Join us every Sunday evening for Open Mic/ Jam Night with Host Dean Brownell. Use our equipment or bring your own. All ages welcome. No Cover and Smoke FREE. See us on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/f1mejp

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada residents bear the second lowest state and local tax burden of any state at 7.5 percent, behind only Alaska at 6.3 percent, according to a new report from the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation.

Western Nevada College's campuses in Carson City, Douglas and Fallon will be close today at 2 p.m. due to weather.

The Carson City and Douglas campuses will remain closed through the weekend, but the Fallon campus will be open Saturday, weather permitting.

For more information, go to: http:/wnc.edu

This is from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office: It is advising that because of several downed power lines, it has closed off a portion of Highway 395 and Muller Lane in Minden.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Students who smoke may soon find it more difficult to do so. A proposal heard today would ban smoking on all Nevada’s university and college campuses.

The Carson City School District reports that its schools are open today, Friday, and will operate on a normal schedule.

Zeb Hogan swims with the fishes and lives to write about it. In the March 2011 issue of National Geographic, the University of Nevada, Reno researcher and assistant professor is pictured swimming with a man-eating catfish and describes swimming underwater with a 400-pound Mekong giant catfish in one of his many adventures in the rivers of a dozen countries around the world.

A rally in support of American workers will be held in front of the Legislative Building in Carson City on Saturday, Feb. 26. The event is sponsored by the Carson City Democratic Central Committee and the Nevada Rural Democratic Caucus.
It is part of a nationwide event by Move-On and People for the American Way in an event called "50-State Mobilization to Save the American Dream." Rallies will be held at state legislative buildings across the country.

Join the Carson City Chamber of Commerce on March 1 for a home cooked breakfast like no other.
Brush up on your Shakespeare, for it is the Ides of March (almost!). The Chamber Breakfast Club will be at Sierra Place, located at 1111 West College Parkway in Carson City. Serving begins at 7:30 a.m.

Please join us for the 2011 Carson River Watershed Forum. This forum will feature a full day of inspiring presentations on the topic of "growing a healthy watershed". The forum is free, including lunch, but you must pre-register. To register for the forum, please send your name, phone number and email to: genie@cwsd.org or kathi@cwsd.org, or call 775-887-9005. Register today!

The UC Davis’s Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) in partnership with the Tahoe Expedition Academy (TEA) will host the sixth annual Science Expo on March 16.

The fair features interactive experiments and demonstrations for children from the third to sixth grade, ages 8 to 12 and their families. The event is free and will run from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences in Incline Village. Ice cream will be provided by Susie Scoops of Incline Village and UC Davis TERC.

Join us every Sunday afternoon 3-6pm for Kids Karaoke with hosts Cathy & Robert in our fabulous Eleventh Frame Winner's Lounge. All ages welcome. (kids must remain 6 feet from the bar except when ordering soft drinks). 100% Smoke FREE. Bring the whole Family!! See us on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/hjUVPo

In 2010, McCall Realty of South Lake Tahoe pledged to donate $20,000 of annual profits to five non-profit organizations benefitting the youth of South Shore. Owner Thane McCall is fulfilling that promise by delivering final contributions to the South Lake Tahoe Police Activities League (PAL), which will use the funds for after-school programs including a boxing club, bike club, recreation outing group and various sports teams.

Here is the Northern Nevada, Northern California and Sierra Fishing Report For the week of Feb. 23:

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

CHETCO RIVER, ORE:
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (800) 720-ODWF www.dfw.state.or.us.com reported: Low and clear. Steelhead are throughout the system. Anglers fishing smaller baits and lighter line are doing the best.  Boat and bank angling pressure is light.

By the California Department of Fish and Game
A bear poaching conviction has landed a Novato, California man in state prison for two years. Wayne Richard Barsch, 49, was already a two-strike felon when sentenced on Feb. 4 by Glenn County Judge John Tiernan.
Barch will also face an as-yet-undermined fine, and his hunting and fishing privileges have been revoked for life.

Courtesy of GrandViewOutdoors.com
On a sunny afternoon, 15 workers are waist deep in a half-acre pond, tromping through 46-degree water and dragging a 120-foot net to catch several hundred small fish.

The fingerling yellow perch are being pulled from the water to be part of studies of the small fish, which is being introduced as an alternate commercial species in Alabama.

Courtesy of GrandViewOutdoors.com
A small herd of elk roaming southern Allamakee County in Iowa is causing an uproar.

Jim Jansen with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that the state has shot some of the elk and there are plans to take down the rest.

But several residents think the state should consider allowing the elk to roam free and re-establishing Iowa's wild elk population.

Tim Mason of rural McGregor says the animals should be nurtured, not shot.

By the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
This is a reminder that amateur and professional elk callers from across the United States will converge on Reno for the RMEF/Leupold World Elk Calling Championships, March 4-5, 2011.
Preliminary rounds begin March 4 at 9:00 a.m., and championship rounds begin March 5 at 9:00 a.m., at the Reno/Sparks Convention Center.
The championships are a centerpiece of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s annual Elk Camp & Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Expo.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
Professor Michael Young began to think last year that he should look for a job outside of Nevada.
It was not the craziest thought; the recession was in full swing and legislators were slashing the higher education budget.
Young was a departmental director at the Desert Research Institute. Now he’s an associate director at the University of Texas, Austin.

I watched from the gallery as Sen. Harry Reid called for an end to legal prostitution in his speech to the Nevada Legislature yesterday.

This part of the speech got wide coverage all over the world, overshadowing everything else he said. But there is one thing you should know. This was all an act, political theater that will have no effect on anything. So for all you folks riled up by this issue, just settle down and enjoy the show.

Join us this Friday 2/25 for the very popular "Out of Towners" Duo. This super talented duo plays top 40, classic hits, country, and variety. They take the stage @ 8pm. No Cover and Smoke FREE. Must be 21. If you haven't been in our super cool remodeled lounge yet, grab a friend and come on down. You will be amazed!! Check us out on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/hjUVPo

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
A national movement to guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states combined gained steam today with the financial support of a billionaire businessman who has committed resources to enacting the concept across the country, including Nevada.

RENO, Nev. –The 2011 edition of Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges will include the names of 15 students from the University of Nevada, Reno, who have been selected as national outstanding campus leaders.

Students were selected on their academic achievement, service to community, leadership in extracurricular activities and potential for continued success.

They join an elite group of students from more than 2,300 institutions of higher learning in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and several foreign nations.

The students selected from Nevada are:

December 4th 1921- December 2nd 2010

Vivian M. Romero completed her life journey December 2nd 2010, two days shy of her 89th birthday in Omaha, Nebraska surrounded by friends and family. Those who knew and loved her called her Viv. After the passing of her husband George in 2003, Viv left Carson City and returned to her childhood home of Omaha, Nebraska to be closer to family.