Legislature

by ALEX POMPLIANO

AB 312 which is now currently before the Senate Government Affairs Commission, and was submitted by Republican Assemblyman and former member of the Carson City Board of Supervisors, Pete Livermore, strikes at the very heart of our democracy.

It is a despicable piece of legislation motivated more by vindictiveness on his part towards the citizens of Carson City, coupled in part by his ineffectiveness as a state legislator.

“I’m Nicolas Cage and I’m an American filmmaker,” said the actor to the Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development. This morning, Cage and Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman testified in favor of a movie tax incentive bill, promising to use his connections in the industry to help spark a filmmaking boom in Nevada if the measure becomes law.

UPDATE: The Nevada Highway Patrol reports no explosives were found inside the DMV in Carson City after a disgruntled man left two packages inside on Tuesday afternoon.

A bomb squad from Douglas County did a sweep of the DMV and the Department of Public Safety building after it was evacuated, the Nevada HIghway Patrol reports. A 65-year-old Silver City man, Charles Leigh Self, was arrested on unrelated charges following the incident. The man was originally reported to be from Silver Springs.

A late amendment to a bill mandating universal background checks for gun purchases in Nevada has given the effort renewed life in the state Legislature.

The Nevada Legislature received positive forecasts on the state’s employment opportunities during Wednesday’s Economic Forum in the capitol.

Nevada’s unemployment numbers are still the highest in the nation, but according to Bill Anderson, Chief Economist at the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, the number of unemployed Nevadans will likely continue to drop between now and 2015.

Each year we celebrate National Police Week in May. In Nevada, the celebration kicks off in Las Vegas with a relay run to Carson City. Public Safety Officers carry a baton that bears the names of those officers who have given their lives in the line of duty on the inside of the baton.

On Wednesday, the day before the statewide law enforcement ceremony, the baton and runners passed through Douglas County and did the hand-off to the Carson City Sheriff’s Office SWAT members at the RV area in Indian Hills. The SWAT team then ran the baton to the Legislature where the spot has been held.

The Nevada Assembly voted on Senate Joint Resolution 15 during their floor session Tuesday. The bill urges Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform.

Many of the Assembly members took time to speak to the importance of passing the bill. Assemblyman James Ohrenschall was one of those who spoke in favor of SJR 15.

“Unless you’re a Native Americans, we are a nation of immigrants,” Ohrenschall said.

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Marriage equality in Nevada is becoming more and more likely after the state Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 13 on April 22 with a vote of 12-9. SJR 13 began as a measure to amend the Nevada Constitution to remove 18 words. The words in question defined marriage as between a man and a woman. They were added as an amendment to Nevada’s constitution in 2002 after Nevadans voted 70 percent to 30 percent in favor of the Protection of Marriage Act.

Drawings by North Las Vegas artist Marylou Evans are the latest creations featured at the Nevada Legislature at LXS, the Legislative eXhibition Series gallery in Carson City. Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. adjacent to the Caucus Deli, the LXS displays Evans’ work April 29 through May 17. Managed by the Artist Services Program of the Nevada Arts Council, the Legislative eXhibition Series has provided a spotlight on the Silver State's breadth of contemporary and folk artists during the biennial session since 1985.

Carson City’s Muscle-Powered group and other organizations will tout safe walking and biking today at the Legislature, in part as a prelude to National Bike Month in May.

Tuesday was a big day for scores of bills in the Nevada Legislature — a day when measures died or traveled to the opposite house, where they may encounter more hostile territory for their second round of hearings.

There's a weird vibe in the halls of the Nevada Legislature, a kind of eerie stillness, like when the birds stop chirping and the wind dies to a deafening hush just before a huge storm.
OK, maybe it's not that dramatic.

by ALEX POMPLIANO

On today’s Weekly Round-Up, we learn more about the looming bill deadlines for the legislature, the recently amended and passed Senate Joint Resolution 13, and expelled Assemblyman Steven Brooks’ replacement. This episode also features Nevada Media Alliance senior editor Jeri Chadwell.

I publicly wept when they looked at me. More than 6,500 young men and women fed into the meat grinder since 9/11.

Come prepared to cry when you stare into the faces of the snuffed. "Always Lost: A meditation on war" plays at the Nevada Legislature through May 3.

The name comes from Gertrude Stein who once opined that "war is never fatal but always lost." I could not disagree more with the former.

“Always Lost: A Meditation on War” has returned home to Carson City and was given full honors Wednesday at the Nevada Legislature.

Western Nevada College’s acclaimed creative writing/photographic exhibition about the costs of war will be on display in the Nevada Legislative Building’s second-floor atrium weekdays through May 3.

Tony Mariskanish, with the Nevada Legislature, installs the "Always Lost: A Meditation on War" art and humanities exhibition at the Legislative Building on Friday. An opening ceremony will be held Wednesday, April 17, at 1 p.m. in the second floor atrium. The ceremony is free and open to the public and the exhibit will be open at the Legislature until May 3.
Photo by Cathleen Allison/Nevada Photo Source

(Story originally appearing on MusclePowered.org by Anne Macquarie)
Next month is Bike Month and there are plenty of activities planned in Carson City. We kick off on April 24 with Nevada Moves Day at the State Legislature.
Muscle Powered is organizing exhibits in the front foyer of the legislative building highlighting Nevada groups working for better walking and biking. Participants include the Reno Bike Project, Safe Routes to Schools, the Carson Valley Trails Association and more.

An action-packed week filled with music, arts, books, Nevada political history and more will be featured as Carson City Library celebrates National Library week.

Special events kick off Monday, 6 p.m., at the library auditorium with “The Lure of Music, a Human Universal” presented by internationally-recognized music scholar Fredric Lieberman, Ph.D., a distinguished professor of music at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

“Always Lost: A Meditation on War” is returning to its roots. Western Nevada College’s acclaimed creative writing/photographic exhibition about the costs of war will be on display in the Nevada Legislative Building’s second-floor atrium on weekdays, April 17 to May 3.

Meeting in Carson City this weekend, the Nevada Republican State Central Committee featured Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at a dinner held at the Governor's Mansion Friday.
Earlier in the day Nevada's GOP Central Committee members attended sessions at the Nevada State Legislature.
Saturday's activities include caucus meetings and a keynote address by Tea Party organizer Heather Gass.

Wednesday was a deeply emotional day for both lawmakers and testifiers at legislature; discussion on whether concealed weapons should be permitted on Nevada’s college campuses spurred verbal attacks between individuals on both sides of the debate, and eventually tears shed down the cheeks of one assemblyman.

by S. LANEY OLSON