Desert Companion

06/04/2026

Going from boom to bust in about a century might be a tall ask for some places. But not Goldfield, a “living ghost town” just three hours north of Las Vegas.

Now a burg of about 225 residents, it used to be among the most prosperous towns in Nevada, vying for prominence with the state’s capital. A stock exchange, a hospital, three newspapers, a major railroad, and the “finest hotel between San Francisco and Denver” served some 20-30,000 people at the town’s height.

A series of unfortunate events, bad breaks, and poorly parked dynamite cars slowly eroded the town’s population and prestige over the century-plus between the first gold strike and where it sits today. If you’re looking to speedrun your own ghost town creation, we have five tricks to get you started.

✍️ Anne Davis
🎨 Ryan Vellinga
🔗 Learn how to get your ghost town going in five easy steps: https://tinyurl.com/839dp4t5

06/02/2026

Birding has become a popular way to get outside and connect to nature. But newcomers to the hobby might have a skewed baseline of what to consider normal as climate change disrupts the typical progression of seasons. So, what are some of the patterns that longtime birders are noticing in the Las Vegas Valley?⁠
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Nature is dynamic, not a still life. As climate change and other pressures, such as urban development, affect our world, it’s difficult to attribute one reason to changes in bird abundance and behavior. One example is migration.⁠
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Typically, in the springtime, hormonal cues triggered by increasing day length spark the urge for many birds to migrate north, beginning with the males racing to secure the best breeding territory. “It doesn’t take much to disrupt the vital flyway that birds have to go through twice a year,” says Tim Almond, a local who’s been birding here since 2000. “And we’re seeing earlier migrations.”⁠
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✍️ Morrigan DeVito⁠
📸 Ronda Churchill⁠
🔗 Read the full story in Desert Companion's newest summer issue, or see it here: https://tinyurl.com/4t8apt2e

05/27/2026

The moment we saw Grand Prize winner Jarrod Ames’s () image, we knew it was something special.⁠
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We spoke with Ames about how a sudden change of plans turned into an unexpected photo opportunity, and how a small shift in perspective can alter the story of an image entirely.⁠
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🔗 Dive into the full gallery of winners in the new summer issue of Desert Companion here: https://tinyurl.com/jdzs42a

05/20/2026

“The Decisive Moment,” popularized by French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, describes capturing the fleeting intersection of story, composition and emotion as the essence of a strong photo, an idea more than evident in the work of this photographer.

We spoke with this year’s Black & White category winner, Jose Antonio Gomez (), about his process and how he always seems to find himself in the right place at the right time.

🔗 Dive into the full gallery of winners in the new summer issue of Desert Companion or at KNPR.org!

05/19/2026

I’m on a guided hike at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, and no one is talking. Even though our group has more than 20 people, we remain mute as we crunch up the gravelly trail. A woman ahead of me stops and steps out of the way, gesturing at me to go around her. ⁠
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I nod, grab my 5-year-old daughter’s hand, and hurry to close the gap in the line that snakes up to a lookout point. In any other circumstance, this wordless exchange might feel awkward. But on this Saturday morning, the quiet is by design. We’re on a silent hike.⁠
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✍️ Reannon Muth⁠
🎨 Noemi Fabra for Desert Companion⁠

🔗 Read the full story here: https://tinyurl.com/sztvz73s or in Desert Companion's newest photo issue

05/14/2026

Is this really Nevada?

We sat down with Storyteller runner-up Irene Yee to talk about her mind-bending winning shot from this year’s Focus on Nevada showcase. It’s an image and story that proves there is always more to the Silver State!🌵

🔗 Dive into the full gallery of winners in the new summer issue of Desert Companion or visit KNPR.org!

05/12/2026

Fifty-first.

That’s Nevada’s ranking in Mental Health America’s latest annual report, published last year. For years the state’s prevalence of mental illness has run up against, and created friction with, a dearth of accessible services.

Measures of Nevada’s continued struggle toward more ubiquitous, better funded, and attainable mental health programs are disconcerting. UNR’s Nevada Health Workforce Research Center estimates that more than 91 percent of the state’s population lives in a federally designated mental health professional shortage area.

Though only 7 percent of Nevadans with mental illness are uninsured, almost 33 percent of residents with significant mental health burdens report being unable to see a doctor because of prohibitive costs — even with insurance.

Now, providers are expressing concern that federal-level funding cuts combined with Medicaid changes, which mandate that all able-bodied adults log 80 hours of work monthly, could create even more suffering for Nevadans seeking mental health care.

🔗 Read the full story here: https://tinyurl.com/bt46cey7
✍️ Anne Davis | Desert Companion
🎨 Ryan Vellinga | Desert Companion

Providers of mental health support and families of patients fear the dire consequences that will come from changes to insurance coverage

05/09/2026

I hope you’ve cleared your spring calendars, local culture enthusiasts. Our venues, galleries, museums, and various facilities of leisure sure haven’t. The May and early June slate of offerings in Southern Nevada is so robust, it would make an East Coast arts commentator … well, even more pale and flummoxed. Oh, what will they do with their hands if they can’t wring them into bruised stumps?

To wit: The first weekend of May has not one, not two, not three — nay, four opera events in the Vegas Valley. Someone pass Timothée Chalamet the smelling salts! Doing a lot of the heavy lifting are the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District branches hosting most of these productions — which means they’re all free.

Vegas City Opera will be very busy through the first half of May with its Songs of the East presentation of Asian and Pacific Islander staples!

✍️ Mike Prevatt
🔗 Read the full guide:

Can your calendar handle this much good stuff?

05/08/2026

Rounding out our 2026 Focus on Nevada Photo Contest winners and honorable mentions is the grand prize winner, Jarrod Ames! 🥇
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"This was very interesting; I had signed up for a photo walk with Fuji during WPPI and it had gotten cancelled due to the weather. So instead of shooting outdoors the shoot was moved indoors to The Usual Place near the arts district. Here I used one of the models and turned off the lights and used only the light from the flashlight to illuminate her. The story I was building in this shot was if the lights had gone out in the theater and she was backstage trying to turn them back on."
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2,000 images. 600 submissions. 28 winners. Those are the numbers behind the countless perspectives you shared with us. Every year, we’re reminded just how diverse the meaning of home is for hundreds of artists across the Silver State.

The team at Desert Companion and Nevada Public Radio is still coming down from the excitement of last week’s gallery, but we want to thank everyone once again who submitted to this year’s Focus on Nevada Photo Contest for sharing a piece of home with us.

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⭐ The fun’s not over yet! We’ll be highlighting some of the wonderful artists from this year’s contest over the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for features and reflections from some of your favorite photographers from the event!

🔗 Visit KNPR.org to take a peek at Desert Companion’s newest photo issue, and see the full roundup of winners!

05/07/2026

2026 Focus on Nevada Photo Contest winners and honorable mentions: Town, Country, and City
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🥇Abigail Humphrey, "It was a rainy day in Pahrump. As the sun began to set, I noticed the clouds were beautiful to look at. On a very inactive road, I stood in the center of it and captured a long street flowing into the distance."
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🥈Eric Thompson, "Fog rolls in on Fremont Street"
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🎖️Dakota Garlock, "What's more Nevada desert than a UFO crash site, and a bortle 2 sky!? This one was just a ton of fun. From the discovery of this funky art piece outside of Rachel, NV., to the drive and stopping by Pahranagat Lake, and the silly stories my friend and I shared under the stars, this has become a quintessential piece in my astro catalog."

🎖️Alexandra Bartee, "Harry Reid International Airport. I caught the shift change as all the airport workers were leaving the parking lot going down the spiral."

🎖️Michael Moore, "To me, photography is a way of sharing the world exactly as I see it. Though this tree stands dead, there's profound beauty in its form: the setting sun bathes its ancient trunk and broken branches in a warm, forgiving glow, honoring what once was, while fresh signs of life, vibrant sprouts quietly emerge at its base, reminding us that endings are never truly final."

🎖️Sherri McGee, "A cold winter morning on the range... Carson Valley"
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🔗 Congratulations to our winners, and a sincere thank you to everyone who submitted. Be on the lookout for other winning photos this week, and visit KNPR.org to take a peek at Desert Companion’s newest photo issue!