The Daily Rundown - October 5th, 2025
🗣️ Nevada Democrats announced yesterday that if a special state legislative session is called this month, they plan to propose an emergency cash assistance program to make up for likely reduced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, payments. Two courts have ordered the Trump administration to pay out SNAP benefits but have left open the possibility of reduced payments. As such, the Nevada Democratic plan would provide partial funding for November and full funding for December, which is unlikely to be federally funded if the shutdown continues.
While the plan would not technically fund SNAP directly, it would use the same vendor to deliver assistance to the many Nevadans who rely on the program, loading funds onto the existing EBT cards recipients already use.
🎨 The Las Vegas City Council meets today, and one item on the agenda offers a glimpse into a more vibrant downtown future. The city’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department will give a presentation on upcoming 2026 projects. The headline: murals — lots of new murals. Murals are being planned for the Stupak Community Center, the Arts District, the Cimarron Rose Community Center, the Doolittle Pool and Pop Squires Park. With so many sculptures and murals going up, it can be easy to lose track of them all. But the presentation includes a proposed art map to solve that. The map project would commission a graphic designer or design team to create a visually engaging public art map showcasing the city’s permanent collection.
🗳️ Zohran Mamdani will be the next mayor of New York City, becoming the first Muslim and person of South Asian descent — as well as the youngest in over a century — to hold the position. "The future is in our hands," Mamdani declared to roaring applause Tuesday night at a victory celebration in Brooklyn. "My friends, tonight we have toppled a political dynasty." The 34-year-old, Ugandan-born Democratic socialist defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an Independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa in Tuesday's election, according to a race call by the Associated Press.
It's a remarkable ascent for Mamdani, who was a relatively unknown state assemblymember representing a district in Queens when he entered the crowded mayoral race last year. He went on to win June's Democratic primary by 12 percentage points, quickly becoming one of the country's most popular and polarizing politicians along the way. Read more about the race to New York's next mayor.
Across the country, the Democratic Party saw big wins in several key races, including California’s Proposition 50 ballot initiative, which would temporarily overturn the requirement that the state draw its congressional districts through an independent commission. California is now set to redraw its congressional maps, a move likely to result in more Democratic seats. See five takeaways from the Democrats’ big night in Tuesday’s 2025 elections.
🛫 For many travelers, the nation's airspace was a scary place to be on Halloween. The Federal Aviation Administration was forced to delay flights across the U.S. because of staffing shortages at dozens of air traffic control facilities, making for one of the most difficult days to fly since the government shutdown began five weeks ago.
"What you're seeing is a lot of people who are truly having to call in sick to go earn money elsewhere," said one air traffic controller who works at a facility in the Midwest that handles high-altitude traffic. "I think you're also seeing people who are just calling in sick because they're fed up and they're like, 'well, I'm going to spend the holiday weekend with my kids for once.'"
The government shutdown is taking a growing toll on air traffic controllers who are required to work without pay. Staffing shortages led to major delays over the weekend, raising concerns about more widespread travel chaos as the shutdown continues. Read the full story here.
🚂 While many are familiar with major railroads such as the Union Pacific and Central Pacific, and with various lines that have run through towns in Nevada and elsewhere, it’s been more than 150 years since the Virginia and Truckee Railroad was incorporated — a line that played a major role in Nevada’s history and reflected key themes in American history. Hear more on the full episode of Nevada Yesterdays.
Part of these stories are taken from KNPR's daily newscast segment. To hear more daily updates like these, tune in to 88.9 KNPR FM.
