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NEVADA VIEWS: Time for common-sense immigration reform

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NEVADA VIEWS: Time for common-sense immigration reform


The United States has long been a beacon of hope for immigrants seeking opportunity and a chance to chase their own American dream. America has always been a welcoming nation to those who embrace freedom and the responsibilities that come with it.

But we also have a responsibility to balance defending our borders, our values and our way of life with welcoming those who wish to join us. Those responsibilities are not mutually exclusive.

It is time to have an honest conversation without fearmongering or name calling, and it is time to separate those who seek solutions from those who benefit from chaos. You see, comprehensive immigration reform is something the Latin Chamber of Commerce has been advocating for years.

I recently had a deep discussion with Gov. Joe Lombardo. He made it clear that he absolutely supports deporting immigrants here illegally who have committed violent crimes on American soil. He supports deporting those here illegally who committed violent crimes prior to coming to America. Who among us would disagree? While we know that it’s not the majority, it is the fundamental responsibility of our government to keep us safe. That includes the small-business community.

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Those advocating for open border policies are making a growing problem worse. Those entering our country must be vetted quickly and effectively so that we may expedite the legal immigration process and immediately capture, return or incarcerate violent criminals before they cross our borders.

Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C., must come together to work through important issues involving undocumented immigrants who are already here embracing America and all that comes with it. Decades of a broken immigration system, leaky border and fluctuating policies have created an entire population of people who have been chasing the American dream, following American laws, paying American taxes and working to make our communities stronger, safer and more prosperous. It seems equally unrealistic and unconscionable that those who have embraced our system and our values would be punished for a problem created by politicians unwilling to solve our larger border issues.

America must secure its borders first to protect this nation and its people from those who would do us harm. We must remove any dangerous criminals here illegally. And then we must come together as Americans to fix the broken legal immigration system that has caused so much pain for so many people.

While priority No. 1 must be fixing the border crisis, the “deferred action for childhood arrival” and “temporary protective status” programs cannot be ignored. Presidents of both parties have used these programs to protect long-term immigrants who are living and working in this country. We know that standing up for Dreamers has strong bipartisan support, and the TPS program was created by Congress, supported by both Republicans and Democrats. Acting to extend TPS protections and grant new TPS designations for countries that clearly qualify will keep immigrants from being sent back to extremely dangerous conditions while ensuring they can work and contribute here.

Let’s bring transparency and efficiency to our legal immigration process so we can celebrate the workers, small-business owners and entrepreneurs. In Nevada, there are more than 6,300 TPS holders and 10,500 DACA recipients who pay taxes and strengthen our economy. I speak every day with immigrants who are opening restaurants and stores, working in hospitality and driving critical industries. Our state depends on these people, and without DACA and TPS recipients, Nevada’s economy would suffer.

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American exceptionalism is not just an idea, it is the definition of who we are. It is time that exceptionalism is used to solve a border crisis and fix an immigration system that has not worked for a very long time.

Peter Guzman is president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, NV.



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Tigers Fall in Home Bout Against Nevada – University of the Pacific

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Tigers Fall in Home Bout Against Nevada – University of the Pacific


STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific women’s tennis program dropped a 4-0 match to Nevada at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center on Sunday morning.

Defeats on doubles courts two and three gave the Tigers (0-4) an uphill battle going into singles and showed great fight despite not being able to secure any courts. Junior Nahreen Cheam erased a first set loss on court four to lead 2-1 in set three when play was suspended. Fellow junior Rayna Sugai was locked in a set three battle when play was suspended while junior Milena Maiorova on court one had just entered a tiebreaker on court one to try and force a deciding third set.

However, losses on courts two, five and six gave the victory to Nevada (3-3) the points needed to win the match.

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Pacific has two matches left in the current homestand, taking the court once on Friday, February 6 against San Jose State in a rematch from last season. Maiorova was the sole point scorer from last season’s matchup.

The match will be streamed live via Track Tennis.

FULL RESULTS

DOUBLES

  1. Indiya McLeod and Pauline Lerminiaux (PAC) led Foerster and Costache (NEV), 5-0
  2. Charrier and Robinson (NEV) def. Milena Maiorova and Rayna Sugai (PAC), 6-2
  3. Janigova and Buqai (NEV) def. Leyanne Hirota and Maggie Hoe (PAC), 6-1

SINGLES

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  1. Charrier (NEV) led Milena Maiorova (PAC), 6-4, 6-6
  2. Foerster (NEV) def. Indiya McLeod (PAC), 6-0, 6-3
  3. Janigova (NEV) led Rayna Sugai (PAC), 1-6, 6-2, 5-2
  4. Nahreen Cheam (PAC) led Robinson (NEV), 0-6, 6-4, 2-1
  5. Costache (NEV) def. Maggie Hoe (PAC), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
  6. Buqai (NEV) def. Leyanna Hirota (PAC), 6-0, 7-6

Stay Social
For all the latest on Pacific Women’s Tennis, be sure to follow the team on X (@PacificWTennis), Instagram (@pacificwtennis) and “like” the team’s official Facebook page (Pacific Women’s Tennis).
 
#PacificProud
 





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Inside the rise of Nevada’s political bulldog who changed Washington forever

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Inside the rise of Nevada’s political bulldog who changed Washington forever


  • New biography of former Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, “The Game Changer,” released Jan. 20.
  • Book details Reid’s impact on Las Vegas gambling industry and top Democratic legislation.
  • Gives new details on Reid’s most controversial statements on Bush, Obama and Romney.

Former Sen. Harry Reid — son of a destitute miner, favorite of the Las Vegas gambling industry and the highest ranking Latter-day Saint politician in U.S. history — left a permanent mark on national politics.

The Democratic bulldog, who died in 2021 after 34 years in Congress, was one of the key figures in flipping Nevada blue, forcing the passage of Obamacare and ending the filibuster on judicial nominations.

An official biography of Reid, released on Jan. 20, details how he fought his way from the tiny town of Searchlight to the heights of American power as Senate majority leader — and how he transformed political norms along the way.

“Reid’s political legacy is indisputable,” writes Jon Ralston, author of the new book, “The Game Changer.” “(He) forever changed Washington with his ruthless, cutthroat style that led to spectacular victories and perpetual dysfunction.”

Ralston, CEO of The Nevada Independent, followed Reid’s career for four decades, starting with Reid’s first Senate campaign in 1986. At one point, Reid tried to get Ralston fired from a local news station — and succeeded.

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Then, in 2021, Reid agreed to work with Ralston on a biography, participating in dozens of interviews spanning the course of his career, before he died of pancreatic cancer in December 2021 at the age of 82.

Here are some of the highlights from the life of Nevada’s longest-serving senator, and one of the most notable Democratic game changers of the political landscape in the American West as well as in Washington, D.C.

Biggest accomplishments

It didn’t take long for Reid’s ambition to lead him to politics.

After paying his way through law school as a U.S. Capitol Police officer, Reid was elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1968, where he sponsored 20% of the bills, ranging from increasing pawnshop rates to regulating the phone industry.

Two years later, at age 30, Reid became the youngest lieutenant governor in Nevada history, serving with his former high school history teacher, and mentor, Nevada Gov. Mike O’Callaghan.

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After failed campaigns for U.S. Senate in 1974, and Las Vegas mayor in 1975, Reid, who worked as a trial attorney, was elected to the U.S. House in 1982, followed by the U.S. Senate in 1986, where he would stay for 30 years.

During his time in Congress, Reid developed a unique balancing act on his priority issues, advocating ceaselessly for the mining industry he had grown up with, while championing environmentalist causes in his home state.

Reid secured protected status for more than 5 million acres by creating the Great Basin National Park, and helping to establish the Tule Springs Fossil Beds, Basin and Range and Gold Butte national monuments.

After becoming Senate majority leader in 2007, Reid was President Barack Obama’s legislative liaison, lobbying for stimulus funding and negotiating the Affordable Care Act by carving out expensive exceptions for reluctant senators.

Reid is also credited with organizing the “Reid Machine” — a Democratic get-out-the-vote operation that shifted voter registration totals, got Democrats elected and helped designate Nevada as an early Democratic primary state.

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Casino controversies

Along the way, Reid made his fair share of enemies.

He was known for his “ruthless” campaign style, which included a tendency to repeat rumors as if true, like implying without evidence that Nevada Gov. Paul Laxalt had used his position to become owner of a $7.5 million casino.

Many of Reid’s own criticisms came from his work with the gambling industry.

Reid was appointed as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission in 1977, where he informed the FBI on bribery schemes, confronted mob bosses, investigated Howard Hughes and gave a gaming license to Frank Sinatra.

As chair, Reid was credited with helping push the mob out of Las Vegas, denying licenses to individuals like Frank Rosenthal. This came at a cost, including a close call when something that looked like a bomb was placed in his wife’s car.

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But Reid came under scrutiny when wiretaps named him as a mob source. While the investigation found Reid never engaged in illegal conduct, recordings identifying Reid as “Clean Face” followed him through his career.

Despite this, Reid never stopped championing the biggest players on the Las Vegas Strip, including by pushing banks during the Great Recession to support the MGM casino, which hired him as a consultant after he left the Senate.

“From the Strip to downtown, Reid was a gaming industry darling and would be for as long as he was in office,” Ralston writes.

Navigating political tension

Like many politicians, Reid evolved over time. But some of his transformations were stark.

As a young lawmaker, Reid had a “100% pro-life voting record.” He opposed Roe v. Wade, voted against federal plans paying for abortion and supported a constitutional amendment banning abortion from conception.

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Reid was also one of 38 Democrats who killed the Equal Rights Amendment. But as he rose through party leadership, Reid developed more establishment Democratic views on abortion, same-sex marriage, gun rights and immigration.

While in the House, Reid lambasted Reagan’s immigrant amnesty program for allegedly rewarding lawbreakers by giving them legal status. In 1993, Reid introduced a bill outlawing birthright citizenship and lamented the impacts of mass immigration.

By the time he became majority leader, he was a key supporter of the DREAM Act for minors living in the country illegally, had lost his top rating from the National Rifle Association and had done a total reversal on the “nuclear option.”

In 2005, Reid had been one of the most vocal senators opposing an effort to remove the Senate’s 60-vote, filibuster-proof requirement to pass most legislation. In 2013, Reid did just that for most judicial nominations.

Reid also gained a reputation for his viral “Reidisms,” revealing his proclivity for speaking without a filter.

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Such instances include when he called Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan a “political hack,” and President George W. Bush a “liar” and a “loser,” or praised Obama for having “no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

The most famous of these is when Reid accused, without evidence, then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney of not paying taxes, even though Reid, who had significant real estate holdings, secretly had a similar average tax rate.

Throughout his political endeavors, however, Reid remained a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ralston writes, attending church regularly and reading scriptures every night.

Raised in abject poverty, in a town of several dozen with no church, the first time Reid “learned of a man named Jesus” was in a high school seminary class, which he attended with his friend to meet girls, Ralston writes.

He and his wife, Landra, began to take missionary lessons after eloping to Logan, Utah, to attend Utah State University. The two decided to join the church in 1960. Together Reid and Landra had five children.

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American Lung Association in Nevada hosts first practice climb event

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American Lung Association in Nevada hosts first practice climb event


The American Lung Association in Nevada offered a unique opportunity for participants of the Scale The STRAT event.

For the first time, climbers had the opportunity to practice ahead of the main event scheduled for Feb. 22.

The practice climb took place at Cashman Stadium on Saturday, thanks to a partnership with the Las Vegas Lights.

Deborah Thompson is the Executive Director with the American Lung Association of Nevada. She says, “This is the first time that we actually done a practice climb, and this is an opportunity for people that aren’t sure about doing it, if they’re able to do it and get over their fear.”

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Registered participants tested their stair-climbing skills nearly a month before tackling the 1,455 steps of The STRAT Tower.

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Additionally, participants could bring a guest to the practice climb, who can register on-site and receive a $10 discount on the regular registration donation.



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