Bert Johnson
Bert is KUNR’s Mountain West News Bureau reporter. He covers stories that resonate across Nevada and the region, with a focus on environment, political extremism and Indigenous communities.
He began his career in journalism after studying abroad during the summer of 2011 in Egypt, during the Arab Spring. Before he joined KUNR, Bert was a reporter at Capital Public Radio and a producer for KNPR.
Bert likes tinkering with bikes, backpacking the Sierra and studying Spanish, which has helped him cover stories in Mexico City and Puerto Rico.
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In response to the homeless crisis, Nevada's second largest county just passed a ban on camping in public places. Opponents say it will only further victimize unhoused people.
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It's expected to be a competitive race for governor in November between Trump-backed Republican Joe Lombardo, the sheriff of Clark County, and current Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat. -
Nevada is one of four states holding primary elections on Tuesday. There are competitive Republican contests for key state and federal offices.
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The avalanche of anti-LGBTQ laws before state legislatures this year is inspiring LGBTQ candidates to seek office. This is even happening in smaller cities and rural parts of the U.S.
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Across the Mountain West and beyond, right-wing politicians are pushing a wave of discriminatory laws. But that’s only one of the issues motivating a record number of LGBTQ candidates. -
As historic levels of drought persist across the Mountain West, water officials in Northern Nevada are warning that peak fire conditions might appear sooner this year than in the past – and at least one rural reservoir is so dry it can’t provide water for irrigation. -
The affordable housing crisis is usually understood as a problem in the Mountain West’s cities and resort towns. But it’s also happening in rural areas with booming economies. -
A new analysis finds the Bureau of Land Management has been renewing grazing permits on millions of acres of public lands without performing environmental reviews. -
The number of hate groups in the U.S. fell last year, according to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. But researchers say that doesn’t mean extremist ideologies are losing ground – instead, they’re going mainstream. -
As far-right extremism surges, a Nevada Senate race is giving a platform to a controversial group of sheriffs who buck federal authority.
