It is a peculiar feature of modern civilization that a man may announce himself as Jesus Christ, and the neighborhood will not argue theology with him so much as call the police. Such was the case in downtown Las Vegas on the evening of April 21, when George Barrios, age 39, took to proclaiming divinity…

There are many fine things in the world, but it is a rare contraption that can bruise a child and still call it instruction. In the east valley of Las Vegas sits the Variety School, a place devoted to special needs children, which is to say, children who require more patience than the average bureaucracy…

Nevada, it seems, has achieved a modern sort of distinction: it employs mothers in large numbers while making the arrangement feel like an endurance sport with paperwork. A new study has the state 47th for working mothers, which is the sort of ranking that does not require celebration so much as explanation. Women now make…

There are certain professions a man enters with a solemn promise to behave himself. Schoolmaster is one. A bank teller is another. The politician tries, but we keep an eye on him anyway. An assistant principal is responsible for children and a set of keys, both of which should never be misused, although history demonstrates…

There was a time in this country when a man could get told to leave a store and would do so, if only out of habit or shame. These days, he treats the request as an opening argument. Police in Las Vegas are now asking the public to identify a gentleman who took offense at…

Sparks has a way of reminding us that civilization is a thin coat of paint, and sometimes it chips before breakfast. Just before 6 a.m. on Sunday, an hour when honest men are usually arguing with their alarm clocks, a man was sitting in his car near Salomon Circle, not far from Loop Road and…

Introducing Officer Alex Peña, age 26, newly minted in 2024 and already acquainted with the sort of morning most folks prefer to sleep through. He works the Tourist Safety Division, which sounds like a gentle post until you discover that tourists, like everyone else, occasionally attract trouble the way a porch light attracts moths. Around…

Pershing County deputies are seeking two men who have developed a principled objection to supervision, accountability, and the general idea of being where the law expects them to be. First is Ryan Peters, 24, modestly built at 5 feet 8 inches and 140 pounds, with brown hair and eyes to match, and wanted on a…

A man in Reno has been handed a 25-year lesson in cause and effect, delivered in two parts and served consecutively, which is the court’s way of saying they intend for him to have ample time to reflect. The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office reports that Joel Constantino-Smith received 10 years for battery with a…

Carson City Health and Human Services has confirmed a case of Hantavirus in the Quad-County region, meaning Storey, Lyon, Douglas, and Carson City now share not only government coordination but also, apparently, the occasional microscopic menace carried by creatures with more ambition than sense. Hantavirus, for those unacquainted, is a respiratory illness best introduced not…