After three nationwide searches Douglas County Manager Steve Mokrohisky found the person he wanted for the top finance job right in his own back yard. The pick was Christine Vuletich, the City of South Lake Tahoe's director of finance.
Vuletich has resigned to take the position in Douglas County offered to her this week by Mokrohisky, where she will serve as the assistant county manager/chief financial officer.

CARSON CITY – A national Republican official said today Nevada’s economic landscape has changed dramatically since the state went for President Obama in 2008, and increasing GOP voter registrations in the battleground state are evidence of dissatisfaction with his administration.

The City of South Lake Tahoe's Director of Finance, Christine Vuletich, has resigned to take a position in Douglas County, where she will serve as the assistant county manager/chief financial officer. Her last day is Feb. 17.
Vuletich, who was hired in October 2004 as the director of finance, has been responsible for the overall operation and oversight of the city's finance department, and has served as primary financial advisor to the city council and city manager.

RENO – From a cheering crowd of several hundred at a brief but energetic Mitt Romney rally to a more subdued event for Rick Santorum hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition to another well-attended rally for Ron Paul, it was a trifecta of presidential candidates in Reno ahead of the Saturday GOP caucus.

Romney got the balling rolling at the Grove, with an estimated 800 supporters packed inside and standing outside the event center in South Reno. Romney spoke briefly to those standing outside before giving a short but enthusiastic speech to those crowded inside.

Governor Sandoval today announced Nevada's selection by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for this year's Community Cyber Security Maturity Model program implementation in Clark County and Washoe County/Carson City.
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Carson City Sheriff's deputies arrested Marshall Jaffe, 42, a construction worker from Carson City, at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. Jaffe was arrested for a felony possession of methamphetamines, a misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor resisting arrest with violence, and a misdemeanor driving an unregistered vehicle. The vehicle that Jaffe was driving was impounded. Bail is set at $4,150 plus administrative fees.

Carson City Supervisor Shelly Aldean announced that she will not be seeking reelection to the Ward 2 seat she has held since 2003.

Aldean was appointed to the board in January 2003 after the death of Supervisor Jon Plank. She ran and won elections in 2004 and 2008.

Maurice White, first vice chair of the Carson City Republican Central Committee, plans to announce his intentions to run for the Ward 2 seat at a fundraiser on Feb. 11.

CARSON CITY – When state Sen. Greg Brower asked the Attorney General’s office earlier this month about the $6 million in outside legal costs incurred so far in defending the state in a freeway construction dispute, he said his motives were purely fiscal in nature.

A poker player helped rent a billboard, a Mormon spreads the word at root beer socials and prostitutes at a famous brothel turn tricks and donate their customers' tips -- all for Ron Paul.
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Just 27 percent of the Nevadans who have exhausted their unemployment benefits turned to the state for assistance through the Medicaid, food stamp and welfare programs, a new study has found.

But the state Division of Welfare and Supportive Services study does not address what happened to the other 73 percent — people who could be without any means of support.
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Carson City Sheriff's deputies Kelli Deann Owen-Self, 48, a Dayton woman, for a felony no-bail probation violation at around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday evening in the 1600 block of Medical Parkway. When the officer arrived, Owen-Self allegedly smelled heavily of alcohol. No bail is set.

At approximately 4 p.m. Tuesday an emergency call was placed from the Warm springs Correctional Facility regarding an officer assaulted by two inmates. The officer was described as having some bleeding but being fully alert. The emergency call was then cancelled.

RENO, Nev. — Things haven't gotten much better for Newt Gingrich since he alighted here early Wednesday from a stinging defeat in Florida's primary.

The former House speaker abruptly canceled a meeting with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval after his campaign had arranged the photo opportunity at Sandoval's office in Carson City. Not even Gingrich's campaign advisers know why the campaign scheduler called it off, irking them and those in Sandoval's office who had helped set up the event.
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The Bureau of Land Management Carson City District, Sierra Front Field Office, in cooperation with Great Basin Wind LLC, has cancelled the proposed New Comstock Wind Energy Project. GBW submitted a Type III right-of-way application to construct and operate a wind energy facility north of Carson City and west of Virginia City, Nevada.
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A new lawsuit is challenging the latest personhood initiative that seeks to ban abortions in Nevada.

The suit filed Tuesday in state court in Carson City argues the "prenatal person" initiative is confusing and doesn't adequately explain to voters the effect it would have on birth control or other medical procedures.
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CARSON CITY – A group called Nevadans United for Fair Mining Taxes filed a constitutional amendment initiative today with the Nevada Secretary of State’s office that would allow the cap on mining taxes to increase from 5 percent to 9 percent.

“This initiative is not a tax increase,” said Las Vegas businessman Monte Miller, who heads up the group. “It simply raises the cap on mining taxes and leaves the issue on whether to raise the tax in the hands of the Nevada Legislature and governor.”

CARSON CITY – As Gov. Brian Sandoval and the Board of Education move ahead with the selection of a new state schools chief to push forward with education reform, a new report gives another reason for urgency: Nevada has received a D grade for its science standards from a national group.

The U.S. Department of Education is dismissing a complaint that a Western Nevada College human sexuality class is inappropriate.
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CARSON CITY -- State legislators heard some surprising news Monday: the once nearly insolvent health care program for state employees is sitting on a $43 million surplus.

The news prompted state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, and Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, to question why legislators last year supported efforts by the Public Employees' Benefits Program to radically cut medical benefits for state employees and to require them to pay much higher deductibles.
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Taxable sales in Nevada jumped 9.6 percent in November compared with the same month last year, thanks to gains in restaurant, hotel, clothing and furniture spending the month before Christmas. However, Carson City bucked that upward trend, with sales down 1.6 percent.
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Due to a project to complete a new north-south water transmission line on the east side of Carson City, there will be utility work in the roundabout at Fairview Drive and E. Fifth Street on weekdays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. There will be flagger controls and minor delays are expected.

There will be work at the following locations as a result of the Freeway Landscaping Project. No closures are expected, but traffic control will be in effect.
·College Parkway in the vicinity of the Freeway.
·US Highway 50 in the vicinity of the Freeway.

A vintage 1870's home in Virginia City caught on fire around noon Saturday.

Crews from Carson City and Lyon County as well as the Sierra Fire Department and Reno Fire Department assisted Storey County crews, working for several hours to knock down the remaining flames. (See video)
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CARSON CITY – Nevada state Republican Party officials today announced they expect all the major GOP candidates will visit the state ahead of the Feb. 4 first in the West caucus.

The Nevada GOP is also introducing social media into the process, using the Google and Twitter platforms to report the caucus results beginning about 5 p.m. that day from 16 of the state’s 17 counties.

CARSON CITY — NV Energy is studying shipping solar and geothermal power to California. But regulators and consumer advocates are questioning the mammoth project.

"It's a risk to your shareholders," Public Utilities Commissioner Rebecca Wagner said during a PUC workshop Thursday. "You're flying without a net."
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A new branch of the Carson City Library opened Thursday in the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada — a branch powered by robotics.
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