Opened in 2009, Greater Nevada Field in Reno, Nevada has been where the Dismondbacks AAA affiliate the Reno Aces have played since their inception. Having had family living there since 2016, you’d think I’d have made the trip out to visit before now, but this is the first time I’ve been able to actually visit. I was just barely able to make it but I did manage to go to two games over this past weekend, a night game on Saturday July 27th, and a day game on Sunday July 28th. The Aces lost both games, but that’s not important at all in the context of this article.

This is a gorgeous ballpark, with excellent sight lines from every seat in the ballpark. The majority of the outfield is bordered by a catwalk, giving fans an excellent chance at catching a homerun ball. If it wasn’t such a large outfield, I’d say that Greater Nevada Field probably gives you a better chance at catching a homerun ball than any other AAA or MLB level park. The wind is almost constantly blowing out, which does a lot to explain the offense friendly environment more than just “high altitude ballpark” does.

The ballpark is very family friendly with a playground for kids (below), multiple contests every game, and various theme nights. The game on Saturday, for example, was Star Wars night. The ballpark is very accessible to public transport, near lots of clubs, bars, and restaurants, so it makes it very easy to go out and have a night on the town while still being able to catch a ballgame.

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Despite all those positives on top of having one of the best atmospheres in Minor League baseball, there are a few downsides. The food, while being above average and sourced from family owned local companies is overpriced. If you’re planning on having alcohol at the ballpark, be prepared to spend 100+ on drinks for two people. (I did not drink at all while visiting the stadium, but my family did, and they all commented on how expensive it was.)

The only other real downside was that it was very warm during the day game, with most of the seats in the ballpark in the sun. If you’re catching a day game, I’d recommend bringing a hat, sunglasses, and wearing sunscreen.

Overall I’d give it a very positive rating, a solid 4.5 stars out of 5. Reno is definitely worth the visit to come and see the Aces play. There is so much going on in Reno activity wise, that I think there’s something for everyone to do, and would highly recommend a trip to those who can afford it.

The number of retirees who took home six-figure annual payments from Nevada’s government pension system nearly doubled in recent years.

But because of a 2019 state law, officials release less information about the recipients.

A total of 4,856 people received at least $100,000 in pension payments from the Public Employees Retirement System in fiscal 2023. That’s up almost 90 percent from 2,562 such recipients in fiscal 2019, according to agency data.

The overall tally of retirees who collect a pension from PERS also climbed during that period, though not as quickly. The system had 81,861 benefit recipients at the end of fiscal 2023, up about 17 percent from 70,056 in fiscal 2019, according to annual financial reports.

Ian Carr, general counsel for the pension system, attributed the rising volume of lucrative payouts to multiple factors, including the expanded pool of retirees, higher wages that translate to bigger pensions and the boost in benefits that take effect in the fourth year of retirement.

“It’s kind of a compounding effect,” he said.

PERS sends pension payments to former state and local government employees in Nevada. It has not yet released its annual financial report for the fiscal year that ended June 30, but data it provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal showed 5,003 people grossed at least $100,000 in pension payments during that period.

The agency disclosed pensioners’ names and benefit amounts but no other information.

Additional details such as last employer, years of government service and retirement date used to be a matter of public record. But in 2019, the Nevada Legislature approved a bill that made pensioners’ information confidential, other than their names and annual benefit totals.

The biggest recipient in fiscal 2024, Anthony Delvecchio, received a pension of about $362,370 that year, according to PERS.

Transparent Nevada — an online database run by the Nevada Policy Research Institute that tracks government workers’ compensation — shows a person with that name worked for the Carson City School District, retired in 2010 and garnered a pension of about $67,730 in 2018.

Delvecchio could not be reached for comment.

Carr said he cannot comment on members’ accounts. But in general, he said, a larger-than-usual payment can result from benefits being suspended for a period of time and then reinstated, as the pensioner would retroactively receive the unpaid benefits.

In general, payment suspensions are often administrative-related, Carr noted, including failure to provide proper direct-deposit information.

Here were the top five pension recipients from PERS in fiscal 2024, according to data from the agency and Transparent Nevada:

— Anthony Delvecchio: $362,371.59.

— Chris Ault, former UNR football coach: $343,123.12.

— Donald O’Shaughnessy, former Clark County fire battalion chief: $319,935.03.

— Rossi Ralenkotter, former president and CEO of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority: $305,587.47.

— Roderick Jett, former Metropolitan Police Department undersheriff: $300,900.60.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Two new Morning Consult polls show a statistical dead heat between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in Nevada.

The first poll presented Nevadans with two options for president; Harris and Trump. Harris leads Trump 47% to 45% in that poll.

The second poll included three third-party candidates; independent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Libertarian Chase Oliver, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

Trump and Harris are tied at 43% in that poll with Kennedy garnering 7% next to Oliver’s 3% and Stein’s 1% in Nevada.

The Morning Consult polls were sponsored by Bloomberg and were taken between July 24-28.