News

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
Despite upgrading Nevada’s outlook from negative to stable, the credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded Nevada’s credit rating to Aa2 from Aa1.
The rationale behind the adjustment involves Nevada’s Legislature. Moody’s cited the two-thirds supermajority required to raise taxes as a negative in Nevada.

This article is from AroundCarson.com. Click here to see more photos and to read the narrative.

On Monday, March 21st 2011, there was a rally in front of the Nevada Legislature Building. A bunch of college students from all over the state gathered to protest the budget cuts to higher education that were being tossed around the Senate and Assembly. I headed down there to check out the party and the spectacle, and I’m glad I did because over 1,000 people showed up! Some are saying that this is the biggest protest/rally that Carson City has ever seen. Students gathered on the lawn in front of the building, swarmed the halls, and even filled the visitor galleries in both chambers.

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.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s two largest school districts could increase classes sizes by five students during the upcoming school year.
Superintendents from Clark and Washoe Counties said they would put more children in classrooms to address Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed budget cuts.
Those budget cuts could result in hundreds of school district positions eliminated in Washoe County and 2,486 positions in Clark County.

The Carson City car club, Karson Kruzers, will hold a yard sale on Saturday, April 2nd at 8 a.m., at 4340 Highway 50 East (near Sherman Lane). Proceeds from the sale will go to help the family of Rayna Donoho-King.

Rayna, 21, was killed in a tragic accident Friday, March 18 on Highway 50. Rayna was a loving, talented gal with a smile that lite up a room and a contagious joy for life! At the time of Rayna’s death her family was still trying to deal with the death of her Grandfather, W. Ray Donoho, who was killed eight weeks prior in a freak accident in Redding, Calif.

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.

Another winter storm system is poised to hit the Carson City area today, with rain turning to snow later this afternoon.

A winter weather advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service for the Carson City, Carson Valley and Reno areas, with a winter storm warning in effect through 11 a.m. Friday for Lake Tahoe and the Sierra.

By Mike Clifford / Public News Service
CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers take another stab today at dealing with the $1 billion-plus in cuts Gov. Sandoval has proposed for K-12 education, when the Joint Finance K-12 Subcommittee meets this morning. Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada State Education Association (NSEA), says recent polls indicate there is little support for Gov. Sandoval's hard line against taxes.

Last month, the Carson City Board of Supervisors heard complaints from the owners of two private golf courses about the city subsidizing the operator of the city-owned Eagle Valley Golf courses by forgiving its $200,000 lease payment.

One issue brought up at the time was that the city needs the Eagle Valley courses to help dispose of effluent water from its sewage treatment plant. If Eagle Valley was not operating, then the city would be forced to spend more money to build more storage for the water.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, U.S. Congressman Dean Heller, and Assemblyman Tom Grady joined Lyon County area officials to witness the striking of the first Lyon County sesquicentennial commemorative medallion at Dayton’s Northwest Territorial Mint on Tuesday.

Lyon County Commissioners, Sheriff, school trustees, superintendent, and members of the Historical Society of Dayton Valley were among those who attended the event and tour of the Mint with the Governor and other dignitaries.

CARSON CITY – Nevada Health and Human Services Director Mike Willden said today he believes the state can reduce Medicaid rates to medical providers as proposed in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget, but acknowledges the issue is “muddy territory.”
Willden’s view suggests the Medicaid reductions can be imposed without the state being subjected to successful legal challenges based on a recent appeals court ruling.

You can now register your opinions on individual bills being considered by the Nevada Legislature with this nifty online voting page.

Just pick a bill number from the drop-down list, and a description pops up. From there your can cast your vote, post your comments on the bill, and direct it to your district's legislators. Give it a try.

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:

Press Release — It only takes a moment for an injury to happen – a fall, a quick look at the cell phone while driving, a medication mix-up, leaving a child to answer the phone. But it only takes a moment to protect against injuries and make our community a safer place.

The Nevada Public Health Association, a partnership of local public health professionals, along with other community and University groups, is hosting a series of free events for National Public Health Week, April 4-10, in the theme, “Safety is no Accident: Live Injury-Free.”

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
A national analysis shows Nevada’s growth in personal income was last in the nation during 2010.
The federal government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis today released a report charting personal incomes for all 50 states during 2010.

Heavy snowfall around Lake Tahoe has kept the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team busy, most recently having rescued six skiers on Sunday just outside the boundaries of Heavenly Mountain Resort.

According to a news release, search and rescue was dispatched at about 1 p.m. for a lost 16-year-old snowboarder in the Palisades area, off Lower Kingsbury Grade in Stateline.

CARSON CITY – A legal analysis provided to the skilled nursing home industry regarding a proposed Medicaid rate reduction to cover the cost of caring for Nevada’s seniors says the cuts would be a violation of federal law.
The analysis says the proposed reductions of $20 per Medicaid resident per day are being proposed in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget, “purely as a means to alleviate the budgetary crisis.”

I love snow. I moved to this part of the world 20+ years ago in large part because of the snow, especially that which falls on the mountains for our enjoyment.

But when is enough enough? It looks like it's going to keep snowing into next week. Check out CarsonWeather.com for the forecast.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – An analysis of a cut in Medicaid payments to skilled nursing facilities proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval paints a sobering picture for the industry and its future in Nevada.

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.

By Mike Clifford / Public News Service
Nevadans will soon have a new place they can turn to learn about consumer experiences with products found harmful because of defects, and where they can file their own safety alerts, as well.

The new Consumer Product Safety Commission website, www.SaferProducts.gov is now online and taking consumer complaints - and those complaints will be searchable in a couple of weeks.

By Elizabeth Crum / Nevada News Bureau
Mississippi’s sixty-third governor today visited Nevada, a state which has been called “the Mississippi of the west”* because of its largely unskilled workforce and poor public education system.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, may have just found the state $20 to $35 millions in new revenue.
Under his proposal, if you lose or do not redeem a paper voucher printed from a slot machine, the state would sweep that money into its coffers as unclaimed property. Right now, casinos pay taxes on that money and count the remainder as revenue.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Representatives of Nevada’s skilled nursing home industry say up to five facilities could close and 700 beds lost if a proposal in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget to cut the Medicaid reimbursement rate by $20 a day per patient comes to pass.
The closures would result in well-paid medical professionals being laid off and joining the ranks of Nevada’s already sizable population of unemployed, industry officials say.

A Carson City woman who had a revoked driver's license faces a felony hit and run charge that caused injury following an accident at a grocery store parking lot.

A bill entered into the Nevada Legislature would withdrawal the state from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency compact.

S.B. 271 was introduced on March 18, by State Senators John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, and James Settelmeyer, R-Gardnerville with joint Assembly sponsors Pat Hickey, R-Reno, Randy Kirner, R-Reno and Kelly Kite, R-Minden. The bill has been moved to the Committee on Government Affairs.

Click here to read the bill.

Carson City Supervisor Shelly Aldean discusses financial challenges facing the city and state this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djO15yJ8uxs

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – State Sen. Steven Horsford asked the Nevada Tax Commission today to act immediately to tighten up regulations on the deductions allowed to mining companies before they must pay the net proceeds on minerals tax to the state and counties.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – The Capitol had a new vibe this morning: less gray hair, more noise.
In what some say was the largest student protest ever held at the Legislature, more than 1,000 students thronged the cold, snow-swept capitol grounds to protest Gov. Brian Sandoval’s $162 million proposed cuts to higher education.

(This article is from Around Carson, at http://aroundcarson.com/2011/03/21/legislature_rally_videos/) My full photo gallery from this morning’s protest/rally at the NV Legislature will have to wait for another day. But I was able to get a bunch of videos uploaded from the event, so you can get a sense of what the atmosphere was like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlFGrBEfifw