Homeowners

University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Living With Fire Program team received the “Great Basin Fire Mitigation, Education and Prevention Award” at the Great Basin Fire Mitigation, Education and Prevention Conference held last month in Boise, Idaho.

Valley temperatures around western Nevada will be in the 30s Saturday night into Sunday morning while it will dip into the 20s elsewhere across the Sierra, according to the National Weather Service.

For Carson City, Carson Valley and Dayton areas, overnight lows will be in the low to mid-30s with a 50 percent chance of scattered rain and snow showers, according to the weather service.

Registration is open for the Northern Nevada Wildfire Awareness Half Marathon and 5K Trail Run in Reno, hosted by University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Living With Fire Program in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and Desert Sky Adventures. All proceeds from the race will be donated to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.

While they provide shade and are considered ornamental landscaping around homes, juniper trees are also highly flammable and are discouraged around homes where there's a high risk threat of wildfires.

An inmate at Carson City Jail and a suspect in a burglary case were each booked on gross misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to commit burglary after they allegedly plotted to burglarize a Menlo Drive residence, a Carson City sheriff’s deputy said.

The potential for strong wind gusts Tuesday ahead of a weather system that is expected to bring rain to Carson City has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Wind Advisory for the region.

High winds around Carson City this Monday afternoon have caused trees to uproot, limbs to snap, fences to topple and a trampoline that blew into this backyard power pole in the 900 block of Chernus Drive.

Gusting winds uprooted a tree on North Carson Street in Carson City late Monday morning, blocking one lane of traffic.
The large pine blew over at around 11:40 a.m., causing traffic to back up. The tree will have to be cut up and the road lane is expected to be blocked for at least an hour. Carson City Fire Department has responded and Carson City sheriff's deputies are redirecting traffic.

Another winter storm is on the way bringing strong and gusty winds and a brief period of moderate to heavy snow on Sunday in the Sierra and then falling to the valley floor into Carson City by Sunday night.

Winds will begin to increase late Saturday night with the strongest winds anticipated Sunday morning and early afternoon, according to the National Weather Service, which which has posted a Wind Advisory and Winter Weather Advisory for the Carson City region and a Winter Storm Warning for the Sierra and Lake Tahoe.

Free, easy-to-use radon test kits are available Dec. 1 through Feb. 29 at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension offices and partner locations statewide. Radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas, comes from the ground and can enter homes and accumulate to elevated concentrations. At elevated concentrations, the odorless, colorless gas can raise the risk of lung cancer for unsuspecting homeowners.

The entrance of companies like Tesla and Switch into Nevada means great things for the local economy. What they also mean are raising housing prices, as more and more people move into the Silver State, creating a housing shortage. This is good news for existing homeowners, but concerning for first-time homebuyers.

According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, “In January 2012, the median price for a home in northern Nevada was around $135,000. More than two and a half years later, home values have jumped by about 85 percent.”

Housing prices are rising throughout Nevada, which means rental prices are going up as well. As the housing supply continues to try to catch up with demand, this upward trend promises to continue.

Lake Tahoe has been recognized for another important conservation success. Our region’s proactive, collaborative strategy to protect Tahoe yellow cress, begun almost 15 years ago, is working so well that the plant does not need additional protections under the federal Endangered Species Act.

In a training exercise Wednesday, seasonal firefighters joined with recruits and veteran firefighters from the Carson City Fire Department to practice extinguishing wildfire and discouraging its spread.

“By training, we can hone our skills. We work together more efficiently,” said Rodd Rummel, wildland fuels management officer. “Even for seasoned veterans, training is always key to efficient and effective work.”
Crews spent the day at a north Carson home practicing different maneuvers, such as creating defensible space, thinning brush and extending the fire hose.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency this week announced and recognized award recipients for its 25th annual Best in the Basin program. The agency created the recognition program to showcase projects that demonstrate exceptional planning, design, and compatibility with Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities.

Lake Tahoe’s public agencies have teamed with scientists, marinas and lakefront homeowners on a new strategy to protect the highly impacted nearshore ecosystems and to combat invasive species that threaten the lake’s famed clarity and $5 billion economy.

Recently a client brought in an IRS Notice that said she owed $2,834 because of a 2013 form 1099-MISC that showed she had income of $14,805. It took some extra research but we sent a letter to IRS that said she owed nothing because the form was issued in error.

Start-Up! is a weekly column on entrepreneurship, start-ups, technology and innovation, powered by the Adams Hub for Innovation.

Participants in the annual Wildfire Awareness Half Marathon and 5K Runs in Washoe and Clark counties raised more than $15,000 for the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.

USDA Rural Development and its two close housing partners, Nevada Housing Division and the Nevada Rural Housing Authority on Tuesday celebrated National Homeownership Month with a "Power Hour" to brief real estate professionals on the changes in real estate law resulting from the 2015 Nevada State Legislature and to honor their work to leverage homeownership across the state.

Are drought-ravaged trees the new wildfire fuel?RENO — Drought-ravaged trees could pose a serious threat to homeowners and forest communities as Nevada’s wildfire season gets underway....

USDA Rural Development and its two close housing partners, Nevada Housing Division and the Nevada Rural Housing Authority on Tuesday celebrated National Homeownership Month with a "Power Hour" to brief real estate professionals on the changes in real estate law resulting from the 2015 Nevada State Legislature and to honor their work to leverage homeownership across the state.

The Nevada Senate on Sunday unanimously approved a bill that puts state regulators in charge of deciding how to credit rooftop solar homeowners for electricity generation without shifting costs to other utility customers....

What are homeowners in the Tahoe Keys doing to fight aquatic invasive species? How successful was the pilot research project to reduce the Asian clam population in Emerald Bay, and what does it mean for future control projects? What does the latest research say about whether quagga mussels could survive in Lake Tahoe?

A multi-state proclamation, signed by the Governors of Nevada, California, Idaho, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Montana, recognizes May 2015 as Wildfire Awareness Month and encourages all citizens to “learn to live safely in a wildfire environment.”

The Nevada Division of Forestry is hosting “Junk The Junipers,” 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., May 16 at the division’s office, 885 Eastlake Blvd. in Washoe Valley.

Las Vegas area homeowners who have done minor repairs without permits can get them inspected during May without paying any penalty as part of an “amnesty” initiative....

With a fourth year of drought and spring temperatures climbing, Carson City residents are urged to be fire safe. May is Nevada Wildfire Awareness Month and as conditions continue to dry, and the number of windy days begin to increase, the potential threat of wildfire grows.

Protecting your home starts with you. The wildfire season is here. This Saturday and Sunday, the Carson City Fire Department will hold two events designed for homeowners to prepare for the season.

There will be a Community Open House, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Do you live or own a business in Silver City, Moundhouse, Dayton, Stagecoach or Silver Springs? If yes check out how to get weeds and vegetation removed from your property through Central Lyon County Fire Protection District's Fuels Management Program.

The fourth consecutive year of drought in California and Nevada emphasizes the need for communities to become fire adapted. The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team implements forest thinning, prescribed fire and defensible space programs to reduce wildfire risk, but they need the public’s help to create Fire Adapted Communities at Lake Tahoe.