Your Daily Guide

🚰 The Colorado River Is Running Out

It looks like more of the Southwest needs to learn from Vegas. The Colorado River Basin is racing toward a “system crash” — a point where Lake Mead and Lake Powell drop so low they become useless for water storage, a new academic paper warns. Negotiations between states that rely on this watershed continue to go nowhere, potentially leaving it up to the federal government and maybe even the Supreme Court to sort out who gets what’s left of this shrinking river. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

🚲 Closing a Five-Mile Gap

North Las Vegas is breaking ground on a plan to connect the Northern Beltway Trail from Decatur Boulevard to Losse Road, closing a 5-mile gap that currently cuts cyclists and pedestrians off at the edge of North Las Vegas. With completion slated for 2027, this $6-$10 million project will help connect the entire Las Vegas Valley by trail. [KNTV]

⚾ Play Ball: Athletics Arrive In Vegas (Temporarily)

The Athletics are in town for their first regular-season home games ever in Vegas. They’ve been playing in West Sacramento while their new Las Vegas stadium is being built, but now through Saturday you can catch the soon-to-be Las Vegas Athletics at Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin, home to their Triple-A affiliate, the Aviators. [3 News]

• Is Vegas big enough for two baseball teams? The Sacramento River Cats, who share their stadium with The A’s right now, saw the biggest attendance decline among all Triple-A teams last year. With a Triple-A and MLB team in the same city, Vegas is entering unprecedented territory in coming years. [SF Gate]

🚗 Why Our Car Insurance Is So Expensive

Nevada car insurance rates are 34% higher than the national average, something anyone who has moved to the valley from elsewhere knows first-hand. Las Vegas’ rates are among the highest in the state. But why, and is there anything you can do to lower your rates? [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

The Soap Opera Behind Vegas’s Newest Trauma Center

Nevada‘s healthcare system doesn’t have the best reputation, and until recently, the entire Las Vegas metro area had just one Level 1 Trauma Center (University Medical Center), certified for top-tier, life-saving emergency care. Sunrise Hospital’s recent designation was the result of a bitter two-year legal brawl filled with lawsuits, appeals, and accusations. When the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) ruled against the privately funded hospital’s proposal last year, Sunrise’s owner sued. [Nevada Independent]

• Why Level 1 Status Matters: The coveted designation signals a hospital delivers top-tier care for trauma patients. It makes it easier to attract and retain physicians, leads to increased funding and investment, and a sign of a hospital’s emergency readiness. [KVVU]
• “Speculation” and “Conjecture”: A judge sided with HCA Healthcare, Sunrise’s parent company, ruling the health district's denial was without concrete proof that the Level 1 designation would harm patients or the local hospital system. [Nevada Independent]
• “A disturbing pattern": The SNHD is now appealing a lower court’s ruling in hopes of overturning the designation. Critics say the city has no need for a second trauma center, and point out that HCA Healthcare is known for charging exorbitant trauma-related fees, running as high as $50,000 per patient in some hospitals. [Nevada Independent/Miami Herald]