Two hours east of Reno is Winnemucca, a town of about 7, 800 in Humboldt County. Humboldt and the surrounding counties of Pershing and Lander are some of the most sparsely populated areas in Nevada. Here, suicide rates are higher, and community leaders know that. They've worked years at strategies to prevent suicides. In 2017, the counties saw only one or two suicides. The strategies seemed to be working. Then, in a one month span in the fall of 2018, they saw 13. Why?
Two hours east of Reno is Winnemucca, a town of about 7, 800 in Humboldt County. Humboldt and the surrounding counties of Pershing and Lander are some of the most sparsely populated areas in Nevada. Here, suicide rates are higher, and community leaders know that. They've worked years at strategies to prevent suicides. In 2017, the counties saw only one or two suicides. The strategies seemed to be working. Then, in a one month span in the fall of 2018, they saw 13. Why?
Dixie Baalman, 2, left, and Davey Baalman, 1, run around their family's hotel room at the Suncoast hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Their mother Kari Monson was evicted from her home and has been shuffling her kids from weekly to hotel until she can find a place that will take her with an eviction on her record and bad credit.
Nevada has one of the shortest eviction processes for non-payment of rent in the entire country: nine days. It's the only state where tenants threatened with eviction for falling behind on their rent are required by law to initiate their own court case if they want a hearing. If a landlord is the first to file once an eviction notice for unpaid rent expires, the courts will grant the eviction by default.
Evicted
Barbara Lee, 82, steps out of her car at Sunset Park in Las Vegas, Friday, Aug. 31, 2018. Lee was forced to live in her car after her rent increased and her landlord evicted her for nonpayment of rent.
The transient nature of Vegas and the abundance of weekly hotels add to the complications surrounding evictions. This three part series I worked on alongside my colleague, Scott Davidson, explores the people who are forced from their homes, some living in cars or bouncing from motel to motel. I produced videos and photos, and assisted in contacting states to gather data to compare the lengths of the eviction process.
