Health

The U.S. Forest Service and organizers of Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month are working together to promote and recognize the event at Lake Tahoe and elsewhere, highlighting the health benefits of winter outdoor activity.

To a packed house of observers, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board voted to approve Phase 1 of the Homewood Mountain Resort Ski Area Master Plan at their monthly meeting on Wednesday, December 14.

The holidays are happier if you are well and healthy to celebrate. Follow these tips to keep your season merry and bright!

1. Wash hands often to keep yourself from spreading germs and getting sick. The holiday season is one of socializing, parties, and spending time with loved ones – and of sharing germs and illness. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and clean running water for at least 20 seconds. Hand sanitizer is a good alternative if you can’t get to a sink.

The Carson City Board of Supervisor will consider settlements in two lawsuits alleging misconduct by city employees at the board's next meeting on Dec. 15.

The holidays are approaching. Have you gotten a flu shot? Carson City Health and Human Services encourages everyone who has not yet been vaccinated to protect themselves and their loved ones during the holiday season by getting a flu shot. National Influenza Vaccination Week, Dec. 4-10, is a great opportunity to remind people that flu shots are beneficial and effective even if they are received in December and January.

Rumors that the Carson City school calendar and the daily start time for classes are changing is false, according to Superintendent Richard Stokes. While there are studies showing that teens perform better when they don't have to wake up early, Stokes said the district is not ready to change their start times without seeking input from all parties. He also said the school calendar will likely be similar to this year, with classes starting the third week of August.

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St. Paul's Lutheran Church will be participating in the Compassionate Friends nationwide candlelight vigil on Sunday honoring children "gone too soon." Participants plan to gather at 6:30 p.m. at the church at the corner of Saliman and Highway 50, with the vigil beginning at 7 p.m.

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Health inspectors found 22 critical food safety violation at Nevada prisons this year, including spoiled food, insects and rodents. All violations were corrected.

Carson City Health and Human Services encourages everyone to learn their HIV status today as the Health Department will join thousands of other healthcare providers and clinics across the country to celebrate World AIDS Day.

While low-cost HIV testing is always available at the health clinic on Long Street, testing will be offered for FREE today, Thursday, December 1. No appointment is necessary and the free testing will be available from 9-11 a.m. and 1-4:30 p.m.

Not much to sum up this morning, the first day the Nevada Appeal starts charging to read at least part of their news online. Just signed up, and it's a pretty backwards way of handing online subscriptions. Perhaps they've never heard the term "ecommerce" before. But enough about that.

Most of the news today that is locked behind the wall are stories we've already brought to you for free, such as the lawsuit alleging that state Sen. Mo Denis can't serve in the legislature while working for the Nevada Public Utilities Commission. Then there is the announcement that open enrollment for Nevada's prepaid college tuition plan begins today. And then there is this story about the committee that is looking at how Nevada funds education.

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Bethlehem Lutheran School won the trophy for collecting the most cans of food for FISH's annual Trick-or-Treat Fall Food Drive.

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A theater class at Carson High School has created an original play that they are performing for CHS health classes.

Nevada ranks last in "opportunity index," that measures factors like education, crime rate and health care to determine how much opportunity people have for economic success. But Carson City does better in than the state average in high school graduation rate, number of doctors and crime rate. In other words, we suck less than Las Vegas. Hooray!

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Fliers that were recently distributed around town offering to paint your house numbers on the curb also showed the logos for the Carson City Sheriff and Fire departments, which made it look like the departments endorsed this business, which they don't according to Sheriff Kenny Furlong. The person who put out the fliers also didn't have a solicitor's license.

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Carson girls basketball lose their season opener to Reno High 71-49. Eliza Matley had 19 points for Carson.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong is warning residents to protect their property this holiday season in light of a recent increase of reported thefts committed by drug users. According to Furlong, many of these thefts are being committed by the victims' family and friends, stealing to support their drug habits.

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The Carson City School Board gave tentative approval to a new vision statement for the district on Tuesday. The statement reads: “Our community empowers tomorrow's innovators, leaders and thinkers.” The statement is the product of the district's Vision and Strategic Planning Committee after gathering suggestions from community meetings over a period of months. Subcommittees will now investigate setting goals to match the vision statement and make improvements in four areas: Flexibility and choice in curriculum, parent engagement, community partnerships and student health.

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The Carson Senators will meet the Reed Raiders on Saturday in Mackay Stadium to decide the Northern 4A football champion. Even though Reed is the favorite, Carson has beaten them two years in a row. The game will be televised on KNPB at 12:15 p.m. Tickets for the game will be available at the gate, $7 for adults, $5 for students.

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Every years, retailers keep trying to push the Christmas shopping season earlier and earlier, and this year is no exception. Walmart will open at 10 p.m. tonight, pushing "Black Friday" into Thursday night. Kohl's and Target will open at midnight. Many Carson City merchants will also be offering Black Friday deals.

Help out the community by shopping local this year.

Pharmacists have a legal duty to warn patients or contact their doctors when they are aware of a specific health risk to a patient, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.The court's decision cam...

Unemployment figures released this morning show the state's overall unemployment rate held steady at 13.4 percent, still the highest in the nation and well above the 9 percent national average.

Carson City's jobless rate dropped to 12 percent in October, down from 12.4 percent the previous month. In October 2010, the unemployment was 13.1 percent.

Unemployment in the Las Vegas metro area dropped to 13.1 percent, down from 13.4 percent in September. The Reno metro area also saw a drop, from 12.6 to 12.1 percent.

Full press release below.

Thanksgiving is a time when good nutritional habits are broken. Sweets and foods with high fat content and of course the fitness structure that flies out the window when your guests walk in. Everywhere you turn you are inundated with food ads. All your extra time is spent in the kitchen cooking or in the grocery store buying more food. Most people over-buy on Thanksgiving and over-eat.

As the holiday season begins, Karen and I are taking time to remember how much our community has come through — the challenges and sadness it has faced, and the grace and strength with which we've responded.

Karen and I enjoy Thanksgiving because it's a time to gather family and friends and take a moment to count our blessings. I invite everyone to look around, see where help is needed and take a moment, too.

Carson City Health and Human Services is collecting food donations for its annual Homeless Christmas. From November 15 through December 9, donate 2 cans of food and receive a voucher for a free flu shot or nasal spray vaccine, redeemable during our regularly scheduled immunization hours on Thursdays.

New Northern Nevada Company Provides Solutions for Keeping Nevada Patient Health Information Safe

NVMedTech launched on November 11, 2011

NVMedTech is a new Northern Nevada information security company that focuses on helping independent health care practitioners in Nevada keep their patients’ health information protected.

Carson City Health Department's food-service inspections for Oct. 21-26. All scores are on a 100-point scale, with points deducted depending on the severity of violations:* The Spoke Bar and Grill ...

By John Heil
California is expected to see a boost in its local mountain economies as a result of a new legislation that now permits year-long recreation opportunities on U.S. Forest Service ski areas. The Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011, which was signed by President Barack Obama on Nov. 7, is estimated to create and annually sustain up to 600 extra jobs nationwide.

Western Nevada College students have a laboratory on wheels for portions of their nursing and emergency-response classes. The college has received the donation of a 1994 Ford ambulance from Washoe ...

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!

Look outside! It's the first snow of the year. Hopefully everyone's winter driving skills aren't too rusty. Be careful out there.

Here is the news summary for today:

• Carson City Board of Supervisors approved a resolution accepting $539,989 in funding for the Health Department to set up billing for immunizations. The money comes from the U.S. Center for Disease Control, and will be used to pay for one part-time and three full-time employees. They will be responsible for creating a strategic plan to implement billing within Nevada local health departments.
• The Board also approved funding allocations of approximately $1,975,106 to Douglas County and $1,625,422 to Washoe County from the voter-approved State Question 1 for the Tahoe Bike Path and allocated to Douglas County, Washoe County and Carson City.
• Those who remember the old Woody's Cafe on the south side of town will be happy to hear there will be a new restaurant in that location called the Red Hut Cafe, opening in December. Anyone who has been to South Lake Tahoe in the last 50 years might recognize the name. Red Hut Cafe has been a local's tradition at the lake since 1959. There are now three Red Hut Cafe locations in South Shore, plus an ice cream parlor.
• The Carson Senators (7-1, 7-0) play Reno High (6-3, 6-2) tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Carson. This is the final regular season game for the Senators, as they try to secure the top seed in the 4A playoffs.
• A man charged with accidentally killing his roommate in Brunswick Canyon has agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Anthony Kelich, 60, shot his roommate in the face with a rifle while they and one other man had been shooting at targets while drinking off of Sedge Road. Guns and alcohol don't mix.

An agreement between Carson City and the state of Nevada, approved Thursday by the Board of Supervisors, could position the city's health department to start billing insurance companies for immu...

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Nevada Health Centers, Inc and the entire Mammovan staff, thank you for your generous donation. The donation will be used to help support the Mammovan Program.

Tha Nevada Health Centers Mammovan travels throughout the state of Nevada providing mammograms to geographically isolated and uninsured women. Donations from community minded organizations like Smith's Food & Drug Stores are helping to make the women in Nevada healthier.

This column appears in the - Wednesday health pages. It addresses topics related to the health of our community.Most of us are familiar with the scenario - after a family reunion, church luncheon, ...

In the mid-1980s, a group of physicians running a weight-loss program for Kaiser Permanente noted a strange occurrence: Those patients successfully losing weight were those most likely to drop out....

Tahoe's original ski resort, Granlibakken, near Tahoe City, is lodging central in 2012 with various ski and stay packages for seven area resorts.

“How much more warm weather and sunshine can we take,” laughed Kay Williams, deadpanning over last season’s epic seven-month winter and 700+ inches of snow. “Sure, various ski resorts like to be the first to open or last to close, but we want folks to know that we’re ready with early-season offerings.”

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is proposing to thin trees and brush on National Forest System lands near Incline, Nev., to reduce wildfire risk and restore forest health. The LTBMU is seeking public input on the Incline Fuels Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration project by November 28.

The project area includes 3,927 acres of National Forest System lands on the northeast shore of Lake Tahoe, from the California-Nevada state line to Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park.