7@7 AM Sports Betting segment for Friday, December 18, 2020.
All Deverynn Bryant wants is to bring the Moulin Rouge back to life.
The resort on Bonanza Road was the first racially integrated hotel and casino in Nevada. Black performers on the Strip, who were barred from eating or staying at the resorts where they played, made the Moulin Rouge an all-night party spot for the six short months it was open in 1955 before closing in bankruptcy.
Bryant visits the abandoned property often, sitting, listening to music, collecting mementos.
West Las Vegas was headed toward becoming an area to celebrate black culture and black-owned businesses when the Moulin Rouge opened. Its closure stifled that momentum, he says.
“The story of the Moulin Rouge is the story of me, the story of my people.”
Bryant believes restoring the property can start a positive new chapter for black history in Las Vegas.
Lonnie Hammargren has spent a lifetime collecting, well, everything. A locally known figure, he opens up his home every year on Nevada Day for visitors to see everything from a 37-foot Venetian gondola to a roller coaster car from the Stratosphere.
Few hospitals. A shortage of medical professionals. 300,000 rural Nevadans face major health-care challenges. Tonopah resident Acacia Hathaway’s daughter has a rare genetic disorder and no hospital in sight.
Winnemucca is a city of about 7,800 within Humboldt county, two hours east of Reno.
Humboldt and the surrounding counties of Pershing and Lander are some of the most sparsely populated counties in Nevada.
Like the rest of rural America, suicide rates are higher here than in urban areas.
Everyone knows each other here in some way.
When a suicide occurs, it’s felt by everyone.
A spike in 2016 compelled community leaders to start a public awareness campaign. Some formed a prevention coalition and brought in experts to train residents on the signs of suicide. Schools were awarded a grant that funded therapists, depression screenings, and teacher trainings.
In 2017 the three counties only saw one or two suicides. Leaders felt they were starting to make progress.
Then in the fall of 2018, the counties reported 13 suicides. We went to find out why.