The Daily Rundown - May 6, 2026
El Niño is forecast to bring a hotter-than-typical summer, and officials from the city of Las Vegas, Clark County and nonprofit leaders met this week at the area’s first Heat Summit to discuss how to improve their response to extreme heat.
They were joined by officials from Phoenix and Maricopa County, Arizona, which have developed a robust multi-agency heat relief network.
This past March was the hottest on record. In Las Vegas and Phoenix, the cities hit 99 and 100 degrees, respectively — 9.4 degrees above the 20th-century average, according to NOAA. In Southern Nevada, heat-related fatalities outpaced traffic fatalities in 2024. In the same year, Phoenix experienced more than 100 days of temperatures above 100 degrees.
Phoenix appointed David Hondula to the unique position of municipal heat czar to coordinate efforts to reduce heat injuries and deaths. “One of the roles I see myself having is ensuring that heat has a seat at the table as we’re negotiating policy, funding, etc.,” Hondula said.
Although heat claims more lives than all other natural disasters combined, it is not officially recognized as a natural disaster, and communities cannot receive federal funding for response.
In Southern Nevada, the effort is being led by the Regional Transportation Commission with a $750,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration, said Andrew Kjellman, the agency’s deputy chief executive officer. The two-year “Let’s Get Prepared” campaign will include a study on how extreme heat impacts transportation infrastructure, including pavement mix and bridge tolerances. The agency is also looking into adjusting bus routes and adding more shading at bus stops.
The number of national clinical trials for Alzheimer’s therapies has increased by 40 percent in the last decade.
That’s according to UNLV brain health researcher Jeffrey Cummings’ 10th annual report, published Tuesday in the Alzheimer’s Association’s research journal.
Cummings and his colleagues noted that 59 new drug trials have been registered since the beginning of last year. The study says that inflammation and immune-targeting drugs are the fastest-growing treatment category, nearly tripling since 2017.
Fourteen percent of those trials also now look for biomarkers, such as physical amyloid and tau plaques, in patients’ blood. Dr. Jefferson Kinney’s team at the UNLV Department of Brain Health contributed research to one such study. That resulted in the first FDA-approved blood test to diagnose Alzheimer’s last year.
“We have better indications of what’s going on, which gives rise to more chances for discovery and more chances for treatments,” Kinney told KNPR.
In Nevada, 55,000 people currently live with Alzheimer’s disease. Another 87,000 people in the state provide unpaid care to someone with memory loss.
If there’s anything as painfully expensive right now as buying a ticket for a concert, it’s buying one for a flight.
Flying is getting more expensive, mainly due to the price of jet fuel roughly doubling since the war in Iran began. On average, an international flight was about $150 higher in mid-April compared with a year earlier, according to the travel site Kayak. That’s causing some Americans to change their travel plans, either choosing closer and cheaper destinations or not planning a trip at all.
Airline tickets might not return to their prewar prices anytime soon. On a recent earnings call, United CEO Scott Kirby said the company might keep some of its prices higher to improve its traditionally tight profit margins. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., has called on the major airlines to commit to lower prices when the war winds down.
Arlene Hogan, owner of the travel adviser company Vacays4U and member of the American Society of Travel Advisors, said her bookings have dropped about 10 percent for the fall. “We are all seeing a dip in bookings,” she said.
Travel advisers note a shift away from overseas travel in favor of domestic trips. Europe has been hit especially hard by fuel shortages — Lufthansa has canceled 20,000 flights through October. Air Canada is temporarily cutting routes to JFK, and United is “tactically pruning” flights during less popular times.
Hogan said Americans are also concerned about going overseas as the wars in Iran and Ukraine continue. “Hawaii is hot,” Hogan said. “It gives people a sense of security because it’s still the United States.”
It’s no secret that this winter was a letdown for many skiers in the Mountain West.
New numbers show the full picture. Early data from the National Ski Areas Association reveals 9 million fewer skiers and snowboarders hit the slopes nationwide this season compared to last. In the Rocky Mountain region, visits declined 24 percent. The association says the weather was a major reason for the decline.
Nine states saw the warmest average winter temperatures ever recorded. That includes Nevada. According to Snow Stash, it was the worst ski season in history.
Several Nevada ski resorts had to close early this season due to a lack of snow. Elko’s Snobowl, which relies on natural snowfall, never opened. Lee Canyon Ski Resort closed on March 22, two weeks earlier than originally planned at the start of the season.
WNBA general managers have voted Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson as the favorite to be named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
An annual survey of the 15 general managers that was released Tuesday ahead of the league’s 30th season also had the Aces as the favorites to win the championship.
Wilson received 60 percent of the votes for MVP, followed by the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart with 27 percent and the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and the Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray with 7 percent each. Wilson won MVP last season, and the Aces were league champs.
