By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – State senator Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, has had enough of percentages.
Just the numbers, please, was his basic request at a Senate Finance committee meeting this past week as various state agencies delivered their budget reports.

The traffic signal at the intersection of N. Saliman Road and E. William Street will be modified on February 22. A signal will be added for vehicles traveling northbound on N. Saliman Road and turning left onto westbound E. William Street. No interruptions to traffic are expected, but please use caution in this area.

Utility work will occur on Russell Way between Northridge Drive and Long Street on February 22-23. Two-way traffic will be maintained with flaggers.

Shoulder work will occur at Stanton Drive and Monte Rosa Drive due to sidewalk improvements.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uLECuGK07U

Several people at yesterday's Board of Supervisors meeting mentioned the generosity of Mae Adams for donating land to Carson City for the proposed Knowledge and Discovery Center and public plaza, the centerpiece of the City Center/Nugget Project.

I've heard some critics complain about this donation, which does little to bolster their case. Despite the unorthodox lease deal, it really is a donation we should be thankful to have the option of using for a new library.

But this donation does come with one very large and expensive string attached.

We have heard from multiple inside sources about the abrupt departure Wednesday of Editor Peggy Santoro from the Nevada Appeal newsroom. We don't know the details, and understanding how these things work inside that company, we may not know for a while, if ever.

After a marathon meeting today, the Carson City Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to allow staff to begin negotiations on agreements to develop the City Center/Nugget Project.

But the project may face hurdles getting final approval, as two of those voting yes expressed concerns about the project.

Western Nevada College campuses in Carson City and Douglas County will be closed Friday because of the winter storm. Click here for more information.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – A state Senate resolution telling Congress to respect Nevada’s right to govern itself under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is expected to get a hearing, the chief sponsor said today.

Catch this show at Brewery Arts Center:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_59bZOQnng

By Andrew Doughman/ Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – In certain circles, nothing raises the collective blood pressure like talk of ARRA and the federal stimulus bill.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that President Barack Obama signed into law two years ago has channeled $800 billion to the states in an attempt to jolt the economy to life.

A fresh round of snow for the Carson City and Carson Valley regions is expected with a new storm approaching today.

A cold low pressure system will continue to develop along the West Coast and bring periods of heavy snow to the region through Friday night, according to the National Weather Service in Reno and Carsonweather.com.

It happened almost too fast. Mayor Bob Crowell made a quick motion, and asked if anyone on the board had any appetite for raising property taxes. No one did.

The finance director spoke up to suggest a small adjustment for one area. Supervisor Karen Abowd made a different motion to keep taxes the same except for this small adjustment. That motion passed unanimously.

This may be the biggest agenda for a Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting in a very long time. The three big items will be a proposed 14 percent property tax rate increase, the $4.5 million first phase of the Multi-Purpose Athletic Complex (MAC), then followed up by the Carson City Center/Nugget Project after lunch. (The full agenda is here)

If you don't have the free time to spend the entire day in the Sierra Room at the Community Center (and limited seating may be an issue), you can keep track of the fun with our live video feed right here. We'll also be liveblogging the meeting via Twitter, as there is sure to be a lot to comment on, so we invite people to join in.

As a warm-up for the Nugget Project discussion, here is a story from the Appeal about that issue, that lists a lot of commentary from locals about the project.

Update: The meeting is in recess until 2, when they take up the Nugget Project.

Gee, and you thought the big issue at Thursday's meeting of the Carson City Board of Supervisors was going to the redevelopment project that has been the object of heated discussions for the past year.

But the revelation that a 14 percent hike in the property tax rate was also on the agenda seems to be causing people to put the Nugget Project on the back burner.

I received a call from the Builders Association of Western Nevada this afternoon about a big property tax increase the Carson City Board of Supervisors is going to vote on tomorrow.

The funny thing is, I read through the agenda last week and didn't see it. But it was easy to miss. It is number 15 on the agenda, and the language used gives very little clue as to what it is (the document is attached below).

CARSON CITY – It took less than a day before Sen. Elizabeth Halseth had the attention she was looking for.
Tim Crowley, a lobbyist for the mining industry, said he called her this morning to schedule a meeting after she asked in a Tuesday night blog post, “did mining just hit a brick wall?”

CARSON CITY – State Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, told a Senate panel today the Legislature should move forward with repealing the state’s minimum wage law.

With falling and blowing snow throughout Northern Nevada earlier today, troopers from the Nevada Highway Patrol were kept busy by responding to several calls for service this morning, Trooper Chuck Allen reports.

In a six-hour timeframe between 4 am to 10 am, 19 motor vehicle accidents were investigated, 17 slides-offs or spin-outs were reported and the Department of Public Safety-Communications Center fielded 298 phone calls.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – A bill from Sens. James Settelmeyer and John Lee would ease regulations for carrying a concealed semi-automatic weapon.

Monica Ricketts, 19, has written a book of poetry and recently land a job with Disney Cruise Lines playing Cinderella & Snow White:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MtesJLNYwY

Winter roared back in Carson City and the Sierra this morning, with heavy snow and accumulations of a few inches on the valley floor already.

A winter weather advisory has been issued for the Carson City and Carson Valley regions, with a winter storm warning underway for Lake Tahoe and the Sierra, according Carsonweather.com.

A Reno man who had a misdemeanor warrant for his arrest on an assault charge was found at a Carson City casino with methamphetamine in his possession, authorities said.

Seven fun-loving people from this area spent last Saturday and Sunday, February 12-13, traveling on the Amtrak passenger train between Reno and Sacramento, Calif.

--See Don Q's Outdoor report

Those seven were: Mary Bottoms, Bob “Slick” and Lynda McCulloch, Elaine and I, all of Carson City; and Sal and Catali Quilici of Dayton.

By Nevada News Bureau staff
Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley declined again today to commit to a race for the U.S. Senate in 2012 after poll results show Rep. Dean Heller with a commanding lead over incumbent John Ensign in a GOP primary.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – A coffee shop across the street from the Legislature announces “let the games begin.”
With the Legislature in session for less than two weeks, Democratic legislators seem to be playing the game well.

Here's a follow-up to the Silver City mining story, this time by political reporter Anjeanette Damon of the Las Vegas Sun as to what happened Monday among lawmakers taking up the eminent domain mining issue. According to one mining lobbyist, if you support private property rights over mining in Nevada, you're an eco-terrorist. Here's the story.