For those of you who must text while driving, be prepared to pony up a fine starting New Years Day.

Since Oct. 1, Nevada Highway Patrol troopers have been giving out warning for texting while driving, writing up more than 600 warnings in the Reno-Carson City area. But the warnings come to an end on Sunday. This also applies to those who use a cell phone without a hands-free device.

Carson City Sheriff's deputies arrested Clyde Renville Hawkins Jr., 52, a mechanic from Reno, at around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Hawkins was arrested near the Koontz water tower for a felony burglary warrant out of Reno. He was discovered near the water tower in a parked vehicle, and told officers that he had been working out of Gardnerville and was "chilling out" after work.

Bail was set at $7,500.

The unseasonable warm weather around Carson City makes it ideal to get out and take advantage of some of the area’s outdoor activities including ice skating, hiking, mountain biking and golf. Check out the latest blog from the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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: