Phil Scherer

5 days ago | lasvegasoptic.com | Phil Scherer

A Villanueva man was recently sentenced to serve more than 11 years in prison for the murder of  Alejandro Rodriguez after pleading guilty in late 2024. The shooting took place in December 2023. Gary Hicks, 60, took a plea deal to avoid going to trial on the murder charge, which was reduced from a first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder as part of the agreement. He was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison, but seven years were suspended as a result of the plea.

1 week ago | lasvegasoptic.com | Phil Scherer

There are few things I enjoy more than seeing local success stories. Whether it is people from Las Vegas owning local businesses, making a name for themselves on the local music scene or venturing out into the world and doing even bigger things, I love seeing people from Las Vegas succeed. When most people think of small towns, they have a distorted view of what life looks like.

1 week ago | lasvegasoptic.com | Phil Scherer

One year ago, Las Vegas was unexpectedly on top of the Class 3A baseball world, as Robertson defeated West Las Vegas in the state championship game as the No. 7 and 8 seeds, respectively. The road to repeating that matchup is slightly easier this season, as Robertson earned the No. 3 seed in this year’s tournament, while West Las Vegas qualified as the No. 5 seed.

1 week ago | lasvegasoptic.com | Phil Scherer

Las Vegas will be well represented in the Class 3A state softball tournament, set to begin this week. West Las Vegas, the defending state champions, have earned the No. 3 seed and a bye to the quarterfinals, while Robertson earned the No. 5 seed and will take on No. 12 seed Wingate in the first round. West Las Vegas entered the season as one of the favorites to bring home the blue trophy, and for the most part they delivered on their potential.

2 weeks ago | lasvegasoptic.com | Phil Scherer

Sometimes it’s the people we don’t see and don’t think about that make the biggest impact on our community and our lives. In every industry, there are the people who make the headlines and the people that quietly go about their business making sure things run smoothly. In local city government, we often hear about the mayor and other elected officials, but we rarely hear about the everyday employees that execute their vision.