There is an interesting discussion going on over at the Nevada Appeal site concerning the Nugget Project.

The story begins two week ago when Guy Farmer wrote a rather harsh column that slammed the Nugget Project. In response, last week there was a guest column by Michael Douglass criticizing Farmer's take on the subject.

But it turns out the guest column was written by the brother of Tammy Westergard, who has been in the middle of this project, first with the Office of Business Development, and now with the Carson City Library.

Appeal Editor Peggy Santoro did confirm that she knew that Michael Douglass was related to Tammy Westergard, but that because he wasn't a spouse or child, she didn't see the need to disclose this. I can respect that, though I think her cutoff for disclosure is a little narrow, as a brother or sister is still considered immediate family.

The real problem here isn't with the publication requiring some kind of disclosure, but with the author not revealing it himself. So now, instead of debating the pros and cons of the Nugget Project, tongues are wagging all over town about his connection to one of the project's main champions, and questioning if he was acting as a surrogate for his sister to defend it.

The story gets more interesting here. Douglass' column mentions that the Carson Nugget underwrites the Downtown Business Association newsletter, which is strange since that newsletter didn't come out until three days after his column was printed. How did he know about this newsletter? And there are other references to detailed information about the Nugget's activities that aren't well known by the public.

For instance, there is this passage about the late Mae Adams:

"Steve Neighbors isn't the only one responsible to Mae's wishes, either. Local attorney Andy MacKenzie is also a trustee and tasked with stewardship. They both understand that Mae knew the best way to help someone is to help them help themselves."

What does Douglass know about the now-deceased Mae Adams' wishes?

It would seem that his information came from an inside source, which is what makes his sister's connection to the project a relevant topic.

When I asked Westergard if she had any part in writing the column, she said "Why don't you talk to the author about that?" When I asked for contact information for her brother, she said she wasn't at liberty to give that out, and I should try looking him up in the phone book. When I asked if he was listed in the phone book, she said she didn't know. I asked again if she had anything to do with the column, but declined to answer, saying her brother "is his own person."

I'm currently trying to contact Douglass to get his side of the story, and invite him to debate the Nugget Project here on Carson Now. I found a MySpace page for him that says he lives in Los Angeles. I also found his blog, http://Brainspank.org , that among other things contains this passage: "I’ve been stuck in Carson City, against my will for far too long. Soon to be free."

The interesting thing to me is how this is a reminder of how the news business has changed. When I counted up the emails I was sent on this issue, and all the people who were CC'd on those messages, and take into account that maybe a few of those people passed the messages on as well, it's clear that several hundred people knew about this issue before I even started writing this. The Media -- whether it be the old, printed newspaper or websites like Carson Now -- no longer control the message. News will find you, through email, Facebook, wherever.

So in some ways, our role has changed from a focus on breaking news, to confirming or debunking the news already in circulation.

For instance, I have received a lot of comments about how the Nugget Project is a done deal, especially now after Sen. Harry Reid slipped in a $400,000 earmark for the business incubator.

So I called up Mayor Bob Crowell to get his take, and he disagrees.

"No decision has been made yet," he insists. "We do not have a project of which to make a decision."

Crowell did say that the earmark does help them, but it doesn't mean the project is a done deal.

I asked if the money from the earmark could be used even if the full project doesn't go forward. He said that he wasn't sure what the exact language of the earmark is, but that he believes it could be used to fund business incubator activities outside of the actual Nugget Project.

In other words, it will be unlikely that anyone can get away with arguing that we have to move forward or lose the federal money Sen. Reid is trying to get for Carson City.

Let us know if you have any other tidbits you would like us to look into. Thanks.