no surprise that economic uncertainty abounded, student achievement plummeted, deaths of despair surged, and hundreds of thousands of previously self-sufficient Nevadans were left to rely on a dysfunctional public support system that couldn’t even process claims timely just to meet their basic needs,” said Lawrence.
“A better role for government during COVID would always have been to advise and inform of the risks inherent with the disease so that free individuals could take the precautions they deemed necessary.”
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For example, Lawrence said it was known very early on that people had different risk profiles based on things such as age and health status.
They also had different risk tolerance.
Because of this, Lawrence argues that an informed populace would have been able to weigh this new risk against a wide variety of existing risks we all face on a daily basis.
“Elderly individuals and those with existing comorbidities could have been encouraged to take extra precaution, without prohibiting young children from attending school, for instance.”
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – Country music artist Caleb Montgomery will be performing at the State Fair of Nevada.
Montogomery will be headlining the Opening Night Concert on June 11 at the Nevada State Fairgrounds in Reno.
“We are excited to welcome families and communities from across Nevada back to the official State Fair of Nevada,” said Nevada Department of Agriculture Director J.J. Goicoechea. “After 16 years, a Nevada tradition is finally returning, something many families have waited years to experience again.”
The fair will run from June 11 to June 13, and opening day tickets will be $15 for adults and $12 for kids aged 12 and younger.
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Other featured programming includes:
Nevada Junior Livestock Show and Sale
University of Nevada, Reno Extension’s 4-H State Expo
NEVADA CITY, Calif. June 2, 2026 – Polls closed at 8:00 pm today. We will post local election results here as soon as they are released.
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June 2, 2026 at 11:54 PM Third and final update, the next results update will be on Friday.
June 2, 2026 at 10:10 PM Second update being published now. The voter counts on the Cumulative Reports are based on the 15 Day Report of Registration and may differ from the Ballot Statistics count.
June 2, 2026 at 8:15 PM First updates
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Federal contests – Nevada County results
CA Secretary of State · June 2, 2026 Primary · Unofficial
U.S. House, District 3
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CA Secretary of State · June 2, 2026 Primary · Unofficial
Insurance Commissioner
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CA Secretary of State · June 2, 2026 Primary · Unofficial
Attorney General
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A Carson City judge has granted the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the operation of a third prediction market in the state.
First Judicial District Court Judge Jason Woodbury on Friday granted the Control Board’s motion and state officials believe a formal written order is forthcoming.
“We are very pleased with Judge Woodbury’s ruling and will continue to vigorously enforce Nevada law to safeguard gaming in our state,” Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer said in a release issued by the board Monday.
The injunction blocks QCX LLC, doing business as New York cryptocurrency-based Polymarket US, from providing its services in Nevada.
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The Control Board has had similar successes with preliminary injunctions against New York-based KalshiEx LLC, doing business as Kalshi, and internet-centered Coinbase.
The board has taken decisive action in recent months to halt the operations of prediction markets in the state and has successfully restricted the operation of all unlicensed prediction markets that had been known to be operating in the state.
The board started its efforts in March 2025 against prediction markets, which are not licensed by the state but have written event contracts on sports and election outcomes and entertainment propositions.
Regulators consider the offering of sports-event contracts, along with certain other event contracts, to constitute wagering activity under Nevada law. They’ve said that they could operate in the state if were licensed, a process that often takes at least a year to complete.
Prediction markets believe they are authorized to conduct business in Nevada and every other U.S. state because they are regulated by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, currently chaired by Michael Selig.
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Because of its assertion that it has exclusive jurisdiction, it also has claimed that its oversight outweighs state gaming laws, which has resulted in pushback and lawsuits from a number of states that regulate casino gambling and sports betting.
Several states have pending litigation in place against prediction markets, but Nevada has seemingly found the silver bullet by taking their cases to state courts instead of federal courts.
Nevada’s public policy, as expressed by the Legislature, is that the gaming industry is vitally important to the economy of the state and the general welfare of the inhabitants and therefore “must be licensed, controlled, and assisted to protect the public health, safety, morals, good order, and general welfare of the inhabitants of the state.”
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
