This week on Nevada Week , a look back at some of our best discussions in 2022.

♪♪♪ Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

Welcome to Nevada Week.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

In 2022, we covered a lot of ground.

And in this edition of Nevada Week , we're going to show you some of our strongest stories and conversations from the past year.

We start in February when I spoke with Economist Jeremy Aguero about what impact the Super Bowl will have on Las Vegas when it lands here in 2024.

(Jeremy Aguero) There's all kinds of benefits.

We can talk about them in terms of economic benefits, jobs, created wages and salaries for people that work in our community.

We talk about businesses that are engaged as a result of the Super Bowl.

We talk about them in terms of fiscal impacts, taxes that are generated because people stay in our hotel rooms.

By the way, those hotel rooms are going to cost a little bit more during the Super Bowl.

We talk about it in terms of social impacts, what you just mentioned.

But I think sometimes it's often forgotten in that whole conversation is what we're doing right now, talking about the Su per Bowl coming to Las Vegas.

This is a community that was designed to host people.

You think about Allegiant Stadium, built during COVID-19 crisis, what it means to show it being open.

What it means to advertise Las Vegas all over the world.

The most watched television program we could ask for highlighting not only two incredible football teams playing a premier contest in our community, but highlighting our community here in Southern Nevada all over the world.

There is tremendous value to that.

You add that to the jobs and the wages and salaries, it's a huge benefit for our community.

-Since that discussion, tourism officials have announced even more marquee sporting events in Las Vegas, like Formula One and the Final Four.

In June, Nevada Week gathered a panel to discuss a new initiative called the Black Giving Circle.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money for Metro Police programs, established the Black Giving Circle with the idea to, quote, forge and strengthen relationships between the Southern Nevada black community and local law enforcement, end quote.

Erika Washington, Executive Director of Make It Work Nevada, told us what she thought about the initiative.

-How effective do you think this Black Giving Circle could be in that area?

(Erika Washington) You know, I'm not really sure.

So I've done a little research, and I've been on the website and looked at all of the possible programs and things that can come from it.

But my main concern is th at where you have high crime, where you have a lot of marginalized folks, the income level is low.

89106, the average-- the median income is $28,000 a year.

So I think the problem is less about a relationship between the community and police officers, but resources that need to be made available to folks who live in marginalized communities.

And so I'm not exactly sure that it makes the most sense that we're asking folks to donate more money to create more programming for there to be a better relationship between the-- between Metro and young people.

I think that there are some obvious changes that need to be made within police departments, but there's more.

More than that, we need-- we need resources.

You need open-- You need to open the parks, you need to be able to have sidewalks and crosswalks, you need to have high-performing schools, you need to have after school programs, summer programs that are free or affordable for the children; and those things I think are how we start to lift folks into-- into another realm.

But when they only see destitute and they only see cops and they only see crime and they only see folks being harassed or arrested or what have you, that doesn't lead to thinking about a brighter day.

I think there are just other programs and ways that we can invest in our communities.

-So perhaps instead of the money going to this foundation, if it went directly to the people living there, you think that would be more worthwhile than in funding police programs to interact with the community?

How would that improve police relations, or would it make it not necessary to even do that work?

-You know, I think in the long run, it makes it unnecessary if we actually invest in it.

I think when people-- You know, people talk about defund the police, and it's a very hot topic.

And I think what people miss in that-- It's not to say that police, all police are bad or anything like that.

It's to say that, you know, if we take some of this money, this earmarked money for police officers or for-- and put these in the communities for actual resources and actual programming, long-term programming, not short term, not just a season, but actually investing in folks from the time that they are born until the time that they are well into their 30s, you know, I think that we can see some positive change.

But we have to have that long-term investment, and we have to really try to figure out how, you know, we change, we change people's circumstances and their environment, because an environment is only as good as the folks that are in the community.

And I think communities-- You know, a lot of communities, even Marble Manor and other places, you'll see community in those spaces.

It might be known as a high crime area or what have you, but you'll see community.

You see people who actually take pride and care about their surroundings, and they want-- they want more space and time to be able to do that.

And I don't think they have it at this point.

-This year, Clark County introduced new rules for short-term rentals like Airbnbs and Vrbos.

Nevada Week brought together guests both in favor of and against the regulations.

Beth Blackwood from Nevadans for the Common Good said short-term rentals contribute to the affordable housing crisis in Southern Nevada, and Jackie Flores, from the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association, disagreed.

(Beth Blackwood) We're short 80- to 100,000 units for people to live in here in our community.

So limiting the number of Airbnbs means that we are-- or the number of short-term rentals means that we are opening up additional housing for people that want to purchase a home or for long-term rentals, people that live in the area and contribute to our community and to our tax base.

(Jackie Flores) But I think that's a misconception, because to think that just because you're going to not have licensed short-term rentals that those are magically going to convert into affordable housing, that's not necessarily true.

Rents are through the roof right now.

It's not affordable for anyone and has nothing to do with Airbnb.

Available units for to purchase, it's also not an Airbnb problem or short-term rental problem.

These short-term rentals have been operating for years before the pandemic, before this housing issue started.

So, you know, again, you know, everybody seems to be blaming short-term rentals for every single thing that's happening here in the valley, you know, where it's affordable housing.

Which by the way, a lot of the short-term rentals are not located in affordable housing areas at all.

So that you know, that does not make sense.

You know, houses to buy, again, when these houses go for sale, they're gonna go up for the prices that are high right now.

They're not gonna go for sale for any lower than that.

-I happen to live downtown, adjacent next to the Medical District.

A corporation came into my neighborhood and purchased four houses all for the same price.

That impacts my property value and also takes away from available housing for people that might be attending the medical school or working in our local hospitals, working in our schools, working in our hospitality industry.

It takes away the availability of all of that and just allows people to come into town and stay for the weekend and not contribute to our local community.

-Following that discussion, the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association filed a lawsuit against the county seeking to stop the new rules from being implemented.

In September, The U.S. and the Holocaust premiered on PBS.

The documentary film series from Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein cast a critical eye on the United States' role in the Holocaust.

On Nevada Week , we gathered a group of guests from Nevada's Jewish community to talk not just about the film, but the current state of anti-Semitism.

Jolie Brislin is Regional Director for the Anti-Defamation League.

And Rabbi Sanford Akselrad leads Congregation Ner Tamid.

Let's move to the state of anti-Semitism right now.

And Jolie, this is where you come in.

In April, the Anti-Defamation League released its annual audit and found that in 2021, there were a record high number of reported anti-Semitic incidents in the United States.

2,717 incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism reported to ADL last year.

What are we seeing in Nevada?

(Jolie Brislin) And I think the important word in that is what was "reported," right?

So often incidents take place daily, and people are either accepting it or sweeping it under the rug, moving forward and not reporting them.

And so, you know, I would say that that data is actually much greater than those numbers.

And here locally, I mean, Nevada is not immune to what we're seeing around the country.

We had a 64% increase of anti-Semitic incidents last year over the previous year.

That includes harassment, vandalism, and assaults.

And so, I mean, we see this rise of anti-Semitism nationally, we see the trivialization and the Holocaust denial taking place on social media, and all of these go into place of incidents of anti-Semitic incidents.

-What do you believe to be behind the rise?

-Well, I think that there's a couple different factors that are behind the rise.

But I think we have to look at the words that we use, we have to be looking at education, and we have to be looking at our society and our elected officials, right?

We know that anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish problem, it's an American problem.

It's the canary in the coal mine.

And as anti-Semitism rises, we see racism, Islamophobia, anti-immigrant rhetoric, all continuing to rise as well.

And so you know, that sewer, that lid of the sewer of hate can't be put back on once it's been lifted.

And so it's continuing to, like, spew out.

And so it's our job as a community, as a society to push together to get that lid back on so that we have this under control a little bit more.

-What does everyone else hear, hearing within the community in relation to this rise?

(Rabbi Sanford Akselrad) Social media has also played a big role, I think, in the rise of hate and racism because people can look for these sites or the sites can sometimes find them and reinforce bigotries and prejudices that they might have and normalize them.

And as time goes on and they're reading about this stuff and they're reading about things that are lies about the Jewish community or other communities, they internalize it and they begin to believe it.

And so it's very hard to combat that.

You know, education is key, but what do you do if someone's main form of education is on that computer looking at certain social media sites?

So that's not the only culprit, but it's-- it's one of the ones that is very different than in generations past.

-In recent weeks, Twitter suspended the account of the artist formerly known as Kanye West after one of his posts appeared to show a swastika symbol inside a Star of David.

Midterm elections saw Vegas PBS partner with Nevada Public Radio for a congressional debate.

We were one of just a handful of media outlets that actually secured a debate.

And on the evening of October 10th, Congressman Steven Horsford and Republican challenger Sam Peters faced off live in our studios.

It was heated at times, especially during this exchange about abortion.

(Steven Horsford) So let's make sure your position is absolutely clear.

You condemn the Pro-Life groups th at are backing your campaign?

(Sam Peters) No.

I absolutely do not.

-They're the ones who called for a federal ban.

-Here's what's extreme, Mr. Horsford-- -We're going to jump into the two-minute open discussion.

-You still haven't answered the question.

Do you support third-trimester abortions?

-So let me-- Let's talk about-- -Answer the question.

-Let's talk about what a-- what a third-trimester-- -I'm going to answer your question.

-Yeah.

No, no, sir.

No, you-- -You just asked him-- Let Congressman Horsford respond.

-Women who are pregnant who have a very serious or threatening pregnancy towards the end of the pregnancy sometimes have to make very, very difficult choices, something that no politician in Washington will ever understand.

-Agreed.

-And so I don't want anything to stand in the way of a woman's right to make that decision with her doctor.

It's not my job to decide what week that is.

-So-- -It's my job as their representative to fight to protect that right.

-And it's-- -And that is what I will fundamentally do.

-That's what I will fight for-- -No.

-I've said I will stand up for the people of Nevada and the-- -No.

-Yes, I did.

-Not if it-- -Hang on.

-If Kevin McCarthy puts a bill on the floor.

-I will defend-- -You vote no?

-I will defend the people-- -You will vote no for a national ban on abortion right now, right here?

-I will defend the people-- -You will vote against Kevin McCarthy and the Pro-Life-- -I am certain.

I am certain-- -These are both yes or no questions.

First off, Congressman Horsford, would you vote for a ban on abortions in the third trimester?

-No.

-And second of all, would you vote yes on a federal ban on abortion?

-No.

If it affects negatively what the people of Nevada have already voted for in the Constitution, I will not.

-Horsford went on to win that race and will return to Washington, D.C. in January, representing Nevada's Fourth Congressional District.

He was recently elected chairman of the storied Congressional Black Caucus.

This past October was a somber one for Southern Nevada, as it marked the fifth anniversary of the 1 October mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip.

Nevada Week spoke with Travis Haldeman, an engineer with the Clark County Fire Department, who was at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival with his wife when the shooting began; as well as Tiffany Oba, with the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center; and Steve Riback, the director of Metro's Police Employee Assistance Program, to find out and how our first responders are coping five years later.

How are our first responders doing in Southern Nevada five years after 1 October?

I know it's a difficult question; you don't know all of them.

Where can we begin though?

Steve?

(Steve Riback) I think we're making inroads.

I'd like to think we could do better, we could do more.

We could always do better and always do more.

So it's just continuing to chip away, you know, one-- one employee at a time, one person that we're able to affect positively and help out at a time.

But it's very difficult to quantify because we are-- You know, Tiffany hit it with like the stigmas.

And it's, you know, we are as-- From the police side, we're the ones who are looked upon as, when you need help as a community, we're the person you call.

And so it's difficult at times to say, Ah, you know what?

Okay, now I need to make the call to somebody else to get some help.

So it's truly difficult to know, but I think we're getting better and we're chipping away.

-What do you think?

(Tiffany Oba)I think it's getting better.

Definitely not perfect, but I do see a shift.

I do see a change.

I do see more people willing to talk about how they're feeling and ask for the help.

-What more can be done, Travis?

(Travis Haldeman) You know, I think our department has really stepped up to the plate.

I think they're helping out.

The peer support team, our union, and our management are working together really to get us out and into the stations and talking to people.

I think we-- something that we could do on an individual level is sharing some of these experiences with our crew talking.

It sucks.

I'll be honest.

Sometimes it's hard to be vulnerable, especially with the people you care most about.

But I think that is how we can really have one of the most biggest impacts, you know, on our community.

-The day we taped that show is the day that Metro Officer Truong Thai was shot and killed in the line of duty.

We spoke with Riback about Thai as an officer and person on an episode of Nevada Week In Person that you can find at vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek.

During the month of October, there were several events to honor the victims and survivors of 1 October, including an opportunity where first responders could get custom tattoos to help them heal from that traumatic night.

Paramedic Patrick Crayne has tattoos; however, this one-- (Patrick Crayne) It's a paramedic badge with the Route 91 symbol in the middle.

- --is different.

-This one's actually my first, like real, meaningful tattoo.

It's going to be a reminder, aside from the memories of it.

But now I can look down and say, you know, I'm continuing on, you know, just to do my best for everybody.

-On October 1, 2017, Crayne responded to the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas, the deadliest mass shooting in modern history.

-It's hard.

It's hard to put into words because initially, it's just-- it was a reaction.

I just did what I had to do.

And then it wasn't until, like, a day or two later when it actually fully hit me about what I went through.

And it was a struggle.

It's been up and down, you know?

The nightmares, you know, you struggle with sleep.

Some days are better than others.

I haven't gone down to the memorial thing downtown.

I've tried, and I end up walking away.

I wanted a tattoo for a few years now, but I just never found that one that I wanted until I met him, and I said this is-- this where I'm going.

-"Him" is Tattoo Artist Jeremy Hill who Crayne communicated with as pa rt of the Healing Ink program in order to design this tattoo.

(Jeremy Hill) And if I can help him through that by, you know, gifting him something like this as a stepping stone to growth and, you know, doing better, then of course I want to do that.

You know what I mean?

And thankfully as a tattooer, I get to do this a lot.

(Craig Dershowitz) Artists have been giving charity and doing philanthropic humanitarian work for so long.

Forever we've heard all these terrible stories about what tattoo artists were, but the truth is they've been doing mastectomy tattoos, they've been doing reconstruction tattoos.

So it's not unusual to them.

They really become part of the people they tattoo.

This is a lot more intense, but they have the tools within them already.

(Edson Cano) I think if I can help someone through my craft, then I'm always willing to do so.

And when the opportunity came about, I was more than ecstatic to be doing it, you know?

-Edson Cano is Ashli Zeidman's tattoo artist.

The advanced EMT was also on duty during 1 October.

(Ashli Zeidman) We got the call for one victim shot on our way there.

The radio just kind of started blowing up, and lost in translation was that we were supposed to hold short and not go in, which "hold short" means Metro needs to clear the scene so that everyone's safe.

When we pulled in, he was still shooting.

And we could still hear, like, the gunshots and everything.

It's been better now, now that I've gone to therapy and kind of worked through everything.

But for a while it was really bad PTSD.

I still don't like fireworks on Fourth of July because it sounds very similar; so I don't go out.

Crowds have been a big problem for me since then; so I don't like going to big events.

If I do, I have to have someone with me that I can literally hold onto.

-And when she's alone, it's her dog she holds onto, the subject of her personalized tattoo.

-His name is Petey.

Named him after the Little Rascals dog.

He's just always been there.

I was single living at home by myself, and you get trapped in a dark hole.

And he was there.

He'd be excited to see me when I came home from work.

He'd get in the car, drive around with me when I didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone.

At night if I had nightmares, he would wake me up and sit there and cuddle with me until I was ready to go back to sleep.

Anytime I have a dark day or a bad call or feel like giving up, like, I can now-- I don't have to pull up my phone or have to have Petey right next to me.

I now have him on my arm to show, like, all right, I still got to take care of him.

And I have him no matter what happens.

-There's so many ways that we, thankfully as people who haven't experienced it, don't understand.

It's, someone cares about me.

It's, I have control.

I did this to my body.

I'm not controlled by th e events that happened before.

I now have agency over who I am and how I express myself.

It's just a matter of, I don't see the scar.

I was expecting to look and see the scar, and now I don't.

I see this beautiful creation.

-And those scars, both physical and mental, are familiar to first responders, says Crayne, who urges others in the same field to ignore stigmas and seek the help they often need.

-You're a first responder.

You signed up to see the worst of the worst, right?

And you're expected to just deal with it.

That's not-- That's not how it works.

You know, you can't just-- You have to talk.

You have to figure some outlet, because it will get to you eventually.

We can only be tough for so long.

-In the aftermath of 1 October, we witnessed firsthand the kindness of our giving community.

Maria Silva traveled to Laughlin and introduces us to a local couple on a mission to spread a little holiday cheer, all in hopes of making a difference in the lives of students in need.

[music] (Maria Silva) Santa came to town to visit the students at William G. Bennett Elementary School in Laughlin.

[cheers and applause] Happy to say, all of the students made Santa's nice list.

In order to surprise these nice kids, Santa enlisted the help of his elves, as well as Bob and Sandy Ellis.

(Bob Ellis) We are not the heroes.

It's the teachers, the principals, the school drivers, the staff that sees the needs of these kids every day.

-No doubt Mr. and Mrs. Ellis are also on Santa's nice list.

Their generous donations are making a big difference in the lives of these deserving students.

(Dawn Estes)For Pre-K through 12th grade, shoes and socks for all of our students, 753 students.

And then for our Pre-K through 6th grade students, a brand new toy.

And the toys are just incredible and amazing.

-Mr. And Mrs. Ellis are on a mission to make sure these students know just how special they are and to show them that there are people out there who truly care.

Their hope?

That someday these students will also pay it forward.

(Sandy Ellis) We hope that they can carry this on later on in life and remember.

And maybe even it will leave a little good piece on further down, you know, of good.

We want them to be happy and know that there is a good life out there for them.

-As a special thank you, the talented students put on a holiday concert.

♪♪♪ -And Mr. and Mrs. Ellis had a front row seat where they proudly watched as the students performed their festive songs.

All of this holiday cheer, the only thanks they need.

And for them, the best present they could receive this Christmas.

-It's a great feeling.

It's our Christmas.

We don't do a lot for each other anymore because we've been happily married 57 years.

I know I need a medal, but-- [laughing] --but we feel good doing it.

[singing] [applause] -This holiday season, Mr. And Mrs. Ellis helped 30 schools in Clark, Humboldt, and Lincoln Counties, donating 6,000 pairs of shoes, 12,000 pairs of socks, and 5,000 toys.

We want to thank you for sharing your time with Nevada Week this year.

From all of us at Vegas PBS, have a safe and happy holiday season.

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