Good News

CARSON CITY – Nevada casinos won $932.2 million in February for a 5.7 percent gain over the same month in 2011, even without the Chinese New Year event that annually brings high rollers to the Las Vegas Strip, the Gaming Control Board reported today.

CARSON CITY – Nearly 1,000 state and local government workers, many of them firefighters and police, make over $200,000 a year when all pay and benefits are counted, according to a 2011 pay analysis published today by the Nevada Policy Research Institute.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra and Southern Oregon. This report is for the week of March 28 through April 3.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s top state administrators gathered together in meeting rooms and via the internet today to hear first-hand about Gov. Brian Sandoval’s initial plans for his 2013-15 budget.

The all-day meeting called “Budget Kickoff” was intended to provide instructions to state administrators on how to begin preparing their spending plans for the new two-year budget that will take effect on July 1, 2013.

This year's record dry winter has left the Sierra snowpack at 28 percent of normal. The good news? Carson City has saved about $30,000 in snow removal cost.

Fortunately, last winter's huge snowfall left the region's water reservoirs well above normal, enough to get us through this season's drought.

The good news is that the V&T Railway is expected to make a profit of $164,132 on their popular Polar Express event for the coming year.

The bad news is the railway's main runs between Eastgate Siding and Virginia City is projected to lose $108,192, even with an expected $67,250 in donations.

The resulting $56,000 in projected profit is almost enough to pay for the $60,000 shortfall in the previous season's sales tax revenue that pays for the bonds that helped rebuild the historic railway. That is a shortfall that is expected to continue and grow larger.

CARSON CITY – As Gov. Brian Sandoval and the Board of Education move ahead with the selection of a new state schools chief to push forward with education reform, a new report gives another reason for urgency: Nevada has received a D grade for its science standards from a national group.

A recent report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Mayors awards Carson City the dubious distinction of being the only metropolitan area studied that is predicted to not recover any jobs this year.

Add to that this morning's unemployment report showing the rate for Carson City climbed to 12.2 percent in December, and one can't help worrying about the economic outlook for our area.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s charter school law was strengthened in 2011, seeing its ranking among the states moving to 20th from 23rd as a result, a national group reported this week.

Nevada’s overall score improved from 97 points to 111 out of a potential of 208 points in the report issued Tuesday by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Each year, as my last article for that year, I present my Annual Don Q Awards for a number of different reasons: Outstanding, good, not so good, bad, serious, funny, dumb, head-scratching, are-you-kidding, etc.
Those annual awards are presented to all kinds of people or places or things for what has occurred throughout the year. It’s an interesting way to end the year, so here are my 2011 winners:

As I look forward to the year of 2012 with high expectations, hopes and dreams, this is a good time to reflect back on some selected personal memories from the rapidly ending year of 2011. Here are my top memories:

Here is this week's fishing report through Nov. 16 for lakes, rivers and streams in Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra and southern Oregon.

This my annual reminder that many nearby California waters will close to
fishing on November 15…that’s this coming Tuesday.

That’s only six days from now, so if you want to fish any of them, you better
hustle because you are running out of time.

Those waters will not re-open until the last Saturday in April next year
(April 28, 2012), and that is a long time to wait to wet your line.
Here is a partial list of some of the nearby waters that will be closing:

Alpine County:
The East Carson River (with the exception of the stretch from Hangman’s

Here is this week's fishing report through Nov. 9 for Nevada, the Sierra, Northern California and Southern Oregon.

Here is the fishing report for the week of Oct. 26 to Nov. 2. This report covers rivers, streams and lakes in Nevada, the Sierra, Northern California and Southern Oregon.

CARSON CITY – Despite the need to borrow $773 million from the federal government to pay jobless benefits so far in the current economic downturn, an advisory panel today recommended that the average tax rate levied on Nevada employers to pay claims remain unchanged at 2 percent for 2012.
The unanimous vote of the nine-member Nevada Employment Security Council came despite the recommendation from one employer representative for an increase in the rate to 2.5 percent or even 2.75 percent so Nevada could pay off its federal loans more quickly.

CARSON CITY – Nevada ranks well overall in an analysis by the nonpartisan State Budget Solutions of spending trends over the past decade, coming in 12th in the review of how states have managed their money in times of growth and recession.

The statewide unemployment rate has increased to 13.4 percent, up from 12.9 percent in July. In all, 176,200 people were out of work in August.

Good news for South Shore Lake Tahoe casinos to report this morning. Gaming establishments at Stateline saw a 25.42 percent increase in revenue over July 2010 figures, according to figures released today from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Carson Valley casinos, which include Carson City, Minden, Garderville had a 2.6 percent decline in July. Casinos took in a win of $8,699,046. In July 2010 it was $8,900,097. Statewide, casinos had an overall 3.66 percent increase in "gaming win" for the month.

A legislative subcommittee decided yesterday to cut or delay several building and maintenance projects due to budget constraints. The Interim Finance Committee (IFC) today will vote whether to approve the recommendations made by the subcommittee.

Good news for all you NASCAR Ford fans.Carl Edwards, despite rumors of a big salary and $10 million signing bonus dangled by Gibbs Racing, has renewed his contract with Roush-Fenway Racing. Meanwhi...

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s official jobless rate may have jumped three-tenths of a percentage point to 12.4 percent in June, but a broader measure of the state’s unemployment picture showed some slight improvement through the second quarter of this year.

Nevada casinos reported a whopping 16.2 percent increase in winnings for May.The $984 million total is the largest monthly win since September 2008 and the largest percentage increase since Decembe...

Here is this week's fishing report for Northern Nevada, Northern California, Southern Oregon and the Sierra. This report is for the week of July 13 through July 20.

Here is the Northern Nevada, Northern California and Sierra fishing report for the week of July 6-13.

A budget compromise was reached on June 2 by the Legislature and the governor. It was not what either side wanted, but time was running out.The good news appears to be that no Health and Human Serv...

Sharron Angle, who previously said she was going to run for Nevada's 2nd District Congressional seat, decided today to skip the race.

Her exit was good news for establishment Republicans who worried her presence would split the vote and open the door for a Democrat to win this seat for the first time.

The following is a statement put out by her campaign:

Here is this week's fishing report for the week of May 25 through Memorial Day weekend. The report is for rivers, streams and lakes in Northern Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra.

Here is the fishing report for the week of May 11-18. This report covers lakes, rivers and streams throughout Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra, and Southern Oregon.

ALMANOR LAKE, CALIF:
Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530) 365-7500 reports:
Water surface temperature is at 48 degrees. Water clarity has improved in most areas to 6.5 ft to 8 ft. The word is excellent.

My fellow Nevadans, good evening.

Three months ago, I delivered a State of the State Address against the backdrop of record unemployment and sharply reduced state revenue. I believed then, as I do now, that by controlling state spending and changing the way we do business, we could bring about a sustained economic recovery that would get Nevada working again. And so tonight, I’m pleased to come before you with a second and more positive report on the state of Nevada’s economy.