Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Mood more somber ahead of governor’s speech

RENO -- I'm up north for Gov. Jim Gibbons' State of the State address, to be delivered Thursday night. Eating breakfast in the airport, waiting for my car to be ready, and there's Sen. Bernice Mathews and Fred Hillerby, a lobbyist whose son, Mike, was chief of staff to former Gov. Kenny Guinn and now works for Harvey Whittemore, superlobbyist and Coyote Springs developer who was once in a movie with Kevin Bacon. Not really, but the point still holds, Nevada politics is a small world.

That hasn't changed, and all the names and faces will be mostly the same, but I am struck by how different it feels coming up here now as opposed to two years ago, when anything seeemed possible for Nevada. Yes, Gibbons had already gotten off to a rough start, but still, the state was flush, and the choices involved expanding all-day kindergarten for some, or for all.

Now, the choices are much more stark.

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