The Old Blog in the Desert

Nevada Assemblywoman Elaine Marzola has received $22,500 in campaign contributions from the Nevada Resorts PAC and MGM Resorts International despite representing plaintiffs in lawsuits against their member properties.

Three cases have been dismissed, including one with prejudice. Marzola’s campaign donations include two contributions from the Nevada Resorts PAC totaling $15,000, received between October 2022 and November 2023, and $7,500 from MGM Resorts International, which owns or operates Mandalay Bay, New York-New York, and the Aria Resort & Casino.

The Nevada Resorts Association, which launched the Nevada Resorts PAC in January 2022, has had several member properties named in lawsuits where Marzola has served as legal counsel for plaintiffs. Since May 2022, Marzola has represented four plaintiffs in cases involving Wynn Las Vegas, Caesars Entertainment, Mandalay Bay, New York-New York Hotel & Casino, and Aria Resort & Casino Holdings.

In one case, Marzola represented a plaintiff in a “slip & fall” lawsuit against Aria Resort & Casino Holdings and MGM Resorts International. Following a short trial discovery, Marzola accepted a donation from MGM.

The case was dismissed with prejudice on Tuesday, May 28, meaning that a court has made a final and absolute decision and that the plaintiff cannot refile the same claim in that court.

Adding to the controversy is the role of Ellen Whittemore, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Wynn Las Vegas, who serves as the Chair of the Board of the Nevada Resorts Association. The connection raises questions, as Whittemore’s company is a defendant in one of Marzola’s lawsuits, while the organization she leads has financially supported Marzola’s campaign.

The Nevada Bar Association noted that Marzola’s legal actions against properties tied to her campaign donors may create conflicts if not disclosed to her clients, impacting her ability to provide effective legal representation.

Fernley is seeing a rise in home values, reflecting broader trends across the state and the nation.

According to data from Zillow, the typical home value rose to $362,156 in July, marking a 2.8 percent increase from the previous year. As of August 22, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 6.46 percent, pushing monthly payments higher and making it even more challenging for new buyers to enter the market.

It has become a growing issue for many in Fernley, where the rising cost of living is now a significant factor for those looking to purchase a home. Fernley ranks as the fourth most expensive city in Nevada for home values, just behind Reno and Gardnerville Ranchos.

The town, which has seen rapid growth in recent years due to its proximity to Reno and industrial developments like the Fernley Industrial Park, the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center (TRIC), and the TRIC II, continues to attract new residents.

Fernley’s affordable real estate, compared to the skyrocketing prices in Reno, made it a desirable option for many. However, as prices continue to rise, that affordability is slowly diminishing.

According to a report compiled by Stacker, Fernley is one of the top Nevada cities with the highest home values. With its central location, growing infrastructure, and proximity to major job centers, the town has become a focal point for investors and families looking to settle down.

Starting September 23, sections of State Route 339 south of Mason and Yerington will undergo resurfacing, leading to weekday lane closures and potential delays lasting through November.

The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has announced that closures will occur between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., with pilot cars guiding traffic through the construction zone in alternating directions. The affected section is from Rebbecka Drive to the intersection with State Route 208. NDOT advises drivers to expect delays of up to 30 minutes as the resurfacing work progresses.

Side roads and driveways will remain accessible, though brief interruptions may occur as paving equipment moves through the area.

Residents near the project should be aware of increased construction traffic on Second Street, as heavy trucks haul materials to and from the work zone. NDOT encourages drivers to plan alternate routes whenever possible, with State Route 208 serving as a convenient alternative for through traffic.

Over-dimensional vehicles wider than 12 feet will be prohibited until the project is complete.

In addition to resurfacing, the project includes the replacement of roadway cattle guards and improvements to drainage systems. NDOT urges drivers to remain alert, follow posted speed limits, and exercise caution while navigating the work zones.

Elevation Gold Mining Corporation reports its subsidiary, Eclipse Gold Mining Corporation, has completed the sale of its Hercules Property in the historic Como Mining District at the northern end of the Pine Nut Mountains in Lyon County. The sale was made through its subsidiary, Alcmene Mining Inc., to StrikePoint Gold Inc. for a total consideration of $250,000.

Alcmene Mining holds 100 percent interests in Hercules Gold USA, a Nevada-based company responsible for the Hercules Property. The property consists of 1,207 unpatented mining claims and four patented mining claims, as well as an additional 116 unpatented mining claims owned by Minquest Inc., which are subject to an option agreement among Great Basin Resources, Inc., Iconic Minerals, Ltd., Eclipse, and Hercules USA.

The sale remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The sale has been approved under the amended court order from the Supreme Court of British Columbia, in compliance with the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act, and consented to by KSV Restructuring Inc., the court-appointed monitor overseeing Elevation Gold Mining’s affairs.

On Monday, August 26, U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small and representatives from agencies serving Northern Nevada visited the Lahontan Valley to showcase USDA investments aimed at supporting farmers facing water uncertainty in the West.

During the visit, Small met with the Schank family, who own the largest farm in the Lahontan Valley, and the Truckee Carson Irrigation District (TCID), which manages the Lahontan Reservoir Dam and the canal system delivering water to Churchill and Lyon Counties. The Schank family has a nearly 1,000-acre farm east of Fallon along U.S. Highway 50, which benefits from the USDA’s new $400 million investment plan.

The initiative helps farmers maintain crop production, conserve water, upgrade infrastructure, and strengthen water security.

“In the West, we are seeing more and more drought, and farmers are doing everything they can to adapt,” said Small, following her tour of the Schank farm.

Small emphasized the USDA’s commitment to investing in innovative technologies and partnerships with irrigation districts like TCID to conserve water. More than $300 million is being directed to 12 western states to support these efforts.

“Part of the way to select irrigation districts is looking at where drought is occurring,” Small explained, highlighting the agency’s strategy for maximizing the effectiveness of its water conservation programs.

TCID General Manager Ben Shawcroft expressed optimism after the visit, praising Small for her understanding of local issues and responsiveness.

“She really understands what’s happening in our local area… I think we will be able to make some positive things happen with the funding that’s available to TCID,” Shawcroft said.

Ernie Schank, a former TCID Board of Director chairman, said that the Lahontan Valley has faced intermittent drought conditions over the past decade despite periods of heavy snowfall, such as in 2017 and 2023-24. Although water conditions have improved, Schank stressed the importance of continued efforts to address water scarcity.

The tour gave Small and other officials a close-up view of Schank farm operations, including its aging irrigation systems and dirt ditches. Abe Schank, who helps manage the farm, appreciated the opportunity to discuss how USDA funds could be applied to improve water use.

“They are trying to figure out how they can use funds that have been allocated to apply to water — like true water savings,” he said.

The visit also touched on the U.S. Navy Readiness and Environment Protection Integration program, which ensures that land surrounding Naval Air Station Fallon remains agricultural, protecting the base from encroachment. The Schanks were the first in Churchill County to enter into this conservation easement program, allowing them to keep their land in the family for future agricultural production.

standing knee-deep in the creek and deciding between baptism and drowning doesn’t seem to be much of a difference right now as water-cold on the hot-blooded skin of sin burns i don’t care that it makes no sense that i touched the panic button of her heart to become the black flag of pestulance popped up left with a number to someplace in outspace so tell that to the last man on the moon standing hip-deep in the creek water rocky bed beneath where stones have teeth and cut the feet contemplationg a watery grave of a lifeless baptism that can hear only the roar of the upstream mass as i cry silent screems and still don’t care that it makes no sense because I am black death caught on a wire fence hurling downward and there i go again watch me wash away my diret and grime but not the stain of wrong standing neck-deep in this creek body chilled mind-numbed fast flowing moat no mossy stone to turn or float as i get swept away even as a flash flood passes me by left standing jus’ short of where i entered baptized once again the thunder dies away not dove overhead but the bluebird-of-happiness sitting on my chest carried on my roaring voice don’t look for me there for earth moves and i am over here somehow i have collided with myself no worse for wear so bid me adieu before my wants want to do you sweet and not even drunk and not drinking of the water that will swallow me whole where you can catch me on the turn around if you can find solid ground

Two years after President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which allocates $369 billion to bolster energy security and combat climate change, Nevada is the top state in securing federal funding.

According to a report from the sustainability think tank RMI, the Silver State has claimed 54 percent of its potential IRA funding, the highest in the nation.

States have accessed about seven percent of the funds available under the act. However, Nevada’s aggressive pursuit of clean energy projects has placed it far ahead of other states, such as Connecticut, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Georgia, which have secured more than 13 percent of their potential IRA dollars.

“I was impressed to see that data as well,” said Dwayne McClinton, director of the Governor’s Office of Energy.

Despite Governor Joe Lombardo’s focus on energy security through traditional sources like gas, McClinton emphasized that Nevada is seizing opportunities in clean energy.

“If there’s a benefit to Nevadans, why not take advantage of it? Let’s not let politics get in the way of that,” McClinton said.

Nevada’s success in securing IRA funds mirrors a broader trend of clean energy investments in states that aren’t traditional Democratic strongholds. Republican-led states like Wyoming, West Virginia, and Louisiana have also seen high per-capita investments in clean energy, showing a bipartisan embrace of funding opportunities.

Jacob Corvidae, senior principal at RMI and the co-author, pointed out that states with the most significant clean energy projects are reaping benefits from the IRA. Nevada’s large-scale projects, like utility overhauls and renewable energy investments, have contributed to its substantial share of the federal funds.

With the IRA’s funding program running through 2032, other states may have a chance to catch up as smaller-scale projects, such as electric vehicle adoption and home energy efficiency upgrades, receive funding.

between seeing you at the railway  station, lost in transcendental meditation, and gazing at the stars afar, i wonder why you are my lone memoir instead of working on my hardback spine, adrift, caught in thoughts unkind far away on a mountainside, crying beneath the Ppleiades and orion’s guide, feeling like i should be someone else—perhaps a bird, a sparrow, or an eagle’s flight, or a crow, a seagull soaring high, escaping the sky and the world’s harsh sigh i could have been a tailor, cowboy, sailor, or any other role, but not this frail persona i do not grasp the pressured thunder, with storms and guns tearing asunder i am in my room, feeling like a heathen, at this altar, striving to hold something impossible to grasp, like fitting an ocean in a spoon

Somewhere between the clatter of trains at the station,
I glimpsed you—transcendental, elusive, a meditation.
And there, beneath the cosmic canopy, I stood,
Staring at stars—those ancient storytellers of wood.

What madness possessed me? What cosmic jest?
For a while, ink should flow, and pages unfold,
I found myself lost in constellation embrace,
Wondering why your name danced on my soul.

Far upon a mountain, tears etched my cheeks,
The Pleiades wept alongside their sisters in grace.
Orion, the celestial hunter, watched from above,
His belt, a roadmap to realms beyond time’s trace.

Seek ye the roller of celestial stones, they said,
A gambler’s game played in the cosmic saloon.
Yet I held a pack of cards, harmonica in hand,
Yearning for wings—feathers, freedom, the moon.

Should I have been a bird, swift sparrow, or eagle?
Or perhaps a crow, wise and cunning, aloft?
A seagull riding salt-laden winds over ceaseless sea,
But never this mortal coil—a tailor, a sailor, so soft.

The gun’s weight eludes me, its purpose obscure,
Thunder roars within, a furor of doubt.
I kneel at the pagan altar, seeking a notion,
Yet an ocean spills forth, too vast to pour out.

So here I stand, upon that mountain’s crest,
Beneath Pleiades’ gaze and Orion’s stern eye.
A cosmic misfit, a wanderer of paradox,
Yearning for flight, yet anchored to earth’s sigh.

Give me wings, O universe! Or a tailor’s needle,
A cowboy’s lasso, a sailor’s salt-stung song.
Anything but this ache, this mortal longing,
For I am—simply, inexplicably—me all along.

And as the harmonica hums its plaintive tune,
I wonder if the stars, too, harbor secret regrets.
Perhaps they envy our brief, burning lives,
While we, like fools, chase eternity in silhouettes.

So let the Pleiades weep, and Orion hunt,
For I’ll keep seeking answers in the night’s embrace.
A celestial misfit, a poet with ink-stained fingers,
Yearning for flight, yet grounded in mortal grace.

Crystal Davidson, who grew up in Emmett, Idaho, and later in Silver Springs, has long been haunted by traumatic childhood memories.

She recounted being sexually abused by her father at the age of five. Despite filing a report in 2003, the investigation hit a roadblock, leaving Davidson without the closure she deserved.

Davidson first reported the abuse to authorities when she was 16, recounting an incident in which she said her father entered the bathroom and began touching her inappropriately.

“I was so young, I didn’t even know it was wrong,” she recalled.

However, Crystal never heard anything further from law enforcement.

When she saw her father, John Hesselgesser, in a recent News 4 report regarding a child neglect case involving unsanitary conditions in her childhood home, it reignited her desire for answers.

Crystal obtained a copy of her 2003 report. The document showed that investigators had taken her signed statement but faced resistance from her father, who refused to cooperate.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) forwarded the case to the police in Emmett, Idaho, where Davidson’s family once lived, but it appears the case fell through the cracks. Despite records indicating that other agencies, including the Division of Child and Family Services, were aware of the complaint, Emmett Police say they have no record of receiving the report from Lyon County.

“Now it sounds like Emmett P.D. is saying they never received the report,” said Lyon County Sheriff Brad Pope.

More than two decades later, Davidson’s case was left unresolved, with no clear explanation of what happened.

“It really hurts to see that the people who are supposed to be helping, aren’t helping,” she said.

Although her father has refused to comment on the allegations, Lyon County Sheriff Brad Pope has committed to assisting in the investigation.

“If the suspect is found to have committed a crime, justice needs to be served,” Pope stated.

Recently, Emmett Police Chief Steve Kunka agreed to reopen the investigation.

“With the assistance of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office in making contact with all parties involved, we will collect as much information as we can and submit it to the Gem County Prosecutor for evaluation and potential charging,” Kunka said.

After 21 years, the case is again active, and Davidon expressed relief that she may finally get the answers she has long sought.