000

CARSON CITY — Nevadans who intend to vote early in the primary and general elections this year will likely find themselves in the dark on the question of who has contributed to the campaigns of the candidates.
Despite efforts in past legislative sessions to improve the transparency of campaign contributions received by candidates, lawmakers have failed to make meaningful reforms to the reporting process.



CARSON CITY – The hills will come to life in Carson City this May as the Western Nevada Musical Theatre Company brings Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most beloved musical, 'The Sound of Music' to the Carson City Community Center.  

CARSON CITY – When the Legislature adjourned its special session to balance the budget on March 1, lawmakers went home believing they had ensured the financial viability of the Millennium Scholarship program through 2014.
But the program, hit by declining tobacco settlement revenues and the diversion of financial support to help fill a more than $800 million budget shortfall, remains in jeopardy.

Today's Nevada Appeal has a story about how a developer has been selected for the Carson Nugget downtown redevelopment project.

The story mentioned that the developer, P3 Development, built the $64 million Stockton Events Center while Mark Lewis was that city's manager.

But that understates the ties between Lewis and the developer. Looking at the projects listed on P3's website, a large part of their work seems to stem from the City of Stockton, and happened during Lewis' tenure.

An unemployed Carson City man and a Gardnerville woman face multiple felony charges after they admitted to a string of stolen vehicle thefts and burglaries over the past few days.

Paul Allen Jennings, 39, of Carson City, and Shadine Ford, 24, of Gardnerville, face several felony charges after authorities found the pair hiding in the bushes after admitting they broke into a Carson City home. The pair also told authorities they had been involved in several vehicle burglary and break-ins over the past few days because, they said, they needed the money.

Carson City Public Works tech Jason Moore puts loose limbs into a wood chipper this morning on King Street. High winds overnight and early this morning of nearly 50 mph on the west side of town to more than 70 mph just outside the city limits blew lots of dead and dying tree limbs and debris to the ground, public works reported.

Carson City Sheriff's Office reports some calls were made to the department regarding downed trees. One large tree limb smashed into a fence and blocked part of the road at Ash Canyon and Ormsby. Public Works removed the debris earlier this morning.

CARSON CITY – A spokesman for Nevada State Treasurer Kate Marshall is rejecting any suggestion that her participation in radio ads to promote a children’s contest involving a college savings program is aimed at helping her re-election campaign.

But a campaign consultant for her GOP opponent called Marshall a hypocrite for engaging in the same practice she criticized her predecessor for doing, and for “pushing the envelope” by running ads after the close of filing for office.

RENO — U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden last week attended a meeting of the U.S. Nuclear Energy Foundation, an independent foundation that promotes the expansion of nuclear energy, listening to what its members have to say about nuclear power as well as the plight of the Yucca Mountain storage facility and its potential impact on Nevada.
Economic Concerns

For the second time this month, a computer was stolen from a Carson City Wal-Mart and surveillance footage have landed the thieves behind bars.

RENO – Half a dozen candidates in the crowded GOP field seeking to take on Harry Reid in the U.S. Senate race in November debated here Friday, with responses showing more agreement than discord on issues ranging from immigration reform to the need to reduce the size of the federal government.

Organizers of this week's fundraiser at Fremont Elementary School are hoping it turns into a cash cow. Participants paid $5 for tickets, hoping to turn their investment into the $400 cash prize if the cow "plopped" in their section. The second plop got $200.Nearly two hours after arriving at the school Friday, however, there still were no cow pies."She's been holding out," said parent organizer Erin Lehman, who hoped this year's fundraiser would bring in $5,000.
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20100424/NEWS/100429760/1001/rss

CARSON CITY – GOP Nevada U.S. Senate candidate John Chachas will stay in the race through the June primary despite a poor showing in a recent poll, saying today those results did not fully reflect a television ad campaign he initiated only recently.

Carson City authorities made a significant methamphetamine bust over the weekend, netting at least 30 grams of the drug, seizing a vehicle and finding police scanners and night vision cameras used as surveillance.

Deputies arrested the 52-year-old suspect, a Carson City carpenter, on numerous felony drug charges including drug trafficking.

Two Sacramento men face felony burglary charges after they allegedly stole computers earlier this month from Wal-Mart in Carson City, and then returned to the store on Sunday.

Four men were detained after deputies were shown surveillance photos by a Wal-Mart security officer who explained the theft to officers of the computers, valued at $2,694.

CARSON CITY – With federally mandated health insurance now the law of the land barring a successful legal challenge, some state lawmakers say it is more urgent than ever to create competition among insurance providers by allowing Nevada residents to buy polices from out of state companies.

A 35 year-old Carson City man was arrested and faces a felony charge of domestic battery after he allegedly took the mother of his children, threw her to ground, and strangled her.

The incident happened at around 3 this morning in the 2500 block of Lorraine Street after dispatch received an emergency 911 call and then a hang up. An officer was dispatched and met with the couple and one their sons. The woman explained the couple had a fight about the children and the couple's relationship with them, according to the arrest report.

CARSON CITY – One of the major backers of a proposed 2008 measure aimed at raising the bar on tax increases said today a court ruling upholding the right of Tea Party of Nevada candidate Scott Ashjian to remain on the ballot shows the need for more clarity in state election law.

With veiled threats to the governors of Nevada and several other states last month by a far-right militia group, the amount of anti-government fervor may be boiling over nationally, but all is peaceful today in Carson City as more than a thousand have gathered at the Capitol to protest President Barack Obama, Sen. Harry Reid and health care.

Oh, and taxes. But there were far more anti-Obama and Harry Reid signs and a few Hitler ones than anything remotely about the IRS, today being the filing deadline for federal income taxes.

The state Republican party has confirmed it will be filing an ethics complaint against Secretary of State Ross Miller and state Treasurer Kate Marshall alleging the improper use of publicly funded web pages, phone lines and state employees for their respective reelection campaigns.
“The Nevada Republican party is moving forward with an ethics complaint,” confirmed Ciara Turns, Communications Director for the state party.  “We look forward to the ethics commission completing an investigation into these improper actions.”

A Carson City laborer and an unemployed Reno man were arrested on felony robbery and conspiracy charges after unsuccessfully trying to steal cases of beer and a bottle of booze from Save Mart on North Carson Street.

Officers began the search for the subjects at around 7:15 p.m. on Friday after a larceny report was called in from Save Mart. An interview with a security officer gave deputies a description of the men and the license of the car they were driving.

I've always liked Dean Heller. We might disagree politically, but my interactions with him have always been friendly. He seems like a truly nice person, the opposite of the what we see in some other Nevada politicians.

But watching him this week at the NNDA breakfast reminded me that Dean's ambition is clearly more important than adherence to truth.

You see, Dean used to come off as a lot more moderate than he does today. As assemblyman and Secretary of State, he championed causes that don't exactly line up with the national GOP's ideology.

A proposal by Regent Mark Alden for cutting the pay of university employees to deal with the education budget cuts mandated by the legislature will be discussed during the April 16 meeting of the Board of Regents.

by Scott Schrantz Source: http://aroundcarson.com/2010/04/06/the_inyo_in_canada Photo by Flickr user R R Horne

The recently-passed health insurance reform bill will lead to major changes for Nevada’s Medicaid program.

Written by NV Energy Public Information Officer Karl Walquist:

The effort to reconstruct the historic Virginia & Truckee Railroad is receiving a boost from NV Energy with a $100,000 grant to the Northern Nevada Railway Foundation, the fund-raising arm of the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway.

NV

It's time for the skinny skier, skiers, snowshoers and fit bodies race up the mountain in the Annual Billy Dutton Uphill, in honor of late local luminary, Billy Dutton. The original “run what ya brung” race is an uphill answer to the famous ‘Chinese Downhill’ of the 70s. Starting from the bottom of KT-22, the course climbs 2,000 vertical feet over 3.2 miles to the finish at High Camp, at 8,200 feet.
It's enough to take your breath away just thinking about it.
The Billy Dutton Uphill race is open to Nordic skiers, snowshoers, runners and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages.

The state Supreme Court has refused to move up a court date on a case to handle mining's attempt to scuttle a voter petition drive to raise its taxes.

In so doing, the court rejected a request from the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) to move up the dates for filing briefs so it doesn't have a chilling effect on the collection of voter signatures.

Carson City has instituted the CodeRED Emergency Notification System which is described as an ultra high-speed telephone communication service for emergency notifications.

This system allows Carson City officials to telephone all or targeted areas of the city in case of an emergency situation that requires immediate action, such as a boil-water notice, a missing child or evacuation notices.

Carson City School District is looking at a similar notification system.

CARSON CITY – Nevada is one of 35 states getting a D grade or lower for failing to protect the public from aggressive asset forfeiture efforts by law enforcement, a process called “policing for profit,” according to a study released this week by the Washington, DC-based Institute for Justice.

City Supervisors on Thursday agreed to a new four year labor contract between Carson City Firefighters and the City that is a substantial departure from previous contracts.