Carson City was named as the #3 family vacation destination for 2012 by Away.com, sandwiched between #2 Branson, Missouri and #4 Amelia Island, Florida. The article cites the city's museums and old west history as a good place for a family vacation...

Our Mission is to research and explore any paranormal activity in the greater Carson City area. To preserve protect and promote those locals important and noteworthy to the spirit/scientific realm, and to educate the public about the importance of those who cannot or will not escape the confines of the ether.

CARSON CITY – A panel of key gaming figures and state officials will begin meeting next month to consider the impact of Internet gaming and other technological advances on Nevada’s major industry.

Gov. Brian Sandoval announced his five appointments to the Gaming Policy Committee yesterday. The full 11-member committee has not met since 1984. Sandoval will serve as chairman.

The year of 2011 was anything but quiet for the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
Pesky bears, a roaming gray wolf, significant poaching arrests, tsunami relief work and dramatic wildlife rescues were among the stories that captured the public’s attention.
DFG also welcomed new Director Charlton H. Bonham, who was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in August.

In his letter to the editor, published in the December 24th Nevada Appeal, William Lepore Sr. admitted to being confused about American history, citing fake quotations from John Adams, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to drive home his point. Go to http://tinyurl.com/Leporequotes for details on these "quotes," or Google "The Right’s Library of Fake Quotes" for the rest of the story on the fictionalization of American history.

Echos of gunshots from Eduardo Sencion had barely subsided when the chatter began that the Carson City IHOP would never open again, forever tarnished by a gunman's murderous rampage.

But this week the IHOP did reopen, with the governor, mayor and sheriff in attendance to reassure residents that we will not let the acts of a madman control our lives, that we can put this tragic episode behind us.

Question: What do Santa, a clown, a platoon of police officers, and coffee have in common?

Answer: They were all at the Wal-Mart service center Friday morning.

The second day of the seventh-annual Holiday With a Hero shopping spree event kicked off at 9 a.m., with the volunteers being fed donuts and coffee. Santa and his Wal-Mart helpers stood prepped to welcome less-fortunate children and help pair them off with volunteers, who would help them spend their complimentary Wal-Mart gift cards.

CARSON CITY – Former Nevada Republican Gov. Bob List said today that he believes the state will have a critical role to play in the selection of the party’s nominee for president despite seeing the caucus date pushed back to Feb. 4.
“No, I think that being fifth actually has turned out to be better than being third,” said List, who is a Nevada State Republican Party national committeeman. “This race is certainly not going to be decided by the time Florida has its primary.

As I look forward to the year of 2012 with high expectations, hopes and dreams, this is a good time to reflect back on some selected personal memories from the rapidly ending year of 2011. Here are my top memories:

The motion picture "Hugo," now playing at the Fandango Galaxy cineplex in Carson City, is a holiday movie that kids and adults can enjoy. It's Martin Scorsese's homage to film pioneer Georges Méliès, a French innovator who created much of the library of movie techniques back before World War I only to be forgotten amid the strife on combat in France. His films were largely destroyed to make such things as guitar picks.

RENO - One of the worst fires in state history was a nearly perfect storm of unfortunate luck, and unfavorable circumstances and conditions. Ferocious winds, power outages, rocky canyons and gated ...

Sometimes one wonders if casting calls in Hollywood consisted of the males baring pectorals and the women an ability to look good but not have to have any actings skills. And for directors to have a good visual sense but no idea of what a story it supposed to do.

That sentiment is triggered by the movie "Immortals," currently flickering at the Fandango Galaxy cineplex in Carson City.

CARSON CITY – The Las Vegas attorney representing Nevada in the 26-state challenge to the new federal health care law says the case is critically important because of the mandate for people to purchase health insurance.

Director Clint Eastwood's film about J. Edgar Hoover, currently showing at the Fandango Galaxy cineplex in Carson City, shows the real creator of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with all of the faults and strengths clearly shown.The movie, "J. Edgar," follows the man from his early days with the U.S. attorney general's office to his days as ruler of a giant bureaucracy of lawyers and police.

You might have seen this on in our live update box yesterday, the McKeen Motor Car on display at the Nevada State Railroad Museum has been nominated as an historical landmark by the National Historic Landmarks Committee. If the nomination is accepted, it will become to only piece of railroad equipment to secure a spot on the list of National Historic Landmarks. Here is a video with some history on the McKeen Motor Car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Y4HHti0K0

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A weeklong effort by Carson City JobConnect has rounded up 521 job listings in the Carson City area. The effort's goal was to get more employers to list their job openings with the state's one-stop employment centers.

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Friends of the Urban Forest have begun an effort to plant 10,000 trees in Carson City over the next five years. With a grant from the Nevada Division of Forestry's Urban Forest Fund, they kicked off the effort last weekend by planting 30 native cottonwood saplings in Fulstone Wetlands Park, off Northridge Drive and Russell Way.

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Don't forget Carson Senators play Damonte Ranch tonight at 7 at home in the first round of the 4A playoffs.

What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., is now recognized in November as Native American Heritage Month. Nevada particularly has a rich Native American history, with three tribes — the Washoe, Paiutes and Sho-sho-ne — as being among the first when Europeans visited the area.
In the Carson City and Northern Nevada region, the Washoe tribe dates back at least 9,000 years, with its presence extending to the Lake Tahoe Basin and adjacent east and west slopes and valleys of the Sierra Nevada. Read more here from the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Sierra Lutheran volleyball team captured the school's first regional win in any organized sport Friday night.The No. 2 seed defeated McDermitt 25-18, 13-25, 20-25, 25-23 and 16-14. The Falcons ...

An antique piece of firefighting equipment with ties to Carson City, and which is owned by the Warren Engine Co. No. 1 volunteer fire department, will be featured on TV's History Channel at 9 toni...

by Guy Rocha, former Nevada State Archivist
Why all the fuss about Nevada's birthday on October 31? The battle lines were drawn between "traditionalists", and the "grinches" who would steal Nevada Day by calling for the last Friday of October to be the state's official holiday. The parade and other festivities would follow on Saturday; thus making for a three-day weekend for some Nevadans as well as state and local government employees. With the passage of AB396 by the 1997 legislature, Nevada voters, on November 3, 1998 advised the 1999 legislature they wanted to celebrate Nevada Day on the last Friday in October beginning in 2000. The legislature, after much heated debate, complied.

By Claudene Wharton
The Department of Anthropology announces the publication of a new book, “An Archaeology of Desperation: Exploring the Donner Party’s Alder Creek Camp.” The book is a collaboration between anthropology scholars from the University of Nevada, Reno and other academics.

It was announced Monday that the Safeway supermarket on North Carson Street would be closing Nov. 23 after spending 38 years in their location at 2035 North Carson Street.

But what wasn't apparent at the time is that Safeway's closing would mean an end to the second-oldest continually operating business in Carson City, according to retired state archivist Guy Rocha.

(Editor's note 10/21: After further review, Rocha found one other business that has been in operation longer, the Carson Hot Springs Resort, which began as a business in 1879, operating under different names and owners. That would make Safeway the third-oldest business in Carson City.)

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm a history buff. I enjoy reading about historical events, and one of the things I enjoy most about being your Governor is the opportunity to be a small par...

The Northern Nevada premiere of Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic tale of forbidden love, will arrive at the Carson City Community Center during weekends in early November, according to the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The production will appear Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 4 - 20 at 2 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $18-22 and may be purchased by phone or in person at the Performing Arts Office of Western Nevada College, 775-445-4249. Parking is free.

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.