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National outlets can’t cover every story that matters in Nevada. That’s why everything you read from us is focused on our communities and the issues affecting the people who live here. Readers like you keep that reporting going.

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Who’s ready for some snow? Here we see reader Janete G. holding some Mt. Charleston snow last December.

A couple of weeks ago, Mt. Charleston saw its first flurries of the season. The hope is that El Niño brings a good season this year, especially coming off 2025’s snow drought. Lee Canyon plans to begin daily winter operations on Nov. 20, weather permitting.

Many thanks to Janete G. for sharing Your Nevada!

Related: What to know about the 5 ski resorts in Nevada

Be sure to send in your photo of what “Home Means Nevada” means to you for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

Reno’s Truckee River and some of the hills mentioned in “Home Means Nevada,” the state song written last minute in an all-nighter. (Aleza Freeman)

By USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

In the early summer of 1932, poet Bertha Eaton Raffetto was asked to sing a Nevada song at an event held at Bowers’ Mansion on July 31. She assembled her notes, but family matters and guests from out of town forced her to lay the work aside until the day before the promised performance.

She ended up having to pull an all-nighter to compose the song. That afternoon, she played and sang “Home Means Nevada” from a lead-pencil script.

The song was so well-received that former Gov. Roswell Colcord came to congratulate her afterwards and suggest that the song be made the state anthem. 

Over the next seven months, Raffetto performed “Home Means Navada” nearly 200 times for social, literary, patriotic, and women’s groups. On Oct. 31, 1932, Nevada Day, she sang at Reno events and was heard by several thousand people. 

Eventually, Gov. Fred Balzar signed a bill into law Feb. 6, which officially made “Home Means Nevada” the state song.

(Getty Images)

By Martín Nieves Sánchez

Living in such a car-dependent state—whether you’re in an urban or rural area—only makes voting harder. 

If someone you know is trying to figure out how to get to the polls, you can offer a ride, share a ride option, or help them find an established transit or accessibility service that works for them.

For example: 

• On Nov. 3, Lyft is offering an Election Day ride discount code VOTE26, which gives users
  50% off one eligible Lyft ride, up to $10 off.
• The Rides To Vote program is offering rideshare assistance in Las Vegas through Election Day—approximately $25 to $30 in assistance.
• RTC Washoe has an ongoing Lyft and Uber rideshare voucher program for qualifying residents.

🟣 Avian flu is in northern Nevada. What does this mean for bird populations and the community? KUNR

“Often, wild waterfowl like geese are silent carriers, and can affect each other when they congregate. Woolstenhulme said that ducks and geese tend to nest in large congregations in the summer months, and when they migrate south, the sick birds who survive the journey expose it to new goslings.”

🟣 How to lower your premium in Nevada’s health insurance marketplace. Las Vegas Weekly

“In 2024, Nevada had the nation’s fourth-highest uninsured rate, at 11.4%, according to data from nonprofit KFF … Still, Nevada Health Link remains the only place Nevadans can get federal subsidies that lower their premiums. More than 80% of 2026 enrollees qualified, and free help is available.” 

🟣 A new Reno museum preserves neon landmark signs from across Nevada. KOLO

“Some of Reno’s most recognizable neon signs are lighting up again in a new downtown museum that aims to preserve a fading part of Nevada’s visual history. The Light Circus Nevada Neon Museum is housed at the National Bowling Stadium. Organizers say it is one of the largest private neon sign collections in the world.”

🟣 Nevadans pay tribute to civil rights and labor trailblazer Dolores Huerta. Nevada Current

“In an outpouring of messages expressing condolences, Nevada lawmakers and organizers praised civil rights and labor activist Dolores Huerta, who died Wednesday, as an inspirational trailblazer.”