Category: random

The traditional belief is hillside letters were created to help early 20th century airplane pilots navigate and identify communities. The truth is they are symbols of school pride dating back to 1905 when students at the University of California created a 70-foot “Big C” above the school.

University of Nevada, Reno students constructed a 150-foot-high and 140-foot-wide block “N,” April 13th, 1913, near the base of Peavine. The “N” covers 13,000 square feet and was the largest hillside letter in the nation until 1925.

The first known Nevada high school letter was the Elko “E,” built-in late 1916.  Former Director of the Northeastern Nevada Museum’s Howard Hickson says the “E” was constructed in honor of Raymond Thomas, a high school teacher who died October 1st, 1916, in a snowstorm while hiking in the Ruby Mountains.

The next Nevada hillside letter was the “T” built in 1917 to honor Tonopah High School’s state championship girls’ basketball team. By the early 1920s, Carson City High School students had a “C” on a hill west of the city that is now known as “C” Hill.

The Sparks “S” and Battle Mountain “BM” appeared in 1925, the Virginia City “V” in 1926, the Lincoln County’s “L” at Panaca in 1927, and the Virgin Valley High School “V” in Mesquite in 1929. Three years later, 1932, the Douglas County “D” in Carson Valley was created and the Stewart Indian School “S” in Carson City in 1934.

Galena High School in south-west Reno, opened in 1992. Within two years, a white washed letter “G” appeared in the Steamboat Hills above the Mt. Rose Highway.

Then there’s the “SS” that’s marked out on the face of the Hungry Valley Hills, which denotes Spanish Springs High School, which appeared in 2003. Finally, Damonte Ranch High School opened in the Fall of 2003 and within the letter “D” appeared below in the foothills below Castle Peak.

Three Marines from Camp Lejeune lost their command following a deadly training accident. Battalion commander Lt. Col. Andrew McNulty, company commander Capt. Kelby Breivogel and infantry weapons officer Chief Warrant Officer 3 Douglas Derring were relieved from their posts after the March 18th training accident that killed seven Marines.

Brig. Gen. James Lukeman, commander of the 2nd Marine Division, made the final decision.  No reason has been given for their dismissal; however all three are to be reassigned.

The accident occurred when a 60 millimeter mortar tube exploded at Hawthorne Army Depot during a night-time field exercise. A full investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing.

Seven Marines and a Corpsman were also wounded.

“Congress needs to do its job,” said Nevada’s Democratic Congressman Steven Horsford. “I hope after nine oversight hearings, we start to work on protecting our embassies.”

Horsford used his time to echo his fellow Democrats, calling for security improvements to diplomatic facilities. He adds, Republicans exacerbated security problems through spending cuts.

It was the first time lawmakers heard publicly from anyone who was actually on the ground in Libya during the September 11th, 2012 attack, organizing the evacuation of U.S. staff and pleading for military help that never came. They heard that officials on the ground and in Washington immediately believed the attack to be the work of terrorists, and that the extremists tried to lure more Americans into what could have been a deadly trap.

They also heard for the first time, the Obama Administration’s decision to link the onslaught to popular demonstrations of Muslim anger at an Internet video denigrating Islam had offended Libya’s government and hampered the FBI’s investigation. And they heard suggestions that the Administration threw up obstacles to the committee’s investigation and may retaliate against one of the “whistleblowers.”

“Congress is making significant cuts to foreign affairs budget. I hope we properly fund our embassies so this never happens again,” Horsford concluded. “I urge my Republican counterparts to work on a bi-partisan plan to make the 29 recommendations of the ARB (Accountability Review Board.)”

Four people died during the terror attack, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, of Las Vegas, Horsford’s home town.

The City of Reno turned 145 years old tomorrow. It was May 9th, 1868, when the townsite was officially established.

Charles Crocker, the railroad construction superintendent for the Central Pacific Railroad and his partners in the railroad, named the new town for Union General Jesse Reno, who died in 1862 at the battle of Fox’s Gap, South Mountain, Md.

General Reno, an infantry commander from Pennsylvania, never set foot in Nevada. A statue of him stands in the Powning Veterans Memorial Park across the street from the federal courthouse in Reno.

What would become Reno was first settled in 1859 when Charles Fuller built a log toll bridge across the Truckee River. The majority of bridge users were those coming to or from the mines of the Comstock.

In 1861, Myron Lake purchased Fuller’s bridge and used the money from tolls to purchase more land, constructing a mill, livery stable and kiln. When the Central Pacific Railroad was being built, Lake deeded a portion of the land to Charles Crocker to ensure his land would be in the railroad’s path.

The small desert island in Pyramid Lake, about 30 miles northeast of Reno, that serves as home to 10,000 American white pelicans is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a wildlife sanctuary. U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials joined leaders of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe for the centennial celebration at one of the country’s most important nesting spots for the birds just off the lake’s east shore.

President Woodrow Wilson designated Anaho Island a wildlife sanctuary in 1913 in recognition of its importance to pelicans and other birds, including California gulls, double-crested cormorants and great blue herons. Donna Withers, a refuge specialist with the wildlife service says it’s one of the largest nesting areas for the pelicans west of the Rocky Mountains.

Senator Harry Reid didn’t break any laws when he asked Las Vegas attorney Will Kemp to give to the Senate Majority PAC to help elect Democrats during the 2012 cycle. Furthermore, Kemp has been a donor to Friends for Harry Reid and to the Democratic Party of Nevada in the past.

According to opensecrets,org., in 2010, Kemp gave Reid $4,800; while his law partner J. Randal Jones gave Reid $11,700. Then during the 2012 cycle, Kemp and Jones gave $150,000 to the Senate Majority PAC and $28,500 to the Democratic Party of Nevada, with Kemp giving an extra $2,500 to Friends of Reid, for a total of $181,000.

However, ethical questions about whether Reid’s latest judicial nominee, Jennifer Dorsey, a partner in Jones, Kemp and Coulthard, remain.  Both the timing and the size of the donations are creating these questions.

Here’s the timeline:

— January 9th, 2012: Kemp donates $8,500 to the Democratic Party of Nevada.
— March 31st, 2012: Dorsey donates $2,500 to Friends for Harry Reid while expressing her interest in a federal judgeship. The same day, Kemp also contributes $2,500 to the Friends of Harry Reid.
— April 30th, 2012: Reid returns Dorsey’s money but keeps Kemp’s.
— May 1st, 2012: Kemp donates $100,000 to the Senate Majority PAC, and Jones donates $5,000 to the Democratic Party of Nevada.
— May 14th, 2012: Jones donates $50,000 to the Senate Majority PAC.
— June 12th, 2012: Reid recommends Dorsey to the White House.
— August 23rd, 2012: Jones donates $8,000 to the Democratic Party of Nevada.
— September 19th, 2012: Dorsey is nominated by the President.
— October 23rd, 2012: Jones makes a $10,000 contribution to the Democratic Party of Nevada.

Despite all of this, Reid says he believes Dorsey will be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

No matter what out spiritual beliefs, testing them against our experience only makes them deeper and more meaningful. Our lives, the earth we live on, the vast universe — should amaze us.

We’re fortunate to be here in this time and in this place. Let’s never lose our curiosity about why we are here and what being here means.

Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

From: Dan
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2013 5:28 PM
To: Aaron; Dan; Jim; John; Kelly; Landon; Matt; Mike; Monica; Neil; Phil; Ross; Scott; Steve; Tom; Tyson

Subject: Changes

FR: Dan
DT: May 3, 2013
CC: Jennifer

Congratulations to Steve and Neil! Steve has been appointed the new production director for Cumulus/Reno, and Neil will be taking over the production assistant/afternoon traffic reporter slot effective this Monday.

We are seeking a replacement for the overnight slot. It is part time/30 hours per week and involves assisting in the preparation of Reno’s Morning News. Tom has thrown his hat into the ring for consideration and will fill the slot on an interim basis. If anyone else is interested in this position please contact me. We are also seeking at least one new part time announcer as we determine the best way to restructure our lineup.

Dan
Program Director/Talk Host
News Talk 780 KKOH/Reno

—–

From: Kelly
Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:31 PM
To: Tom
Subject: FW: Changes

Tom, this is a great opportunity Dan is offering you, congrats!

Suggestions: Try to follow the system Neil created. I sat with him one morning and we built the morning show together. His stories flowed, in a logical order, and his system was efficient. It got the job done with few complaints, other than the usual about the writing.

THEN, address the writing… if you try to change too much all at once, you may crash and burn.

This is your chance to show everyone what you can do.

Good Luck!

Kelly
Social Media Mistress
(Unofficial Fire Starter & Cheerleader)

—–

From: Tom
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2013  1:14 AM
To: Kelly
Subject: FW: Changes

There is no opportunity here. I’ve been at this for years and this is all anyone is rewarded with — the possibility that to be hired to do a measly 30 hours and lose a lot of sleep.  Cheer lead away if you want to waste your time — but for me, (or anyone for that matter,) I’m jus’ a warm body behind a hot mic in a cold room and after a quarter of a century, I’m still jus’ a convenience for Dan.

— Darby

All this week I considered permanently deleting, “Tom Darby’s Notebook.” I came to this after being told I was “full of shit,” by several people.

I took their words to heart.

But now that the time is here to push that final button, I can’t do it. Instead I’ll do a little housekeeping, cleaning up double postings, removing unwanted pictures and maybe even work on some of my broken grammar.

Besides, what would I do for therapy — twittle my thumbs?

Colleen Rose Bruhy passed away the afternoon of April 28, 2013 after a two-year battle with leukemia. She was 79.

She was born January 6, 1934 in Dacono, Colorado to Walter Shaw and Nora Taylor Shaw. Her family which included older sister, Norma, lived in a cabin in the mountains of Yampa, Colorado where her father was a logger. Her family moved to Nebraska when she started school, with her mother as her teacher.

Colleen’s love of music came naturally.  As a teen she started playing the drums and saxophone for her family’s band, the Walt Shaw Orchestra. They played at dances throughout western Nebraska.  While in high school, she played in the marching band, the orchestra and was a drum major, graduating in 1952.

She met her husband, Don DeVol while in high school and they married in 1952, moving to El Centro, California soon after. Colleen went to work as a dental assistant in Brawley. She and Don moved to Santa Ana where they started a family with son, Doug and daughter Kathy.

In 1962 the family moved to Klamath where they owned and operated Panther Creek Lodge with Chuck and Aileen Hupp, surviving the 1964 Flood. They also owned and operated the Woodland Villa in Klamath.

Colleen worked at Daly’s Department Store on 3rd Street for 4 years and worked for several years at BG’s Boutique and Rags & Bags in Brookings. She sold Mary Kay Cosmetics for 30 years.

She married husband, Jim Bruhy in 1975. They loved traveling in their motor home and enjoyed many hobbies together such as square-dancing, play acting with Lighthouse Repertory Theatre, and barbershopping where Colleen led the ladies choral group, the Coastal Classics.

A talented singer, she was asked to sing for many dedications, weddings and special events.  She was a member of the United Methodist Church in Crescent City, Soroptomist International and a 50-year member of the Emblem Club.

Colleen is survived by her children, Doug DeVol of Henderson, NV and Kathy Cunningham and husband, Ken of Klamath, one grandson, Lance; her companion of 7 years, Bob Brissenden; her sister Norma Dilley of Denver, CO; step-children, Jodi Mason of Olalla, WA, JoAnn Petersen and husband, Richard of Battle Ground, WA, Dean Bruhy and wife, Gayla of Klamath and Scott Bruhy and wife, Kim of Springfield, OR; 16 step-grandchildren, 22 step-great-grandchildren and many good friends. She was preceded in death by her husband of 30 years, James R. Bruhy, her parents, and her brother-in-law, Clarence Dilley.