A growing and untamed wildfire that broke out Sunday is threatening at least 150 homes outside of Verdi, a small town northwest of Reno in Washoe County.

Known as the Gold Ranch Fire, it’s burning 650 acres and was not contained at all as of 3:30 p.m. on Monday, according to the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District. The Federal Emergency Management Agency granted emergency funding to fight the fire.

Gov. Joe Lombardo said in a statement on X that his office is monitoring the situation and that he’s “grateful for (Nevada’s) collaborative approach.”

Washoe County issued evacuation orders near Interstate 80 on the Nevada-California border, which remained partially closed Monday afternoon. Verdi Elementary School also canceled class Monday.

The Northwest Reno Library at 2325 Robb Drive is where officials directed evacuees, overseen by the American Red Cross.

NV Energy shut off lines near the fire Sunday to avoid boosting the wildfire, leaving 6,300 people in the area without power. Customers should expect to be without power until at least noon Tuesday, the utility said on X.

Air quality in the Reno area dipped into the unhealthy range on Monday, and National Weather Service officials issued a red flag warning for western Nevada and northeastern California, warning of the potential for further fires.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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

LAS VEGAS (KTNV — A Las Vegas Valley student will get to kick off the new school year with the field trip of a lifetime.

I spoke with local 8th grader Amelie, who is one of 75 first place awardees in a new nationwide scholastic contest called “America’s Field Trip.” She’s also the only first place winner from Nevada!

The contest asked students across the country to submit a video of them responding to the question, “What does America mean to you?” It challenged students to think critically about our nation’s journey to becoming a more perfect union.

In her video, Amelie spoke about the need to make public spaces and architecture more welcoming to people from all walks of life, and to encourage more face-to-face connection and conversation. She says people often feel empowered to say hateful things behind the shield of screens and that we need more in-person discussions with our peers to truly understand one another and to be able to empathize.

“If we’re all stuck in our houses being online, anonymous behind our usernames, we can’t really talk about our issues as well as if we’re in a park, maybe connecting over a conversation you can’t just log off of,” Amelie said.

What really stood out to me was when she told me that kids are definitely taking notice of the political polarization our country is dealing with. In fact, she said she’s seeing fellow students actually mimic the behavior of adults in this incredibly volatile political climate and election cycle.

“Do you think the same divisiveness we’re seeing in adults on both sides of the aisle is even trickling down to young people right now?” I asked Amelie.

“Yes of course, even in my school, there was political debate practically about what kids knew, and I noticed there were little spouts of things that might not exactly be too accurate going on in these conversations. And these conversations are ultimately what will shape our political standing,” Amelie responded.

She and the other contest winners were selected by a panel of current and former educators. It was actually an educator in Amelie’s life, Miss Rush, who encouraged her to enter the contest.

If your child may be interested, another America’s Field Trip contest for the 2024-2025 school year will begin around September. You can sign up for updates here.

For winning, Amelie will get to go on a field trip to Washington, D.C. That’ll include a visit to the National Archives, and she tells me she can’t wait to dig into our country’s history. It’s really the perfect place to reflect on what America means to her.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of winning the battleground state of Nevada have soared, according to recent polls.

On Saturday, at a rally at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Democratic presidential nominee promised to work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to hospitality and service industry employees.

“It is my promise to everyone here that when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” Harris said.

Her promise echoed one that her opponent, former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, made at a Las Vegas rally in June.

As of August 11, a polling average by Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin had Harris ahead in Nevada, 45.1 percent to Trump’s 43.5 percent. The average of polls had Trump leading Harris, 43.9 percent to 42.5 percent, at the start of August.

According to 270towin.com, an average of five recent polls also showed Harris leading Trump in Nevada, 45.2 percent to 44.6 percent.

At his Las Vegas rally, the former president pledged that one of the first things he would do if he won the White House in November was to work to end the taxation of income service workers earn through tips. “For those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips,” he said.

Newsweek has contacted the Harris and Trump campaigns for comment via email.

After Harris’ announcement on Saturday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that she “is starting to get hammered in the Polls” and “just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy.”

He added: “The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes! This was a TRUMP idea—She has no ideas, she can only steal from me.”

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which dismissed Trump’s pledge as a “wild” campaign promise in June, announced its endorsement of Harris on Friday.

Harris “has consistently championed our union and hospitality workers,” Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer, said in a statement.

He continued: “She stood by us as we negotiated and won the best union contract ever, and we trust her to continue the progress of the Biden/Harris administration by delivering real results that will prioritize and protect working families.”

The proposal to end taxes on tips has garnered significant public support, according to a recent poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek.

The survey, which was conducted on July 29 among 1,750 eligible voters in the U.S., found that 67 percent of Americans did not believe tips given to service workers should be taxed, while 19 percent believed they should be.

Support for the proposal crossed party lines, with 68 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of Democrats in favor of ending the taxation of tips.

Are you a hospitality or service worker in Nevada with thoughts on the proposal to eliminate taxes on tips? Email k.rahman@newsweek.com.