WEEK IN REVIEW: Top news

Superintendent Dwight Jones will leave the Clark County School District halfway through his four-year contract and with only two weeks’ notice, well short of the 90 days required by the agreement.

The surprise announcement drew praise for Jones’ work from a number of local, state and national leaders, but it also sparked widespread speculation about his reasons for leaving.

On Wednesday, the day after the news broke, Jones said he was resigning as head of the nation’s fifth-largest district on March 22 to care for his ailing mother in Texas and for “no other factors.”

His contract does allow him to take a leave of absence for a family illness, but Jones said he doesn’t want to keep the district waiting for his return.

Jones was hired in October 2010 for a $358,000 annual compensation package.

Monday

New life at Echelon site

News of the Strip’s first major post-recession development brought the governor, two Clark County commissioners, tourism leaders, organized labor representatives, business leaders and officials from UNLV to the offices of architects Steelman Partners.

There, representatives from Malaysia-based Genting Group discussed their plans to build Resorts World Las Vegas on the 87-acre Strip site of the unfinished Echelon.

The project could mean $2 billion to $7 billion in investment, though Resorts World officials declined to discuss tangible numbers or an exact development timeline.

Tuesday

Almost to Interior

Southern Nevada Water Authority chief Pat Mulroy confirmed that she was on the “short list” to become President Barack Obama’s next secretary of the Interior Department.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., recommended Mulroy for the job late last year, when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar decided to step down.

Mulroy said she was interviewed over the phone by a White House staffer, but Obama chose Sally Jewell, CEO of the outdoor equipment chain REI.

Wednesday

Mining tax splits GOP

The day after some of their Senate colleagues called for a mining tax increase, Assembly Republicans pushed back, calling for reforms that will save taxpayer dollars instead.

The Assembly GOP announcement shows that the 15-member caucus is not onboard with the mining tax proposal being pushed by some of their Senate counterparts. Assembly Republicans have joined Gov. Brian Sandoval in opposing the idea.

Even so, Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Las Vegas, said he and his colleagues will continue to push for the proposal this session.

Thursday

Second opinion sought

Saying she was unwilling to take the claim “at face value,” District Judge Valerie Adair ordered an independent medical evaluation of Dipak Desai to verify he had a stroke and determine the extent of brain damage.

The judge also ordered both sides to continue preparing for Desai’s April 22 criminal trial stemming from the 2007 hepatitis C outbreak.

Friday

Judge pick withdraws

Elissa Cadish, a Clark County judge whose promotion to the federal court hit an impasse in a gun rights controversy, has withdrawn her name from consideration.

Cadish, a Clark County District Court judge since 2007, was proposed by Democratic Sen. Harry Reid and nominated by President Barack Obama in February 2012 to become a U.S. District judge in Nevada, filling one of three vacancies in the seven-judge district.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., opposed her nomination.