KUNR Public Radio: Local News Feed

MedMen, a marijuana management and capital firm based in Los Angeles, broke ground on a new production and cultivation facility this month in Washoe County. Our contributor Brook Bentley of the Northern Nevada Business Weekly has the details. The 45,000-square-foot operation east of Sparks is opening next year and will cost $15 million. It's the firm’s first project in Nevada and is expected to produce 10,000 pounds of cannabis each year. Company officials see a growing opportunity in the state

The City of Reno has removed 68 benches from downtown using money from its blight fund. Officials say the project is in response to complaints of panhandling. Our reporter Bob Conrad has been covering this story for ThisisReno and says the reaction he's received from local advocates for the homeless has been overwhelmingly negative. It's also created some real questions. “So it’s raising the question of how the city is defining blight and how it’s authorizing the expenditures of this fund.” To

A political action committee (PAC) has raised about a million dollars to support a ballot measure that would raise the sales tax in Washoe County by half-a-percent. Money from the tax hike will fund school capital projects. As Reno Public Radio’s Anh Gray reports a pending lawsuit threatens to strike the measure off the ballot. On a Saturday morning under clear-blue skies, a small group of volunteers meets up with organizers from the PAC called the Coalition to Save Our Schools. They’re huddled

The Nevada Assembly approved the bill to spend $750 million in public taxpayer money on an NFL stadium on Friday afternoon. With more from NPR member station KNPR, here's Casey Morell. The Assembly sent the measure to Governor Brian Sandoval's desk after a long day of testimony Thursday that bled into Friday morning. Lawmakers found out late in the night nearly $900 million in infrastructure spending would be needed for roadways leading to and from the stadium, if it gets built – and that money

The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District is on the scene battling the Little Valley Fire. Reno Public Radio's Anh Gray checks in with Erin Holland who is with the agency and stationed at the command center to get an update.

In a state of emergency, first responders and doctors are the ones on the scene to provide help. Earlier this week, the Reno-Sparks Tribal Health Center held a drill to train providers for a potential crisis. Reno Public Radio’s Anh Gray has the details. In this particular drill, the Tribal Health Center simulated a flu pandemic. Stacey Montooth with the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony says this training helps providers prepare for variety of emergencies. “It could be small pox, it could be flu, it

Members of the Nevada Legislature continued to debate the merits of a Las Vegas hotel tax increase today during a special session. Legislators took public comment, and not everybody was pleased lawmakers were even discussing this matter. With more, here's Casey Morell from member station KNPR. Opponents of the plan spoke en masse Tuesday morning, including private citizens, advocacy groups – and other politicians. Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said the stadium was a bad deal for

The Nevada legislature will convene Thursday to continue evaluating a large public funding package for a new NFL stadium in Las Vegas. Joe Schoenmann with KNPR's State of Nevada joins our News Director Michelle Billman to share the latest. The Nevada State Senate voted on Tuesday to forge ahead with a plan to provide $750 million of public money to a stadium that may house the NFL’s Raiders. The vote was 16 to 5. Journalist John L. Smith noted on KNPR’s State of Nevada that lawmakers were swayed

Biologists at the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Wyoming are uncovering what could be a new bird species—one that is evolving in a unique way. Reno Public Radio’s Noah Glick reports. The South Hills crossbill is a type of finch that does not migrate but instead lives permanently in southern Idaho. Now the bird is in what biologists are calling an evolutionary arms race between itself and its food source, the Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine. “Lodgepole pine has evolved defenses

Female entrepreneurship is on the rise globally. And with the female-founded software company CAEK moving its headquarters to Reno this year, the topic is getting more attention across the region.