The Nevada Independent

08/22/2026

Surrogacy has become a new front in the anti-abortion fight, fueled by a dispute over whether a surrogate was contractually obligated to terminate a pregnancy at the behest of the couple who hired her.

The Nevada Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news and opinion website founded in 2017 by veteran political journalist and commentator Jon Ralston. The site and its supporting channels are focused on ethical, unbiased and transparent journalism. In general, we aim to gather and disseminate impo...

08/22/2026

Maternity care can be hard to come by in rural Nevada. See if your county is one of the nine in the state that lack maternity care.

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/are-there-maternity-care-deserts-in-nevada

08/22/2026

It’s been three weeks since the Trump administration made the eye-popping claim that nearly 16,000 noncitizens are on Nevada voter rolls.

Closer looks at the voter file are revealing a different story:

Officials said they have identified only 185 potential noncitizen voters in the state so far, and the number they originally gave was a "ceiling."

08/22/2026

A pathway into Allegiant Stadium is “stretched to capacity,” and there’s a new plan to upgrade the entrance that would tap into $75 million in taxpayer dollars.

Many fans walk over a nearby bridge from the Las Vegas Strip to attend Raiders games. The new entry would create a more direct path to the venue.

08/22/2026

Gov. Joe Lombardo announced that he is working on a “comprehensive plan” related to data centers in Nevada at a Latin Chamber of Commerce event in Las Vegas, but did not offer additional details.

The Republican governor said he has been “meeting relentlessly” about data centers, addressing whether they bring jobs to the state, strain local water supplies, and how they will help the community when it comes to workforce development and education.

“There’s a new gold rush occurring in the United States,” Lombardo said. “There's a huge fear of data centers because of what story is being told, whether it's accurate or not. It's a perception.”

“You’re gonna be pleasantly surprised at how we develop this,” he added.

It comes shortly after his opponent in the gubernatorial race, Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, announced that he plans on pausing tax breaks for all new data centers if he is elected.

Reporting and visuals by Isabella Aldrete.

08/22/2026

Families that can't have children have asked surrogates to carry a baby on their behalf. But the practice is newly under fire from conservatives, some of whom call it an attempt to commodify children or "human trafficking with better marketing."

The Nevada Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news and opinion website founded in 2017 by veteran political journalist and commentator Jon Ralston. The site and its supporting channels are focused on ethical, unbiased and transparent journalism. In general, we aim to gather and disseminate impo...

08/21/2026

Democratic Assm. Sandra Jauregui and Republican incumbent Stavros Anthony are set to face off in Nevada’s lieutenant governor race this fall.

Compare their policy goals side by side:

The office is first in line to succeed the governor. It deals with benign issues such as promoting tourism, but candidates have edgier goals.

08/21/2026

Federal officials have been unable to back up their allegations that nearly 16,000 noncitizens could be registered to vote in Nevada.

Email records and a recording of an Aug. 13 meeting between the secretary of state’s office and representatives from the federal government indicate that federal officials have only been able to identify 185 potential noncitizen voters so far, and the 15,903 number they originally gave was a “ceiling.”

In follow-up emails after the meeting, federal officials wrote that they did not reduce the nearly 16,000 estimate to 185 and still have more than 14,000 under review, with 6,200 pending final review. The secretary of state’s office received the data from federal officials but is not sharing it while it is under review.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) wrote in a Thursday statement that his office and local government officials are committed to ensuring voter rolls are accurate and protecting the rights of eligible voters.

“The Secretary of State’s Office will not risk disenfranchising eligible voters and ripping away their Constitutional right to vote without the highest confidence of their ineligibility,” he said.

For more information on the issue, check out our story at TheNevadaIndependent.com

08/21/2026

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority is expected to approve a $158M upgrade to the north entrance to Allegiant Stadium that will be half covered by taxpayer dollars. It aims to ease a “pressure point” in guest traffic.

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/las-vegas-stadium-authority-weighs-a-158m-allegiant-stadium-north-entrance-upgrade

08/21/2026

Federal officials have toned down their claims that nearly 16,000 noncitizens may be on Nevada voter rolls. They recently called the number a “ceiling” and said they’ve identified just 185 potential ineligible voters so far.

Officials said they have identified only 185 potential noncitizen voters in the state so far, and the number they originally gave was a "ceiling."