KUNR Public Radio: Local News Feed

California Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris is expected to make a series of campaign stops in Reno this week, including a visit with striking auto workers and a town hall with students at the University of Nevada, Reno. KUNR's Paul Boger spoke to Senator Harris ahead of her latest blitz through the Silver State.

A federal lawsuit was filed earlier this year by an anti-legal brothel lawyer, claiming sex trafficking is rampant in the businesses . While brothel owners deny this, the suit aims to ban brothels in Nevada. Now, a prospective defendant is looking to add himself to the suit. KUNR Reporter and Host Bree Zender spoke with News Director Michelle Billman about this latest wrinkle.

KUNR’s Wyatt Daane sat down with Robin Holabird, a film reviewer for KUNR, to discuss the noticeable correlation between the Cal Neva Lodge at Lake Tahoe and the El Royale Lodge in the film Bad Times at the El Royale . The movie was released to home audiences earlier this year and is about 7 strangers who are harboring dark secrets when they each arrive at a mysterious hotel on the California/Nevada border.

KUNR's bilingual student reporter Andrew Mendez has been looking into the unique obstacles Latinx students may face when they enter college . Along with reporting on the hurdles, he's been researching potential solutions on the local level. He joined our news director Michelle Billman to share his findings. For the 2017-2018 academic year, the most recent year with available data at the University of Nevada, Reno, just under 77% of first-year Latinx students were retained, compared to more than

Nearly one in five students at the University of Nevada, Reno identifies as Latinx. Latinx is a gender-neutral term for Latino. Often, these students are first generation or "first gen" college students and face a unique set of challenges when it comes to retainment and support. KUNR’s Andrew Mendez explores. Chistopher Monzon is in his friend’s living room strumming his guitar. One day, he hopes to return to the University of Nevada, Reno to major in music and pursue his passion further.

It appears that whatever secrets are hidden behind the gates of Area 51, or the Nevada Test and Training Range, will remain hidden for now, as the thousands of people who were expected to storm the military installation in the desert failed to materialize.

For decades, Area 51,the mysterious military base on the edge of the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, has been a source of countless conspiracies. While the base has become synonymous with aliens and unidentified flying objects, experts say the base's purpose is much more mundane. KUNR's Paul Boger spoke with Peter Merlin, an aviation historian and the author of a book called Area 51: Images of Aviation .

Come this November, the general election will be just a year away. Looking ahead, KUNR's Paul Boger sat down with NPR National Political Correspondent Don Gonyea, who is in Reno this week, to break down what we can make of this process so far.

The University of Nevada, Reno released the findings of its Speak Your Truth campus climate survey during two forums Wednesday. The results come as the campus is grappling with multiple expressions of hate that have recently occurred. KUNR’s Stephanie Serrano was at the forums and brought back some data and insight on how students are feeling.

Area 51, the infamously mysterious military installation in the Nevada desert, has fascinated people for decades. This week, that fascination may come to a head as thousands of people are expected to descend upon the site to take part in a viral event called “Storm Area 51.” KUNR’s News Director Michelle Billman sat down with Senior Reporter Paul Boger to breakdown the event and what it could mean for rural Nevada.