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Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus visited around 100 homes throughout Carson City Tuesday night, a 25-plus year tradition thanks to the Carson City Sheriff's Office Reserve Organization.

Decked out in full Santa Claus attire, the Jolly St. Nick, at least six different versions of him, plus several helpers and assigned reserve deputies passed out candy canes and pre-arranged gifts from parents to an estimated 500 children.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is making preparations for the upcoming New Year’s Eve celebration at Lake Tahoe starting on Tuesday, December 31st, 2013. Each year upwards of 60,000 celebrants ring in the New Year in the casino core area of Stateline, Nevada.

Conditions are expected to remain dry for the remainder of the week, which means excellent holiday travel in the Sierra and western Nevada, but no help for our snow pack.

The good news for skiers and boarders headed to Lake Tahoe resorts is that the snow that fell earlier this month along with the cold weather days, plus snowmaking, has allowed for top to bottom conditions at most resorts. High temperatures for the Lake Tahoe basin will be in the low to mid-40s Christmas Day through Sunday.

A 24-year-old Carson City man was arrested Monday, Dec. 23 7:10 p.m. in the 1800 block of North Edmonds.
Jordan Randall Burkhart, faces felony warrant charges of failure to appear and parole and probation hold. He is being held without bail on those charges until a court hearing.

According to the arrest report, officers responded to a casino for a report of several unwanted subjects. An officer recognized Burkhart and when he saw the officer he quickly got up and exited the casino.

Heavenly Mountain Resort at Lake Tahoe will plug into a state-of-the art music mobile DJ station in a partnership with Aaron Hagar, son of legendary musician Sammy Hagar and owner of Rat Runners Garage.

Retrofitting a retired grooming machine into a speaker-injected mobile sound system, Heavenly’s DJ cat is the first of its kind creation that its builders say will rival anything seen at a nightclub.

A 21-year-old Carson City woman was arrested Sunday following a traffic stop near the intersection of College Parkway and Sherman. Carin Elizabeth Bohannan faces a felony charge of using false identification to avoid prosecution and a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license.

According to the arrest report, a Carson City Sheriff's patrol deputy conducted a traffic stop at 10:29 p.m. because of a non-functioning tail light.

Restaurant inspections are made weekly by the Carson City Health and Human Services Environmental Health Division. Inspections for the week ending Dec. 20 include wholesale food distributor trucks, restaurants, a bar and lounge, a caterer, a casino bakery, snack bar and restaurant. Beginning Jan. 1, 2014 inspections will also be made in Douglas County as part of an inter-local agreement.

See the report below.

It has been a busy week at Incline Village on the north shore of Lake Tahoe for Nevada Department of Wildlife game wardens dealing with nuisance bears. On Thursday, NDOW euthanized a 263-pound male black bear and on Sunday a bear was released in the wild south of Gardnerville.

The euthanized bear was positively identified as one that had been breaking into and entering cars, at least one home and some garages in an Incline neighborhood, according to a Nevada Department of Wildlife news release.

An 18-year-old Concord, Calif., man was booked Friday into Carson City Jail on suspicion of felony possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor charges related to graffiti after admitting to law officers that he marked up bus stop covers and electrical boxes with a shoe polish pen.

Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell provides an update on the actions taken by the Board of Supervisors at its last meeting, Dec. 19.

Topics include: Appointments to the 9-1-1 Surcharge Advisory Committee, Ward Voting, Carson City's ethics ordinance, the city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the proposed Multi-Purpose Athletic Center, a new animal shelter, and other proposed infrastructure improvements.

One of Northern Nevada’s favorite jazz vocalists returns for her fourth New Year’s Eve performance, Tuesday, Dec. 31 at Café at Adele’s in Carson City.

Since relocating to Reno about five years ago, Barbara Baxter has grown a loyal following among locals who appreciate not only her natural ability, but the heart and passion that comes through in every performance.

Road projects will be minimal over the Christmas week, Dec. 23-29, according to Carson City Public Works.

There will be tree removal Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 23-24, that will close the roads on Division Street between West John and West William streets from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Detours will be marked.

Swing into the New Year with the Mile High Jazz Band at "Cool Jazz in January," a big-band event with vocalist Sheryl Adams at Comma Coffee on Tuesday, January 14, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Comma Coffee, 312 S. Carson Street, is across the street from the state legislature building in Carson City. General admission is $5 at the door: free for age 18 and under.

August 19, 1954 - Dec. 17, 2013 Clare Shaw, a devoted Carson City Letter Carrier since 1995, lost her nine-month struggle with cancer on December 17, 2013 at the age 59. She ...

Do you know where your teenager will be this New Year's Eve? Chances are they may very well be at a party. Every year the Carson City Sheriff's Office respond to reports of juveniles drinking at residences. Often these calls come in due to the music playing too loud, vehicles being parked illegally or a disturbance has broken out.

UPDATE: The Moneytree located in a shopping center on East William Street near the Carson City I80 freeway was evacuated as were nearby businesses and the Subway restaurant after a bomb threat was made Friday afternoon. The shopping center is now open.

According to Carson City Sheriff's Office Sgt. Mike Cullen, the Money Tree store was searched and cleared of any explosive device. Detectives are following up with additional searches and taking photographs of the building.

Tickets are selling fast but there are still some left on Nevada Northern Railway's award-winning Polar Express in Ely. This magical ride, licensed by Warner Bros., follows both the book and movie; and features a vintage diesel locomotive pulling heated passenger train cars to the North Pole.

Including Friday, there are there are 13 remaining Polar Express rides through Dec. 28; except Dec. 24 and 25 when the railroad is closed. Polar Express holiday trains in Carson City have been sold out for several weeks.

"Yes, Virginia the Musical" an exciting new holiday classic based on the Macy’s and NBC Holiday special of the same name and produced by Youth Theatre Carson City runs this weekend.

The show offers three performances, Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 22 at 2 p.m. in the Bob Boldrick Theatre at the Carson City Community Center. "Yes, Virginia the Musical" is a brand-new musical that has been adapted specifically for children and families by Macy’s, in partnership with the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

A Carson City woman was arrested Thursday after agreeing to help law officers make drug transactions but never showed to complete the tasks. Tashina Wungnema, 32, faces two felony charges of possession of a controlled substance and being in violation of a suspended sentence.

According to the arrest report, officers assigned to the Special Enforcement Team staged a drug transaction on Dec. 5 where suspect Wungnema agreed to sell a cooperating source of the Sheriff's Office $40 worth of methamphetamine or four-tenths of a gram, according to the arrest report.

The jobless rate in Carson City fell to 9.1 percent in November, part of an overall trend statewide for the month where Nevada’s unemployment rate fell to 9 percent, down from 9.3 percent in October, making it the most significant improvement in the unemployment in a year, according to the state's Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

The Winter Solstice in Nevada is this Saturday, at 9:11 a.m. The Winter Solstice occurs when the sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. In other words, it is when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun, according to timeanddate.com.

Depending on the Gregorian calendar, the December solstice occurs annually on a day between December 20 and December 23.

An Incline Village couple said they received death threats after reporting problems with a black bear that was captured and then euthanized Thursday by Nevada wildlife officials.

"People have been giving me death threats," Adrienne Evans said. Evans is a teacher at Carson High School and a well-known mountain bike racer in the Lake Tahoe area.

Carson City resident Joshua Grow was convicted Monday of trafficking 28 or more grams of methamphetamine by a jury of his peers, the Carson City District Attorney's Office announced.

Grow faces the maximum sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment or the minimum sentence of 10 to 25 years and a mandatory fine up to $500,000. He will be sentenced Feb. 3, 2014.