The Year That Was: A look back at Carson City’s 2019

January

Steve Sisolak was sworn in as Nevada’s 30th elected governor along with the rest of the state’s elected officials. Also sworn in were Supreme Court Justices Lidia Stiglich, Abbi Silver and Elissa Cadish who join Kris Pickering, making Nevada’s high court a female majority.

In Douglas County, Connie Koontz and Sophia Renkin were shot to death in their homes three days apart within blocks of one another. After a regional manhunt Honduran Wilber Martinez-Guzman was arrested in Carson City in connection with the two murders along with the murder of a Reno couple.

February

The 80th regular session of the Nevada Legislature opened for business later than planned because of inclement weather in the state capital that by early afternoon closed non-essential offices and sent workers home. Before adjourning for the day, senators introduced a total of 129 pre-filed pieces of legislation and the Assembly put in 114.

Carson City celebrated the opening of the renovated Bob Boldrick Theater with a variety show. Featured performers were Carson High School choir and drama, Studio E Aerial Arts, Suspect Terrane, Western Nevada Performing Arts Center, Wildhorse Children’s Theatre, and Youth Theatre Carson City.

The Carson High cheerleading squad placed third in the nation in the Co-Ed Varsity Show Cheer Non-Tumbling Advanced Division at the USA Spirit Nationals in Anaheim, Calif. CHS team members were: Wall, Quintyn Madsen, Jaeger, Sadie Jessee, Alicia Singleton, Breanna Nurry, Robin Steinecke, Eddy DeLeon, Isabel Ramos, Teanna Calloway, Brooke Lamreaux, Melanie Sepulveda, Josey Steinecke, Isabel Embro, Liberty Hoefling, Hayden Breiter, Audrey Cook, Haley Kluck, Shelby Friel, Tara Wright, Lexi Embro, Andrew Morris, Jade Chan and coaches Story and Elizabeth Hickson.

MARCH

Carson Tahoe Health’s Board of Directors appointed Alan Garrett as the new chief executive officer. He replaced Ed Epperson who retired.

The Range Task Force started work on getting four bays at the range back open for public use. The Carson Rifle and Pistol Range had restricted hours after stray bullets were reported at the nearby city landfill.

Epic Rides Carson City Off Road mountain bike series was pushed back to the end of June because of the amount of snow the region received.

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson is forced to resign and plead guilty in federal court to wire fraud involving the misuse of $249,900 in campaign contributions for personal expenses.

More than 150 people gathered at the Nevada Vietnam War Memorial in Mills Park for Carson City’s annual Welcome Home ceremony

APRIL

A snowpack measurement at Phillips Station, located next to Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort, found 106.5 inches of snow, which amounts to a snow water equivalent — the depth of water that would result if all the snow melted instantaneously — of 51 inches — or 200 percent of average.

Bob Gray, who brought the defunct Virginia & Truckee Railroad back to life and spent 40-plus years restoring it, died April 3 in Orinda, Calif. He was 97.

Nevada Builders Alliance started work on the property formerly known as Jack’s Bar. The plan is to revitalize the property as the Bank Saloon, the name when it opened in 1899. The facility will include a full-service bar, patio seating and a separate conference room for meetings or private parties.

MAY

Carson High School senior Crystal Vargas was one of three students in Nevada to be named a Presidential Scholar and among 161 high school seniors nationally to earn the recognition.

Sherry Rupert, Nevada Indian Commission executive director, left to become executive director of the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) in Albuquerque, N.M.

Domino’s Paving for Pizza campaign was in full force as Carson City Public Works filled potholes on Slide Mountain Drive, near Mark Twain Elementary School, while Mrs. Allen’s third grade class watched as part of their lesson plan for the day.

Western Nevada College conferred a record number of degrees during its 2019 commencement ceremony as 617 individuals graduated with 651 degrees and certificates.

JUNE

More than 520 graduating seniors received their diplomas at Carson High School.

Waste Management delivered new garbage, recycling and yard waste carts in advance of new mandatory services that started July 1 as part of a new 15-year contract.

A new plan for Andersen Ranch, the site of the proposed Vintage at Kings Canyon project, has been submitted to the Carson City planning department for a preliminary review. The submitted conceptual map calls for 204 houses on the 48.2-acre portion of the property between Mountain Street and Ormsby Boulevard.

Brig. Gen. William R. Burks retires after 10 years of serving at the helm of the Nevada National Guard.

JULY

During the Legislature, lawmakers approved sweeping changes to how Nevada conducts elections, all with the laudable goal of making it easier for more people to participate and vote. But those changes — including same-day voter registration — are going to have a downside. Voters will see longer lines when they go to the polls and may not know who won the closest races for a week or more after election day. Carson City Clerk Recorder Aubrey Rowlatt said the impact will be especially unpopular in small counties like Carson City where voters are used to getting to a machine within minutes of arrival and which normally has final results in two hours or less after the polls close.

Western Nevada College in Carson City is launching a statewide green business program and a database for collecting outcomes that measure environmental performance for the state.

What may have been a storied bootprint from the first man to walk on the moon 50 years ago was preceded five years before the historic landing. That’s when Neil Armstrong and his Apollo 11 crew of Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins left their footprints in Churchill County. The three space pioneers along with 11 other astronauts spent a week in Northern Nevada in August 1964 when they flew to the former Stead Air Force Base north of Reno to undergo classroom instruction in desert survival in the rustic high desert and then spent three days in the hot, dry desert putting to practice what they learned from their U.S. Air Force instructors.

The roughly $40 million project to rehab Carson City’s Water Resource Recovery Facility was completed in late summer. The project consisted of an odor control system for the headworks where the waste water enters the treatment plant, reducing the familiar smell that emanates from the 5th Street facility.

August

On Aug. 1, Pacific Publishing Company acquired from Swift Communications the assets of the Carson City Nevada Appeal, The (Gardnerville) Record-Courier, Fallon Lahontan Valley News, and Reno Northern Nevada Business View publications. The papers now operate as the Nevada News Group.

Carson City Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Cortney Ronald Staley after a five-hour standoff on Edmonds Drive. When the SWAT team entered the residence — after Staley reportedly threatened to harm a infant — he was killed in an exchange of gunfire with deputies.

Carson City native Barbara Perkins finished first in her age group (30-34) and second place overall, clocking in at a personal-best 10 hours, 16 minutes and 23 seconds at Ironman Santa Rosa. Perkins later found out her Ironman performance — a 2.4-mile swim in Lake Sonoma, a 112-mile bike ride through Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley, and a 26.2-mile run along the Santa Rosa Creek trail — did more than just put her atop the podium. The Santa Rosa win catapulted Perkins to a No. 1-ranking, for her age group, in the U.S. — and the world.

The owners of the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center are in the process of buying up to 20,000 acres of land in Lyon County to create a new industrial center to succeed TRIC.

The Carson City School District moves forward on exploring the purchase of a property at 1600 Snyder Ave for a possible new school location. In November, the school received its appraisal setting the property’s value at $4.1 million assessing the site’s ability to be retrofitted. The district, which originally offered to purchase the site for $5.67 million, still awaits results on its phase two environmental inspection of its feasibility study to be returned in February or March. The board is expected to make a decision on the purchase by April 2020.

SEPTEMBER

Carson City held a night of remembrance coordinated by the Carson City Christian Ministerial Fellowship on the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

About 60 volunteers helped Eagle Scout Gabe Crossman restore the iconic “C” on C Hill.

The Carson City Historical Society’s 50th anniversary celebration culminated with a celebration at the restored Foreman-Roberts House. The historic home’s museum was re-opened after two incidents of arson in August 2016 caused smoke damage to the structure’s walls and furniture and one fire burned a 100-year-old door belonging to the house.

Joe D’Angelo enters escrow on the Ormsby House. D’Angelo wants to buy the 48-year-old hotel-casino and turn it into Joshua’s House. “Joshua’s House would feature large one- and two-bedroom suites, both furnished and unfurnished, five main floor restaurants and retail space with meeting rooms, and the restoration of the elegant staircase leading to the grand ballroom for all special events, conventions, concerts, plays and community activities,” his application says. The city and D’Angelo butt heads over necessary permits for the project and the sale never comes to fruition.

The Carson City IHOP, the site where a gunman shot and killed four people and injured seven others on Sept. 6, 2011, closed its doors.

OCTOBER

The historic Nevada State Prison, which was in operation from 1862 to 2012, needs roughly $50,000 in work to open its doors as a museum. A needed ADA-compliant ramp, asbestos removal, lighting, and a hook-up to electricity could be completed for approximately $50,000. For more on the society and the prison’s history, visit http://www.nevadastateprison.org.

A group of history buffs formed the Friends of Sutro Tunnel to restore the abandoned and deteriorating remains of the town of Sutro at the base of the historic Comstock tunnel.

Stacey Montooth celebrates one month as the new executive director of the Nevada Indian Commission.

Carson’s Karen Beglin took home her second 4A Northern Regional individual title at The Resort at Red Hawk in Sparks.

Carson Middle School teacher Nicolas Jacques was announced as a 2019-20 recipient of the Milken Educator Awards. Jacques, one of two winners from Nevada this year, was welcomed with great fanfare by Gov. Steve Sisolak and his wife Kathy Ong Sisolak, State Superintendent Jhone Ebert, Milken Family Foundation members, Carson City School District personnel and Carson Middle School staff members and students at an assembly where he was presented with an unrestricted $25,000 prize and recognized for his achievement as an outstanding educator.

NOVEMBER

Chase Blueberg, a 2014 Carson High graduate, makes the USA Bobsled team. He is headed back to Lake Placid in January to continue training for a shot at the 2022 Olympics. Blueberg’s gofundme page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/chase-blueberg-team-usa-bobsled.

The U.S. Travel Association is warning that people have just 11 months left to get a Real ID driver’s license before they will be barred from commercial air travel. The ban approved after 911 takes effect on Oct. 1, 2020.

The Board of Supervisors voted to impose a 5 cent per gallon tax on diesel fuel starting sometime in 2020 and then put it on the ballot in 2022 for voters to decide whether to continue it.

Panera Bread has leased 4,100 square feet in the soon-to-be constructed retail mall on the west side of Carson Street at Appion Way. It is the same development that will house a 5,000-square-foot Chick-Fil-A.

DECEMBER

Bonnie Croom, 27, an employee of Right at Home, which provides in-home care to clients in Reno, Sparks and Carson City, has been named National Caregiver of the Year,

The Board of Supervisors moves ahead on an $18 million, 160-unit affordable housing project for six acres of Carson City-owned land on Butti Way. The PalaSeek project proposes a multi-story building consisting of 160 one, two, and three-bedroom apartments. Apartments would be set aside and rents established based on tenants share of the area median income, data published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sixteen units would be for tenants earning below 50 percent of AMI, 128 units for those earning less than 80 percent of AMI, and 16 units for those earning more than 80 percent AMI. The current AMI for Carson City is $68,700. PalaSeek expects to build the project in phases with initial occupancy in December 2021.

Carson City is home to one of five historic markers in Nevada recognizing women’s suffrage and marking the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment.

Friends in Service Helping (FISH) moves forward on a special use permit this month to turn The Whistle Stop Inn into transitional housing for people participating in a new career program.

The Carson City Planning Commission approves a special use permit to expand the ExtraMile convenience store and Chevron gas station on the corner of Carson and William streets into Adele’s property. The owner of the property agreed to make the 155-year-old restaurant building available at no cost to anyone interested in moving it to another location by March 1, 2020. The Carson City Historical Society has launched a fundraising campaign to preserve the building. To donate go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/cchistoricalsociety-save-adeles.

Plans for a residential development on Andersen Ranch moved forward after the Planning Commission voted to recommend the project’s tentative map to the Board of Supervisors. The proposed project, called Andersen Ranch Estates, includes 203 home lots and five interior streets. The site is located on 48 acres between Mountain Street and Ormsby Boulevard and would cut through to four streets that now dead end outside the property to provide additional access. Its north and south borders abut existing neighborhoods.