jobs

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today making it clear that he does not support any type of nuclear waste disposal or interim storage at Yucca Mountain.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s jobless rate fell from a revised 13 percent in December to 12.7 percent in January, down from 13.8 percent a year ago and a peak of 14 percent in October 2010. The number of unemployed Nevadans remained relatively flat at 174,700, but is down 16,300 from the same month last year.

The Nevada State Demographer’s Office, located at the University of Nevada, Reno College of Business, has released its 2011 population estimates. The state gained an estimated 17,152 people from July 2010 to July 2011, an estimated increase of 0.6 percent, about equivalent to the increase of 0.7 percent the prior year. Two years ago, the state lost 27,677 people, a decrease of about 1.0 percent.

Jim Shirk has filed to be a candidate for Carson City Supervisor Ward 4, where he will face off with incumbent Molly Walt.

Here is the statement he sent announcing his candidacy:

Brad Bonkowski has announced that he plans to run for Carson City Supervisor Ward 2.

Bonkowski is the third candidate to announce a run for the seat being vacated by Shelly Aldean, who decided not to run for reelection after serving on the board of 10 years. Liz Teixeira and Maurice White have also announced their intentions to run for the seat.

Bonkowski released the following statement:

Outside the new Planned Parenthood office on North Stewart Street, members of northern Nevada’s faith community are holding a silent prayer vigil as part of the 40 Days for Life campaign in the state capital. The vigil to end abortion will take place at the facility through April 1st on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, its current days of operation. While Planned Parenthood does not perform surgical abortions there, it provides abortifacient drugs to expecting mothers.

CARSON CITY – Nevada ranks at the top of states for its low overall tax liability paid by mature businesses, but only 38^th for new firms due in part to a lack of incentives, according to a new comprehensive study by the Tax Foundation.

Recognized for stewardship and care taken in the building and construction of developments around Lake Tahoe, the 22nd annual Best in the Basin awards were announced Tuesday by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
The TRPA, which sets policy for development around Lake Tahoe, will recognize the winners, listed below, during the 2011 Best in the Basin awards presentation during the meeting of its Governing Board on Wednesday, Feb. 22 in Stateline. Go here for the agenda.

A vocal minority’s intermittent cheerleading promotes the massive City Center project. Their objective: replace the city library with a +$75 million, three-times-the-size library complex just east of the Nugget Casino. (The ‘official’ $49 million cost curiously excludes 30 years of interest payments.)

Absent from this well-intentioned, but ill-conceived project are viability, necessity and prudence.

The Northern Nevada Development Authority's monthly breakfast on Feb. 29 at the Carson Nugget will feature Steve Hill, director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development. Hill will share the new strategies and plans for developing a stronger and more effective economic development structure throughout the State of Nevada.

Key elements of The Plan include:

• Coordinate & execute regional planning
• Regional & sub-region branding

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency received a positive ruling in the opening stages of the lawsuit challenging the Homewood Mountain Ski Area Master Plan that was filed by the Sierra Club and the Friends of the West Shore, a Lake Tahoe environmental group.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s mining industry is stepping up to Gov. Brian Sandoval’s challenge asking businesses and all economic partners to help create 50,000 jobs over the next three years.

RENO – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today his plan to repeal 654 unnecessary regulations will assist in the state’s efforts at economic diversification and job creation by making Nevada more business friendly.

In addition to the repeal of more than 600 rules, another 1,100 will be updated as a result of an executive order he issued in January 2011 imposing a one-year freeze and calling for his cabinet to thoroughly review the entire regulatory framework of the state. The review was finalized last week.

RENO – Gov. Brian Sandoval used the University of Nevada, Reno today as a backdrop to unveil his economic development plan, and he challenged the business community and all partners to work to create 50,000 new jobs by the end of 2014.

CARSON CITY – About 500 Republicans in the capital city participated in the First in the West GOP caucus today, hearing from candidate representatives and learning the rules as early returns suggested favorite Mitt Romney would win the contest handily.

Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich were battling for second place.

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., the new representative for the 2^nd Congressional District, urged caucus goers to support the GOP nominee whoever it might be if they truly want change in Washington, DC.

CARSON CITY – A broader measure of Nevada’s unemployment picture, including those who have given up looking for work, showed some improvement through the end of 2011, a federal report released this week shows.

The rate in Nevada dropped to 22.7 percent in the 12 months through Dec. 31, down from 23.3 percent in the 12 months through Sept. 30, 2011.

RENO – Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich told a cheering crowd here today that he is the only GOP candidate with the knowledge and experience to get the U.S. back on track after what will be four years of failed policies by President Barack Obama.

Gingrich, a former speaker of the House, is in Nevada ahead of Saturday’s First in the West Republican caucus.

President Barack Obama visited Las Vegas today on a swing through the West, talking up energy development to create jobs and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil.

In comments delivered at the United Parcel Service hub on East Arby Lane, President Obama said development of natural gas reserves would serve both these purposes.

The president jogged out to loud, enthused cheers from a clearly friendly crowd.

A recent report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Mayors awards Carson City the dubious distinction of being the only metropolitan area studied that is predicted to not recover any jobs this year.

Add to that this morning's unemployment report showing the rate for Carson City climbed to 12.2 percent in December, and one can't help worrying about the economic outlook for our area.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s unemployment rate fell by four-tenths of a percentage point to 12.6 percent in December, the second consecutive monthly decline that saw the number of jobless drop to 166,300, a state agency reported today.

A year ago, the rate, which is adjusted for seasonal fluctuations in the labor market, hit a record high of 14.9 percent.

CARSON CITY – A conservative Nevada think tank today announced the second case taken on by its Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation (CJCL), this one aimed at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for allegedly flooding a Pahrump church camp through negligent and illegal work on two streams.

For bad luck Friday the 13th news, let's start with the hundreds of down-on-their-luck kids who are enrolling in the Carson City School District's Students in Transition program for children without permanent homes. The director of the program, Peggy Sweetland, estimates there will be 650 kids who qualify this year. To quote the "newspaper": "That number is nearly triple the 333 students enrolled at the end of last year." (Don't be too hard on the reporter who wrote this. If journalists like us were any good at math, we would be working in jobs that paid a lot better than journalism.) The program runs on federal grants and donations. Those interested in contributing can call Sweetland at (775) 283-1537.

****

The city's long-planned multi-use athletic center is scheduled to be completed by fall 2013, according to Parks and Rec Director Roger Moellendorf. The $5.8 million that will be used to build the 42,000 square foot facility behind the Western Nevada Boys and Girls Club on Russell Way comes from voter-approved Question 18 funds.

Have a fun Friday the 13th. Don't walk under any ladders.

The Homewood Mountain Resort project, which cleared the strictest of environmental hurdles at Lake Tahoe, is now being sued by a consortium of groups including the Sierra Club who, among other things, wish to stop promised environmental improvements, job creation and economic revitalization to the ailing west shore Sierra community.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which oversees development and environmental protection at Lake Tahoe, was told it was being sued on Thursday because of its recent approval of the Homewood Mountain Resort Ski Area Master Plan project.
EarthJustice, on behalf of the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore, lists both TRPA and Placer County as defendants in the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Eastern California. Absent from the suit is the League to Save Lake Tahoe, which implied that it likely wouldn't sue when the project was unanimously approved last month by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's Governing Board.

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.

Siri finds out Steve Jobs has died.

Beginning today the Reno-Tahoe International Airport will be undergoing $40 million in renovations, including a ticket lobby with a Lake Tahoe theme. The Gateway Project, which will bring about 275 jobs now through April 2013, features an upgrade to the baggage claim area, creating a first floor single security checkpoint, plus new retail and places to eat.

Democrats Harry Reid and Shelley Berkley reacted to the positive national unemployment report Friday by criticizing Republican opposition to extending the payroll tax holiday.

Rep. Berkley said the addition of 120,000 jobs in November, which drove the rate to 8.6 percent and its lowest level since mid-2008, "provides yet another reminder that we still have a long way to go when it comes to getting our economy back on track."

See Original Story

Steve Jobs on how you can change the world.

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.

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.