Workers

CARSON CITY – A broader measure of Nevada’s unemployment picture, including those who have given up looking for work, showed some improvement through the end of 2011, a federal report released this week shows.

The rate in Nevada dropped to 22.7 percent in the 12 months through Dec. 31, down from 23.3 percent in the 12 months through Sept. 30, 2011.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Salogga
Business Resource Innovation Center
108 East Proctor Street
Carson City, Nevada 89701
msalogga@carson.org

Millions Could Overlook Valuable Tax Credit

CARSON CITY, NEVADA-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 $5,751 extra in their federal income tax refunds through the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Last year, on average, the credit boosted refunds for eligible workers by $2,100.

Adele's is a Carson City landmark. This long-time restaurant — located in one of the oldest homes in town — attracts discriminating diners with its classical ambiance and reputation of its renown chef Charlie Abowd.

But now the restaurant is doing something new that will likely shake things up in Carson City early in the morning. They are serving breakfast.

The action-thriller film "The Grey," currently on view at the Fandango Galaxy theaters in Carson City, is a stark story of men in wilderness and their efforts to survive.

A recent report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Mayors awards Carson City the dubious distinction of being the only metropolitan area studied that is predicted to not recover any jobs this year.

Add to that this morning's unemployment report showing the rate for Carson City climbed to 12.2 percent in December, and one can't help worrying about the economic outlook for our area.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s unemployment rate fell by four-tenths of a percentage point to 12.6 percent in December, the second consecutive monthly decline that saw the number of jobless drop to 166,300, a state agency reported today.

A year ago, the rate, which is adjusted for seasonal fluctuations in the labor market, hit a record high of 14.9 percent.

10:00 p.m. update: Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said tonight the Washoe Drive Fire has consumed and estimated 3,700 acres, burned at least 20 structures and has resulted in one fatality.

Hernandez would not go into details of how the person died. He said the 250+ firefighters on the scene have stopped the forward progress of the fire. He said the fire started in the East Lake area, and then followed the Highway 395 corridor north, where it was stopped just south of Galena High School.

Each year, as my last article for that year, I present my Annual Don Q Awards for a number of different reasons: Outstanding, good, not so good, bad, serious, funny, dumb, head-scratching, are-you-kidding, etc.
Those annual awards are presented to all kinds of people or places or things for what has occurred throughout the year. It’s an interesting way to end the year, so here are my 2011 winners:

Unemployment figures released this morning show the state's overall unemployment rate held steady at 13.4 percent, still the highest in the nation and well above the 9 percent national average.

Carson City's jobless rate dropped to 12 percent in October, down from 12.4 percent the previous month. In October 2010, the unemployment was 13.1 percent.

Unemployment in the Las Vegas metro area dropped to 13.1 percent, down from 13.4 percent in September. The Reno metro area also saw a drop, from 12.6 to 12.1 percent.

Full press release below.

The charred body of a convicted sex offender who was recently questioned about the fondling of a 6-year-old Carson City girl was found in a burning boat Friday night by Washoe Lake.

James Floyd Raines, 70, was questioned last week about fondling the girl at his Bel Aire Way home. He was a Tier 1 sex offender, having been convicted in 1989 of lewdness with a child in Henderson and served four years in prison. He allegedly told detectives last week that he was not going back to prison.

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The Nevada Tax Commission is scheduled to vote on a measure on Dec. 12 that would limit some of the tax deductions that mining companies take. During the last legislative session, lawmakers learned the mining companies were taking deductions for activities not related to mining in Nevada, such as executive pay. The Nevada Mining Association says the changing in deductions could cost mining companies and extra $48 million a year.

Nevada mining operations are taxed on net proceeds, which allows them to deduct expenses, whereas most other states tax gross income. A controversy erupted earlier this year when it was revealed that the state didn't have any qualified auditors to oversee what the mining companies were claiming for expenses.

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Silver State Charter School's plan to move into their new location on Mallory Way has been delayed until early next year. The school's principal Alan Staggs is frustrated with some of the "loopholes" because the building has to be retrofitted to bring it up to a higher standard because it will be used as a school and not an office. The Nevada Insurance Division vacated the building last year when workers were sickened by a chemical used to clean bird droppings. The Staggs said that problem has been fixed.

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Gov. Brian Sandoval led the celebration of a new Native American cultural exhibit at Reno-Tahoe Airport on Monday. The governor said he got the idea for the exhibit from visiting other airports where there were similar displays. The event coincides with his signing of a proclamation declaring November as Native American Heritage Month. See the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5prbco90554

Carson City JobConnect is holding a special event beginning Monday to find more jobs for Carson City, Douglas and Lyon County workers.JobConnect and the Department of Employment, Training and Rehab...

This is a story that has been flying under the radar for a few months now, told to me in confidential discussions with city officials. But it looks like a newspaper in Twin Falls, Idaho has put the story out in the open, since that community is also vying to land the facility.

"Chobani, a New York-based manufacturer of Greek yogurt, has visited Twin Falls as well as Carson City, Nev., in recent months in its efforts to find a spot for a facility near the West Coast," according to the story.

RENO – Businessman Raymond Pezonella said today he knew the burden of complying with government regulations had hit a new level of absurdity after an all-day audit resulted in an $8.99 gas tax charge to his company because of a trip to California that his workers had failed to record.
“This took two of my people all day long,” he said. “That guy tied up my conference room all day to do this document.”

I was chatting with a couple of friends Monday about the Occupy Wall Street movement in its unfocused protest about banks and the financial sector and other things.

No specific targets, but they know something is wrong here.

One friend, a firm "independent," dismissed the crowds as "a bunch of purple-haired freaks." The other, a determined conservative who has predicted rioting in 18 months in American cities when the economy collapses as he is sure it is about to, similarly waved off the protests because the crowd was largely young and powerless with no agenda.

The Board of Examiners approved restrictions Tuesday on state workers' ability to contract for other employment.The changes to the State Administrative Manual were ordered by the Legislature after ...

Paul Schat's Bakery is closed today after the popular eatery suffered a small electrical fire in a back room last night. Workers are on site cleaning up the establishment, and were handing out free baked items from yesterday to customers coming in the door. The fire did no visible damage to the public areas of the restaurant. They hope to be open tomorrow, depending on how fast they can clean up.

CARSON CITY – Nevada ranks well overall in an analysis by the nonpartisan State Budget Solutions of spending trends over the past decade, coming in 12th in the review of how states have managed their money in times of growth and recession.

CARSON CITY – Speakers at the fifth and final public hearing to comment on a draft environmental statement that seeks to map the future of the former Nevada Test Site expressed a variety of concerns Wednesday, including a failure to adequately address contamination of groundwater at the site.
Another concern focused on an indication in the document for what is now called the Nevada National Security Site that a previous agreement with the state of Nevada to avoid metropolitan areas in the transportation of low-level radioactive waste to the site for burial will be abandoned.

The statewide unemployment rate has increased to 13.4 percent, up from 12.9 percent in July. In all, 176,200 people were out of work in August.

CARSON CITY – As Nevada policy makers get set to examine the state’s public employee pension plan in advance of the 2013 legislative session, a new report from the Center for State and Local Government Excellence offers some timely advice on how other government agencies have accomplished the difficult task.

The final Harry Potter movie is out this summer. It's a tale of magical kids attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, being empowered, and learning wicked things like Arithmacy, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, and Quiddich. This makes some real-world parents uncomfortable. Children learning things we don't know, things beyond the "straight and narrow", things that empower them, is scary.

By Claudene Wharton
A new book written by two University of Nevada, Reno social work professors, is a perfect Labor Day read, giving an in-depth look into the lives of women working in Nevada casinos and serving to remind why the national holiday exists.

Although the issue of collective bargaining for government workers has been white-hot this year in states such as Wisconsin and Ohio, Nevada's Legislature opted to do not much more than tinker arou...

A group of state workers - primarily in corrections and the highway patrol - asked the state on Monday not to cut back their differential pay for working the swing and graveyard shifts.The money-sa...

Excavation crews working in the Ormsby House have unearthed thousands of old gaming chips for the old Travelodge where Carson Station now stands in downtown Carson City.Construction workers dump...

On Saturday, Aug. 20, Tahoe author Janet Smith will be at the Costco in Carson City from 11-2pm for a book signing of the new anthology “Permanent Vacation: Twenty Writers on Work and Life in Our National Parks.” The collection, published by Bona Fide Books, features Smith’s piece “Pretty Enough,” a compelling account of coming of age in one of the world’s wonders, Yosemite Valley.

CARSON CITY – If a $490,000 grant to plant trees in Clark County public places as part of a federal job-creating stimulus project should be measured by the “greening” of Southern Nevada, then the effort might be considered a modest success.
Thirteen different government and nonprofit entities applied for 1,814 trees for planting at 35 different public areas in Southern Nevada through the grant. A total of 1,541 trees have been provided to the agencies and groups for planting, mostly at schools and parks around the Vegas valley.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s official jobless rate may have jumped three-tenths of a percentage point to 12.4 percent in June, but a broader measure of the state’s unemployment picture showed some slight improvement through the second quarter of this year.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s public employee retirement system saw a whopping 21 percent return on its investments in the fiscal year ending June 30, the executive officer of the agency said today.
“I believe this is the best performance we’ve had in at least 25 years with the fund,” said Dana Bilyeu, executive officer of the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS).

CARSON CITY – Anyone with an interest in what Nevada’s state and local government employees make in salary and benefits can review the 2010 data that has been posted today by a  Nevada think tank.

(You can view all Carson City salaries here)