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      TONIGHT'S RALSTON REPORTS: The impact of the margin tax on restaurants. DAYS UNTIL GENERAL ELECTION DAY 2014: 22 DAYS UNTIL EARLY VOTING BEGINS: 5 DAYS UNTIL HARRY REID'S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS: 23       Good morning, everyone. Happy Columbus Day! (Did you even know?) Bloomberg’s Dave Weigel posted a link to the best Columbus Day video. Amazing how few characters at that table were alive by the show’s climax. Premium subscribers this weekend were treated to my take on the...
      TONIGHT'S RALSTON REPORTS: Reality Check Friday: A full show checking ads. DAYS UNTIL GENERAL ELECTION DAY 2014: 25 DAYS UNTIL EARLY VOTING BEGINS: 8 DAYS UNTIL HARRY REID'S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS: 26       Good morning, everyone. Today will be a day long remembered in the history of this state, the day same-sex marriage became a reality. Forty licenses were issued in Clark County. State Sen. Kelvin Atkinson and his longtime partner, Woody Howard, claim to be the first couple...
Good morning, everyone. I admit, after 30 years in this state, I am not only a Nevadan through and through but I love this state. I hate it when people mispronounce our name. I chafe at the stereotypes. And, yes, I am looking forward to celebrating our 150th birthday, which happens to coincide nicely with Gov. Brian Sandoval’s coronation, the Tesla Era and the beginning of the state’s Sunny Epoch. Apropos of the 150th, my pal Cat Allison, a great photojournalist, has put together a video to...
      TONIGHT'S RALSTON REPORTS: Justice Nancy Saitta's crusade to fix the child welfare system. DAYS UNTIL GENERAL ELECTION DAY 2014: 27 DAYS UNTIL EARLY VOTING BEGINS: 10 DAYS UNTIL HARRY REID'S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS: 28       Good morning, everyone. You would have to be pretty heartless – or Richard Ziser – not to get a little (or a lot) choked up seeingKelvin Atkinson propose on live television. Atkinson actually had announced the engagement on twitter much earlier in the day,...
Good morning, everyone. I know many people think it’s a purely media issue – the refusal of candidates to debate. Many campaign consultants agree, believing the issue does not move voters. That’s why Democrats did not fear hiding Shirley Breeden and Alison Copening six years ago and why the Republicans are fine holding Becky Harris and Patricia Farley in an undisclosed location this cycle. (Retort from GOP folks: “But they are meeting voters every day, going door to door.” Right.) I don’t...
Good morning, everyone. This is the way journalism ends, not with a bang but with a house ad. Of all the insults to the noble profession the Review-Journal has visited upon the land, this weekend’s outrageous use of its own house ads to run an anti-margin tax spot was the nadir. It’s now too kind to call it a “newspaper.” From now on, it’s the RJ PAC. Let’s hope its reporters disclose the contributions in news stories. Premium subscribers this weekend were treated to analysis of the voter...
Good morning, everyone. I have the full editorial linked below, but this paragraph is a keeper from this morning’s RJ: “Few elected officials in Nevada are as knowledgeable, accessible and pleasant as Ms. Giunchigliani. She is a walking policy encyclopedia, someone who is as effective dealing with a neighborhood code enforcement issue as she is leading discussions on huge issues such as mental health or higher education. She works exceptionally hard and always does her homework. That...
      TONIGHT'S RALSTON REPORTS: We'll see. DAYS UNTIL GENERAL ELECTION DAY 2014: 33 DAYS UNTIL EARLY VOTING BEGINS: 16 DAYS UNTIL HARRY REID'S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS: 34       Good morning, everyone. The “newspaper” has changed the headline now, but the original on this scathing Jane Ann Morrison column was a classic. I captured it last night: “GOP candidates Farley, Harris are spineless prawns.” Prawns! My favorite reaction came from Democratic operative Addisu Demissie, who said on...
Good morning, everyone. A sad day for the profession I love: “The New York Times plans to eliminate about 100 newsroom jobs, as well as a smaller number of positions from its editorial and business operations, offering buyouts and resorting to layoffs if enough people do not leave voluntarily, the newspaper announced on Wednesday.” The story is not pretty. The Times layoffs, alas, remind me of the sad state of newspapers here in Las Vegas where talented journalists at both newspapers are forced...
Welcome to the Weekly Report. This week: 1. My insiders on the governor, the speaker, the majority leader and more 2. Predictions I have assembled a bigger and even better group of legislative insiders in the post-election world for you, my dear premium subscribers (and those looking at this who did not pay and I will find you). In this telescopic look at Session ’15, I polled my insiders on what the governor’s reaction likely was to the election results, what they think the chances are of a...

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