nature

I believe I felt a collective sigh of relief when 2016 left and 2017 made its grand entrance. The new year is filled with so much hope, promise, and delight. Yet, I was disappointed when I opened Facebook the other day and one person stated that 2017 is already proving to be just like 2016 for them.

Three magnitude 5.5 to 5.7 earthquakes struck about 18 miles southwest of Hawthorne, Nevada just after midnight Wednesday December 28, 2016, the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno reported. Reports so far indicate minimal damage due to the remote nature of the earthquake sequence.

As I write this article, the Electoral College is deciding the route of the American Presidency and of Donald Trump as President-Elect. The Russian ambassador has been shot and killed in Turkey by a fanatic. Another European terrorist attack has taken place in Berlin, Germany, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens of others during the Christmas shopping season. Back in Aleppo, Syria, the Assad government is finishing off the horrific killings of its own people as well as rescue helpers and hundreds of Christians — many of whom are women and children.

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – Sip hot chocolate and enjoy holiday treats while learning about the origins of traditions like Santa Claus, candy canes and Christmas trees. This holiday-themed presentation will also include historic Christmas scenes from around Northern Nevada and mining towns, including Virginia City and Tonopah.

With the next "atmospheric river" system expected to arrive in the Carson City region in the coming days, forecasters are looking at Wednesday into Thursday for potentially damaging winds and heavy rain in the region.

Proscenium Players, Inc. announces open auditions for their upcoming production of Bus Stop, by William Inge. Interested actors are invited to audition on December 9 or December 12 at 6:30pm or on December 11 at 2:00pm at the Brewery Arts Center in the 1864 Ballroom. Performances are slated for weekends from March 24 to April 2, 2017.

Auditions will consist of cold readings from the scripts and from sides. To request sides for your audition, please email ppicarsoncity@yahoo.com. All actors selected are expected to join Proscenium Players, Inc. as members.

There are 19 days until Christmas. The holiday season is in full swing. Trees are going up. Houses are getting decorated. Shopping happens between kids’ activities and holiday family fun. Making sure all the presents are well hidden is a feat within itself! Yet there is one gift that sometimes gets forgotten. That gift is the gift you give to yourself.

Thanksgiving isn't a patriotic holiday per se, but it is full of patriotic feelings as Americans did and should give thanks for our shared blessings as a nation.

The Brewery Arts Center (BAC) is proud to feature works by Carson City potter, jewelry maker and author Kym Maehl, PhD, CRC, CHT throughout the month of December at the Artisan Shop inside the Brewery Arts Center.

The Brewery Arts Center, Carson City’s premiere epicenter for the arts since 1976, presents Christmas at the Trailer Park with Antsy McClain on Friday, Dec. 9 in the Maizie Harris Jesse Black Box Theater.

We are humanists and, so, optimists.

Against us in the political sphere stand environmentalists and other anti-humanists. These folks see not progress, but threat, in seemingly everything done by man.

We see man as being born into an uncertain and challenging world. In a state of nature, earthquakes, tornadoes and other disasters combine with infections and shortages of food, shelter and other basic resources to threaten man's very survival. But over centuries, humans have applied their intelligence to shape the world around them.

Curiosity drives Jill Brugler artistically, and she hopes “Dirty Diapers/Rabbit Ears” will attract the curious to the Western Nevada College’s Main Gallery to see her clay and ceramic exhibit.

“Dirty Diapers/Rabbit Ears” is opening Wednesday, Nov. 30 in Carson City and the exhibit will be shown through Friday, Feb. 3.

A 43-year-old South Lake Tahoe man was arrested Tuesday as the suspect in a food contamination case at Raley’s in the Village Center near Stateline.

Start the day making something beautiful. The Muscle Powered Trash Mob descends upon our new downtown for some clean-up and coffee. Kids will enjoy the Tales and Wags program at the Library where they get to read to therapy dogs and acquire a new book in the process. It’s a Carson/Douglas Army/Navy rivalry as the JROTC programs hit the field at Carson High for a game of flag football. Keep reading and you’re sure to find something that sounds fun.

SATURDAY:

Come discover Nevada's rich natural and cultural heritage in an inspiring, interactive workshop through visual and musical storytelling.

Award-winning artists – songwriter/performer Jim Eaglesmith and nature photographer/geologist Mark Vollmer – will help you learn what rocks create the ground beneath Eagle Valley & the Carson City Library, and the life that this geology supports.

A Carson City man was arrested Friday on felony suspicion of uttering a forged instrument after attempting to cash a stolen check at a bank, a Carson City sheriff’s deputy said.

Disagreement is part of human nature, especially in any society that values people as unique individuals.

Geoff was reminded of that recently when he and his sainted wife Jenna watched a reenactment of the Jefferson-Adams debates. Bill Barker and Steven Holloway, two scholars from the Colonial Williamsburg living history museum, played Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, respectively.

Jim Peckham, executive director of Friends In Service Helping (FISH), excitedly led groups of visitors on tours of the organization’s property, located at 138 E. Long Street, Thursday night as part of a grand reopening celebration.

As we head toward Halloween on Monday we think about all the scary creatures often associated with the celebration. It’s easy to come up with scary thoughts about things that go bump in the dark, and unfortunately, a lot of people think of bats as that bump in the dark. You might be surprised, however, to learn that nearly everything you thought about bats is incorrect and they are actually extremely important to the success of Nevada’s ecosystems.

Mauricio Sandoval hopes that when people see his mural on a wall on Telegraph Street, it makes them feel good.
“The main thing about my art is to make people feel happy — or what I call good medicine,” Sandoval said. “It’s more of a home feeling.”

After a couple of small systems with limited moisture move through the region into Tuesday, a wetter system is expected to reach the Sierra and Carson City region late Thursday into Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

Dear goodness, autumn is beautiful around here. The leaves changing, the snow dusting our mountains, and the air is crisp. Keep a jacket handy, and enjoy a jaunt up Voltaire Canyon. Help celebrate community services as new names get added to the memorial outside the Marv Teixeira Pavilion. The League of Women Voters and Sierra Nevada Forums are almost done with this election, but not before they bring you a discussion about four of our ballot questions: be at the BAC Performance Hall by 6pm to see what they have to say.

TUESDAY:

UPDATE 7:14PM: The Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center (SFIDC) is now reporting the Little Valley to be 55 percent contained, having burned 3,400 acres and destroyed 22 homes and 17 outbuildings since early Friday morning.
More than 660 firefighting personnel remain on scene, the SFIDC reports.
More rain is forecast Sunday night into Monday morning, which should further help firefighting efforts to achieve full containment of the Little Valley Fire.
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UPDATE 3:52PM: From South Lake Tahoe, Highway 89 continues to be closed from just beyond the Spring Creek Tract to the Vikingsholm parking lot gate (north side of Emerald Bay) because of the Emerald Fire, which is still 90 percent contained.
As of 3 p.m. Sunday, evacuations have been lifted for Cathedral Road, Springs Creek Tract, Camp Shelly, Camp Concord and Mount Tallac Road.
Cascade Lake and Cascade Properties are currently open to residents only.
In Washoe Valley, Franktown Road continues to be closed below the 6190 street address, because of the Little Valley Fire, which remains at 20 percent contained.
Although Old U.S. Highway 395A has been opened, Washoe County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) is asking the public to stay out of the area due to fire traffic, localized flooding from heavy rains and unstable ground from the burn areas.
Interstate 580 is open in both directions to traffic.
Public safety officials said at a 1 p.m. briefing that a re-entry plan has been established, but it will require coordination with fire management personnel, law enforcement, and utility companies before the area can be re-populated safely.
The re-entry plan called for some residents to be allowed back in Monday or Tuesday to survey their properities only. Officials are hopeful re-entry can begin Wednesday.
WCSO will contact displaced residents directly in order to visit their homes.
Fuji Park in Carson City remain open for evacuated residents with large livestock.

UPDATE 7:30PM: Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch (SFIDC) reports evacuation orders for the Franktown Road area in Washoe Valley remain in place as firefighting crews continue working to contain the Little Valley Fire, which started a little before 2 a.m. Friday morning, destroying 22 homes and 17 other outbuildings on its way to consuming 3,400 acres in northwestern Washoe Valley.
As of Saturday evening, about 500 homes are still threatened by flames and mandatory evacuations for affected residents remain in place below the address of 6190 Franktown Road.
Franktown Road has been opened above the 6190 street address, the SFIDC reports.
The SFIDC estimates about 480 homes have been saved by firefighting crews since Friday.
Mother Nature has helped crews achieve 20 percent containment on the fire and prevent its further spread by dropping steady rain throughout the area on Friday and Saturday.
"The moisture we received over the last 48 hours was very helpful for firefighting efforts and keeping the fire within the incident objective perimeter," an SFIDC press release stated.
Fuji Park in Carson City continues to serve as an evacuation center for residents with livestock.
For evacuation and fire information, please call 775-782-1429.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
***
UPDATE 6:44PM: KRNV News 4 has tweeted that the SFIDC reports 20 percent containment on the Little Valley Fire. Rain moved into the area again this afternoon to assist firefighting efforts in containing the blaze.
No word yet on changes to evacuation status for residents.

A recent left wing CNN poll indicates that Trump is fifteen points above Hillary on the issue of trust. Some feminist organizations are generating the old divide and conquer smear campaigns to argue that the laws broken by the Clinton crime family should be ignored because Trump's politically incorrect genitals are not to be trusted. This argument makes about as much sense as suggesting that men and women need different forums such as 'women to women' or 'man to man'. This is the disreputable strategy of divide and conquer to pretend that men and women share nothing in common.

Nevada wildlife biologists released a three-plus year old male black bear back into the forest near the top of Mt. Rose Summit on Monday morning after capturing him Sunday in Incline Village at Lake Tahoe.

We now begin the process to decide if we want more of the same or to change the actions of our elected officals by giving them the ax. Perhaps a rhyme that even children can understand will add some entertainment value to an otherwise solemn duty for every voter. We now recite and dedicate 'Lizzies Ax' for posterity and your amusement to aid our recall on November 8th at the ballot box.

A small town girl trying to make it big in Tinseltown.

It's a story that goes back nearly a century, when the silver screen drew as many starry-eyed dreamers to the film capital of the world as it did audiences to movie houses.

Fall colors are near their peak at Lake Tahoe and in Hope Valley but with wind, rain and snow in the forecast, this may be the last few days to witness their spectacular golds, yellows and reds.

Meet in the parking area about 1/3 mile south of East Highway 50 on Deer Run Road. This one will be level but on uneven ground. Closed toed shoes required and water. Hat and sunscreen recommended if hot and sunny.

Walks of 1 to 2 miles in length with none or negligible elevation gain, and frequently on paved or smooth paths. The walks will usually be of approximately 1 hours in duration.