Mark Twain

In conjunction with the Inaugural Mark Twain Days festival taking place April 21 - 23, Visit Carson City partnered with the Nevada State Museum to commission a Mark Twain Mural that is being installed on the Robinsons Street exterior wall of the museum.

I glanced up from my paper this morning to see a news alert: "Hammerin' Hank Aaron Dies at 86!" Oh, no! My memory raced away, back to 1974, where in the face of numerous death threats, Hank went after the Babe's revered homerun record, and smashed it. I wish I could have known him.

Like Will Rogers, I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm an OLTACer, as in Old Lake Tahoe Athletic Club, "Old" being the operative word. Yes, we are 10 members strong, and our good-natured motto is, "I don't give a (fill in the blank with your own inappropriate word) what you think."

The Carson City School District is pleased to announce new leadership roles for the School Board of Trustees. At their first meeting of the year Tuesday, Jan. 11, Joe Cacioppo, District 7, was named the newest president of the Carson City School District Board of Trustees.

It has become my obsession over the past 10 months to ascertain exactly how little or next to nothing I can do, and still be counted as, "amongst the living." This act of social downsizing has taken me all the way down to the examination of lullabies.

One of the most overlooked pieces of noteworthy scientific advancement buried by the pandemic of 2020 occurred in Uruguay. Yes, right out of Ripley's Believe It or Not, a group of Uruguayan scientists announced that they had successfully modified the genetic makeup of a group of sheep to make them glow in the dark.

Most of us might agree, 2020 was the annus horribilis of our lifetime. But just as the darkest cloud has a silver lining, 2020 has offered one thing about which we can all brag and be proud. I can't think of what that one thing might be just now, though it does occur to me that learning how to cut our own hair might be a thing to celebrate and be genuinely proud, unless of course you're a barber.

This time of year I always think about Cappy. In charge of Ski Incline in the early days, Cappy Cook was a hail-fellow-well-met, on and off the slopes. He played in the Rose Bowl for Stanford in '52, ran a packing outfit in Yosemite, coached our Junior National Ski Team, and his handshake would leave me crippled for days, so of course I never ventured to give him a hug.

The Carson City School District is celebrating two new National Board Certified Teachers from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. The teachers to be recognized earning certification are Patricia Ababio, Graphic Arts teacher in the Career and Technical Education program at Carson High School, and Rhonda Holloway, English teacher at Carson Middle School.

Science has always been a passion of mine, partly because I flunked science in high school and have never understood why. But I stumbled upon a gemstone of science the other day that would make the most lettered academic in the world smile.

When Bobby Kennedy was tragically shot and killed in 1968, his killer was set upon and wrestled to the ground by Rafer Johnson. For those too young to remember, Rafer Johnson was the first black captain of a United States Olympic Team, and was crowned the best all-around athlete in the world when he won the decathlon in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

The Carson City Symphony has completed "The Hank Monk Schottische" project, which organizers undertook because the pandemic has limited the Symphony's usual interactions with each other and the public.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Putting gratitude into action by helping others is an authentic way to express an attitude of thanksgiving. Students at Pioneer High School (PHS) “lost themselves” in service by assembling Thanksgiving dinner baskets for those in need.

Heading into the weekend, there’s a bevy of activities around the Carson City region. The annual Silver and Snowflakes Festival of Lights holiday celebration goes virtual on Friday. Santa Claus will arrive virtually at the Children's Museum of Northern Nevada and in-person at Battle Born Harley Davidson on Saturday for pictures with families and kids of all ages. Combined with live music and dinner specials at Living the Good Life, the state capital has events lined up for the holidays! Read on for more information.

Tonight was supposed to be the time to bundle up, put handwarmers in your gloves and gather family and friends to venture downtown to enjoy one of Carson City’s most beloved traditions and the official kick-off to the holiday season.

Fifth graders from all six Carson City public elementary schools as well as Carson Montessori and Saint Teresa’s will perform virtually as a unified holiday choir for the annual Silver and Snowflake Festival of Lights this Friday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m.

Most of us have long known from personal experience that humor, laughter and smiling are good for us. So it is reassuring to read Doctor Miller's assessment: “Heightened stress magnifies the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes. Having a good sense of humor is an excellent way to relieve stress and anxiety and bring back a sense of normalcy during these turbulent times."

The prevailing belief amongst leaders of nine nuclear powers is that Weapons of Mass Destruction are a deterrent. So far so good. However, there is also a belief simmering in the minds of a few revanchists, that WMDs might be useful in exacting retaliation or retribution for various grievances.

Even the Grinch is distressed as the Silver and Snowflakes Festival of Lights becomes another casualty joining all the Carson City signature events cancelled since March 2020 due to the pandemic.

If this hater of everything Christmas is distressed, you can just imagine how sad all those who love this Carson City tradition will be.

The Carson City School District, on behalf of the Carson City Schools Foundation, is pleased to announce mini and department grant winners for Fall 2020. Each semester, CCSF gives back to educators and students alike. This last semester, the foundation awarded $200 mini-grants as well as up to $2,000 grants for a department, school or grade-level projects.

Miramonte High School didn’t have a swimming pool, so we students got together and dug one, well, we collected enough money from the community to dig one, and the entire village turned out for the dedication.

Mr. Victor Garcia-Mendez, an English Second Language paraprofessional at Mark Twain Elementary School in Carson City, was one of only two school employees nominated by Gov. Steve Sisolak to represent Nevada in the national selection process for the Recognizing Inspirational School Employees Award.

Hobbes was wrong. Life is not nasty, brutish and short. Life is nasty, and brutish, but long enough to embrace civic grace, public good and a life of purpose. By coming together in 2021 we can turn a horse chestnut into a chestnut horse, and join Dinah Washington in singing, "This bitter earth may not be so bitter after all."

The Carson City School District is pleased to announce Mark Twain Elementary School will resume in-person instruction with teachers and students beginning next week. Teachers and employees are expected to return Monday, Nov. 9, to conduct remote lessons, and students in specific grade levels and assigned cohorts are expected to return beginning Tuesday, Nov. 10, for in-person learning.

The Carson City School District is pleased to announce the most recent Nevada Association of School Boards Award winners. Trustee Lupe Ramirez was honored as the 2020 NASB New School Board Member of the Year and Mrs. Renae Cortez was honored as the NASB 2020 Administrative Assistant of the Year.

Carson City Health and Human Services is reporting Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020 an additional death due to COVID-19 in the Quad-County region. The individual was a Douglas County resident. CCHHS is also reporting 24 new cases and 9 additional recoveries of COVID-19 in the Quad-County region. This brings the total number of cases to 1,961, with 1,760 recoveries and 25 deaths; 176 cases remain active.

Phunny, the things our minds turn to when left to daydreaming in the midst of a pandemic. At times we torture ourselves with guilt over the slightest of grievances. Today, for me, it was my little brother, Luigi. His real name was Larry, but along the way, for some reason, I don't know why, we started calling him Luigi.

Due to the number of employees and students who have been advised to isolate from confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Mark Twain Elementary School and out of an abundance of caution, the Carson City School District will temporarily transition the school and its students to full-remote learning until further notice.

I have a Huckleberry friend who has kept me humored during the pandemic. Huck is a Steller's jay, his species is named for an 18th century German naturalist, but his name comes from a boy who had some adventures out on the Mississippi River in the 19th century, as immortalized by Mark Twain.

Reverend Dr. Gary Robert Buchanan, local composer, conductor, Sonatherapist, minister at the International Community of Christ, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather passed away on October 16, 2020, after a year-long fight against cancer. He is survived by his wife Amanda Buchanan, sons Bradley Buchanan of Ventura, California, and Kym Buchanan of Wisconsin, daughter Amy Buchanan-Rodriquez of Reno, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.