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- ⛽ Governor Lombardo Warns of Higher Gas Prices from California's New Law
⛽ Governor Lombardo Warns of Higher Gas Prices from California's New Law
Issue #190 - June 14, 2024
John Wu
14 Jun
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📆 Weekly Local Events for June 2024
Regular weekly events in or near Summerlin, Las Vegas are listed below.
Visit here to lookup specific venue information or for upcoming and/or non-weekly events on Meetup.
Monday
Monday Classes At Latin Blendz: (Every week on Monday @ 10AM)
Socially Vegas - Monday Night Bowling @ The Orleans Bowling Center: Must arrive/check-in before 7pm; 7 - 10pm (Every week on Monday); COST (CASH Only) $10 for 2 games (includes shoes) COST: $12 for 3 games (includes shoes)
Monday Night TRIVIA at ReBAR, 1225 S Main St, Las Vegas: (Every week on Monday @ 7PM)
Tuesday
Terrific Tuesday Fun Pickleball @ Police Memorial, Bring a Chair: (Every week on Tuesday @ 2PM)
Sand Volleyball Intermediate, Rusty and Old Time Players @ Aloha Shores Park (NW), Cheyenne & Buffalo, 7550 Sauer St, Las Vegas: (Every week on Tuesday @ 6 - 8 PM)
Run Drink Las Vegas - Weekly Tuesday Run @ Frankie’s Uptown patio: 6:30 - 8:30 PM (Every week on Tuesday), FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @rundrinklv FOR THE LATEST WEATHER/TIMING UPDATES
Coed Soccer - Summerlin: Crossings Park, 1111 Crestdale Ln, Las Vegas: 7:30 - 9:45 PM (Every week on Tuesday/Thursday)
Wednesday
Business Leads Group - Networking Breakfast @ Summit Restaurant, Eagle Crest Golf Course, 2215 Thomas W Ryan Blvd, Las Vegas: Cost $20 cash, 7 - 8:30 AM (Every week on Wednesday)
Early Risers Toastmasters Meeting (In-Person - Summerlin Egg Works / Online Event: 7 - 8 AM (Every week on Wednesday)
Las Vegas Valley Bicycle Club - Wednesday Morning Ride @ Einstein Bagels: 9 - 11:30 AM (Every week on Wednesday)
Speakers & Leaders of Summerlin Toastmasters Meeting, Summerlin Egg Works, 2025 Village Center Cir, Las Vegas: 12 - 1:30 PM (Every week on Wednesday)
Live Music Yoga w/ Cheryl Slader @ Blue Sky Yoga: (Suggested Donation $12); 5:30 - 6:45 PM (Every week on Wednesday)
Country Crossroads Dance, Rhythms Dance Studio & Event Center, 4545 W Sahara Ave, Las Vegas: $15 Drop-in Rate / $50 for the whole month: 8 - 9 PM (Every week on Wednesday)
Thursday
Abundance Business Networking Group Online Event: 7 - 8:30 AM (Every week on Thursday). Please arrive 10-15 minutes early for networking. Steps to access our BNI Online™ Virtual Chapter Meeting, visit website.
Las Vegas Real Estate Investors Association - Weekly Power Lunch For Real Estate Investors: 11 AM - 1 PM (Every week on Thursday). Request to join here.
Free Salsa Classes @ Feel The Music Dance Studio: 7 - 8 PM (Every week on Thursday). Visit the website to register online.
Summerlin Bitcoin Happy Hour, SG Bar, 9580 W Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas: 6:30 PM (Every week on Thursday)
Coed Soccer - Summerlin: Crossings Park, 1111 Crestdale Ln, Las Vegas: 7:30 - 9:45 PM (Every week on Tuesday/Thursday)
Friday
Find Your Yoga Las Vegas - Flow & Yin W / Noé Hilyard @ Yoga Sanctuary: 6 - 7:15 PM (Every week on Friday) View Yoga Sanctuary's full schedule.
Swing Dancing in Las Vegas Vintage and Modern Swing Dances @ The Mint Tavern: 7:30 - 8:30 PM (Every week on Friday)
Saturday
Vino Las Vegas Wine & Yacht Club Brunch: 9 AM - 2 PM (Every Saturday and Sunday)
Find Your Yoga Las Vegas - Saturday Morning Meditation with Practitioner Selina Kelly @ Yoga Kandy, LLC. Cost: Love Donation $5-$10 suggested. 11 - 11:45 AM (Every week on Saturday)
Sunday
Las Vegas Valley Bicycle Club - Sunday Morning Ride @ Einstein Bagels: 9 - 11:30 AM (Every week on Sunday)
Vino Las Vegas Wine & Yacht Club Brunch: 9 AM - 2 PM (Every Saturday and Sunday)
Level 1 West Coast Swing @ 2580 N Rancho Dr, North Las Vegas: 7 - 8 PM (Every week on Tuesday); Drop in Rate is $15, Monthly pass is $50; Register online.
🌤 Summerlin South, Las Vegas 10-Day Weather Forecast
⛽ Las Vegas Gas Prices
⛽ Governor Lombardo Warns of Higher Gas Prices from California's New Law
Gas prices in Nevada could rise because of a new law California put in place to curb price gouging.
Last year the Golden State created a new state division via legislation, known as the California Gas Price Gouging and Transparency Law, to oversee and regulate the state’s gas and fuel operations. The law also paved the way for the California Energy Commission (CEC) to set a maximum margin for oil/gasoline refineries and penalize refiners that exceed the margin.
Gov. Joe Lombardo and others are concerned that setting maximum margins or profits on California’s refineries could limit the amount of gasoline the state exports and increase gas prices in the West as many states — including Nevada — get gas from California refineries.
It’s unknown what the exact impact of the California law will be, as state regulators are still considering how and if they should put profit caps on refiners. However, one analyst said gas prices could go up to as high as $10 per gallon in Nevada if extreme measures are put in place. A decision on profit caps is expected to be issued later this year, a CEC spokesperson said.
Whatever the decision is, it will greatly impact Nevada since the state gets about 88 percent of its fuel from California refineries, Lombardo said in a May letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“We’re stuck with what happens in California,” said Peter Krueger, state director for the Nevada Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, which represents fuel distributors and retailers.
Impact on Nevada Gas Prices
Even though no decision has been made, if California moves forward to create a profit cap, it would likely cut down the supply of gas in the Western U.S. and lead to an increase in prices, said Patrick De Haan, head petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.
“The potential impact could be severe enough where either (Nevada is) not getting gasoline, or the gasoline that does flow into Nevada could be theoretically $5 or $10 a gallon,” De Haan said. “The degree of how high prices go is dependent on how much they tighten the market.”
Krueger said he wouldn’t know the impact on prices at the pump but noted that Nevada has few alternatives since the state’s biggest fuel pipelines are connected to California and it doesn’t make sense for Nevada to get its gas delivered by trucks from other states.
“We’re very limited in where we can go,” he said. “If it’s based only on price, then we’re going to have to suck it up and pay the price that it’s delivered to us at.”
California and Nevada already have some of the highest gas prices in the nation. On Thursday, California had the highest average gas price in the U.S. at $4.87 per gallon, while Nevada had the fifth highest at $4.05, according to AAA data.
Governors Go Back and Forth
Lombardo’s letter to Newsom also expressed concerns that California’s price gouging laws could raise gas prices.
“While we have no details on what this might look like, I’m concerned that this approach could lead to refiners either constraining supplies of fuels to avoid a profit penalty or even leaving our shared fuels market entirely,” Lombardo said in his letter. “Either scenario would likely lead to limited supplies and higher fuel costs for consumers in both of our states.”
Lombardo asked that before any profit caps are put in place, California looks at what the impacts of the caps would have on gas prices across the West.
Newsom hasn’t been receptive to Lombardo’s letter.
“This is a stunt to appease Gov. Lombardo’s Big Oil donors, who contributed tens of thousands of dollars to his campaign,” a spokesperson for Newsom said, in an emailed statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “He’s parroting their talking points, and he knows full well that oil refiners are driving up gas prices and making massive profits — harming residents of both of our states. Price spikes are profit spikes, and California is holding Big Oil accountable.”
Lombardo’s office said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the governor was expressing “good faith” concerns on the impact of California’s new laws.
“Political gamesmanship isn’t the answer to legitimate policy concerns, and Governor Lombardo’s offer to have the Nevada Office of Energy assist the California Energy Commission in understanding the impacts of their policy decisions still stands — though Governor Newsom has no apparent interest in that,” said Elizabeth Ray, a spokesperson for Lombardo, in an emailed statement.
What Can Nevada Do?
De Haan said that the impacts of any decisions around refinery profit caps will likely take several years to be felt but will likely end in prices going up.
“The long run game of this is, if you disincentivize refineries from refining, you’re going to end up with lower supply,” he said.
While the decision on price caps is still on the way, there isn’t much Nevadans can do but monitor the process, De Haan said.
It’s unlikely Nevada could become less reliant on California refineries unless more refineries are constructed in the Silver State, but that could be challenging since the state is landlocked, De Haan said.
Krueger said building refineries in Nevada is a “non-starter” since the state has no pipelines to import crude oil.
Ray said the Nevada Office of Energy has been directed to have policy discussions on refinery profit caps with interested parties both in Nevada and the region.
🏀 Aces Snap Losing Streak with Historic Comeback Against Mercury
The Aces’ three-game losing skid is no more, and the team accomplished the feat after posting its worst opening quarter of the season.
The two-time defending WNBA champions beat the Phoenix Mercury 103-99 on Thursday night at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
The victory came after the Aces (6-5) were down 16 points to end the first quarter. They mounted a historic comeback in the second, scoring a franchise record 42 points in the period. The offensive explosion was made possible by the team’s 10 3-pointers, the most in a quarter in WNBA history.
Jackie Young led the Aces with a career-high 34 points. A’ja Wilson had 32 points and 15 rebounds. She now has the most consecutive 25-point games in WNBA regular-season history (eight).
Brittney Griner led the Mercury (6-7) with 25 points.
“We’re still figuring ourselves out,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “But I’m starting to see glimpses of not only who we are, but who we can become this year. At the end of the day, you should expect a little adversity in anything you’re trying to accomplish.”
The Aces finished 2-3 in the Commissioner’s Cup and won’t advance in the in-season tournament.
Instead, the Aces will turn their attention to a Finals rematch with the New York Liberty at noon Saturday at Michelob Ultra Arena.
Key Takeaways from the Win:
1. Colson Provides Spark
Wilson had 10 of the Aces’ points in a first quarter that ended with them down 28-12. The only other points for the Aces in the opening frame came from Kelsey Plum at the free-throw line.
The Aces desperately needed momentum to open the second quarter, and that’s exactly what Sydney Colson provided off the bench.
A quick 3-pointer made her the first on the board in the second quarter, and she made a driving layup on the next play. Colson was up to eight points midway through the quarter, and she ended her run by sending the ball flying to Alysha Clark for a Hail Mary fast-break layup with a little over three minutes remaining in the first half.
Colson was a game-high plus-11 in the box score in 18 minutes. After the win, Hammon called her the “consummate professional,” for consistently adapting to her sporadic minutes. The reserve guard later explained her standout performance as simply being ready when her number was called.
“Those first 10 games of the season. That really wasn’t us. Even in some of the wins. And so we knew that we needed to get back to a certain style of play,” Colson said. “I just knew when I got in, (I should) try to help make something happen defensively. … I happened to hit some shots, and Jackie was on a heater.”
2. ‘Silent Assassin’
It’s safe to say Young isn’t under the weather anymore.
An illness that struck the guard last week in Dallas impacted her performance for the past three games. While Young said postgame that she still doesn’t feel like she has her “wind” at full capacity, she showed that she’s feeling a lot better.
“The Silent Assassin” scored 21 points in the second quarter, which was another career high for her. She had seven of the Aces’ 10 3-pointers in the period, which was three shy of the WNBA’s single-game record for made 3s in a game.
“I asked the group how you’re wired when things get hard. And I think Jackie told me exactly how she’s wired,” Hammon said.
“I just got hot for a little bit,” Young said.
3. Olympic Preview
If you wanted an early look at what Team USA might look like during the upcoming Paris Olympics, Thursday’s game was a perfect opportunity.
The Aces have four Olympians in Wilson, Young, Plum, and Chelsea Gray. All were active other than Gray, who could have made her season debut Thursday, as she was upgraded to “questionable” and warmed up before the game.
But Hammon said before tipoff that she would need to see Gray play five-on-five a few more times before she would feel comfortable seeing her season debut.
The Mercury’s Griner, Diana Taurasi, and Kahleah Copper will join the Aces at the Olympics. While Copper went off for 37 when the Mercury beat the Aces in Las Vegas last month, she was held to 18 points Thursday.
🏡 Las Vegas Valley to See New Residential and Commercial Development by 2026
A master-planned community with more than 3,000 homes is slated for 505 acres of former federal land in the northwest Las Vegas Valley.
Olympia Companies purchased the desert land — located several miles west of Centennial Hills Hospital and near the 215 Beltway — for $55 million in a November Bureau of Land Management auction.
Construction on the first homes is expected to start by the end of 2026, and the entire project should be completed within eight years of the start date, Olympia Companies said.
Olympia Companies Executive Vice President Chris Armstrong stated that the company was the only bidder for the land. The company nominated the land for sale through the BLM’s Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.
The community will include some commercial projects to complement what’s already in the area, he said.
“There is a tremendous burden of infrastructure costs to service the property including water, power, roadways, and other utilities,” Armstrong said. “This is a situation where growth is paying for growth as the developer is responsible for the costs.”
Olympia, run by Garry Goett and Guy Inzalaco, is spearheading the project with partner Larry Canarelli. Olympia has developed more than 8,500 homes in Southern Highlands, including the Southern Highlands Golf and Country Club, along with the communities of Skye Canyon and Skye Hills.
“The project will predominantly provide housing that is similar in nature to Skye Canyon and the surrounding neighborhoods and will include a broad product segmentation including entry-level, first move-up to executive-level homes,” Armstrong said. “There will be an extensive trail network with connectivity to a series of primary and secondary parks, and a perimeter trail that also provides a buffer and transition zone to the neighboring Red Rock National Conservation Area.”
Olympia will also be partnering with Las Vegas and the BLM to design and build a park that will act as a gateway to recreational opportunities within Red Rock’s conservation area.
Las Vegas finds itself in the middle of a housing crunch as industry experts on both the commercial and residential sides and various politicians have called for the federal government to release more land for development within Clark County to alleviate upward pressure on prices.
The proposed community aims to address part of this issue by increasing the housing supply and providing a variety of housing options to meet different needs and price points. The development will include infrastructure investments to ensure the community is well-serviced and connected to the broader Las Vegas area.
Key Features of the Project:
Housing Diversity: The development will feature a range of housing types, from entry-level homes to executive-level residences, ensuring a diverse community catering to various income levels and needs.
Commercial Projects: To complement the residential area, some commercial projects will be included, providing residents with convenient access to essential services and amenities.
Extensive Trail Network: An extensive network of trails will connect primary and secondary parks within the community, promoting outdoor activities and a healthy lifestyle. The trails will also serve as a buffer zone to the Red Rock National Conservation Area.
Gateway Park: In collaboration with Las Vegas and the BLM, Olympia will design and build a park that will serve as a gateway to the recreational opportunities in the Red Rock National Conservation Area.
Infrastructure Investment: Significant investments in water, power, roadways, and other utilities will be made to ensure the community is well-supported and sustainable.
Implications for Las Vegas:
This development comes at a crucial time for Las Vegas, which is experiencing a housing shortage. The new community will help alleviate some of the pressures by increasing the housing supply and providing diverse housing options. It also underscores the need for strategic development and infrastructure planning to support the city's growing population and housing demands.
⚖ Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump-Era Bump Stock Ban
The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that allows semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns and was used on the Las Vegas Strip in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
The high court’s conservative majority found that the Trump administration did not follow federal law when it reversed course and banned bump stocks after a gunman in Las Vegas attacked the Route 91 Harvest country music festival with assault rifles in 2017. The gunman fired more than 1,000 rounds into the crowd in 11 minutes, leaving 60 people dead and injuring hundreds more.
The 6-3 majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas said a semiautomatic rifle with a bump stock is not an illegal machine gun because it doesn’t make the weapon fire more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger.
“A bump stock merely reduces the amount of time that elapses between separate functions of the trigger,” Thomas wrote in an opinion that contained multiple drawings of guns’ firing mechanisms.
He was joined by fellow conservatives John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Alito wrote a short separate opinion to stress that Congress can change the law to equate bump stocks with machine guns.
In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointed to the Las Vegas gunman. “In murdering so many people so quickly, he did not rely on a quick trigger finger. Instead, he relied on bump stocks,” she said, reading a summary of her dissent aloud in the courtroom.
Sotomayor said that it’s “deeply regrettable” Congress has to act but that she hopes it does.
Cortez Masto Responds to Ruling
The ruling came after a Texas gun shop owner challenged the ban, arguing the Justice Department wrongly classified the accessories as illegal machine guns.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said in a statement that she was “extremely disappointed” with the high court’s decision, and she called on Congress to pass legislation to ban bump stocks.
The Biden administration said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) made the right choice for the gun accessories, which can allow weapons to fire at a rate of hundreds of rounds a minute.
It marked the latest gun case to come before the high court. A conservative supermajority handed down a landmark decision expanding gun rights in 2022 and is weighing another gun case challenging a federal law intended to keep guns away from people under domestic violence restraining orders.
The arguments in the bump stock case, though, were more about whether the ATF had overstepped its authority than the Second Amendment.
Justices from the court’s liberal wing suggested it was “common sense” that anything capable of unleashing a “torrent of bullets” was a machine gun under federal law. Conservative justices, though, raised questions about why Congress had not acted to ban bump stocks, as well as the effects of the ATF changing its mind a decade after declaring the accessories legal.
The high court took up the case after a split among lower courts over bump stocks, which were invented in the early 2000s. Under Republican President George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama, the ATF decided that bump stocks didn’t transform semiautomatic weapons into machine guns. The agency reversed those decisions at Trump’s urging after the shooting in Las Vegas and another mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school that left 17 dead.
Background on Bump Stocks
Bump stocks are accessories that replace a rifle’s stock, the part that rests against the shoulder. They harness the gun’s recoil energy so that the trigger bumps against the shooter’s stationary finger, allowing the gun to fire at a rate comparable to a traditional machine gun. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have their own bans on bump stocks.
The plaintiff, Texas gun shop owner and military veteran Michael Cargill, was represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a group funded by conservative donors like the Koch network. His attorneys acknowledged that bump stocks allow for rapid fire but argued that they are different because the shooter has to put in more effort to keep the gun firing.
Government lawyers countered that the effort required from the shooter is small and doesn’t make a legal difference. The Justice Department said the ATF changed its mind on bump stocks after doing a more in-depth examination spurred by the Las Vegas shooting and came to the right conclusion.
There were about 520,000 bump stocks in circulation when the ban went into effect in 2019, requiring people to either surrender or destroy them, at a combined estimated loss of $100 million, the plaintiffs said in court documents.
Summerlin Area Command - Week Ending: June 7, 2024
Courtesy of The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
📌🏠 Summerlin South - May 2024
*Median Sold Price By Bedroom Count
This is the middle price for which all homes in the area were sold based on the number of bedrooms. Half of all the homes sold were below this price, and half were above.
Visit here to see the entire report.
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Until next time, John Wu.