Sparks

Nevada State Senate and Nevada Assembly will open with ancient Hindu prayers in Sanskrit on Monday and Tuesday in Carson City.

Hindu leader Rajan Zed will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures, in Sanskrit and then provide translation in English.

A Carson City man faces misdemeanor larceny and resisting arrest charges and had to be Tasered because he refused to leave his vehicle when ordered by police.

According to the arrest report, the 55-year-old man was being held in a parking lot on Fairview Drive at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday after it was reported he had taken $62.81 worth of fish supply items from PetsMart without paying.

A Carson City man faces multiple charges including felony drug possession and misdemeanor suspicion of driving under the influence, after being arrested late Thursday night during a traffic stop.

Isiah Treur, 32, was stopped at Fairview and the bypass at around 11:20 after officers observed him speeding and drifting across the fog line and failing to maintain his lane of traffic, according to the arrest report.

Carson City and Carson Valley casinos saw a 2.57 percent increase in gaming win in November, the state gaming control board reports this morning. Statewide gaming numbers, however, decreased by nearly 5.9 percent over last year.

Elsewhere nearby, Washoe County saw sharp declines, with Reno gaming numbers dropping by nearly 21 percent and Sparks by nearly 15 percent, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reports.

At Lake Tahoe, Stateline casinos saw a 5.25 percent decrease in gaming win in November, with North Tahoe casinos seeing a 7.7 percent decrease.

The city attorneys for the city of Sparks have a unique audience for an upcoming case: the U.S. Supreme Court.
The court agreed last Friday to decide if states can forbid elected officials from voting when they may have a conflict of interest. The case involves a Sparks city councilman, Michael A. Carrigan, who is represented by the city.

A Sparks man was arrested Tuesday afternoon for felony indecent exposure after a Carson City deputy allegedly caught the suspect masturbating near the drive through of a North Carson Street fast food restaurant.

According to the arrest report, a call about this incident was received from a person in the drive through. The responding deputy stated that he approached William Landers, who was then standing near an adjacent grocery store, and clearly saw that he was exposing himself and masturbating in public view.

Bail for Landers was set at $7,500.

CARSON CITY – Brian Sandoval has announced his final cabinet appointments prior to being sworn in as Nevada’s 29th governor today, including naming Bruce Breslow to head up the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Breslow has been serving in outgoing Gov. Jim Gibbons’ administration as executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.

Plans to install solar panels at five Carson City schools can proceed on schedule, a district court judge ruled today.

Carson City District Court Sr. Judge Deborah Agosti said it was her opinion that the Carson City School District acted within the scope of the law when it came to a joint bid opportunity with the city of Sparks to install the panels.

On Monday the Northern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council filed a petition in Carson City District Court to stop progress on the nearly $11 million project.

Good news for Carson City NV Energy customers. The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada has approved an overall decrease in electric rates for NV Energy’s Northern Nevada electric customers effective Saturday, Jan. 1.

For the typical residential customer using 745 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, it means a decrease of approximately 1.8 percent or $1.57 per month from $87.97 to $86.40.

Millions of dollars in solar energy projects slated for the Carson City School District hang in the balance after a lawsuit was filed on Monday by a Nevada construction union.

The Northern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council filed a petition in District Court to stop Carson City School District’s plan to build solar energy arrays at five separate school locations in Carson City. A hearing is set for Thursday, 9 a.m. in Carson City District Court.

At least 24 million people in the U.S. struggle with addiction to alcohol and other drugs. The good news is that millions in recovery stand as evidence that there is hope – people can stop using, reconnect with family, and go on to productive, happy lives. The Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey is one group promoting the fact that recovery is possible, prevention works and treatment is effective.

The gamblers are gambling in the Nevada again, as statewide gaming win climbed 11.02 percent statewide in October over prior year.

The surge was led by the Las Vegas Strip, the state's biggest gaming center, which took in $2,021,082,843 in October, a 16.07 percent increase over October 2009.

Gaming revenues for the fiscal year that started in July are up 5.35 percent over prior year.

Christy McGill likes to use a gardening metaphor when she explains Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey's mission to reduce substance abuse and promote recovery.

“The Coalition is planting the seeds of hope that alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse prevention works, treatment is effective, and people do recover,” said McGill, who serves as director.

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.

Offsite Data Depot Adds Secure, Climate-Controlled Vault Storage to Roster of Services for Northern Nevada Businesses

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – With the Nevada campaign season kicking into high gear in the four weeks remaining before election day, candidates and their supporters are also starting to focus on what could mean the difference between victory and defeat: voter turnout.

Two traffic fatalities and a stabbing kept law enforcement busy during Street Vibrations festivities in Reno, Carson City and Virginia City, the Nevada Highway Patrol and Northern Nevada public safety agencies report.

With tens of thousands motorcyclists in the region, the good news is the numbers appear to be steady over last year, the Nevada Highway Patrol says, after it increased the number of troopers on the road for public safety and traffic measures.

Sparks police tell KTVN Channel 2 and KOLO Channel 8 that a biker brawl sent a 23-year-old Carson City man to the hospital. The fight involved more than 30 people. The Carson City man was treated for non life-threatening injuries.

Jonathan Denwood, owner of Digital Delirium, will share his insight and personal experience with using some of today's more popular free or inexpensive online business support services to save individuals and businesses time and money. During the 90-minute presentation, Denwood will present his insight about online business tools that include Google Voice, Freshbooks, Skype and others. For information and registration visit digital-delirium.net/copywriter/or call (775) 297-4184.

Law enforcement personnel from 4 northern Nevada agencies conducted a DUI checkpoint on State Road 445 (Pyramid Highway) near Egyptian Drive in Spanish Springs yesterday afternoon. Deputies from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, police officers from the Reno and Sparks Police Departments and troopers from the Nevada Highway Patrol participated in the “Joining Forces” holiday weekend administrative roadblock from 1:30 pm – 7:30 pm. During the 6-hour event, 1008 vehicles were screened with 22 of those directed into the secondary screening area.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea said today Nevada voters should be asked to expand the state sales tax to include food purchases as a way to raise revenue and broaden the tax base.
But any such revenue hike should be accompanied by a reduction in the state’s regressive business taxes, he said.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford announced today he has selected David Byerman to serve as the secretary of the Senate beginning Aug. 30.

The Washington Post has published a long-awaited – and controversial – investigation called “Top Secret America” that details the vast patchwork of government contractors and intelligence operations that were spawned in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Post uncovered an operation “so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work.”

The first Northern Nevada RC Air Show hosted by the High Sierra RC Club took place Saturday at the Pony Express Model Airpark.

Radio Control Clubs from all over Northern Nevada participated in the event The High Sierra RC Club, Reno Radio Control Club, Sierra Silent Soarers, Reno Sparks Control Liners Model Airplane Club and Sierra Sagebrush Flyers.

More charges could soon be filed against a Carson City man believed to be involved in a burglary ring that spans over multiple Northern Nevada counties.
Bryan Allen Gaudette, 24, faces five additional felony counts of burglary and is being held in the Carson City Jail on $25,000 bond.
He is currently in custody for other items already recovered in the same case, authorities report.

Victims by the dozens arrived at the Carson City Sheriff's Office this morning hoping to find what was stolen from them after authorities cracked a burglary ring earlier this month that is believed to have started a year ago.

Sifting through hundreds of items such as iPods, laptops, CDs, DVDs, guns, tools and guitars, many of the victims said they were hopeful they could place positive identifications on what had been taken from them.

Hundreds of items recovered from a string of burglaries in the Carson City, Douglas County, Reno and Sparks areas will be on display for crime victims to review.
The display will be on Monday, July 26 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Carson City Sheriff's Office, 911 East Musser Street.

CARSON CITY – A dozen Nevada government entities spent more than $1.7 million taxpayer dollars last year to hire lobbyists in Washington, DC and have racked up nearly $400,000 in expenses in the first quarter of this year, according to data gathered by the national group Center for Responsive Politics.

CARSON CITY – The Washoe County Republican Party has elected Ralph McMullen as its new chairman.
McMullen was elected to the position by the Washoe County Republican Central Committee (WCRCC) during its regular meeting July 16. McMullen currently serves as the parliamentarian for both the Nevada State Republican Party and the Washoe County Republican Party.

Casino game winnings in Carson City and Carson Valley dropped by 1.1 percent in May, while statewide gaming revenues declined by 4.7 percent, according to figures released today by gaming regulators.