News

Election decided by cutting cards

January 17, 2009 - 10:00 pm

RENO -- A seat on a Nevada district board was chosen Thursday by luck of the draw.

Kim Toulouse's ace of clubs beat Chris Sewell's 10 of spades for a spot on the Verdi Television District board.

The two tied in the Nov. 4 election, and Toulouse lost an initial card draw before Washoe County election officials discovered 47 people had not been allowed to vote. The two candidates tied again after a count of absentee ballots.

Toulouse takes his place on the five-member board, which oversees television reception for residents in Verdi, 10 miles west of Reno.

The Palo Alto-based company Pivotal has been developing the technology since 2009 and is nearly ...

Dream of owning a flying car? This California company is already selling them

Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times

January 30, 2026 - 1:08 pm

A future with flying cars is no longer science fiction — all you need to order your own is about $200,000 and some hope and patience.

Scotty's Castle continues to be repaired from massive flood damage a decade ago on Friday, Jan. ...

This con man’s striking Death Valley castle is closer than ever to a reopening date

By Alan Halaly / RJ

January 30, 2026 - 12:22 pm

After surviving floods and fire, Scotty’s Castle is two to three years off from a grand reopening, rangers say.

FILE - Catherine O'Hara, a cast member in the Apple+ series "The Studio," poses ...

Catherine O’Hara, ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Home Alone,’ star dies at 71

The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 10:38 am

Catherine O’Hara, the Emmy-winning actor known for comedic roles across the decades — from Kevin’s beleaguered mom in “Home Alone” to the iconic Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek” — died Friday at 71.

A sign marks the Utah state line in Hildale, Utah, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Bo ...

Towns once run by Warren Jeffs’ polygamous sect emerge from court supervision transformed

By Jacques Billeaud The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 9:56 am

These days, Colorado City, Arizona, and neighboring Hildale, Utah, look much like any other town in this remote and picturesque area near Zion National Park

FILE - Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Ep ...

Justice Department says it’s releasing 3M pages from its Jeffrey Epstein files

By Eric Tucker, Michael R. Sisak and Alanna Durkin Richer The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 2:16 pm

The files, posted to the department’s website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December.

A photo of Alex Pretti is displayed during a vigil for Alex Pretti by nurses and their supporte ...

DOJ opens federal civil rights probe into the death of Alex Pretti, deputy AG says

By Michael Biesecker and Rebecca Santana The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 8:50 am

The development followed confirmation by the Department of Homeland Security earlier in the day that the FBI would now lead the probe into Pretti’s death.

FILE - Kevin Warsh, speaking to the media about his report on transparency at the Bank of Engla ...

Trump names former Federal Reserve official Warsh as the next Fed chair

By Christopher Rugaber The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 7:57 am

The 55-year-old is currently a fellow at the right-leaning Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

FILE - A sign is displayed outside the Internal Revenue Service building May 4, 2021, in Washin ...

Trump sues IRS and Treasury for $10B over leaked tax info

By Fatima Hussein The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 7:47 am

The suit, filed in a Florida federal court Thursday, includes the president’s sons Eric Trump and, Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump organization as plaintiffs.

Don Lemon attends the 15th annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute at the American Museum of Natural ...

Journalist Don Lemon is charged with federal civil rights crimes in anti-ICE church protest

By Jaimie Ding, Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 1:59 pm

He was arrested Thursday by federal agents in Los Angeles, while another independent journalist and two protest participants were arrested in Minnesota.

‘Beauty 2 The Streetz’ founder discovered dead after Las Vegas welfare check

By Akiya Dillon / RJ

January 29, 2026 - 8:39 pm

Shirley Raines, widely known online as “Beauty to the Streetz,” the name of the nonprofit she founded, died Tuesday at 58.