Workers

More than $4.4 million in federal funding will enable Western Nevada College to offer students more services to meet the skilled labor demands of today’s businesses. WNC in Carson City was selected as Nevada’s lead community college in the nation-wide $450 million job-driven training grants, as part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training program.

Administered by the Department of Labor, Nevada’s four community colleges will receive a total of $9,921,831 from October 1 through September 30, 2018.

I want to thank the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors for their recent approval of entering into a contract with the Nevada Humane Society to run our existing and soon-to-be-built animal shelter.

As many as 45 employers will take part in a job fair on Friday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Carson City Community Center.
Sponsored by Carson City Health and Human Services, Job Opportunities in Nevada (JOIN), and the Carson City Chamber of Commerce the Sept. 26 fair, located in the large gym of the community center at 851 East William Street, is open to the general public and all job seekers. Veterans will be able to enter the Job Fair at 1:30 p.m. for early admission.

Hi…I’m Dave Cook….
Candidate for Nevada Assembly, district 40 (Carson
City, and south Washoe County), democrat, age 64.

I am a fourth generation Nevadan. I have lived in Carson City for thirty-five years, where I raised my two daughters. Both are now college graduates.

I'm a retired emeritus awarded college professor of business and
economics from Western Nevada College, where I taught for almost
thirty years here in Carson City.

I graduated from UNLV with bachelor degrees in Accounting and Political Science, and an MBA in Business and Economics.

The $5 billion Tesla battery factory deal sealed by Gov. Brian Sandoval and approved by a special session of the Legislature is a high-risk, high-reward project that could be a turning point for both the electric car company and Nevada as the state diversifies its economy and establishes itself as a leader in green energy.

But in the short term during the construction phase and with the planned hiring of 6,500 permanent workers, Tesla will put a strain on Northern Nevada where it will be built — from schools and roads to police and fire protection.

Tesla Motors has officially chosen Nevada as the location to build a $5 billion battery plant for its electric vehicle batteries.

“The gigafactory is an important step in advancing the cause of sustainable transportation and will enable the mass production of compelling electric vehicles for decades to come,” said CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk.

I recently went to a special seminar on Social Security. The speaker was a retired manager with 35 years of experience working at the Social Security Administration. He went through the details of how the various benefits are computed, etc. but his observations were interesting.
Some of the information will not be new to you, but it is still interesting:

The environment you are surrounded by at work can lift you up, propel you forward, pull you down, or trigger feelings of being stuck. In some organizational cultures, a cycle perpetuates itself that is very similar to abuse. What do you do if your organization is stuck in such a cycle? You get therapy.

As a leader, there are a few ways you can do this without pulling in an outside facilitator. Although, if things have gotten to the point where the needle can’t move with internal efforts alone, a facilitator may be necessary.

DIY Organizational Therapy

The Nevada Department of Transportation will begin a $800,000 project to construct turn pockets for enhanced safety and mobility on U.S. 395 south of Gardnerville Sunday, Aug. 3.

The Comstock History Center presents “One Is Silver, the Other Is Gold: Celebrating 25 Years of Nevada Folklife Apprenticeships” featuring 22 visual artists who have received grant support from the Nevada Arts Council as master or apprentice artists in a variety of folk traditions.

Each recognized master is encouraged to work with one or more dedicated apprentices so that their traditional art forms and personal contributions endure.

More than 100 state workers were evacuated from the Nevada Capitol in Carson City when a fire alarm sounded this afternoon.

Nevada's state and local government employees are retiring at a much later age than just a decade ago, a trend that will have ramifications for the financial health of the $33.5 billion public pension plan.

Mark Twain said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” In my line of work, I see a lot of dreamers. These dreamers love to make to-do lists in their heads, or visualize a prosperous future. But some of them fall prey to a little something I call broken starter syndrome.

The passion is there. The vision is there. However, when it comes to actually stepping on the gas, they have one foot on the brake. Fear of making the wrong decision, not being able to get it all done, or facing the unknown keeps these dreamers paralyzed and stagnant.

The Nevada Business Group on Health announces its Building Common Knowledge presentation on the topic of Value-Based Benefit Design, a health benefit savings strategy that draws on a variety of incentive strategies that address the way health insurance plans are structured and utilized by employees and their dependents.

The seminar, led by benefit design thought-leader and Executive Director of the Mississippi Business Group on Health, Murray Harber will be held at noon at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino on June 12, 2014.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers holding out thin hope that Congress will re­surrect benefits that expired five months ago for long-term jobless workers are heading back to the drawing board.

A memorial ribbon is being built this week at the Nevada Department of Transportation headquarters in Carson City that will memorialize the 25 NDOT employees who have died since the agency began while doing road construction work.

The ribbon is part of a campaign recognizing National Work Zone Awareness Week going on now through Friday. Once finished, the memorial at NDOT headquarters, 1263 South Stewart Street, will be draped with potted flowers.

Carson City Library will welcome Dr. Leslie-Pelecky, author of The Physics of NASCAR as special guest on Tuesday, April 15th, at 6:00 p.m.

This National Library Week highlight will take place in the Bob Boldrick Theater, 851 East William Street, at the Carson City Community Center. National Library Week highlights the value of libraries, librarians and library workers in our community and brings featured programs to your library.

Employers and job seekers have been connecting this winter and spring through a number of initiatives including job fairs in Carson City, Lake Tahoe, an April 4 event planned in Douglas County and most recently through Nevada JobConnect.

A weeklong job quest campaign in Carson City received 1,047 job openings in a variety of industries from entry level to executive level jobs, well above the goal of 500 job openings set by the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said DETR Director Frank Woodbeck.

In an effort to put more Nevadans back to work, Nevada JobConnect will host a special campaign in Carson City, Douglas County, and Lyon County to get more employers to list their job openings with the state’s One-Stop Employment Centers.

Nevada JobConnect and the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) Employment Security Division are inviting employers to participate in its second Job Quest campaign being held in Carson City from March 10, 2014 to March 15, 2014.

My parents are receiving Social Security payments. Should I be worried that their monthly checks will be cut and that I will have to make up the difference?

No, there are no plans to reduce benefits for current retirees. Even without any changes, current benefits are expected to be fully payable until about 2033.

I’ll be retiring in the next five to ten years. Can I expect my presently scheduled benefits to be paid to me at retirement?

Millions of workers could overlook a special federal tax credit because they don't know about it. As a result, they could miss out on up to $6,143 extra in their federal income tax refunds through the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. In 2011, on average, the credit boosted refunds for eligible workers in Nevada by $2,200.

UPDATE: Carson City Fire Chief Stacey Giomi reports the powdery substance found in a package on the second floor of the Nevada Supreme Court Building on Thursday is non-hazardous.

He said the two office workers who were isolated have not displayed any symptoms associated with poisoning. As soon as the fire department completes its investigation the matter will be turned over to law enforcement.

The substance was sent inside a letter package and claimed to be anthrax, authorities said.

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Based on recent reports from the CDC, beginning in November 2013, there has been a number of reports of severe respiratory illness among young and middle-aged adults, many of whom were infected with Influenza A, the pandemic H1N1 2009 virus.

To provide escape from the frigid temperatures expected overnight and through Monday evening, the American Red Cross and Friends in Service Helping, otherwise known as FISH, have partnered with Carson City to open a warming shelter.

CARSON CITY — State agencies appear to have dramatically reduced their frequency of contracting with current and former employees since a law regulating the practice took effect in July 2011.

Who doesn't smile, nod at the bell ringer and put some extra change in the Salvation Army kettle over the holiday season?

It takes a lot of people to see through the annual campaign. The Salvation Army in Carson City will hold a job fair Friday and is looking for kettle workers, an office assistant and drivers to help with the holiday season. The fair runs from 10 a.m. to noon at the Salvation Army, 661 Colorado Street.

Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort will host a job fair Nov. 2 to hire seasonal positions for the coming winter season. The fair will be held at the Sierra Resort base lodge near South Lake Tahoe, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Positions range from full-time November through April to Weekends and Holidays only. Department teams will interview and hire seasonal workers with positions in the areas of Lift Operations, Retail, Food and Beverage, Adult Ski and Snowboard School, Wild Mountain Children’s Center, Blizzard Mountain, Guest Services, Parking, Rental and Repair Services and Ticket Administration.

UPDATE 11:09PM: NV Energy reports that power has been restored to nearly all 2,249 customers affected in Monday night's power outage in south Carson City.

Service has been restored to nearly all customers but there's still around 40 customers without power around the Stafford Way and Hickory areas, said NV Energy spokesman Karl Walquist. Those 40 customers should be back on line by sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight, he said.

While a definitive cause has not been determined, Walquist said there was a fire in an underground vault which tripped a line out of the Curry Street station which is what caused the majority of the outage. NV Energy utility crews were able to isolate the areas and restore most of the service.

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A worldwide industry leader known for welcoming and accommodating guests has awarded Western Nevada College and its Carson City business partners a grant to offer hospitality certification workshops.

Hilton Worldwide has allocated a $5,000 Travel and Purpose Action Grant to WNC and key local partners - the Hampton Inn & Suites Carson City, and the Carson Valley Inn, Carson City Chamber of Commerce, and Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce. The grant will help fund a public workshop for American Hotel and Lodging Association certification on Friday, Oct. 18, at the Hampton Inn.