• Josiah Kenyon, 34, of Winnemucca, was arrested almost 11 months after taking part in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Supporters of then-President Donald Trump, who had lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, stormed the Capitol in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from formally counting the electoral votes that would formalize Biden’s victory. Kenyon was the latest Nevadan arrested in connection with the riot, following Las Vegan Nathaniel DeGrave, 31, who pleaded not guilty to nine charges. Ronald Sandlin, 34, of Tennessee, was also arrested in Las Vegas.
• Kevin Kruger, who helped the UNLV men’s basketball team reach the Sweet 16 of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, was hired in March as head coach for a program that hasn’t played in the tournament since 2013.
• Although children age 5 and up are now eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and despite the urging of public health officials to do just that in the face of a continually mutating virus, Nevada lags much of the nation in vaccination rate. About 56% of the state has been fully vaccinated, greater than just 15 states.
• Two giants of Las Vegas’ hospitality and entertainment industries died this year. Siegfried Fischbacher was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer and died at age 81 in January shortly after having a tumor removed—less than a year after longtime partner Roy Horn died. Two days prior, casino magnate and Republican Party megadonor Sheldon Adelson, who owned the Venetian and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, died at age 87 from complications related to cancer treatment.
• Juliana Urtubey became the first Nevada educator to be named National Teacher of the Year. Through her work as a special education teacher at Kermit R. Booker, Sr. Elementary School and previously at Crestwood Elementary, Urtubey drew attention for her innovative efforts to enhance education for students with special needs and to establish relationships between the school, its students’ families and the surrounding community.
• Hundreds of couples got married on April 3. As anniversary dates go, it’s an easy one to remember: 4/3/21.
• After six years of construction, the $4.3 billion Resorts World Las Vegas became the first major new property on the Strip in more than a decade when it opened its doors in June on the former site of the iconic Stardust.
• The biennial session of the state Legislature ended with 564 bills passed, including those that allocated $50 million of pandemic relief for small businesses; authorized cannabis consumption lounges; allowed people to sue for being doxxed online; acknowledged the parental rights of same-sex parents, surrogates and divorced parents; banned ticket and arrest quotas for law enforcement officers; and banned the sale and possession of firearms that lack serial numbers, such as those sold as kits or made with 3D printers.
• The Las Vegas Aces had a golden year, even if they didn’t win the WBNA championship. Chelsea Gray and A’ja Wilson helped Team USA continue its 55-game winning streak dating back to the 1992 Olympic Games, while Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young won the first women’s gold medal in the new Olympic event of 3-on-3 basketball.
• For the fifth time ever, the mercury in Las Vegas hit 117 degrees Fahrenheit this year. It happened July 10, coming on the heels of the second-hottest June in the city’s recorded history.
• Many Vegas Golden Knights fans were heartbroken July 27 when the face of the franchise to date, likely future Hall of Fame goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, was traded to Chicago to free up cap space. Fleury had just won the Vezina Trophy, presented to the NHL’s best goalkeeper.
• Tens of millions of years ago, a zippy, plant-eating dinosaur that resembled a big, scaly, green chicken roamed the area that is now Southern Nevada. It was Nevadadromeus schmitti, the first dinosaur unique to Nevada, and its discovery was announced this year by Las Vegas paleontologist Joshua Bonde. He meticulously freed the fossilized bones of the dinosaur from the tan sandstone of Valley of Fire’s backcountry and vetted them more than 13 years before formally introducing it to the scientific community in September.
• Las Vegas Raiders, the good: Before the first season played with fans at Allegiant Stadium even started, the Raiders made history, when defensive end Carl Nassib came out of the closet, becoming the first openly gay player on an NFL roster. On opening night against the Baltimore Ravens, Nassib forced a fumble in overtime to set up the team’s game-winning score. Team owner Mark Davis also celebrated the NFL’s decision to bring the Super Bowl to Allegiant Stadium in 2024.
• Las Vegas Raiders, the bad: The middle of the Raiders’ season devolved into turmoil, starting with head coach Jon Gruden’s resignation after racist, sexist and homophobic emails from his past surfaced as part of an NFL investigation into the toxic workplace culture of the Washington Football Team. Shortly thereafter, 2020 first-round draft picks Henry RuggsIII and Damon Arnette were cut from the team—Ruggs after he was charged in the DUI death of a young woman and her dog, and Arnette after he posted a video on social media threatening to kill someone.
• John Lee and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo threw their names into the ring for the 2022 governor’s race. For Lee, it was a little trickier than for Lombardo, as the Democratic mayor of North Las Vegas had to switch parties in hopes of facing incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak in the general election rather than in a primary. Both, though, have chosen to, if not embrace, at least not denounce, former President Donald Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election being stolen from him.
• The Golden Knights showed again in November that they aren’t afraid to make major moves, trading for Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel. Soon after, the 25-year-old center underwent neck surgery, and isn’t expected to play until later this season.
• Clark County School District Jesus Jara was fired on a 4-3 vote of the school board, but a month later, board Vice President Irene Cepeda changed her mind. The board voted to rescind his termination, and Jara agreed to serve out at least the remainder of his contract. No specific reason was ever given for Jara’s initial termination.
• Rumors have swirled for much of the year that the Oakland Athletics could move to Southern Nevada. And in November, the organization reportedly offered to purchase land in the Valley for a potential ballpark.
• MGM Resorts International announced plans to sell the Mirage casino operations to Hard Rock International. The $1.075 billion deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of next year, and the resort will be rebranded, with a guitar-shaped hotel expected to be erected on the site.
• The median sales price for an existing home in the Las Vegas area reached $420,000 during November, a record-high. That’s $105,000 higher than the peak 2006 price, before the Great Recession struck.
• Harry Reid, the highest-ranking Nevadan in American political history, became the namesake for the nation’s seventh-busiest airport. The former Senate majority leader’s name replaced that of Pat McCarran, who as a senator from 1933 to 1954 was a major proponent of aviation but also a well-known racist and antisemite.
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