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HEALTH OVERHAUL-NEVADA
Board delays action on 2015 exchange fees
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A state board has delayed setting monthly policy fees to be charged next year for policies purchased over Nevada's health insurance exchange.
Board members agreed Thursday to postpone the action until they have a better idea of how many people have signed up and the demographics of those enrolled.
Setting the rates is directly tied to enrollment projections.
As more people sign up, the less they will need to be charged to cover exchange operating expenses.
But enrollment is hard to project. Last year officials set a target of 118,000. That number was cut to 50,000 after persistent problems with the system prevented many people from completing applications.
Because of those problems, Nevada authorized a special enrollment period through May 30 for people who were unable to finish their applications.
RANGE SHOWDOWN UPDATE
Stun gun used on rancher's son in cattle roundup
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tensions have escalated between protesters and federal police who used a stun gun on a son of a Nevada rancher fighting a roundup of cattle that he claims have historical grazing rights northeast of Las Vegas.
No serious injuries were reported and no arrests were made, but family members told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that rancher Cliven Bundy's 57-year-old sister also was knocked to the ground during a confrontation Wednesday involving dozens of protesters and several U.S. Bureau of Land Management rangers.
Nevada BLM director Amy Lueders would not discuss details of the incident during a conference call with reporters late Thursday, saying only that it is under investigation.
She said Bundy's actions "do a disservice to the thousands of law abiding ranchers in the West."
HILLARY CLINTON-VEGAS
Object thrown at Hillary Clinton during speech
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A woman was taken into custody after throwing what she described as a shoe at Hillary Clinton during a Las Vegas speech.
The incident happened moments after Clinton took the stage Thursday at an Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries meeting at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.
Clinton ducked but did not appear to be hit by the object, and then joked about the incident.
Security ushered out a woman who said she threw a shoe but didn't identify herself to reporters or explain the action.
Authorities said the woman would be arrested.
The former U.S. secretary of state and Democratic senator from New York has been traveling the country giving paid speeches to industry organizations and appearing before key Democratic Party constituents.
RANGE SHOWDOWN
Stun gun used on rancher's son in cattle roundup
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal police used a stun gun on a son of a Nevada rancher fighting a roundup of cattle that he claims have historical grazing rights northeast of Las Vegas.
Family members told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that rancher Cliven Bundy's 57-year-old sister also was knocked to the ground during a Wednesday confrontation involving dozens of protesters and several U.S. Bureau of Land Management rangers.
No serious injuries were reported and officials said no arrests were made.
A hand-held video shows protesters and law enforcement officers holding yellow stun guns and leashed dogs yelling at each other as trucks involved in the roundup attempt to drive through on State Route 170.
The BLM has shut down a 1,200-square-mile area while contractors gather about 900 cattle that officials say are trespassing.
NEVADA GOP
Nevada GOP heads into convention torn at core
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada Republicans are gathering for their party convention in Las Vegas this weekend.
Party leaders are seeking to show unity to boost voter registration, raise money and elect more GOP candidates. The goals that have proved elusive in recent years for a state party that has become known for its volatility.
The attempt at cohesion amid the polarization between staunch conservatives and establishment Republicans — a split that also divides the party nationally — comes in the spotlight of midterm elections and an attempt to host the national convention in 2016.
Party leaders would rather not air their political laundry publicly, but such infighting is expected at state conventions — especially in Nevada.
The party may battle over its platform, debating taxes, primary endorsements, gay marriage and abortion.
TUBERCULOSIS EXPOSURE-NEONATAL UNIT
OSHA cites Summerlin Hospital after TB exposure
LAS VEGAs (AP) — The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing nearly $40,000 in fines against a Las Vegas hospital where employees were exposed to tuberculosis over the summer.
The agency issued six serious and two less-than-serious citations against Summerlin Hospital, saying the organization was slow to evaluate employees for tuberculosis and didn't reevaluate its written plans for keeping the disease under control.
Summerlin Hospital officials issued a statement saying they dispute the citations and plan to fight them vigorously.
OSHA says at least 20 employees tested positive for the disease after a mother and child with undetected TB were treated there.
Hundreds of babies, visitors and employees were tested for the lung disease after the mother and her child died and autopsies confirmed tuberculosis was the cause.
PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL-FUNDING JEOPARDIZED
Rawson-Neal no longer in danger of losing Medicare
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal officials say Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas is meeting standards and is no longer in jeopardy of losing Medicare funding.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wrote a letter to state officials Wednesday saying it won't move forward with threats to cut funding this month.
The agency had issued a warning Jan. 9, saying the hospital wasn't meeting requirements related to its governing body, nursing services and Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement program. The letter said the hospital was also out of compliance with fire codes.
Federal agencies conducted a follow-up inspection on March 12 and determine the problems were addressed.
The news is a positive development for the mental hospital, which faced allegations of improperly discharging patients and sending them out of state without follow-up care.
OBIT-DINI
Joe Dini, longtime Nevada Assembly speaker, dies
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Former Nevada Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, who served a record eight times leading the lower chamber in the Nevada Legislature, has died.
Dini's death was announced Thursday during a meeting of the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee.
He was 85.
The Yerington Democrat was elected to the Assembly in 1967. He served through 2002 in a career that made him the longest serving assemblyman in state history.
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval praised Dini as a legend and one of Nevada's greatest statesmen.
CLARK COUNTY SCHOOLS-HIRING
Clark County schools hiring 2,000 teachers
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Clark County School District plans to hire 2,000 teachers to accommodate growing student enrollment and backfill for teachers who are resigning or retiring.
The district says it will hire about 500 support staffers, including bus drivers and classroom aides. Officials say they're also hoping to ramp up their pool of substitute teachers.
Part of the demand comes from new state mandates that require smaller kindergarten classes, and thus more of them.
District officials say they are anticipating record-breaking enrollment of nearly 318,000 students next year, which is up about 3,300 from this school year.
RESTAURANT CRASH-VEGAS
Vegas man in Egg & I crash plans to plead guilty
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 19-year-old Las Vegas man accused of plowing into a restaurant last April and injuring 10 people says he'll plead guilty.
Victims who showed up to court expecting to testify against Gage Lindsey on Wednesday instead heard he planned to plead guilty April 24 to two counts of driving under the influence and causing substantial bodily harm.
Lindsey's lawyer, Sean Sullivan, says prosecutors plan to drop four other charges as part of the deal.
Prosecutors say Lindsey had Xanax and more than three times the legal limit of marijuana in his blood when he crashed April 1, 2013 into the Egg & I restaurant on Sahara Avenue.
Victim Alberta Guzman tells KSNV-TV she's grateful to be alive, but says her family has struggled physically and emotionally in the crash aftermath.
NORTH LAS VEGAS-BUDGET
Beleaguered N. Vegas strikes deals with 2 unions
LAS VEGAS (AP) — North Las Vegas officials say they've reached agreements with two labor unions and are working to settle with others as they try to stave off a possible takeover by the state.
Mayor John Lee announced the deal Wednesday evening, after a day of talks that involved Gov. Brian Sandoval.
The governor hosted negotiations in his Las Vegas office a day before city managers were to present a tentative plan to deal with an $18 million shortfall.
North Las Vegas has been trying to stem its bleeding for several years. In January, a state judge ruled the city could not withhold $25 million in pay raises to public safety employees.
Last week city officials proposed a $7.7 million settlement with the unions, saying the alternative would be steeps cuts and layoffs.
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