In a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Attorney General Aaron Ford announced that his office had joined a $26 billion multistate settlement arrangement after backing away from it in August.

“The People’s Republic of China and other defendants intentionally misled the international community about the coronavirus and its devastating medical and economic effects,” said lawyer Robert Eglet. “It is believed that defendants intimidated doctors, scientists, journalists and lawyers and ordered the destruction of medical testing data which would have exposed defendants’ attempted cover-up.”

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Shortly after sunrise on Tuesday, a small but solemn gathering took place at the Clark County Government Center Amphitheater to mark the second anniversary of the darkest moment in Las Vegas history. Respectful tribute was paid, as it should always be paid, to the victims of the Oct. 1, 2017 mass shooting. Not only to the 58 murdered, but also to the hundreds wounded and thousands whose lives were changed forever.

MGM Resorts International has agreed to pay up to $800 million to the victims of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting on the Las Vegas Strip in October 2017 that claimed the lives of 58 and injured more than 800.

The contract is based on contingent fees, an arrangement wherein the state will pay nothing up front but will owe a certain percentage of any damages received if the state prevails in the suit. The percentages in the contract are based on the amount of damages recovered and whether they are paid prior to or after discovery in any court proceeding. It sets maximum recoverable amounts by the firm in the following ranges:

District Court Judge Timothy Williams cleared the way for a Clark County opioid lawsuit Wednesday, denying 13 separate motions to dismiss the case and allowing the suit against more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies to move forward.

Despite skepticism from some Republicans, members of the legislative Interim Finance Committee granted the attorney general’s office permission on Wednesday to open up bidding for an outside law firm to represent the state in litigation against opioid manufacturers. Ford, who between 2015 and 2018 worked for a private law firm that is representing numerous Nevada municipalities in class action lawsuits, also said Wednesday that he will recuse himself from selection of outside counsel.

Sisolak, who defeated Republican Adam Laxalt in the November election and will be sworn in next month as the state’s first Democratic governor in 20 years, kept a packed schedule through most of the year, ranging from meetings with gaming executives, business leaders, top lobbyists and other candidates for office, along with debate prep, campaign events and nearly three dozen fundraisers in addition to his normal county business.