Bike Carson-Tahoe will be doing a clinic at the shop on Wednesday night, May 1st, at 6:30 PM. Owner Chris Huber will cover flat repair, a lesson on gearing (numerical explanation, gear overlap, what gear to use, etc.), and also touch on group riding etiquette.

Last Thursday, Doug ("Mack The Naw") Busey of Douglas County and I spent a very enjoyable day, fishing at Indian Creek Reservoir in Alpine County, Calif.

Indian Creek Reservoir (ICR) is a man-made reservoir located in the backcountry between Woodfords and Markleeville. ICR and its surrounding area is managed and maintained by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

High Sierra Swing Dance Club presents its monthly dance party Feb. 23 at the Brewery Arts Center’s Grand Ballroom, 449 W. King St., Carson City. At 7 p.m., Rainer Herm will teach multi-level country two-step. Social dance is 8-10:30 p.m. Partners are not required. Lesson $7 for HSSDC and any swing dance club members or $10 for nonmembers; dance $7 for members of swing clubs and $10 for nonmembers. Join the club that night, and the dance is free. For information, go to www.highsierraSDC.org or call 775-629-9369.

High Sierra Swing Dance Club presents its monthly dance party Jan. 26 at the Brewery Arts Center’s Grand Ballroom, 449 W. King St., Carson City. Tim Renner will teach a lesson in intermediate nightclub two-step at 7 p.m. Social dance is 8-10:30 p.m. Partners are not required. Lesson $7 for HSSDC and any swing dance club members or $10 for nonmembers; dance $7 for members of swing clubs and $10 for nonmembers. Join the club that night, and the dance is free. For information, go to www.highsierraSDC.org or call 775-629-9369.

It might have been raining across much of Northern California, but last week’s storm brought snow to Lake Tahoe ski resorts – more than 3.5 feet of the white stuff, making for a great ski weekend.

“You just never know how these storms are going to play out,” said Chief Marketing Officer Andy Chapman of the North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association. “But Mother Nature cooperated and we’ve got new snow on the mountains.”

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This report is for the week of Oct. 17-24.

High Sierra Swing Dance Club presents its monthly dance party Aug. 25 at the Brewery Arts Center’s Grand Ballroom, 449 W. King St., Carson City. Tim Renner will teach an intermediate/advanced lesson in nightclub two-step at 7 p.m., with the social dance at 8-10:30 p.m. Partners are not required. Lesson $7 for HSSDC and any swing dance club members or $10 for nonmembers; dance $7 for members of swing clubs and $10 for nonmembers.

High Sierra Swing Dance Club presents its monthly dance party June 23 at the Brewery Arts Center’s Grand Ballroom, 449 W. King St., Carson City. There will be a lesson at 7 p.m., with the social dance at 8-10:30 p.m. Partners are not required. Lesson $7 for HSSDC and any swing dance club members or $10 for nonmembers; dance $7 for members of swing clubs and $10 for nonmembers. Join the club that night, and the dance is free. For information, go to www.highsierraSDC.org or call 775-629-9369.

So far, Fenn has learned one big lesson since his family began kicking around the idea during a family Thanksgiving dinner in Carson City in 2010.

In honor of Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day, High Sierra Swing Dance Club presents a USO-style “dime-a-dance” party to honor veterans and servicepeople May 19 at the Brewery Arts Center’s Grand Ballroom, 449 W. King St., Carson City. There will be a lesson at 7 p.m., with the social dance at 8-10:30 p.m. Men may purchase tickets for 10 cents a dance (or 12 tickets for $1). Between 8 and 9 p.m., each time you dance with a different woman, give her a ticket, which will be entered into a 9 p.m. drawing for raffle prizes.

The good news is that the V&T Railway is expected to make a profit of $164,132 on their popular Polar Express event for the coming year.

The bad news is the railway's main runs between Eastgate Siding and Virginia City is projected to lose $108,192, even with an expected $67,250 in donations.

The resulting $56,000 in projected profit is almost enough to pay for the $60,000 shortfall in the previous season's sales tax revenue that pays for the bonds that helped rebuild the historic railway. That is a shortfall that is expected to continue and grow larger.

Every parent should recognize the childish antics of House Republicans on the payroll tax cut extension controversy.

When my nine-year-old doesn't want to do something, a familiar pattern emerges.

First comes the outright refusal. "No, I don't want to," she will say. It's almost always the most truthful part of the whole exchange.

When she sees that doesn't work, then she backpedals to find some other reason to support her position. "I can't do it now because I'm doing (something else)."

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.

First, it was saluting his opponent’s dugout as he circled third base after hitting a home run last year in a CSN uniform early in the season. Then, it was tossing his bat up 10 feet in the air as he hit a lazy fly-ball in the post-season tournament later in that season. Now, he's blowing kisses to the pitcher as he crosses home plate after a home run. My question is: When will the overpaid #1 draft pick of 2010 learn to just play the game?

Silver Springs children have a new school garden, thanks to a grant received by Healthy Communities Coalition through the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). In a unique partnership, Community Roots, a nonprofit part of The Healthy Communities Coalition, is partnering with SSES and SS Boys and Girls Club to develop and maintain the new garden this spring and summer.

By Andrew Doughman /Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – In what could be the largest rally ever held at the Legislature, more than 1,000 students, parents, teachers and activists are expected today to protest education budget cuts.

Lake Tahoe has been ranked the No. 1 ski destination for the year by Rand McNally, the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority announced Monday.

The ranking is based on travel bookings to the destination when compared to other winter locations throughout the United States and Canada. It is the latest recognition given to the region by the nation's top travel writers and publications, according to the LTVA announcement.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Despite a dramatic slowdown in Nevada’s population growth, and even some net out-migration for the first time in recent memory, the U.S. Census Bureau report today shows the state will gain a fourth congressional seat in 2013.

At least one Carson City School District official is troubled by the outcome of Friday's misdemeanor driving under the influence guilty plea by Carson Middle School Principal Sam Santillo.
School board trustee president Norm Scoggin said he's "amazed" that a misdemeanor charge of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana was dropped by the Washoe County District Attorney's Office.

Back on the tracks again, the V&T Railroad kicked off Saturday with a near-sold out day, ample sunshine and a promising full-steam-ahead summer.
"We had a couple of seats left, with quite a few tickets sold for tomorrow," said Candy Duncan, executive director of the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Today went very smoothly and everyone was excited about going on that first ride of the season."

The Nevada Appeal has uncovered a few new tidbits about Nugget Project consultant Mark Lewis.

Following the piece I wrote on Lewis this week, the Appeal found a grand jury report dealing with Lewis' big project developments as city manager of Stockton, Calif. The report showed that costs associated with development of the the Stockton ballpark and events center swelled from an estimate of $75 million to more than $120 million, and placed the blame for this on Lewis and the lack of oversight by the city's elected officials.

Community news belongs to the community.

This is the concept that led me to develop Carson Now, the idea that for a news organization to truly serve the community, it needed to belong to the community.

Part of this idea comes from my experience of being on the front lines as corporate media cutbacks resulted in communities not being well served in terms of news coverage.

So my idea was to create Carson Now as a nonprofit organization, whose mission was limited to serving the community. Nonprofit media organizations are a fairly new development, with sites like Voice of San Diego and MinnPost leading the way.

She started with the standard "I am so proud to be an American," paid respect with "happy birthday Ronald Reagan," and almost blew it with a lame "ice tea" joke.

Sometimes you come across a book that explains all the things we are doing wrong in Afghanistan and Iraq and you wonder why all those brain trusts in the White House and Pentagon hadn’t picked upon it