Happy Friday, Nevadans!

I’ll be spending the long weekend in Detroit for a wedding. If you’re from the areas, email me your recommendations. I might have time to try them out!

Monday is Memorial Day, which often means the unofficial start to summer. And summer, to me, means exploring. Last year, I visited Donner Pass near Tahoe (on the California side). And this year, Great Basin is on my summer bucket list. What’s on your summer bucket list?

In today’s newsletter:

Have a safe weekend!

Food banks and other organizations try to fill the gaps left by Nevada’s food deserts. (Joel Muniz/Unsplash)

By Aleza Freeman

The nonprofit Feeding America reports that in the Silver State, 481,460 people face hunger; 136,580 of whom are children. That’s one in seven Nevadans with no idea where their next meal will come from.

A primary driver of food insecurity in the state correlates with where you live. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Nevada has 40 food deserts, which are areas with limited or no access to nutritious and affordable food options like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

While this often applies to low-income areas, it is also due to a lack of transportation, such as a lack of personal vehicles or nearby bus routes, and to rapid urban growth that leaves older neighborhoods in the dust. It also tends to coincide with housing instability, health challenges, and a lack of public assistance.

In Southern Nevada, Clark County is home to about 97% of the state’s food-insecure, in neighborhoods including the Historic Westside, downtown, south of Harry Reid International Airport, the area surrounding Nellis Air Force Base, and along the Boulder Highway corridor.

🟣 Clark County plans to close pedestrian trail in ‘whack-a-mole’ approach to encampments. Nevada Current

“Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom, who brought the proposal, agreed that closing the trail could become a game of ‘whack-a-mole’ where people just move to another neighborhood. He also wasn’t sure if it actually led to someone exiting homelessness. But he maintained that the county needed to close the trail because ‘at the end of the day, they can’t live there.’”

🟣 Bill for new Southern Nevada water pipeline approved. KSNV

“The bill directs the Bureau of Land Management to grant rights-of-way to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for the construction of a water transmission pipeline. The new underground route is expected to save the residents in the region $200 million and ensure water delivery redundancy in the case of emergencies.”

🟣 Nevada ICE arrests of people with no criminal convictions go up despite Trump admin pledge. The Nevada Independent

“Up until early April, the Trump administration also had a policy in Nevada to lock up nearly everyone facing deportation with minimal opportunity to seek bond. Immigration experts have said this policy has increased the number of people kept in ICE detention and that it being overturned this April could lead to hundreds being released.”

🟣 Fleet Data Centers breaks ground on new center in Northern Nevada. 2 News Nevada

“Community members have spoken out against this center and others coming to the area, saying they will damage the environment, impact the quality of living, and pull resources away from neighbors that need them. Vonderhaar and Gov. Lombardo say that’s not necessarily true and is based on misconceptions about how the center will operate.”

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Jannelle Calderón with a story by Aleza Freeman. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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