News Carson City

In what can only be called a command performance, Capital Ford will be raising up to $6,000 for Carson High Boys Baseball on the 6th of March, from 9 to 5. The event, a sequel to another fundraiser they held for Girls Basketball last Fall, the drill is the same: take a test drive in a new Ford vehicle, and Ford will donate $20 to Boys Baseball. No obligation. No cost whatsoever. Read the rest of this entry »

As state lawmakers scramble to fill a nearly one billion dollar hole in the state budget, political warfare has escalated between Governor Gibbons and the Legislature. Even with Republican members of the Legislature like Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio. Gibbons accuses Raggio of not attending many meetings aimed at solving the budget crisis. Raggio fired back that it was Gibbons who was AWOL. Read the rest of this entry »

A man living in an apartment at 4733 So. Carson was reported shot under uncertain circumstances early Wednesday evening, which triggered a full-on response including a call out of the Carson City Sheriff’s SWAT team. However, before SWAT could arrive, two SWAT deputies in regular gear managed to get inside the apartment to discover the man sitting, still holding a gun with which he had shot himself. Deputies retrieved the weapon and called off SWAT and summoned paramedics who had been hold up outside.

Paramedics tried valiantly to save the man’s life but he died none the less. Because the death involved a shooting and that the deceased was the father of a sheriff’s deputy who also lived there, the Nevada Division of Investigations (NDI) will be handling the entire investigation. Thus far, the name of the deceased has not been officially released. Sheriff Ken Furlong said the name would probably be released Thursday morning, probably by NDI.

Early in the call-out on the shooting, it was reported that the shooting may have involved another person, who may have been fleeing the Mountain View apartments complex. Arriving deputies set up a perimeter around the area but saw nothing suspicious. Two deputies then approached the apartment, and once inside, found the wounded man in a chair, still clutching the gun. No official word on any possible motive or circumstances surrounding the shooting.

A long-standing bank in the Reno-Sparks area is about to set up shop in Carson City. It’s First Independent Bank of Nevada and it will open it’s seventh branch this Monday in the building formerly occupied by First Financial Bank at 1818 E. College Parkway. Prior to First Financial, the building was occupied by Irwin Union Bank which failed last September and was taken over by First Financial. However First Financial, based out of Ohio, decided to cancel their plans to explore western U.S. markets.

With the departure of First Financial, First Independent Bank of Nevada will open its doors Monday morning. A spokesman said they will retain seven employees of First Financial, led by longtime Carson City banker Greg Nixon who has been named Vice President and area manager.

A spokesman said First Independent Bank is a solid institution with abundant assets. They operate two branches in Reno, two in Sparks, one in Fallon and another in Spanish Springs. And come next Monday, they’ll add Carson City to their list.

Most Democrats (“yes to new taxes”) and most Republicans (“no to new taxes”) are squaring off during the special session of the legislature. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, tells reporters that the state’s budget crisis will be fixed with cuts (not as deep as the Governor wants) as well as tax and fee increases. Read the rest of this entry »

Las Vegas (and international) gaming mogul/billionaire Steve Wynn is quoted in a Las Vegas newspaper today that he’s investing in new casinos in Pennsylvania where he’ll pay up to a 55% tax rate on slot machine revenues and 16% for table games. Wynn told reporters that “even at 55%, there’s still lots of money to be made in Pennsylvania.” Nevada’s top tax is just 6.75%, as many of our readers have endured NewsCarsonCity.com saying for a long, long time.

Reports say that while Wynn and other gaming giants like Sheldon Adelson have long maintained that Nevada’s low tax rates are necessary to maintain the expensive “Las Vegas Mystique,” others are complaining that Nevada was jilted long ago as these giants ran around the the country (and the world) spreading gaming at the expense of Las Vegas and Nevada in general…a major reason why the state is broke.

Meanwhile major Nevada gaming and mining interests are reportedly agreeing to minor fee increases to help fill the state budget hole that looks like the Grand Canyon. Critics say they must pay more, especially mining, which has been enjoying mammoth profits as the price of gold has soared during the recession.

Message summary from the National Weather Service, Reno:

Significant winter storm headed for the sierra Friday and Friday night…

A strong winter storm is likely to move into the sierra friday and friday night. Snow is expected to move into the sierra on friday with snow levels above lake level in the tahoe basin and above 7000 feet further south into mono county. Rain will likely spillover into most western nevada valleys as well. Snow levels will drop late friday and friday night allowing accumulating snow at lake level and in the sierra foothills. At this time snow could accumulate up to a foot or so at lake level with up to a couple of feet above 7000 feet in the sierra. Ridge winds will also likely gust above 80 mph with this system. In valley locations…by the time snow levels drop to valley floors saturday…most of the precipitation will be winding down…resulting in only up to a couple of inches of accumulating snow. Since this storm is several days out…snow levels and the amount of rain and snow are still a bit uncertain. Check the national weather service website at weather.gov/reno or listen to noaa weather radio for updates concerning this next storm system. Those planning travel through the sierra toward the end of the week should monitor on-going forecasts.

How things are going with the special session of the legislature’s efforts to plug a one billion dollar budget hole varies by who you talk to. But various flies on the wall indicate that there is a growing admission that the state budget will be fixed, but not just with cuts. There will be higher taxes and fees carefully focused on those individuals and industries that have the ability to pay. Namely, big gaming, mining and corporations. Read the rest of this entry »

Sales tax collections, the life’s blood of funding for city services, fell 14.5% last December, compared to December of 2008. The average drop around the rest of Nevada was -6.6%

Douglas County sales tax collections were off 10.4%, Lyon County was down 20%. Washoe County fell by 8.9%, and the Las Vegas area saw their December sales tax collections drop 8.4% Read the rest of this entry »

On The Census
By Karl Neathammer

“For many sociologists and other scholars like me, the census data that is compiled every 10 years is flat-out the most reliable, comprehensive, and best source of data on the American population.”

– C.N. Le, Professor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst

After reading Article 1, Section 2 of the United States Constitution that requires the taking of a national census for determining the number of delegates each state can send to the House of Representatives, I read it again. Read the rest of this entry »