Mark your calendars this week for another Community Shred Day in Carson City. The event will be Friday, March 22 across from the Carson Nugget Casino ice rink area from noon to 3 p.m.

Protect yourself and loved ones from identity theft and help the environment by supporting a great cause. This event will be onsite confidential shredding of paper files either personal or business. One hundred percent of the money raised from the event will go directly to the Special Olympics of Nevada.

We hope to see you there!

Being the capital city of Nevada, Carson City once again shines brighter and bucks the rest, turning the lights on Friday to not one but two Christmas trees during the kick-off of the two-day Snowflake Festival of Lights.

Perched on the State Capital steps, some 300 voices of the Carson City 5th Grade Singing Ensemble sang Christmas carols to a crowd of hundreds (if not thousands) of parents, siblings, dignitaries, retirees, state workers and locals who swelled onto Carson Street in good measure.

Carson City teens, little ones and families by the dozens turned a black Friday into a perfectly crystal clear opening day of skating at Arlington Square Ice Rink.
Kicking off its third season, the rink at corner of North Robinson and Carson Street across from the Carson Nugget has become a Carson City favorite holiday feature. By 4 p.m. more than 150 skaters had signed in as part of Family Skate Day, said Brady Roser, recreation supervisor for Arlington Square.
"There's been a lot of excitement for us to open and we're seeing it today," said Roser.

My family went ice skating yesterday (everyone except me, because I would probably break something). But it was quite a sight to see three generations out on the ice together.

However, there was a problem. My wife used Google to find out what times the skating rink was open, and got that information from the DowntownCarsonCity.com website.

Unfortunately, those times are wrong. They are from last year, as that site hasn't been updated since then. The current holiday schedule for the ice rink is here.

Session start at 10 a.m. on weekends, not 3 p.m. as it says on the DowntownCarsonCity.com site. With the warm weather, this makes a big difference because by later in the afternoon, the ice can get pretty chopped up.

So enjoy the ice skating while it lasts. It's the only real sign of winter we have around here so far this year.

The Arlington Square Ice Rink could be the closest thing to winter that residents will see in Carson City this holiday season — and hours have been extended during the break.

Starting today, three sessions will be offered daily except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Those who want to do something festive to celebrate Christmas Eve can take to the ice from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or from 3 to 7 p.m. Then, on Christmas Day, after all the gifts have been opened, skaters can get some fresh air and exercise at the rink from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Welcome readers! Now that the newspaper is forcing you to register and eventually pay to read the news, Carson Now will be expanding our coverage so that you don't miss what's going on in Carson City. Here is today's news summary:

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After losing money for the last three years, the Arlington Ice Rink in downtown Carson City is expected to pay for itself. Joel Dunn, operations manager for Carson City Parks and Recreation, told the Parks and Recreation Commission yesterday that the city's purchase of the rink equipment and rental skates will help close the $100,000 in red ink the operation has posted in previous years. He also expects to increase revenue by 29.2 percent by extending the season two weeks and adding new session packages.

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A contestant and former champion in the annual Single-Jack Rock Drilling World Championship that took place on Saturday is on the mend after a piece of metal cut an artery in his arm. Emmit Hoyl was pounding away when a piece of metal chipped off of his hammer and lodged in his arm, causing blood to spurt out. Hoyl kept hammering until another competitor - a doctor - stepped up to stop him before he lost too much blood.

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The number of children who qualify for Carson City School District's homeless program has more than doubled this year, to 359. With the weather turning colder, there is an immediate need for winter coats for these kids. People can donate coats at the Gleason Building, 604 W. Musser St., 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays until Dec. 12. Monetary donations are also accepted.

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The future isn't so bright for two surviving bear cubs whose mother was accidentally killed by a Douglas County Sheriff's deputy. The deputy had intended to shoot the bear with a rubber bullet to scare it away from a garbage-clutter garage in Stateline. Meanwhile, public anger has been expressed against the resident responsible for the garbage, who is now facing eviction. More details here.

Good news for ice skaters: The Carson City Recreation Department has extended the season through Feb. 27 for the Arlington Square Ice Rink.

The extended season will continue through the end of February at the Arlington ice facility and pavilion, located at the Main Street parking lot across from the Carson Nugget, at the corner of Robinson and Curry streets in downtown Carson City. The new and extended hours of operation are as follows:

Joel Dunn, operations manager for Carson City Recreation, talks about the ice rink and other winter recreation programs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pBC_GVTgM

At the end of today's Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting, city manager Larry Werner said that he has city staff working out answers to questions raised about the Nugget Project before forwarding it to the board.

Werner noted that questions about the location of the parking garage and hotel/conference center portions of the project were raised at the last citizens advisory committee meeting, and he wanted resolve those questions before sending it to the board.

One point I think you could get all sides of the debate over the Carson City Center/Nugget Project to agree on is that it's a very complicated deal.

But after spending a good deal of time looking at the newly released feasibility study for this project, it struck me that it's really not that complicated. If you strip away all the extraneous issues about the land leases and who is paying who, it comes down to a simple trade.

It boils down to this: the Carson Nugget is giving the city a piece of land to build a new library and public plaza. In return, the city is building the Nugget a new parking garage for its casino and future hotel/conference center.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors today approved $106,255 plus a 5 percent contingency to fund the Arlington Square ice rink for the coming season.

Parks and Recreation Director Roger Moellendorf said they are looking at leasing to own the ice rink equipment this year, thus reducing the cost for future years, and the contingency was requested to account for the additional costs.

The item was originally discussed two weeks ago and postponed because the supervisors preferred the ice rink be funded through redevelopment funds rather than the general fund.

(Editor's note: The following was presented to the Carson City Board of Supervisors during public comments at the Oct. 7 meeting by Star Anderson, General Manager, Carson Nugget)

Hopefully if elected, he’ll work to clean up the neighborhood of junk cars, neglected dogs and hazardous materials.

Sean, Can’t belive you think that a taxpayer support for a small few is such a good idea. I belive the investment in the V & T was a much better communityinvestment than an ice rink for 8 weeks.

When I heard about the Nugget development project, my first thought was, here we go again.

(Click image to play video)
Christmas caroles, singing children, bells ringing at the hands of middle school children, Santa and Mrs.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors is expected to decide today whether to approve a contract between the city and the Carson City Redevelopment Authority for the Arlington Square Ice Rink winter holiday 2009-10 season.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors is expected to decide today whether to approve a contract between the city and the Carson City Redevelopment Authority for the Arlington Square Ice Rink winter holiday 2009-10 season.

City should put ice rink money into downtown

The Board of Supervisors on Thursday will vote on a first read whether to approve a contract for the Arlington Square Ice Rink this winter.

The Board of Supervisors on Thursday will vote on a first read whether to approve a contract for the Arlington Square Ice Rink this winter.

The Board of Supervisors on Thursday will vote on a first read whether to approve a contract for the Arlington Square Ice Rink this winter.