An unmarked white van pulled up to Astrid Silva’s home last week. The driver approached with a box and asked for her by name. She asked what the box contained. “Flowers,” he said.

With five months remaining until the new UNLV School of Medicine officially welcomes its first class, the university has offered admission to 40 prospective students – half of them women. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that women make up nearly half of Nevada’s population. But it’s an anomaly in a state that ranks near the bottom nationally in terms of physician gender diversity.

The 18,000-acre Apex Industrial Park could be a catalyst for bringing more “innovative” companies and manufacturing operations to Southern Nevada, adding to a tenant list that includes Faraday Future and Hyperloop One.

On Saturday, Feb. 25, at 2 p.m., the Grace Hudson Museum will host a talk by historian Dr. William J. Bauer Jr., a member of the Wailacki and Concow tribes of the Round Valley Indian Reservation, based on his recently released book, “California Through Native Eyes: Reclaiming History.” A book signing and reception will follow. The event is free with museum admission.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Deep in Nevada’s Mojave Desert — 100 miles from the Las Vegas strip — the rocks provide glimpses into the lives of Native Americans who inhabited this area for thousands of years. Hundreds of their petroglyphs, or etchings, are carved on the rocks in this area, now known as Gold Butte.

Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip had one of their best years in recent memory in terms of writing off uncollectable gambling debts, according to 2016 figures.

Is Southern Nevada once again on the short end of the stick when it comes to state spending on capital projects? The answer depends on who you ask. More than 70 percent of Nevada's population lives in the south, and while Clark County generates about 80 percent of the state's revenue, it gets far less than that when the budget is sliced and diced.

As Nevada lawmakers debate raising the state’s minimum wage, one question is continually dredged up: Does raising the wage through legislative action violate the state Constitution. It’s a question asked by the Nevada Restaurant Association, which raised similar complaints over the legality of raising the wage during the 2015 session and is now reviving those arguments as Democrats try to push for a raise in the wage floor.