Nevada State Democratic Party

Plant to bring green-job windfall

Posted in News Clips | 03/12/10 | By Stephanie Tavares Wind turbine manufacturing facility would employ 1,000, boost state’s clean-power resume Southern Nevada, long in the hunt for a new source of jobs and for companies that can boost the state’s stature in the renewable energy industry, can claim both with Thursday’s announcement that an international manufacturer of wind turbines plans to establish its first American plant here. The 320,000-square-foot facility is expected to be ready for operation by the end of 2011, creating more than 1,000 permanent jobs and…

Reid’s rural press conference centers on energy, agriculture

Posted in News Clips | 03/12/10 | By Steve Ranson Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., conducted a press conference Thursday to discuss issues relevant to rural Nevada and what has been done recently in Washington, D.C. on issues ranging from alternative energy to military training. Reid said the first stage of counties receiving their share of geothermal rent and royalties revenue passed this week. Last year, an overlooked amendment in a House Resolution diverted 25 percent of royalties and land lease money to the federal government. He said Churchill County stands…

Ensign scandal continues to unfold, leaving unanswered questions

Posted in News Clips | 03/12/10 | Las Vegas Sun Editorial Sen. John Ensign of Nevada has been dogged for the past nine months by a scandal centered on his affair with the wife of his former chief of staff, Doug Hampton. There have been questions about whether Ensign violated federal law and Senate rules in the wake of the affair. In June, Ensign acknowledged the affair in a short statement in Las Vegas, refusing to take questions. He has since gone on an apology tour across the state, but he…

Companies announce plans for wind turbine manufacturing plant

Posted in News Clips | 03/11/10 | By Sun Staff Plant in the Las Vegas area would employ about 1,000 people A consortium of companies announced plans today to develop a plant in the Las Vegas area that would employ about 1,000 people for manufacturing wind turbines. Once up and running, the 320,000-square-foot plant would be one of the largest manufacturing employers in Southern Nevada and would build upon an already fast-growing local renewable energy industry that so far has focused on solar power. Today’s announcement was made by private…

Gaming companies say thank you to Harry Reid in bright lights

Posted in News Clips | 03/11/10 | By Sun Staf Las Vegas gaming companies were showing in a very public way their appreciation to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for his role in ushering tourism legislation through Congress. A number of Strip casinos, including MGM Mirage and Harrah's properties, have this week placed messages on their marquees thanking Reid for the bill, signed last week by President Barack Obama. "Thank you Senator Reid for your help in passing the Travel Promotions Act," read Bally's video marquee Wednesday. The bill establishes…

Getting Nevadans back to work

Posted in News Clips | 03/11/10 | By Sen. Harry Reid Congress passed the Economic Recovery Act, also known as the stimulus bill, because we had to act decisively to stop the national recession from becoming a depression. While our recovery is ongoing, I’m happy to say that we were able to stabilize our economy, and stop an already bad situation from becoming even worse. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the Recovery Act created or saved between 1 to 2.1 million jobs in the fourth quarter of 2009 alone, and…

YUCCA MOUNTAIN FOES: ‘Sweet’ victory savored

Posted in News Clips | 03/10/10 | By Keith Rogers More than 100 attend mock wake for project "How sweet it is. How sweet it is. And it really is." That's how former Nevada Sen. Richard Bryan, a long-time foe of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project, opened his "keynote eulogy" Tuesday night at the project's mock wake at the Palms. Bryan pumped his fists in victory as more than 100 anti-Yucca activists cheered and the "Rocky" movie theme blared inside the ghostbar at the top of the resort. "Let's…

Las Vegas will benefit from Travel Promotion Act

Posted in News Clips | 03/09/10 | KTNV 13 Action News "It's been a tough year, particularly for domestic U-S travelers to come to Las Vegas," says Gary Selesner, the President of Caesars Palace.  "The one segment growing has been international." But international tourists are in high demand. Since 9-11, 68 million fewer visitors have come to this country. That's partly why the travel promotion act was created, so the U-S can market itself. "We collectively can no longer leave it to the states or corporations," says MGM Mirage Marketing Director…

Harry Reid, John Ensign work to reclaim rurals’ geothermal reven

Posted in News Clips | 03/09/10 | By Lisa Mascaro and Michael Mishak Nevada’s congressional delegation is scrambling to try to reverse a 5-month-old change in federal appropriations that is costing some of the state’s rural counties hundreds of thousands of dollars each month. At issue is the way the federal government divvies up royalty and lease payments from geothermal power companies that are using federal land. The 2005 Energy Policy Act allocated a quarter of that revenue to counties where geothermal plants are located, half to those counties’ states and a quarter…

Harry Reid makes campaign official, says much work to be done

Posted in News Clips | 03/09/10 | By Lisa Mascaro and Michael Mishak Sen. Harry Reid made his candidacy official Monday morning, filing to run for a fifth term in what experts say could be the most expensive and hard-fought race in the country. The Senate majority leader is in a fight for his political life. He suffers from abysmal approval ratings and trails the two leading Republican candidates seeking the chance to take him on in November. The GOP has routinely hammered him on the state's unflagging jobless rate, arguing that he…