LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada swimmer and Las Vegas native Katie Grimes is heading back to the Olympics.

The 18-year-old is set to compete in three events as a member of Team USA: the 400-meter individual medley, the 1,500-meter freestyle, and the 10-kilometer open-water swimming event, which is scheduled to be held in the Seine river.

Marathon swimming and triathlon events are scheduled to take place near the Alexandre III bridge during the Olympics, which run from July 26-Aug. 11. Several have questioned in the river will be clean enough to swim in.

As for Grimes, she became the first American across all sports to secure an Olympic spot in 2024 and this will be her second Olympics. She was 15 when she competed in Tokyo in 2020 and placed fourth in the 800-meter freestyle.

When looking at past Olympics, Grimes will be the youngest American to compete in two Olympics since short track speed skater Nikki Ziegelmeyer in 1992 and 1994 and the youngest American to compete in two Summer Olympics since swimmer Pokey Watson in 1964 and 1968.

According to Team USA records, Grimes will also be the second American to compete in both pool and open water events in the same Olympics. The only other person to do so was Jordan Wilimovsky in 2016.

Nevada State Bank is letting people across the valley send “Postcards To Paris” to show Grimes support. Grimes is also sponsored by Nevada State Bank.

“As longtime clients, the Grimes family has developed strong relationships with our bankers who enjoy cheering on Katie,” said Terry Shirey, President and CEO of Nevada State Bank. “I can’t think of anyone who represents our brand — our focus on our community, relationship, and the values we all try to live every day with our clients and amongst each other, like Katie and her family do.”

You can stop by any Nevada State Bank branch to fill out a postcard for Grimes, which will be sent to her each week. Postcards will be available while supplies last.

Tesla is preparing to start construction on its upcoming high-volume Semi factory in Nevada, as suggested by huge steel deliveries recently arriving to the site.

In a post on Sunday, X user HinrichsZane shared drone footage from the site of the upcoming Semi factory, which is being built as part of an expansion to Tesla’s existing Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. In the footage, you can see a massive amount of steel that was recently delivered to the site, suggesting that the company is nearing the start of construction on the long-awaited Semi factory.

You can see Hinrich’s full video below.

Tesla started breaking ground on expansions to Giga Nevada in January, setting the stage for increased production of both the Semi and its 4680 battery cells.

During Tesla’s Q1 2024 earnings call in April, Senior Manager of the Semi Program Dan Priestley shared a few thoughts on the upcoming facility, noting that the automaker is aiming for the first Semis to roll off the production line in late 2025, with early external customers starting in 2026.

Tesla delivered its very first Semi units to PepsiCo in December 2022, and although the Semi program has been fairly quiet since, the automaker has recently started delivering more and expanding to other companies. In May, Tesla delivered 50 additional Semis to PepsiCo, following deliveries to Costco, Martin Brower, and Walmart.

In addition, Tesla Semis have been in more frequent use around the company’s factories, and the automaker recently highlighted that it has been used to ship over 20,000 battery packs out of Giga Nevada. They’ve also been spotted at the factory in Fremont, California, and Tesla recently shared some footage of the Semi transporting goods between the two factories.

Tesla Giga Berlin to produce Semi Truck

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Tesla preparing for construction on Giga Nevada Semi factory

Southern Nevada’s federal delegation are calling on the federal government to prohibit mining on public land in the fragile Amargosa River watershed, an effort pushed by locals in the area for months.

On Tuesday, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto sent a letter to federal land managers, urging the Department of the Interior to implement a 20-year ban on new mining operations on public land surrounding the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a critical wetland habitat that supports a dozen endangered and threatened species.

Sen. Jacky Rosen and Reps. Dina Titus, Steven Horsford, and Susie Lee also signed the letter.

The 20-year ban is supported by the Timbisha Shoshone Tribal Council, the Nye County Board of Commissioners, the Nye County Water District, and both the town boards of Amargosa Valley and Beatty, according to Nevada Current.

Under federal law, the Department of the Interior has the authority to withdraw lands from mineral extraction for up to 20 years by approving an application for mineral withdrawal submitted by the managing agency. Mineral withdrawals can also be permanently secured through legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president. 

A federal mineral withdrawal would not dissolve previous mining claims, but it would greatly reduce mining companies’ interest in developing the area, say supporters of the 20-year ban.

In the letter, the lawmakers representing Southern Nevada ask Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to formally initiate a 20-year mineral withdrawal on about 276,000 acres of public lands researchers say is most vulnerable to groundwater depletion from mining activities. 

“Drilling for exploration or mining could puncture the highly pressurized underlying aquifer, resulting in artesian flow that could reduce spring flows and water levels at Devils Hole, and would have widespread catastrophic effects on this fragile landscape. Pit mining activities would require dewatering that would draw down groundwater levels, reducing spring flow in the Refuge and affecting the water supply for local communities,” the lawmakers wrote.

The Amargosa River travels just under the surface for most of its 185-mile course. In the stretches of the river that reach the surface — like the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge — the river supports endemic species that depend entirely on springs fed by groundwater aquifers. 

However, some of those aquifers are extremely close to the surface, meaning even shallow drilling in the Amargosa Basin groundwater system can have severe, unpredictable, and far-reaching impacts.

The request comes after Canada-based Rover Critical Minerals’ (formerly Rover Metals) announced a new plan last year to drill as many as 21 boreholes less than a mile from the refuge — at depths of up to 150 feet — in search of valuable lithium deposits. The proposal included plans to drill within a few thousand feet of Fairbanks Spring, a critical habitat for the endangered Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish and the Ash Meadows speckled dace.

“Recent proposals for exploratory mineral drilling and extraction near the Refuge boundary pose an immediate threat to the integrity of this fragile ecosystem,” reads the letter.