Career

The Sierra Nevada Ballet takes the stage this summer to present, Giselle, which is possibly the best-loved of all the world's ballets. This profound folk tale comes to life through music, drama and over 30 professional dancers who will share this story of doomed love ... complete with jealousy, madness and vengeful ghosts. According to the ballet’s artistic director Rosine Bena, “Giselle is steeped in the tradition of ballet and conveys the poetry that makes this great production a must see this summer”.

RENO, NV – June 19, 2012 – Western Bariatric Institute, a leading weight management clinic headquartered in Reno, Nevada, and the Surgery Center of Reno, recently announced that local resident, Lacey Stultz, is the winner of their annual Free Lap-Band Procedure Contest. This is quite an honor as Lacey was selected from 446 entries! First, healthcare and medical professionals selected six top finalists, and then the public voted on the winner from videos posted online.

AUDITION WORKSHOP

      Wild Horse Children’s Theater is presenting an audition workshop to help prepare young people (ages 8 and up) to audition confidently anywhere by strengthening audition and performance technique for musical theater.  This is a great workshop if your child plans to audition for THE LITTLE MERMAID audition coming up in September.  The workshop will be held Tuesday, August 21 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Performance Hall at the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City.

With songwriting credits that include “Wild One,” recorded by Faith Hill and “Stranded,” made famous by Heart, Jaime Kyle made a mark in the music world a long time ago.
Throughout her career, her songs have been recorded by numerous artists, featured on CD’s with combined sales of more than 19 million worldwide and has recorded and performed with such legendary artists as Leon Russell, Patty Griffin, Richard Marx, Amy Grant and Ozzy Osbourne. Today, she continues to perform her original music for audiences throughout Northern California.

Carson City, NV – Two local folk musicians are finding benefactors for their music via the Internet. When the husband-and-wife folk duo Tom and Mary Kay Aufrance went looking for some financial help with publishing their upcoming music CD release, they decided to try a novel approach - auctioning off sponsorships on their CD via ebay.

Internationally renowned soloists and a world-class orchestra of 38 instrumentalists will contribute to an exclusive series of classical concerts and performances during Lake Tahoe SummerFest, the first three weekends of August.

CARSON CITY – Five candidates, including one current board member, are seeking the State Board of Education seat in District 3 in Clark County in the June 12 primary.

The top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan race will move on to the general election in November. The board, reconstituted in the 2011 legislative session, has four elected seats. Another three will be appointed by Gov. Brian Sandoval and legislative leadership.

In a milestone for the organization, Amy R. Berry was appointed to the new position of CEO of the Tahoe Fund on Wednesday. The official announcement is a major shift forward for the organization and its mission to raise private and public funding for environmental projects in Lake Tahoe.

Facing elimination Sunday at the National Junior College Athletic Association World Series, the Western Nevada College Wildcats turned to reliable sources to continue their record-setting season.

Sophomore right-hander Dylan Baker struck out 10 and kept the Cisco Wranglers guessing while Dylan Ness knocked in three runs with a seeing-eye double en route to a 9-2 victory in Grand Junction, Colo.

CARSON CITY – With education reform a top priority of Gov. Brian Sandoval, the new alignment of the state Board of Education – with four seats up for grabs on the November ballot – is taking on more importance than ever before.

One of the four seats, District 2 which mirrors the new Nevada 2^nd Congressional District from Reno and Carson City east across rural Nevada, has attracted five candidates, two of whom are serving now on the 10-member elected board. The race is nonpartisan.

FOR PRESS INFORMATION:
Bill Heitman, executive director
775-323-8084

U.S. Bank partners with Junior Achievement to bring day-long program to all students at Jacks Valley Elementary School

WHAT: All students at Jacks Valley Elementary School will participate in “JA in a Day” presented by Junior Achievement of Northern Nevada and U.S. Bank. Students will be taught curriculum based on financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness from U.S. Bank, Douglas County Sherriff’s Department and parent volunteers.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Services for legendary radio commentator Travus T. Hipp will be held this Saturday, May 26, in Silver City. Hipp died early Friday morning, May 18, at his Silver City home. He was 75, as old as the Golden Gate Bridge in his beloved San Francisco.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, May 26, in Silver City. Gathering, gnoshing and remembering will begin at the Silver City Community Center, 385 High Street, at 10:00 a.m. Food and refreshments will be provided. Those who wish may bring more.

CARSON CITY – While Mitt Romney and Barack Obama were campaigning elsewhere today, Nevada Democrats and Republicans took up the battle for the presidency on their behalf.

Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., held a telephone conference call to talk up Romney’s credentials as a “turnaround specialist” who will get the country back on track. He also criticized Obama for failing to get spending or the national deficit under control as he promised early on in his presidency.

Western Nevada College Wildcats’ play-by-play announcer Chris Graham will be making a trip to West Jordan, Utah, for the third week in a row to broadcast each of Western Nevada College's NJCAA Western District baseball tournament games later this week.

Follow the Wildcats online at online at www.ustream.tv/channel/western-nevada-baseball and through a live stat tracker provided by Salt Lake Community College here.

CARSON CITY – Establishing school choice for parents and ending social promotion for students are two top priorities in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s education reform agenda for the 2013 legislative session, an administration official said today.

Linking pay to performance and providing professional development to ensure students have the best possible classroom teachers is a third major priority, said Dale Erquiaga, senior adviser to Sandoval.

Qualifying for a seed at the World Championship Robotics Championships is no easy feat. Teams compete in their local area to receive a coveted invitation to the international robotics champions at the World Festival, also known as the "Superbowl of Smarts".

Teams become ambassadors for their region and schools, and take on the additional challenge to earn their way to St. Louis, MO. Held at the Edward Jones Dome, in the biggest FIRST® Championship ever, 12,000 students from 32 countries competed in three robotics championships.

"Welcome Back To Markleeville" a music CD by Beans Sousa and Friends, includes duets with Lacy J. Dalton, Mary McCaslin, and The Slade Rivers Band. A portion of the proceeds will go to "The Fund To Stock Trophy Fish" in The Carson River, overseen by Todd Sodaro, owner of The Carson River Resort. The CD will be released on Saturday April 28 Opening Day California Stream Fishing) with a performance at The Cutthroat Saloon inside The Wolf Creek Inn at 7pm that evening.

CARSON CITY – A little-known benefit of Nevada’s public employee pension plan is the right to purchase up to five years of service towards retirement.

Referred to by some as “air time,” or the ability to add years of retirement without actually putting in the time in a public sector job, the benefit can allow state and local government workers to retire early, collecting annual pensions years before they would be eligible otherwise.

CARSON CITY – A state agency today reported that significant changes have been made to the unemployment insurance benefit structure affecting both current and future recipients.

CARSON CITY – Two top state law enforcement positions have been filled by the Nevada Department of Public Safety (DPS).

Troy Abney was named as chief of the Nevada Highway Patrol after a national search. Abney has 28 years of law enforcement experience, including serving as the assistant chief of the California Highway Patrol where he led 786 sworn and non-sworn members.

The Department of Public Safety is pleased to announce the appointment of Tom Navin to the position of Chief of the Capitol Police Division.

“Chief Navin comes to the department with a wealth of knowledge in the law enforcement field and will bring great leadership to the division,” said Director Chris Perry.

Proscenium Players is holding open auditions for their August production at the Brewery Arts Center of “Steel Magnolias” directed by Abbey Gardner and produced by Melissa Knight.

Steel Magnolias is a comedy–drama play about the bond among a group of Southern women in northwest Louisiana. It is written by Robert Harling, based on his experience with the death of his sister. The title suggests the "female characters are as delicate as magnolias but ...as tough as steel".

The two biggest topics in the racing world this past week have NASCAR fans fired up. The first event was the surprise reversal of the penalties levied against Hendrick Motorsports and the 48 team at Daytona. While Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook reversed the ruling of the three-member appeals panel on points and suspension penalties, he let the $100,000 fine for crew chief Chad Knaus stand. He modified the suspensions for Knaus and car chief Ron Malec to probation.

CARSON CITY – Here is a selection of comments made by Nevada public officials today following the announcement of the death of former state Sen. Bill Raggio:

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller: “I am deeply saddened by the death of Bill Raggio. There are no words to describe his dedication to the state of Nevada and I wish to express my deepest condolences and prayers for his wife Dale, and his family. Bill was a true statesman who dedicated his life to making Nevada a better place to live. His legacy will be remembered for generations to come.”

CARSON CITY – Bill Raggio, a lion of Nevada politics and the state’s longest-serving state senator, passed away during a trip to Australia on Thursday. He was 85.

Officials from around the state expressed sorrow and sympathy for Raggio’s family when news of the loss of the highly-regarded lawmaker was first reported by Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston early today.

Longtime family friend Greg Ferraro told Ralston: “Officially, Bill Raggio passed away last night at 10pm PST of respiratory illness in Sydney Australia. Funeral arrangements are pending.”

Bill Raggio, who is considered by many to be the most powerful force in Nevada politics over the last 30 years, has died while on vacation in Australia Thursday evening. He was 85.

Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun broke the news.

Raggio was first elected to the Nevada State Senate in 1972. He resigned from the seat he held for 38 years after supporting Democrat Harry Reid in 2010 over Republican Sharron Angle.

Raggio ruled the Nevada State Senate as the GOP leader and chairman of the Finance Committee. It's safe to say that few bills passed the Nevada Legislature in the last 30 years without his approval.

Raggio's legislative biography is here.

RGJ has posted a profile with photo gallery on Raggio's life.

Best quote: "You show me someone who doesn't have detractors, and I'll show you someone who hasn't done a damn thing in their lives."

Watch out, there's another Heller in politics. Emmy Heller was just declared the winner of the vote for student body president at Carson High School. Her father Sen. Dean Heller has held elective office since before Emmy, 17, was born, and helped her craft her positions and talking points. But Emmy said the experience of running for election was so stressful that she doesn't want to pursue politics as a career.

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F.I.S.H. (Friends In Service Helping) has launched a campaign to refinance the mortgage on their building and free up extra funds to help the needy of Carson City. The group currently owes $1.7 million on the property on North Carson Street, which is valued at $1.6 million in today's market. Their interest rate is 7.75 percent, well above what can be obtained through refinancing. Executive Director Jim Peckham hopes to raise enough money to obtain a $1.2 million loan at 4 percent, which means they would have an extra $8,000 a month to serve the homeless and others in need.

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The owner of Cactus Jack's casino in downtown Carson City was hit with a $15,000 fine by the Nevada Gaming Commission for using unauthorized poker chips in poker tournaments. Guess the house doesn't always win.

Sochi, Russia is next on the list for orthopedic surgeon, Terrence Orr's medical volunteerism. As a physician with Tahoe Orthopedic & Sports Medicine, he will be previewing the future site of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games as part of his role as Head Team Physician for the United States Men's Alpine Ski Team — a position he has held since 1999.

CARSON CITY – Heath Morrison, superintendent of the Washoe County School District, today was named the 2012 National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators.

The announcement was made at the AASA national conference in Houston.

I was busy some other place when "Star Wars, The Phantom Menace" opened in 1999 in the USA. Lucky me. Not so lucky now when I went to see the reworked original decked out in 3D. It's a corny movie and the 3D adds little to the viewing except for the $3 extra per ticket. At the Galaxy Fandango in Carson City you can see the release without 3D and you won't be missing much.