About 400,000 Nevadans will be taking to the roads and skies during the Labor Day weekend, an increase of less than 1 percent from last year, AAA Nevada says.

“Many families are facing household budgetary constraints this summer, which may be affecting holiday travel,” explained AAA Nevada spokesperson Michael Geeser. “This, coupled with the fact that many schools have already started classes is leading many families to stay home this holiday weekend.”

Over 300,000 will be traveling by car, which is a .9-percent increase from last year. Air travel is up by 1.8-percent, with over 68,000 Nevadans planning to travel by air. Approximatelly 9,000 are projected to travel by train, bus or other mode of transportation from last year.

View the rest of the story and a Labor Day holiday guide here on LasVegasNow.com

Las Vegas was named as the nation’s #1 adventure town in which to play and live by National Geographic in its September issue. The decision was based on affordability and being close to outdoor activities. The article mentions local mountain biking, hiking and rock climbing as well as the fact it only takes a half-day’s drive to get to lush forests, snowy slopes and the Pacific ocean. What do you think makes Las Vegas a great adventure city?

You can read the entire story here.

With the number of foreclosures in the U.S. on the rise, Nevada has the dubious distinction of leading the way. Of the 179,599 foreclosures reported nationwide during July, Nevada’s share was was 5,116 filings - that is one filing for every 199 households. To put that in perspective, the national foreclosure rate is one for every 693 households.

You can read the entire story here.

While summer does not officially end until September 22nd, to most of us, Labor Day signals the end of the summer season. So, what cities are the most popular destinations for Labor Day weekend festivities? According to a Hotwire.com survey, the top three rank as follows: 1) Chicago, IL; 2) New York City, NY; and 3) Atlanta, GA.

Las Vegas comes in as the 8th most popular destination, up from 13th in last year’s survey.

The annual state Education Department’s “Nevada Report Card” is out, and the percentage of students dropping out of public school has fallen to 4.6 percent, the lowest rate in a decade. And while only 67.5 percent of Nevada students graduate high school, this year’s report shows a end to the three year trend of falling graduation rates.

You can view the full report at www.nevadareportcard.com.

That’s the number of people that visited Las Vegas in June. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority says that the 3.3 million figure is a 4 percent uptick from June of ‘06. Apparently, folks are getting used to $3 a gallon gasoline. Visitation for the year stands at more than 19.6 million, a 1.3% increase from the pace set in 2006.
- From the Associated Press (Read complete story here)

… at least as measured by the volume of research the University outputs. The Associated Press reports that a National Science Foundation study shows that between 1991 and 2001, publication of peer-reviewed articles grew 99 percent at UNLV. University officials say the success is due in large part to
luring top young professors and researchers to southern Nevada.

The Las Vegas Valley Water District is reporting today that over the past two weeks, its customers used 574 million gallons less water compared to the same two week period last year. We have the recent rain to thank for the drop in consumption (and all of you who turned off your irrigation systems during the rains). Even with the rain, July’s total was below number, as measured by the National Weather Service. For the month, we officially received .29 inches of rain, .15 below the norm of .44 inches

Forbes just might be the king of lists, and they released another stat today reveals what most of us already know: even with the housing bubble burst, it is still a chore to find affordable housing in the Las Vegas Valley. Ironically, back in 2001 … just six years ago … we ranked as one of the nation’s most affordable places to live. Anyone who has purchased a resale house recently, and looked at the sale history, usually exhibits a trademark cringe.

As reported by Alyson McCarthy this morning on Eyewitness News 8, Forbes’ data now shows that Las Vegas is the 7th least affordable housing market in the country. Forbes reports that growth has slowed to a point in Southern Nevada that less than 20 percent of the home sales last quarter where within reach of households at the median income level.

You can read the complete Forbes story here.

You’ve seen those ranking stories, where you hear Las Vegas or Nevada is in the top 10 or bottom 10 of some new study’s listing. Do we have the most neon lights (probably)? Do we have the worst crime (some days it may feel like it)?

We hope to use this blog to keep you updated on the latest. Right now, you can find out where Clark County schools rank in their Adequate Yearly Progress Report, or where Nevada ranks in child deaths.

You can learn how Metro Police reacted to a study on Nevada’s anti-gang efforts. Then for all you home owners out there (or hoping to some day be one), there’s North Las Vegas having one of the nation’s 10 worst rates of home foreclosure.

Keep checking back for new lists our fair city or state has managed to make — or tell us of ones you’ve heard about.