United States

By the Nevada Department of Wildlife
In an update to an ongoing investigation, the Operation Game Thief Citizens’ Board has offered a $4,000 reward to generate tips to solve a criminal case of eight deer shot in Voltaire Canyon near Carson City.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) released information on the case on Feb. 15 hoping to generate tips and solve the case.

The Citizens’ Board is a volunteer organization that manages donations to the OGT program and offers rewards to solve poaching cases.

RENO — While unemployment has been a frequent topic of discussion during the recession, underemployment and its effects have not, even though the number of underemployed workers has also increased.

A study published online last week in the Journal of Management, “‘I Have a Job, But…’ A Review of Underemployment,” by University of Nevada, Reno Assistant Professor Frances M. McKee-Ryan and University of Alabama Assistant Professor Jaron Harvey brings attention to the topic and its potentially detrimental effects to individuals, organizations and society.

By the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
This is a final reminder that amateur and professional elk callers from across the United States will converge on Reno for the RMEF/Leupold World Elk Calling Championships, March 4-5, 2011.


Preliminary rounds begin March 4 at 9:00 a.m., and championship rounds begin March 5 at 9:00 a.m., at the Reno/Sparks Convention Center.
The championships are a centerpiece of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s annual Elk Camp & Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Expo.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Students who smoke may soon find it more difficult to do so. A proposal heard today would ban smoking on all Nevada’s university and college campuses.

By the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
This is a reminder that amateur and professional elk callers from across the United States will converge on Reno for the RMEF/Leupold World Elk Calling Championships, March 4-5, 2011.
Preliminary rounds begin March 4 at 9:00 a.m., and championship rounds begin March 5 at 9:00 a.m., at the Reno/Sparks Convention Center.
The championships are a centerpiece of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s annual Elk Camp & Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Expo.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
A national movement to guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states combined gained steam today with the financial support of a billionaire businessman who has committed resources to enacting the concept across the country, including Nevada.

By Nicoletta Florio / Big George Green Consulting
Living Sustainably is good for the planet and, in turn, is good for us. Whether or not we believe in global warming, it is irrefutable that an unhealthy environment causes illness to its inhabitants. The environment can be a region, a block, a building, or even just a room.

The 2011 Amgen Tour of California, the largest cycling event in North America, recently announced that volunteer opportunities have been posted on their official website, www.AmgenTourofCalifornia.com, for the race, including opportunities for Stage 1 and 2 at Lake Tahoe.

By The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Amateur and professional elk callers from across the United States will converge on Reno for the RMEF/Leupold World Elk Calling Championships, March 4-5, 2011.


Preliminary rounds begin March 4 at 9:00 a.m., and championship rounds begin March 5 at 9:00 a.m., at the Reno/Sparks Convention Center.
The championships are a centerpiece of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s annual Elk Camp & Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Expo.

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.

Organizers of the the 2011 Amgen Tour of California, the largest cycling event in North America, announced today the Stage 1 and Stage 2 race routes for Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe’s first-ever involvement in the race as the official Overall Start is Sunday, May 15 and begins at South Lake Tahoe at 6,300 feet, the highest start elevation in the six-year history of the competition. Stage 1 wraps up in North Lake Tahoe at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort, with the Stage 2 Start taking place nearby at Squaw Valley USA on Monday, May 16.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noZSi7ccd08

CARSON CITY — Nevada saw 27 percent growth in the number of residents receiving food stamps this past year.
That makes Nevada’s growth the second-highest in the nation with Idaho claiming the largest percent growth at 28 percent.
Between Nov. 2009 and Nov. 2010, 69,000 more Nevadans signed up to receive food stamps, reported the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Services.

Joe Conforte, the former owner of the Mustang Ranch brothel a few miles east of Reno, has produced his autobiography as an ebook, his publisher has announced.

Titled “Breaks, Brains & Balls: the story of Nevada’s fabulous Mustang Ranch” the 464-page book details Conforte's adventurous life from his birth into the poverty of a Sicilian fishing village to a life of luxury in Rio De Janeiro.

A team of University of Nevada, Reno and University of Nevada, Las Vegas researchers have devised a new model for how Nevada’s gold deposits formed, which may help in exploration efforts for new gold deposits.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Third-graders who cannot read at a third-grade level would not advance to fourth grade under a proposal from Gov. Brian Sandoval.
The assertion rests on common-sense logic, and Sandoval has been promoting his idea since he was on the campaign trail.

Businessman and radio host Herman Cain stopped in Las Vegas last week as part of his preparation for a possible presidential run in 2012. The Republican is the first potential candidate so far to have created an exploratory committee, often the first step for those who hope to win their party’s nomination.
Cain has been traveling the country and testing the waters, generally eschewing large events with significant media coverage in favor of intimate settings with the conservative activists and Tea Party groups that constitute much of the GOP base.

Lake Tahoe has been ranked the No. 1 ski destination for the year by Rand McNally, the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority announced Monday.

The ranking is based on travel bookings to the destination when compared to other winter locations throughout the United States and Canada. It is the latest recognition given to the region by the nation's top travel writers and publications, according to the LTVA announcement.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
The Washoe County Commission today selected former state Assemblyman and U.S. Attorney Greg Brower to replace retired GOP state Sen. Bill Raggio in the 2011 session of the Nevada Legislature.

Carl Kuhl, a state Parole and Probation employee of six years, has created a plan that he claims will eliminate Nevada's budget deficit within two years.

In a news release issued on Tuesday, Kuhl said his plan not only will reduce the budget deficit but also help repair Nevada's economy at the same time. It is a pretty big claim, he admits, coming from an Accounting Assistant I, an entry level position.

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.

(Press release) On January 5, 2011 Carson City Sheriff’s Office received a national award for “Outstanding Citizen Participation” for the 2010 National Night Out special event hosted in August. National Night Out heightens crime and drug prevention awareness, community safety and, as in the case of Carson City, strengthens police-community partnerships. This award is the latest in the list of recognitions Carson City Sheriff’s Office received for the 2010 event including Congressional Awards from Congressman Dean Heller and a Letter of Commendation from Senator John Ensign.

Once upon a time, a high school diploma could unlock a middle-class income. That idea held true in Nevada for longer than it did throughout the United States, but it’s true no longer, said a UNLV professor who studies the economy.
Citing figures that Las Vegas is the least-educated city in the region, Robert Lang, UNLV Director for Brookings Mountain West, said that Nevada needs higher education-attainment levels to attract businesses to this state.
Otherwise Nevada could have a difficult time diversifying its economy and rebounding from the recession.

"True Grit" is a 2010 remake to the 1969 film which starred John Wayne, written and directed by the Jeff and Ethan Coen. It is the second adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name. The film stars Jeff Bridges as U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn and Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross with Texas Rager Matt Damon and bad guy Josh Brolin.

Geothermal Development Associates of Reno received the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Export Achievement Certificate today.

The award recognizes businesses that have achieved significant success in the global marketplace and have also benefited from the programs and assistance of the International Trade Administration’s U.S. Commercial Service. Chuck Alvey, president/CEO for the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada made the presentation.

CARSON CITY – Secretary of State Ross Miller today asked the state Board of Examiners to adopt a new rule requiring private employers who are awarded state contracts to use the federal E-Verify® program to ensure that only eligible workers are hired at their companies.
Miller asked that the board take up the issue at its next meeting in January.

In case anyone has any doubts about the wisdom of keeping troops in Afghanistan to defend the government of President Hamid Karzai, then you should read about one of his latest conversations with top American officials in that country. Meeting with Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry, Karzai was less than gracious for the hundreds of billions of American dollars and thousands of American lives that have been lost in this war:

CARSON CITY – Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval said today he is pleased with the ruling by a federal judge in Virginia finding a key element of the new national health care law unconstitutional.

Carson City was among the top U.S. cities and the only city in Nevada acknowledged for its website by e.Republic's Center for Digital Government and the Digital Community Program.

Accentuating the good concerning United States of America Jobless claims is possible, depending on how you look at the statistics. The number of people filing for unemployment rose last week. However, the number was lower than analysts forecasted. Individuals are getting employed, however insufficient to make up for the ones getting fired, a stasis that is reflected in the unemployment rate, which has been stuck at 9.6 percent and shows no signs of imminent movement.

Squaw Valley USA will have a new owner after a Denver-based equity firm bought virtually all of its shares.

KSL Capital Partners LLC of Denver, which owns stakes in resort-related businesses, announced Tuesday that it hopes to complete the sale by the end of the year and that it will put $50 million into the exclusive Lake Tahoe area resort, home of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games.

Squaw was opened in 1949 by the late Alexander Cushing. It has about 4,000 acres and 2,850 vertical feet that spans over six peaks.