pandemic

Kindness is on the agenda at the next Rotary Club of Carson City meeting. Jimmy Gleich, from the Think Kindness organization will be the featured speaker on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The public is invited to attend. The organization’s mission is to inspire acts of kindness in schools and communities around the world.

Remember the old days when school would get cancelled for weather aberrations like snow? Aww, the excitement of that early morning phone call and the joyfulness of being able to go back to sleep with the anticipation of a full day ahead of hanging out in pajamas and watching Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Finalized data from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) show initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) totaled 8,332 for the week ending September 12, up 381 claims, or 4.8 percent, compared to last week’s total of 7,951 claims.

Through the week ending September 12, there have been 686,683 initial claims filed in 2020, 665,031 of which have been filed since the week ending March 14.

CVS Health today announced plans to add more than 2,000 new COVID-19 drive-thru test sites at select CVS Pharmacy locations across the country to support the company’s ongoing efforts to increase access to testing and help slow the spread of the virus.

Students at Western Nevada College were captivated by a very special visitor on Wednesday morning on its Carson City campus. None other than Steve Sisolak, the 30th governor of Nevada, spent part of his busy morning passionately telling students about the respect he has for them and the sacrifices they are making to attend college.

In a scathing letter, Gov. Steve Sisolak condemned President Donald Trump's “callous disregard for our emergency directives” by hosting two in-person rallies in Nevada over the weekend in spite of the ongoing pandemic.

CARSON CITY — While employment in Nevada realized an increase over the month of 6,500 jobs, the state has seen a decrease of 133,600 jobs since August 2019, for an annual growth rate of -9.4 percent, according to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation’s August 2020 economic report.

Lyon County School District’s Superintendent Wayne Workman has been named Nevada Superintendent of the Year by the Nevada Association of School Superintendents. NASS is a statewide nonprofit educational organization which strives to provide support to leaders of Nevada’s 18 school districts and more than 720 public schools.

CARSON CITY — Children who would have received free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program have received a one-time refund for the cost of school lunches that were missed this spring due to COVID-related school closures.

Carson City Health and Human Services will be combining drive-thru COVID-19 testing and flu vaccination events for Quad County residents in Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, and Storey counties. Residents can choose to receive a flu vaccine and/or a COVID-19 test at each event from the comfort of their vehicle. No appointments or reservations needed.

This morning I read a most compelling article in the New York Times by one of my favorite journalists, Helene Cooper. Customarily, as the Times' Pentagon correspondent, Ms. Cooper writes about guns and butter, but knowing she was on a team awarded a Pulitzer for coverage of the Ebola epidemic, her piece of today (Sept. 12, 2020) carried much weight with me.

During the pandemic, groundskeepers Adam Vecitis and Leah Withrow have climbed to the top of their professions in Minor League Baseball.

The next Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Thursday, Sept. 17 beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Sierra Room of the Community Center, located at 851 E. William Street.

Items for discussion include new shade structures in the downtown area, grant funding for fuel reduction, surplus city funding, and more.

President Donald Trump sought to undermine confidence in the electoral process in Nevada during a rally in Minden Saturday evening, falsely telling a packed crowd of supporters that Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak controls millions of votes, that mail-in ballots can be accepted without signatures and that Republicans likely wouldn’t be sent mail-in ballots but dogs and dead people would.

One of her favorite quotes is from French dramatist Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh, who said, “Things are beautiful if you love them,” and Hannah Etchison, Carson High’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program Coordinator, loves people, loves Carson City, and said, “I wanted to help in the community that raised me.”

Carson City Mayor, attorney and Vietnam veteran Robert L. "Bob" Crowell died overnight. He was 74.

Robert L. "Bob" Crowell was a native Nevadan, born in the mining town of Tonopah and raised in Carson City. An attorney by profession, Bob was a Vietnam Veteran and retired Navy Captain. He was elected Mayor of Carson City in 2008 and assumed his duties as Mayor on January 5, 2009. He was re-elected in 2012 and 2016. Prior to being elected Mayor, Bob served 11 years on the Carson City School Board of Trustees.

The first USDA Business and Industry CARES Act loan, intended to protect America’s small farms and businesses amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, went to an aquaculture farm in Iowa and was brokered by Carson City-based Greater Commercial Lending (GCL). These CARES Act loans provide working capital to help rural businesses prevent, prepare for or respond to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

This fall, bring home the beauty of Nevada’s natural landscape! Operated by the Nevada Division of Forestry, the State Tree Nursery in Washoe Valley has a great selection of Nevada-friendly plants available for purchase. All plants are grown and maintained at the nursery and are conditioned to survive Northern Nevada’s cold winters and hot, dry summers.

The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority has advised the company that leases the hangar where President Donald Trump had planned to hold a campaign rally on Saturday that the event is in violation of a state directive limiting gatherings to 50 people and that it cannot proceed.

The Moonridge Foundation’s 5th Annual Philanthropy Leaders Summit will be held as a virtual summit on Friday, Sept. 18 in place of its regularly scheduled in-person event. The summit is a gathering for corporate funders and family foundations, along with local, statewide, and national philanthropists to hear about the latest trends and best practices in giving. Knowing the importance of connecting and inspiring, attendees will hear from dynamic speakers about crisis philanthropy and strategic giving.

NV Energy is urging customers to conserve electricity today between 4 and 9 p.m. in order to help offset energy supply issues caused by record-breaking heat throughout the Western United States. Conservation is the best way to reduce strain on the local power grid.

Featured speakers at Monday's Democratic tele-luncheon will be two Nevada journalists who have written extensively about how Nevada responded to the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919: Bob Conrad in Reno and Bob Stoldal in Las Vegas.

Heading into Labor Day weekend, there’s a bevy of activities around the Carson City region. Steam train rides in Carson City and Virginia City will be available Saturday through Sunday. The Carson Canyon Railbike Tours will run four times over the next three days, bringing excitement unlike any other. Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe will open two hours early beginning at 6 a.m. to ease capacity and congestion. Combined with plenty of live music, Labor Day weekend will be a thrill! Read on for more information.

Gov. Steve Sisolak is urging patience with the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, promising that the state is attempting to balance its fight against the disease with a desire to reopen businesses and begin repairing the state economy.

CARSON CITY — Finalized data from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation show initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) totaled 8,032 for the week ending August 29, down 826 claims, or 9.3 percent, compared to last week’s total of 8,858 claims. This is the fewest initial claims filed since the week ending March 14. Through the week ending August 29, there have been 670,400 initial claims filed in 2020, 662,368 of which have been filed since the week ending March 14.

Lake Tahoe’s renowned Sand Harbor State Park is one of Nevada’s most popular recreation destinations, attracting thousands of area residents and tourists from all over the world every year. This summer amid the COVID-19 pandemic, visitation remains at an all-time high, creating severe traffic congestion along Highway 28 and causing public safety concerns.

The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation announced Wednesday that Nevada submitted its application Tuesday for the Lost Wages Assistance Grant Program created by President Donald Trump under Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.

Often called the “jewel of the Sierra,” Lake Tahoe offered warm solace for Nevadans this summer amid the crushing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has pushed people outside in greater numbers as the virus spreads more easily in indoor spaces.

Nevadans who have been laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic can be retrained at no cost in high-demand manufacturing careers via a new program made possible through a federal grant from Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

Solitude is an essential component to good health and well-being, so they say, but too much solitude, let me tell you, can be burdensome. I cite solitary confinement as the cruelest of punishments. Washing ashore onto deserted Island is considered by most to be an unfortunate turn of fate. But pandemic solitude has its own unique personality.