Chris Kudialis

Story Archive

County pot director talks weed lounges, black market and industry diversity

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019

Marijuana lounges in Clark County won’t open until at least the summer, according to an official in charge of business licensing. Jacqueline Holloway, the county’s director of the Department of Business License, said Wednesday a 12-member green ribbon panel will meet four times, starting Feb. 12, and ...

Bank in Las Vegas offers interest-free loans for workers affected by shutdown

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019

A bank with 10 branches in Las Vegas is offering those affected by the U.S. government shutdown a chance to borrow money without interest ...

Largest local Hispanic supermarket chain credits family roots for its success

Monday, Jan. 14, 2019

The unique sound of Victor Flores’ voice and his friendly smile have become a regular part of Spanish-speaking TV in Las Vegas. He’s employed at La Bonita supermarket, often appearing in ...

UNLV pitches its research, technology park at CES

Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019

At the Sands Expo and Convention Center, among hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of CES tech show attendees from around the world, one booth was distinctly Las Vegas. UNLV has been exhibiting at ...

State of the City: Goodman says Las Vegas economy 'strong and we’re going to keep that going'

Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman delivered her eighth State of the City address on Thursday to about 500 spectators at City Hall, focusing on public safety, health care and ...

Five products that caught our attention at this year’s CES

Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019

The gadgets, technology and services displayed at CES just never stop improving. More than 4,500 exhibitors from 160 countries returned to the Las Vegas Convention Center and 10 other properties across the valley this week to display their latest and greatest tech ...

For local companies, CES provides useful home-show advantage

Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019

Between the mega corporations promoting the hottest trends in technology, several Las Vegas small businesses are making ...

Las Vegas housing prices remain level in December

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019

Stable home prices and fewer homes changing hands in the Las Vegas Valley caused housing values to plateau last month, according to the valley’s leading real estate association ...

Mesquite seeks volunteers for annual balloon festival

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019

More than 40 hot air balloons piloted by professionals from across North America will take to the Mesquite skies later this month, but they’ll need help getting off the ground ...

Nevada notches 100th consecutive month of taxable sales increases

Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019

While the official end of Nevada’s recession is debated by experts, the state’s emergence from one of its darkest economies has been steady and strong ....

Las Vegan used hard work, innovation to rise to the top of the hemp industry

Monday, Dec. 31, 2018

Only in Las Vegas could a parody Donald Trump Twitter account become a prime marketing tool for a cannabis brand. But the handle, with more than 300,000 followers, is one of many ways out-of-the-box thinking and consistent effort propelled BuyLegalMeds.com.

Paiutes sell most expensive pot product to date at Las Vegas dispensary

Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018

A marijuana specialty product sold for a record price of $11,000 Friday night at a mega-dispensary on tribal land near downtown Las Vegas ...

'Party Central': Firework technicians prepare for massive New Year’s Eve show on the Strip

Friday, Dec. 28, 2018

The rooftop at Planet Hollywood is normally home to satellite dishes and metal ventilation system coverings. But, through the countdown to 2019, the Strip property’s rooftop will ...

RTC seeking public input on Boulder Highway project

Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018

Once a main valley express road serving as the primary route from Boulder City to Las Vegas, the 16-mile Boulder Highway is now most often associated with prostitution, crime and pedestrian crashes. The Regional Transportation Commission wants to change that ...

Long-distance bus company debuts virtual reality experience for Las Vegas commuters

Monday, Dec. 24, 2018

Passengers traveling to and from Las Vegas on this long-distance bus service will have an added entertainment option — a virtual reality experience. German busing company FlixBus, which began service for as low as $2.99 between Las Vegas to stops in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Diego on May 31, added the ...

Las Vegas firm wins prestigious state architecture award

Monday, Dec. 24, 2018

Carpenter Sellers Del Gatto Architects last month was presented with the Nevada chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ 2018 Firm of the Year award, the Silver State’s most prestigious award for an architecture firm.

80,000 fireworks to light up Strip for New Year’s Eve

Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018

Las Vegas Councilman Bob Coffin smiled moments before fireworks crackled and popped in the background during a news conference today announcing ...

County puts moratorium on new recreational marijuana dispensaries

Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018

Recreational-only pot dispensaries approved by the Nevada Department of Taxation won’t open anytime soon in Clark County after commissioners today delayed licensing over ...

Recall attempt spurs renewed calls to change laws in Nevada

Sunday, Dec. 16, 2018

Nevada’s laws governing the recall of public officials, state Democratic leaders say, are broken. That’s something Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Seroka is feeling after learning he’s the target of the latest recall …

Most of new recreational marijuana licenses were awarded to few vendors

Friday, Dec. 14, 2018

Despite efforts to diversify ownership in the expanding industry, only about 10 of roughly 150 applicants for the new pot stores received licenses. And to the dismay of some ...

Workspace-sharing company expanding to Las Vegas

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018

The world’s largest coworking space provider is making Las Vegas the home of one of its newest expansion projects ...

5 years later, Downtown Container Park remains a unique Vegas draw

Friday, Dec. 7, 2018

Amid the dozens of art galleries, breweries, restaurants, nightclubs and tech and cyber companies that have contributed to the restoration and newfound aura of downtown Las Vegas this decade, one project stands out as markedly different ...

Las Vegas votes to curb short-term rentals with new homeowner restrictions

Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018

The new regulations could force all but about 2 percent of the 162 legally operating short-term rentals in the city's jurisdiction to shutter when their special-use permits expire ...

Hispanic supermarket chain expanding to Henderson

Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018

La Bonita, a popular Hispanic supermarket chain with six valley locations, will open its first store in Henderson next summer. The new store, just north of Green Valley Parkway and ...

Las Vegas cousins overcome humble beginnings to create popular new weed product

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018

The cousins from New Jersey shared a studio apartment in downtown Las Vegas as they worked to make their mark in the marijuana industry. There was no ...

Marijuana tax collections top $7 million in September

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018

Tax proceeds from legal marijuana sales in Nevada topped $7 million in September, falling just short of the single-month record set in August, officials announced today. The industry brought in ...

CCSD superintendent honors principals of top schools

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018

Jesus Jara has been superintendent of the Clark County School District for less than six months. But he is already starting new initiatives to highlight the district’s successes. Jara led the first Superintendent’s Honor Roll ceremony ...

Nevada officials visit San Francisco to explore how marijuana lounges are run

Monday, Nov. 19, 2018

San Francisco is the only major U.S. city to offer full-scale facilities where the plant can legally be smoked, vaped, dabbed or eaten ...

Las Vegas marijuana convention skyrockets with growth of industry

Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018

One step into the annual Marijuana Business Conference in Las Vegas and the massive growth of the industry is evident. Small booths that used to squeeze into the Rio have ...

Las Vegas-based Essence marijuana operation selling for $290 million

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018

Owners of Las Vegas’ largest marijuana dispensary and cultivation operation announced today they are selling the business for $290 million. Armen Yemenidjian ...

Marijuana advocate sees Sessions’ ouster as a plus

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018

With Nevada’s marijuana industry flourishing, one of its greatest threats was eliminated this week when President Donald Trump forced the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions after nearly two years on the job, a leading Las Vegas pot advocate said. It is hoped that Matthew G. Whitaker, a former football player for the University of Iowa and Sessions’ chief of staff since October 2017, will take a more progressive stance on ...

Runners wed, memorialize loved ones during Las Vegas marathon festivities

Monday, Nov. 12, 2018

More than 100 couples participated in the event’s “run-thru weddings,” a roped-off area on the north end of the Strip where runners of the half and full marathons who applied in advance had their vows read and were issued ...

'Our Super Bowl': Marathon organizers relish return to Las Vegas Strip

Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018

More than 40,000 runners, representing all 50 states and 86 countries, will take to Las Vegas Boulevard today ...

Police: 2 more arrested in mistaken shooting of girl, 11, in North Las Vegas

Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018

North Las Vegas Police say they have arrested all but one suspect in the gang-motivated, mistaken shooting death of an 11-year-old girl earlier this month. Police announced today ...

Lee, Horsford win as 3 of 4 Nevada House seats go Democrat

Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018

Two of Nevada’s four congressional districts were expected to be won by thin margins Tuesday night, while it was assumed the other two races would be blowouts. It turned out all four races were ...

Finishing touches for Planet 13 as mega-dispensary set to open

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018

Tractors and commercial trucks moved their way through a crowded marijuana dispensary parking lot Monday just three days before the superstore was set to open to the public. Planet 13’s new 40,000-square-foot facility — located on West Desert Inn Road near Sammy Davis Jr. Drive — features a massive 16,500-square-foot mega-dispensary, a lobby that ...

Expert: Recreational marijuana sales in Nevada four times medical sales in first year

Friday, Oct. 26, 2018

With an association-estimated $989.7 million in contributions to the economy, Nevada’s pot industry also produced 8,300 full-time equivalent jobs ...

Las Vegas pot advocacy group urges U.S. to follow Canada’s legalization lead

Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018

A mega marijuana bud prop dropped in Toronto Wednesday morning as a symbolic start to federal recreational marijuana legalization in Canada. In other parts of the country, eager weed buyers lined up by the hundreds outside the now-legal pot stores to ...

Culinary workers urge protection for immigrants under federal programs

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018

With the future of immigrants under two federal relief programs in limbo, about 200 union workers in Las Vegas met today with Democratic political candidates and federal lawmakers, urging them to ...

Marijuana advocates want changes to Nevada employment, DUI laws

Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018

Marijuana advocates want to see Nevada laws changed to prevent employers from firing workers for smoking pot and to raise the amount of ...

Desert Pines grinds out pivotal win over Legacy, 15-8

Friday, Oct. 12, 2018

A high-stakes game with 4A Northeast division implications was for the first three quarters controlled by the Legacy Longhorns on their homecoming night ...

Inaugural UNLV fundraiser seeks more alumni donations

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018

More alumni donors would help improve UNLV’s rankings in U.S. News & World Report’s list of best universities, an Alumni Association executive said today. Standing among about 100 people gathered for a rally launching UNLV’s inaugural #RebelsGive fundraiser, UNLV Alumni Association Senior Vice President Chad Warren said the percentage of alumni who donate is indicated as “alumni satisfaction” in the ...

Las Vegas Paiutes to open second marijuana dispensary with drive-thru

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018

A second Nevada tribal marijuana dispensary will soon be operating in the northwest valley, expected to open by early next year. The second Nuwu Cannabis Marketplace, owned ...

Entrepreneurs work to expand marijuana industry workforce

Monday, Oct. 8, 2018

It’s a Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, and while many in the Valley are watching the second week of the NFL season or spending time with their families, dozens of locals are tucked away in a warehouse learning how to sell legal marijuana.

How to protect yourself from hackers and email phishers

Friday, Oct. 5, 2018

As technology improves, hackers have become smarter and their techniques more advanced. The personal information of innocent and unknowing victims, many of whom live in Las Vegas, is out there for the taking. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission estimates an average of 12 million Americans have their identities compromised each year in the form of their driver’s license, Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers, resulting in more than ...

Revival reminds that Las Vegas shines in face of Oct. 1 tragedy

Monday, Oct. 1, 2018

Tony and Linda Blache of Las Vegas wore matching black T-shirts with Route 91 printed on them — a reference to the music festival that turned tragic last year when a gunman opened fire on ...

Scholarship fund will help children of those killed in Oct. 1 shooting

Monday, Oct. 1, 2018

After losing their daughter in the Oct. 1 Strip shooting, Debbie and Chris Davis found themselves thrust into a virtual role they hadn’t played in many years — parents. Neysa Tonks, a single mother, left behind ...

'The first of its kind': Mega entertainment venue behind Venetian breaks ground

Friday, Sept. 28, 2018

With a height rivaling that of the Strip casinos a block away, a proposed 18,000-seat globe-shaped facility with a 160,000-square-foot LED screen will be a gigantic ...

Nevada Resort Association urges delay on marijuana lounges

Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018

Nevada’s leading gaming and resort advocacy group is urging Las Vegas officials to hold off on a proposed ordinance to allow marijuana consumption lounges. Nevada Resort Association President Virginia Valentine said the proposed hookah-style lounges ...

Q+A: Related CEO bullish on Las Vegas economy, upscale rental projects

Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018

The Miami-based luxury home rental company plans to have as many as three projects costing an estimated $300 million in the valley by the end of 2019 ...