KUNR Public Radio: Local News Feed

Lee en español. The labor union representing thousands of Nevada’s casino workers says the industry needs to be transparent in how it intends to reopen. More than 10,000 Culinary Union employees drove up and down the Las Vegas Strip on Tuesday, May 12, as part of an effort to get casinos to implement stronger public health policies and disclose their full reopening plans.

Gabino Salinas is a fifth-year student at the University of Nevada, Reno. He would have taken part in commencement with other graduating seniors on May 13, 14, or 15, but the ceremonies have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Salinas arrived at UNR as a first-generation student and started by studying medicine.

The Reno Aces are sizing up what a 2020 season might look like. Sierra Nevada Ally reporter Brian Bahouth has the story.

Some of the nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital in downtown Reno demonstrated in front of the facility last week to express their concerns about working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bob Conrad is publisher of This Is Reno and he was there covering the protest. He shared what he learned with KUNR’s News Director Michelle Billman.

Lee en español. With information about the coronavirus constantly changing and its impact on northern Nevada unknown, efforts to provide Spanish speakers in the region with COVID-19 updates are taking a variety of forms. A patchwork of initiatives at the community, city and county levels is providing some updates, but those efforts aren’t reaching everyone. Additionally, some local Spanish speakers don’t have access to technology, including phones and computers, to access the information that is

Dentists’ work requires them to be in close contact with people and that comes with problems due to the current pandemic. Scaling back business, grappling with regulations and the risks of coronavirus are some of what dentists have to handle. KUNR’s Jayden Perez talked with John Bocchi, the owner of Sierra Smiles Reno and Tahoe, about his experiences while operating during the pandemic.

On Saturday, many retail businesses across the state reopened for the first time in 51 days, after having been shuttered due to nonessential business closures in mid-March. Brian Bahouth of The Sierra Nevada Ally visited Virginia City as several shops opened their doors.

During this time of social distancing, local podcaster Fil Corbitt has been drawn to remote forests in the Sierra Nevada where they can spot tree carvings, a historic tradition of Basque immigrants. Fil explores these arborglyphs in this audio postcard from the mountains around Lake Tahoe.

During the pandemic, high school students across the state and country are social distancing at home, away from their teachers and peers. Isabella LoConte is a junior at the Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology in Reno and a part of KUNR's Youth Media program. She recently decided to take a bike ride to a few nearby parks as a way of getting out of the house and shared her journey in this audio diary.

This weekend some businesses and restaurants in Nevada will open for the first time since mid-March. It's welcome news for many owners that have struggled to get by in recent months, but for some Nevadans, the phased-in approach to reopening isn't moving fast enough. Some city and county leaders are making their displeasure known.