SPARKS, Nev. (KOLO) -The Sparks-based Sierra Nevada Corp. reported the U.S. Air Force awarded it a $13 billion contract to develop the next generation of the so-called Doomsday plane that can survive a nuclear war.

SNC shared an industry report that indicated the contract for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center should run through July 2036.

This program will replace the four E-4B planes developed in the 1970s that transport the defense secretary but can also act as a mobile nuclear command and control outpost during a national emergency. The Air Force keeps one in the air at all times.

Work on the plane will be done in Nevada, Colorado and Ohio.

Reuters reported in December that the Air Force eliminated Boeing as a potential bidder in the project.

Aviation Week reported SNC’s version will likely be a used Boeing 747 and that it aims to build eight aircraft.

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LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A new grant from the Department of Justice will be used to set up a Nevada hate crime reporting hotline.

Earlier this month, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced his office will receive $1,164,424 in funding.

Nevada is the only state this cycle that will receive the grant.

“In seeking justice for hate crimes, it is important to remember victims need resources and support to feel safe and valued in their communities,” Ford said. “This funding will aid in bridging the gap between hate crime victims and the services available to them.”

The funding will be used to establish policies and procedures for the hotline, implementing focused training for staff regarding the new hotline, hiring new staff members, and integrating the hotline into the Attorney General office’s preexisting Constituent Services framework.

The FBI defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”

According to the latest data from the Department of Justice, which includes statistics from 2020 to 2022, overall hate crimes in Nevada are down.

If you believe you are a victim or a witness of a hate crime, you can report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or by submitting a tip at tips.fbi.gov.

I agree with Chas Catania’s Thursday letter about having a lottery to help fund education in our state. I also agree that the gaming industry can definitely withstand an increase in the gaming tax rate.

However, governors from both parties have boosted educational spending over the past decade, yet we are still at the bottom of the education ladder nationally. I think we need systemic changes in how our school system functions. Nevada is seen as a transient state. Therefore, no one really makes an effort to improve the school system because they are not here long enough to care. This is the wrong approach.

We need to change how parents interact with the schools that their children attend, and how our children act when they are in the classroom. Neither of these issues can be solved by throwing money at the school system.