The Daily Rundown: October 16, 2026
🏙️ Property owners in the Las Vegas Arts District disagree over establishing the neighborhood as a Business Improvement District, or BID. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that a petition to establish the area near downtown as a BID was launched last month.
If approved, property owners would pay an annual fee based on assessed value. It would also be governed by a privately led board meant to represent property owners, businesses, residents, nonprofits and artists.
Opponents are skeptical about board representation and whether the money invested will be evenly distributed. They also raise concerns about potential gentrification.
Supporters say the Arts District’s rising property values are happening regardless of the designation and that the BID would improve communication among stakeholders.
Approval for the BID requires signatures from more than half of the proposed district’s total assessed property value. A public hearing would then be held before final approval from the City Council.
⚕️ Products sold as energy drinks, gummies or herbal supplements at gas stations and convenience stores may contain potent opioid-like compounds, putting people at risk of addiction, overdose and death, according to health experts.
Dr. Michael Moss is the medical director for the Utah Poison Control Center. He said there have been four reported kratom-related deaths in Utah this year and an increase in hospitalizations related to semi-synthetic kratom.
“What I’m really worried about here is their potential to act just like an opioid, like morphine, like oxycodone, and cause an opioid overdose, where someone gets too sleepy and so sleepy that they stop breathing and that they die,” Moss said.
Moss is among health advocates favoring regulation.
Nine states — and some cities — have banned this form of kratom, citing health concerns. It is legal elsewhere — including in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Idaho — with limits that include labeling and testing. New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana have no regulations on the substance.
Traditional leaf kratom is a Southeast Asian plant long ingested in capsule form or as hot tea and is a mild stimulant. Interest in ground leaf products grew about a decade ago, when some people sought them for pain relief or to manage opioid withdrawal, Dr. Michael Moss with the Utah Poison Control Center said.
More recently, products have been repackaged as convenient energy shots and tablets, often sold alongside ordinary convenience-store goods.
👀 The Nevada System of Higher Education has launched an “Eyes Open” Safety Campaign. It aims to encourage people to speak up when they see or feel something is off, let trained professionals assess their concerns, and establish an appropriate response.
Officials say the goal is not to make judgment calls about others based on individual bits of information.
The “Eyes Open” Safety Campaign is part of NSHE's broader Prevention, Safety and Awareness Initiative, which focuses on behavioral threat assessment, early intervention and support.
☢️ Annual electricity consumption in the U.S. is expected to grow more than 55% by 2050, “with the steepest growth concentrated in the current decade,” according to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.
Much of that growth will fuel data centers.
To meet that demand, the Trump administration recently announced plans to jump-start a new generation of nuclear power. The administration has pursued expanded nuclear generation in part to meet growing electricity demand from AI and data centers.
At the same time, Nevada Democrats in Congress — including Rep. Dina Titus, who represents Nevada's 1st District and studied nuclear policy as a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas — have reintroduced legislation aimed at permanently ending Yucca’s role as the country’s sole nuclear waste repository. Hear the full story by KNPR's Paul Boger here.
🔥 The Las Vegas man who admitted to firebombing Tesla vehicles at a collision repair center in March 2025 was sentenced on Oct. 14.
Paul Kim was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Court documents say Kim arrived at the facility during the early morning hours of March 18, 2025. He fired several shots, then threw Molotov cocktails into three vehicles. The attack destroyed five vehicles beyond repair.
The incident occurred around the same time as several other attacks on Teslas across the country. Most were tied to Elon Musk’s role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
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.
