Nevada’s Tesla Gigafactory Growth Spurt; Water Cutbacks in Massachusetts
A Tesla outside a Nevada saloon. Brad Armstrong / Flickr.com
Also: Revolving door for Florida prison guards and gold-mining blues in Montana.
RENO, Nevada: Electric-car manufacturer Tesla plans to open a gigafactory in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in the next two years, and that’s sparking a lot of growth in the area. As the Reno Gazette-Journal reports:
The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada anticipates unprecedented growth for Northern Nevada over the next five years in terms of jobs, housing demand, population and public revenue, and Sparks and Fernley are no exception. The two cities, however, offer different amenities in terms of shopping, recreation and affordability.
But managing that growth could be a challenge for local governments, including Sparks and Fernley. “Keeping up with demand is going to be problematic over the next few years,” Brian Bonnenfant, project manager for the center for regional studies at University of Nevada at Reno, told the Gazette-Journal. “[Both Sparks and Fernley] will have their challenges on meeting the projections if they come to fruition.” [Reno Gazette-Journal]
ATTLEBORO, Massachusetts: New water conservation mandates are certainly not unexpected in places like California which has been facing years of terrible drought conditions. But Attleboro, Massachusetts? Because of a water deficit, a lawn sprinkler ban went into effect on Monday, according to The Associated Press, which reports that rainfall is 7 inches below normal. Residents can still water their lawns with a handheld hose. [The Associated Press via WBUR-FM]
WHITEHALL, Montana: The downturn in global gold prices has hit Montana particularly hard and “likely contributed to the announcement last week that Golden Sunlight Mine near Whitehall, the state’s only active gold mine, would close its open-pit operations and lay off 140 workers in November,” the Missoulian reports, noting that the state’s conservation-friendly permitting process might drive gold-mining operations to more mining-friendly states like Nevada and Arizona. [Missoulian]
LINCOLN, Nebraska: In seven Nebraska counties and one Iowa county there are more registered voters than there are voting-age residents. And as the Omaha World Herald reports, there’s now the threat of litigation from the Public Interest Legal Foundation and True the Vote, which allege that the county jurisdictions haven’t followed federal law in keeping voter rolls properly maintained. [Omaha World Herald]
TALLAHASSEE, Florida: The Sunshine State’s troubled Department of Corrections system has hired more than 2,200 new prison guards in the previous year. But there’s an ongoing problem: 1,400 prison guards have left, many to law enforcement agencies. As The Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times’ joint Tallahassee bureau reports, the state’s prison chief, Julie Jones, told legislators last week: “We’re training, training, training and losing them.” She’s even written other agencies asking them not to hire her staff away. [Miami Herald / Tampa Bay Times]
(Photo by Brad Armstrong / Flickr.com)
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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