funding

The Carson City Board of Supervisors yesterday approved wording for ballot question seeking a sales tax increase to fund the Carson City Center Project, aka Nugget Project.

See the live Tweets of the meeting here.

Supervisors agreed to two important changes to the original wording released last week.

A new bus service at Lake Tahoe that will run from Incline Village to Sand Harbor Beach State Recreation Area will begin this month.
A collaboration of the Tahoe Transportation District, the Nevada Division of State Parks, Nevada Department of Transportation, Nevada Highway Patrol and Washoe County School District will inaugurate the East Shore Express, a pilot Park and Ride bus service beginning June 15 and will run to Sept. 3, 2012.

CARSON CITY – A business margin tax initiative petition filed with the Secretary of State’s office won’t see signature gathering efforts start right away because a legal challenge to the proposal is expected, a teachers union official said today.

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.

The North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association proudly unveils its new Visitor Information Center with a special Grand Opening Ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, June 12, 4-8 p.m. The pedestrian-friendly venue is located on the ground floor of the association’s headquarters at 100 North Lake Boulevard in Tahoe City, next to Fanny Bridge.

Since posting the City Center aka Nugget Project ballot question on Friday, I've had several calls about why the question is advisory.

After all, according to Nevada Revised Statutes 377A.030, the Carson City Board of Supervisors must seek a majority vote of the people to implement the quarter cent sales tax to fund the project. So why is it advisory?

CARSON CITY – Two years ago it was the metric system. Now it’s communists.

The Legislative Commission today took the first step towards repealing several antiquated statutes, including a provision of state law dating to the “Red Scare” days of the 1950s directed at the Communist Party.

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.

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.

CARSON CITY – Republican candidates have big leads in fundraising in four of five seats considered critical to control of the state Senate in the 2013 legislative session, with a slight monetary advantage in the fifth, according to campaign contribution reports filed this week.

Both Democrat and Republican caucus leaders are fighting hard to win the seats to control the 21-member house where Democrats now lead 11-10.

The candidates' forum put on Tuesday night by the Carson City Chamber of Commerce allowed the seven people running for Carson City Supervisor to define where they each stand on local issues.

The candidates included current Ward 4 Supervisor Molly Walt, and the two other people running for that seat, Jim Shirk and Amy Clemens. Vying for the open Ward 2 seat were Brad Bonkowski, Dennis Johnson, Stacie Wilke-McCulloch and Maurice White.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors this afternoon voted to form a committee whose job it will be to come up with the wording for a ballot question asking voters to approve of the Carson City Center Project, aka Nugget Project.

Because the previous plan for funding the project proved unworkable, the ballot question would ask voters to approve a quarter cent sales tax increase to fund it instead.

CARSON CITY – They have names like “A Better Nevada PAC”, “A Bolder Nevada” and “The Nevada Hispanic Legislative Caucus”.

They are all political action committees formed or renewed by state lawmakers this year to help promote their parties, push their candidates and protect their ranks in an effort to maintain and/or win control of the Assembly and Senate.

CARSON CITY – A state agency announced today it plans to consolidate three separate boards that oversee workforce development into one, resulting in $5 million more in federal funds directed annually to helping train job seekers to find employment.

The plan, “Moving Nevada Forward: A Plan For Excellence in Workforce Development,” was released by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR).

“Twelve Angry Men”

CARSON CITY – An audit of the state’s two local workforce investment boards has found the Southern Nevada agency spent nearly twice as much on administration and monitoring of its programs than its northern counterpart.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s Homeland Security Commission today adopted a drastically reduced plan to continue the fight against potential terrorist attacks, leaving six ongoing programs without funding because of declining federal support.

CARSON CITY – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., today sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of both the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations asking them to continue defunding the proposed high level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

The Carson City Library Board of Trustees voted tonight to make a recommendation to the Carson City Board of Supervisors that the City Center Project be put on the ballot in November.

The board voted unanimously to forward the recommendation without a specific funding request, leaving that to the supervisors. Earlier this week, Supervisor Shelly Aldean said they are looking at a possible quarter-cent sales tax increase to fund the City Center Project, aka Nugget Project.

Tahoe Family Solutions announced today that they have received a $25,000 grant from United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra to address the fast growing need for affordable mental health care throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin and surrounding communities in Nevada and California. Tahoe Family Solutions services in providing affordable psychiatric care and family counseling were rated as a top priority by UWNNS’s board and volunteers.

With the Washoe Tribe's offering and support of El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago, a move is underway to rename Lakeview Commons Park at South Lake Tahoe in time for an official June 20 dedication, South Tahoe Now reports.
Given its 6,000 year history, the Washoe Tribe has presented the name Tahnu Leweh (Pronounced Tah-New Lay-Way) which, in native language, means "all the people's place." It is a name the Tribe would like to gift to El Dorado County and South Lake Tahoe as a symbol of peace, prosperity and goodness, said Darrel Cruz, Culture and Language Director for the Washoe Tribe.

There are enough nuggets buried inside the Nevada Appeal's follow-up story today on the Carson City Center Project — aka Nugget Project — to keep heads in this town spinning for a week.

At the urging of Congressman Tom McClintock, R-Calif., a committee has been formed to find an unnamed mountain peak seen from South Lake Tahoe that will be dedicated to fallen U.S. soldiers from the area.
Congressman McClintock's office approached the U.S. Forest Service about opportunities for a memorial. Forest Supervisor Nancy Gibson came up with the idea of naming an unnamed peak as one of the options for a memorial on National Forest System lands.

CARSON CITY – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., today downplayed the notion of any disagreement with GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval arising from their opposing views on the Small Business Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2010.

The existing 2 percent Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), which is up for renewal on the June 5, 2012 ballot, has funded a number of North Lake Tahoe public improvement projects and services since voters first authorized it in 1996.

The renewal, called Measure F, is not a tax increase and, if passed, would continue to be paid by lodging guests only via the TOT bed tax when they spend the night in North Lake Tahoe. North Lake Tahoe residents would not be taxed under Measure F.

CARSON CITY – The president of the powerful state teachers union said today she is “excited” that another labor organization, the AFL-CIO, plans to pursue a business profits tax initiative petition.

“It will be a big deal,” said Lynn Warne, head of the Nevada State Education Association. “We’re excited that Danny (Thompson, executive secretary-treasurer of the Nevada State AFL-CIO) has decided to move forward with this. Anything we can do about funding our schools adequately in this state is great.”

CARSON CITY – State AFL-CIO leader Danny Thompson said today his labor group is moving forward with a broad-based business profits tax ballot measure to raise money for education.

Thompson, interviewed on the Nevada NewsMakers television program, said the proposal will go forward as a petition to amend state law, which would first be considered by the Legislature in 2013. If the Legislature did not approve the measure within 40 days, it would go to the voters in 2014.

CARSON CITY – State Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno, today criticized his Democrat challenger for “quitting” on her constituents when she resigned her Senate seat and then filed to run against him. Brower is running for election to a full four-year term in what is now Washoe District 15 after the state’s legislative districts were redrawn following the 2010 census. Leslie, who was in the middle of a four-year term in what is now Senate District 13, formerly Washoe Senate 1, resigned when she moved into District 15. She then filed for election to the Senate 15 seat.

Carson City, Nev. (March 13, 2012) – As Nevada faces yet another challenge in national health rankings, the Nevada Health Centers, Inc. takes a stand to improve health access in the Silver state. Nevada Health Centers, Inc. (NVHC), a non-profit organization, has built a 21,000-square-foot health facility dedicated to helping people in our local area receive access to health care. The new building will double the space of , the existing health center and will also house the administration staff. There will be additional space to see more patients. Nevada Health Centers, Inc.

CARSON CITY – A new report questions the value of tax incentives and regulations approved by many states around the country, including Nevada, to create “green jobs,” noting that subsidies used for such programs can take away revenue for other needs such as public education.