designations

RENO — With much of the State of Nevada listed as in extreme drought, Nevadans are facing forecasts for a mild winter, with little precipitation since the rainy season started. With these designations, southern Nevadans are facing a mild and dry winter and northern Nevadans are looking at an uncertain forecast. All could face water restrictions, crop or pasture loss and, with exceptional drought, water shortage emergencies.

Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe is reopening over the Memorial Day weekend and having a four-day locals-emphasis celebration after being closed since March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event has been scaled back from previous years as city and state officials grapple with phase 2 reopening, which allows second-home property owners living outside the area to return to the California side of South Lake Tahoe, but not allowing for non-essential travel and visitors.

During the annual “State of the City” address Friday at Gold Dust West, Carson City’s Mayor Bob Crowell gave his last speech of its kind, as he is retiring at the end of this year.

The State of the City address is a way community members can be kept up to date on everything going on in our capital city, including achievements, challenges, and everything in between.

Updates included achievements such as the completion of the water pipeline from Douglas County to Carson City, the Complete Streets Project, Tesla’s grant for the Carson City School District, the first new park opening in 12 years, the opening of the Disc Golf course, and more.

All new, more rigorous school star ratings are showing Nevada's students making academic progress. Carson City's Pioneer High School has qualified to receive extra funding as a "Rising Star School," to help improve graduation and testing rates.

RENO, Nev. –– Katrina Loftin, co-founder and managing partner of M&A Business Advisors has received national and industry designations as a Certified Business Advisor (CBI) and Merger & Acquisition Master Intermediary.

The designations, awarded in spring of 2018, recognize the Northern Nevada business woman as an exemplary broker with lifetime and industry achievements of professional experience and education.

The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development opened a public comment period Thursday for its new Opportunity Zones program designed to spur private investment in neighborhoods.

Five ski resorts in the United States are official training sites for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard team, and now for the next five years Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows is one of them.

Of course Estate Planning is done to minimize taxes and be sure the financial matters are done as desired. However, the planning for other than taxes is very important. Designating the best Trustee or Executor and possible successors is not easy, but extremely important to being sure the administration goes smoothly.

Carson City, Douglas and Washoe counties and the Washoe Tribe of Nevada will receive federal disaster assistance in areas affected by severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides in February, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday.

UPDATE 8AM: Less than 10 days after Nevada Gov. Sandoval sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking for federal assistance due to flooding in early January, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has responded to the call.

Last week Congressman Amodei and Senator Heller introduced legislation to “prevent the threat of executive action designating or expanding national monuments without Congressional approval or local support.” Their legislation would add Nevada to Wyoming as the only states exempt from presidential designation of National Monuments, except as authorized by Congress.

During this holiday season, NV Energy recommends the following holiday lighting conservation and safety tips. By following the recommendations outlined below, energy consumers will be able to make safer and more cost-effective decisions with holiday lighting.

GOOSE CREEK, SC - A Carson City, Nevada native recently received one of the most prestigious military honors as she was selected as "Junior Sailor of the Year."

President Barack Obama was cheered enthusiastically Wednesday at the 20th Lake Tahoe Summit, an annual gathering of federal and state leaders from California and Nevada who are dedicated to protecting the Sierra's crown jewel.

"I've never been here," President Obama told the crowd Wednesday at Harvey's Outdoor Arena in Stateline. "Its not that I didn't want to come, but nobody invited me."

The President quipped he's sure to return, "though my transportation won't be as nice."

It is difficult to ask for help. Sometimes parents need to ask their children for assistance in handling financial matters. One of the most important things is for the parents to do is the power of attorney for financial matters.

No matter how well you and your family get along, you can help reduce or avoid family conflicts over inheritances by taking action now. "Do it now" concept.

Early and good communication can help avoid misunderstandings, surprises and conflicts over inheritances. It may be best to start talking about your goals and plans with your family members (including in laws in some cases).

Mother and daughter Kathy Tatro and Adrienne Jordan Phenix, also known as Team Tatro, have joined the RE/MAX Realty Affiliates office in Carson City.

The Historical Marker Legacy Project, a part of Nevada’s year-long Sesquicentennial celebration of the State’s admission to the Union through more than 500 official, signature and legacy events, has been finished in record time thanks to the work of the Nevada 150 Commission, YESCO and other community partners.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California. This report is for the week of Aug. 12, 2015 and beyond. Nevada Department of Wildlife fishing reports for Western Nevada waters are not included as their most current reports are dated June 4.

It is clear, getting divorced can be a time to consider some financial matters. If the house is sold before the divorce, the full $500,000 home sale gain exclusion rules can apply. Some folks are well advised to sell the home and both parties get new housing.

That can help reduce costs of insurance, property taxes and interest if there is a mortgage. Now that real estate prices are moving up again, you might be better off to sell the house.

Ginger Easley, with RE/MAX Realty Affiliates (RRA), was recently presented with the RE/MAX Hall of Fame Award, which honors successful agents who have earned more than $1 million in commissions during their careers with the company. In 2014, less than two percent of all RE/MAX agents earned this prestigious award.

We all will die sometime. If we care about the survivors, we need to have a will. Some folks will have a trust in addition to the will. The will usually will say something like “if there are any assets (items of value) that are not titled (governed) by the trust or otherwise, put those assets into the trust.”

Many grandparents are interested in helping pay for part of the grandkid’s college costs. Direct gifts and direct payment of tuition to the college are common ways to help. Section 529 plans are also popular.

Neither of those actions give the grandparents an income tax deduction and are not taxable income to the grandkid. However, either option can affect your grandkid’s eligibility for financial aid. One option to consider is to hold off doing any action until the child has filed the last financial aid form.

Raymond Williams bought two life insurance policies in 1999. He originally named three persons as beneficiaries to both policies, but he noted in the policy that he was planning on changing the beneficiary of each policy to a trust and those three beneficiaries would be named as beneficiaries of the Trust.

He did change the beneficiaries for each policy to his trust later in 1999. He explicitly revoked “any previous beneficiary designation” but he failed to name a contingent beneficiary. In 2001 he got married and was married until his death in 2011.

Adam Plain, the former Insurance Regulation Liaison for the Nevada Division of Insurance, has joined Ferrari Public Affairs. Ferrari Public Affairs is a government and public affairs firm with offices in Reno, Carson City and Las Vegas.

Leslie Cain, of RE/MAX Realty Affiliates Carson City, has been named to her second term as the Carson City Director for the Sierra Nevada Association of Realtors.

In this role, she represents the Carson City community at the Association's monthly board of directors meetings. She also actively participates in important decisions regarding disbursement of charitable funds to non-profit organizations, scholarships to local high school students, as well as many other key topics affecting the Association and its members.

Ministers have a special tax benefit for the amount of Housing Allowance they receive. They can exclude from gross income for income tax purposes the rental value of homes furnished by churches as part of their compensation.

This is also allowed for the portion of a retired minister’s pension that is designated as a rental allowance by the national governing body of a religious denomination having complete control over the retirement fund.

Maybe it would be a blessing to your family if you wrote (or dictated) a Life Review? The normal basics include: date and place of birth; names of parents; childhood friends, schools, stories; details about marriage(s); education; designations and awards; employment jobs, activities, stories, promotions; places of residence; hobbies, interests and activities; charitable, religious, fraternal, political and other affiliations; disappointments (and how you handled them) and other individual attributes.

Wow! That is quite a list to get you started.

RE/MAX Realty Affiliates REALTORs® Mary Jo Brummer and Laura Moline were among more than 700 RE/MAX Associates and teams featured on the inaugural list of the “Best Real Estate Agents in America,” compiled by industry analyst REAL Trends and based on 2012 production.

Carson City and Lyon County nonprofit agencies have partnered with the United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra for a second round of funding.

The Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada, Friends in Service Helping (FISH) Community Chest, Healthy Communities Coalition, Central Lyon Youth Connections, Lyon County Human Services were named as grant recipients through various partnerships, for the 2012-13 fiscal year.

In all, more than $1.3 million will be distributed to Northern Nevada agencies, said United Way spokesman Scott Walquist.