A survey of local business leaders shows more than half predict the U.S. economy will slide into a recession within the next two years, according to a quarterly report released by UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research.

Five years ago, Covid-19 drastically changed lives all over the world. The pandemic also presented unique challenges for Las Vegas. We discuss how Nevadans continue to be impacted in a special collaboration with KNPR’s State of Nevada. We then meet Libby Hausrath, a UNLV professor and lead researcher on a Mars project. She explains what samples being collected now may tell us about the Red Planet.

It was March 12, 2020, when Governor Steve Sisolak announced a state of emergency in Nevada in response to the growing infections and deaths from COVID-19. Five days later, he announced a statewide business shutdown. And something no one ever thought would happen happened: The Las Vegas Strip shut down for 78 days.

Gov. Joe Lombardo signed legislation Thursday that will allow Nevada to temporarily drop a ban on all but cage-free eggs in the state, an effort that was fast-tracked through the Nevada Legislature to address rising egg prices.

President Donald Trump vowed to work with Congress to eliminate taxes on tipped income during a Las Vegas rally Saturday — a campaign promise he made in the same city seven months before.

A new year feels like a change, finishing one chapter and starting the next. Ordinarily there’s a narrative that pulls everyone along, because most situations, events and circumstances don’t change overnight. This time the change feels momentous. Individuals and industries want to predict what’s going to be familiar, and what’s going to be completely changed.

Joseph Dutra remembers the sticker shock he saw for the price of cocoa beans. As the manufacturer of Kimmie Candy in Reno, Dutra’s business purchases chocolate ingredients one year in advance. Cocoa beans from Africa – also feeling the effects of inflation – cost roughly $3,000 per metric ton in 2023. In April, the market was up to $12,000, before more recently settling around $7,000.

When the economy shifts no bells ring, smoke signals rise or, more contemporarily, smartphone alerts sound. You may not even notice, but economists do. So, when the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, aka the lords of interest rates, cut rates by 50 basis points in September and another 25 basis points in November, economists and market analysts took notice.