Sheepherders in Northern Nevada came largely from Basque country back in the day. They brought with them a tradition of making arborglyphs, carving text and images into living trees. You can see pictures of 175 Nevada arborglyphs here, 73 of which have companion videos showing a bit more of the surrounding. The unquestioned expert on Nevadan arborglyphs, Professor Joxe Mallea-Olaetxe, has written a great deal on the subject and in 2001 he wrote a good overview article in Forest History Today called Carving Out History: The Basque Aspens. Another good introductory article by journalist Emma Nichols in the Sacramento News & Review, Mystery of the Arborglyphs, with a focus on the more salacious arborglyphs. Basque Tree Carving: Legend in Nevada is an 18 minute documentary. Here is a video of Professor Mallea speaking about the arborglyphs and here is an interview with him. [all videos asx format]
posted by Kattullus on Apr 7, 2009 - 14 comments

"We're a demonstration project, if you would, of all the things that can go wrong at once." "You know Yolanda, I think most people watching this interview think to themselves that if they get cancer and they don't have health insurance that somebody’s going to take care of them," Pelley remarked. "No, no, there's nobody to take care of you," she said. [more inside]
posted by availablelight on Apr 6, 2009 - 85 comments

"The multi-million dollar casino will feature unique applications of The Beverly Hillbillies theme. Granny’s Shot Gun Weddin’ Chapel, Jethro’s All-You-Ken-Et Buffet, the Cement Pond, Granny’s White Lightnin’ Bar complete with rain & lightning ["The waitresses are dressed like Elly May but padded like Dolly Parton"], Elly May’s Buns (Bakery) [Link possibly NSFW], gourmet meals from Drysdales’ Fancy Eatin’ Fo Da Richins, Granny’s Vittles & Hog Jowls Coffee Shop, and an oil derrick are just a few of the many attractions … a project of Las Vegas standards will be created!" [more inside]
posted by mudpuppie on Dec 9, 2008 - 61 comments

The La Contessa, the Spanish galleon that roamed Lake Lahontan, is gone.
posted by fandango_matt on Dec 11, 2006 - 19 comments

Congressman Jim Gibbons's was 5 points ahead in the polls for the Nevada Governor's race, but that was before these drunken 911 calls. [more at wonkette]
posted by delmoi on Oct 19, 2006 - 44 comments

Oddly obsessive statistical analysis of the rates paid by customers of legal Nevada prostitutes, broken down by sex act, attractiveness, body type and presence or absence of a jacuzzi, among other topics. [via Cynical-C, who swears he found it by accident]
posted by mediareport on Jan 9, 2006 - 32 comments

Heidi Fleiss plans to open a brothel . . . . . . which will cater to women in Nevada. Money quote: " . . . you've got the situation with the old husband leaving his wife for the younger girl, and the lady sitting at home crying. Well, now she has a place to go and say, 'Right back at you, buddy, and on your credit card'.
posted by chai-rista on Nov 18, 2005 - 128 comments

A Blivet. More nuclear waste than the planned repository at Yucca Mountain can hold will pile up at reactor sites as the government continues to approve license extensions for power plants, an environmental research organization claimed in a study to be released today. If a repository is built by 2010 in the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, its 77,000-ton capacity will be filled by existing spent fuel awaiting shipment. That's not counting another 9,900 tons that will have accumulated in the meantime from license extensions, according to the study by the Environmental Working Group.
posted by kablam on Oct 23, 2004 - 10 comments

The increasingly spotty record of the GOP's involvement with voter registration companies. This is a follow-up to Tueday's Nevada thread. If you registered to vote for the first time this year as anything but a Republican you should probably check to see if your registration was properly filed... you know, just to be on the safe side.
posted by clevershark on Oct 14, 2004 - 16 comments

In 1967 the television program Bonanza enjoyed a three-year run as the most-watched television show in the United States. Bonanza had not started well; its first two seasons returning disapointing ratings but kept alive by the bequest of (then) NBC-parent RCA. RCA had a vested interest in keeping the color series alive in order to push sales of their color technology.

That same year Bill and Joyce Anderson created The Ponderosa Ranch tourist attraction near Incline Village, Nevada on the site allegedly shown by the burning map in the opening credits. The property annually attracts nearly 350,000 tourists to Lake Tahoe's north shore to enjoy the surroundings of a period recreation including mock gunfights, cowboy rope tricks and an honest 1860's-style saloon. (more inside)
posted by Ogre Lawless on Aug 5, 2004 - 12 comments

Framed for defending herself. On August 28th, 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada a woman named Kirstin Lobato was sentenced to life in prison. She was the victim of an attempted rape in May 2001, and had defended herself against her rapist. prosecutors used this "confession" of self defense to convict her of a murder that happened months later and in a town where she didn't even live. How "innocent until proven guilty" can you be if prosecutors are willing to use known perjurers and refuse to allow expert testimony?
posted by dejah420 on Nov 26, 2003 - 17 comments

Tacheback? (via The Presurfer)
Another web widget I have to add to my blog to stay cool? No, it's another moustache-growing contest, organized to support "The Institute of Cancer Research's national campaign to raise awareness and funding for male cancers". What do moustaches have to do with "male cancers"? Don't ask. Why did I say "another"? Because the biennial World Beard and Moustache Championships are coming to Carson City, Nevada, November 1st. Of course some media have already given this man the title of "World's Longest Moustache" (at least those who paid him $5 to take his picture).
posted by wendell on Sep 21, 2003 - 13 comments

It's not exactly the same as being in heaven surrounded by virgins.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly on Jun 18, 2003 - 31 comments

Nevada considering tax on prostitutes. Facing over $700 million in debt, Nevada (which has no state income tax) is considering taxing the fees paid to professional prostitutes in Nevada brothels. Everyone's angry, from the prostitutes upset about more of their fees being levied to anti-prostitution folk worrying about the legitimization of "industry that many people prefer to keep at arm's length." (Reporter's words, not mine) Should legalized prostitution be classified as "entertainment" and taxed? Will county revenues be hindered? Would I be considered a charitable deduction? And if the outraged hookers protest, what are the odds of Disney making a musical?
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Mar 1, 2003 - 15 comments

Riding the dog gets some folks home to loved ones or care takers. For a few, the bus is home. Reno News and Review's Deidre Pike takes a look at Reno, Nevada's Homeless Evaluation Liaison Program (HELP). Other cities have taken notice, and have begun to consider similar programs modeled after Reno's.
posted by mr_crash_davis on Nov 27, 2002 - 2 comments

Area 51, truth seekers 0. Bush reissues order keeping Nevada site secret. I can't believe he had time to think about this with all the other shit he's stirring so hard.
posted by puddsharp on Sep 18, 2002 - 16 comments

Nevada looking to legalize marijuana. And not just for medicinal use, but for recreational use as well. So far, it looks like there's a good chance it might happen.
posted by triggerfinger on Aug 14, 2002 - 34 comments

Nevada may be the first state to decriminalize marijuana. In the meantime Drug Czar John Walters believes that if drugs were decriminalized users shouldn't have the rights everyone else has.
posted by skallas on Jul 31, 2002 - 50 comments

Atomic blast licence plates are rejected by state.
"Any reference on a license plate to weapons of mass destruction is inappropriate and would likely offend our citizens."
posted by Mwongozi on Jun 7, 2002 - 12 comments

Nevada license tags depict atomic blast
Ugh. Am I the only one sickened by this? Sometimes I'm glad that I don't live in the USA.
posted by Mwongozi on Apr 27, 2002 - 75 comments

Nevada's Governor Kenny Guinn and Idaho's own Senator Larry Craig duke it out over nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain. Of course the plan has no shortage of detractors like "Yucca Mountain Facts", and the Las Vegas Sun has done a pile of reporting on it: their "dossier", and "science vs. politics" (first in a five-part series, all of which is now online). The state should have a copy of the Evironmental Impact Statement somewhere, too. It's fun for the whole family! Guinn and Craig's stories are part of the High Country News' syndicated Writers on the Range series.
posted by dcehr on Feb 8, 2002 - 3 comments

Welcome to Battle Mountain, Nevada: the Armpit of America!
posted by gimonca on Dec 3, 2001 - 28 comments

So, if my pizza's 30 minutes late, do I get a personal apology from Uncle Enzo?
"In Nevada, a 55-acre community called Front Sight, featuring streets with names like Second Amendment Drive and Sense of Duty Way, is being built for gun enthusiasts (people who buy an acre plot get lifetime use of the 22 planned ranges, an Uzi machinegun and a safari in Africa). In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, one gated community seems to have been taken over by black rap stars."
posted by GriffX on Sep 4, 2001 - 28 comments

Happy Burning Man, everybody!
posted by maura on Aug 28, 2001 - 13 comments

So, anyone can get a Nevada carry permit now? You'll have to scroll down a bit, so here's the quote: "On Wednesday, May 23, Governor Guinn (R) signed SB 20 and SB 172. SB 20 allows non-residents to apply for a Nevada Right to Carry permit starting October 1, 2001, and SB 172 abolishes the two-gun-per-permit limitation for Nevada Right to Carry permits beginning July 1, 2002, when the state's computer infrastructure is in place. " An article that explains, to some degree, what the law entails. I'm assuming that someone heading to Nevada to wear all his guns would still have to keep them locked up until he got there.
posted by Ezrael on May 30, 2001 - 6 comments

Marriage of 15-year-old to 48-year-old to be reviewed by Nevada Supreme Court.
posted by crushed on Mar 26, 2001 - 31 comments

Nevada, Colorado approve medical marijuana but Alaska's decrim measure goes down in flames.
posted by snakey on Nov 8, 2000 - 2 comments