Senator Harry Reid announced new funding for the Boulder City Hospital Wednesday.

The funding will be used to expand and renovate the hospital. The expansion will include a state-of-the-art surgical center, expanded emergency department and enhanced physical and occupational therapy services.

"Boulder City Hospital has saved a lot of lives, and saved a lot of pain and suffering and it will continue to do that," Senator Reid said.

Construction is set to start this spring and the project will be finished in 2014. The hospital will remain open during the renovation. The expanded hospital will provide 90 new jobs to the community.

The Boulder City Hospital was originally developed as a federally funded health care facility to provide care for people working on the Hoover Dam.

The money for the project came through funding from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development program.

BOULDER CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Rangers say a higher than normal waterfowl population at Lake Mead's Boulder Beach may be to blame for the poison ivy-like rash some swimmers have reported over the weekend.

Authorities with the Lake Mead National Recreation Area say nine people have reported the rash, which rangers believe is Swimmer's Itch. The rash comes when parasites that are found in some birds burrow into human skin and cause an allergic reaction.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say most cases of the rash don't need medical attention, and can be relieved with anti-itch cream.

Rangers say they're monitoring the shoreline and plan to conduct water quality tests.

A group of people in Boulder City want to make the city smoke free.

The group has gone before the city council asking for an ordinance to uphold the state ban on smoking and to remove most of the exemptions.

“They came to us as council members asking us to take another step forward from where state law is. State law does quite a bit but there are a lot of exemptions for resort hotels and where food is prepared. They want to really take what was in state law and not have those exemptions,” Boulder City Councilman Cam Walker said.

Garth Schulz and his wife are leading the charge. They have three kids, and say they want their children to breathe air free of smoke. The group has taken out advertisements in the Boulder City Review asking for support for a smoke-free city.