Schools

At the request of Spread the Word Nevada, a local children's literacy nonprofit group, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval flew in from Carson City to Las Vegas on March 31 to read at Cambeiro Elementary School.

This was his last stop after visiting three other schools in Las Vegas, which concluded the governor's reading tour as part of Read Across America and Nevada Reading Month. During his first school visit in Reno on March 2 Sandoval signed a proclamation declaring March 2011 Nevada Reading Month.

(Press Release) College campuses in Carson City and Las Vegas will host Nevada's portion of a national unity rally on Monday, April 4, the 43rd anniversary that marks the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The northern Nevada event begins at 4:30 p.m. at Rotary Plaza on the campus of Western Nevada College in Carson City.

Strings in the Schools conducted by Sue Jesch with Gairin will hold a Celtic music concert at Empire Elementary School, 1260 Monte Rosa Drive, Carson City. Concert begins at 3 p.m. Admission is free.
Strings in the Schools is an arm of the Carson City Symphony. Click here for concert updates and information.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – A poll released today shows that most Nevadans hold government workers in high regard.
Nevadans for Nevada, a collective of largely public sector unions, hired Grove Insight to conduct the poll of 500 registered voters.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
SUN VALLEY, NEVADA – When Sara Weatherford teaches at Sun Valley Elementary, she says frequent power outages and rattling pipes interrupt her lessons.
The 52-year-old school is a hodgepodge of a half dozen buildings erected intermittently over the past five decades. Noise bleeds through the walls between classrooms, making it difficult to concentrate, she says.

Dozens of local groups have taken the challenge to fight hunger in Dayton this spring. When the Dayton Food Bank issued an open invitation to partner with them for The Feinstein $1 Million Dollar Challenge to fight hunger, dozens of individuals, businesses, schools, nonprofits and clubs stepped up to help.

The World Dance Open Floor event at Comma Coffee on Friday, May 20, 2011, from 5 to 8 p.m., will be focused on our "Strings in the Schools" program.
The event, coordinated, by Starr Nixdorf is entitled "Fairies Dance." Strings in the Schools will be playing celtic tunes. The May Pole will be in the courtyard for various dancing designs.

SILVER SPRINGS, NEV — The Silver Stage Task Force is organizing its annual Wellness Fair featuring free health services, samples, and live entertainment for May 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This big rural fair is designed to help residents shop around for the best information on health and wellness with over 40 booths.
The completely free community event is open to everyone, and promotes the full spectrum of wellness, from good nutrition, gardening, and fitness to preventative health care and treatment to volunteer, arts and educational opportunities.

The Carson City Symphony's Strings In The Schools program a wonderful spring concert on April 7 beginning at 7 p.m. at the Plaza Conference Center, 801 S. Carson Street. Call (775) 883-4154 for tickets. For more information, click here.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said emphatically today he will veto a bill passed by Democrats in the Legislature that would allow school districts to use up to $300 million in bond reserve funds to rehabilitate older schools.
He also expressed confidence that $60 million in general fund Medicaid rate reductions included in his budget are legally defensible and can be implemented despite a legal opinion to the contrary.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Sometimes, trying to read the CEO’s mind can be a political game.
Critics of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed education cuts have said business owners will not move to a state that ravages its already low-performing education system with spending reductions.

By Elizabeth Crum / Nevada News Bureau
Yes, definitely.
Or, not primarily.
Apparently the answer depends on which elected official you ask.
In remarks to the Nevada State Assembly, Senator John Ensign yesterday that companies avoid moving to Nevada because our schools are poor. Here are Ensign’s exact remarks:

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – The author of a new analysis of Nevada’s collective bargaining law says the complex rules have worked to the benefit of teachers’ unions rather than students, making reforms essential to improve the state’s public education system.

Students from across Nevada gathered by the thousands today at the Nevada Legislature and at the Governor's office demanding the state's education system be spared from huge cuts proposed under Gov. Brian Sandoval.

Early estimates had the crowd of mostly college students at 1,500 but the numbers have begun to swell as students, faculty and parents from around the state arrive from various locations around the state. Now early estimates among officials on the ground has the number of more than 2,000 demonstrating.

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Click here for a more photos and gallery of today's event.

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One high school, Cheyenne in Las Vegas, had 400 students in a convoy of more than a dozen buses. More than 500 students from University of Nevada Las Vegas boarded tour buses last night for the road trip.

University of Nevada, Reno students also arrived by the busloads. Students from Western Nevada College campuses were quite visible, many expressing fear that education programs vital to the state's economy such as nursing, will be slashed under the governor's budget proposal.

Chanting "SOS Save Our Schools" and "No More Cuts" students walked peaceably through the Legislative Building, making it known that they fear deep cuts to education will damage the state's already shaky economy.

By Wendy Madson, Healthy Communities Coalition liaison for school garden implementation

Nearly 2,000 students are getting their hands dirty in school gardens, thanks to a USDA grant received by Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey, a private nonprofit. This season school gardens are being created in Dayton and Silver Springs, and next season they'll be created in Yerington and Fernley schools.

Here is the Northern Nevada, Northern California and Southern Oregon fishing report for the week of March 16-23.

ANGEL LAKE, ELKO COUNTY, NEV:
The Nevada Department of Wildlife www.ndow.org reported: The road is closed.

BLUE LAKES AREA, CALIF:
Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (866) 694-2930 www.woodfordsstation.com reported: The road is closed for the winter.

CAPLES LAKE, CALIF:

By Elizabeth Crum / Nevada News Bureau
At 8:12 a.m. this morning, Rep. Dean Heller finally sent an email to his supporters announcing the U.S. Senate run I confirmed here last week.

Heller has a pretty new campaign website, and here is the text of the email:

Friend,

Courtesy of GrandViewOutdoors.com
Republican governors and members of Congress vowed Tuesday to fight an Obama administration plan to make millions of acres of undeveloped land in the West eligible for federal wilderness protection. The GOP officials said the plan would circumvent Congress's authority and could be used to declare a vast swath of public land off-limits to oil-and-gas drilling.

In the spring of 2010, McCall Realty promised $20,000 in donations to be shared across five non-profit agencies benefitting the youth of South Shore. Included among the organizations is the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center, dedicated to improving the emotional, social, and economic condition of women and families in our community through prevention, intervention and treatment programs and services that address domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and basic needs.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Democratic legislative leaders today questioned a comment from the Sandoval administration that two job creation bills they are pursuing will be vetoed for creating a hole in the governor’s recommended state general fund budget.

The Carson City School District board tonight will take up proposed traditional and non-traditional calendars for next year, as well as consider a resolution that would oppose Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval's plan to take debt service from school district emergency repair funds.

RENO – When the bottom fell out of the construction industry, some lucky ones kept working.
CC Myers, a California company, has benefited from a portion of a $393 million contract to extend Interstate 580 between Reno and Carson City. They are building the 120-foot-tall bridge spanning Galena Creek.
Work there has continued apace as vehicles zooming through the valley below have increasingly carried unemployed Nevadans.

Join in on the fun as Food for Thought holds its "Ladies Night Out" which will feature, food, wine and shopping from 4 to 8 p.m. on April 5 at the Plaza Conference Center, 211 East 9th Street in Carson City.

CARSON CITY – The governor has proposed taking funds school districts are using for emergency repairs to help balance the state budget.
School districts have said this would leave them with little money to fix broken boilers and leaky roofs or perform other emergency repairs.
“We don’t have any money set aside right now to cover those expenses if the governor’s proposal moves forward,” said Craig Hulse from the Washoe County School District before a Senate committee reviewing the governor’s proposal.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Carrying a hatchet, axe, sword or knife onto the grounds of  a child care center, public school or higher education campus would become a misdemeanor under a new proposal.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval today elaborated on the details of a bill he is proposing to establish a school voucher system in Nevada.
The proposal would allow parents to receive a state-funded, per pupil subsidy to opt out of public schools in favor of private schools, including religious schools.
The stipend, or voucher, would help families pay expenses at the private schools.

(This article is from Around Carson, at http://aroundcarson.com/2011/02/25/winter_chaos/)

The Carson City School District reports that its schools are open today, Friday, and will operate on a normal schedule.

The Nevada State Health Division in Carson City announced Hugh Gallagher Elementary School in Virginia City as the winner of a logo contest for its statewide hand washing campaign, “Hey Nevada, Wash Your Hands!”

The winning logo will serve as part of the campaign’s identity, and will be incorporated into various campaign media. The second place entry was a tie between Yerington Elementary School and L.S. Bruner Elementary in North Las Vegas.

During March and April, groups and individuals are invited to partner with the Dayton Food Pantry for The Feinstein $1 Million Challenge to fight hunger.

Mary Piper, organizer for the local Challenge, explained, “If groups donate non-perishable food items or money to Dayton Food Pantry in March and April, the Feinstein Foundation will add funds. The more donations we receive, the larger our slice of the pie will be.”