City Cast Las Vegas

A showdown over school choice is brewing up in Carson City: Governor Lombardo is prepared to veto the entire state budget if the legislature doesn’t approve his ambitious plan to expand Nevada’s quasi school voucher program. Meanwhile, Clark County is ground zero for the impact of school choice legislation — the majority of the state’s voucher program recipients (administered through Opportunity Scholarships) live here in Southern Nevada, and most of them use the funds for religious private schools. And that’s just part of why they’re so controversial, Nevada Current reporter April Corbin Girnus tells co-host Dayvid Figler. So how did “school choice” become a darling of the right, and why are progressives worried it could gut public education? And most curiously of all, how did Dem-heavy Clark County become the epicenter for school choice debates in Nevada?What’s your stance on Nevada’s Opportunity Scholarships? Leave us a voicemail or a text message at 702-514-0719. You can also find us on social media! Follow us @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram.For more on what’s hot and happening in Las Vegas, make sure to sign up for our brilliant morning newsletter here.

In this week’s news roundup, we discus some big money moves happening in Vegas. First, Nevada lawmakers are considering a groundbreaking $4.9 billion tax break aimed at attracting film companies to the state. Next, we delve into the results of a recent poll conducted for the A’s baseball team, suggesting that two-thirds of Clark County are in favor of their ballpark proposal — but we’ve got questions about this poll (like… why didn’t it ask about support over public funding?). Lastly, Harry Reid International Airport’s TSA takes a step towards a potentially Orwellian future with new facial recognition technology. Co-hosts Vogue Robinson and Dayvid Figler are joined by contributor and Nevada Current reporter Michael Lyle to talk about where Vegas is headed with these topics.Join the conversation! Let us know what you think about these topics on social media @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram.You can also call or text us at 702-514-0719.Looking to stay ahead of the news in your city? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey Las Vegas.

Korean food has seen an explosion of popularity in Vegas (and the U.S. broadly) over the last few years, but most of our Korean restaurants in town seem to be K-BBQ spots. You know, the meat restaurants where you cook your meat over a grill set right into your table. But there’s a whole lot more to Korean food, lead producer Sonja Cho Swanson tells co-host Vogue Robinson — in fact, the traditional Korean diet was largely vegetable- and seafood-based (after all, Korea is a peninsula surrounded by ocean on three sides). Sonja, a former food writer who lived in Seoul for seven years, talks about the rise of meat in Korean cuisine, what “authentic” really means, and where Las Vegans can find Korean food that isn’t K-BBQ in town.Restaurants we mention in the episode: Sashimi Day (Desert Inn & Decatur) Mr. Tofu (Spring Mountain and Arville) Soyo Korean Restaurant (Rainbow and Robindale) Tag us when you post about your next Korean food outing! We’re @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram. You can also call or text us at 702-514-0719.Want some more Las Vegas news? Then make sure to sign up for our brilliant morning newsletter here.

You might remember from middle school science that protecting the ozone layer in our atmosphere is vitally important — but ozone near the ground is actually a dangerous air pollutant. And as temperatures rise, the formation of ground-level ozone becomes increasingly serious here in the Valley. In fact, Clark County has recently issued an ozone warning through September. Kevin MacDonald from the Clark County Department of Environment & Sustainability shares insight into the science behind ozone pollution, its impact on residents’ health, and the County’s initiatives to mitigate its effects. Co-host Vogue Robinson also discovers practical tips and actionable steps to protect yourself and the air quality of Las Vegas.Follow the Clark County Department of Environment & Sustainability on Twitter for daily Vegas air quality updates and more information about sustainability programs @sustainclarkcty.You can find us there too! Follow us @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram. Have you seen a bad air day in Vegas? Call or text us at 702-514-0719 to tell us about it.Want some more Las Vegas news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey Las Vegas!

Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown made history last year when she was elected to the North Las Vegas mayoral seat — and became the first Black mayor in the state of Nevada. Mayor Goynes-Brown sits down with co-host Vogue Robinson to talk about her vision for North Las Vegas, the city she grew up in, from her ambitious plan for downtown to commercial redevelopment, affordable housing, and the ongoing struggle to help the residents of the sinking neighborhood of Windsor Park.Thoughts? Questions? Let us know by calling or texting us at 702-514-0719. We’re also on social media! Follow us @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram.For more news from across the Vegas Valley, make sure to sign up for our brilliant morning newsletter here.

Deep in the Colorado River, monsters lurk in the murky waters — monster fish, that is, some the size of large person. But they aren’t invulnerable. Today on City Cast Las Vegas, co-host Dayvid Figler talks with National Geographic channel host Zeb Hogan, co-author of Chasing Giants, a new book about the world’s biggest freshwater fish. Zeb grew up on the Colorado, but by the time he was paddling on its waters, most of the truly big fish on our stretch of the lower Colorado had already died out. Zeb explains why monster fish are indicator species of our river’s health, and how some of our massive native fish have recently started to make a comeback.We’re on social media! Follow us @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram. You can also call or text us at 702-514-0719.Want some more Las Vegas news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter here. 

This week’s roundup deals with two of Vegas’ favorite topics, traffic and entertainment. The possible elimination of HOV lanes has pros and cons, but how will those lanes be repurposed? Also, after years of uncertainty, Brightline West’s high-speed rail from LA to Las Vegas seems to finally move forward and a new trend among Strip headliners to lock up phones gets mixed reviews. Co-hosts Dayvid Figler and Vogue Robinson share their hot takes with lead producer Sonja Cho Swanson.We’re on social media! Follow us @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram. You can also call or text us at 702-514-0719.Want some more Las Vegas news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter here. 

The world of Las Vegas wine has traditionally been dominated by master sommeliers and snooty connoisseurs — at one point, 10% of the world’s master somms worked in Las Vegas. But there’s a new wine on the block: natural wines are cloudy, funky and little bit weird. And Las Vegas based writer Meg Bernhard tells co-host Dayvid Figler, you should give them a try. Today on City Cast Las Vegas, Meg talks about her time working on vineyards in Europe, where to get “nattywines” in Vegas (and why you maybe shouldn’t call them that), and how natural wines could change our local grape-scape. Meg’s book, titled “Wine,” is coming out from Bloomsbury next month.Have you tried natural wine? Planning to? Tag us when you imbibe — we’re @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram.You can also call or text us at 702-514-0719.For more on what’s happening in Las Vegas, you’ll want to sign up for our brilliant morning newsletter here — it’s the best thing in your inbox every day at 6 a.m.

Take it from these old-timers: Navigating and surviving Las Vegas can be tricky. We’re an odd big-little town, where tourists outnumber the locals twenty-fold. So today, we’ve got co-hosts Vogue Robinson and Dayvid Figler, along with lifelong Las Vegan Andrew Kiraly, publisher of thelist.vegas, to help you out. From car culture to comp karma, with tangents on making friends and the things you should never say to gamblers, we’ve got you covered with 15 rules for how to survive (and thrive) in Las Vegas.What do you think of our 15 rules? Did we miss any, or do you have more to add? We’re on social media! Follow us @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram.You can also call or text us at 702-514-0719.Want some more Las Vegas news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter here.

Congresswoman Dina Titus has been representing Nevada’s First Congressional District since 2013, and before that she served in state government for two decades. So, it’s no surprise that she has opinions on some of the biggest issues Las Vegas is facing right now. Today she joins co-host Dayvid Figler to talk about water allocation, gaming, a not-so-old beef with the Nevada State Legislature, and more.We’re on social media! Follow us @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram. You can also call or text us at 702-514-0719.Want some more Las Vegas news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter here.