Letters

The shameless behavior of the "Republicans" in the recently concluded 78th session of the Nevada Legislature -- their vote for the biggest tax and budget hike in the State's history being first and foremost among their record of mis- and nonfeasance -- and the angry reaction to it by the State Party and the loyal Republican rank-and-file, raise an important question.

What is a Republican? What does it mean to be a Republican? If the RINOs and conservatives are both "Republicans," then the term badly needs to be defined.

The University of Nevada, Reno’s 2015 Spring Commencement will confer 2,454 degrees and certificates. The commencement exercises will take place in three ceremonies Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May 16 and will be held on the University’s historic Quadrangle, located on the southern part of campus. Each ceremony focuses on particular colleges and, for the first time, grant both undergraduate and graduates degrees for each of those colleges.

On Tuesday, only Juniors will be attending class at Carson High School. The state mandated ACT test will be given during the day for juniors. Freshmen, sophomores and seniors get the day off. However, proficiencies will also be given that day to some seniors.

The Stewart Indian School is the site of today’s ‘Easy Walk’ led by the Carson City Parks and Recreation Department. If you can’t join them this morning, make a point of exploring this treasure on your own. A podcast is available to guide you through the history of the site, complete with narratives from some who spent their youth there. Memorabilia from the school is on display at the Nevada State Museum and plans for a cultural center are in the works. Their cemetery is the final resting place of one of the area’s most famous Native American residents, basket-maker, Dot-so-la Lee. For more information on the Stewart Indian School go here.
TUESDAY:

• Nevada Tourism Day at the Legislature
• Customer Appreciation Month: free small iced tea today at Dunkin Donuts
• ‘Always Lost: A Meditation on War’ in the Second Floor Atrium of the Legislature Building

U.S. lawmakers asked Hillary Clinton in 2012 if she used a personal email account for government business while secretary of state, but never received an answer, according to letters released on Wednesday....

If you're using Google today you will notice its latest Google Doodle, which celebrates the 155th year of the Pony Express and, notably, was celebrated April 3 in Carson City with the launch of the nation's first active station of the Pony Express, now in Carson City at the Nevada Day Store and Trading Post.

Google animator Nate Swinehart gives more about the history of the Pony Express and documents the doodle process in the video below. He writes:

It’s National Library Week. The Carson City Library has much to offer: employment resources, business services, a learning center, plenty of books, dvds, and periodicals, a youth center, and a Digitorium with fun technology. If you head over to the Friends of the Library’s Browser’s Corner Book Store today, you’ll stumble across more than great used books to buy. Today is their one year anniversary, so you’ll get a free book and some refreshments.

MONDAY:

• Jobs for America’s Graduates Day AND Nevada Libraries Special Day at the Legislature
• National Library Week: First Anniversary Party at Friends of the Library’s Browsers’ Corner Book Store: 711 E. Washington (9am-6pm; all day refreshments and coupons)

Busy weekend ahead! It’s a wine walk weekend in addition to the Easter festivities, but don't let Friday pass you by. Head to Sassafras tonight to catch the Trippin King Snakes or Living the Good Life for music by Jamie Rollins. If it’s laughs you're after, First Friday Improv at the Brewery Arts Center will have you in stitches or head to the Carson Nugget for comedy night with this week’s funnyman, Huck Flyn.

The Greater Nevada Credit Union branch at CHS recently sponsored a Mural Contest open to all Carson High Students. All entries were judged and the 1st place winner was Athena Favero, who received a $200 Amazon Gift Card. Second place and a $100 Amazon Gift Card went to Michael Rose. As part of the contest, Athena painted her winning design "A Senator’s Road To Success” on the hallway wall outside the GNCU branch at CHS. Students and staff are encouraged to come by and see her winning mural at Carson High School. Congratulations to our winners, and thanks to all the students who entered.
 

The legendary 1860s mail carrier trail known as the Pony Express, which used horses and riders to deliver letters and parcels from Sacramento to east of the Rockies, remains a big part of Nevada's Wild West history because the trail went through the Silver State. Beginning next month the Pony Express will become a permanent fixture and a Carson City visitor destination.

CARSON CITY — Five Nevada Department of Transportation employees were recently recognized through the department’s Employee Recognition Program for cost-saving and life-saving innovations.

The Department’s dedication to environmental preservation through stormwater management and other preservation practices was represented by recipients of two of the awards.

The Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection (Commission) announced that it will accept applications for three open judicial positions until 5 p.m. January 28, 2015. The vacancies are the result of the appointments of Judges Michael P. Gibbons, Abbi Silver, and Jerome T. Tao to the Nevada Court of Appeals creating two vacancies in the Eighth and one in the Ninth Judicial District Courts.

This is the second in a two part Women to Women series with Dr. Kent Gabriel. This is a hands-on program detailing the process of minor plastic skin surgery and a live demonstration with Heidi Nicol, a medical esthetician, of a deep cleansing facial. Go here for the first part of the two-part program. Enjoy the show, and we'll see you on Christmas for our final episode.

This week Women to Women features the first of a two-part series with Dr. Kent Gabriel. He invited us to shoot in his office to discuss many different aspects of plastic surgery including many non-invasive alternatives. Please enjoy the show and be sure to tune in next week when a Medical Esthetician from Dr. Gabriel's office will walk us through a deep cleansing facial, step-by-step.

This week's edition of Women to Women features Donna Elliott and Irma Wilson. They operate a support group and clinic for people with depression. The women discuss how the group came about and why they started the program here in the Carson City region.

You can follow Women to Women Nevada on its Facebook page by going here.

Lake Tahoe Community College has submitted a proposal to the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office to be considered for a four-year degree pilot program, allowing up to 15 community colleges the opportunity to offer one 4-year degree each for starters. After considering multiple options, LTCC's Baccalaureate Degree Steering Committee ultimately chose to propose offering a Public Safety Administration degree.

Robert "Robbie" Hernandez, 28, and Jordan Burkhart, 24, were each sentenced Tuesday in Carson City District Court to six years to 15 years each for robbery against a person over the age of 60, and an additional six years to 20 years for perpetrating the crimes on a person older than 60 years of age.

With snow expected through Saturday to help boost mountains of machine made snow, skiers and riders can count on making turns at Lake Tahoe this weekend as Heavenly Mountain Resort and Northstar California Resort officially open for the 2014-2015 season on Friday, Nov. 21.

For the first time ever, scientists have recorded temperatures continuously at the bottom of an Antarctic ice shelf where warmer sea water threatens to erode the massive ice which, if it collapses and glacial melting occurs, could cause a three-meter rise in ocean levels around the world.

“This is the first time we can see the changes in the melting of these enormous ice shelves daily and at millimeter accuracy,” Scott Tyler, professor of geosciences at the University of Nevada, Reno, said. “This is critical for detecting the changes that may be occurring due to climate change.”

The 27th annual Nevada Writers Hall of Fame welcomes two new inductees, poet Shaun Griffin and folklorist and historian Ronald M. James. This year’s ceremony will take place Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 in the Milt Glick Ballroom on the fourth floor of the Joe Crowley Student Union. Alicia Barber, author of Reno’s Big Gamble, will be awarded with the 2014 Silver Pen Award at the ceremony.

Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Award: Shaun Griffin and Ronald M. James

TACH (Traditional Association for Cultural Harmony) International, Inc. a nonprofit organization celebrated “150th Birthday of Nevada and Festival of Diwali” on Oct 18th, 2014 @ Laxalt Auditorium, (UNR), Reno with the collaboration of Indo-American artists & Community. The concert present an Indian Dance, Indian Classical Kachappi Veena, Violin and Sarod.

Nevada’s Community Health Centers are extolling bipartisan Members of Congress who are calling for a solution to looming funding reductions that will affect the patients they serve.

The efforts on Capitol Hill come as operational support for more than 1,300 Health Center organizations serving approximately 23 million patients nationwide is threatened.

The National Association of Community Health Centers estimates that more than 13,000 patients could lose access to care in the state of Nevada, even as demand for primary care increases and is expected to climb.

The King Fire that started Sept. 13 in El Dorado County east of Pollock Pines was fully contained as of Thursday, according to Cal Fire. The human-caused fire destroyed 12 homes, consumed 97,717 acres and sent dense smoke east through Lake Tahoe and into Carson City and Carson Valley.

After a grueling month for firefighters and local communities, U.S. Forest Service Supervisor Laurence Crabtree made the announcement.

Since October 2004 National Cyber Security Awareness Month, administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, reminds citizens of the importance of protecting not only individual identities, finances and privacy but also our country’s national security, critical infrastructure and economy. Cyber security is a responsibility shared by all — the public sector, the private sector, and the general public.

Since October has become the “scary month” I thought I would try my hand at telling you a scary story. You get a call from somebody claiming to be with the IRS, telling you that you owe back taxes of $1,253.28 and must pay right away with a credit card or wire transfer or face possible bank account levy, or deportation, or loss of driver’s license, and/or arrest within the next 48 hours?

This week’s Carson High senior spotlight is on Tyler Torres. Tyler has a GPA of 4.62 and has increasingly challenged himself with honors and/or AP classes every year, earning academic letters the past two years. He is currently taking four AP classes in his senior year. Talented and well-rounded, Tyler has been in Chamber Choir since freshman year. He has also been a member of the National Honor Society for the past three years and Link Crew for two years. To further develop his leadership ability, Tyler has been involved in Boy Scouts since middle school.

Nevada will receive $29.3 million in funding for northern and southern Silver State transportation projects, Sen. Harry Reid announced Tuesday.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County will receive $16 million to develop a rapid bus transit service connecting Reno and Sparks. This will construct the a 3.6 mile 4th Street/Prater Way RAPID Transit BRT project and may include upgraded electric buses and additional electric charging infrastructure, as well as construct accessible sidewalks and bike lanes.

Some people, when they first see Lake Tahoe, think how it'd be nice to boat on top of the glass like water. Others imagine fishing on the lake stocked with big fish, while yet others think about how nice it would be to sit at the quiet and scenic shore and enjoy the sun and the view.

To nine year old Erline Christopherson, all she thought when first saw the crystal blue waters was how she'd like to swim across it. The dream was born that day in 1955.

Scammers are at it again; most recently I received a letter from a citizen who was informed that they had won the “Inter-American Lotto Powerball” held in Hawaii. Having never been to Hawaii, the individual was pretty certain they did not win.

A check had been included with the letter which the recipient was asked to deposit and return a portion of the funds received. This was to pay for non- resident fees and administrative costs. A little research on the internet and it was obvious that the letter was a scam.

Nevada Congressman Mark Amodei had added several new faces to his office staff including Bernie Curtis, who recently retired as chief of the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation.

Curtis, of Gardnerville, will serve as field representative in Amodei’s Reno office. He brings more than 36 years of experience from across Northern Nevada in law enforcement, local government and the private sector, including serving as Douglas County Commissioner.