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By Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval today announced he will appoint Lucas Foletta as his general counsel.
As a former assistant U.S. attorney for the district of Nevada, Foletta has prosecuted mortgage fraud and identity theft matters on behalf of the U.S. government. A graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law, Foletta is also a former law clerk to Sandoval when he served previously as a federal judge.

A new group has formed to propose innovative strategies to create a healthy State with well-supported public systems and services and an improved fiscal system.

Members of the Nevada Values Coalition have met twice for “big tent”, nonpartisan meetings to discuss the complex issues, and members then further examined ideas through subcommittees.

CARSON CITY – Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval today said he is disappointed with an order from a Nuclear Regulatory Commission panel dismissing Nevada’s legal challenges to the high level nuclear waste repository proposed for Yucca Mountain.

A Lake Tahoe area public-private energy organization and the U.S. Energy Department have teamed up to make renewable energy more commercially available.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Incline Village-based Nevada Institute for Renewable Energy Commercialization today announced their collaboration to accelerate the commercialization of a clean technology innovation owned and developed by the Laboratory.

RENO, Nev. — Gary Blomquist, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, has won the Entomological Society of America’s prestigious Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology. He was honored at the Society’s annual meeting in San Diego Sunday.

Join the Carson City Chamber of Commerce in welcoming the Business Resource Innovation Center with an official grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony today at 4:30 p.m.

Located at 108 E Proctor Street across from City Hall, the center brings together the building, planning, business license and business development departments under one roof for the first time. The center also makes resources from the Carson City Library available for those who need to do research for starting or expanding their businesses.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval today announced two more appointments to his administration, naming Stacey Crowley as director of the Nevada State Office of Energy.
Sandoval also named Leo Drozdoff as director of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Sandoval will take office in January.

RENO, Nev. – University of Nevada, Reno Orvis School of Nursing researcher Michele Pelter has been awarded $377,000 from the National Institutes of Health to study detection of ischemia, a condition that can lead to heart attacks.

Over the two-year course of the study, Pelter will work with two local cardiologists, Dr. Richard Ganchan and Dr. Anita Kedia, who will serve as consultants on the study. She wants to see if different monitoring of patients experiencing symptoms of possible ischemia could lead to better care.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – When it comes to the budget problems looming for many states over the next two years, a report released this week by the National Conference of State Legislatures makes one point very clear: Nevada is No. 1, and not in a good way.

The University of Nevada Reno's highly acclaimed Early Childhood Autism Program is getting some help from the Sierra Kids Foundation next week, Dec. 16 – 18, when it sponsors the Wild West Shootout basketball tournament.

The annual foundation tournament will be held at Reno High School. More than $100,000 in scholarships for children needing the program's services has been given away over the past seven years, according to Patrick Ghezzi, director of the program and Nevada psychology professor.

By Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Chancellor Dan Klaich has announced the formation of a new lobbying team that will represent the Nevada System of Higher Education free of charge at the 2011 legislative session.
The team will be chaired by former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan and will include Alfredo Alonso, Michael Hillerby, Rose McKinney-James, Keith Lee, John Pappageorge and The Capitol Company.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Despite the need for drastic spending reductions to balance Nevada’s budget, the government program that provides health care to the poor continues to expand, consuming a growing share of the state’s scarce state revenues.

NASA-funded astrobiology research has changed the fundamental knowledge about what comprises all known life on Earth, according to a news conference today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObkqIMPmaJw&feature=player_embedded
Researchers conducting tests in the harsh environment of Mono Lake in California's Eastern Sierra off of Highway 395 have discovered the first known microorganism on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic. The microorganism substitutes arsenic for phosphorus in its cell components. Click here and here for the story.

The Nevada Policy Research Institute today announced it has established a new public-interest law organization, called the Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation, aimed at defending the rights of individuals as set forth in the state and federal constitutions.

CARSON CITY – A national conservative think tank today launched a new website to give Spanish-speaking Americans access to its analyses and policy recommendations on the nation’s most pressing problems.
The Heritage Foundation launched Libertad.org, where the organization’s work on issues ranging from education reform to the new national health care law will be available in Spanish.

By Sean Whaley /Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said this week he expects to see Harry Reid continue to help northern Nevada in a variety of ways now that he has won re-election in a bitterly contested Senate race.

A book signing by former Nevada Appeal and Tahoe Daily Tribune sports reporter Jeremy Evans will be on Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Borders Books in Carson City. Evans is the author of the new book "In Search of Powder: A Story of America's Disappearing Ski Bum."

The Comma Coffee Lecture Series continues with host David Dummar following the topics of Christianity, psychotherapy, and recovery. This month's free presentation is on Parenting insights. David is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor. He currently works as a Therapist with American Comprehensive Counseling Services in Carson City and Pioneer Health Resources in Reno. 

Nineteen South Lake Tahoe area non-profit organizations got an early holiday surprise Thursday when more than $100,000 was delivered by LIVESTRONG and the American Century Championship.

The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority board of directors announced the distribution of $102,377 in contributions on Thursday, Nov. 11.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada’s public employee retirement system will require increased contributions from the state and local governments next year to maintain the long-term financial health of the defined benefit plan, the board overseeing the program was told today.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Newly elected state Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, has requested the drafting of legislation to repeal Nevada’s minimum wage law.

This year, the Nevada Highway Patrol is partnering with other local groups to help raise funds for cancer research, Trooper Matthew Kaplan reports.

By participating in a charity called Movember (Moustache + November), troopers will be sporting mustaches for the month of November to help raise awareness for men's health issues. The mustaches will act as a "ribbon" to help generate conversation, and ultimately, encourage people to donate to the cause.

"You see, in our two-party system, the Democrats are the party of no ideas and the Republicans are the party of bad ideas. It usually goes something like this. A Republican will stand up in Congress and say, "I've got a really bad idea." And a Democrat will immediately jump to his feet and declare, "And I can make it sh---ier." — comedian Lewis Black

I'm not sure I've seen a better close-up example of a campaign attack backfiring than I did last night in the Assembly District 40 race.

Robin Williamson seemed to be doing everything right to fill the seat held by fellow Democrat Bonnie Parnell. She was working very hard, walking the neighborhoods, working with both Democrats and Republicans to gather the coalition she needed to win in this GOP-leaning district.

And then the Nevada Democratic Party stepped in and screwed it up.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada’s “actual� unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2010 increased to 22.3 percent from 21.5 percent in the second quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

A breakfast Thursday morning hosted by the Northern Nevada Development Authority will feature a panel of experts who will discuss the business of energy, industry and innovation.
The meeting will be held at the Carson Nugget. Doors open at 7 a.m. with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. The cost is $20 for NNDA investors with reservations and $35 for guests or at the door. Questions, contact NNDA at (775) 883-4413.

With the focus on business development, the discussion will focus on ways to make the region innovative and profitable.

The panel includes:

The Nevada Appeal today has the story of a missing historical marker. You know those blue markers in the shape of Nevada that dot the landscape? Sometimes they go missing, either through theft or vandalism, or they’re removed during the course of nearby construction. Sometimes they are put back in place after the construction is done, as was the case with the marker in front of the Carson City Courthouse on Musser.

(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)

The Obama Internet policy is taking a bit of a different turn besides calling for increased internet connection accessibility. Currently, the Obama administration and law enforcement and security agencies are pushing for new regulations of the Internet and the telecommunications industry. If these new laws pass, it will grant the government greater access for surveillance purposes. Washington already has accessibility to a broad array of communications for monitoring purposes, and this will expand that access.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada remains in limbo over the status of Yucca Mountain as a potential repository for the nation’s nuclear waste even with a work stoppage on the project review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission due to funding limitations, a state official says.

Carson City businesses who deal in pawn and trade were given an update Thursday on revised laws by the Carson City Sheriff's Office. The update is designed to stop the sale of stolen property to pawn shops by thugs, drug addicts and dealers.

The statute reads: Pursuant to NRS 646.060 a Pawn Broker or, NRS 647.140 a second hand dealer, must not receive property from anyone under the age of 18, common drunkard, habitual known criminals, their associates and or their agents.