UNR

Yes, we all love the nice weather. However, with the sun and lovely temperatures come weeds, the plants we all love to hate. For a weed is simply a plant out of place, or better yet, a plant you wish was any place other than your place!

Ballots have been sent (or will be sent soon) to Carson City residents for the local upcoming elections. These are your candidates, who they are, and what they stand for.

RENO — The forest of the Sierra Nevada mountains is an important resource for the surrounding communities in Nevada and California. Thinning the forest by removing trees by hand or using heavy machinery is one of the few tools available to manage forests.

And there's the collaboration between UNR and UNLV as well as the Carson City Library, where 3-D printers are being used to make the nasal swabs ...


Seriously, “lasagna gardening?” Readers may remember my article on hügelkultur last year, a centuries old Eastern European method of no-dig raised beds made out of logs, branches, leaves, grass clippings, straw, cardboard, petroleum-free newspaper, manure, compost and/or other organic matter. Topped with soil and it’s ready to plant.

CARSON CITY — The Aging and Disability Services Division was recently awarded $6,929,262 in grants from the Administration for Community Living as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The funds will help meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities as communities implement measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

My friend Roni is redoing her vegetable garden and asked me if corrugated metal materials were safe for building raised beds for vegetables. Since I had no idea, I started doing some research.

The Nevada Small Business Development Center is pleased to announce a social media campaign to support small businesses across the state. The campaign, Support Small Businesses 5-Day Challenge, gives everyone a way to support small businesses from the safety of their home.

Each spring, the Carson City Chamber Leadership Institute Class is fully immersed in their class project. This time last year, the Class of 2019 was as busy as bees preparing the land behind the Carson Tahoe Cancer Center to build the city’s first bee hotel hoping to attract bees to pollinate The Greenhouse Project plants.

Besides needing funds available for small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, small-business owners need additional support and guidance, as well as opportunities to talk with other small-business owners.

My friend Julie from Incline laughingly asked me recently if she could come garden at my house since her property was buried in snow. While that’s not feasible, it got me thinking. Others may wish they too could garden during these “Stay at Home” times but not have space for an in-ground garden and need to garden indoors, on a patio or on a porch.

With the deployment of Point of Care Machines and an expansion of recent efforts to manufacture collection kits to use in testing for COVID-19, The Nevada Independent once again talked with the director of the Nevada State Public Health Lab, Dr. Mark Pandori, to learn where the state is with its various testing efforts.

When the Elko County Emergency Operations Center put in a call March 31 to their local University of Nevada, Reno Extension office saying they needed face masks, Extension’s 4-H youth and their families swung into action, making masks not only for the Operations Center, but also for their local School District nutrition services workers who are helping to serve lunches to students who receive free and reduced meals.


My gardening clothes stink and I’m a happy woman! I’ve been pruning a Rhus trilobata, commonly called skunkbush sumac. Its name tells the story. I should have left my malodorous garments outside rather than carrying that pungent scent into the house. Oh well, I don’t care. I’m happy because I’m pruning. It takes so little to put a smile on my face.

As many of you know, my brother, Tod Jennings, is running for Mayor of Carson City, Nevada. While this might be Tod’s first foray into politics, it is by no means his first experience with public service. And let’s be clear here, politicians are public servants. Being elected into a public office by members of a community means there is an obligation to those constituents.

Even with the stay-at-home order in place, businesses, families and youth can engage in a number of educational activities online to enhance their daily lives and help themselves, and others, through these challenging days. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, University of Nevada, Reno Extension faculty, staff and volunteers have been hard at work to bring educational workshops, programs and resources useful during this time, into Nevadans’ homes.

RENO, Nev. — The COVID-19 pandemic has caused much uncertainty and change at all levels of education. Medical education is no exception. While the COVID-19 outbreak has complicated the learning process, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) students are taking what they’ve learned in the lecture halls and during clinical rotations to mobilize in response to the COVID-19 crisis, bolstering the health care workforce in northern Nevada.


I’ve been watching the apple buds, waiting to see swelling begin, waiting for color to start showing. Last week I was excited to finally see a bit of color. Then, snow and overnight lows in the low twenties hit, which is just like last year, when we had no apples. I hope the cold doesn’t kill the blossoms and my apple crop again this year.

Less than a month after the first instance of COVID-19 was announced, the state has surpassed 1,300 cases. Testing has ramped up including the addition of private labs like, Quest and LabCorp, on top of two state labs in Northern and Southern Nevada.

Former Gov. Brian Sandoval has resigned from his position as an executive with MGM Resorts and has applied for the soon-to-be vacant position of president of the University of Nevada, Reno.

Former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval is leaving an executive post at MGM Resorts International to pursue the presidency of UNR, the gaming ...

As Women’s History Month comes to an end, the Carson City Chamber Board of Directors announces the recognition of ten exceptional women who have been — and will continue to be — important in the history of this city.

The University of Nevada, Reno, in consultation with student leadership, will postpone its May commencement and has determined that Spring 2020 graduates will have the choice to celebrate their achievements coinciding with, but be separate from, either the December 2020 graduation ceremonies or Spring 2021 ceremonies.

It snowed six inches last night. This followed the four inches it snowed a day or so before. I’m grateful for the extra moisture for the trees, the lawn, all my plants and all the native trees. As I wrote a few weeks ago, I had been doing the water on and off, drag hoses, drain lines boogie for a number of weeks. This water-laden snow is a welcome, although temporary, reprieve.

The University of Nevada, Reno announced Tuesday that it would not hold May in-person Spring commencement exercises, instead replacing them with "virtual" gatherings.

Each season brings its joys and its challenges. I’m excited after winter to see the delights of Spring with all the blooming forsythia, flowering plums, daffodils, and other plants displaying their colors. I generally forget the spring problems until suddenly I’m seeing ground squirrels, ants and weeds. All of a sudden, I feel as if I have to hurry to catch up with the pests.

The University of Nevada, Reno announced yesterday that students were being asked to vacate the dormitories and that no refunds would be given. However, following public outcry, the university changed their policies and have now announced refunds will be given.

UPDATE: The University of Nevada, Reno reversed their decision and is now offering refunds. You can read the updated story here.

Switchboards at the University of Nevada, Reno lit up Thursday after the university issued an unusual directive: all students living in on-campus residence halls who have the ability to move back home should be packed up and gone within the next six days.

Notably, Mares, a Carson City native, earned an accounting degree and all-conference honors in track and cross country at UNR. Joey Mares, Peep No ...

Successful Nevada gardeners know that Nevada soils are worth the toil to ensure a great garden. Our native soils are low in organic matter due to low rainfall amounts. In addition, they are more alkaline than soils rich in organic matter. The alkalinity of a soil often interferes with micronutrient availability causing nutrient deficiencies in plants. The good news is that by adding organic matter, our soils can support healthy plants and yield good harvests.