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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.
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1 week ago | 
archyde.com | John Smith |JOhn Smith
The political landscape is a shifting canvas, and sometimes, the most unexpected brushstrokes create the biggest headlines. Imagine, for a moment, a scenario where the former president, donald Trump, a figure often associated with a perceived affinity for Vladimir Putin, publicly criticizes the Russian leader’s actions. This divergence in rhetoric sparks immediate questions: is this a calculated strategy? A genuine change of heart?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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1 month ago | 
thenevadaindependent.com | John L. Smith |JOhn Smith
Trump bankrupted his casinos, and now it looks like he’s trying to bankrupt ours. Nevada legislators for weeks have waited like root-canal patients for the projections that were delivered at Thursday’s Economic Forum. The lawmakers anticipated pain, but no one knew just how much to expect. What they heard through their groans and grimaces this week was what can playfully be described as good news and bad news. The good news? At this moment, things aren’t so bad.
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1 month ago | 
thenevadaindependent.com | John L. Smith |JOhn Smith
I joined the Nevada Humanities Committee in 1999 thinking I knew a little something about our state and its people. After all, I was born and raised in Nevada. Members of the Smith family tree have rambled and roamed around the Great Basin for generations without ever striking gold or owning a gambling hall. We’re lucky that way. As a committee member, I soon realized my Nevada education was only beginning.
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1 month ago | 
thenevadaindependent.com | John L. Smith |JOhn Smith
Elaine Wynn brought an uncommon light to the Las Vegas Strip, a softer hue amid the gaud and gild. Lithe and elegant, she was stronger than she looked. Her recent death at 82 is bringing a deserved outpouring of affection and remembrance from her many admirers and friends. Those who knew her best praise her philanthropy, strength of character and class. She was a member of Vegas royalty, part of a historic and star-crossed casino partnership, but so much more than that.
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1 month ago | 
thenevadaindependent.com | John L. Smith |JOhn Smith
When it comes to hurling an epithet, Gov. Joe Lombardo can’t hold a candle to Mike O’Callaghan. During O’Callaghan’s first term as the state’s 23rd governor, I heard him roar the F word dozens of times in early-morning phone calls to his administrative assistant, my mother Jan Smith. I wasn’t listening in on the conversation. His voice could be heard two rooms away. Blessed with a street vocabulary as salty as any sailor, mom would return fire and slam down the phone.
