Guy Rocha

We have a new skateboard shop here in the village, and a few of our finest teens hang out there to swap stories and Tony Hawk trading cards. Today, as I was passing by, one of them shouted, "Mark Twain!"

So I pulled on my mask and wandered over, bearing in mind that these kids have already had to endure the aftermath of 9-11, the 2008 recession and a pandemic.

America's Red Light District originated in Dodge City, Kansas, where train crews would leave their red lanterns outside when entering a bordello so they could be located in the event of an emergency, and America's madams were quick to embrace this tradition as an excellent way to advertise.

At the end of the inauguration at the capitol building in Carson City on Monday, two mounted police horses took their well-earned break by sipping at the water trough located across from the festivities.

Jack's Bar, an iconic building that has been at the corner of Fifth and Carson streets since 1899, has new ownership and a new lease on life.

It didn't take long after the recent refurbishing of the horse trough watering fountain before units from the Carson City, Washoe, Reno, and Sparks law enforcement units stopped by to water the horses during the Nevada Day Parade on Saturday. This was a wonderful flashback to the original purpose of the fountains and the rebuild this year.

Carson City Democratic Women's Club monthly meeting will be held Saturday April 12th from 10 a.m. to noon at Democratic Headquarters 502 E. John St. Suite G. A continental breakfast is available starting at 9:30 a.m. for a small donation. The featured speaker is Nevada Historian Guy Rocha. He is very well renowned. We will also have some candidates running for office speak to the group. For more information please call Democratic Headquarters at 841-3367.

The Carson City Republican Central Committee. will hold its annual Lincoln Day Dinner Fundraiser on January 31, 2014. The Sesquicentennial Celebration will be held at the Fuji Park Exhibit Hall. The VIP Reception starts at 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. with a $10.00 cover charge and no host bar.

According to United States census data, the largest Chinatown in frontier Nevada was situated on Carson City’s southeast side of town. Perhaps for a few years in the mid-1870s when Virginia City’s population was at its height did the overall number of its Chinese residents exceed that of Carson City.

With Nevada’s 150th birthday celebration about to kick off, the Nevada State Museum in Carson City is offering interested volunteers a chance to make friends, learn history and become part of the party.

Tour guide training begins at the museum Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 9 a.m.
No experience is necessary but volunteers are asked to be available at least four hours per month and bring curiosity and enthusiasm for Nevada’s rich cultural and natural heritage.

Carson City will be featured on the C-SPAN network's two channels this weekend after their visit to the capital city earlier this month.

In addition to having feature stories sprinkled in throughout the weekend on the respective networks, both American History TV and Book TV, there will be a block of programming where all of the respective Carson City pieces for their networks will air, said C-SPAN spokeswoman Laura Finch.

Thank you Mark Robison for your Reno Gazette Journal July 7th Fact checker article concerning the lack of truthfulness (4 of 10) of a letter to the editor by Mr. Fred Voltz about Nevada's bear hunting program.

Although my opinion on Nevada's bear hunting program has not been finalized, my opinion on Voltz’s candor and misrepresentation of the facts is confirmed.

Carson City will be in the national spotlight as film crews from C-SPAN will begin taping a segment beginning July 8 that will feature local history and authors that will air to a nationwide audience in August.

Mayor Robert Crowell and Charter Communications will welcome the national network on the steps of the Nevada State Capitol as they prepare for a week-long visit to record and feature the city’s history and literary life. On Monday, July 8, C-SPAN representatives will reveal the stories and segments that will be explored.

A vintage two-story brick building sits on the southwest corner of Curry and King streets in Carson City. Local lore and a Kit Carson/Blue Line Trail sign near the entrance have it that the structure at 102 S. Curry St. dates back to 1859-60, shortly after the town was founded in Eagle Valley, Utah Territory.

With political flame throwing at an all-time high, there has indeed been something missing from the Carson City air waves lately.

Sure, civility doesn't make the headlines these days, but what happens when two people can disagree, throw in some hilarious zingers at themselves and each other and still remain long-standing friends when the studio lights go dim? 

Welcome to Capital CrossFire 2.0., a program that will return to the Carson City airwaves after a 10-year hiatus.

UPDATE: The Nevada Assembly voted along party lines Thursday to allow a public vote on a resolution that would repeal Nevada’s longstanding 5 percent tax cap on mining net proceeds.

Five Assembly members took the opportunity to speak prior to the vote on Senate Joint Resolution 15. Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams and Assemblyman Skip Daly both spoke in favor of the resolution.

As the price of gold hit its lowest level in a month Thursday, the Assembly Committee on Taxation took a vote on a controversial resolution that would remove the state’s long-standing mining tax cap. Senate Joint Resolution 15 made its way through the Legislature during the 2011 session and needs only to pass in the Assembly before June 4 in order to go to a public vote next year.

Valentine's Day is not only bookmarked for sweethearts. As Google reminds us Feb. 14 is also the birthday of a man with historic ties to Carson City and a subsequent invention — the Ferris Wheel — that continues to make hearts, minds, memories and even stomachs go 'round and 'round.

In the 74 years since the Nevada Day Parade moved to Carson City, the number of Nevada Day events has multiplied to include contests, parties, carnivals, exhibits and food events. At the same time, the region from which participants come to celebrate in the capital city has diminished.
“It used to be a statewide event,” said Guy Rocha, retired state archivist who continues to stay involved with Nevada history and events. “Now, Nevada Day in Nevada is celebrated principally in Western Nevada.”

A Face in the Crowd, a film debuting Andy Griffith in his first major role, will be presented at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 1st, at the Carson City Library.

The film will be hosted by former state archivist Guy Rocha and Reno News and Review editor Dennis Myers. The movie was directed and produced in 1957 by Elia Kazan, and written by Budd Schulberg. This film, which launched Griffith into stardom in the lead role as Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, also stars actors Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, and Lee Remick.

by Guy Rocha, former Nevada State Archivist
Why all the fuss about Nevada's birthday on October 31? The battle lines were drawn between "traditionalists", and the "grinches" who would steal Nevada Day by calling for the last Friday of October to be the state's official holiday. The parade and other festivities would follow on Saturday; thus making for a three-day weekend for some Nevadans as well as state and local government employees. With the passage of AB396 by the 1997 legislature, Nevada voters, on November 3, 1998 advised the 1999 legislature they wanted to celebrate Nevada Day on the last Friday in October beginning in 2000. The legislature, after much heated debate, complied.

It was announced Monday that the Safeway supermarket on North Carson Street would be closing Nov. 23 after spending 38 years in their location at 2035 North Carson Street.

But what wasn't apparent at the time is that Safeway's closing would mean an end to the second-oldest continually operating business in Carson City, according to retired state archivist Guy Rocha.

(Editor's note 10/21: After further review, Rocha found one other business that has been in operation longer, the Carson Hot Springs Resort, which began as a business in 1879, operating under different names and owners. That would make Safeway the third-oldest business in Carson City.)

CARSON CITY – Brian Sandoval has made it clear in his first eight months on the job that he is going to be a “hands on” chief executive, as evidenced by decisions he has made to be personally involved on issues ranging from economic development to homeland security.

Gov. Brian Sandoval announced today that he is appointing Congressman Dean Heller to fill the unexpired term of John Ensign in the U.S. Senate.

Heller, a long-time resident of Carson City and Carson High School grad, will join the U.S. Senate on May 3, when Ensign's resignation takes effect. Heller was elected to the Nevada's 2nd district congressional seat three times. Before that he served as Secretary of State and represented Carson City in the state assembly.

Congresswoman Shelly Berkley is will be the featured speaker for the Carson City Democrats' annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner, Wed. April 20 at the Carson Nugget. Also speaking will be retired Nevada State Archivist Guy Rocha. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for no-host bar, with dinner served at 6 p.m. Tickets are $45 in advance, or $50 at the door. There will be live and silent auctions, and many raffle prizes as well.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Ask people living near the strip in Las Vegas who their state senator is and, if they know, they might say Sen. Mark Manendo or Sen. David Parks.
They would both be right on both counts. Parks and Manendo represent one of the state’s two dual districts, which each have two senators.
They are a relic from a past era, and Parks says there is a “strong likelihood” they will soon be a thing of the past.

By Elizabeth Crum / Nevada News Bureau
Mississippi’s sixty-third governor today visited Nevada, a state which has been called “the Mississippi of the west”* because of its largely unskilled workforce and poor public education system.

(This article is from Around Carson, at http://aroundcarson.com/2011/03/21/rally_at_the_legislature/)

PINE NUTS by McAvoy Layne

About a month or so ago I received a call from Gary Cain of the Carson City Historical Society, asking if I might be interested in presenting "Christmas with Mark Twain" at the Bliss Mansion.

The Carson City Historical Society presents "Christmas with Mark Twain" on Sunday, Dec. 5, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Bliss Mansion in Carson City. Deadline for reservations is Nov. 30.
The event includes an evening with Mark Twain, played by McAvoy Lane, dinner and a tour of the Bliss Mansion. Guy Rocha, David Bugli and Mark Twain will present a piano-and-narrator version of "Becoming Mark Twain."