Technology

On December 12, 2013 in coordinated efforts with the Carson City School Board and Board of Supervisors, the Library Trustees unanimously adopted Level Up, a strategic plan for learning 2014 – 2019, the library’s next five year plan.

“An educated, skilled citizenry will secure our future. The integration of the strategic plans and the exciting partnerships/collaborations demonstrate that collectively, community leadership gets it. We welcome the challenge and look forward to the possibilities,” said Library Trustee Chairwoman Sandy Foley.

Well Howdy folks! I sincerely hope you all had a GREAT Thanksgiving! We do have so much to be thankful for.

One of the things I am thankful for is that we have finished updating all our office computers operating system to a newer version of “doors” (not the real name to protect the innocent). I haven’t noticed any improvement in productivity yet though. (I thought new computer stuff always meant new tools that make us more productive.

Carson City residents Karen Abowd and Mary Fischer, will be honored tonight at The Atlantis Hotel and Casino, when they receive the Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada’s 2013 TRIUMPHANT Awards.

Karen Abowd will receive the Environmental Leader award for her work with The Greenhouse Project, a non-profit community greenhouse located on Carson High School’s campus that teaches sustainability and new agricultural principals and produces food for the community. Mary Fischer will receive the Community Service award for her work with Gardeners Reclaiming Our Waysides (G.R.O.W.), a non-profit she founded in 1997 with the purpose of beautifying area roadways using landscaping and art.

Carson City placed third in the nation among local government websites and digital technology serving a population of 75,000 and under, according to the national research firm Center for Digital Government.

The ranking is behind Palo Alto, Calif., and Fayetteville, Ark., and marks the fourth consecutive year the city's website, Carson.org has ranked in the Center's top 10 list. The Center serves as an advisory institute that focuses on information technology policies and best practices.

During the third annual Connect Nevada Broadband Summit held at the University of Nevada, Reno, the Carson City Library was named Connect Nevada’s 2013 Broadband Hero.

The summit theme, Learning in the Digital Space, was designed to promote access, adoption, and use of broadband in education. In collaboration with Governor Sandoval’s Nevada Broadband Task Force, Connect Nevada is working to bring the benefits of universal broadband to the state.

In a unanimous vote at their last quarterly meeting of 2013, the Carson City Library Foundation agreed to commit $33,000 toward renovating and furnishing the library auditorium to house the new Digitorium, a proposed space build-out for around 20 MacBook Pro computers, high tech software and more.

Approximately $22,000 in residual private matching monies that helped open the library’s first digital space in January of 2012 will also be used for the project, targeted for completion by late spring of 2014.

UPDATE: The Carson City Board of Supervisors will meet jointly with the Carson City School Board beginning at 6 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 13. From the Community Center’s Sierra Room, located at 851 E. William St., the 12 elected officials will discuss the school district’s strategic plan, Empower Carson City, and meaningful linkages to the City’s initiatives related to education and lifelong learning.

Employers wanting to know about what to expect from the Affordable Care Act are invited to a Carson City luncheon next month hosted by the Nevada Business Group on Health.

The “Look into Your Future” luncheon on Dec. 4 will feature guest speaker Russ Sullivan, attorney and vice president of Health Care Solutions for the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, who will present an interactive session that draws upon lessons from Massachusetts’ seven-year health care reform experience. Sullivan will provide insight into how to prepare for the changes ahead.

The season's first significant snowfall covered the Sierra Monday with nearly a foot of powder at Lake Tahoe area resorts and 3-5 inches at lake level.

Anticipation for additional snowfall along with summer investments pays winter dividends at Tahoe South this season. Millions of capital expenditures at the three area ski resorts this year will complement revitalization efforts throughout town to create new options on where to stay, play and dine during the 2013-14 season.

Sena Loyd, who is the current technology trainer at Carson City Library, was selected Thursday as the new director.

The Carson City Library Board of Trustees held the interviews from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the new library director in Carson City. Loyd replaces former Carson City Library Director Sara Jones, who took a job earlier this year as Marin County Director of Library Services in California.

In the main photo, from left, director candidates Amy Geddes, Sena Loyd, Mary Scott Wallace and Diane Duquette answer questions from the board.

Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort near South Lake Tahoe has been ranked among the best mountains in North America for 2014 by TransWorld SNOWboarding magazine.

Considered as one of the top magazines in the industry, the publication has been ranking the best resorts in North America for more than a decade. The resort poll ranks mountains based on mountain features such as parks and halfpipe, terrain, and other areas including vibe, snowfall, lodging, value, and food. Each year TransWorld readers are polled to rank their three favorite resorts based on their overall experience.

With October designated National Cyber Security Awareness Month, state and federal agencies in Nevada will be recognizing efforts to protect citizens against attacks on computer networks and infrastructure.

The Nevada Division of Emergency Management/Homeland Security, Department of Administration/Enterprise IT Services, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance are all participating to increase awareness throughout the U.S. and, specifically Nevada.

by SAGE LEEHEY If you’re interested at all in putting renewable energy technology — specifically, solar — on your home (or if you just want to learn more about it), the Desert Research Institute (DRI) and NV Energy are offering a tour of... Read More ›

CARSON CITY — Western Nevada College’s Tech Prep Consortium has been recognized nationally for its Career Pathways program.

The National Association for Career Pathways Leadership selected WNC for the 2013 Rigorous Programs of Study National Award for exceeding what other states offer students in career and technical programs. The award recognizes the college’s collaboration with industry and hard work by faculty and staff to provide the essential curriculum and instruction in technology-automated systems, construction, machine tool technology and welding.

On September 24, 2013 the Northern Nevada Development Authority held their Pioneer Awards event, recognizing new businesses that have relocated to Nevada along with those that have expanded in the past 12 months. This signature event also saw the largest attendance for this event in NNDA history with over 340 celebrating these announcements. In addition to this annual recognition businesses were selected in 9 different categories. For six weeks NNDA collected over 50 nominees in those categories with the winners being announced at the Pioneer Awards Banquet.

The call letters KUNR first broke through the FM radio airwaves on Oct. 7, 1963 with a short 15-minute broadcast that reached listeners in a 13-mile radius. Today, KUNR 88.7 is an affiliate of National Public Radio that serves 45,000 weekly listeners in 20 communities in Northern Nevada and Northeastern California.

This year marks KUNR’s 50th year of public broadcasting on the University of Nevada, Reno’s campus. The station has become a staple in the community and continues to be a growing source of local and regional news.

Join Karl Neathammer and Shelly Aldean with attorney Jason Woodbury and Technology Architect Bill Sikkens as they discuss the implications of new devices like Google Glass and other state-of-the art “gadgets” that are challenging our personal privacy boundaries.

Capital Crossfire will air Sunday, 7:30 p.m. on Carson City Access TV channel 226. For more information go here.

With news this week that Western Nevada College is the recipient of a $1.5 million grant, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, announced two other grants for area colleges, Truckee Meadows Community College and Great Basin College.

The grants are part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant Program, which was authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus bill. WNC's portion of the grant is $1,567,530. TMCC received a grant of $ 3,201,968 and Great Basin College, $4,009,331.

CARSON CITY — Western Nevada College students will have more opportunities to prepare for skilled technical jobs in the coming years, following Wednesday's announcement of a $1,567,530 grant workforce training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. It is part of $474.5 million in grants to community colleges and universities around the country for the development and expansion of innovative training programs.

The Nevada State Museum hosts author Paul Franklin for September’s installment of the museum’s Frances Humphrey Lecture Series at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26. Franklin wrote “Anatomy of an Ingot,” a book that offers an investigation into the lives of three assayers responsible for a significant piece of silver in the 19th century.

The group briefly came together more than 130 years ago to form an assay and metallurgical laboratory that produced a mysterious silver ingot. Their careers intersected with early mining history in California and the Arizona and Nevada territories.

The public is invited to a town hall meeting Monday night to discuss general issues related to Carson City. The meeting runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Bob Boldrick Theater at the Carson City Community Center, 851 East William Street.

There will be a panel of directors from the city's Finance, Fire, Health and Human Services, Human Resources, Information Technology, Parks and Recreation, Public Works and the Sheriff's Office. Additionally, the City Manager will also be in attendance and available to answer any questions.

Enrollment at both rural campuses of Western Nevada College has increased this fall, after six years of state budget cuts that drastically reduced programs and available classes.

Full-time equivalent enrollment, which measures the number of credits a student takes and is a key factor in determining state funding levels, rose 4 percent at the Fallon campus to 415 and 3 percent at the Douglas campus to 371. At the Carson City campus, full-time equivalent headcount rose by 2 percent, indicating that individual students are enrolling in more credits.

Northern Nevada high school robotics teams gathered at Western Nevada College in Carson City on Saturday, Sept. 7 for a kick-off event the 2013-2014 FIRST Tech Challenge.

Dr. Kathleen Christopherson promotes health and fitness among patients through cycling.

Carson City will host a town hall-style meeting Monday, Sept. 16, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Bob Boldrick Theatre at the Community Center, 851 East William Street. The public is invited to this open meeting to discuss general issues related to Carson City.

Department directors from Finance, Fire, Health and Human Services, Information Technology, Parks and Recreation, Public Works, as well as the Deputy City Manager, City Manager and Sheriff will be on hand to answer questions.

On August 1st, a new publication called the Carson Quarterly (CQ) was delivered to the Carson City Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. The CQ is the first product presented by the new, downtown business, Agency 36.

The Public Health Preparedness Program in Carson City is offering N95 breathing masks at no cost. They are available effective immediately in the lobby of 4150 Technology Way until 5 p.m. today (Friday, August 23, 2013), or until supplies run out.

The main mass of a rare meteorite observed in the skies over Carson City, Carson Valley and Lake Tahoe that exploded over California’s Sierra foothills in April 2012 will be preserved for current and future scientific discoveries, thanks to the collaborative efforts of five U.S. academic institutions.

With less than 100 days until the beginning of the 2013-2014 Lake Tahoe ski and ride season, now is the time to purchase the best-valued season pass to Tahoe’s three premier mountain destinations, Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar. The Tahoe Local and Tahoe Value Passes offer access to more than 263 trails, 14 terrain parks and 10,270 acres all on one pass; but the current season pass prices are only guaranteed through September 2, 2013.

Between June 7 and August 4 the Carson City Library engaged a record breaking 2,750 youth, ages 6 – 17, in signups for the 2013 summer reading program and attendance in summer learning activities. In that time, more than 21,788 items circulated from the library’s youth collection, primarily traditional books but also e-readers like Kindles, iPads, PlayAways and PlayAway Views.