WHAT’S AHEAD IN NEVADA POLITICS RGJ columnist Jon Ralston offers his predictions for politics in 2015. Ralston Reports, 5A A O UP T
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’ ERS TUR FAC S IN U N A ! ON IN M COUP ’S RGJ AY TOD
SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2015
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DANGEROUS CROSSINGS
12 Northern Nevada pedestrians were killed in 2014. Is the state doing enough to keep roads safe? edestrians are dying on the streets of Reno and Sparks. Vincent Yowell was one of them. Anyone active in city life — whether volunteering at the food pantry, seeing a concert in the park or having a burger at Brickies — almost certainly encountered Yowell’s smile and ready helping hand. “He would always show up as one of the volunteers,� said Lauren Hufft, a local business owner. “He’d always ask, ‘Can I help you? What can I do to help you?’ He was always happy to give a hug, always happy to give a kiss. He was a very gentle, giving person.� Yowell, 54, also was known for walking everywhere. He didn’t have a car, so he relied on the bus and foot power for transportation. On Dec. 22 at 5 a.m., he was killed walking across North Virginia Street in front of the Bonanza Casino. Yowell was one of 12 pedestrians killed while crossing streets in Washoe County last year. A Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found most
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PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES In Washoe County
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of the victims died on city roads maintained by the Nevada Department of Transportation — roads that traversed sleepy pastures and sparsely populated areas decades ago. Now, those roads bisect thriving business and residential areas that put pedestrians in the poorly lit paths of high-speed vehicles. The deaths raise the question of whether the state is doing enough to protect pedestrians on these highways. Although the roads are now in largely urban areas, the cities have no control over making safety improvements. And the state’s process for making improvements is so slow that even something as simple as installing a
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See CROSSINGS, Page 6A
SOURCE: NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
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Pedestrians make their way through the intersection at Kietzke and Peckham lanes in Reno on Jan. 7. A 2011 safety study's recommendations for the intersection have yet to be implemented. JASON BEAN/RGJ
ONLY IN THE SUNDAY RGJ IN-DEPTH
POLITICS
What will Sandoval say? Gov. Brian Sandoval, perhaps cautious by nature, has been tight-lipped about his State of the State speech he’ll deliver Thursday evening from the Assembly chamber at the Nevada Legislature in Carson City. But RGJ political writer Ray Hagar offers a few informed guesses as to what issues the governor will address. 9A
SUNDAY BUSINESS
Mine project prompts concerns The planned expansion of a major gold mine in northeast Nevada could cause big problems for Nevada’s largest herd of mule deer, a sportsmen and conservationist group contends. 11A
GAMING IS RIDING THE GOOD-NEWS WAVE The $30.3 million profit turned in by Washoe County’s biggest casinos in fiscal 2014 marks another in a string of victories for the region in the name of economic recovery. It spells optimism for the tourism sector as well as the broader economy. 1D
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