Category: random

To Sarah Pisan, excited about her new job as a gas station manager in Las Vegas, Nevada, Robert Generoso had the car, the look, the money.  She jus’ didn’t want to date him.

But Generoso persisted.

In 1980, the 19-year-old Sarah had three children and was busy with her new job.

“He started coming in on a daily basis,” Sarah says, “and then one day he asked me out. He didn’t want to take no for an answer.”

“I finally looked at him, and said, call me sometime. And he said okay, and he took off and he left,” Sarah says, “and probably 10 minutes later — the phone went off in my booth.”

“I’ve been looking forward to this day for a very long time,” she heard.

The call freaked her out so badly, that she decided to skip the date.

Shortly after, Las Vegas Metro police called her mom in Bullhead City, south of Vegas. They told her Sarah’s friend and coworker, Cheryl Ann Daniels had been killed and her body dumped in Hell Hole Canyon.

“She said I just got off the phone call with metro police,” Sarah recalls, “and they’ve linked you to a homicide.”

The killer had left behind his wallet and in that wallet were Sarah’s name and address. She almost went on a date with the killer and when she didn’t he tried to kill her at her work.

Her life was changed forever.

Generoso, whose real name was Stephen Peter Morin had been killing for over ten years and was a master of disguise; he had changed his name and appearance many times.

The police made Sarah leave her job and the area in order to save her life, convinced she would be dead within the week otherwise. So she moved to Texas.

“He found me, and I knew at that point that it really didn’t matter where I went,” Sarah says.  “The only places I had a choice to go to he already knew.”

Though never convicted for Cheryl’s murder, Morin was executed by lethal injection March 13th, 1985, for the 1981 murder of Carrie Scott. Morin was later convicted of the killings of Janna Bruce in Corpus Christi and Shelia Whalen in Golden Colorado.

In the early morning hours of December 11th, 1981 in San Antonio, Morin shot and killed 21-year old Carrie in front of her place of employment. She interrupted Morin in the process of stealing her car.

Later that day, Morin abducted Margaret Palm from a local shopping center. Morin and Margaret drove to Kerrville where Morin ended up boarding a bus to Austin.

Margaret survived the ordeal.

He was busted in Austin ending a four-year FBI manhunt.  At the time of his arrest Morin was a suspect in 37 violent crimes from coast to coast.

As for the former Las Vegas resident, Sarah lives along the coast of Southern Oregon. She also penned the book, ‘Sarah’s Story: Target of a Serial Killer,’ in 2013.

The word ‘Google’ which is the name of a famous search engine, is a play on the number ‘googol’ – the equivalent to the number one followed by 100 zeros. But, really, what is ‘Google,’ all about?

Google was jus’ an ‘Internet search engine,’ – in 1998 — but today, you’d be surprised at what they’re in to. Not only is it the biggest player in internet advertising today, it sends balloons into near-space, outfits  cities like Topeka, Kansas with underground cables, runs your smartphone and tablets and is taking on the wearable tech sector with such items as Google Glass.

Recently, Google purchased a military robot maker, Boston Dynamics. It’s the eighth robot maker Google has snatched up.

The deal indicates the Internet giant and pioneer of self-driving cars is serious about a robot-filled future.  In March 2012, Google file for an application to operate self-driving automobile in Nevada, maintaining the technology is not supposed to replace drivers, but help them.

So far, Google isn’t sharing much about the purchases augmenting it’s newly-launched robotics division. Meanwhile, Google has quietly invested in such companies like ‘Buttercoin,’ a marketplace for virtual currency ‘Bitcoin,’ and ‘Wittlebee,’ a child’s clothing specialist, ‘Kabam, a social gaming start-up; ‘Fitstar,’ a firm looking to create fitness apps, and ‘Nextdoor,’ a local social networking platform.

Add to this, investments in the health sector with companies like ‘23AndMe,’ a biotechnology firm ofering rapid genetic testing, allowing customers to take a swab of their own DNA and have it checked, quickly, for genetic-based diseases. And members of Google’s “X” team, a group working on top secret research projects, were having meetings with officials from the US Food and Drug Administration to discuss their plans.

Google has also acquired Nest, the maker of the energy-saving ‘Learning Thermostat’ and ‘Protect’ smoke alarm for $3.2 billion, headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The merger will help Google gain a toehold into the design and manufacturing of sensor-driven, Wi-Fi-enabled, self-learning, programmable thermostats and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

“Google will help us fully realize our vision of the conscious home and allow us to change the world faster than we ever could if we continued to go it alone,” Nest CEO Tony Fadell blogs. “We’ve had great momentum, but this is a rocket ship. Google has the business resources, global scale, and platform reach to accelerate Nest growth across hardware, software, and services for the home globally.”

Lastly, Google has been tied directly to the National Security Administrations’ Internet data-mining sweep through the use of small tracking files or ‘cookies.’ Experts say given the widespread use of Google services and widgets, most Web users are likely to have a ‘Google PREF cookie’ even if they’ve never visited a Google property directly.

While out and about a day ago, I decided to stop by an old book store in Sparks. “The Book Gallery,” has been on North Rock for most of the last quarter century.

Once inside I started browsing the ‘Mystery’ and ‘Western’ section of the story. I’m always looking for a book I haven’t read by Louis L’Amour, Elizabeth Coel or Tony Hillerman.

Barring my ability to find anything by the three authors above, I generally turn to the ‘Classics,’ searching for books by Jack London or O. Henry. And every once in a while, I’ll find something that I had no idea I was looking for.

Case in point: A small book of poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson. What makes this so unique to me is that the book, “A Child’s Garden of Verses,” was published in the year 1900, six short years after his death.

The binding is in very good shape, though it does show signs of being handled. But it is the lithograph art work through out the book that makes this four-dollar purchase so remarkable.

For me — this is a wonderful find.

Former Nevada State Assemblyman Bernie Anderson has died. The Washoe County Democrat represented District 31 and was a retired Reed High School teacher.

He served from 1991 through 2010, in several key positions including chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and was a staunch supporter of children and education. His family says he had been hospitalized in Reno since December 26th for pulmonary problems.

Services are pending. He was 71.

On Sunday, December 7, George “Skateboard George” Spinner passed away at 68.

Born in Queens, N.Y., Spinner’s life took him on a journey from the bustling streets of New York to the sunny landscapes of California’s San Fernando Valley. It was there that he spent his formative years before the family relocated to Tucson, Arizona.

Spinner was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome at age three, a neurological condition characterized by involuntary outbursts and muscle tics or spasms.

When Spinner’s sister secured a job in Reno, he followed her, making the Biggest Little City his new home. Over the years, he became an integral part of the community, leaving an indelible mark on those he encountered.

In recent years, Spinner grappled with health issues, facing the challenges of arthritis and ultimately undergoing hip replacement surgery. As time passed, additional health concerns emerged. A few months ago, his electric wheelchair broke, necessitating the use of a manually operated chair.

A burial service to honor his memory was held at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 10, at Our Mother of Sorrows on North Virginia Street.

It has been 50 years and $20 trillion since President Lyndon Johnson announced his War on Poverty to bring education, health care, and jobs to the underprivileged and downtrodden so they could live the American Dream. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark piece of civil rights legislation that outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women, ending unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public.

Four months after signing the legislation, LBJ visited Northern Nevada, speaking at Powning Park in downtown Reno. In his opening remarks beginning at 9:57, the morning of October 12th, 1964, he referred to Governor and Mrs. Grant Sawyer, Senators Alan Bible and Howard Cannon, and Congressman Walter Baring, all of Nevada, thanking them for their help in passing the bill.

A valuable mineral specimen stolen in April 2013, from a mining museum at the University of Nevada, Reno was returned anonymously, 24 days later. The mineral, worth about $30,000, was left on the steps of the building.

The specimen was inside a crate, wrapped in a plastic bag and didn’t appear to be damaged. The mineral is prized by collectors because of its long slender bladed crystals with a brilliant gray and black metallic luster.

It’s not especially rare, but the specimen is unusually large, weighing in at 25 to 30 pounds. It mysteriously disappeared from a display case inside the Keck Museum, which houses more than 6,000 mineral samples and fossils along with historic mining tools and equipment.

Interestingly enough, the museum is located inside what is considered one of the most haunted buildings on UNR’s campus – the Mackay School of Earth Sciences. Built in 1908, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The resident spirit is believed to be that of Katherine Duer Mackay, the first wife of John Mackay’s son, Clarence. Many believe much of the Mackay building’s spooky activity is centered on a large painting of Katherine, located in Conference Room 302.

However, both staff and students report objects being moved from one place to another and lights turning on and off by themselves through out the day and night. One former student even claims to have seen the figure of John Mackay in one of the buildings windows one evening as she crossed the quad.

How the specimen disappeared and then returned remains under investigation.

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles estimates 75 percent of applicants have failed the written test needed for the card under a new law that made the state the 11th nationally to offer driving privileges to people in the country illegally.  Applicants must correctly answer 80 percent of 50 questions to pass the test and are also required to pass a driving exam to receive cards.

Thousands of illegal aliens jammed DMV offices to get the cards, forcing some offices to turn applicants away. In Las Vegas, about 300 people were in line at most offices when doors opened and in Reno and Carson City, offices began turning applicants away three hours before they closed.

A law passed by the 2013 Legislature and signed by Governor Brian Sandoval allows illegal’s in Nevada without citizenship status to get the driver authorization cards. Backers of the bill say because many immigrants in the country illegally drive anyway, the law will make roads safer because it requires them to take the tests and have insurance.

Between 1935 and 1941, Nevada’s counties were the license issuing agencies. That changed however when the state took over the function July 1st, 1941, with the actual DMV created 16 years later.

Here are the current Nevada Driver License Sample Test Questions:

1. If an officer believes you are driving under the influence:
a.) you can refuse to be tested for the presence of alcohol or drugs.
b.) you can refuse to be tested only if it is your first offense.
c.) you cannot refuse to be tested for the presence of alcohol or drugs.
d.) none of the above.

2. When can a motorcycle operator use a complete traffic lane?
a.) only on rural highways.
b.) only on city streets.
c.) on all highway and streets where motorcycles are allowed.
d.) never, they have to share a lane.

3. When sharing the road with commercial vehicles such as tractor-trailer rigs and buses, you need to:
a.) understand it takes more time and space for them to slow down and stop.
b.) remember that commercial vehicles have substantial blind spots.
c.) signal for turns or lane changes well in advance.
d.) all of the above.

4. The major cause of traffic accidents in Nevada is:
a.) speeding.
b.) failure to yield right-of-way.
c.) following too closely.
d.) driving under the influence.

5. When you hear the siren or see the flashing lights of an emergency vehicle, you must:
a.) slow down until it passes you.
b.) drive to the right side of the road and stop.
c.) motion the emergency vehicle to pass you.
d.) continue at the same speed, but pull to the right.

6. Stopping distances on slippery roads are:
a.) about the same as on dry pavement.
b.) a little less than on dry pavement.
c.) 2 to 10 times greater than on dry pavement.
d.) none of the above.

7. You may use a center turn lane:
a.) as a travel lane to pass other vehicles.
b.) to make a left turn into another street, road, or driveway.
c.) to make a right turn onto another street, road, or highway.
d.) all of the above

8. Pedestrians in crosswalks and at intersections have the right-of-way over vehicles.
a.) true
b.) false

9. A flashing red traffic light:
a.) means stop until the light turns green.
b.) means slow down and proceed with caution.
c.) has the same meaning as a stop sign.
d.) warns you to clear the intersection.

10. You should buckle your seat belt and make sure your passengers do too:
a.) when it’s raining or snowing.
b.) when you are getting ready to drive, before you start the engine.
c.) when a police officer stops you.
d.) only when you’re going on a long trip.

Answers:
1. c.) you cannot refuse to be tested for the presence of alcohol or drugs.
2. c.) on all highway and streets where motorcycles are allowed.
3. d.) all of the above.
4. b.) failure to yield right-of-way.
5. b.) drive to the right side of the road and stop.
6. c.) 2 to 10 times greater than on dry pavement.
7. b.) to make a left turn into or from another street, road, or driveway.
8. a.) true
9. c.) has the same meaning as a stop sign.
10. b.) when you are getting ready to drive, before you start the engine.

The plaque honoring the 70 people who died in the Galaxy Airlines flight 203 crash near Meadowood Mall, has been stolen from Reno’s Rancho San Rafael Park. The two-foot-by-two-foot brass plaque was removed from a large rock to which it had been bolted.

The Lockheed L-188 Electra 4-engine turboprop was returning to Minneapolis from a Super Bowl trip sponsored by Caesars Tahoe.  It crashed shortly after takeoff from what was then called the Reno-Cannon International Airport, January 21st, 1985, killing all but 17-year-old George Lamson Jr.

Lamson, now 46 and a Reno resident, was recently featured in the CNN documentary “Sole Survivor.”

The problem was that an access door was left open by the ground crew. The vibration upon take-off led to a chain of events in which the crew became confused and basically forgot to fly the airplane.

The crash is partly the reason for the Cockpit Resource Management training program which is required today.

So far the Washoe County sheriff’s office says there are no suspects or leads in the case.

In January, Barack Obama was inaugurated for a second term as president of the United States. Also in January, cyclist Lance Armstrong confessed after years of denial that he had used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France again and again.

March saw white smoke at the Vatican — and word of the election of a new pope for the world’s Roman Catholics.  On February 11, 85-year-old Pope Benedict XVI shocked the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics when he announced he was resigning for health reasons. It was the first papal resignation in nearly 600 years.

More than 100 cardinals from around the world traveled to the Vatican to elect a new pontiff, gathering in conclave to conduct their deliberations. While some expected a long wait, it was barely more than 24 hours before white smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina would become Pope Francis, the first non-European pontiff of the modern era and the first from Latin America.

Two crude bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, ripping through the crowd of runners and spectators. In the first major terrorism attack in the United States since 9/11, two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the Boston Marathon finish line April 15, killing three people and wounding 260 others.

Three days later, hours after the Federal Bureau of Investigation released surveillance photos of two suspected bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev led authorities on a hunt across Boston. Tamerlan was killed during one shootout; his younger brother, Dzhokhar, was wounded, and was later found hiding in a boat in a backyard.

Dzhokhar is expected to go on trial next year, charged with use of a weapon of mass destruction, a capital crime. Intelligence agencies and the FBI failed to prevent the plot despite tips from Russian authorities that the Muslim brothers had been radicalized.

Terrorism analysts are studying what may have caused the brothers to allegedly transform from young party-throwing American immigrants to suspected bomb-toting terrorists willing to attack their adopted country.

Many Americans thought 2013 would be the Year of Gun Control.

After the Sandy Hook massacre last December, a majority of the public favored tougher gun laws. But on April 17, efforts to expand background checks, ban assault weapons, and limit ammunition magazines failed in the Senate.

Within a week, two gunmen had killed nine people – in Federal Way, Wash., and Manchester, Ill. – and 2013 has seen gunmen commit six murders, including the Sept. 16 killing of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard.

More than 345 incidents have involved the shooting of at least four people. Headlines have ranged from a fatal Nevada school shooting, by a 12-year-old, to the accidental shootings of children as young as 2.

Obama has taken executive action on a host of issues related to gun violence, including flaws in mental-health policies. But the spike in demand for stricter national gun laws may have passed.

Polls this fall showed support hovering just below 50 percent.

More than 1,100 people died when the Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed in Dhaka on April 24. It was the worst disaster the country’s garment industry had ever seen and put a spotlight on the working conditions of labourers who make clothing for Western companies.

On May 20, thousands cowered in basements or fled in panic as one of the strongest tornadoes ever recorded struck the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, tearing up horse farms and trailers with 200-plus-mile-per-hour winds before destroying dense clumps of blue-collar tract houses. The nearly mile-wide EF5 tornado stayed on the ground for 40 minutes and killed 23 people – including children who sought shelter in a school basement.

Days later another tornado, nearly as large, struck near Oklahoma City again, injuring and killing several professional tornado chasers.

The May 20 twister was not Moore’s first brush with big tornadoes. A tornado outburst in 1999 spawned a massive twister that took a nearly identical path through the town.

This time, the storm showcased Oklahomans’ deep storm experience and rapid response, while also bringing renewed attention to building standards.

On May 6, three women escaped a Cleveland home where it was discovered they suffered systematic sexual and emotional abuse for a decade or more. Ariel Castro, a former school bus driver, kidnapped the women between 2002 and 2004.

A young girl, conceived as a result of rape, was also freed.

The event attracted international attention, not just because of the horrific conditions the women endured – they were often chained to a basement pole and forced to wear motorcycle helmets – but also because they were thought to be dead despite being within blocks of friends and family.

To prevent visitors from discovering his secret Castro fortified his home with locks, chains, and a homemade alarm system. He avoided a trial by pleading guilty to 937 criminal counts of kidnapping, rape, and assault, among other charges. One victim, Michelle Knight, told Castro at sentencing that she forgave him, but “can’t ever forget.”

He was found hanged in his prison cell in September, his death ruled a suicide.

In June, Edward Snowden sent shock waves around the world by leaking thousands of classified U.S. documents he had access to while working at the National Security Agency. The documents exposed an unprecedented program of surveillance on Americans and U.S. allies abroad.

Snowden may have leaked as many as 200,000 documents detailing surveillance programs with code names like XKeyscore, PRISM, and CO-TRAVELER. So far, documents show the NSA collecting “meta-data” on virtually all US phone calls for the past six years and about 5 billion cellphone records per day from overseas, including some of Americans.

They show the agency filtering global Internet traffic, including Google and social media.

Snowden’s crusade has spurred debate about privacy rights and surveillance: Congress is examining NSA practices, privacy lawsuits have been filed, and a White House panel would modify NSA practices.

Foreign governments are furious, while in polls, 74 percent of Americans say the NSA violated privacy. Snowden says he is “neither traitor nor hero. I’m an American.” Others say he should be jailed for life.

Snowden was later granted temporary asylum in Russia.

The campaign to achieve equal rights for gays and lesbians gained momentum in 2013. The number of states fully embracing gay marriage rose from nine to 16, evidencing a significant shift in public opinion.

And on June 26 the US Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

The 1996 law limited the receipt of a thousand federal benefits solely to those in marriages of one man and one woman. But in a landmark 5-to-4 decision, the justices invalidated the statute as a deprivation of “equal liberty” and “equal dignity.”

The decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Edie Windsor of New York City, who faced a $363,000 estate tax bill after the death of her lifelong partner, Thea Spyer. Had her spouse been a man, Windsor would have owed no tax.

The case left unresolved the broader question of whether the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage, or whether those rights will be decided on a state-by-state basis.

On July 13, a six-woman jury in Sanford, Fla., found George Zimmerman not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin.  The shooting of Trayvon and the subsequent trial of Zimmerman captivated America because the tragedy backlit twin racialized fears: the fear of young black men among some middle-class whites, and the fear among many black parents that violence against black children often goes unpunished.

The trial also invited intense reflection on several legal and cultural trends, including the proliferation of so-called stand-your-ground laws that allow armed citizens to shoot at the first hint of danger, and the rapid growth in the carrying of concealed weapons in public, as Zimmerman did.

The armed neighborhood watch captain had followed the unarmed teenager before claiming to fire in self-defense when the teen punched his pursuer. After the verdict, Obama suggested that Americans should ask themselves a question in honor of Trayvon: “Am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can?”

It was a boy for Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton in July. Prince George Alexander Louis is third in line to the British throne. Prince George arrived on July 22, and took his rightful place as third in line for the British throne.

A flight from Seoul to San Francisco crashed on landing at San Francisco International Airport in July. The 288 passengers and 16 crewmembers rushed out of emergency exits as the plane filled with smoke and flames. Three passengers died and more than 200 were sent to hospitals.

This July marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloody struggle fought in Pennsylvania that marked a turning point in the Civil War in the summer of 1863.

Speaking of civil war August, government of Bashir al-Assad was accused of using chemical weapons against its own people in Damascus, Syria killing more than 1,400 men, women and children. Fueled by the Arab Spring, Syrian protests have devolved into a brutal civil war with more than 2 million refugees and 120,000 others killed in a country of 21.1 million.

The use of sarin, whose prohibition Syria had agreed to in 1993, nearly brought direct U.S. action. The  reports caused  an outrage around the world and led to Syria’s agreeing to U.N. supervision of its chemical weapons stock.

Peace talks have been scheduled for January 2014.

In September, a small band of Islamic extremists opened fire at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Seventy-two people were killed and more than 200 were injured.

The federal government’s health insurance website was launched — though just barely. On Oct. 1, President Obama took to the Rose Garden to tout Day 1 of HealthCare.gov, where buying health insurance would be just like buying “a plane ticket on Kayak or a TV on Amazon.”

Instead, the launch of the federal “Obamacare” site was a train wreck like few seen in the annals of government mismanagement.  Early enrollments were far below expectations.

Nearly wo months and a 24/7 emergency tech response later, the site was much better, but glitches remained, especially on the “back end” that produces forms for insurance companies.

Obama also stumbled over his oft-repeated promise that “if you like your plan, you can keep it.” When proved wrong, he allowed insurers to extend old plans for a year, though not all state insurance commissioners went along.

Enrollments have picked up, especially on state-run marketplaces. But the ACA, the signature initiative of Obama’s presidency, is still a work in progress.

Uninsured Americans have until March 31 to enroll without penalty. Obama’s legacy hangs in the balance.

In October, a partial shutdown of the federal government inconvenienced World War II veterans and anti-Obamacare supporters and dented an already weak economy. Nonessential operations started grinding to a halt Oct. 1 because Congress hadn’t passed a budget or done anything else to fund government for the fiscal year that began that day.

For House Republican hard-liners, a twin set of fiscal deadlines – the dawn of the budget year and the Treasury’s plea for Congress to raise the nation’s arbitrary ceiling on public debt – offered a rare moment of political leverage against Obama and Senate Democrats.

But the insurgents failed to win any tax or entitlement reform or to force a defunding of Obamacare. Instead it produced a 16-day shutdown.

Services deemed essential continued but the episode may end up paring the economy’s growth rate by 0.2 to 0.6 percentage points. A bipartisan two-year compromise budget passed the House with overwhelming support December 12.

Typhoon Haiyan was one of the strongest tropical cyclones to ever hit land.

At first, the Philippines thought it might have dodged a bullet, as Haiyan — or Yolanda as it was known locally — moved rapidly over the archipelago. But when the storm blew ashore on Nov. 10, it flattened the central city of Tacloban, ripping homes to shreds, and left more than 5,000 people dead.

In November, Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, agreed to curtail the country’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting economic sanctions, raising hopes for a new era of cooperation with Iran. And November 22 marked 50 years since John F. Kennedy was assassinated while driving in a motorcade through downtown Dallas.

When Nelson Mandela turned 95 in July, he was hospitalized in Pretoria for a recurring lung infection, and was placed on life support after his condition deteriorated. Released in September after a three-month stay, he died at his home in Johannesburg on December 5.

More than 91 world leaders, the largest gathering in the continent’s history, made their way to his memorial.

And also in December, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it will start to cut back on buying Treasury bonds because the economy is getting stronger on its own. At the same time, the stock market soared to record heights, up 25 percent for the year.