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The U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday that it is temporarily closing the remaining 10 national forests in California, including Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Eldorado National Forest, Plumas National Forest and Tahoe National Forest.

CARSON CITY — The U.S. Agriculture Department has extending the free school meal program to millions of children nationwide. The program allows families in need to pick up free food from any convenient school campus, even if their child is not enrolled there.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit released a list of beaches, campgrounds, resorts and public areas that are closed as of Monday because of dangerous fire conditions.

President Donald Trump’s campaign is narrowing its focus in a lawsuit against Nevada’s expanded use of mail-in ballots for the 2020 general election, now specifically challenging a provision allowing ballots received up to three days after the election to be counted if their postmark is unclear.

Most of California remains under the threat of unprecedented and dangerous fire conditions with a combination of extreme heat, significant wind events, dry conditions, and firefighting resources that are stretched to the limit.

Due to these conditions, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region is announcing the following temporary closures and fire restrictions to provide for public safety and reduce the potential for human caused fire starts.

With the Slink Fire burning south of Topaz Lake continuing to grow westward, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest expanded the fire closure area as of Saturday evening. The closure now includes all areas, campgrounds trails and roads at the following areas:

The upcoming 2020 General Election will be a first in the country's history, as it will be a primarily mail-in only election. There has been many sources of misinformation regarding how the election will work, and the Nevada Secretary of State has provided a Myths and Facts sheet to help dispel some of the rumors.

Transcontinental air mail began in the United States 1920. This transcontinental reenactment of the 15 segments of the transcontinental route are flown by volunteer pilots from across the country. To mirror the events of 1920, Air Mail 100 Centennial Flights project is flying a near mirror version of the stops with minor variations to accommodate airport impacts.

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.

The Slink Fire burning south of Topaz Lake and two miles west of Coleville, Calif., reached 14,200 acres early Thursday and was 10 percent contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

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.

A special medallion honoring the Old West Pony Express mail route will be stamped on historical Coin Press No. 1 on Saturday, Sept. 5 at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City. Medallions will be minted from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Slink Fire behavior moderated Tuesday at 11,000 acres and hard work by firefighters has increased the containment to 10 percent. All evacuations in the towns of Walker and Coleville have been lifted and Highway 395 is now open to traffic, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Due to increased horse activity on U.S Highway 50 and Alternate U.S. 395, Nevada Department of Agriculture and Nevada Department of Transportation officials urge motorists to use extreme caution when driving in the Virginia Range area.

The Mono County Sheriff's Office issued an evacuation order Monday evening for Coleville and Walker due to the Slink Fire and has closed Highway 395 from Topaz Lane to Eastside Lane south of Topaz Lake.

Northern Nevada Development Authority and Visit Carson Valley’s cooperative partnership to promote Carson Valley as a film location is not only creating awareness, it is driving results.

Nevada Democrats have, for years, been fine-tuning their political machine. Two years ago was, perhaps, their best proof of concept. Democrats spirited away a key U.S. Senate seat, took control of the governor’s mansion for the first time in two decades and secured a veto-proof majority in one chamber of the Legislature while retaining a majority in the other.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management law enforcement recently removed approximately 45 abandoned vehicles illegally dumped on public land. Many of the vehicles were removed from the Mound House area east of Carson City and north of Reno in the Sun Valley area.

UPDATE: A wildfilre that started Saturday night continues to burn southwest of Topaz Lake in Mono County on the Bridgeport Ranger District, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The featured speaker at Monday's Democratic tele-luncheon will be Eric Biggart, Chair of LDS Democrats of America. The group, which is not affiliated the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has as its slogan, "Same faith. Same values. Different perspective." Their mission, as laid out on their Facebook page, is to “promote the full participation of Latter-day Saints in the Democratic Party. We do this by providing educational and social resources to progressive, moderate, and conservative Democrats who are also LDS, and others who are interested in participating in a ‘no shouting’ environment.”

The COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force met Thursday with seven counties flagged last week for having an elevated risk of transmission of the coronavirus. Based on data provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, six of the seven counties are still meeting at least two of the three criteria, signaling a sustained elevated risk of transmission.

Pro Group Captive Management Services, Inc. with offices in Carson City, Las Vegas and Elko, announced Thursday the company has been named the winner of the coveted and highly celebrated U.S. Company of the year Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions award for the second year in a row.

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation announced Tuesday that with the goal of helping Nevadans facing unemployment due to the global pandemic, Governor Sisolak gave the authorization for Nevada to start the application process to participate in the Lost Wages Assistance Program created by President Donald Trump under Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.

A commemorative coin being minted in Carson City was unveiled Tuesday at the 24th annual Lake Tahoe Summit as one of the ways individuals can take part in the protection and restoration of Lake Tahoe.

A Red Flag Warning in effect Tuesday for the northern Sierra Front including Carson City, Douglas, Storey, Southern Washoe, Western Lyon and southern Lassen counties. Also, poor air quality has returned as winds have shifted, again bringing more drift smoke from California fires into the northern Nevada region.

If the last recession was any indication, small businesses that bank with a community bank will weather this recession better than entrepreneurs that bank big.

DeBug Computers of Carson City and Carson Valley is helping the community to stay cyber-safe at no charge. This is your opportunity to help minimize the chance of identity and personal information theft. DeBug offers this every year as a way of increasing identity theft awareness and providing a no-cost solution to our community.

Students returned to the Pioneer High School campus Tuesday and found the new CZJ Recording Studio, which was installed over the summer.

The entire project was the dream of PHS student, Zaca U. He shared his idea for Pioneer to have a sound recording studio for students to exercise their creative musical talents.

Nevada’s decision to expand mail-in voting for the 2020 general election has become a partisan battleground, after President Donald Trump’s campaign sued to block the election changes put in place by the state’s Democratically-controlled Legislature in a summer special session.

CARSON CITY — Having received around 600 submissions so far, the Nevada Department of Transportation reminds Nevada drivers they have through Monday, Aug. 31 to submit contest entries for creative traffic safety messages to potentially be displayed on electronic freeway signs.