Las Vegas residents who’d like to see a battle between a powerhouse hometown team and a top-level opponent are in luck this week.

But we’re not talking about the Vegas Golden Knights, or about athletics at all.

We’re talking about UNLV’s debate team.

It is a project that seems to have been under consideration for years but now the head of the Regional Transportation Commission says the final public comment period for mass transit along Maryland Parkway is here.

For Southern Nevada residents who may be on the fence about whether to support development of light rail, the Brookings Institution’s Adie Tomer offered some compelling food for thought during a visit to UNLV this week.

After a decade in which Las Vegas rose from the depths of the Great Recession to a full recovery, this is an opportune time to look at our future and our immediate past.

“It’s a short list. We’re on it.”

I have been a member of the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees for a long time. This past week was the best meeting I can remember.

In several ways, Alex Weisz and Emma Gould illustrate who is moving to Nevada.

Business people from across the Las Vegas valley gathered at UNLV today to see a snapshot of the Southern Nevada economy and hear experts offer outlooks on the region’s future.

Last December, The Lincy Institute at UNLV held a forum where we presented research examining the funding of public higher education in Nevada using data provided by the Legislative Council Bureau. The analysis finds that after the implementation of the funding formula in 2013, the share of the Nevada System of Higher Education’s (NSHE) operational budget decreased for every institution besides one, the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR).

At the African-American Student Summit in October, one question to the Clark County School District superintendent elicited a strong response from students.

On broadcast today: Robert Lang. He is a director with Brookings Mountain West and the Lincy Institute for the whole show, on an all new Nevada Newsmakers.

As the calendar turns to 2019, it seems like an opportune time to offer up a to-do list of items that will keep Las Vegas moving forward in the new year.

Enough visitors are expected to pour into Las Vegas for New Year’s celebrations to temporarily move the city and surrounding communities up five spots on U.S. metropolitan population rankings.