The Daily Rundown - July 9th, 2026
🏀 The NBA Las Vegas Summer League begins July 9 and runs through the championship round on Sunday, July 19. The competition is an annual off-season event and features fresh and seasoned talent from all 30 NBA teams, according to the league’s website.
Each team will play at least five games, and all 76 games will be split between several different carriers for broadcasting and streaming. Games are at the Thomas and Mack Center and The Pavilion on UNLV’s campus.
🏠 Clark County’s unhoused population has increased by 12 percent since the last time it was measured, in 2024. That’s according to results from the county’s latest point-in-time census, released wednesday, July 8th, according to reporting by KNPR's Anne Davis. Clark County is now home to nearly 9,000 people experiencing homelessness. That’s up from around 7,900 people counted during the last census, in early 2024.
Among those counted, 57% were found to be unsheltered, which means they were living in places not meant for human habitation, like vehicles and encampments. Chronic homelessness, which encompasses people with a disability living on the street for at least a year, is down more than 20%. But self-reported substance use is up, from 9% of respondents two years ago, to a third of them now.
UNLV Associate Professor of Social Work Nicholas Barr says he wouldn’t be surprised if the number of unhoused people continues to climb. He points to social service cuts as a cause. Barr says “One of the feeders to being homeless is medical debt and medical problems that make it so you can't work. So, for sure, we will see as Medicaid cuts go into effect, you will see an increase in homelessness.”
Over 500 county staff and volunteers conducted the census on January 29.
💦 The mighty Colorado River runs 1,400 miles, providing everything from crop irrigation to outdoor recreation for people in seven U.S. states and Mexico. A century ago, leaders of those states — divided into two basins, Upper and Lower — hammered out an agreement for managing Colorado River water, a landmark multi-state cooperative deal at the time. But major parts of that agreement, which has evolved significantly over the decades, are set to expire later this year.
That lapse will potentially affect the 35-40 million people who depend on the Colorado for municipal needs, including some 2.3 million residents of the Las Vegas Valley.
Water managers from river states haven’t yet come to a new agreement to replace the expiring one. If they don’t do so soon, the federal government will step in, imposing its own plan. That would likely mean temporary reductions in the states' allocations. Hear the full conversation with KNPR's Heidi Kyser, and General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority's John Enstminger here.
☀️ Summer is monsoon season in the desert and although the dry region needs moisture, it can be extremely hazardous when the rain falls. The Henderson Fire Department says that one of the most dangerous threats to Las Vegas residents when it comes to weather is flash flooding caused by monsoonal thunderstorms.
Henderson Fire Captain Colin McTaggart advises the public to not underestimate moving water because of its strength, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. McTaggart says 6 inches of moving water can take a human and 12 inches can take a vehicle. Southern Nevada’s rainy season generally runs from late June into September.
⛹️♀️ The Las Vegas sports scene has rapidly expanded over the last decade. Since 2016, fans have proudly embraced the growth, from cheering on the Golden Knights and Aces, to filling the stands of new venues like Allegiant Stadium. The NBA is also looking at expanding its reaches to Las Vegas, and numerous groups have already shown interest, according to reporting by KNPR's Rafaela Gandolfo Bustamante.
The business group backing The Las Vegas Jacks is led by notable figures like Hall of Famer and Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, alongside former NBA player and coach Vinny Del Negro. Among their stated goals is building “the most impressive state of the art basketball arena in the world,” according to finance chairman Scott Colangelo.
The group is the second to formally announce a bid for the franchise. Golden Knights owner Bill Foley placed his bid for the team last month. There's currently no official timeline for when a Las Vegas based team might take the court. However, the group says a Vegas team could start playing once construction on an arena begins.
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.
