Around the State

No Bomb Found Following Evacuation at Reno Courthouses

RENO — Sheriff deputies found no explosives after a bomb scare in downtown Reno forced the evacuation of two courthouses and shut down several streets for nearly two hours.

Authorities evacuated and closed the Washoe County District Court and the Reno Justice Court across the street in the Mills B. Lane Justice Center following a bomb threat Wednesday afternoon.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office said it determined there was no danger after a search that included bomb-sniffing dogs “revealed no evidence to support a threat.”

Most streets reopened by 5 p.m. in the neighboring blocks where traffic was clogged near the Truckee River on the south edge of the main downtown casino district. The courthouses remained closed for the day.

Chalk Outlines Highlight Vegas-Area Pedestrian Safety Drive

LAS VEGAS — Public safety officials in Nevada are beginning a drive to improve pedestrian safety with chalk silhouettes on roads, reflective bands for people crossing streets, and advisories for motorists.

Vulnerable Road Users Project chief Erin Breen at UNLV says a “Dusk 2 Dawn” campaign kicked off Monday in and around Las Vegas, where 91 white outlines mark spots where pedestrians have died in recent years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ranked Nevada the fifth most dangerous state for pedestrians in 2017, with a little more than three pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents.

Clark County, including Las Vegas, ranked 11th among 25 counties in the U.S. with the highest number of pedestrian fatalities per year in 2014 through 2018 — behind jurisdictions in Southern California and the Phoenix, Miami, Dallas, Houston and Chicago areas.

Officials say pedestrian fatalities tend to increase during evening darkness following the end of daylight saving time.

Kamala Harris gets Coveted Invite from Powerful Nevada Union

LAS VEGAS — Kamala Harris will be the first Democratic presidential candidate to hold a town hall with the powerful casino workers’ Culinary Union in Las Vegas.

The union’s national affiliate Unite Here announced that the event with the California senator will be held Friday.

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 represents bartenders, house-keepers and other workers in the city’s famed casinos. It offers one of the most powerful endorsements in Nevada Democratic politics.

The union’s leaders have had private meetings with most of the presidential candidates, but Harris is the first to be invited to a town hall with the union’s rank-and-file members. The union said Harris’ event will be the first in a series of town halls with the top Democratic presidential candidates.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who was considering a run for president but ultimately decided against one, had a town hall with the union in February.

Culinary’s 60,000 members are mostly women and mostly immigrants, and immigration reform, health care and workers’ issues are among the union’s top priorities.

UNR President Johnson Stepping Down in June

RENO — University of Nevada, Reno President Marc Johnson has announced plans to step down this summer after more than eight years on the job to transition to a faculty position.

Johnson said in a statement Thursday serving as the university’s 16th chief executive has been the “responsibility of a lifetime.”

He said he’s making the decision with “profound and everlasting gratitude” to the people of the university who have achieved at “historic and record-setting levels” in practically every area.

Johnson said he’s excited about what the future holds for the next leader of what he says in an “uncommonly vital, historically vibrant asset we hold in trust for the people of Nevada.”

He said his final day as president will be June 30, 2020. He plans to become a professor in the UNR Business College’s Department of Economics.