July

A federal effort to pump affordable loan money into rural communities across the nation is bringing the city of Caliente a brand new pumper truck and a rescue vehicle with a mini-pumper, and not a moment too soon.

CARSON CITY – Richard Whitley, administrator of the Nevada State Health Division, has been appointed to serve as acting administrator for the Nevada Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services.
The appointment by Mike Willden, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, took effect Saturday. Whitley is replacing Dr. Harold Cook, who is retiring after 33 years of state service.

The newly appointed director of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation held down two state jobs last fiscal year, earning almost as much as the governor.

Frank Woodbeck, who will join Gov. Brian Sandoval’s cabinet Monday, was, from July 2010 to March, both the full-time Southern Nevada director of the state’s Commission on Economic Development and a paid contract consultant to the state on “green jobs” training, according to records obtained by the Las Vegas Sun.

Taxable sales for July were up in all but three Nevada counties, and Carson City was one of the three that didn't see a gain.The reason: a nearly 18 percent drop in automotive sales, the capital's ...

Squaw Valley USA, the iconic Lake Tahoe-area resort that has been home to some of the country’s top downhill skiers, is joining operations with neighboring Alpine Meadows. See story here. Here is the official press release dated today:

Here is the fishing report for the week of Sept. 21-28. This report covers rivers, streams and lakes in Nevada, the Sierra, Northern California and Southern Oregon.

Pyramid Lake, located about 30 miles north of Sparks, will open on Saturday, Oct. 1 to fishing for Lahontan cutthroat trout.
That large, desert lake (roughly the same surface size as Lake Tahoe) has a three-month trout closure, each year, from July 1 to Sept. 30.
Here is all kinds of interesting information on that lake:

Pre-historic Lake Lahontan:

CARSON CITY – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced Affordable Care Act grant awards of $3.96 million to Nevada to help fight what she calls unreasonable premium increases.

CARSON CITY – Nevadans are more pessimistic now about the state of the economy than they have been since early 2010, according to the most recent poll commissioned by the Retail Association of Nevada.

Nevada Business Connections is pleased and proud to announce two new members on our Advisory Board.  Amy Ginder, Director of Institutional Research at Western Nevada College, and Dr. Fred Steinmann, Managing Principal at EDSolutions LLC.

Nevada's unemployment rate rose again in August - the third straight month of increases after five months of improvement.From 12.9 percent in July, the rate rose to 13.4 percent statewide.There was...

The statewide unemployment rate has increased to 13.4 percent, up from 12.9 percent in July. In all, 176,200 people were out of work in August.

Here is the fishing report for the week of Sept. 14-21. The report covers Nevada, Northern California, Southern Oregon and the Sierra.

Nevada's gaming win rose 3.66 percent in July - the third straight month of increases over the same period a year ago.Despite the fact that this July was going against a weak month a year ago, ther...

Good news for South Shore Lake Tahoe casinos to report this morning. Gaming establishments at Stateline saw a 25.42 percent increase in revenue over July 2010 figures, according to figures released today from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Carson Valley casinos, which include Carson City, Minden, Garderville had a 2.6 percent decline in July. Casinos took in a win of $8,699,046. In July 2010 it was $8,900,097. Statewide, casinos had an overall 3.66 percent increase in "gaming win" for the month.

In a long awaited ruling, the federal nuclear safety agency has said Nevada can close down Yucca Mountain once and for all.
The Obama administration had asked Congress to zero out the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) work on Yucca as a follow up to the prior  termination of funding at the Department of Energy (DOE) project. The NRC has directed that all project casework be wrapped up by the end of the month.

CARSON CITY — The Secretary of State’s Securities Division has issued a cease and desist order to a Wyoming company doing business in Nevada to stop selling shell corporations registered with his office because it is a securities violation.

CARSON CITY – Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller today revoked the corporate status of more than 400 limited liability corporations (LLC’s) and corporations registered with the state of Nevada for failing to respond to an official inquiry into the companies’ status as home-based businesses.

Names of those killed in yesterday's IHOP shooting are:

• Major Heath Kelly, 35, Reno, decorated field artillery officer, husband and father, commander of Joint Force Headquarters in Carson City, served in Iraq 2004-2005. Avid student of military history, known for his dry sense of humor. See story
• Sgt. 1st Class Christian Riege, 38, Carson City, father of three, served in Afghanistan 2009-2010, also served in U.S Navy for two years before joining the Guard
• Sgt. 1st Class Miranda McElhiney, 31, Reno, owner of a small baking company, well known in the company for providing cupcakes for guard functions. See story
• Florence Donovan-Gunderson, 67, South Lake Tahoe. See story

According to Sheriff Kenny Furlong, the names of those wounded are not going to be released at this time.

One of those wounded is Wally Gunderson, husband of Florence Donovan-Gunderson, who died in the attack.

See all stories on IHOP Shooting

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong confirms that a fourth victim of today’s tragic shooting at the IHOP restaurant located in south Carson City has died. The victim was a female member of the Nevada National Guard, had been flown to Renown Medical Center and had undergone surgery. To date, four victims have died (3 Nevada National Guard members and one civilian); the shooter has also died.

5:30 p.m. Update: Press conference concludes with a few more details. Officials state that shooter Eduardo Sencion had two other weapons at his vehicle, another rifle and a handgun. Neither were used in the incident. The FBI stated that there doesn't appear to be any connection to terrorism.

Sencion was born in Mexico, and had a U.S. passport.

Three victims were killed inside the restaurant, two male National Guard members, and a civilian woman. Two female and one male National Guard members were wounded. Ten of the victims were shot inside the restaurant, while one woman standing outside next to a motorcycle was shot and wounded.

Sheriff Kenny Furlong said they are still working to determine the shooter's motive, saying it is too early to tell if the National Guard members were intentionally targeted.

More stories:

Details on the shooting incident.

South Tahoe Police aware of shooter's mental health issues.

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3:30 p.m. Update: Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong released the name of the person suspected of shooting 11 people at the IHOP restaurant on South Carson Street this morning.

The person's name is Eduardo Sencion, 32, of Carson City. He allegedly shot himself after shooting 11 people, and died about two hours later.

Furlong said he works at his family's business in South Lake Tahoe, and that he might have had some "mental issues."

Three of the 11 victims have died, including two uniformed National Guard members. Three of the wounded were also National Guardsmen.

The other victim who died was a civilian female, according to Furlong.

The investigation into why Sencion carried out the shooting is still underway.

More stories about today's shooting

If you have any information about this incident, or would like to share your story, photos or video, please go here.

BLACK ROCK CITY, Nev. — By 9 p.m. Saturday night most of the sold-out house of 50,000 Burners at the Burning Man main event on the Black Rock Desert near Gerlach were gathered around the perimeter fence surrounding the 40-foot-tall effigy standing atop a pyramid of wood construction.

Spirit, a feral kitten rescued with third-degree burns following a fire on the Carson Colony in July, died Friday of his injuries.Susan Paul, president of Carson Tahoe SPCA, said the little black k...

CARSON CITY, Nev. — As I noted earlier this year, one of California’s two Free Fishing Days will be over the Labor Day holiday weekend on Saturday, Sept. 3.
The other Free Fishing Day was back on July 2. You can fish, all day, without a fishing license.
You will be able to fish wherever you like in California, without the need for a fishing license. However, you will need to abide by the rules and regulations that govern whatever water(s) you will be fishing.

By Don Quilici
Here is the fishing report for the week of Aug. 31 through Sept. 6. The report covers rivers, streams and lakes in Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra and Southern Oregon.

Thanks to a letter written by a concerned citizen, Nevada owners of a concealed weapons (CCW) permit may soon be able to purchase more firearms without further background checks and the associated $25 fee.

Lake Tahoe's Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course & Restaurant management announced this week that its Edgewood Restaurant has been named a winner of OpenTable Diners’ Choice Awards for Most Scenic Restaurant in the United States, according to a press release.

Treasurer Kate Marshall has ordered $83.7 million transferred from the Unclaimed Property account to the state General Fund.Her office announced in July that it had returned $32.8 million in unclai...

I will always remember the extraordinary spectacle that unfolded before my eyes 14 years ago as I stood on the Hyatt Hotel pier at the north shore of Lake Tahoe.It was July 27, 1997, and I had trav...

Nevada's unemployment rate climbed to 12.9 percent in July, marking the second straight month the figure has increased, state officials said Friday.The July figure is a jump from 12.4 percent in Ju...