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Tag: Nevada

  • A man already serving 3 life sentences for murder has been charged in 2004 homicide cold case | CNN

    A man already serving 3 life sentences for murder has been charged in 2004 homicide cold case | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A man serving life sentences for three 2005 Las Vegas-area murders has now been charged in a 2004 killing there, authorities said Thursday.

    Investigators determined Norman Flowers, 48, is a suspect in the 2004 death of Keysha Brown after they asked for more forensic testing during a July 2022 cold-case review of the killing, Las Vegas police said Thursday.

    The police department’s forensic laboratory in December gave detectives a report “confirming … Flowers was the suspect” in Brown’s death, police said in a news release.

    Details about what the forensic testing entailed or why any such testing didn’t help identify a suspect years ago weren’t immediately available. CNN has sought comment from Las Vegas police.

    Flowers has been charged with open murder and sexual assault in the 2004 case, according to court records and police.

    Flowers is serving three life sentences at Nevada’s High Desert State Prison on convictions of first-degree murder in the 2005 killings of three women in the Las Vegas area: Sheila Quarles, Marilee Coote and Rena Gonzalez, authorities said.

    Brown was found dead a few blocks east of the area’s famous strip of casino hotels and miles south of downtown Las Vegas on October 19, 2004, police said.

    Brown had been stabbed, beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted, police said.

    At the time, detectives couldn’t identify a suspect, police said.

    Police have not said whether they know of a motive in Brown’s death.

    As for Flowers’ open murder charge: In Nevada, that charge is a general homicide allegation that would allow a jury to decide the level of the offense at conviction, including first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter.

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  • Nevadans to vote in 2024 on removing slavery, involuntary servitude as punishment from state constitution

    Nevadans to vote in 2024 on removing slavery, involuntary servitude as punishment from state constitution

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    Nevada voters will decide whether to get rid of slavery and involuntary servitude as a form of criminal punishment from the state constitution on the 2024 ballot, part of a push among some states to remove outdated, century-old language that has stayed on the books.

    The Nevada Senate unanimously passed the joint resolution on Thursday after the assembly took similar steps last week. The proposed amendment first passed the Nevada Legislature in 2021, though ballot measures must survive two consecutive sessions before going to a vote of the people.

    “I don’t know that we have fully accepted this very painful past,” said Democratic Sen. Pat Spearman of North Las Vegas, who co-sponsored the resolution. “And what you don’t face, you can’t fix.”

    Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited in the Nevada constitution “otherwise than in the punishment for crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” The 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has nearly identical language, prompting recent attempts by Democrats in Congress to scrub that language federally.

    About a dozen states are pushing this year to get rid of slavery or involuntary servitude exceptions in their constitutions, according to the Abolish Slavery National Network. Some advocates said this has major legal implications today, particularly in litigation related to prison labor pay and conditions.

    That language in more than a dozen state constitutions is one of the lasting legacies of chattel slavery in the U.S., and the loophole gave way to other racist measures post-Civil War. This included “black codes” laws passed in the decade after the Civil War, which targeted Black people for benign interactions such as talking too loudly or not yielding on the sidewalk. Those targeted would end up in custody for these minor actions and often be forced into low-paying or unpaid work.

    Also, in some southern states, convict leasing was essentially a new form of slavery that started during the Reconstruction Era and went on for decades. States and companies made money from arresting mostly Black men and then leasing them to private railways, mines and plantations.

    Colorado became the first state in recent years to revise its constitution in 2018 to ban slavery and involuntary servitude, followed by Utah and Nebraska in 2020.

    Last fall, voters approved measures that scrubbed the language in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont.

    California lawmakers are also considering putting the measure on the 2024 ballot. Last week, more than 40 supporters of the measure gathered in Sacramento, where lawmakers and formerly incarcerated people talked about the impacts of forced labor in prisons.

    It’s not uncommon for prisoners in California, Nevada and other states to be paid around $1 an hour to fight fires, clean prison cells, make license plates or do yard work at cemeteries.

    The ACLU of Nevada is considering litigation related to the pay and working conditions of incarcerated women at prison firefighting camps — and the measure could protect people from “harmful, deadly conditions without being forced to labor for our sake,” said Lilith Baran, the group’s policy manager.

    “This is not just a feel-good bill,” Baran said in an interview last week after a hearing for the resolution. “This has actual, real implications on people’s lives.”

    Democrats in Congress have not yet passed federal legislation changing the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. If the latest attempt wins approval in Congress, the constitutional amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of U.S. states.

    Moments before Thursday’s vote, Democratic Sen. Dallas Harris, of Las Vegas, another co-sponsor, took note of the federal language and ongoing attempts to rectify it.

    “While we can remove this from our state constitution, it still remains in our federal constitution and I urge my colleagues in the federal government to make similar steps today.”

    She continued: “In the immortal words of Melissa Jefferson, better known as Lizzo, ‘It’s about damn time.’”

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  • Nathan Chasing Horse: “Dances With Wolves” actor indicted by grand jury on 19 new charges

    Nathan Chasing Horse: “Dances With Wolves” actor indicted by grand jury on 19 new charges

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    Charges are mounting against a “Dances With Wolves” actor who is accused of sexually abusing and trafficking Indigenous women and girls in the U.S. and Canada for decades.

    A grand jury in Nevada indicted Nathan Chasing Horse on Wednesday on 19 counts, expanding on previous charges of sexual assault, trafficking and child abuse to include kidnapping, lewdness and drug trafficking. Chasing Horse, 46, now faces charges in four jurisdictions, with the newest case brought by prosecutors on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana.

    Police in Las Vegas have described Chasing Horse as a cult leader who used his position as a self-proclaimed medicine man to gain access to Indigenous girls and women, who he physically and sexually assaulted and took as underage wives. Prosecutors also accused him of grooming young girls to replace his older wives. His followers in the cult known as The Circle believed he had healing powers and could communicate with higher beings.

    Nathan Chasing Horse
    Nathan Chasing Horse, charged with raping and sex trafficking women and girls, appears for a hearing in North Las Vegas Justice Court on Feb. 6, 2023. 

    K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images


    Chasing Horse’s public defender, Kristy Holston, told The Associated Press that she was looking forward to revealing holes in the state’s case during a preliminary hearing that was canceled Wednesday morning ahead of the indictment. She declined to elaborate.

    “Since the public is so interested in this case and because only select details of the accusations have been released, we think it would be most appropriate for the State to present their evidence in a public hearing where the defense can reveal the weaknesses of the State’s case on the record in court,” she said in an email.

    Holston didn’t immediately respond Wednesday afternoon for comment on the additional charges filed against her client. An arraignment is scheduled March 1 in Clark County District Court.

    Chasing Horse has declined multiple requests from the AP for an interview from the Las Vegas jail where he’s being held on a $300,000 bond.

    Born on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Chasing Horse is widely known for his role as Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 Oscar-winning film, “Dances With Wolves.” He was arrested Jan. 31 near the North Las Vegas home he shared with his five wives.

    Authorities searched the home and found firearms, psilocybin mushrooms, 41 pounds of marijuana and two cellphones containing videos and photos of underage girls being sexually assaulted, according to an arrest report.

    The footage of the assaults led to federal child pornography charges in U.S. District Court in Nevada.

    Chasing Horse’s arrest in Nevada was the culmination of a monthslong investigation by Las Vegas police. According to court documents, police uncovered a pattern of sexual abuse and alleged crimes dating back to the 2000s across multiple states, including Montana and South Dakota, as well as Canada, where he’s been charged with a 2018 rape in British Columbia.

    Earlier this month, prosecutors with the Fort Peck Tribes in Montana charged Chasing Horse with one count of aggravated sexual assault in connection with a 2005 rape, according to a warrant obtained by the AP.

    Ken Trottier, a tribal court criminal investigator, said Wednesday that two teenage girls at the time had accused Chasing Horse of rape. The investigation was closed, Trottier said, because the girls’ statements couldn’t be corroborated.

    That changed after Chasing Horse was arrested in Nevada, Trottier said, with more evidence that allowed Fort Peck to pursue a criminal case.

    It’s unlikely, though, that Chasing Horse will ever appear in tribal court, Trottier said. Tribal leaders banished him from the reservation nearly a decade ago amid allegations of human trafficking.

    “We don’t ever expect him to return here,” Trottier told the AP. “If he ever steps foot on our reservation, he will be hunted.”

    Trottier said Wednesday that he hopes federal prosecutors in Montana will step in, allowing for stiffer penalties if Chasing Horse is charged and convicted of any crime on the reservation — where federal authorities have concurrent jurisdiction when the victim and suspect are both Native American.

    “I will probably never have the satisfaction of being able to put handcuffs on him,” Trottier said, “but at least we’re able to help the Las Vegas case and other investigations.”

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  • Illinois is set to mandate paid leave for nearly all workers

    Illinois is set to mandate paid leave for nearly all workers

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    When Joan Van is sick, she doesn’t get paid.

    The East St. Louis-area restaurant server and single mother of three said she works doubles, meaning two eight-hour shifts in a 24-hour period, to make up the money when she or one of her children gets sick.

    “You can’t let your kids see you break down because you’re tired and exhausted, ’cause you gotta keep pushing. You got to. And if you don’t, then who’s gonna do it?” she said.

    She may not have to for much longer. Expansive paid leave legislation, known as the Paid Leave For All Workers Act, requiring Illinois employers to give workers time off based on hours worked, to be used for any reason, is ready for action by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who said he will sign it. The Act passed both chambers of the Illinois legislature on Jan. 10.  

    Requiring paid vacation is rare in the U.S. — just Maine and Nevada have similar laws — although common in other industrialized nations.

    Reason for absence not required

    Fourteen states and Washington, D.C., require employers offer paid sick leave via similar laws, although employees may only use it for health-related issues. What sets Illinois’ new legislation apart is workers won’t have to explain the reason for their absence as long as they provide notice in accordance with reasonable employer standards.

    Maine and Nevada also allow workers to decide how to use their time, but substantial exemptions apply. Maine’s Earned Paid Leave law only applies to employers with more than 10 employees, and Nevada’s exempts businesses with less than 50. Illinois’ will reach nearly all employees and has no limit based on the business size.

    Seasonal workers such as lifeguards will be exempt, as will federal employees or college students who work non-full-time, temporary jobs for their university.

    Effort to ease challenges for working families

    The legislation would take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Employees will accrue one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked up to 40 hours total, although the employer may offer more. Employees can start using the time once they have worked for 90 days.

    “Working families face enough challenges without the concern of losing a day’s pay when life gets in the way,” Pritzker said on January 11, after the bill passed both chambers.

    Ordinances in Cook County and Chicago already require employers to offer paid sick leave, and workers in those locations will continue to be covered by the existing laws rather than the new bill.

    Johnae Strong, an administrative worker at a small media company in Chicago, said paid sick time helps her take care of her two children, a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old. But expanding the time to be used for any reason would be helpful.

    “Life happens,” she said, adding that she hopes Chicago will update its law to be more flexible, like the state bill.

    paid-leave-illinois.jpg
    Johnae Strong helps her 6-year-old daughter Jari Akim with her coat as they ready for school and work Friday, Feb. 10, 2023, in Chicago. 

    AP Photo/Erin Hooley


    “Detrimental effect” on small businesses?

    The Chicago and Cook County ordinances served as pilot programs for the statewide legislation, and assuaged critics who predicted mass business closures that didn’t come to fruition, said Sarah Labadie, director of advocacy and policy at Women Employed, a nonprofit that has fought for paid leave since 2008 and helped push through the legislation.

    “Obviously we had some strange things happen during the pandemic, but pre-pandemic that was not the case. Chicago was a thriving economic engine,” she said.

    Peoria Democratic Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth sponsored the bill, which she said will “help to uplift working families” and “immediately help people.”

    Newly-elected House Republican Leader Tony McCombie said the mandated benefits could have a “detrimental effect” on small businesses and nonprofits “in an already unfriendly business climate.”

    “We all want a great working environment with an equitable work/life balance,” she said in an emailed statement. “However, Senate Bill 208 failed to address the concerns of those providing that work environment.”

    Leslie Allison-Seei, who runs a promotion and sweepstakes management company with her husband in DuPage county, said that while taking care of their three full-time employees is a priority, it is “difficult” to compete with corporate paid time off policies.

    “We’re thrilled that this is getting passed and that it’s going to be signed. But it’s also a little bit frightening because, you know, a week’s worth of time — I don’t know what that would do to our business,” Allison-Seei said. “I think a lot of businesses are just doing the very best that they can to stay afloat.”

    paid-leave.jpg
    Leslie Allison-Seei, who runs a small promotion and sweepstakes management company with her husband, stands with some of the promo cards at their office Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, in Villa Park, Illinois. 

    AP Photo/Erin Hooley


    Clash of interests

    Small business advocacy organization National Federation of Independent Business opposes the bill, saying that it “imposes a one-size fits all mandate on all employers.”

    Small business owners face steep inflation, increased fuel and energy costs and an absence of qualified workers, and the requirement will be an “additional burden,” NFIB state director Chris Davis said in a statement following the bill’s passage. “The message from Illinois lawmakers is loud and clear, ‘Your small business isn’t essential,’” Davis said.

    However, the potential burden on small businesses clashes with the needs of their workers, particularly those with children.

    Van, the restaurant server, is also a parent leader with Community Organizing and Family Issues. Van said she has no paid leave until she has worked for one year, and that knowing she will miss a day of pay when she or one of her kids gets sick is a constant stress. Guaranteed PTO “would be awesome,” offering her peace of mind and alleviating some financial worries, the Belleville mom said.


    Jill Schlesinger’s new book on finding work-life balance

    04:39

    “Huge step in the right direction”

    Molly Weston Williamson, paid leave policy expert and senior fellow at think tank Center for American Progress, called the Illinois legislation “a huge step in the right direction.”

    In addition to establishing workers’ right to paid time off, the bill forbids employers from retaliating against employees for using it. This is key to making sure “low-income workers or other folks who are more vulnerable are really, practically able to take the time,” Williamson said.

    Paid leave is both a labor rights issue and a public health issue, Williamson said. Service workers like Van who handle food and beverages without paid time off are more likely to go to work sick and to send their children to day care sick, “at which point they get everyone else sick,” she said.

    “Especially now that we are three-plus years into a global pandemic, I think all of us have a much more visceral understanding of the ways that all of our health is tied together,” Williamson said. 

    Claire Savage is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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  • Nevada battery recycler wins $2B loan from Energy Department

    Nevada battery recycler wins $2B loan from Energy Department

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    MCCARRAN, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada company that recycles batteries for electric vehicles has won a $2 billion green energy loan from the Biden administration.

    Redwood Materials, a recycling venture founded by the former chief technology officer at Tesla Inc., secured the conditional loan from the Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, which helped Tesla more than a decade ago.

    Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced the grant Thursday at Redwood’s facility in Nevada with Gov. Joe Lombardo, where they spoke from a stage to dozens of employees.

    “This region is leading the way to a broader story of what is happening in the country,” Granholm said, pointing to a map of 80 battery manufacturing or supply chain companies that are expanding or opening in the U.S. Most have been announced in response to the infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed in 2021 and the climate law he signed last year, she said.

    Battery recycling will help the U.S. establish its own electric-vehicle supply chain, a major goal of the Biden administration as it seeks to move away from gas-powered cars in the larger fight against climate change. Biden also has promoted domestic production of critical minerals used in EVs and other electronics, as part of the climate fight and to counter China’s longtime dominance in the supply chain.

    With Redwood and other projects underway, “China might be starting to worry,″ Granholm boasted. “And to that I say we’re just getting started.″

    The Energy Department said its conditional commitment demonstrates its intent to finance the Nevada project, but several steps remain before officials approve a final loan.

    Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by Jeffrey “JB” Straubel, Tesla’s former chief technology officer. It now has more than 300 employees who recycle used batteries and has supply contracts with Ford and with Panasonic, which makes batteries for Tesla.

    Straubel said the company already has more material than it can process from spent consumer batteries from lawnmowers, cellphones and toothbrushes, as well as production scraps from lithium-ion battery manufacturing.

    The company says it can recover more than 95% of the elements in a spent battery, including lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper. The metals are then used to make anode and cathode components for new battery cells.

    Redwood Materials “is going to play this outsized role in bringing the batteries supply chain home — because you’re focused on the pieces that we don’t have in the United States,″ Granholm told employees at Thursday’s event. “You guys are making history in this.″

    Redwood Materials is expected to create about 3,400 construction jobs and employ about 1,600 full-time workers, the department said.

    Redwood Materials’ history in Nevada started under former Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who was in attendance on Thursday. It continued under Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak before the loan was conditionally approved under Lombardo, who acknowledged he was a latecomer to negotiations. The investments and subsequent jobs help fulfill a campaign pledge by Lombardo and past governors to diversify Nevada’s casino and tourism-based economy.

    “This is what we’re going to have to do to have success in the state of Nevada,” Lombardo said. “We can’t have all our eggs in one basket.”

    In December, the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development awarded $105 million in tax incentives to Redwood, the second-largest capital investment in the office’s history, behind Tesla.

    Last month, the Energy Department announced a conditional loan of $700 million to an Australian company to mine lithium in northern Nevada as the U.S. seeks domestic supplies for the key component in electric vehicle batteries.

    Redwood also has announced plans to build a $3.5 billion battery manufacturing and recycling factory in South Carolina.

    Once fully operational, the battery materials campus in McCarran, Nevada, outside Reno, will be the first domestic facility to support production of anode copper foil and cathode active materials for a lithium-ion battery manufacturing process. The process would recycle end-of-life battery and production scrap and remanufacture it into critical materials, the Energy Department said in a blog post.

    Straubel, Redwood’s CEO, told The Associated Press last year that recycling battery materials will help the U.S. establish its own electric-vehicle supply chain. China now dominates the EV supply chain, including critical minerals needed for EV batteries.

    “Redwood fills a critical gap in that whole piece, and our goal is to close the loop on all the materials that we’ve already mined and produced into products, keep them in the regions where they were bought and are being used,″ Straubel told the AP. “Every battery that we can recycle is one battery worth of materials that we don’t need to mine again.″

    ___

    Daly reported from Washington.

    ___

    Associated Press auto writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this story.

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  • Battery recycling company founded by former Tesla chief technology officer wins $2 billion loan from Energy Dept

    Battery recycling company founded by former Tesla chief technology officer wins $2 billion loan from Energy Dept

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    Redwood Materials, a Nevada company that recycles batteries for electric vehicles and was founded by Tesla’s former chief technology officer, has won a $2 billion green energy loan from the Biden administration.

    It secured the conditional loan from the Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, which helped Tesla more than a decade ago.

    Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced the grant Thursday to dozens of employees at Redwood’s facility in Nevada with Gov. Joe Lombardo.

    “This region is leading the way to a broader story of what is happening in the country,” Granholm said, pointing to a map of 80 manufacturing or supply chain companies that are expanding or opening in the U.S. Most have been announced in response to the infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed in 2021 and the climate law he signed last year, she said.

    Battery recycling will help the U.S. establish its own electric-vehicle supply chain, a major goal of the Biden administration as it seeks to move away from gas-powered cars in the larger fight against climate change. Mr. Biden also has promoted domestic production of critical minerals used in EVs and other electronics, as part of the climate fight and to counter China’s longtime dominance in the supply chain.

    The Energy Department said its conditional commitment demonstrates its intent to finance the Nevada project, but several steps remain before officials approve a final loan.

    Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by Jeffrey “JB” Straubel, Tesla’s former chief technology officer. It now has more than 300 employees who recycle used batteries and has supply contracts with Ford and with Panasonic, which makes batteries for Tesla.

    Straubel said the company already has more material than it can process from spent consumer batteries from lawnmowers, cellphones and toothbrushes, as well as production scraps from lithium-ion battery manufacturing.

    The company says it can recover more than 95% of the elements in a spent battery, including lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper. The metals are then used to make anode and cathode components for new battery cells.

    Redwood Materials “is going to play this outsized role in bringing the batteries supply chain home — because you’re focused on the pieces that we don’t have in the United States,” Granholm told employees at Thursday’s event. “You guys are making history in this.”

    Redwood Materials is expected to create about 3,400 construction jobs and employ about 1,600 full-time workers, the department said. The company’s history in Nevada started under former Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who was in attendance on Thursday. It continued under Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak before the loan was conditionally approved under Lombardo, who acknowledged he was a latecomer to negotiations. The investments and subsequent jobs help fulfill a campaign pledge by Lombardo and past governors to diversify Nevada’s casino and tourism-based economy.

    “This is what we’re going to have to do to have success in the state of Nevada,” Lombardo said. “We can’t have all our eggs in one basket.”

    In December, the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development awarded $105 million in tax incentives to Redwood, the second-largest capital investment in the office’s history, behind Tesla.

    Last month, the Energy Department announced a conditional loan of $700 million to an Australian company to mine lithium in northern Nevada as the U.S. seeks domestic supplies for the key component in electric vehicle batteries.

    Redwood also has announced plans to build a $3.5 billion battery manufacturing and recycling factory in South Carolina.

    Once fully operational, the battery materials campus in McCarran, Nevada, outside Reno, will be the first domestic facility to support production of anode copper foil and cathode active materials for a lithium-ion battery manufacturing process. The process would recycle end-of-life battery and production scrap and remanufacture it into critical materials, the Energy Department said in a blog post.

    Straubel, Redwood’s CEO, told The Associated Press last year that recycling battery materials will help the U.S. establish its own electric-vehicle supply chain. China now dominates the EV supply chain, including critical minerals needed for EV batteries.

    “Redwood fills a critical gap in that whole piece, and our goal is to close the loop on all the materials that we’ve already mined and produced into products, keep them in the regions where they were bought and are being used,” Straubel told the AP. “Every battery that we can recycle is one battery worth of materials that we don’t need to mine again.”

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  • ‘Dances With Wolves’ actor charged in Nevada sex abuse case

    ‘Dances With Wolves’ actor charged in Nevada sex abuse case

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    NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — A former “Dances With Wolves” actor accused of sexually abusing Indigenous girls and women for two decades in multiple states has been charged in Nevada for crimes that prosecutors said occurred in the Las Vegas-area starting in 2012.

    Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, was formally charged Monday morning during a brief appearance in a North Las Vegas courtroom full of his friends and relatives who had hoped to see him released on bail. But a judge postponed hearing arguments about his custody status until Wednesday to give Chasing Horse’s new California-based attorney, Alexandra Kazaria, additional time to obtain permission from the State Bar of Nevada to represent him in the case.

    Nevada law requires prosecutors to present convincing evidence that a defendant should remain in custody. Clark County Deputy District Attorney Jessica Walsh said last week that she expected testimony from Las Vegas police detectives, FBI special agents and victims.

    In the meantime, Chasing Horse is being held without bail at a jail in downtown Las Vegas. He has been in custody since his Jan. 31 arrest near the North Las Vegas home he shares with his five wives.

    Chasing Horse is charged with eight felonies, including sex trafficking, sexual assault against a child younger than 16, and child abuse, according to a criminal complaint. Prosecutors also filed an additional felony charge Monday in connection with what detectives said were videos saved on a phone showing sexual assaults of a minor.

    Seated opposite of Chasing Horse’s family on Monday, some of the victims and their supporters held signs inside the courtroom reading “NO MORE STOLEN SISTERS” and “WOMEN AREN’T PRISONERS.”

    Rulon Pete, executive director of the Las Vegas Indian Center, said after the hearing that the victims had been prepared “to help out with making sure justice has been served.”

    “Unfortunately there’s a lot of anxiety they’re experiencing,” he told The Associated Press after speaking with the victims and prosecutors. “When this got pushed back, it was like adding more weight to the situation.”

    He did not enter a plea Monday after he was formally charged. In Nevada, defendants do not enter a plea until their criminal case is bound over to a state district court, either after a grand jury indictment or after a judge decides prosecutors have enough evidence for the defendant to stand trial.

    Chasing Horse played the role of Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 Oscar-winning film.

    Since then, he has built a reputation among tribes across the United States and in Canada as a “medicine man.” Chasing Horse, police said, abused that position and took underage wives over two decades in multiple states, including South Dakota, Montana and Nevada, where he has lived for about a decade. He also was banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, in 2015 following similar allegations.

    Detectives described Chasing Horse in a 50-page search warrant as the leader of a cult known as The Circle, whose followers believed he could communicate with higher powers.

    Pete, of the Las Vegas Indian Center, described the role of the medicine man in their culture as a highly respected leadership post. “They’re like priests, if you will.”

    “You follow what they teach,” he said, adding that the victims have shown great courage by speaking out despite the intimidation and threats Pete said they have faced since Chasing Horse’s arrest.

    An arrest report for Chasing Horse shows at least six victims have been identified, including one who was 13 when she said she was abused, and another who said she was offered to him as a “gift” when she was 15.

    After SWAT officers took him into custody last week, detectives searched the family’s home and found guns, 41 pounds (18.5 kilograms) of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, according to the arrest report.

    The criminal complaint filed Monday also charges Chasing Horse with two misdemeanors in connection with a dead bald eagle and parts of a dead hawk discovered during the search of his property.

    Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.

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  • Democrats approve shake-up of 2024 calendar but it’s far from a done deal | CNN Politics

    Democrats approve shake-up of 2024 calendar but it’s far from a done deal | CNN Politics

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    Philadelphia
    CNN
     — 

    The Democratic National Committee on Saturday approved a plan to shake up the 2024 presidential primary calendar and demote longtime early voting states Iowa and New Hampshire, but significant questions remain about how the new order will be implemented.

    The new calendar upends decades of tradition in which Iowa and New Hampshire were the first two states to hold nominating contests and moves up South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan. President Joe Biden has argued the new nominating order would better reflect the diversity of the nation and the Democratic Party.

    But the party’s early nomination calendar, which was approved Saturday at the DNC’s winter meeting in Philadelphia, is facing opposition from some impacted states and could remain unsettled for months.

    Under the new calendar, South Carolina would hold the first primary on February 3, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on February 6, Georgia on February 13, and Michigan on February 27. Any state can hold a nomination contest starting March 5.

    The changes reflect longstanding concerns from party leaders that the previous calendar, which featured Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina in early voting, prioritized two states that are largely White and don’t represent the diversity of the party. Iowa has gone first in the nominating process since 1972, while New Hampshire has held the first primary in the process since 1920.

    “This calendar reflects the best of who we are as a nation, and it sends a powerful message all across the country,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said Saturday. 

    The calendar passed with overwhelming support. However, while the DNC sets the rules for the party’s nominating process, state governments (or state parties) ultimately set the dates of their contests, and New Hampshire and Georgia likely won’t be able to comply with the assigned dates.

    The chairs of the Iowa and New Hampshire Democratic parties objected to the calendar at Saturday’s meeting, noting that Democrats did not have the power in those states to unilaterally change their state laws. Republicans in Iowa and New Hampshire control the office of the governor and both chambers of the state legislature.

    Rita Hart, the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, argued, “Iowa has been put in a position that makes it impossible to comply with both DNC rules and our own state law, which has exactly zero chance of being changed by the Republican legislature.”

    Hart said, “Democrats cannot forget about entire groups of voters in our part of the Midwest without doing significant damage to the party.”

    Ray Buckley, the chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said the DNC rules committee “knew that Republican leaders in the state would not bend to their will, and even knowing this, the RBC still decided that New Hampshire Democrats should be set up for failure,” referring to the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee.

    “Every vote matters in New Hampshire,” Buckley said. “Victories are determined by a small number of independent swing voters. Those voters are already being bombarded by the Republicans, who are saying that Democrats have abandoned New Hampshire.”

    New Hampshire has a state law that protects its first-in-the-nation primary status, while Georgia’s primary date is set by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and an early primary would open Peach State Republicans up to sanctions from their own national party.

    New Hampshire and Georgia now have until June to take steps toward scheduling their contests on the assigned dates. If they don’t, they won’t be able to hold primaries before March 5 without being penalized by the DNC.

    While Georgia would likely just hold its primary once any state is allowed to do so, a New Hampshire primary scheduled for “7 days or more immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election,” as state law requires, could lead to delegate penalties for the state party.

    Additionally, any candidate who campaigns in or even has their name on the ballot in a noncompliant primary would be unable to receive delegates from that state and could face other penalties.

    Despite the implementation hurdles ahead, the calendar passed with overwhelming support, and several officials spoke in support of the new order. Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell, who has been a leading advocate for her state to join the early-voting calendar, gave a fiery speech Saturday in support of the proposal, saying it would reflect the diversity of the country.

    “We are overdue in changing this primary calendar to ensure it reflects the range of ideas, thoughts and hopes of Americans throughout this country,” Dingell said.

    While the Democratic rules drop New Hampshire from the second contest (and first primary) into a tie for the second primary, fellow longtime early state Iowa has been removed from the early set entirely.

    Like New Hampshire, Iowa is largely White, but it’s also far less politically competitive – then-President Donald Trump won it by 8 points in 2020 – and uses a complex and less accessible caucus format.

    Iowa’s early caucuses are also protected by state law, and then-Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn said in December that the party would follow that law when planning its contest while also pledging to reform the process.

    The other three early states shouldn’t have a problem complying with the new schedule. In South Carolina, each state party chair has the ability to set the date of their presidential primary. Nevada’s new date matches the one set by state law in 2021, and Michigan this week enacted a law to schedule their primary for February 27 (although the state legislature will have to end its session a few weeks early for it take effect in time).

    The calendar approved Saturday applies only to the Democratic party’s nominating process. Republican early-voting states will be unchanged from recent years, with Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

    “The [Republican National Committee] unanimously passed its rules over a year ago and solidified the traditional nominating process the American people know and understand,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement Saturday. “The DNC has decided to break a half-century precedent and cause chaos by altering their primary process, and ultimately abandoning millions of Americans in Iowa and New Hampshire.”

    The DNC changes could affect Republicans, especially in Michigan, where the new primary date violates national GOP rules. To avoid a delegate penalty, Michigan Republicans could use a party-run process at a later date.

    Ultimately, if Biden seeks a second term, he’s unlikely to face serious opposition, and the order of states would be largely irrelevant. However, the changes demonstrate that the party won’t be permanently attached to the traditional set of early states, and party leaders have already started to prepare to reexamine the schedule again after the 2024 election.

    In her speech, Dingell backed that idea: “No one state should have a lock. We do need to revisit this every four years.”

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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  • GM conditionally OKs $650M Nevada lithium mine investment

    GM conditionally OKs $650M Nevada lithium mine investment

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    RENO, Nev. (AP) — General Motors Co. has conditionally agreed to invest $650 million in Lithium Americas Corp. in a deal that will give GM exclusive access to the first phase of a mine planned near the Nevada-Oregon line with the largest known source of lithium in the U.S.

    The equity investment the companies announced jointly on Tuesday is contingent on the Thacker Pass project clearing the final environmental and legal challenges it faces in federal court in Reno, where conservationists and tribal leaders are suing to block it.

    Lawyers for the mining company and the U.S. government told a judge during a Jan. 5 hearing the project is critical to meeting the growing demand for lithium to make electric vehicle batteries — a key part of President Joe Biden’s push to expedite a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

    GM said Tuesday’s announcement marks the largest-ever investment by an automaker to produce battery raw materials.

    Lithium Americas estimates the lithium extracted and processed from the project atop an ancient volcano about 200 miles (321 kilometers) northeast of Reno can support production of up to 1 million electric vehicles annually. It’s the third largest known lithium deposit in the world, the company said.

    “The agreement with GM is a major milestone in moving Thacker Pass toward production,” Lithium Americas President and CEO Jonathan Evans said in the joint statement Tuesday.

    “We are pleased to have GM as our largest investor and we look forward to working together to accelerate the energy transition while spurring job creation and economic growth in America,” he said.

    GM also reported Tuesday that rising factory output led to strong U.S. sales at the end of last year, pushing its fourth-quarter net income up 16% over the same period a year ago.

    “GM has secured all the battery material we need to build more than 1 million EVs annually in North America in 2025 and our future production will increasingly draw from domestic resources like the site in Nevada we’re developing with Lithium Americas,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra.

    The joint announcement said GM’s investment will be split into two portions. The first will be held in escrow “until certain conditions are met, including the outcome of the Record of Decision ruling currently pending in U.S. District Court.”

    “If those conditions are met, the funds will be released and GM will become a shareholder in Lithium Americas,” the joint statement said.

    The escrow release is expected to occur no later than the end of 2023 and lithium production is projected to begin in the second half of 2026, it said.

    The second portion of the investment is contingent on, among other things, Lithium Americas “securing capital to fund the development expenditures to support Thacker Pass,” the statement said.

    Conservationists say the mine will destroy dwindling habitat for sage grouse, Lahontan cutthroat trout, pronghorn antelope and golden eagles, pollute the air and create a plume of toxic water beneath the open-pit mine deeper than the length of a football field.

    Tribal leaders say it will destroy nearby sacred lands where dozens of their ancestors were massacred by the U.S. Cavalry in 1865.

    U.S. District Judge Miranda Du said after a three-hour hearing in Reno on Jan. 5 that she hoped to make a decision “in the next couple months” on how to proceed in the nearly two-year-old legal battle over the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of the mine.

    Lawyers for the company and the bureau insisted the project complies with U.S. laws and regulations. But they said that if Du determines it does not, she should stop short of vacating the agency’s approval and allow initial work at the site to begin as further reviews are initiated.

    Opponents said that should not occur because any environmental damage would be irreversible.

    U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., hailed GM’s announcement, which he said would boost his efforts to develop U.S.-made batteries for EVs and other uses. China currently controls about 80% of the world’s anode production and 75% of the world’s lithium-ion battery cells, Manchin said.

    “I’m old enough to remember … 1974 when I was standing in line waiting to buy gas if it was my turn to buy gas to go to work,″ Manchin said Tuesday in a speech on the U.S. Senate floor. “I don’t intend to stand in line to wait for China to send a battery to make my car work. I just won’t do it. So this is why we are moving in the direction we are.″

    “The United States is the superpower of the world and to remain that status, you have to have energy independence and be secured of your own energy sources,″ Manchin said.

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  • “Dances with Wolves” actor arrested on sexual assault charges in Nevada raid

    “Dances with Wolves” actor arrested on sexual assault charges in Nevada raid

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    Las Vegas police on Tuesday arrested and raided the home of a former “Dances With Wolves” actor turned alleged cult leader accused of sexually assaulting young indigenous girls during a period spanning two decades, according to police records obtained by The Associated Press.

    Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who goes by Nathan Chasing Horse, was taken into custody in the afternoon near the North Las Vegas home he is said to share with his five wives. SWAT officers were seen outside the two-story home in the evening as detectives searched the property.

    Known for his role as the young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in the Oscar-winning Kevin Costner film, Chasing Horse gained a reputation among tribes across the United States and in Canada as a so-called medicine man who performed healing ceremonies and spiritual gatherings and, police allege, used his position to abuse young Native American girls.

    Nathan Chasing Horse arrest Nevada
    Las Vegas police near the home of former actor Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who goes by Nathan Chasing Horse, on Jan. 31, 2023, in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Authorities raided the home of the former actor in connection with a sexual assault investigation.

    John Locher / AP


    His arrest is the culmination of a monthslong investigation that began after police received a tip in October 2022. According to a 50-page search warrant obtained by AP, Chasing Horse is believed to be the leader of a cult known as The Circle.

    According to the document, Las Vegas police have identified at least six alleged victims and uncovered sexual allegations against Chasing Horse dating to the early 2000s in multiple states, including Montana, South Dakota and Nevada, where he has lived for about a decade.

    There was no lawyer listed in court records for Chasing Horse who could comment on his behalf as of Tuesday evening.

    Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.

    In 2018, according to the warrant, he was banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, amid allegations of human trafficking.

    “Nathan Chasing Horse used spiritual traditions and their belief system as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions,” it reads, adding that his followers believed he could communicate with higher beings and referred to him as “Medicine Man” or “Holy Person.”

    Although the warrant includes details of crimes reported elsewhere, the arrest stems from crimes allegedly committed in Nevada’s Clark County. They include sex trafficking, sexual assault of a child younger than 16 and child abuse.

    Some of the alleged victims were as young as 13, according to the warrant. One of Chasing Horse’s wives was allegedly offered to him as a “gift” when she was 15, while another became a wife after turning 16.

    Chasing Horse also is accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging sex with the victims for other men who allegedly paid him.

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  • Tesla invests $3.6 billion to expand Nevada complex with two factories | CNN Business

    Tesla invests $3.6 billion to expand Nevada complex with two factories | CNN Business

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    Tesla said on Tuesday it would invest more than $3.6 billion to expand its Nevada manufacturing complex with two new factories, including the first facility to mass produce its long-delayed Semi electric truck.

    The other factory will make new battery cells, called 4680, and have the capacity to make enough batteries for 2 million light-duty vehicles annually. Together, the plants will employ about 3,000 people.

    The Elon Musk-led company’s existing complex in the city of Sparks makes lithium-ion batteries, vehicle parts and other products such as Powerwall, a power backup system for consumers.

    Unveiled in 2017, the Semi was initially expected to go into production in 2019 but its first delivery was delayed to December, when Musk handed a vehicle to PepsiCo. The move marked Tesla’s first foray into the trucking business.

    The 18-wheeler truck has a range of 500 miles on a single charge and can carry 81,000 pounds including the cargo. It may qualify for tax credits of $40,000 offered for clean commercial vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law in August.

    Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm said in November that Tesla might produce 100 Semis in 2022, but the company did not disclose any figure in its fourth-quarter production report.

    The EV maker aims to produce 50,000 of the trucks in 2024, Musk had said on a post-earnings call in October.

    PepsiCo plans to roll out 100 Semis in 2023. Other customers for the truck include brewer Anheuser-Busch, United Parcel Service and Walmart.

    The Semi will face competition from Daimler’s Freightliner, Volvo and Nikola Corp, which have also rolled out their own battery-powered trucks.

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  • Renner says he’s home from hospital after snow plow accident

    Renner says he’s home from hospital after snow plow accident

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor Jeremy Renner says he is out of the hospital after being treated for serious injuries from a snow plow accident.

    In response to a Twitter post Monday about his Paramount+ TV series “Mayor of Kingstown,” Renner tweeted, “Outside my brain fog in recovery, I was very excited to watch episode 201 with my family at home.”

    Renner was run over by his own 7-ton Pistenbully snow groomer in Nevada while trying to use it to free a relative’s vehicle on a private road near Lake Tahoe on New Year’s Day, authorities said.

    The accident left him in critical condition with major chest trauma and other injuries, according to a Renner representative.

    Authorities are still investigating but have said there were no signs that Renner was impaired and no indication of any foul play.

    The 52-year-old two-time Oscar nominee plays Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has a recurring role in the “Mission Impossible” franchise.

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  • Teslas of the sea? CES showcases electric hydrofoil boats

    Teslas of the sea? CES showcases electric hydrofoil boats

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    Flying cars and self-driving vehicles always get attention at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas, but this year electric recreational boats are making bigger waves.

    Swedish company Candela on Thursday unveiled a 28-foot (8.5-meter) electric-powered hydrofoil speedboat that can cruise for over two hours at 20 knots, or about 23 mph. California startup Navier tried to outdo its Scandinavian rival by bringing an electric hydrofoil that’s a little bit longer, though Candela is further along in getting its products to customers.

    Even the recreational motorboat conglomerate Brunswick Corporation tried to make a splash in Nevada this week by showing off its latest electric outboard motor — an emerging segment of its mostly gas-powered fleet.

    WHY ELECTRIC?

    A chief reason is environmental, as well as to save on rising fuel costs. But electric-powered boats — particularly with the sleek foiling designs that lift the hull above the water’s surface at higher speeds — can also offer a smoother and quieter ride.

    “You can have a wine glass and it does not spill,” Navier CEO Sampriti Bhattacharyya told The Associated Press last month. “And it’s quiet, extremely quiet. You can have a conversation, unlike on a gas boat.”

    WHEN CAN YOU GET ONE?

    Candela CEO Gustav Hasselskog said his company has already sold and manufactured 150 of its brand-new C-8 model. The Stockholm-based startup has been scaling up its workforce from 60 employees a year ago to about 400 later this year as it prepares to ramp up production.

    But with a roughly $400,000 price tag, neither the C-8 nor Navier’s N30 is aiming to replace the aluminum boat used to fish on the lake. They’ve been described as Teslas of the sea, with hopes that what starts off as a luxury vehicle could eventually help transform the marine industry.

    “They tend to be entrepreneurs,” Hasselskog said of Candela’s first customers. “They tend to be tech enthusiasts, if you like, with an optimistic view about the future and the ability of technology to solve all kinds of societal challenges.”

    Navier’s investment backers include Google co-founder Sergey Brin, which means he’s probably getting one, too.

    ARE BOATERS READY FOR THIS?

    Probably not. These early electric boat models are expensive, heavy and could instill more serious “range anxiety” than what drivers have felt about electric cars, said Truist Securities analyst Michael Swartz, who follows the leisure boat industry.

    “How safe is it for me to go out in the middle of the week with no one around, miles from shore, in an electric outboard engine?” Swartz said.

    Swartz said they might make more sense to use electric motors — such as a new CES offering from Brunswick-owned Mercury Marine — to power a fleet of small rental boats, perhaps at the widely-used boating clubs also run by Brunswick.

    “You’re not anywhere near the type of electric boat where you can go 50 miles offshore and go fishing for a couple of hours and come back,” Swartz said. “There’s no technology that can enable you to replicate that experience outside of an internal combustion engine.”

    BRING ON THE WATER TAXIS?

    Both Candela and Navier are planning for a secondary market of electric ferries that could compete with the gas-powered vehicles that now carry commuters around populated regions such as the Stockholm archipelago or along San Francisco Bay.

    Hasselskog said the same technology powering Candela’s new leisure boat will also be used to power a 30-passenger catamaran prototype that could operate in Sweden by summer.

    For a city like Stockholm, which has already electrified most of its public ground transportation, its dozens of large ferry boats are an outlier in producing carbon emissions.

    “They need something like 220 of these (electric) vessels to replace the current fleet,” Hasselskog said. And instead of running on fixed schedules with empty seats, the smaller electric vehicles might be able to be summoned on demand such as how Uber or Lyft work on land.

    AUTOMATIC DOCKING

    Many of the companies developing electric boat propulsion also have teams working on making these vehicles more autonomous. But since most recreational boaters like piloting their own boats — and most ferry passengers likely prefer a human captain at the helm — the self-driving innovation is focused on what happens at the marina.

    “There’s an intimidation factor with boating and a lot of the intimidation factor you hear from consumers is with docking,” said Swartz, the Truist analyst. “So if that can be made seamless and automated, it’s a huge deal.”

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  • Jeremy Renner’s snowplow injury was “a tragic accident,” sheriff says

    Jeremy Renner’s snowplow injury was “a tragic accident,” sheriff says

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    Jeremy Renner’s snowplow injury was “a tragic accident,” sheriff says – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Sheriff Darin Balaam of Washoe County, Nevada, said the snowplow accident that seriously injured actor Jeremy Renner did not involve any foul play and occurred when the plow started to roll after Renner had helped dig out a family member’s car. Watch the sheriff’s full remarks from a news conference.

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  • Jeremy Renner hospitalized after snow-related accident

    Jeremy Renner hospitalized after snow-related accident

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    LOS ANGELES — “Avengers” star Jeremy Renner is being treated for serious injuries that happened while he was plowing snow, the actor’s representative said Sunday.

    Renner, 51, is in critical condition although he is stable, the actor’s representative said. No further details on the extent of Renner’s injuries were available.

    The actor has a home in Nevada, but it is unclear where he was hurt. Renner plays Hawkeye, a sharp-shooting member of the superhero Avengers squad in Marvel’s sprawling movie and television universe.

    He is a two-time acting Oscar nominee, scoring back-to-back nods for “The Hurt Locker” and “The Town.” Renner’s portrayal of a bomb disposal specialist in Iraq in 2008’s “The Hurt Locker” helped turn him into a household name.

    “The Avengers” in 2012 cemented him as part of Marvel’s grand storytelling ambitions, with his character appearing in several sequels and getting its own Disney+ series, “Hawkeye.”

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  • MGM Resorts sells land on Las Vegas Strip where 2017 mass shooting took place | CNN

    MGM Resorts sells land on Las Vegas Strip where 2017 mass shooting took place | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The land on the Las Vegas Strip where the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting took place has been sold, the company that owned the land said.

    The sale, finalized on Friday, was for land across from The Luxor hotel known as the Village property and does not include a plot of land where a memorial is slated to go, MGM Resorts International said in a letter that was distributed to employees announcing the sale and its details.

    “In 2021, we were honored to commit to donating a portion of the land to Clark County to house the permanent memorial honoring the victims and heroes of 1 October,” MGM Resorts CEO & President Bill Hornbuckle said in the letter.

    On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock shot into a crowd of concertgoers, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500. The FBI has since concluded its investigation of the attack, without finding a clear motive.

    Hornbuckle acknowledged that having a permanent memorial “is essential to our community’s healing, and we’ll continue working with and supporting the county as they move forward in the development and construction process.

    “We know the importance this location holds to so many and have always put tremendous thought into every consideration involving the site,” Hornbuckle said. “This is no exception.”

    The remaining portion of the Village property has been sold to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, according to the letter.

    “The Three Affiliated Tribes have demonstrated that they care about our community, its future and, of course, its past. I’d like to thank them for their commitment to the community and wish them the best moving forward,” Hornbuckle said. “They will announce their plans for the space on a future date.”

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  • Mega Millions hits $565M but prize isn’t even in the top 10

    Mega Millions hits $565M but prize isn’t even in the top 10

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    OMAHA, Neb. — Someone could win more than half a billion dollars in the Mega Millions lottery Tuesday, but that jackpot wouldn’t even rank in the top 10 as the prizes have grown bigger in recent years.

    The current Mega Millions has been building since Oct. 14 as 20 drawings passed without a winner, but the estimated $565 million prize pales in comparison to the record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot that was won in November by someone in Southern California.

    The ten biggest lottery jackpots ever are all bigger than $687 million with all of those coming since 2016. The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever was more than $1.5 billion, won in 2018, and a jackpot surpassing $1.3 billion was won in Illinois in July.

    And Tuesday’s top prize of $565 million is for the annuity option that is paid out annually over 29 years. The cash option would pay $293.6 million.

    Tuesday’s drawing will be held at 11 p.m. EST when players will try to match six winning numbers.

    When the jackpots grow this large more people buy tickets, increasing the chances that someone will win.

    David Peralta, a 67-year-old retired technical college instructor, bought a $3 jackpot-only Mega Millions ticket at a Dillons grocery in Topeka, Kansas, because he had a few extra dollars and “to see if we get lucky.” He buys a few tickets regularly and said the jackpot attracted him, though he said he’s not sure he needs that much money.

    “I could help out a lot of people,” he said.

    But the odds of winning remain long at one in 302.6 million, and the jackpot will continue growing if no one wins Tuesday’s drawing. The odds improve slightly by buying multiple tickets, but even buying 100 tickets would only give you a 100 in 302.6 million chance.

    But lottery officials say the $2 tickets offer an affordable way to daydream about a life-changing prize.

    Mega Millions is played in every state except Nevada, Utah, Alabama, Alaska and Hawaii plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

    ———

    Associated Press writer John Hanna contributed to this story from Topeka, Kansas.

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  • Jan. 6 committee transcripts show link between Trump and Nevada fake electors

    Jan. 6 committee transcripts show link between Trump and Nevada fake electors

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    New transcripts of closed-door testimony to the Jan. 6 House committee show Donald Trump and his allies had a direct hand in the Nevada Republican Party’s scheme to send a phony electoral certificate to Congress in 2020 in a last-ditch attempt to keep the former president in power.

    The documents made public Wednesday evening included interviews with state party leader Michael McDonald and Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid in February. Both men served as fake electors in Carson City on Dec. 14, 2020.

    That day, six Nevada GOP members signed certificates falsely stating that Trump won Nevada in 2020 and sent them to Congress and the National Archives, where they were ultimately ignored. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is digging into the role that these fake electors in key battleground states had in Trump’s attempt to cling to power after his 2020 defeat.

    McDonald and DeGraffenreid invoked Fifth Amendment protection hundreds of times in their separate interviews with the Jan. 6 committee, refusing to answer questions about their involvement and the extent to which Trump’s top allies had helped in orchestrating the plot.

    But the transcripts still provide a view into the Trump team’s coordinated efforts in Nevada to overturn the results of the election — efforts that included direct communication between McDonald and the president himself.

    According to the transcript of McDonald’s interview, on Nov. 4, 2020, the day after the election, McDonald said in a text exchange, “I have been on the phone this morning with the President (Trump), Eric Trump, Mark Meadows, and Rudy Giuliani. There is a major plan.”

    “They want full attack mode,” McDonald later wrote in another text message describing that call. “We’re gonna have a war room meeting in about an hour.”

    Both McDonald and DeGraffenreid turned over their communications to the Jan. 6 committee related to the fake elector scheme. The FBI also seized McDonald’s cellphone in June as part of an investigation into the scheme.

    Those documents, detailed at length in the transcripts, included text messages, emails and internal memorandums distributed by the national GOP arm; handwritten charts, templates for press releases and the phony certificate itself; and talking points “explaining the rationale for the electors.”

    The planning was extensive, the transcripts show, and began as early as four days before the election, when state party officials began discussing whether Nevada’s Republican secretary of state, Barbara Cegavske, would sign off on the alternate slate of electors.

    DeGraffenreid, in a text conversation with party officials, said Cegavske “might do a lot of things, but sending a slate of Republican electors without them being clearly the winners of the popular vote is not one of them.”

    Cegavske ultimately certified President Joe Biden’s victory in Nevada, defending the results as reliable and accurate despite attacks from Trump and others within her own party, which led the Nevada Republican Party to censure her. She later conducted an investigation that found no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud throughout the state.

    Meanwhile, the day before the slate of fake electors met, the transcripts show McDonald grew increasingly frustrated with the RNC’s direction over how to conduct the certificate signing. It appeared that he had gone back and forth with the RNC about logistics of the ceremony: the location, how they would publicize it and what they would say in their speeches.

    “RNC essentially put us in a box on what we can say, but doesn’t sound too bad,” Shawn Meehan, one of the fake electors, said in a text to DeGraffenreid.

    Meehan also told DeGraffenreid that McDonald wanted a smaller group that would plan the final details over breakfast, and that he is “stressing on the optics.” It was visible to several of the fake electors — that same day, another fake elector had texted DeGraffenreid that McDonald was upset with “mixed messages and direction on publicity for tomorrow.”

    “He’s very concerned RNC will cut cord if it looks bad and steal credit if we do well,” Meehan messaged.

    “I know,” DeGraffenreid responded. “He’s concerned that we look like foolish crybabies.”

    Ultimately, the Nevada Republican Party would press forward, and after nearly two months of planning, McDonald, DeGraffenreid and the other fake electors gathered outside the Capitol building in Carson City for a ceremony.

    “History made today in Carson City, Nevada,” the state party would write on social media after the ceremony, “as @McDonaldNV leads our electors in casting Nevada’s 6 electoral votes for the winner of Nevada, @realDonaldTrump and @Mike_Pence!”

    McDonald did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday evening. A lawyer for DeGraffenreid said he declined to comment.

    The nine-member committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot will dissolve when Republicans take over the House next month. The committee on Thursday released its full 800-plus page report of its 18-month investigation, which they hope will lead to criminal charges against Trump and his key allies.

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  • Tribal owner of Hard Rock now running Mirage on Vegas Strip

    Tribal owner of Hard Rock now running Mirage on Vegas Strip

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    LAS VEGAS — A new operator, Hard Rock International, started running the iconic Mirage resort on the Las Vegas Strip on Monday, following Nevada state gambling regulatory approval for a nearly $1.1 billion sale by former site owner MGM Resorts International, the companies said.

    Florida-based Hard Rock International, owned by the Seminole Tribe, said it plans to reshape the property at the center of the glittery Las Vegas Boulevard casino corridor by replacing its volcano attraction with a huge guitar-shaped hotel tower.

    Company Chairman Jim Allen said in a statement that the property’s 3,500 employees were absorbed Monday into Hard Rock’s 45,000-member workforce. The company has cafes, hotels, casinos and concert properties around the world.

    “We are excited to create an integrated resort on the Strip that will make this legendary entertainment community proud,” Allen said. The statement specified there were no immediate plans to close The Mirage or lay off employees.

    Hard Rock and MGM Resorts announced plans for the operational takeover a year ago. The deal became official following Nevada Gaming Commission approval at a special meeting Friday.

    “We’re thrilled to welcome Hard Rock to the neighborhood and wish them all the very best,” Bill Hornbuckle, CEO and president of casino giant MGM Resorts International said in a statement.

    The more than 3,000-room hotel on 80 acres (32 hectares) becomes the first on the Las Vegas Strip to be run by a Native American tribe.

    East of the Strip, the Connecticut-based Mohegan Tribe operates a casino that opened in 2021 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas after that property — named Hard Rock Hotel & Casino — was purchased in 2018, renovated and rebranded by Virgin.

    West of the Strip, an affiliate of the California-based San Manuel Band of Mission Indians owns and operates The Palms.

    Seminole-owned Hard Rock International had no previous involvement with the former Hard Rock Hotel & Casino that operated from 1995 to 2020. It bought licensing and naming rights in May 2020. The Mirage redevelopment plan is projected to run through 2023. Costs have not been disclosed.

    Daily operations “are set to continue under The Mirage brand for the foreseeable future, and all room reservations and group bookings will be honored with no action required by guests or group organizers,” the company said.

    “The process … ultimately will dramatically reimagine every aspect of the resort and change the Las Vegas skyline with the addition of a guitar-shaped hotel tower,” the company promised.

    Hard Rock International also entered into a long-term lease agreement with VICI Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust that acquired MGM Resorts properties this year in a $17.2 billion deal with MGM Growth Properties, a publicly traded landowner of holdings in eight states. New York-based VICI owns properties and leases them back to hospitality and entertainment operators.

    The sale marks the end of an era for a Polynesian-themed property built by former casino mogul Steve Wynn and credited with helping transform Las Vegas from a gambling hub into an ultra-luxury resort destination with broader appeal.

    It opened in November 1989, with a sidewalk-side volcano spewing fire years before gondoliers began plying canals at the Venetian and fountains started dancing at the Bellagio. For years The Mirage hosted Siegfried & Roy taming white tigers. It remains home to a Cirque du Soleil show set to a Beatles soundtrack.

    The change-of-hands is one of several involving well-known properties on Las Vegas Boulevard. Rhode Island-based Bally’s Corp. completed its acquisition in September of the Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Bally’s Corp. does not own Bally’s Las Vegas on the Strip.

    Caesars Entertainment Inc., which owns Bally’s Las Vegas, is rebranding the 2,800-room property as the Horseshoe Las Vegas. That draws on a name made famous at a downtown gambling hall that hosted the first World Series of Poker.

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  • Tribal owner of Hard Rock now running Mirage on Vegas Strip

    Tribal owner of Hard Rock now running Mirage on Vegas Strip

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    LAS VEGAS — A new operator, Hard Rock International, started running the iconic Mirage resort on the Las Vegas Strip on Monday, following Nevada state gambling regulatory approval for a nearly $1.1 billion sale by former site owner MGM Resorts International, the companies said.

    Florida-based Hard Rock International, owned by the Seminole Tribe, said it plans to reshape the property at the center of the glittery Las Vegas Boulevard casino corridor by replacing its volcano attraction with a huge guitar-shaped hotel tower.

    Company Chairman Jim Allen said in a statement that the property’s 3,500 employees were absorbed Monday into Hard Rock’s 45,000-member workforce. The company has cafes, hotels, casinos and concert properties around the world.

    “We are excited to create an integrated resort on the Strip that will make this legendary entertainment community proud,” Allen said. The statement specified there were no immediate plans to close The Mirage or lay off employees.

    Hard Rock and MGM Resorts announced plans for the operational takeover a year ago. The deal became official following Nevada Gaming Commission approval at a special meeting Friday.

    “We’re thrilled to welcome Hard Rock to the neighborhood and wish them all the very best,” Bill Hornbuckle, CEO and president of casino giant MGM Resorts International said in a statement.

    The more than 3,000-room hotel on 80 acres (32 hectares) becomes the first on the Las Vegas Strip to be run by a Native American tribe.

    East of the Strip, the Connecticut-based Mohegan Tribe operates a casino that opened in 2021 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas after that property — named Hard Rock Hotel & Casino — was purchased in 2018, renovated and rebranded by Virgin.

    West of the Strip, an affiliate of the California-based San Manuel Band of Mission Indians owns and operates The Palms.

    Seminole-owned Hard Rock International had no previous involvement with the former Hard Rock Hotel & Casino that operated from 1995 to 2020. It bought licensing and naming rights in May 2020. The Mirage redevelopment plan is projected to run through 2023. Costs have not been disclosed.

    Daily operations “are set to continue under The Mirage brand for the foreseeable future, and all room reservations and group bookings will be honored with no action required by guests or group organizers,” the company said.

    “The process … ultimately will dramatically reimagine every aspect of the resort and change the Las Vegas skyline with the addition of a guitar-shaped hotel tower,” the company promised.

    Hard Rock International also entered into a long-term lease agreement with VICI Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust that acquired MGM Resorts properties this year in a $17.2 billion deal with MGM Growth Properties, a publicly traded landowner of holdings in eight states. New York-based VICI owns properties and leases them back to hospitality and entertainment operators.

    The sale marks the end of an era for a Polynesian-themed property built by former casino mogul Steve Wynn and credited with helping transform Las Vegas from a gambling hub into an ultra-luxury resort destination with broader appeal.

    It opened in November 1989, with a sidewalk-side volcano spewing fire years before gondoliers began plying canals at the Venetian and fountains started dancing at the Bellagio. For years The Mirage hosted Siegfried & Roy taming white tigers. It remains home to a Cirque du Soleil show set to a Beatles soundtrack.

    The change-of-hands is one of several involving well-known properties on Las Vegas Boulevard. Rhode Island-based Bally’s Corp. completed its acquisition in September of the Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Bally’s Corp. does not own Bally’s Las Vegas on the Strip.

    Caesars Entertainment Inc., which owns Bally’s Las Vegas, is rebranding the 2,800-room property as the Horseshoe Las Vegas. That draws on a name made famous at a downtown gambling hall that hosted the first World Series of Poker.

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