Editor’s note: Seven days. Never enough hours.

Stacks of paperwork at the office and piles of laundry at home. It’s a never-ending cycle, which makes it difficult to stay on top of the endless news nuggets flowing from the White House, state capital, local government and business community. We get it — and we’re in the news business.

Enter “About Last Week.” This is our way of bringing news-hungry but time-strapped readers up to speed on happenings that may have flown under the radar. Our promise: We’ll keep it brief. Our hope: You’ll read (or skim) and keep checking back every Monday.

So, without further ado, here are some noteworthy things that happened in Nevada last week.

As overtime costs mount, prisons reduce staffing for inmate hospital visits

As the Nevada Department of Corrections faces spiraling overtime costs that have it $15 million over its budget just this year, the agency is reducing its staffing levels for inmates in the hospital.

A memo from Deputy Director Harold Wickham dated Dec. 14, 2017 instructs wardens and staff that hospitalized inmates will be guarded by a single armed correctional officer, and one additional roving, armed correctional officer will be on duty to handle up to four inmates. A single inmate would be guarded by two people, while a group of four inmates would be guarded by five officers — one per inmate plus a rover.

The policy is a reduction from the department’s old protocol of two officers per person. During a hearing this month on an audit that found heavy use of overtime, agency officials described a time when they had to have 72 officers at a hospital in a single day to monitor 12 female inmates who were giving birth; officers rotated through in eight-hour shifts.

The roving officer would assist when inmate patients are being moved. The lower ratio wouldn’t apply to patients who are an escape risk, on death row or in maximum custody — two officers would supervise those inmates.

“We are currently incorporating those changes into our hospital staffing,” NDOC spokeswoman Brooke Keast said last week. “When it comes to the audit, there have been a number of proposals being considered but nothing has been approved yet to go into policy.”

Gov. Brian Sandoval described NDOC’s budget overages as a “fiscal emergency” that threatened to wipe out a reserve account the state maintains to help a variety of agencies.

— Michelle Rindels

State teachers union endorses in attorney general, secretary of state races

The Nevada State Education Association, which successfully blocked funding for Education Savings Accounts, has endorsed Democratic lawmakers who were allies in that fight in their bids for higher offices.

The state teacher’s union is supporting Democratic Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford in his bid for attorney general. Republican Wes Duncan is expected to be his opponent in the general election.

“Nevada’s students have benefitted from the strong relationship NSEA has with Senator Aaron Ford. NSEA worked closely with Sen. Majority Leader Ford this past session to protect public education, “ said NSEA President Ruben Murillo, Jr., noting that Ford had been a math teacher before taking up law. “We look forward to having an Attorney General who will be a public advocate for everyday Nevadans on health care, immigrant rights and public education.”

The group also announced support of Assemblyman Nelson Araujo for secretary of state. He’s expected to face off with incumbent Republican Barbara Cegavske.

“Nelson Araujo is one of the brightest elected officials in Nevada,” Murillo said. “In the Assembly, Nelson stood with us to advocate for a high quality public education for every Nevada student. As Secretary of State, he will help every eligible voter participate in our democracy."

NSEA also endorsed in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, picking former teacher and union leader Chris Giunchigliani over Steve Sisolak. The move was notable because the Clark County Education Association diverged from its parent organization and endorsed Sisolak.

— Michelle Rindels



Assistant sheriff from Las Vegas announces Assembly candidacy

Tom Roberts, an assistant sheriff with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, announced Wednesday that he’ll seek the Assembly seat most recently held by 2017 Republican Leader Paul Anderson.

Roberts has worked for Metro for 24 years, and also spent nine years in the Air Force. He currently oversees divisions including internal oversight and homeland security.

He’s running as a Republican in Assembly District 13, a seat that’s open after Anderson left to take the top job with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

“I want to continue to give back to the state of Nevada and believe my experience as both a veteran and an officer will bring a unique perspective to the legislature,” Roberts said in a statement.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo endorsed Roberts, who is married and has two sons who are attending UNLV.

— Michelle Rindels

Nevada slow to recover in the personal income category

Nevada was one of the last states in the country to recover from the recession in terms of personal income.

A report from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows the rate of growth in Nevadans’ personal income — a category that includes wages, employer contributions to health and retirement plans and public benefits such as Medicare and Medicaid — has been less than 1 percent since the end of 2007.

The fastest-growing rates are in North Dakota — where personal income has been growing nearly 4 percent a year — and Texas and Utah, where growth rates are about 2.5 percent.

The slowest is Connecticut, where personal income has grown an average of half a percentage point each year since the recession.

Personal income growth is not equivalent to wage growth; paychecks account for about half of personal income. The metric is used by state governments to predict spending trends and demand for services.

Nevada was the last state to recoup personal income losses from the recession, when accounting for inflation. It did so in mid-2015.

The nationwide rate of personal income growth has been 1.6 percent a year since the recession, which is lower than the 2.6 percent growth seen on average over the past 30 years.

— Michelle Rindels

Disclosure: NSEA, Steve Sisolak and Christina Giunchigliani have donated to The Nevada Independent. You can view a full list of donors here.