Editor

In his letter to the editor, published in the December 24th Nevada Appeal, William Lepore Sr. admitted to being confused about American history, citing fake quotations from John Adams, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to drive home his point. Go to http://tinyurl.com/Leporequotes for details on these "quotes," or Google "The Right’s Library of Fake Quotes" for the rest of the story on the fictionalization of American history.

This is my annual pre-Christmas reminder that Topaz Lake, located along U.S. 395 at the Nevada-California state line, will open its 2012 fishing season, one half hour before sunrise, on January 1.
If the weather is decent, if you don't have a massive hang-over, if you like to fish and if you don't have anything else planned, this could be a fun way to start the New Year.

With Christmas two weeks away, one of the best stocking stuffers for local anglers is a California fishing license. If you're planning to fish in the State of California in 2012, you'll need a new license as of Jan. 1.
You can purchase that license and any applicable stamp at a number of local outlets or on the Internet.
If you need to buy a license and stamps, here is some info:

Last Saturday evening (Dec. 3), the Ormsby Sportsmen’s Association (OSA) of Carson City held its traditional end-of-the-year banquet at the Carson Nugget and ended the 2011 year on a high note.

As I look forward to the year of 2012 with high expectations, hopes and dreams, this is a good time to reflect back on some selected personal memories from the rapidly ending year of 2011. Here are my top memories:

This is the third in a series of photos of oddities that were seen on a six week vacation trip to Italy in September and October, 2011.
That trip was taken by Bob and Lorraine Scholes of Dayton and Don and Elaine Quilici of Carson City, as they traveled the length and width of Italy, plus being on the Island of Sicily and in Switzerland.

Carson City has been selected by Where to Retire, the only magazine in America geared toward helping people with retirement relocation decisions, as a top retirement destination and will be profiled in the feature story “8 Tempting Low-Tax Towns.” The January/February 2012 issue will be available nationwide on December 20, 2011.

With Wednesday being Nov. 30, and with all of the crazy “Black Friday” shopping madness now safely behind us, we can begin, once again, to think rationally about ideas for Christmas gifts for that special person(s) in our lives.
So, if you were not part of that frenzied mob scene on the day after Thanksgiving, or if you are still scratching your head about what to get for that person, here are some “Don Q” suggestions for Christmas gifts:
Any one or more of these could create a very enjoyable Christmas.

Here is this week's fishing report from Nov. 30 through Dec. 6, 2011. This report covers rivers, streams and lakes in Nevada, the Sierra, Northern California and Southern Oregon.

This is the second in a series of photos of oddities that were seen on a six week vacation trip to Italy in September and October, 2011.
That trip was taken by Bob and Lorraine Scholes of Dayton and Don and Elaine Quilici of Carson City, as they traveled the length and width of Italy, plus being on the Island of Sicily and in Switzerland.

— Writer Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com

Once again, as an annual reminder for this time of the year, when you get ready to sit down to your big, Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, you might want to remember that old saying: “You are what you eat.”
So, think twice:
Before you eat all that turkey or you will be a turkey.
Before you eat all that ham or you will be a ham.
Before you eat all that chicken or you will be a chicken.
Don’t say that you were not forewarned.
And, yes, before you ask, I’m going to eat turkey!

November 18 is a very significant date in the lives of several thousand hardy Alaskans. Those folks live in a unique location known as Barrow, Alaska, which is the northernmost community in the United States.
It is located in the Far North, on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, about 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
On November 18, the sun sets below the horizon at Barrow and it will not peek back up over the horizon until January 24 (weather permitting).
That’s more than two months without sunshine. Wow!

Thanks to all those who helped 'raise' childrenThis year, both of our grown sons were featured in the - - fortunately not in the sheriff's log. After the articles appeared, folks called with congrC...

Parker hits the nail on the head againAn open letter to Dr. Elliott Parker, chairman of the UNR economics department columnist for the -: Dr. Parker: Yet another thoroughly researched and intellige...

Editor's Note: Lahontan Valley News editor Steve Ranson is in Bahrain to report on the training pilots receive at Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center In Fallon and how it is applied aboard the airc...

Time will heal emotionsof IHOP accidentI live not too far from where the massive North Hollywood Bank of America shootout took place.Now, 14 years later, the BofA bank is still there. No evidence r...

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide North Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of North American labor. This
year will be different. This year we can give the gift of genuine concern for our countrymen. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by North American hands. Yes there is!

Keep the Bighorn Sheep as Nevada's state animalI recently heard of the effort to change our state animal from the native Desert Bighorn Sheep to that of the very cute feral horse.Most people in Nev...

--Letters to the editor Nov. 3November, 2 2011 11:35 pm MST...

CARSON CITY, Nev. — This is an annual, late fall article on how to enjoy those tiny, irresistible, tasty gourmet treats known as pine nuts.
For those unfamiliar with them, they are the seeds of the Pinon Pine Tree, which is the official tree of the State of Nevada. The Pinon is a fairly short, bushy looking, rather unattractive, full-of-pitch tree and it is one of the main physical features of our Great Basin area.

Please return Halloween decorationsOn Oct. 15, our life-sized skeleton and our neighbor's life-sized witch were stolen from our yards. The next morning a Carson City deputy advised me that they wer...

--Letters to the editor Nov. 1November, 8 2011 6:14 pm MST...

Exotic animal trading is a big problem in U.S. I was outraged and very saddened by the events that took place in Zanesville, Ohio, on Oct. 19. I understand that authorities did what they felt was t...

The movie "The Rum Diary," currently housed at the Fandango Galaxy cineplex in Carson City, Stars Johnny Depp an roving journalist. It's based on the book of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson, a '60s star of the gonzo brand of journalism. To a large extent the film is a tribute to Thompson and is so noted at the end.

Film opens with Depp as Paul Kemp recovering from a hangover in what turns out to be a hotel room in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He's unshaven, bleery-eyed and is at once nasty to the bellman who brings his breakfast to the room.

Nice to have governor whovalues educationWe were pleased that Gov. Sandoval attended the dedication of Sierra Lutheran High School on Oct. 16. The governor took time on a Sunday afternoon to attend...

Don't change state animalThis is in regards to the poll being taken for changing the Nevada state animal from a desert bighorn to a wild horse. This should be just left alone. Whatever happened to ...

On Wednesday morning Oct. 19 Elaine and I went fishing at Lake Tahoe for Mackinaw lake trout with our longtime good friend and sport fishing guide, Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters outfitted South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
“Gino” has fished Tahoe for some thirty years (the last 13 years as a fishing guide) and is one of the top, if not the top, guides at that lake.

Here is the fishing report for the week of Oct. 26 to Nov. 2. This report covers rivers, streams and lakes in Nevada, the Sierra, Northern California and Southern Oregon.

On Saturday, Oct. 1, four of us (Bob and Lorraine Scholes of Dayton, Nev. and Elaine and I had the opportunity to visit a small vineyard called Corte de Valle in the Tuscany Region of Northern Italy.
It is one of a number of Bed & Breakfast vineyards (large and small) that are located along the Chianti Road between Siena and Florence.
We saw their small sign as we drove past, and on the spur of the moment, decided to turn around and visit there. It was a great decision.

IHOP doing the right thingOK, it's time to respond to the serial tear-down-the-IHOP letter writers. To this end, I have reviewed and discused them with a significant number of reasonably intelligen...