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Carson Now News (edition 217)

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 6:37pm

A reader wrote in today asking about the property tax hike the Carson City Board of Supervisors approved unanimously last week. What follows is a breakdown:

The property tax rate will go from $3.1872 to $3.66. If you do the math, that works out to a 13 percent increase. However, state law limits the amount of increase that homeowners have to pay to 3 percent per year, 6.4 percent on commercial properties. They estimate that taxes on average will increase 3 percent next year under this new rate, and account for about $3 million more than they would under the old rate.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 4:14pm

CARSON CITY – Political Action Committees formed by state lawmakers to help their candidates win seats in the Legislature are off to a slow start in fundraising, according to campaign finance reports filed this week with Secretary of State’s office.

Many of the lawmaker-created PACs reported no contributions in the first campaign contribution and expense report filed Tuesday and reflecting financial activity from Jan. 1 through May 18 of 2012.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 3:27pm

CARSON CITY – Republican candidates have big leads in fundraising in four of five seats considered critical to control of the state Senate in the 2013 legislative session, with a slight monetary advantage in the fifth, according to campaign contribution reports filed this week.

Both Democrat and Republican caucus leaders are fighting hard to win the seats to control the 21-member house where Democrats now lead 11-10.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 1:58pm

The candidates' forum put on Tuesday night by the Carson City Chamber of Commerce allowed the seven people running for Carson City Supervisor to define where they each stand on local issues.

The candidates included current Ward 4 Supervisor Molly Walt, and the two other people running for that seat, Jim Shirk and Amy Clemens. Vying for the open Ward 2 seat were Brad Bonkowski, Dennis Johnson, Stacie Wilke-McCulloch and Maurice White.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 11:40am

Douglas County sent out an update this morning on the TRE Fire, which they say is now 6,600 acres. They also believe the fire was caused by a private residential open burn.

Press release:

The fire has grown to 6,600 acres burned. 2 homes and 17 outbuildings have been reported damaged or burned from the fire. No personnel injuries have been reported or discovered.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 9:31am

According to the morning update from Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center, the TRE Fire burning south of Gardnerville has consumed 4,500 acres, including two homes and 17 outbuildings.

The fire is 10 percent contained, and continues to burn to the northeast. Approximately 120 residences and 300 outbuildings are threatened.

Go here for more info.

Below is video of one of the homes destroyed in the blaze:

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 2:00am

CARSON CITY – Sixty state lawmakers and legislative candidates who responded to a survey on government transparency largely favor new laws requiring the Legislature to follow the Open Meeting Law and mandating expanded reporting of spending on legislators by lobbyists.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 1:11am

Memorial Day weekend will make for near-perfect conditions for fishing in Nevada, Northern California, Lake Tahoe and the Sierra. Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams now through the holiday weekend.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 12:29am

Sunday, May 20 was a memorable day for two of our friends. The two friends are Stephanie Parker (our neighbor) and her brother George, who was visiting our area from Phoenix, Ariz.
Stephanie is fairly new to Carson City and to our neighborhood, having moved here from Las Vegas, where she lived and worked for many years.
When I first discovered that George would be visiting and that he is an ardent fisherman, I asked Stephanie (who also fishes) if the two of them would like to try Mackinaw (Lake) Trout fishing at Lake Tahoe.
Without hesitation, she said, “You bet. Yes, we would!”

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - 4:39pm

Douglas County officials scaled back the number of homes burned in the TRE Fire on Tuesday night to two homes from seven, however, 17 outbuildings were destroyed and the fire burning in south Douglas County at Topaz Ranch Estates has grown to 4,400 acres.
Sgt. Jim Halsey of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office reported the clarification in a news release. The fire continues to move in a northeasterly direction, away from homes in the Topaz Ranch Estates residential area.