campaign

By Nevada News Bureau staff
CARSON CITY – Gov. Jim Gibbons has appointed Sue Lowden to the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners. Lowden has lived and worked in Nevada for more than 30 years. She is a former Nevada state senator who recently ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Long-time Republican political operative Sig Rogich said today that Sarah Palin is not a viable candidate for president in 2012.
Rogich, who was involved in the campaigns of Ronald Reagan and both Bush presidents, said Palin, a Tea Party favorite and former Republican Alaska governor, is unelectable.

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Secretary of State’s office today ruled in favor of the Assembly Democratic Caucus regarding a complaint about its failure to report the receipt of funds from its members.
The caucus did not report more than $120,000 received from Assembly Democrats on its campaign contribution and expenditure reports filed this year.

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.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – A campaign report filed by the Senate Democratic Caucus shows the group’s political action committee received about $20,000 before ending a short-lived proposal to give lobbyists access to lawmakers in exchange for campaign contributions.

One of the things that came out at Monday night's Nugget Project advisory was a setback for the business incubator part of the project.

It was announced by project consultant Mark Lewis that C4Cube, the business incubator in Reno that was considering operating the planned Carson City incubator, was no longer a part of their discussions. We don't know exactly what happened, but not having an experienced operator could threaten this part of the project.

Family TIES of Nevada announced today that it has appointed Melanie Kauffman as its new Executive Director. Ms. Kauffman will oversee the organization’s operations, achievement of its mission, and strategic planning objectives.

Family TIES of Nevada is dedicated to increasing the hope, confidence and independence of people with disabilities and chronic health conditions through training, information, support and advocacy.

Three days after Senator John Ensign announced that he plans to run for re-election in 2012 despite ongoing ethics investigations into his conduct, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has dismissed a watchdog group’s complaint against Ensign re: a $96,000 payment his parents made to the family of his former mistress, Cynthia Hampton.

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.

The following obituary was submitted by Jeff Cowen, community liaison for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency on the passing of spokesman Dennis Oliver:

DENNIS J. OLIVER
May 20, 1963 - November 3, 2010

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Veteran Republican state Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, won’t be minority leader in the upcoming 2011 session, withdrawing his name from consideration for the leadership post today after getting GOP criticism for backing Sen. Harry Reid in the Tuesday general election.

We have just witnessed political history on a scale that we may never see again…maybe at a level that no one will ever see again. Riding in on the back of the Tea Party and a message of limited government, the republicans have been given a second chance, but many questions arise. Will they blow it again? Will the Tea Party be able to keep their incredible enthusiasm for the next two years, or will they self-destruct through trivial differences like Ross Perot’s Independent Reform Party in the nineties?

"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.

CARSON CITY – Assemblyman-elect Pat Hickey, R-Reno, today has called for a return to “electioneering sanity� by moving Nevada’s primary election date back to September.
Hickey is requesting a bill draft to make the change from the much earlier June primary date used for the first time this election cycle.

In case you have not yet seen it, Dear Readers, check out my story about the lengths to which Harrah’s executives in Las Vegas went to try to help the Harry Reid campaign during early voting last week. It was featured on the National Review front page and made national headlines today.
We will be talking more about this story tonight during elections coverage on KTNV Channel 13 Action News. Tune in.

The Nevada Highway Patrol reports arresting nine people in Carson City over the three-day holiday weekend, eight of the arrests being for motorists driving under the influence and one was arrested on a warrant.

The figures are from Friday to Sunday. The best news to report is that the Northern Nevada area didn't have a single highway fatality crash this year over the Nevada Day weekend, said NHP Trooper Chuck Allen.

Republican Steve Martin, whose neck-and-neck race with incumbent state Treasurer Kate Marshall will be decided Tuesday, recently answered some questions about his candidacy in an e-interview with the Nevada News Bureau.

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.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Senate Democrats are running a slate of candidates across the state in the hopes of winning a 14-seat, veto-proof majority for the upcoming 2011 session.
But Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said he does not expect it to happen, and he has not discounted the possibility of the GOP winning the majority.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – The state Assembly’s Democratic Caucus failed to disclose more than $120,000 in donations from its own members earlier this year, but a Democratic leader says they weren’t legally required to do so.

Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the nation reaching millions of Americans near the last week of October every year. By wearing red ribbons and participating in community events, young people pledge to live sober and thus healthier, lives.

During this year’s Red Ribbon Week, Healthy Communities Coalition asks adults to respond to the growing epidemic of prescription drug misuse among youths by keeping medications locked up, and properly disposing of old medications.

Prepare to see red wrist bands on Carson City adults and children over the coming days as part of a national unified message against substance abuse.

Partnership is the theme of this year's National Red Ribbon Week, which kicks off Saturday and is being coordinated locally through the Carson City School District, the Carson City Sheriff's Office and Partnership Carson City.

(Updated at 11:45 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2010, to include Gov. Gibbons comments.)
Questionable attack ads and the role of the federal government in job creation were the top issues in an energized debate Wednesday between Rep. Dina Titus and Republican challenger Joe Heck in one of the most closely watched house races of the Nov. 2 general election.

Shop Carson City First: It's All Here!, an idea spearheaded by the Carson City Chamber of Commerce a few years ago, has taken on a new incarnation, this time using social media as a tool to spread the word about its members and the deals and services they offer.

As advertising budgets tighten, social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter have become a cost-effective means to spread the word to consumers about the latest deals and exclusive offerings in town.

By Nevada News Bureau staff
CARSON CITY – Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said today his biggest concern about a “lame duck� session of Congress following the Nov. 2 general election is the potential for tax increases.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – While concerns have emerged elsewhere this campaign season about encouraging people to vote by offering free food, a state election official says Nevada law is not excessively restrictive on the practice.

Democratic state Senator Joyce Woodhouse and Republican challenger Michael Roberson debated the budget, taxes and unjustified political attacks today in a race viewed as critical by both parties for the upcoming 2011 legislative session.
Woodhouse, running for a second term in Clark District 5, said the mailers sent out by the Nevada State Democratic Party attacking Roberson did not come from her campaign or have her review.

Dear Editor,

Several negative mailers featuring Assembly candidate Pete Livermore were sent out recently to Carson City homes.

These ads were sponsored by the Nevada State Democratic Party, which hired an outside firm to produce the pieces. They claim Livermore got a "sweetheart deal" from the city when it purchased land he owned in order to widen Clearview Drive.

By Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada state GOP treasurer candidate Steve Martin did say on a local television program in September that he had clients that lost money in the financial meltdown in the fall of 2008. But Martin reiterated this week he was not providing investment advice to his clients at that time.

By Nevada News Bureau
(Updated at 3:20 p.m. on Oct. 13, 2010)