Housing

With Nevada’s climate, more farmers are looking for ways to extend the growing season. University of Nevada, Reno’s High Desert Farming Initiative is offering a class for Nevada’s agricultural producers, “The Business of Season Extension Farming,” to provide information on field-tested methods for extending the growing season, as well information on reducing risk, low-cost marketing and financial planning. The course will be 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Sept. 12 at the Nye County Cooperative Extension office in Pahrump.

With the August completion of a 180-kW rooftop array at Western Nevada College in Carson City, nonprofit Black Rock Solar has reached the milestone of building five megawatts of solar power capacity across the state of Nevada. The 83 clean energy projects built by Black Rock Solar since its 2007 founding include arrays for schools, hospitals, food banks, homeless shelters and Native American tribes. These arrays have been built at little or no cost to the recipients, but now provide more than $725,000 of combined savings annually on the organizations’ energy bills.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A package of Northern Nevada lands bills — six introduced by Rep. Mark Amodei (NV-2) and one by Rep. Steven Horsford (NV-4) unanimously passed the House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday.

The bipartisan support clears the way for the legislation to be brought to the House floor in September as a non-controversial suspension bill, according to a news release from Amodei's office.

The compromise agreement was made possible after adjustments to the legislation were made to a version passed in January.

Unemployment insurance claims in Nevada fell slightly in June, the state's Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reports Thursday.

last month, 14,503 initial claims for unemployment insurance were filed in Nevada, down just 3 percent compared to June 2013. Initial claims have fallen compared to the previous year for 19 straight months and in 52 of the past 55 months.

The decline in initial claims was the smallest since May 2013, when initial claims fell by just under 1 percent, said Bill Anderson, DETR's chief economist.

This week's guest on It's Your City is Kate Zook of the Silver State Fair Housing Council, a private non-profit agency based in Carson City that advocates for equal access to housing in Nevada.

As executive director of the council, Zook explains how the agency advocates for fair housing by providing a comprehensive program of outreach, education, and enforcement activities for consumers and housing providers.

Ministers have a special tax benefit for the amount of Housing Allowance they receive. They can exclude from gross income for income tax purposes the rental value of homes furnished by churches as part of their compensation.

This is also allowed for the portion of a retired minister’s pension that is designated as a rental allowance by the national governing body of a religious denomination having complete control over the retirement fund.

Want some Epic family fun on the Fifth of July?

Village with Heart will be having about 50 artist and artisan booths, live performances by such artists as Acoustic Guitarist Mike Badinger, singing, & dancing by Jakki Ford, Yasmina’s Belly Dance Troupe, Johnny T's Band Abandon Minds,Uklear Fusion, Poly Nui Polynesian Dance, and teen performances by Art in Motion as well as others.

There will be shopping, art demos, do-it-yourself booths such as Tandy Leather and hands on messy fun for the whole family!

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced this week a $550 million joint state-federal settlement with mortgage lender and servicer SunTrust Mortgage Inc. to address mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses. It is estimated that eligible Nevada homeowner’s will receive approximately $2.8 million in loan modifications as part of the settlement.

Nevada Congressman Mark Amodei had added several new faces to his office staff including Bernie Curtis, who recently retired as chief of the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation.

Curtis, of Gardnerville, will serve as field representative in Amodei’s Reno office. He brings more than 36 years of experience from across Northern Nevada in law enforcement, local government and the private sector, including serving as Douglas County Commissioner.

Nicole Larrimore Clark has been promoted to Director of Homebuyer Services for the Nevada Rural Housing Authority. In her new capacity, Clark will manage the agency’s Home At Last™ programs throughout the state of Nevada.

Clark has been with the agency since 2010, most recently in the position of Mortgage & Marketing Specialist, overseeing the agency’s Home At Last activity in the northern half of the state. She earned her BS in business administration from Southern Oregon University.

Douglas County advocate and activist JoEtta Brown of Gardnerville was elected executive vice president of the Alliance for Retired Americans at the recent Alliance for Retired Americans national membership convention in Las Vegas.

Laura Lau has joined the Nevada Rural Housing Authority in the position of Management Assistant. In her new role, she will be responsible for providing administrative support of the Home at Last programs in the Northern Nevada office.

Lau has spent the past five years as a licensed real estate agent in the Carson City and Dayton areas. A 25-year resident of the area, she has also spent more than 16 years working for Carson City and Douglas County reviewing residential plans for new construction and remodeling projects.

The Great Carson City Lit Fest is a three-day celebration of the arts, with the focus on books, authors and literacy. More than 50 critically acclaimed authors, poets, performance poets, memoirists and storytellers will give readings, panel talks and sign their books.

Lyon County, Nevada was the fastest-growing county in the United States prior to the 2008 economic collapse took one of the biggest hits statewide in the foreclosure crisis. The state overall was one of the hardest hit nationally and the housing market is still in recovery.
A glimmer of hope was seen in 2013, as home values headed up while foreclosure rates headed down, according to a report from the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Cyber security, intel sharing, public information, operation coordination and communication are the five top priorities for 2014 determined by the Nevada Commission on Homeland Security, chaired by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

Sandoval and 16 voting members made the list of five spending priorities, with cyber security being No. 1, using a $4.7 million grant by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that was secured by Nevada last week.

Guild Mortgage Company announced Wednesday the opening of a new location in Carson City. The new branch will be a satellite to the Zephyr Cove-based branch at Lake Tahoe.

Deborah Mae (Debbie) Humphrey, branch manager of the Zephyr Cove location, will also manage the new branch. Humphrey has more than 20 years of experience serving Carson Valley and is enthusiastic about expanding Guild's presence.

Paulina Urantowska-Torres has been promoted to the position of Compliance Specialist for the Nevada Rural Housing Authority’s Home at Last department.

Her primary focus will be processing the Mortgage Credit Certificate files for NRHA and to support the agency’s new partnership with NHD for MCCs in the Reno and Las Vegas areas, according to a news release.

The Nevada Rural Housing Authority will host a free Homebuyer’s Expo on Saturday, April 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Ponderosa Room at John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave, Sparks.

The Expo is designed to educate prospective homeowners on what goes into buying a house, as well as maintaining the home after purchase. There will be presenters from NRHA, as well as lenders, builders, title companies and non-profit partners.

Northern Nevada Development Authority is proud to announce that LaBudde Group, through their Nevada subsidiary Clean Dried Processing, has expanded to Northern Nevada. Clean Dried Processing has opened a 150,000 square foot dual purpose manufacturing and distribution facility in Silver Springs.

Karen Abowd on Tuesday announced her second run as Carson City Supervisor Ward I, citing her desire to see through many projects currently in process, as well as her commitment to the future of Nevada’s Capital City.

“Carson City has gone through some tough economic times and continues to,” Abowd said. “We have needed to be careful in our planning and how we spend available dollars in order to create sustainable, relevant opportunities that have immediate positive impacts, and build a future we can be proud to leave our children and grandchildren.”

Lake Tahoe, CA/NV - The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has launched an online marketplace for property owners, realtors and land banks to use to increase the environmental improvements that come from transferring commonly-traded development rights in the Lake Tahoe region.

The new, online Transfer of Development Rights Exchange allows buyers and sellers to create postings, explains transfer incentives and eligibility requirements, and makes it all viewable on an interactive map. As the TDR Exchange is used more, it will also track market trends.

The House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday passed the Lyon County Economic Development and Conservation Act coupled with six other Nevada public lands bills out of the Committee sponsored by Representatives Mark Amodei (NV-2) and Steven Horsford (NV-4).

The Nevada Rural Housing Authority has 2013 Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership funds available to help first-time homebuyers with the necessary down payment to get into a home of their own, but they must be in contract by March 31, 2014.

In Carson City, the income limits are slightly higher and in Lyon and Churchill counties, they are slightly lower. Income limits can be found here.

Fighters Against Child Abuse is in its final push to help greater Carson City area abused children this Christmas.

In conversations with CASA, there's a major need for new socks and underwear, sizes for all ages from 0-17 for children entering the child abuse system. These children arrive with nothing but what they are wearing.

CARSON CITY — Tribes, economic development authorities, non-profits and towns in rural Nevada that want to support rural business or create a revolving loan fund for business may want to consider applying for USDA Rural Development’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant.

Update: Fighters Against Child Abuse, is expanding to include "Socks Of Love" As part of their Christmas Coat & Toy Drive
In conversations with CASA, a major need is new socks and underwear, of sizes for all ages from 0-17 for children entering the child abuse system. These children arrive with nothing but what they are wearing. Two drop off locations have been added!

Our needs are:
Socks (New)
Underwear (New)
Sneakers all sizes (New)
Coats & Clothing (new or gently used
Gift Cards to purchase clothing items.
Monetary Donations.

Official Drop Off Centers are, Carson City;

Ventana Sierra is a Carson City area housing resource for young adults who are homeless or who have aged out of the foster system. To date, they have two homes and an apartment open, and they are able to serve ten youth who need help. Right now, they have six youth who are living between the three properties, mainly all have been taken into the program from having been homeless.

Bosco, a seven-year-old black Lab who had been missing since Nov. 8, made it back to his Carson City home and family early Saturday morning.

Fighters Against Child Abuse is holding a Christmas Coat, Toy and Donation Drive to benefit Carson, Douglas and Lyon County Children.

FACA is a registered Nevada non-profit, dedicated to supporting Nevada's Abused Children.FACA is seeking Coats, Toys and Monetary Donations or Gift Cards, to provide tangible goods to families with Abused Children, CASA, Austin's House Child Abuse Emergency Shelter,and Ventana Sierra, an organization that provides housing for Aged Out Foster Kids.

Children in Northern Nevada affected by autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and scleroderma now have access to a pediatric rheumatologist at the Children’s Specialty Center of Nevada in Reno.