Workers

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s unemployment rate for October dropped to a seasonally adjusted 11.5 percent, down from 11.8 percent in September, the lowest it’s been in three and a half years, a state agency reported today.

Weekly wages for Nevada workers continue to show improvement, indicating the state’s economy is on the mend, said Bill Anderson, chief economist for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

“Average weekly wages in Nevada have been trending up since bottoming out in the recession,” Anderson said in a news release. “Specifically, during the first half of the year, wages in Nevada averaged $830, a rise of 2.6 percent relative to the first half of 2011 when they came in $809 per week.”

Hostess Brands Inc.’s outlets in Carson City and Reno will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday as part of the company’s announced intent Friday to wind down operations after struggling to keep up with rising labor costs and the ever-changing tastes of Americans.
The company, whose roster of brands dating as far back as 1888 including iconic childhood treats such as Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread and Drakes, filed a motion to liquidate Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after striking workers across the country crippled its ability to maintain production.

Most of the 100,000 active public employees in Nevada will have to pay 2 percentage points more in retirement premiums starting July 1.
The PERS board, basing its decision on a study by an actuary, voted Wednesday to increase retirement rates to 25.75 percent of each regular employee's wages, with half of that paid by the employee and half by the employer.

Carson City and Northern Nevada caught the attention of 60 Minutes with a Sunday feature on the national jobs climate, qualified workers and addressing what has become known as the "skills gap" which happens when companies are hiring, but the applicants don't have the skills to do the available jobs.

I told you so, again and again for four years. OK, so Obama did not cancel the elections; he did one better, he put the veneer of the "will of the people" on it. Voting is the best revenge...? He never had to say, against whom.

With around 63 percent of Carson City's 26,000 voters taking care of business prior to today's General Election by showing up to the courthouse for early voting or casting their ballots by mail, voter turnout Tuesday has been a steady and even flow, election officials have observed.

There was an expected rush early when the polls opened, with 1,300 voters making it to the Carson City Community Center before 10 a.m., said Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover. Otherwise turnout has been as expected: No long waits. No crowding.

CARSON CITY – Assembly Republican caucus leader Pat Hickey said he expects to pick up seats for the GOP in the upcoming election, but declined to predict today exactly how big a dent his candidates will make in the 26-member Democratic majority on Nov. 6.

CARSON CITY – A broader measure of Nevada’s unemployment picture, including those who have given up looking for work, showed continued improvement through the third quarter of 2012 but remains above 20 percent, a federal report shows.

This is in reference to the Letter: Think before you vote, Carson City Nevada News - Carson Now.

Carson City, Nevada – On Saturday, October 20, 2012, the “40 Days For Life” Fall 2012 campaign will hold a “Youth For Life” rally across from the Planned Parenthood facility at 1201 North Stewart Street from 12 noon until 2 PM. 40 Days For Life Reno-Tahoe co-coordinator Carol Marie says, “It is the youth who face the prospect of their friends coping with an unexpected pregnancy and the decisions that come with such a realization.

CARSON CITY – An annual review of funds distributed to charitable groups from the sales of special license plates has found that the University Medical Center Foundation in Las Vegas failed to provide required documentation on the use of the money, and some inf

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Wednesday announced the designation of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad McKeen Motor Car #70 based in Carson City as one of 27 national historic landmarks.
Calling the McKeen Motor Car #70, Virginia & Truckee Railway Motor Car #22, "the best surviving example of the first commercially viable application of internal combustion power in a self-propelled railroad car" the designation possess exceptional value and quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States, Salazar said.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s next two-year general fund budget would grow by $279 million to $6.46 billion based on the initial spending requests submitted by state agencies, information released today by the Budget Division shows.

CARSON CITY – Nevada is among the states with the highest amount of government debt per capita at $14,949, according to a new report from State Budget Solutions (SBS), a non-partisan advocate for state budget reform.

The level of debt put Nevada at 37^th highest among the states.

Imagine working at the place where you normally play. Heavenly Mountain Resort and Kirkwood Mountain Resort in Lake Tahoe are giving candidates that opportunity by hiring 1,500 employees and 750 employees, respectively, for the 2012-13 winter season. On Saturday, October 20, the annual job fair will be held jointly for Heavenly and Kirkwood at the California Main Lodge at Heavenly from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

CARSON CITY – Democratic state Senate candidate Kelli Ross said today that she is the “union” candidate in the District 18 race in Las Vegas, while Republican Scott Hammond said he will listen to but not vote in lockstep with labor in the Legislature.

Carson City, Nevada – The Fall 2012 40 Days for Life campaign in Carson City starts with a kickoff rally on the sidewalk across from Planned Parenthood at 1201 North Stewart Street on Wednesday, September 26 at 6 PM, as the pro-life community prepares to pray and fast for an end to abortion. The fall effort also includes a “Youth for Life” rally on Saturday, October 20 and a closing prayer ceremony on Saturday, November 3, both also across from Planned Parenthood.

A woman had worked in an AT&T call center in Nevada for 14 years.
She had perfect attendance, was efficient and helpful to customers. About six months ago, she showed up late and was unfocused and inattentive. She got suspended for two days.
Two weeks later, the same thing happened. She didn’t listen to what customers were saying. She was suspended for two weeks. And then a week after that, she got suspended for 30 days.

About 100 employees were let go from the Chromalloy plant in Carson City, the company confirmed on Tuesday.
Company spokesperson Cathy Gedvilas reports that the facility on Arrowhead Drive has experienced a decline in work due in part to reductions in military spending, and a flat economy in Europe and Asia affecting commercial aerospace.

RENO – President Obama talked about his ongoing commitment to education in a visit to this battleground state today, his first official campaign event of the year in Northern Nevada but his third visit to the area in just the past few months.

Obama’s campaign stop, to be followed by another event tomorrow in Las Vegas, comes to the state with the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 12 percent.

CARSON CITY – More than $27 million in federal job training funds were awarded to two local workforce development boards by the Board of Examiners today despite ongoing concerns about how the money is being spent by the Southern Nevada board, called Workforce Connections.

by Jeff Potter, originally appearing on the Muscle Powered blog.

CARSON CITY – States do not face any deadline for deciding whether to expand their Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and will be able to expand coverage and then later chose to reduce it, federal officials told Governing magazine on Monday.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval and a host of elected officials and dignitaries joined in dedicating the new I-580 freeway connecting the capital to Reno today, although motorists won’t get to drive on the 8.4-mile stretch of new roadway until mid-August.

CARSON CITY – A broader measure of Nevada’s unemployment picture, including those who have given up looking for work, showed slight but continued improvement through the second quarter of 2012, a federal report released today shows.

Despite more than 10 years of outstanding service as a PUC senior economist, my friend Nevada Regent Ron Knecht was fired in March by the PUC bureaucrats, with no reason given and no announcement made.

This story was then intentionally leaked to the press, so that it would be reported just before voting started in Mr. Knecht’s primary re-election campaign. Ron won the primary handily, because voters are very aware his outstanding record, fine character, and dedication to public service.

CARSON CITY – Nevada officials are busy preparing cost and enrollment estimates so Gov. Brian Sandoval will have reliable information before deciding whether to expand Medicaid following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month upholding much of the Affordable Care Act.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s Public Employees’ Retirement System earned an estimated 2.9 percent return on its investments in the fiscal year ending June 30, and is now valued at $25.8 billion, an official with the plan said today.

The 2012 return is below the 8 percent anticipated annual return for the system’s investments over the long term.

CARSON CITY – The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has voted to approve two new standards that the group says will substantially improve the accounting and financial reporting of public employee pensions by state and local governments.