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By the California Department of Fish and Game
Southern sea otters recently passed two grim milestones, report wildlife officials, demonstrating that the threatened marine mammal is not faring well in California waters.

According to a preliminary summary, 2010 broke the record for the number of southern sea otter carcasses recovered in one year, with a total of 304.

The California Department of Fish and Game has successfully returned two California black bear yearlings to the remote wilderness near Truckee. Both female cubs were orphaned last summer.

One cub was illegally dumped last June on the front porch of Ann Bryant, executive director of the BEAR League. Weighing only 12 pounds, the cub was emaciated and starving.

By the California Department of Fish and Game
From nuisance black bears and increasing salmon numbers to automated license sales and poaching arrests, 2010 was a busy year for the California Department of Fish and Game.

A popular new reality show airing on the National Geographic Channel, “Wild Justice,” is capturing some of the department’s doings, but far more happens behind the scenes.

Here is the greater Northern Nevada, Lake Tahoe, Cascade and Northern California fishing report through Feb. 16, 2011.

BLUE LAKES AREA, CALIF:
Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (866) 694-2930 www.woodfordsstation.com reported: The road is closed for the winter.

CAPLES LAKE, CALIF:
John Voss of the Caples Lake Resort (209) 258-8888

An out break of N.S.P.V. has been reported in our area! Use caution!!

This Saturday, Feb. 12, is the opening day of the 2011 fishing seasons for the following waters in Lyon County:

— The Fort Churchill Cooling Ponds, near Wabuska.
— Applicable open waters (Bass Pond, Beaver Slough, Crappie Pond, Hinkson Slough, North Pond and the Walker River), all on the Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area (MVWMA), near Yerington.

All of the waters listed above will close on Sept. 30. If you are interested in fishing at any of those waters on Opening Day, here is some miscellaneous information:

Fort Churchill Cooling Ponds:

We are honored to welcome outdoor writer and editor Don Quilici to the pages of Carson Now.

Quilici's stories and photos will be featured every Wednesday on our new Outdoors Page.

Don Q is famous around these parts to anyone who hunts or fishes. He was the outdoor editor for the Nevada Appeal for 22 years, and his weekly columns delighted readers regardless of their abilities with a gun or rod.

Click here for live coverage of the Carson City School District board and click here for the agenda. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Sierra Room of the Carson City Community Center.

CARSON CITY – For the past nearly two decades, the Nevada Legislature’s Senate Judiciary Committee has been run by a lawmaker who was also an attorney in private life.
The committee, which hears a variety of bills dealing with civil and criminal law, is seen by many as one of the more important legislative panels and one where some legal expertise is considered to have value.

A Carson City man face a felony charge of failing to register as a sex offender and was arrested on Monday.

Albert Franklin O'Neal Jr., 35, had been living in a trailer on a ranch in the 7100 block of Schulz Drive for more than three weeks and had not registered in Carson City, according to the arrest report.

The trailer where O'Neal was living in was east of the main residence where he had been recently hired to work doing maintenance as an independent contractor, the report stated.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – For Gov. Brian Sandoval, every penny counts as he tries to balance a two-year state budget with drastically reduced tax revenues.
At the Board of Examiners meeting today, Sandoval was able to eliminate a new vehicle purchase worth about $40,000 for the state dignitary protection program by finding a suitable vehicle in the state motor pool to fit the bill.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada state legislators may catch a break under a debt-relief proposal from President Barack Obama.
Obama has proposed deferring interest payments on money the states have borrowed to pay unemployment insurance benefits.

CARSON CITY – Nevadans could pay up to $625,684 to consultants who are helping the state implement the controversial federal health care reform law under a state contract.
The contract with Massachusetts-based Public Consulting Group allows up to that level of spending through June 30, 2012.

FREE Country Line Dancing Lessons with Cowboy Bob every Tuesday and Wednesday Night @ 7pm. Open to the public and no cover charge. All skill levels and spectators welcome. 100% Smoke FREE. If you're just curious, or you haven't seen our amazing lounge yet, come on down and watch for a while. We don't bite!! See our full events calendar on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/cWZweu

Treat your Valentine to an evening of sweet and hot big-band music 

tonight from 8 to 10 p.m. 
at Comma Coffee, 312 S. Carson St.
, across from the Legislature Building in Carson City.


Jazz Sampler for Sweethearts features the 19-member Mile High Jazz Band and vocalist Sheryl Adams, presenting jazzy versions of favorite love songs for Valentine's Day, and other swinging, big-band selections.

Shakespeare Company and Gold Hill Theater brought their fast-paced, interactive program, Shakespeare In School, to Donna Anderson's 6th grade English class at Dayton Intermediate School recently.

Teaching Artists Michele Crain and Chris Willson involved the students in skits that brought Shakespeare's Kate and Petruchio from Taming of the Shrew to life. They also explained the historical setting of the play, and involved the entire class in a series of theatre games. Crain, a certified Nevada teacher with 10 years experience teaching in Nevada, designed the lessons.

A Carson City woman faces a felony charge of obtaining money by false pretenses after she allegedly took a check from a mailbox, blotted out the information, signed her own name, depositing it through an ATM machine and then cashing it out later.

Stephanie Louise Rincon, 36, was arrested Monday for the charge. Bail has been set at $20,000.

According to the arrest report, officers met with the victim, who said he had put four checks in his mailbox to be mailed out for bills and had received late payment fees on the bills he had attempted to pay.

Teams of super heroes, penguins, pirates and other eye-catching characters jumped into Lake Tahoe last winter. On March 19, they’ll do it again, and you’re invited to join them as Special Olympics Nevada co-hosts the “Freezin’ for a Reason” Polar Plunge® 2011 at Zephyr Cove, South Lake Tahoe. The event is open to all and will include entertainment, a costume contest, prizes, and Special Olympics athletes, coaches, and volunteers who will share their experiences with the organization’s inspiring programs.

Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey is offering a special presentation on youth violence prevention planning during its February gathering.

Join us every Sunday for Open Mic/ Jam night with Host Dean Brownell. No cover and 100% Smoke Free! Must be 21. See our events calendar on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/hjUVPo

Join us this Friday for the Electrik Rodeo Band in our beautiful new Eleventh Frame Winner's Lounge from 8pm-Midnite. This Classic Rock Band covers Artists such as: Aerosmith, The Doors, Bob Seger, Lynard Skynard & ZZ Top. No Cover and Smoke FREE!! See our Events Calendar on Facebook: http://bit.ly/hjUVPo.

CARSON CITY —  The Nevada Legislature today voted unanimously to adopt a resolution that would cut their salaries by 4.6 percent.

CARSON CITY – Mention government transparency and “Twitter” probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.
A communication technology that gives users 140 characters to share where they just had lunch or “Tweet” trivia about the weather and celebrities doesn’t immediately scream “politics” either.
But Nevada state legislators, lobbyists and journalists are finding more and more use in Twitter because the platform allows information gathering and governing at high speed.

The 2011 Nevada Legislature got underway this morning, and here are some scenes from the opening ceremonies.

The Appeal is liveblogging the first day, and there is also coverage at SessionAccess.org.

CARSON CITY — Nevada saw 27 percent growth in the number of residents receiving food stamps this past year.
That makes Nevada’s growth the second-highest in the nation with Idaho claiming the largest percent growth at 28 percent.
Between Nov. 2009 and Nov. 2010, 69,000 more Nevadans signed up to receive food stamps, reported the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Services.

A married couple from Lucerne, Calif. was arrested Saturday morning in 3800 block of South Carson Street for misdemeanor drug offenses, in an incident that began with the alleged theft of a jacket from a casino.

CARSON CITY – They speak of limbs hacked off, death and guts.
In a war of words, critics of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s $5.8 billion budget have lambasted his proposed cuts to K-12, higher education and health and human services.

February is the time for eagles in the Carson Valley. I found these two along Genoa Lane. One was guarding the nest, and the other was patrolling the area.

See more at http://aroundcarson.com

Carson City paramedics have responded to a traffic accident this afternoon involving a motorcycle and a Jeep at East Nye and Carson streets.

A Gardnerville Ranchos man was seriously injured during a domestic dispute early this morning.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to 1300 block of Wheeler Way at 3:30 a.m. on the report of a domestic battery in progress. While the deputies were responding to the call they were advised that shots had been fired.

According to the press release from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, responding deputies learned that a 24-year-old man had intervened in a violent domestic battery between his mother and his step father who is 41 years of age.

The following Carson City area road construction and improvement report applies to the period of Feb. 7-13:

About 3.5 miles of frontage that amounts to 419 acres along the Carson River corridor was sealed into protection thanks to the voter-approved Question 1 initiative and Carson City's own Question 18 Quality of Life Initiative.

A partnership for the purchase, appraised at $3.1 million, was created between Carson City, the Nevada Land Conservancy, the Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway and private landowner John Serpa.

By Andrew Barbano
The inaugural Big Bonanza Days Dinner and Awards Ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 5, at Virginia City's newest hotel, the Silverland Inn & Suites.

The Silverland is the major sponsor of the event. Proprietor Hugh Roy Marshall is a longtime amateur Nevada historian. He involved two experienced Nevada business executives in the revival of one of Virginia City's most storied events.

Funnyman Kevin Nealon, a “Saturday Night Live” legend and celebrated actor of “Weeds” is set to hit MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa at Stateline, Lake Tahoe on Saturday, Feb. 26, for a special one-night stand.

June Joplin, as Sister Hubert from Meshuggah-Nuns!, talks about the wine walk & show at the Brewery Arts Center.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdOKAmIZnKI

LAS VEGAS – The presidents of Nevada’s colleges and universities said the governor’s budget cuts would put their institutions on a starvation diet.
They argued that past budget cuts severely slimmed their institutions, meaning additional funding reductions would threaten their core academic mission.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – While there has been a lot of criticism directed at the details of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed spending plan, there is acclaim for his development of a new budgeting process designed to ensure state agencies get results with taxpayer dollars.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY — The director of Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles had a surprising announcement for Nevada’s motorists yesterday.
Bruce Breslow, the DMV’s new director, said that the department has had no effective way to tell who has insurance and who doesn’t.

Joe Conforte, the former owner of the Mustang Ranch brothel a few miles east of Reno, has produced his autobiography as an ebook, his publisher has announced.

Titled “Breaks, Brains & Balls: the story of Nevada’s fabulous Mustang Ranch” the 464-page book details Conforte's adventurous life from his birth into the poverty of a Sicilian fishing village to a life of luxury in Rio De Janeiro.

Dayton Intermediate School’s newly developing school garden will boast two large sculptures by internationally known sculptor Mischell Riley.

Riley, who is well known for work such as the 3-story high bronze lion at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, has donated two of her pieces to enhance the school’s garden landscape.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles could be a thing of the past under a new proposal.
The new director of the state’s DMV plans to ask the Legislature to pass a bill that would allow 80 new, self-service kiosks in many Nevada neighborhoods.

CARSON CITY – The logic of Gov. Brian Sandoval goes something like this: If you’re going to make me do it, let me do it my way.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – The Republican minority leadership in the Senate and the Assembly has called on critics of GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed budget to trade their “rhetoric for a plan.”

Veronica Anne Rowe, 26, of Carson City, was arrested Tuesday night for allegedly shooting her boyfriend in the head and hand with a BB gun.

Carson City authorities have responded to a report of a man who may have been shot in the head with BBs.

According to scanner traffic that came in at around 6:45 p.m., a woman barricaded herself inside a home in the 3100 block of Wingate. She has since surrendered to authorities.

Fire and rescue responded to treat the man. His condition is unknown but is said to be conscious and reportedly told dispatch that he was attempting to pull BBs from his head.

Lela Branstetter, a senior at Pioneer High School, is participating in the Miss Carson City Pageant this year. The pageant will be held on February 19, 2011. This pageant is a preliminary stage for the Miss America pageant system.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – The state may save more money by spending rather than cutting.
Advocates for mental health funding advanced that seemingly nonsensical argument in a plea to save the state’s mental health courts, which are designed to rehabilitate mentally-ill criminal offenders.

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