State Briefly Aug. 16

Shelley Berkley launches Nevada jobs tour

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley is launching a jobs tour across Nevada in a move designed to capture votes in advance of the 2012 Senate race.

Berkley is slated to jumpstart her tour by meeting with small-business owners at a Las Vegas grocery store Tuesday afternoon. She is also hosting a jobs event with veterans Wednesday and will join unemployed workers in Las Vegas for a breakfast on Thursday.

Berkley is poised to continue her jobs tour in northern Nevada next week.

Berkley faces Republican Sen. Dean Heller in the Senate race. She is making the case that Heller's conservative politics hurt middle-class families.

Heller is a former congressman from northern Nevada. He was appointed to the Senate in May.

Nevada tops the nation in unemployment.

Board OKs $27.5M contract for DMV kiosks

(AP) - The state Board of Examiners has approved a $27.5 million, 10-year contract to make dealing with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles more user-friendly and less time-consuming.

DMV Director Bruce Breslow says that although it's a large sum, it will be paid by consumers through a "convenience fee" to avoid having to go to DMV offices.

The agency already has about two dozen kiosks around the state, most being in Las Vegas. Breslow says the goal is to add 40 more and expand the types of services that can be conducted.

The Board of Examiners, made up of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, approved the contract Monday.

Board OKs Nevada special-election costs

(AP) - The Nevada Board of Examiners has approved reimbursing counties for the cost of next month's special election as requested by Secretary of State Ross Miller.

The $539,000 from a legislative contingency account awaits approval by the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee on Aug. 31.

Voters in Nevada's 2nd Congressional District go to the polls Sept. 13 to fill the vacancy left when Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Republican Dean Heller to the U.S. Senate. He took the seat of John Ensign, who resigned.

The district covers all 16 of Nevada's mostly rural counties, and a slice of Clark County in southern Nevada.

Miller initially estimated the cost of the special election at $1.3 million, but says better information from counties has reduced the amount.

Counties will have to verify their expenses when they seek reimbursement.

Critics call on governor to stop Nevada bear hunt

(AP) - Opponents of Nevada's first black bear hunt are making a last attempt to stop the hunt that begins this weekend.

Organizers with NoBearHuntNevada.org delivered 15,000 petition signatures opposing the hunt to Gov. Brian Sandoval on Monday in Carson City, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

A state district court judge earlier rejected a lawsuit filed by the group to stop the hunt.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife has issued 41 bear hunting tags for the season, which begins Saturday and runs through the end of December.

Regulations allow 20 bears to be killed and of those, no more than six can be female. The season will close once those limits are met.

Federal court dismisses request from horse group

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A U.S. appeals court has dismissed a request to block a government roundup of thousands of mustangs in Nevada and California because the roundup already happened.

The decision, published Monday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, said the appeal was moot.

The motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction was filed in July 2010 by the non-profit groups In Defense of Animals and Dreamcatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary.

In April, a district court judge refused the federal Bureau of Land Management's request to dismiss the case, saying it was not moot because effective relief could still be granted if the plaintiffs proved the roundup was illegal.

Both sides are waiting for the district court to determine whether relief is appropriate.

Ribbon-cutting set for Black Rock Desert center

GERLACH (AP) - A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Thursday for the federal Bureau of Land Management's new visitor center in the Black Rock Desert of Northern Nevada.

The center will serve visitors to the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails Conservation Area, which commemorates the covered-wagon pioneers who trekked to California during the gold rush. A seasonal BLM fire crew also will operate out of the facility.

A $2.9 million contract was awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to a Denver company to build the center. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at the center near Gerlach, about 110 miles north of Reno.

Nevada sage grouse hunt to proceed

RENO (AP) - Nevada's two-week sage grouse hunt will go on after the Nevada Wildlife Commission discussed but took no action on a request to halt the hunt as a way to keep the bird off the endangered-species list.

Department of Wildlife spokesman Chris Healy said Commissioner Hank Vogler, who made the request, was satisfied that the issue was discussed at the commission meeting in Fallon.

This year's season for sage grouse is Sept. 25 to Oct. 9. Last year, 8,944 grouse were bagged by Nevada hunters.