In its 2010 Report to the Community, the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) describes a number of events that shaped the organization during the past year. Primary in the community health arena was the District’s action in response to the H1N1 influenza challenge. During the period of the disease, the SNHD administered approximately 154,000 vaccines to community members. In spite of a sluggish economy and reduced budgets, the district received two major grants: $14.6 million for continued tobacco control programs, and $3.8 million for an obesity prevention program. Additionally, the SNHD expanded services to reach more of Clark County’s rural constituents. The report in full can be found on-line at http://www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/download/annual-report10.pdf.

Each year the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI) publishes the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) from data submitted by approximately 17,000 law enforcement agencies from jurisdictions with populations of 100,000 and over throughout the United States. As explained by the FBI, a prime reason for this report is to provide criminologists, sociologists, legislators, city planners, the media, and other students of criminal justice information for a variety of research and planning purposes. Affected Clark County communities are Las Vegas and Henderson. Crimes of record are violent crimes: murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault; property crime: burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The below graphic lists the reported crimes for 2010 compared to 2009. Preliminary national figures, which are generally exceeded locally, indicate that, as a whole, law enforcement agencies reported a decrease of 5.5 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to their attention in 2010 when compared to figures reported for 2009. The number of property crimes in the United States from January to December of 2010 decreased 2.8 percent when compared to data from the same time period in 2009.

After approximately a year and a half of studies and discussions with organizations, interest groups and individuals, the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC) has submitted a comprehensive draft report to the Secretary of Energy. The preliminary report outlines a recommendation for a new nuclear strategy that ranges from siting to funding to storage to governance. It will be reviewed and commented upon nation-wide over the next few months with the final report to the Secretary of Energy due on or before January 29, 2012. A copy of the full draft report is available at www.brc.gov. Not included in the report or requested in its charter, are Commission comments on the suitability of Yucca Mountain as the nuclear waste repository, any other waste management site(s), or the general suitability of a future role of nuclear energy.