Top News

Preparations for the water pipeline to eastern Nevada will continue, and so will opposition to the multibillion-dollar project.

That was the consensus Thursday, after the Southern Nevada Water Authority board voted unanimously to forge ahead with the permit process for the agency's massive groundwater importation plan.

First, though, board members heard from rural residents whose land and livelihoods lie in the path of the project. More than 300 people turned out for the meeting.

The board's vote of confidence in the project came on the heels of a Review-Journal poll indicating the pipeline is supported by 52 percent of Clark County residents but just 13 percent of people across the rest of the state.

MONDAY

BANKS BROKEN

The takeover of two banks with presences in Nevada left customers reeling.

Regulators seized Alabama-based Colonial BancGroup, which had 21 branches and $850 million in deposits in Nevada. Southeastern giant BB&T took over the former Colonial branches.

In addition, the Nevada Financial Institutions Division closed the $1.4 billion-deposit Community Bank of Nevada and started liquidating the insolvent institution.

TUESDAY

UNIONS SUGGEST CUTS

Clark County's union workers packed an auditorium Tuesday to present the County Commission with a list of 10 suggestions to avoid cutting services and jobs.

Topping the list was a recommendation to transfer money from a capital improvement reserve to pay for social programs on the verge of being slashed.

Workers also suggested trimming management jobs, consolidating departments, and reducing printed documents and the use of consultants.

WEDNESDAY

OFFICER ACCUSED

A Henderson police officer who fatally shot an ice cream truck driver last year was accused of "inappropriate behavior" with his sister-in-law, who was then 15, according to court documents.

In an April request for a restraining order, the father-in-law of Luke Morrison, 24, accused the police officer of taking advantage of his sister-in-law when she was a minor.

Morrison is on paid administrative leave, but city and police officials would not discuss the reason why.

THURSDAY

POLL: GIBBONS FINISHED

Gov. Jim Gibbons might want to update his résumé.

According to a Review-Journal poll, 17 percent of Republican voters said they would support Gibbons in the 2010 primary, well behind 33 percent for Brian Sandoval, who is resigning his job as a federal judge.

Respondents said if the race were held today, the general election would feature Sandoval against another candidate who has not announced plans to run: Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

FRIDAY

RECORD JOBLESSNESS

Nevada's unemployment rate rose to 12.5 percent in July, while joblessness in Las Vegas surged to 13.1 percent, the highest levels since the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation began tracking data in 1976.

The 1.9 percentage point jump in statewide joblessness from April to June was the biggest three-month spike on record.