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Nevada gas prices are on the rise reports AAA.  The average price per gallon for regular unleaded fuel is $3.50, up 17 cents from a month ago, although it’s still down from the same time last year when it was $3.83.

Reno drivers are seeing the most expensive gas prices in the state at $3.75 per gallon, while in Elko, prices rose by 5 cents to $3.64. In Las Vegas, the average price per gallon is $3.42.

AAA says gas prices are following their usual trend of rising in the spring and heading toward a peak in the summer. Prices are expected to rise in the next month due to seasonal refinery maintenance and a mandatory switch to summer-blend gasoline.

“There is a reason why we typically see gas prices rise as the weather becomes warmer. Each spring, refiners must start producing their summer-blend gasoline by May 1, and that process is well underway,” said Rolayne Fairclough, AAA Nevada spokesperson. “Additional additives are put into the gasoline to make it burn properly, so that it will meet clean-air standards. The cost of those additives is passed on to the consumer.”

Of cities surveyed in the Lower 48 states, the lowest price, $3.29 a gallon, was in Salt Lake City. Los Angeles had the highest, at $4.26. The lowest price in California was in Sacramento, $3.95, with Eureka coming in 16 cents higher.

However, the average price of regular in California is now $4.16, up 19 cents from two weeks ago.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg says the average U.S. price of gasoline has jumped 9 cents a gallon in the past two weeks, bringing the total increase to 40 cents over 10 weeks.

The average for a gallon of regular is now $3.69. Midgrade averages $3.88 and premium is $4.02, with the national average price at $3.49 per gallon.

Meanwhile a new study, commissioned by the federal government, says that biofuels made from the leftovers of harvested corn plants are actually worse than gasoline when it comes to global warming. The research published in the journal Nature Climate Change challenges the Obama administration’s conclusions that biofuels are a much cleaner oil alternative and will help fight climate change.

The study is being criticized by industry experts and Obama administration as being flawed. Both claim biofuels are better for the environment than are gasoline and corn ethanol.

A 2007 law requires they release 60 percent less carbon than gas to qualify as renewable fuel. They have struggled to reach the volumes required by law.

After the federal Bureau of Land Management agents backed down at the Cliven Bundy Ranch last weekend, ample evidence has surfaced indicating the standoff between the government and the Nevada ranching family is far from over. Throughout the weeklong stalemate, members of the Bundy family were physically assaulted by armed officers, numerous cows were shot dead, and protesters faced threats of gunfire for merely expressing their outrage.

Now Senator Harry Reid is escalating the war of words over the dispute, labeling the Nevada cattle rancher’s supporters “domestic terrorists” during an event in Las Vegas Thursday. During a ‘Hash tags and Headlines’ event at the Paris Hotel & Casino, Reid referred to Bundy supporters as “nothing more than domestic terrorists,” adding, “I repeat: what happened there was domestic terrorism.”

Reid was referring to the stand-off Saturday in Bunkerville where Minutemen and Patriots forced BLM agents to back down and release around 380 head of cattle belonging to Bundy that had been seized over the course of the previous week.

Reid claims Bundy views the United States as a “foreign government,” while accusing his supporters of goading violence.

“There were hundreds, hundreds of people from around the country that came there,” Reid said. “They had sniper rifles in the freeway. They had weapons, automatic weapons. They had children lined up. They wanted to make sure they got hurt first. What if others tried the same thing?”

Despite Reid’s characterization of Minutemen and Patriots as “domestic terrorists,” the only violence metered out during the dispute was when BLM agents tasered and assaulted them during an incident April 9th. Theirs is however, the matter of the killing of several cows by agents.

The BLM admits to slaughtering two bulls belonging to Bundy during their round-up of his cattle. The BLM claims the bulls “posed a safety hazard” but refused to elaborate. Bundy supporters have pointed to photographs which seem to show one of the bulls having suffered a gunshot wound.

Nevada State Assemblywoman Michele Fiore tweeted photos showing federal agents did much more than herd hundreds of cows away from Bundy Ranch in Clark County, Nevada, before backing down. The graphic images are proof that multiple head of cattle were slaughtered, apparently under the direction of BLM agents.

“They had total control of this land for one week, and look at the destruction they did in one week,” said Corey Houston, friend of the Bundy family. “So why would you trust somebody like that? And how does that show that they’re a better steward?”

The photos show the dead and decaying cattle, offering little room for speculation beyond the assumption that BLM agents were complicit in their deaths. Some close-up shots show the entrance point of wounds that took down the family’s livestock.

Cliven Bundy’s son Ryan shared video on FOX News of what he believed to be a mass grave dug by the government. He noted that at least one dead cow could be seen in the 18-by-45 foot area.

Officials have yet to comment on the video.

Amy Lueders, the Nevada state director for the BLM, said the agency does have a “protocol,” but would not release any numbers for animals they have found dead or that they have euthanized.

“In terms of the number that we’ve found, animals who are, I think, deceased on the range, or if we’ve had to euthanize an animal, we don’t have an answer to that question at this time,” Lueders said. “We will euthanize an animal during the impoundment if they show dangerous characteristics, threaten the health and safety of the employees, display a hopeless prognosis for life.”

“So, we do have a protocol in terms of when we would euthanize animals,” she added. “But we don’t have any answers at this time in terms of the numbers.”

Finally, notice the glaring hypocrisy of animal rights groups, like ‘People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,’ who, at this point, have remained largely silent about allegations of cattle mistreatment on the ranch by federal forces. As search of their national website yields nothing about the cruelty inflicted on the Bundy Ranch cattle.

Immediately after what many considered a victory against a tyrannical federal agency, a number of Progressive voices — including Reid — indicated the action against this family will continue.

In response, Texas Congressman Steve Stockman sent a letter to Barack Obama, Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, and BLM Director Neil Kornze, laying out his position that any such action by the agency would violate the U.S. Constitution.

“Because of this standoff,” he wrote, “I have looked into BLM’s authority to conduct such paramilitary raids against American citizens, and it appears that BLM is acting in a lawless manner in Nevada.”

He cited the limited powers granted to the federal government, noting the bureau has no “right to assume preemptory police powers, that role being reserved to the States,” and explained “many federal laws require the federal government to seek assistance from local law enforcement whenever the use of force may become necessary.”

The letter included a section of the U.S. Code — 43 U.S.C. Section 1733, Subsection C — stating exactly that point: “When the Secretary determines that assistance is necessary in enforcing Federal laws and regulations relating to the public lands or their resources he shall offer a contract to appropriate local officials having law enforcement authority within their respective jurisdictions with the view of achieving maximum feasible reliance upon local law enforcement officials in enforcing such laws and regulations.”

In the case of the Bundy Ranch, he continued, “the relevant local law enforcement officials appear to be the Sheriff of Clark County, Nevada, Douglas C. Gillespie.”

Gillespie, however, conspicuously took a back seat to BLM forces during the standoff.

“Indeed,” Stockman wrote, “the exact type of crisis that the federal government has provoked at the Bundy ranch is the very type of incident that Congress knew could be avoided by relying on local law enforcement officials.”

The stated purpose of the correspondence is for the Obama administration “to bring the BLM into compliance with 43 U.S.C. Section 1733.”

Absent a full investigation into the agency’s actions, he concluded, “the federal government must not only stand down, but remove all federal personnel from anywhere near the Bundy ranch.”

Legislators and law enforcement personnel have stood alongside state militia members and the Bundy family in opposing the excessive force employed by the BLM. Stockman’s letter adds even more weight to the growing sentiment against the federal overreach.

No matter where you stand on the Bundy issue, Reid’s characterization of American protesters as “domestic terrorists” is chilling and a massive backlash is almost certain to follow.

It also fits the narrative that the federal government has been pushing for years through literature such as the Missouri Information Analysis Center report, which framed Ron Paul supporters, libertarians, people who display bumper stickers, people who own gold or even people who fly a U.S. flag, as potential terrorists. In 2012, a Homeland Security study was leaked characterized Americans who are “suspicious of centralized federal authority,” and “reverent of individual liberty” as “extreme right-wing” terrorists.

Reid attracted controversy late last week when he promised that the BLM’s fight with Bundy was “not over”. The Nevada Senator was hit with accusations of cronyism after his former staffer Neil Kornze was confirmed as the new BLM director earlier last month.

Reid is obviously angry after his complicity in the siege against the Bundy family was exposed and became a viral story. Although many news outlets claimed this issue was “debunked,” Reid’s involvement in a solar farm just 35 miles from Bundy’s ranch is well documented.

Archived files which were also deleted from the BLM’s own website confirmed that confiscating Bundy’s cattle was necessary in order to clear the way for lucrative solar deals with transnational corporations.

In 2003, the Nevada Democrat publicly banned relatives from lobbying him or his staff after newspaper reports showed that Nevada industries and institutions routinely turned to Senator Harry Reid’s sons or son-in-law for representation. Then in 2007, after a controversy over the number of lawmaker relatives engaged in lobbying, Congress passed the ‘Honest Leadership and Open Government Act,’ sharply restricting the lobbying activities of close relatives of members of Congress.

Most people in Nevada though have come to understand that such laws don’t apply to Harry Reid.  Such appears to be the case of a planned solar power plant that had been backed by the senior statesman.

That plan is now defunct, but it was for a lack of trying on Senator Reid’s part.

Reid and his son, Rory, were both deeply involved in a deal with the Chinese-owned ENN Energy Group to build a $5 billion solar farm in Laughlin, Nevada. That’s about 177 miles away from Bundy’s ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, and 213 miles from the Gold Butte area located in what local’s call the ‘Nipple of Nevada,” and where Bundy ‘s cattle graze.

Rory began to working for the Las Vega law firm representing ENN in 2011. The Chinese company eventually shelved the project in June 2013 after it failed to find a customer. This, despite the pressure applied by the senior Reid on Nevada’s chief electricity provider to get behind the project.

Reid said the complex “would start tomorrow if NV Energy would purchase the power,” but the company “has not been willing to work on this and that’s such a shame.”

His remarks were the linkage between the Nevada utility and the clean energy project. Previously, the project was aimed at serving utilities in California, where state officials now say they have no interest in importing power from other states.

Reid indicated there have been overtures to gauge NV Energy’s interest in buying power from the Laughlin venture. He characterized NV Energy’s response as “weak excuses,” including what he described as the utility’s doubts that the Nevada Public Utilities Commission would approve the purchase.

“NV Energy is a regulated monopoly,” Reid claimed. “They control 95 percent of all the electricity that is produced in Nevada and they should go along with this.”

NV Energy spokeswoman Jennifer Schuricht said the utility is not in the market for more renewable energy at this time, having exceeded the state’s requirement that 15 percent of its portfolio originate from clean sources. The company does not plan to issue new requests for power until sometime this year and in 2015, and will do so through competitive bidding.

“NV Energy would certainly welcome a bid from ENN when we issue the next RFP (request for proposals), and their success, like all other projects, would be dependent on the benefits, especially price, that they can demonstrate for the customers of NV Energy,” Schuricht said in a statement.

This isn’t the first time Reid has sought to influence NV Energy on clean energy policy. In a televised interview in April 2012, Reid said he did not believe the utility had “done enough to allow renewable energy to thrive” in Nevada.

As Reid embraced renewable energy in his vision for Nevada and sought to recruit investors, he fought NV Energy plans for a $5 billion coal-fired plant in Ely. That project was shelved in 2009.

Reid has also played a key role in introducing Nevada to ENN, a Chinese conglomerate looking to invest $8 billion in U.S. clean energy over the coming decade. Reid has toured ENN facilities in China, and its chairman, Wang Yusuo, spoke at Reid’s annual clean energy summit in August 2012 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Along with the solar power plant connection there’s Interstate 11, which would link Las Vegas with Phoenix. In a statement, Reid said that by connecting two of the largest cities in the southwestern U.S. would create jobs, increase commerce and boost tourism to Nevada.

“For years, I have worked with local stakeholders to make Interstate 11 a reality,” he said. “I fought long and hard to get this provision included in the transportation bill and I am pleased the House agreed to keep my Senate provision.”

Most of I-11’s proposed route in the Las Vegas Valley has already been constructed as I-515 from Railroad Pass to Las Vegas, passing through Henderson, Paradise, and Winchester.  The highway would overlap and replace existing I-515 in Las Vegas, U.S. Route 93 from Boulder City, Nevada to Kingman, Arizona.

Harry Reid owns a major tract of land in Bullhead City, which is only 36 miles away. And as many rural Nevadans understand, Harry doesn’t do or say anything unless it is financially helpful to him or his crones.

Recently I posted through several social media outlets:  “After what happened in Bunkerville, Nevada this weekend, expected an all-out Progressive assault on the Second Amendment and your guns.”

This was in reference to the Bundy/Bureau of Land Management stand-off in Southern Nevada near Las Vegas. I made the comment after the BLM blinked during a stare down with hundred’s armed Minute Men and Patriots.

My prediction didn’t take long to come to fruition…

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he’s going spend $50 million to build a “nationwide grass-roots network to motivate” anti-gun voters. The billionaire wants to create the anti-Second Amendment version of the National Rifle Association and eventually overpower the NRA.

Bloomberg says gun control advocates should learn from the NRA. His plan calls for a restructuring of the gun control groups he funds, which include, “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” and “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.”

“We’ve got to make them afraid of us,” Bloomberg told the New York Times.

The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association saw its membership nearly double last year to more than 41,000 following passage of the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013. The SAFE Act, pushed through the Legislature less than a month after the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, requires owners of newly banned assault weapons to register them with police.

In Connecticut, a similar registration requirement for ‘assault’ weapons went into effect on December 31st. An estimated 50,000 weapons have been registered so far; a number that authorities estimate is just 15 percent of the total.

On the upside, the Arizona Senate has given initial approval to five major pro-gun bills which allows concealed-carry permit holders to bring weapons into government buildings that don’t have security measures. A second one imposes fines on cities, towns and their lawmakers who enforce gun ordinances stricter than the state’s own laws.

Another bill allows authorities to charge a person with aggravated assault who’s accused of taking a gun away from someone else. And the fourth bill and would ban cities, counties and towns from restricting the shooting of guns on private property.

The final bill will speed up the certification process for high-caliber firearms for private citizens. Weapons like machine guns must get approval by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but a local law enforcement agency must first conduct a background check before an applicant can ask  for ATFE approval. Under the bill, officers would be required to either certify or deny a weapon within 60 days.

The Senate must still cast a roll-call vote on all bills.

There is another Holocaust coming, I fear and it seems the current administration will do nothing to stop it. This is something I predicted shortly after President Obama was reelected.

It caused one hell of a fight between me and a friend that I used to work with at the radio station. I claimed a ‘purge’ was on the horizon, he severely disagreed to the point we nearly came to blows.

“Jews in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk where pro-Russian militants have taken over government buildings were told they have to ‘register’ with the Ukrainians who are trying to make the city become part of Russia. Jews emerging from a synagogue say they were handed leaflets that ordered the city’s Jews to provide a list of property they own and pay a registration fee ‘or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated’,” reports USA Today.

This is what the  National Socialist German Workers’ Party (better known as the Nazi’s) did before they began exterminating people. It’s also what happens when there isn’t a STRONG American influence to stabilize the world.

Michael Roop works for the Bureau of Land Management in Portland, Oregon, and one of the many federal agents surrounding Cliven Bundy’s ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada. He is a thug in my opinion.

Roop is the officer who threw 57 year old Margaret Houston to the ground. She had her back to him and never knew it was coming.

Two Bureau of Land Management rangers were placed on routine administrative leave in February of this year after a man was shot and killed on State Route 159 near Calico Basin, east of the Las Vegas Strip after he reportedly threatened to shoot the rangers.

In a statement issued by the BLM, rangers responded after receiving multiple calls about a man wandering in and out of the road. Once there, they ordered D’Andre Berghardt Jr. to get out of the road, but claimed he began resisting their commands.

Berghardt was tasered, pepper sprayed and a struck with baton, but failed to comply with directions. He then tried to get into two occupied cars parked along the road.

When that failed he climbed into Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Lucas Schwarzrock’s still running cruiser and reached for the rifle contained in a firearms safety rack, the report said. A video post on the Las Vegas Review Journal shows one ranger shooting Berghardt inside the patrol car multiple times.

“Dude, they just shot him. They just killed the dude,” says a voice on the video.

Berghardt was struck nine times and pronounced dead at the scene. The BLM did not name the two rangers involved, saying only they “have a combined 26 years of law enforcement experience.”

While the shooting did not occur anywhere near last weeks stand-off between rancher Cliven Bundy and the BLM, Utah State Legislator Mike Noel wants to know why BLM rangers are being allowed to patrol state highways. Last year Noel sponsored Utah HB155, limiting BLM and U.S. Park from exercising police power over state and local laws unless someone’s safety is at risk or federal contracts are in place with local police agencies.

“You cannot use our (laws) to arrest our people and issue citations,” Noel said during debated over the proposed bill. “We don’t believe they ever had that authority. Our chief law enforcement officer is the locally elected sheriff who is accountable to the people every four years.”

However the trouble isn’t all one-sided.

Former Graham County Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack on Monday said he and other organizers who traveled to Nevada to support Bundy during the dispute with the feds planned to put women on the front lines in case the “rogue federal officers” started shooting. He made the claim in a video aired on Fox News’ “The Real Story” following the standoff.

“We were actually strategizing to put all the women up at the front,” he said. “If they are going to start shooting, it’s going to be women that are going to be televised all across the world getting shot by these rogue federal officers.”

In the end – bad is bad. But unlike the media’s portrayal of those who faced off with the federal government, not all the Minute Men and Patriot’s present were ‘eager’ to shed theirs or anyone else’s blood.

However, there were some among that crowd who were not there simply to show support for Cliven Bundy. Those were the one-percent who taunted and yelled obscenities at BLM rangers.

Otherwise, this was a mostly disciplined and yet not a very organized group, who faced possible death, had the situation gone bad, who believe they were standing on Constitutional principal. And despite what many media figures are saying, it was the outcome that mattered, and that outcome is the backing down of a government that often times anymore is more tyrannical than that of laws.

As one Libertarian TV and radio commentator has been quick to point out this week as he condemns those who were in attendance: “Which path do you choose: One of violence or one of peace with God?”

He must have forgotten what Mark 11:15-16 (NIV) reads: “On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.”

My opinion is this – lay aside your arms and instead lock your arms with one another and show strength through peace. An ‘American Spring,” though it sounds good, will not turn out well.

There are creeps in every neighborhood, whether they live here or not. The church, jus’ around the corner from my home on Mercedes Drive in Spanish Springs, was vandalized by taggers who spray painted their ignorance all over the sanctuary.

The vandals left more than 40 tags on the exterior of the Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints, concentrating on the back of the church, away from street view and bright lights. It’s the second time in less than two month.

After seeing the damage, I offered to strap on my pistol and patrol the area overnight, but was told it wasn’t necessary. I was informed and rightly so, “We’re turning the other cheek.”

Sometimes, I’m not sure if I’m more of a Christ-follower or a Marine.

Las Vegas KSNV-TV anchor Jeff Gillan moderates a weekday program called, “What’s Your Point.”  The program features Senator Harry Reid’s son, Rory.

GILLAN: “By now, the BLM backed down and cancelled its roundup of Bundy’s so-called trespassed cattle worried about the potential for violence between its officers and Bundy’s supporters. So that leaves Bundy, the militia members, conservative lawmakers, and everybody else that came to his side, savoring victory today. The question is, what kind of victory? The BLM says it will pursue other action against him to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in grazing fees he’s refused to pay since 1993. You know, this thing escalated and we were all wondering what’s going to happen. You had guys with guns running around everywhere on both sides. What’s your take away on this?”

RORY: “Let’s talk about the winners and the losers.”

GILLAN: “OK.”

RORY: “Why don’t we start with the losers?”

GILLAN: “OK.”

RORY: “Let’s start with Cliven Bundy himself. He is not the victim and he is not a hero. The facts aren’t in dispute. He’s been using land that he doesn’t own for over 20 years and he didn’t pay. He broke the law. There are hundreds of ranchers throughout Nevada that conduct their profession honorably. There’s thousands of them throughout the country and when they have a dispute with the BLM they try to work it out.”

GILLAN: “Why is he not a winner? I mean, he gets his cattle; they backed off on the roundup. I mean, at first blush you say hey, he kind of exited here OK.”

RORY: “I think most people care about their reputation, and I think he’s been exposed as somebody who broke the law. The Nevada Cattleman’s Association — which is the trade organization that advocates for cattlemen in the state of Nevada — not even they support Cliven Bundy at this point. We believe in a country in which we are subject to laws and you can’t just ignore the laws that we don’t like. And I think clearly if state and local prosecutors look at this more closely, they’re going to find that he broke the law and he should be prosecuted.”

GILLAN: “Who else lost?”

RORY: “I think the BLM lost. The BLM shouldn’t have started this if they couldn’t develop a plan to finish it successfully. Now, I can understand why they suspended the operation; no trespassed cow is worth somebody getting hurt. But the First Amendment zones they created were ridiculous. They tried to block off too large of a piece of land. And they’ve successfully conducted these impoundments in three Nevada counties, in Elko, Eureka County in the past. But they just didn’t finish this one well.

GILLAN: “They also came in with a — well, what critics would say is a heavy-handed law enforcement presence here. You know, John Ralston did a good interview with Bob Abbey who is the former national director and state director of the BLM who felt the same thing, that look, I mean, he feels that the taxpayers are the ultimate losers because you’re not getting the grazing fees that you’re owed.”

RORY: “That’s true.”

GILLAN: “But the BLM really kind of overplayed their hand in this in some ways

RORY: “I don’t think there’s any way to look at this and say that they were a winner here. They were a loser.”

Meanwhile investigators are treating the site of a Bridgeville cabin fire as a crime scene after human remains were discovered in the charred wreckage. The property owner found a manmade pond, felled trees and a marijuana grow on his property along with the remains.

Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said the cause of death is “unknown at this point,” but they’re “treating it as a homicide investigation” until the coroner’s report is completed.

Deputy Coroner Charles Van Buskirk said it is “too premature at this point” to identify the gender of the victim, but said the remains belonged to an adult.

“We have someone we believe it is,” Van Buskirk said, “I have not spoken to the parents of the person who we think it is yet. It could take two to three months to test the DNA samples.”

The Nevada Republican party voted to remove its opposition to gay marriage and its pro-life stance from the party platform. State party Chairman Michael McDonald said he was pleased with the outcome of the vote.

“I think it was about inclusion, not exclusion,” he said about the platform. “This is where the party is going.”

A party committee proposed a new party platform without a stance on the two social issues, after the Clark County, GOP voted to remove them earlier in April.

The old party platform in Nevada defined marriage as between a man and a woman and stated that the party was “pro-life,” both of which were removed from the official platform.

Nevada Republicans say they felt it was time for the party to step away from some social issues, especially after numerous court rulings striking down state bans on same-sex marriage.

“The issue was how can we back out of people’s personal lives,” Dave Hockaday, a member of the platform committee, said. “We need to focus on issues where we can have an impact.”

Las Vegas advanced another step on Wednesday in its bid to showcase the Republican Party and itself by hosting the 2016 Republican National Convention.

The Republican National Committee announced the Nevada city as one of six that have made the next cut as judged by a 13-member site selection committee that heard bidder presentations last month in Washington.

Besides Las Vegas, cities still in are Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, Cleveland and Cincinnati, officials said. Phoenix and Columbus, Ohio, were eliminated. The next step is for a scout team of Republican National Committee staffers to visit the selected cities later this month or early in May, part of what the party officials said will be a more in-depth and technical review of each city’s bid.

The staff will look at financing, proposed convention venues, hotels and media work space.

An announcement of which cities will receive formal site visits from the full site selection committee will be made after the party’s spring meeting May 6-10 in Memphis, Tenn. Site visits would take place later that month or in early June.

Republican officials said a site decision is expected in late summer or in the fall. The party is considering the weeks of June 27 or July 18 for the 2016 convention, which would bring up to 50,000 people to the chosen city as Republicans officially nominate their choice for president and seek to catapult that candidate into the fall.

While a major and complex undertaking, holding the national convention also is expected to produce a boon for the host city, with party officials estimating its value to the local economy about $400 million.

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki said Mickelson told him in a phone call that Las Vegas was still in the running and the Republicans want to take a closer look. No date has yet been set for the visit by evaluators nor how long they would spend in the city.

“They think enough of us to move us forward in the process, and we are delighted,” said Krolicki, chairman of the Nevada Host Committee. “I think they will understand when they have a chance to kick our tires how extraordinary this place will be should they wish to bring the Republican National Convention here in 2016.”

Bob List, a former governor and Republican National Committee member and senior adviser to the Las Vegas bid, said making the first cut will improve the city’s ability to lock down financial commitments for the convention.

“This confirms that we’re certainly in the hunt and we’ve made a significant step forward,” List said. “There’s still a ways to go, but I think we’re off to a good start with the committee.”

“I think we can win this on the merits,” List said. “We can raise the money and give the delegates a good experience.”

Las Vegas is considered one of the front-runners in the competition to win the 2016 convention, partly because the city routinely handles conventions of 50,000 to 150,000 participants.

Also, the Las Vegas convention team has expressed confidence the city can easily raise the $60 million required to hold the convention thanks to generous GOP donors such as Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson and casino mogul Steve Wynn.

The proposed site is the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is near McCarran International Airport and close to tens of thousands of hotel rooms on the city’s famous Strip. Other cities in contention might have greater transportation issues, requiring busing of convention goers from far-flung hotels.

On the other hand, Las Vegas officials who pitched the site selection panel on March 21 set aside a portion of their presentation to push back against the “Sin City” image that might prove uncomfortable with conservative elements of the Republican base. At the same time, some Las Vegas boosters say it might not hurt the Republicans, sometimes derided as the party of “old white guys,” to be associated with a city that markets its association with youth and vibrancy.