John L. Smith

6 days ago | thenevadaindependent.com | John L. Smith |JOhn Smith

To hear Michele Fiore tell it, the good Lord and President Donald Trump are in her corner. The Almighty answered her prayers after she bilked a fallen police officer’s memorial fund, and Trump handled the paperwork. He pardoned her in April following her 2024 conviction on six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. Since then, Fiore has appeared on a radio talk show, but the self-styled “Lady Trump” has otherwise kept a relatively low profile.

1 week ago | thenevadaindependent.com | John L. Smith |JOhn Smith

The fight to fund medically needy communities never ends in America. The battle has been going on long before the existence of the chaos-makers at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It plays out in every county in Nevada, in urban and rural communities alike, and every dollar counts. For proof, look no further than the FBI’s yearslong investigation of Silver State Health Services.

2 weeks ago | thenevadaindependent.com | John L. Smith |JOhn Smith

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) lost some sleep Tuesday night. In a marathon meeting of the House Natural Resources Committee that ended just before midnight, Nevada’s lone Republican in Congress pushed through an amendment into his party’s budget legislation that calls for selling off hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in this state and Utah. Not a nickel of the sales proceeds is earmarked to remain in Nevada. Nothing for parks, infrastructure, conservation, wildland firefighting.

3 weeks ago | thenevadaindependent.com | John L. Smith |JOhn Smith

Nevada data center giant Switch once again has failed to douse a brushfire litigation with potential rival Tract Capital Management in Storey County’s booming Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. Storey County District Judge Jason Woodbury on May 2 denied Switch’s motion to dismiss Tract’s counterclaims in a lawsuit over its attempt to develop land for future use as a colocation data center. If Tract prevails, it could substantially increase competition for data center clients at the industrial park.

3 weeks ago | thenevadaindependent.com | John L. Smith |JOhn Smith

The charm offensive continues apace on the Las Vegas Strip as some of its biggest players attempt to put an embarrassing and costly illegal bookmaking and money laundering scandal behind them. Fresh and familiar faces are in abundance these days along with stories about the concerted efforts being made to follow federal anti-money laundering regulations and the rules that apply in the state with the longest history of legal gambling.