Winter

Beginning Nov. 20, Delta airlines will offer non-stop service to Los Angeles International Airport three times daily, connecting Reno to multiple destinations in the U.S. and internationally. The new LAX flights mark Delta’s return to the market for the first time since August 2008.

Christmas tree permits for National Forest System lands on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s Bridgeport and Carson Ranger Districts will be available for purchase online through Recreation.gov, as well as in-person at multiple locations, beginning Monday, Nov. 2.

While some areas of western Nevada have experienced freezing morning lows already, a strong Arctic cold front that will sweep over the Carson City and Sierra region now through Tuesday is expected to be a noticeable and chilly one indeed.

It’s the annual conundrum. Is it too soon to turn off the irrigation system? With recent nights down to the teens here in Washoe Valley, we turned off the irrigation system and drained it prior to the forthcoming hard freezes. Then we turned off the outside water and drained the hose bibs too. Yet with temperatures last week back in the 60s with low to mid-30s at night, I’m sure I will have to irrigate again soon.

Douglas County and the State of Nevada is hosting an in person educational event to inform citizens on flood preparation on November 17, 2020 from 3-4:30pm in the Ranch View Room of the Douglas County Community and Senior Center.

Hello fellow anglers. In only a couple weeks time, we are going from fall to winter (but only briefly and then right back to fall). Still, it is a stern reminder that winter is right around the corner.

Last weekend, Renee and I fished the Truckee River with a friend. At 7 a.m. we were wearing flannels and jackets, by noon, we were back in tee shirts.

The fishing was very slow, but we did manage a few small rainbows to take our lures.

At his most recent press conference, the governor declared many of us as COVID fatigued. The Carson City Chamber has partnered with the Children’s Museum of Northern Nevada to temporarily reduce some of the fatigue by organizing a bit of Halloween golf and fun for those who just want to enjoy the outdoors while practicing all the current COVID safety protocols.

Since winter is right around the corner, there may not be many chances left to play golf.

For winter enthusiasts eager to explore South Tahoe’s vast outdoor winter wonderland, tourism officials recommend advance planning, mid-week stays, and securing reservations early for desired attractions and dining. To help visitors plan a safe, healthy winter adventure, Tahoe South offers updated information on its website at “Know Before You Go” and Responsible Recreation with all current state and county health protocols.

In a letter to students, faculty and other university personnel Friday, UNR President Brian Sandoval announced the university would move to fully virtual instruction following the upcoming fall break, a move that comes as the university has averaged nearly a hundred new COVID-19 cases per week and as the flu season rapidly approaches.

Fall has arrived in the Sierra Nevada bringing the steady change of turning leaves and a noticeable chill in the air. The fall season also means bears are actively searching for food, even down into the lower valleys.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board on Wednesday approved key updates to forest management ordinances that will streamline large-scale fuel reduction projects and continue reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfire in the Tahoe Basin.

Heading into the weekend, there’s a bevy of activities over the next three days. The Carson City Wine Walk returns Saturday with COVID-19 restrictions. Virginia City will be filled with spooky events over the month of October with its signature Hauntober event. Combined with live music and karaoke, the Carson City area will be buzzing with excitement! Read on for more information.

CARSON CITY — With the start of fall, the Nevada Department of Transportation is preparing to keep state roads clear when winter snow flies. NDOT is hiring temporary highway maintenance workers, including snow plow and anti-icing operations and assisting in highway emergency response, among other duties.

RENO — In time for the holidays, Alaska Airlines will add new service between Reno-Tahoe International and Palm Springs and Los Angeles beginning Dec. 17.

The Friends in Service Helping, Ranchos Family Service Center will host a winter coat giveaway Thursday, Oct. 1, from 3 to 6 p.m. at 921 Mitch Drive in Gardnerville.

This fall, bring home the beauty of Nevada’s natural landscape! Operated by the Nevada Division of Forestry, the State Tree Nursery in Washoe Valley has a great selection of Nevada-friendly plants available for purchase. All plants are grown and maintained at the nursery and are conditioned to survive Northern Nevada’s cold winters and hot, dry summers.

As the fall season nears and days become shorter, the Nevada Division of State Parks is adjusting the hours of operation for the boat launch sites at both Sand Harbor and Cave Rock Lake Tahoe Nevada State Parks.

They wore pajamas, were wrapped in blankets, and carried cups of Dutch Bros and Starbucks as they gathered to celebrate the beginning of their senior year and the almost end of the soothing summer weather. The Class of 2020-2021, while practicing social distancing and wearing the latest fashion in face masks, gathered together at 6:00 a.m. Sept. 4 on the bleachers of the CHS football field to watch their sun rise.

Heading into Labor Day weekend, there’s a bevy of activities around the Carson City region. Steam train rides in Carson City and Virginia City will be available Saturday through Sunday. The Carson Canyon Railbike Tours will run four times over the next three days, bringing excitement unlike any other. Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe will open two hours early beginning at 6 a.m. to ease capacity and congestion. Combined with plenty of live music, Labor Day weekend will be a thrill! Read on for more information.

Northern Nevada Development Authority and Visit Carson Valley’s cooperative partnership to promote Carson Valley as a film location is not only creating awareness, it is driving results.

It is wonderful to be back in school, to again see the smiling faces of young people walking throughout the building, going from class to class with excitement and anticipation, gently pushing at their friends to move along, so no one ends up being late to class.

It makes perfect sense for Northern Nevada, a region that can see blankets of snow and ice a few months out of the year, to have its own ice sports facility. Now that hope will become a reality with the completion of Reno Ice's Jennifer M. O'Neal's Community Ice Arena.

He is a senior at Carson High School, and his last year is, to say the least, unconventional. Adults have had their say, so how about a chat with this popular young man as he sports a 1980s hairstyle called a mullet in which the hair is short on the sides and long at the front and back.

Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, there’s snow in front of the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City today, although it’s anything but cold.

CARSON CITY — Single lane closures will take place on U.S. 50 between Carson City and Spooner summit beginning July 30 as the Nevada Department of Transportation wraps up a project to reduce roadside erosion and help preserve water quality.

Fall high school sports are now temporarily postponed in Carson City, Lyon, Douglas and Storey counties as well as the rest of Nevada. State playoffs are not expected to take place this year, as well. The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association announced Thursday that all fall sports in Nevada will be played in March of 2021 to lower the spread of COVID-19.

Don't you love pithy quotes? Me too. I have a plug hat full of them, and I pull one out every now and again to give myself a lift. So I thought I'd share a few of them with you here today in this fine family journal, and hope that one of them might give you a lift too.

I’ve fallen in love with some impressive summer-blooming plants given to me by my friend Peggy. They are Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, sometimes called coppertips.

The Bee Informed Partnership is a national collaboration of leading agricultural science universities and research labs that examines and tries to better understand honey bee declines in the United States.

Salvation Army regional headquarters has announced that Captains Mark and Leslie Cyr of The Salvation Army serving Carson City and Douglas County have been appointed to the Pueblo, Colo., Salvation Army.