The Black Bear diner inside Max Casino will officially open at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.
The new restaurant had a soft opening today, with several local dignitaries and business leaders invited to sample the food, and give the kitchen and wait staff a trial run before officially opening the doors.
This will required car shuttles for the trailheads. Please RSVP at least 4 day prior to June 12 with the following information: Do you have a 4WD, total number in your party, and total number of passengers you can take.
A different hike every month. Hikes are 7+ miles, usually with 500+ feet of elevation gain, of 4 hours or more duration.. Participants are responsible for their own transportation and leader may request physician’s release if needed. Check website calendar: at www.musclepowered.org for specific hikes. “Friend” Muscle Powered on Facebook for the weekly notices. Leader: Donna Inversin 775.315.6763 donnanv1@gmail.com WATER & STURDY BOOTS OR ATHELTIC SHOES REQUIRED. Suggest lunch, hat, and sunscreen. MUST BE A MUSCLE POWERED MEMBER TO PARTICIPATE
The Gas Station and B3 the Shark present Hip Hop Night featuring Logic One, Doe the Unknown, Tae Breeze, Anomali, Rhythmatix, Sewer Crew and Undefined
NO COVER!
You don't want to miss this one Carson City. If you're looking for something fun to do this Saturday, come on down! This is going to be a great show and we'll have some good drink specials too:
~ $2 16oz PBR
~ $2 Kamikaze shots
~ $3 Negra Modelo
~ $4 Florida Punch (White Rum, Coconut Rum, Myers's Dark Rum, Pineapple & Orange Juice with a hint of Cherry)
The Eleventh Frame Winner's Lounge is located inside Carson Lanes Fun Center with 3 restaurants, billiards, arcade and bowling for additional entertainment. 4600 Snyder Ave, Carson City, NV 89701.
21+
For more information, call 775.883.2606 or visit us on FaceBook: www.facebook.com/eleventhframe/
The four candidates running for Carson City mayor discussed downtown development, deferred maintenance and other topics Tuesday at a forum hosted by the Chamber of Commerce. Chris Carver, ...
Candidates for Carson City Mayor and State Assembly District 40 addressed a nearly full house of voters at the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall Wednesday night during a candidate forum sponsored by the Carson City Chamber of Commerce.
The candidates participated in a structured debate moderated by Nevada Appeal Editor Adam Trumble.
As a group, they were asked questions on specific topics and each given two minutes to provide a response.
The mayoral forum started off the evening with incumbent Bob Crowell and challengers Kurt Meyer, Chris Carver and Jerry Cinani.
The first question posed to the mayoral candidates was what they would do to attract more viable businesses downtown and fill vacant space. The question was asked in light of the downtown corridor improvement project that is currently under construction along Carson Street.
“One of the first things we need to do is improve our curbside appeal,” Kurt Meyer said. “We need to improve our image to get people downtown.”
Jerry Cinani’s approach was to attract larger businesses to Carson City in order to boost the number of consumers in the area.
“The solution for downtown is we need to have people here to create the market for those businesses,” he said. “The only way to develop the businesses downtown is to bring in medium-sized businesses with a lot of people. We don’t have enough people here with money to go down there and buy anything. If we had the people with money, the businesses would develop automatically.”
Chris Carver said new businesses to downtown should be those focused less on tourism and more on providing services to the existing workforce.
“We have a responsibility as a capital city and to our heritage to capitalize on industry and provide a worthwhile venue for tourists to come here,” he said. “More importantly, I think the retail should be geared more toward services that provide for the workforce that exists downtown.”
Mayor Crowell defended his decision to support moving forward with the downtown corridor improvement project, stating that an attractive downtown naturally promotes the growth of business in the area.
“One of my main reasons for changing the streetscape in downtown Carson City is to make it more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. The idea there is that type of downtown is what’s being looked at as an attractive part of a community,” he said. “More importantly, what a more bicycle and pedestrian friendly environment does is provide a more attractive gathering place for people."
The mayor also said he feels it’s important that the city do its part to attract businesses to the area.
“Government puts in place the infrastructure that makes an attractive place where businesses want to come,” he said.
Mayoral candidates were also asked about what they thought the best use of city redevelopment funds would be.
Carver felt strongly about fixing problems caused by too much emphasis on downtown redevelopment.
He said millions of dollars have already been spent over the years in an effort to improve the downtown area.
“Tourism is not our number one economic driver, and yet we continue to throw money at it,” he said. “We need to do the right thing for the community and repair the damages that have been done.”
Meyer defended the local tourism industry, stating that the efforts toward improving downtown Carson City are key to keeping the area attractive for visitors and encouraging more tourism dollars.
“I believe that tourism is an essential part of Carson City,” he said. “We really do need a reason to bring families downtown. We can’t say no to tourism. We have to say yes.”
The mayor focused his comments on the city’s façade improvement program, defending those standards for the curb and street appeal of area businesses.
“I disagree with my opponents on the façade program,” he said. “I think the façade program is terribly important to make sure we have some form of consistency.”
Crowell also pointed to the redevelopment of Third and Curry streets as an example of where redevelopment dollars are being invested for the city’s benefit.
“A prime example of good use of development dollars is what’s going on at Third Street right now with a pedestrian plaza, an outdoor amphitheater, and water feature,” he said.
Cinani took the redevelopment issue in a different direction. He said there are areas in Carson City that could use more attention than downtown right now.
“We need some other areas that we can apply redevelopment funds to,” he said. “The east corridor has really been left without much attention, and I think it will become more important as we see the impact of Tesla.”
The second half of Tuesday night’s political forum was devoted to the Republican candidates running for the Nevada Assembly District 40 seat, currently held by Phillip “PK” O’Neill.
O’Neill, finishing his first term in the state assembly, is facing three challengers in next month’s Republican primary election. Sam England, Chris Forbush, Al Kramer and O’Neill are all vying for the party nomination in the fall general election.
Assembly candidates faced tough questions about funding state infrastructure and improving education.
England had pointed comments about what he said was the state’s tendency to react to growth rather than prepare for it.
“When more people come in, they actually bring their money with them, they have to pay taxes, and that money is used to build infrastructure,” England said. “What we don’t get to do is say we’ve squandered the money we had and were too foolish to put any away, and now we need more roads so we must raise taxes to pay for them.”
England suggested a wiser spending plan should include being proactive toward anticipated growth so that the state is not caught unprepared for the demands that growth puts on infrastructure.
“What we need to do is spend wisely,” he said. “We need to make sure we save for things. We have to be responsible with the money that we are spending on our infrastructure. Let’s be good stewards of our money and therefore we can grow.”
Kramer, a former Carson City Treasurer and deputy state treasurer, said that many of the taxes in place are designed to grow with the state’s population. He cited property tax revenue, which increases as more houses are built, and sales tax revenue that increases as more people spend in the state.
“The revenue we get is based on economic development for the state and infrastructure comes out of it,” he said. “Taxes will increase as economic development grows.”
State Assemblyman PK O'Neill, the District 40 incumbent, said Nevada has been on the right track lately with respect to the economy and providing for its infrastructure.
“Nevada is still ranked by the Tax Foundation as the fifth friendliest business state in the country,” he said. “What the state needs to provide it has provided: A good business environment and the ability to attract new businesses to Nevada.”
Forbush focused his answer squarely on taxes and whether or not to raise them. He said he signed the taxpayer protection pledge, because he wants to be responsive to the will of the voters.
“The question here is, what do my constituents want? What do the constituents in Assembly District 40 want me to do?” he said. “If they were to give me their voice that they don’t want to raise taxes, then I’m going to say I’m not going to raise taxes. If they are lacking information, if we need to have a certain tax, then I can inform them there is no other way. However, raising taxes should be a last resort.”
On the issue of education, the views of the candidates varied.
O'Neill pointed to the efforts of the 2015 legislature to ensure Nevada students are equipped to succeed in a 21st Century economy.
“We put money into education through the distributive school accounts to fund public schools,” he said. “Then we took money for additional funding and put it into these grants to address the civic issues.”
O'Neill said the Carson City School District itself had access to $6.3 million dollars that provided technology tools to every student in the district.
“Every student is one-on-one now with Chrome books or iPads for technology,” he said. “They can access the internet and gain that information to perform in the 21st Century. That’s what we are giving to the students, that’s what we are giving to the state, and giving to the businesses that come here.”
Kramer, England and Forbush argued that Nevada’s education problem goes much deeper than funding alone.
“The problem of education is multi-faceted. It’s more than just a lack of funding,” Forbush said. “Nevada spends roughly $11,000 per year per pupil, and we’re ranked fiftieth.”
He said the neighboring state of Utah spends several thousand dollars less per pupil, but is much higher ranked than Nevada in its education outcomes.
“The question is what are they or other states higher ranked than us doing that we are not doing?” he said. “Can we look into their programs and adopt some of their good practices?”
England also referenced a country, Slovenia, as generating better math scores than Nevada.
“How much money does Slovenia have? Not a whole lot,” he said. “There’s a reason why we are behind Slovenia in math."
England said funding is not the issue with education. Rather, it’s delivery. And he blasted the state’s adoption of Common Core standards.
“We keep being told that we don’t have enough money for education,” he said. “We have the money, but it’s being spent poorly, and being spent incorrectly. Do you think it was cheap to start bringing forth Common Core? Was that a good way to spend our money? Of course it wasn’t. It was terrible, a disaster for our kids.”
England argued for more school choice options for Nevada parents, suggesting that Nevadans need to get over the fear of allowing free-market principles to be practiced in public schools.
“Free market is something that has always been taboo,” he said. “Bu if we interject free market and start having a little bit more money that goes into these different education centers, then we have a choice as parents who know more about our kids’ needs better than anyone else. That is going to be a better product for our kids.”
Both Kramer and Forbush considered a cultural problem in Nevada that has contributed to poor student performance statewide.
“It’s easy to blame culture, and it’s hard to define what can be done about it, but the responses I’ve gotten from teachers is that culture is a big reason why we can’t get good responses from the students,” Kramer said. “You have parents that care, you have students that achieve. You have parents who are sending their kids off to basically be baby-sat all day and you don’t get the performance you need.”
Forbush concurred, saying that parental participation in the education system is a critical component to student success.
“I look at education as a three-legged stool,” he said. “If you don’t have one of the three legs, it falls.”
He said the three legs are quality teachers, involved parents, and communication with students.
“Sometimes teachers are failing because they don’t have parents at home who are encouraging the student,” he said. “There are other problems we need to look at that do not involve shoveling money at education.”
Nevada’s Board of Dental Examiners came under fire Tuesday from legislative auditors who, among other things, say the examiners broke state law in settlements with dentists and overpaid their outside ...
Legislative auditors say the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange doesn’t have controls in place to ensure it’s only paying contractors for services actually rendered.They told the Audit Subcommitte ...
Assemblyman P.K. O’Neill strongly disagreed with claims by his three primary opponents Tuesday night the votes he and others cast during the 2015 Legislature seriously damaged Nevada as a business frien ...
I’ll take ‘Things to do in Carson City on a Wednesday,’ Alex. What is Geeks Who Drink Trivia at the Westside Pour House? What is Country Line Dancing at Carson Lanes? What is a Jazz Jam with the Shipleys at Sassafras? What is Karaoke with J and M Productions at Crossroads? What is music with Lynne and Jim at Living the Good Life. The daily double is ‘Art Gallery Exhibits Downtown.’ Check out the courthouse, the community center, the BRIC, Carson Visitor Center, the Brewery Arts Center, Nevada Arts Council, Artsy Fartsy, and Charlie B for the answer. Read the whole list for all of today’s fun stuff.
WEDNESDAY:
With help from a wet winter, law enforcement agencies in Northern Nevada are preparing for a busy boating season at Lakes Tahoe, Topaz, Lahontan and others water ways following several years of drought and tough boating conditions.
The Nevada Department of Wildlife, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office are all launching boats before the Memorial Day weekend to provide for public safety and enforce boating laws.
“We’ve seen challenging conditions over the past few years, but with a healthy winter behind us, we expect a lot more people out on the water,” said Chief Game Warden Tyler Turnipseed of the NDOW, the agency responsible for boating across the state. “With more boaters, we don’t want to see more accidents, so we’re being proactive with our boating safety and enforcement efforts.”
NDOW has officers stationed at all of Nevada’s major waterways, and Memorial Day weekend is the traditional kickoff to boating season.
In addition to NDOW, many other law enforcement agencies will be putting boats on the water before this busy boating season gets underway. Douglas County is launching a brand new patrol boat to work enforcement on Lake Tahoe, a lake that saw three fatal accidents last year, all on the California side of the lake.
“We’ve seen a lot more people up at Lake Tahoe, and we feel strongly that we need to be there to protect the public and enforce boating laws,” said Sheriff Ron Pierini. “We want boaters to have fun, but we also want them to stay safe.”
“The Sheriff’s Office is ready to respond as needed for on-the-water emergencies,” Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen said. “However, as a new boating season approaches we want to remind everyone that your safety, and the safety of your fellow boaters, depends on you. Make sure you have all the proper safety equipment and do not operate a vessel while under the influence.”
The week before Memorial Day, May 21-27, is also National Safe Boating Week, a national effort to promote safety in the upcoming boating season.
As part of this year’s Safe Boating Week, NDOW is emphasizing the importance of boating education, which is mandatory for some boaters in the state. Boaters who were born on or after January 1, 1983 are required to complete a boating course to operate a motorboat of more than fifteen horsepower on Lakes Tahoe or Topaz. The education requirement has been in place since 2003, and more and more boaters are required to have the course with every passing year.
As every year, officials also stress life jacket wear as the single greatest step boaters can take to stay safe. In fact, there has already been a successful rescue of a kayaker who capsized on Tahoe Thursday, and a life jacket appeared to make a difference in that case.
“If we could get out only one message, it would be that life jackets do save lives,” said Turnipseed.
Boaters can learn more about boating safety by listening to a podcast on the subject created by NDOW at nevadawild.org.
Meanwhile, Roadside stations for inspections and decontaminations of motorized boats and watercraft are officially open for the 2016 boating season. Locations, hours of operation and opening dates are as follows:
Meyers: At the junction of US 50 and Highway 89
Spooner Summit: At the junction of US 50 and Highway 28 in Nevada
Alpine Meadows: Highway 89, off Alpine Meadows Road north of Tahoe City
8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., 7 days a week
Truckee-Tahoe: Highway 267, off Truckee Airport Road
8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday-Sunday, Closed Monday-Wednesday
“Boat inspections are critical to maintaining the health of Lake Tahoe and our local recreation-based economy,” said Dennis Zabaglo, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Aquatic Resources Program Manager. “Through the efforts of the Tahoe Resource Conservation District’s trained inspectors and other private and public partners committed to the Lake, we expect to have another successful season.”
All motorized watercraft require inspection for aquatic invasive species (AIS) prior to launching into Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake and Echo Lake. Invasive species are highly advantageous and can be transported by non-motorized water recreation equipment as well. The Tahoe Keeper program was created to inform the paddling community about the importance of inspecting equipment, including: kayaks, paddleboards, fishing equipment, inflatable water toys and life jackets.
Invasive species, such as quagga mussels, New Zealand mudsnails, and hydrilla, are known to multiply quickly and colonize underwater surfaces, including docks and piers, water supply and filtration systems, buoys, moored boats, and even the beautiful rocky shoreline. They destroy fish habitat, ruin boat engines, and can negatively impact water quality and the local economy, recreation, and ecosystem.
Boats and other watercraft are the largest transporters of AIS, and the inspection program is critical to preventing their spread into Lake Tahoe and other waterbodies. Knowingly transporting AIS into Lake Tahoe is against the law, and violators may be subject to monetary penalties.
“Boaters are encouraged to 'clean, drain, and dry' their boats prior to arriving at inspection stations in order to save time and money,” according to Nicole Cartwright, AIS Program Coordinator for the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, “make sure to drain all water, even water from your garden hose used to flush. Taking these three simple steps will get you on the water faster.”
Annual watercraft inspection fees remain unchanged from last year. The “Tahoe In & Out” inspection ranges from $35 for personal watercraft and vessels under 17 feet and up to $121 for vessels over 39 feet. The “Tahoe Only” inspection sticker is $30. An additional fee of $35 is charged for any boat requiring decontamination and an additional $10 fee for the decontamination of ballast tanks or bags.
Doors to the all-new Black Bear Diner inside the Max Casino opened to the public at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, ushering in the restaurant's much anticipated arrival to Carson City.
"Everything's going wonderful," said restaurant General Manager Scott Hughes.
The Black Bear Diner is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 6 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.
PK O’Neill vs.the facts on EDUCATION
(excepts from his newsletters)
In the 2015 session, the Legislature considered no fewer than 15 new or expanded programs intended to increase student achievement.
But... None of the proposals have anything to do with improving education in the only place where education takes place -- and can be improved -- IN THE CLASSROOM.
University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Living With Fire Program team received the “Great Basin Fire Mitigation, Education and Prevention Award” at the Great Basin Fire Mitigation, Education and Prevention Conference held last month in Boise, Idaho.
“The Living With Fire team is an amazing group,” said State Fire Mitigation and Trespass Specialist Jennifer Myslivy, with the Bureau of Land Management in Idaho. “They don’t just help people within Nevada — their work reaches all across the United States.”
Living With Fire Program Directors Sonya Sistare and Ed Smith, and Nevada Network of Fire Adapted Communities Coordinator Elwood Miller were chosen by a panel with representatives from Nevada, Idaho and Utah. The Living With Fire team was selected based on their cooperation with communities and program partners, their community impact, their educational materials, and their overall interactions and approaches to spreading wildfire awareness and teaching homeowners how to live more safely with the threat of wildfire.
“Living With Fire has received other forms of recognition in the past, but this award is especially meaningful because it comes from our peers in wildfire mitigation education who understand the significance of the issue and the associated challenges,” said Smith.
The conference includes wildfire mitigation and prevention specialists from Nevada, Idaho, Utah, South Dakota, eastern California and western Wyoming, with presenters from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, various State Divisions of Forestry and local fire services.
Cooperative Extension’s Living With Fire Program is made possible through a unique partnership with the Nevada Bureau of Land Management, the Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service. For more information about Living With Fire, visit www.LivingWithFire.info, or contact University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, sistares@unce.unr.edu or 775-336-0271.
In the photo: Living With Fire Program Directors Ed Smith (left) and Sonya Sistare (middle), and Nevada Network of Fire Adapted Communities Coordinator Elwood Miller (right) received the “Great Basin Fire Mitigation, Education and Prevention Award” for their impact on wildfire mitigation, prevention and education. Photo courtesy of Vanesa Marquez, Nevada Bureau of Land Management.
University of Nevada Cooperative Extension is the College of the University of Nevada, Reno that is engaged in every Nevada county, presenting research-based knowledge to address critical community needs. It is a county-state-federal partnership providing practical education to people, businesses and communities. For more information on its programs, visit www.unce.unr.edu.
— Tiffany Kozsan is a Communications Assistant for the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at kozsant@unce.unr.edu
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the “Hack Tahoe” Code for America Brigade are partnering to enhance the effectiveness of government through the use of technology.
This new partnership brings community members together through Code for America, a non-profit organization on a mission to make government services simple, effective, and easy to use. Code for America has launched more than 2,300 projects with 100 government partners. Local Code for America chapters are called brigades and are organized by local volunteers.
“Collaborating with strong government partners is key to building an effective brigade, which is why I’m absolutely thrilled to announce TRPA as our first government partner,” said Ben Damman, lead organizer of the Hack Tahoe Brigade.
Government partners bring subject matter expertise, outreach skills, public administration, and valuable experience around solving the toughest problems in our cities. Brigades support local governments by working together on events and civic technology projects.
“TRPA is committed to delivering better services to the public through innovation and new technology. We will work directly with the community to create the improvements they want to see,” said Joanne Marchetta, Executive Director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. “By working with Hack Tahoe we will be better equipped to use technology to address our area’s environmental, economic, and societal needs.”
A National Day of Civic Hacking event is taking place June 4 and 5 at the new Mountain Lab building in South Lake Tahoe. National Day of Civic Hacking is a nationwide day of action where developers, government employees, designers, journalists, data scientists, non-profit employees, UX designers, and residents who care about their communities come together to host civic tech events leveraging their skills to help their community.
"Hosting a Code for America event at the Mountain Lab leverages the amazing engagement the members of our community are known for,” said Jamie Orr, CEO of Mountain Lab.
Hack Tahoe welcomes all community members who wish to support their cause — regardless of their level of technology expertise.
Visit http://tinyurl.com/hacktahoe to RSVP.
More information about the Hack Tahoe Brigade is available at http://hack.tahoe.coop.
Information about Code for America can be found at http://www.codeforamerica.org.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment. For additional information, contact Devin Middlebrook, Environmental Education Specialist, at 775-589-5230 or dmiddlebrook@trpa.org.
Hack Tahoe is Lake Tahoe’s official Code for America Brigade, a not-for-profit group of local citizens and civic hackers on a mission to improve the delivery of government services and strengthen Lake Tahoe communities. For additional information, contact Ben Damman, Brigade Captain, at 650-930-0813 or ben.damman@gmail.com.
Your dreams become reality at Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival with our blockbuster 2016 season, featuring Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors – a double dose of laughter, and Forever Plaid – a pitch-perfect, jukebox musical. Enjoy al fresco dining at one of the most scenic venues in the world.
Imagine enjoying extraordinary entertainment while sitting under the stars on the white sand beach of Sand Harbor with the indescribable beauty of Lake Tahoe in the background.
Ticket prices for adults range from $27-$99. Youth tickets (if it comes up) are $15-$25, applicable for anyone 25 and under.
Buy tickets to both shows and save! Discounts are also available for groups of 10 or more. For tickets please call 1(800) 74-SHOWS or visit our website at LakeTahoeShakespeare.com.
Gus Fincel, a retired law enforcement officer, veteran and member of the 601 Vigilance Committee, which provides grants and scholarships in the Comstock region, will talk about the original “601 Vigilance Committee” at Gold Hill Hotel’s Thursday Night Presentations at 7:30 p.m.
Historically, the primary purpose of the Vigilance Committees was to maintain law and order and administer summary justice where governmental law enforcement was inadequate. In the year 1871, the "601" was formed in Virginia City. This Vigilance Committee was composed of honest, determined citizens who decided to take the law into their own hands. One of their most sensational lynchings was the stringing up of Perkins to the rafters of Piper's Opera House.
Today, 601 Vigilance Committee is a nonprofit organization located in Virginia City, Nevada. Its membership represents all five branches of the United States military services from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, conflicts and current and retired law enforcement. They are a community service organization which helps preserve the Comstock heritage and cowboy traditions through fundraisers and donations.
Dinner is from 4-8 p.m.; the presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Great Room of the Gold Hill Hotel.
The Gold Hill Hotel, the oldest hotel in Nevada, and its renowned Crown Point Restaurant, are located at 1540 Main Street, Gold Hill, just one mile south of Virginia City on SR 342. For dinner reservations, call the Gold Hill Hotel at 775-847-0111.
Other upcoming presentations include:
— June 2 – Tom Zachry – “Tom’s Fairly Western” Cowboy Music/Poetry
— June 9 – Sgt. Major, aka Brian Staples – “Civil War History”
— June 16 – Bonnie Matton – “Wild Horses Of The Virginia/Flowery Ranges”
The defeat of efforts to repeal the commerce tax shows that Nevada’s political establishment – controlled by Big Gaming and Big Unions – owns not only many officeholders of both political parties but nearly all of state and local government.
Many large corporations and industries in recent decades have decided to join – not fight – the destructive liberalism and predatory agendas of the bi-partisan establishment and the selfish union and other special interests that jointly dominate US politics.
These corporate bosses – mainly big gaming and resorts in Nevada – support politicians and ideas that sensible business people and other taxpayers find abhorrent. They support the policies, programs, spending, taxes and regulation by the political class on one condition: That they won’t have to pay for it or otherwise bear its burdens. We get the bill and other burdens.
Public-employee unions and other net tax consumers want the political establishment to throw ever more money at them via programs that do not educate our children, promote public safety, or serve well other public purposes. Instead of fighting this nonsense, the corporate cronyists promote it and get lauded by tax consumers and the mainstream media along with the corrupt politicians as visionary and virtuous. These corporations fund the political campaigns of both parties’ candidates who peddle this nonsense because they’re protected by a grand political deal.
Here are the specifics for Nevada. Fifty years ago, public-employee unions badly disrupted big gaming’s business on the Las Vegas strip when Nevada legislators prohibited collective bargaining between government and public-employee unions. The strategy worked: Gaming pressured politicians to give the unions what they wanted so normal business could resume. Over time, gaming, the unions and the establishment pols came to an understanding that gaming would support the liberal agendas and help elect those pols, and those tax consumers and pols would protect gaming from having to pay the bill for their agendas.
About 15 years ago, they found the ideal mechanism for their purposes: the gross receipts tax (GRT). Since gaming pays taxes on its hold (win), it would not be subjected to a GRT. But nearly everybody else would pay it. They didn’t care that GRTs are very destructive to most businesses, which operate on thin profit margins – which has caused other states to abandon GRTs they used to charge.
Although some legislators (including Ron) stopped the original GRT proposal in 2003, gaming tax revenues inched up less than one percent from 2005 to 2015 while all other state taxes rose 40 percent! And state spending, driven by health and human services and K12 education, soared 59 percent – even before the blowout added last year by Gov. Brian Sandoval and the tax-and-spend legislators.
With the tax consumers and establishment politicians planning to spend even more in coming years, it became essential to gaming to pass a GRT so that it would not pay for future spending increases. So, the teachers union put the margins tax (a GRT) on the ballot in 2014. But voters defeated it four-to-one!
To keep the grand political deal going between gaming, net tax consumers and the political establishment, Sandoval, gaming and the tax consumers proposed another GRT in the last legislative session. Facing resistance by voters and some newly elected Assembly members, at the last minute they withdrew it and substituted the commerce tax. The commerce tax is a GRT they could pass because it was structured to start with a very small initial tax yield and grow hugely in coming years, badly burdening Nevada businesses except gaming/resorts and mining.
Further, the burden from affected Nevada businesses would be passed along to Nevada residents, while the huge out-of-state clientele of gaming and resorts would not pay anything because the industry will pay almost none of the commerce tax.
Voters and businesses around the state rose up in protest, and Ron led the effort for a referendum on the commerce tax. Lawyers for gaming/resorts, unions and the establishment threw many roadblocks in the way, but lost on every point in court. So, they appealed to the state supreme court. Being loyal members of the establishment, the justices manufactured a bogus excuse to upset the referendum effort. That’s the subject of our next column.
Ron Knecht is Nevada State Controller. Geoffrey Lawrence is Assistant Controller.
With road construction underway to enhance driver safety on U.S. 50 in Lake Tahoe’s Cave Rock area, the Nevada Department of Transportation reminds motorists to anticipate minor travel delays during holidays such as Memorial Day weekend and special events.
“We encourage everyone to visit and enjoy Lake Tahoe,” NDOT District Engineer Thor Dyson explained. “But, with many visitors traveling to Lake Tahoe for holidays such as Fourth of July, drivers should plan a little extra travel time for road improvements being made in the Cave Rock area.”
On U.S. 50 north of the Stateline casino district, NDOT is extending the westbound, lakeside Cave Rock tunnel entrance to enhance safety and reduce the potential of rock fall onto the roadway. Traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction through the eastbound Cave Rock tunnel, with 25-mile-per-hour speed limits.
While construction-related travel delays are minimal on average weekdays, travel times through the construction zone can increase during heavily-traveled event and holiday periods. Oversize and overdimensional semi-trucks are not permitted through the tunnel during construction.
The road improvements include construction of an approximately 60-foot long and 27-foot tall tunnel extension to enhance safety by catching rock fall before it reaches the roadway.
Lighting and white paint will be added inside each tunnel for better visibility and two new radar-activated overhead signs will be installed to automatically notify drivers of bicyclists or potentially icy conditions in the tunnels. Paving and water quality improvements will also be made.
During the winter of 2014-2015, heavy rains loosened boulders from the rock face above the Cave Rock tunnel, with some of the boulders reaching the roadway. Rock fall reduction and slope stabilization experts removed rock debris above the tunnel and a temporary netting was installed to help catch potential rockfall until the tunnel extension is fully constructed.
The tunnel extension will replicate natural colors, patterns and textures to match the existing rock face. Lighting and white paint will be added inside each tunnel for better visibility and two new radar-activated overhead signs will be installed to automatically notify drivers of bicyclists or potentially icy conditions in the tunnels.
U.S. 50 lanes through both tunnels and the roadway median between Cave Rock and the Cave Rock State Park boat launch entrance will also be paved. In addition, water quality improvements such as enhanced roadside drainage inlets and sediment filtration systems will be installed along U.S. 50 from one mile to four miles north of Cave Rock.
The approximately $6 million project by contractor Q&D Construction will continue through fall of 2016. Further project information is available at www.nevadadot.com/caverock or (775) 888-7000.
The Disabled American Veterans and other local veterans organizations from the Carson City area will place 1,200 U.S. flags on veterans graves at Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City on Friday, May 27 beginning at 4 p.m.
Other groups will be assisting, including some members of the NJROTC, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts and Elks Lodge. Volunteers are welcome to help place flags and youth groups are encouraged and welcomed to participate.
Flags will be available to those who want to post at Lone Mountain or any other cemetery. Lone Mountain Cemetery is located at 1044 Beverly Dr. in Carson City. On Monday, beginning at 4 p.m. the flags will be removed. The public is invited to participate in both placing and removing flags, said Gary Armstrong of the Marine Corps League of Carson City.
The League will hold a Memorial Day ceremony for the Native American Indian community at the Stewart Cemetery on Monday, May 30, beginning at 10 a.m. The Historic Stewart Indian School Cemetery is located off Snyder Avenue, behind Corpus Christi Catholic Church, and across from the Stewart Indian School complex.
Everyone is welcomed to attend and are encouraged to honor Native American war heroes from the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam war and our recent conflicts in the Middle East, said Armstrong of the Marine Corps League of Carson City service. An Honor Guard will be present.
Organizers say they are looking for a bugler to participate in the Monday ceremony.
“We had a former military bugler play ‘Taps’ for us last year, and we didn’t get a name or a contact number and would sure like to have him back at our Monday ceremony,” said Armstrong.
Anyone interested in playing the bugle Monday should call Armstrong at (775) 882-1682.
