March

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s transparency website, where taxpayers can go to examine details of spending by state agencies, still does not include a critical component that would make the information more useful.
Budget limitations have put a plan to put contract information on the site in a searchable format on hold, said state Budget Director Andrew Clinger.

CARSON CITY – Republican governor candidate Brian Sandoval yesterday released his education plan, calling it a results oriented proposal that would end teacher tenure and the social promotion of students.

Reno-based Nevada Security Bank, with three Reno branches and an administrative office, an Incline Village branch, and a Roseville, Calif., branch were closed Friday by the Nevada Financial Institutions Division, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Jim Gibbons said today he believes Nevada and other states will prevail in their court challenge of the federal health care law following the filing of a motion to dismiss the lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mills Park in Carson City was transformed this weekend into a scene right out of U.S. History. This year's Carson City Rendezvous celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express.

An Arizona man was extradited to Carson City jail this morning on a warrant that alleges he made threats of terrorism to Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons.
Douglas Raymond Hoffman, 63 of Goodyear, Ariz., arrived in Carson City about about 2 this morning. He faces charges of making threats or conveying false information concerning acts of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction with lethal agents or toxins.
Hoffman is being held without bail.

CARSON CITY – Statewide April gaming revenues declined 5.7 percent compared to the same month in 2009, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported today.
Gaming win by Nevada casinos totaled $810 million in April compared to $859 million won in April 2009.
For the first 10 months of the fiscal year that began July 1, gaming revenues total $8.7 billion, 4 percent below the $9.1 billion reported for fiscal year 2009.

A 23-year-old unemployed Carson City woman faces multiple felony charges in connection with a series of thefts associated with paying off a drug dealer.
Bailey Michelle Wilson was arrested on Tuesday at the 3700 block of Hobart Road following an investigation in which the suspect's mother found the stolen items, including jewelry, inside a pawn shop.
Wilson faces felony charges of grand larceny, burglary, obtaining money under false pretenses and possession of stolen property. Bail has been set at $25,000.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s unemployment rate keeps creeping upward despite signs the economic slowdown has hit bottom, and April statistics from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation show job losses are now being seen in the government employment sector as well.

It's snowing again in Carson City tonight, looking more like March 22 than May 22. Unfortunately for all of you gardeners out there the freezing temperatures and snow showers puts your plants and flowers at risk.

The National Weather Service in Reno and www.carsonweather.com reports freezing temperatures and snow showers will remain tonight that may produce slick roads across the region. The goods news is that there shouldn't be significant amounts. Significant meaning more than 2 inches.

In the waning hours of the special session this past February, legislators hurriedly introduced and passed Senate Bill 5, a bill intended, among other things, to remove the sunset on part of a half-percent sales tax passed in 2003.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Jim Gibbons announced yesterday he is pursuing an initiative petition to subject labor negotiations between unions and local government entities to the open meeting law to give taxpayers access to the discussions.
Some Republican lawmakers welcomed the idea, saying the Democrat-controlled Legislature has been unwilling to consider such a proposal.

The developer chosen for the Carson Nugget Redevelopment Project will be on hand tonight to answer questions about the project.

Rick Oshinski, CEO of Sacramento-based P3 Development, will appear before the Carson Nugget Development Advisory Committee tonight in the Community Center's Sierra Room.

Carson Now plans to show live video of the meeting, as well as hosting a discussion forum.

Many questions are sure to arise, concerning the details on the project and its scope, as well as the developer and how the company was chosen.

As I've been talking to people about this project, I've collected a number of questions, that I put together below.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors yesterday voted to proceed with investigating the lease or purchase of the Fireside building (or another similar structure) for the purpose of creating a business resource center. (You can replay the live blog of the meeting here.)

CARSON CITY – Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki says it is now clear the Nevada Legislature should have “securitized� the money the state was scheduled to receive as part of a settlement with the tobacco companies a decade ago to protect it from the current reality of lower than expected annual payments.

CARSON CITY — According to data released by the Nevada Secretary of State yesterday, the number of total registered Democrats only rose by 58 in April, fewer than the number of new registered members of Nevada’s largest third party, the Independent American Party, which has 374 more registered voters. This is also well under the 710 new nonpartisan voters and 1,268 new Republican voters.

CARSON CITY – In a letter sent today to the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee, the state Treasurer’s Office said the Millennium Scholarship will run out of money in 2011 unless action is taken to preserve the program.

Yeah, the season's pretty much over for skiing and riding except at Mammoth where they plan to run through July 4. But there are some deals coming up and expiring. Check this one out.

Squaw Valley USA announces its start of the countdown to next year’s season pass purchasing deadline. After an epic winter season and an even more remarkable spring, Squaw Valley is again offering adult season passes starting at just $369 — but prices are slated to rise after May 9, 2010.

The quad injury he nursed through the month of April was a distant memory when Richard Shroy ran at the 30th annual Sacramento Meet of Champions on Saturday night.

CARSON CITY – Nevada GOP state treasurer candidate Steve Martin and Democrat incumbent Treasurer Kate Marshall engaged in a war of words this week over her management of the office for which she is seeking a second term.

CARSON CITY – When the Legislature adjourned its special session to balance the budget on March 1, lawmakers went home believing they had ensured the financial viability of the Millennium Scholarship program through 2014.
But the program, hit by declining tobacco settlement revenues and the diversion of financial support to help fill a more than $800 million budget shortfall, remains in jeopardy.

It's been a long road back, but the Western Nevada College baseball team has now gained an inside track to the Scenic West Athletic Conference regular season championship with three weeks to go.

CARSON CITY – A Las Vegas attorney running for attorney general as a Republican against Democrat incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto, and who called for a State Bar investigation into her release of a letter to the press about a potential legal challenge to the federal health care law, is now himself the subject of a bar inquiry.
Attorney Jacob Hafter called the inquiry ridiculous.
“It just shows the type of protection these incumbents have,” he said.

(This story was updated at 3:40 PM on 4/13/10)
Last Friday, Nevada Tea Party Senate candidate Scott Ashjian filed a response to the lawsuit brought against him by Independent American Party candidate Tim Fasano.

CARSON CITY — There haven’t been any arrests or any contraband seized since security was tightened at the state Capitol in the wake of a March 31 letter warning Gov. Jim Gibbons to resign.
In fact, Gibbons hasn’t been in his Carson City office since a group called Guardians for a Free Republic sent notices to Gibbons and governors in other states to quit or it would quietly commandeer state offices.
Click here to read the Las Vegas Sun story: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/apr/09/no-arrests-or-incidents-security-heightened-capito/

According to the executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, Bruce Breslow, this week saw some unexpected and interesting new developments in the ongoing litigation process related to the Yucca Mountain License application.
“The matter is becoming increasingly complicated,” said Breslow.
Nevada had been in the middle of the Yucca Mountain License Application hearing process when on March 3, 2010, the Department of Energy (DOE) made a motion to withdraw the license with prejudice.

by Scott Schrantz Source: http://aroundcarson.com/2010/04/07/state_parks_announces_75th_anniversary_photography_and_geocaching_contests News Release: March 26 marked the 75th anniversary of Nevada State Parks. It was the exact date on which the Nevada Legislature first created the Nevada State Park system in 1935.

Nevada has borrowed a total of $331 million to pay for unemployment benefits as of March 31, according to Cynthia Jones, administrator of Nevada’s Employment Security Division. The loans have been taken out in order to deal with the swelling numbers of unemployed Nevadans during the current financial crisis.

Media release: updated April 3, 2010
Contact: Elinor Bugli 775-883-4154

Carson City Symphony Concert "Spirit of Exploration" April 24 and 25
Features World Famous Horn Soloist Gail Williams
and McAvoy Layne, the Ghost of Mark Twain