Think tank calls Las Vegas police pay 'inflated'

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A conservative think tank released a study Tuesday that it said shows Las Vegas police employee salaries are inflated, and called for state lawmakers to ban the use of taxpayer money to pay police officers doing union business.

TransparentNevada shines light on Metro police salaries

TransparentNevada.com, an arm of the Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI) think-tank, released the 2012 salaries for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department today. TransparentNevada documents information about all levels of government in the Silver State, including contracts, financial documents and public employee salaries. The information is updated each year.

The reality of open records in Nevada

There are “so many different tactics that are used” by government entities trying to avoid complying with Open Records laws, according to Karen Gray, Education Researcher for the Nevada Policy Research Institute.

Acting “willfully obtuse and dumb is one of the most effective,” offered NPRI’s Vice President of Policy Steven Miller.

As part of Sunshine Week, Gray, Miller and NPRI Media Specialist Eric Davis, who compiles the data for NPRI’s TransparentNevada site, discussed what it’s really like for those trying to wrest information from government entities in the Silver State.

Jones defends school reforms but problems remain

Departing Superintendent Dwight Jones constantly praises Western High School as a symbol of his successful reforms. ... Despite being touted as a model school and showing some improvement, only 55 percent of Western's seniors earned diplomas in 2012.

Only the big fish allowed to swim in Nevada's online gambling pool

When Gov. Brian Sandoval signed the online gambling bill in the old Assembly chambers last month, he reminisced about the 1931 “Wide Open Gambling” bill, which was signed in the same room.

But the law Sandoval signed does not open the floodgates for online gambling; it cracks the door a smidgen and ushers in the usual big names to the exclusive, new online gambling club.

Jim Guthrie and class size reductions

Democratic legislators were guilty of “piling on” State Superintendent of Instruction James Guthrie last week. Testifying before a joint meeting of the Nevada Assembly Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, Guthrie said: “In an ideal world I would ask that you lift (legislatively mandated) class size restrictions and let local school districts decide how best to spend their resources.” He might as well have bitten them on the rear end.

Legislature once again has taxpayers bracing for another hit

No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session,” Mark Twain famously said while covering the biennial mess in Carson City.

And so the shrieking and hollering begins

You want proof that close proximity to government causes brain damage?

Help for homeowners slow to reach masses in Nevada

While Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, the state received about $200 million from the federal government to help homeowners avoid losing their homes.

But a Reno Gazette-Journal analysis of the fund distribution shows that the money was almost untouched in the past two years.

Lawrence discusses pre-K on Ralston Reports

Lawrence discusses pre-K on Ralston Reports