Empire

CARSON CITY — As Empire Elementary School works towards becoming more STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) focused, all the students in grades K-5 participated in a school-wide project Tuesday afternoon called "Barbie Bungee." The project was designed to allow students to stretch their minds and explore their engineering savvy by applying it first-hand through an outdoor bungee-jump … err ... test.

RENO — As fire hazard has built through the summer, ALERTWildfire, a network of mountaintop cameras that helps fire managers spot and monitor fires over large swaths of land, has been on a frenzied pace to reach its goal of adding 300 cameras to the network in the western U.S. by the end of the year. In the past three years the network has been involved with nearly 1,000 fires.

Apprehensive students throughout the Carson City School District began the 2019-2020 school year with reassuring and motivational school assemblies, meet-and-greets and back-to-school nights.

This year, Carson High School announced that earbuds and headphones will be banned from campus in an effort to create a better and safer learning environment.

“It’s a safety issue,” said Dan Davis of the Carson City School District. “While they’re on campus, if the principal or a teacher needs to audibly communicate with a student, they need to be able to hear them for safety reasons.”

In last week’s column, I showed things really are much better now than in the past and said this week I’d provide some reasons for hope in the future.

Carson City Fire Department, sheriff's deputies and Nevada Highway Patrol responded Monday morning to a two-vehicle crash on Highway 50 East and Empire Ranch Road near the Post Office.

Two artists have been selected to design and install murals on a two-sided wall near Empire Elementary School on La Loma Drive, under the theme “Reach for the Stars.”

The winning artists are Bill Louis and Bryce Chisholm, both from the Reno/Sparks area.

On Aug. 5, Carson City’s Mark Salinas and Tonopah’s Kat Galli launched a 10-month collaborative project as part of the Nevada Art Council’s Basin to Range project, which pairs urban and rural entities to “support long-term structural change in communities across Nevada through strategic planning, community engagement, and artistic design.”

With the first day of school fast approaching, August 19, Carson City School District wants all students and parents to be aware of some important back-to-school information, event dates and the electronics policy at Carson High School effective this year.

The Carson City Sheriff's Office Special Enforcement Team arrested a couple Saturday at a Carson City motel they had been living in for suspicion of felony child abuse/neglect and drug possession.

A 23-year-old transient was arrested Sunday for suspicion of felony grand larceny of a vehicle after allegedly stealing a dump truck, a Carson City sheriff's deputy said.

The winner of the final Thursday Night Cruise was Rick with his 1956 Chevy Wagon along with GM Ken at Max Casino.

The Carson City Department of Arts and Culture is looking for two muralists to bring a little color to the capitol city.

The theme for the mural is “Reach for the Stars” and will be placed on a two sided wall near Empire Elementary School on La Loma Drive between Gordonia Drive and Stanton Drive.

The Carson City Health Department's inspections this week returned with four restaurants in violation. Scores of 0 translate to full compliance with health department food safety codes.

Winner of "Best of Cruise" at Thursday's Cruise Night in Carson City goes to Art with his Ford Vicky. The latest cruise night was based at Empire Ranch Golf Course.

Good day Carson City and welcome to the last day of spring. Today is Thursday, June 20, 2019. Instead of hot weather, Mother Nature has decided to cool things down some as we head into the weekend with highs in the low 80s today and the low 70s for the first day of summer. Events, activities and more are lined up today including the first day of the three-day police officer motorcycle challenge at Mills Park, morning walks, Cruise Night at Empire Ranch Golf Course and live music outdoors at Living the Good Life.

Winner of "Best of Cruise" goes to Tom and Sue with their 1971 Chevy Chevelle SS. Pictured are Manager of Bully's Mary and Tom. We had 105 vehicles that came and a 50/50 winner took home $112.

Thank you all that showed their cars and trucks, next week at Empire Ranch Golf Course.

Pre-Kindergarten programs in the Carson City School District are celebrating rewarding results from the latest Quality Rating and Improvement Systems scores. Fremont Elementary earned a 3-star rating; Mark Twain Elementary, Bordewich Bray Elementary and Student Support Services all earned a 4-star rating, and Empire Elementary earned a 5-star rating.

Fifth-grade students at Empire Elementary School in Carson City learned about the decline in monarch butterflies due to development and use of pesticides. Through their studies of the impact on milkweed and nectar sources, which are a vital part of the monarch habitat, the students wanted to help with conservation efforts.

Pot of gold there on the golf course.

Thirty-two employees who have worked a collective 671 years with the Carson City School District will retire this year. The retirees were recognized at the school board meeting Tuesday, May 28.

Carson City Fire Department and sheriff's deputies were called Tuesday morning to a brush fire near a residence in the Empire Ranch area east of town.

A 36-year-old Carson City man was arrested early Monday morning for suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon, gross misdemeanor destruction of property, and misdemeanor domestic battery, a sheriff's deputy report said.

Editor’s note: The following was written by Carson High School biology teacher Megan Schuler.
Recently, several CHS freshman Biology classes had the opportunity to work with fourth graders from Empire Elementary in Carson City. Students learned about conservation, the water cycle, and the Carson River watershed. CHS students, trained by the River Wranglers conservation group, and on a very windy day, met up with Empire Elementary students at Baily Pond.

Elementary schools in the Carson City School District will host individual school site welcome events for all transitioning preschoolers and incoming kindergarteners. The events are designed for students and parents to tour their new school, meet teachers and administrators and build on the fun and excitement about going to school.

Good day Carson City and welcome to Thursday, May 16, 2019. We're looking at showers to continue through the day, which will be a nice change from all that spring pollen flying around. Today we've got the Senior Celebration at Casino Fandango, an afternoon hike, a Carson City CASA open house, art presentations, live music and more. Have a great day.

Carson City Girl Scout Troop 105 is collecting new, used, unwearable, and out grown shoes. Shoes can be dropped of at Bordewich, Seeliger, Fremont, and Empire Elementary Schools until May 31.

The Carson City School District took time at the School Board meeting Tuesday night to recognize 22 students with the “Distinguished Student Award.” The student winners were selected by administrators and recognized in pairs from their respective schools as having specific qualities, skills and characteristics that distinguished them.

Carson City School District is hosting a Community Sustainability Night Thursday, May 16, 5-7 p.m., at Empire Elementary School, 1260 Monte Rosa. Families and members of the community are invited to come celebrate initiatives and partnerships for sustainable practices.

CARSON CITY — Nicolas Jacques, music teacher at Carson Middle School, was honored last night as the Carson City School District’s Educator of the Year. Additionally, James “Jim” Pike, special needs school bus driver for transportation, was recognized as the Education Support Professional (ESP) Employee of the Year for the district.