The US presidential election may still be five months away. But the deadline to turn green card holders into Americans, able to vote, is just around the corner.

This month both California and New York passed path-breaking legislation to increase the minimum wage, up to $15 by 2022 for California and by 2018 for the slightly more ambitious Empire State. Opponents, especially in low-wage industries, decried the negative impact the change will have on their purportedly slim profit margins. Meanwhile, advocates praised the move, citing widening inequality and soaring corporate profits as evidence of needed change.

Rarely are governments criticized for moving too quickly on a transportation project.

But that seems to be the case with Clark County’s effort to build an elevated expressway along portions of Koval Lane, Tropicana Avenue, Swenson Street and Paradise Road near McCarran International Airport.

Some planets stand stark naked. For the first time, we have observational evidence that some super-Earths orbit so close to their host stars that the puffy atmospheres that clothed them have been ripped away.

One by one, the three 2015 miss debutantes twirled past the tables filled with wide-eyed junior high school girls. The debs, in their ruffled ball gowns with lace bodices and sateen-finished full skirts, full-length gloves and tiaras, imparted a regal grace to the humble Westside church banquet hall.

Who has better Las Vegas entertainment stories than the people who were backstage, and even onstage, with the stars?

A couple of recent books remind us of the big role supporting musicians played in the city’s show business history. Admittedly, I’m a little partial to both.

I have a conflict of interest. John L. Smith is a friend of mine. And I’m prouder than ever to say that.

After Sheldon Adelson bought the Las Vegas Review-Journal, then-acting editor Glenn Cook told Smith he couldn’t write about his new boss, who several years ago sued Smith for libel and forced him into bankruptcy. The case was dismissed. New editor J. Keith Moyer just informed Smith that Steve Wynn is off-limits because Wynn sued him unsuccessfully—despite Wynn since having granted interviews to him.

A Catholic woman fired from her job at a bottled water company led by a Nevada lawmaker has filed a federal lawsuit against the business, saying she was pressured to watch videos on Scientology and was denied pay raises because of her religious beliefs.