Category: random

It slammed into the bridge and immediately disappeared over the cement wall and beyond the line of cars and trucks. That’s when I realized it had also smashed into what had once been a mini-van, demolishing its front end and drivers side.

Heading north bound on 395, I already knew the crop duster was in trouble as plumes of white and black smoke streamed from the craft. To me it appeared as if the pilot was trying to turn it around and make it back to Reno-Cannon International Airport in the southeast part of town, when he crashed.

Since traffic was at a stand still, I pulled my vehicle off the road and onto to the gravel shoulder. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and dashed as quickly as I could towards the downed aircraft.

To my amazement the plane had landed right side up, yet leaning against a part of the overpass. However the engine was on fire, and though partly torn from the fuselage, it was growing rapidly.

I could see pieces of the craft scattered across both lanes of the freeway.

Quickly, I aimed the red canister towards the blazing cowling housing the engine. I squeezed the handle and swept the icy, white dust onto the flames inside.

At first it seemed to have worked, but the fire came back to life with a roar. It was orange-red and sizzling.

It was a magnesium fire and I knew there was no way I could put the engine fire out, it would take foam. Instead I aimed the rest of the canister at the fuselage hoping to halt the spread of flames into the cockpit which was filling up with smoke.

It did not take long for the fire extinguisher to run dry. Yet the flames continued to gobble at the plane as I stood there helplessly.

I could only envision the trapped pilot inside.

Racing around, I stood on what remained of the left-wing and slammed the now empty extinguisher against the canopy in hopes of breaking it or jarring it open. I could feel the flames licking at my forearms as I hammered away and my lungs fill with the acrid odor of smoke with each labored breath.

Without warning I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves tightly around my waist.  I was suddenly jerked off the wing and dragged to the dirt and away from the burning plane.

The arms belonged to that of a Nevada State Troop. He decided that it was useless for me to continue trying to rescue the pilot.

He was sure that if he let me continue pounding on the canopy another half-minute I would be dead as well.

While I attempted to wrestle myself from the trooper, several fire engines arrived and started pouring water and foam on the downed aircraft. They had the fire out in minutes and were using the Jaws of Life to open the uncooperative canopy only to remove the lifeless body of the downed flier.

Later that night while I nursed second degree burns to my hands, arms and left side of my face, I watched the news. They said the pilot did his best to miss a bus full of school children, dribbling oil on top of the vehicle and only struck the mini-van, killing the woman driver because he didn’t see the power lines across McCarran Boulevard.

Republican Mitt Romney told a cheering crowd of about 4,500 in Reno they will play a big role in deciding who’s the next president. Romney said during a lunch-hour speech Wednesday he’s confident Nevada will help send him to the White House in November.

The former Massachusetts governor appealed to everyone in the crowd to go out and find one person who voted for President Obama last time and persuade them to “come out and vote for us this time.”

Obama carried Nevada last time partly because he became the first Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 to win the Republican-leaning Washoe County.

Meanwhile, Obama is in Las Vegas for a campaign rally featuring a free concert by pop singer Katy Perry at a park near downtown. The rally drew more than 5,000 people, with a fire official estimating several thousand more in long lines waiting to get in.

Prior to Obama’s arrival, Democratic Congresswoman and U.S. Senate candidate Shelley Berkley told the crowd Nevada is the key to re-electing him.

Then there’s a top advisor for Governor Brian Sandoval whose predicting Romney will lose the state November 6th. Lobbyist and former Republican lawmaker Pete Ernaut says Obama will carry Nevada by one to three percentage points.

Rasmussen Reports conducted a statewide presidential poll that shows Obama has a 2-percent over Romney at 50-48. Third party candidates and undecided voters were both at 1-percent statewide.

The former chief of staff to Sandoval is now the special assistant to the president for external affairs at University of Nevada, Reno. Heidi Gansert will help involved in university outreach and building partnerships with business and industry, organizations and other agencies.

Gansert served as Sandoval’s chief of staff from January 2011 until her resignation in September. Before that she served six years in the Nevada Assembly, representing District 25 in Reno.

After four days of early voting, 17 percent of active Nevada voters have already cast ballots in the upcoming election. The secretary of state’s office shows 214,609 people have voted, either in person or by mail, since early voting began Saturday.

Of those, ballots received from Democrats total 99,415, compared with 79,697 cast by Republicans. The remaining ballots are nonpartisan or voters registered with minor political parties.

Finally, a state judge in Carson City has struck down a Nevada tax initiative pushed by the state teachers union to raise money for education.  In a ruling issued Tuesday, District Judge James Wilson said the initiative’s description  was misleading and deceptive on several grounds and  is invalid.

The Nevada State Education Association backed the measure to impose a 2 percent margins tax on businesses making $1 million or more annually. The teachers union said it would raise $800 million a year for education.

Fresh from her speaking engagement at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown Law Student, spoke to 10 people in the parking lot of the Reno, Nevada Sak ‘N Save on Silverada Blvd. The event, held Saturday, was part of an effort to get Nevadans to the polls on the first day of early voting.

She has been campaign in support of President Obama’s re-election campaign, which described the rally as an “intimate gathering. A campaign photo showed Fluke talking to a few people within the confines of a parking space.

“I’m trying to do everything I can for an election that I feel is very important,” she told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Fluke became known earlier this year when she spoke before a House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in support of mandated contraception coverage.  Rush Limbaugh referred to her as a “slut” on his radio program following her comments.

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are making campaign stops in Las Vegas on back-to-back days. Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan will make their first joint appearance Tuesday in Nevada when they appear at a rally at the Henderson Pavilion.

Obama is scheduled to attend a grassroots rally late Wednesday night in Las Vegas as part of a two-day campaign blitz in six battleground states. First lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to return to Las Vegas on Friday.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Nevada Voters shows Obama with 50% support to Romney’s 47%. Obama has now hit the 50% mark again in Nevada for the first time since July.

Romney will be in Reno Wednesday. The campaign confirms that the GOP nominee will make a campaign stop in the area, but no other details have been released.

Northern Nevada’s largest newspaper has endorsed Romney for president. The Reno Gazette-Journal says the state and nation can’t afford four more years of President Obama’s leadership, noting Nevada’s economy continues to lag behind the rest of the nation.

In 2008, the paper endorsed Obama over Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin.

Democrats in Nevada have a strong advantage over Republicans in voter registration totals heading into Election Day. Figures released Friday by the secretary of state’s office show Democrats outnumber Republicans by 90,187.

By percentages, Democrats account for 42 percent of active voters statewide, compared with 35 percent registered as Republicans. The tallies are similar to 2008, when Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 100,000 statewide and helped propel Obama to a 12 point victory margin in Nevada.

Hired this summer as a public relations specialist in the Sandoval administration, Julie Ardito has left the Nevada governor’s office after 15 weeks on the job. She was hired by Governor Brian Sandoval in July as director of community affairs and constituent services.

Ardito returned as principal of her firm, Julie Ardito Public Relations, in Reno. Her last day was October 12th.

Governor Sandoval and members of his Cabinet will be reading to elementary school students, Thursday. Sandoval says the program is designed to encourage children to read and help bring focus to the reading challenges many children face.

Dubbed “Cabinet Reading Day,” members of the Sandoval administration will either read “Tomas and the Ghost Town” by Mike Miller or “Pogonip Magic” by Karen Collett Wilson.  Both are Nevada authors.

Reading sessions are planned at elementary schools in the Reno-Sparks area and in Las Vegas.

It was always one home improvement project after another with my parents. Mom and Dad planned to turn the garage into a family room; there was the sidewalk widening project; followed by building a flower bed bordered by black and white speckled river rock.

Working with Dad for nearly a month, I helped dig post holes and hammer redwood planks in place as we built a fence along the side of our yard. Shortly, there after we began hanging wood paneling and gold etched mirrors in the front room and down the hallway.

But the first project I remember after we moved into the new house on Redwood Drive was a rose garden my folks planned. It involved the use of a backhoe and creating a four-foot deep six-foot wide trench the full-length of our backyard.

Pa Sanders brought his backhoe over and dug at the hard earth for hours at a time for nearly two weeks. I had to stay on the cement slab attached to the house while watched Pa work the big machine.

Only eight-years-old, I thought it was fun to watch. Little did I know how much that trench would play in my life as I would learn to dread weekends for the next two-years.

As soon as Pa took the backhoe away, that’s when the hard work began. I helped move the green serpentine stones from the pile Dad and I had gathered at the river.

Each Saturday and Sunday, I found myself outside dropping rock after rock into the trench. The rocks were then stacked atop each other and cemented into place, creating a wall, taller than myself.

Eventually, the wall formed a barrier from the fence line we shared with the owners of Camp Marigold. The campground’s fence was a small, simple wooden affair, painted barn-red.

Before I knew it, the rock wall we were building was taller than Dad. It now took both of my parents to cement the rocks in place.

The height concerned the owner of Camp Marigold and he complained to my folks about it. He said several of the stones from the wall were leaning against his fence and threatened to knock it over, though none of the rocks touched it at any point along the boundary line.

With the complaining, came word from Mom and Dad that all our hard work was for nothing. My parents received paperwork instructing them to pull down the wall to prevent it from tumbling down on Camp Marigold’s fence.

It took some time to resolve the fence-wall issue. The outcome was that the wall was only half-torn down.

Now I found myself helping lift those same green stones out of the trench and carrying them to Dad’s pick-up. Once filled, the old Studebaker, Mom and Dad and I returned to the river’s edge where we first picked them up.

It would be another few months and the passing of my tenth birthday before the project would come to an end. One early Saturday morning Pa reappeared with his backhoe and within a few hours, he had filled the trench in.

From that point on, Mom and Dad never mentioned the stone wall again. Stranger still, not one rose-bush was ever planted in the area that had once been designated a rose garden.

For a couple of years, anyone who went into our backyard could see the top layer of green stone as it protruded between the dirt Pa had moved back into place and Camp Marigold’s fence. It would go away as well, as I helped Dad build a six-foot fence along the entire length of our backyard about two-years later.

The number of Nevadans filing initial claims for jobless benefits fell in September to the lowest level in five years. The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation says the 13,932 claims filed last month are the least since 2007.

September’s filings compare with 16,693 claims filed in the same month last year, with claims peaking in December 2008 at 34,414.

Nevada has had the nation’s highest jobless rate since May 2010.

Vice President Joe Biden is continuing his visit to Nevada with an appearance at a Democratic campaign rally at a union work training center in North Las Vegas. Campaign officials say about 600 people gathered for Biden’s appearance at the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas.

Senator Harry Reid introduced Biden before the speech which focused on the choice between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. The appearance is Biden’s third in Las Vegas in four months.

At the same time, the founder of Jimmy John’s sandwich shops hosted an event supporting Mitt Romney in Las Vegas. Romney has mentioned Jimmy John Liautaud on the campaign trail as an example of a successful entrepreneur.

The Champaign, Ill.-based Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, founded in 1983, now has more than 1,200 locations. Food-industry consulting firm Technomic has listed the company as one of the fastest growing food chains in the country for the past several years.

Nevada is drawing yet another visit from a top Democratic campaign star.

Campaign officials say First Lady Michelle Obama will make an October 26th visit to Las Vegas. Last week Former President Bill Clinton visited Las Vegas campaigning for President Obama.

The President has made nine campaign appearances between Reno and Las Vegas. The First Lady also spoke earlier this month at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Finally, the Nevada Democratic Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against Republican congressional hopeful Danny Tarkanian. The complaint questions Tarkanian’s legal standing to forgive a $250,000 loan he made to his failed 2010 U.S. Senate campaign after a judge signed a $17 million judgment against him as well as a later $40,000 loan made to his U.S. House campaign.

Democrats allege the GOP nominee for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District lacked legal control over his personal funds after a federal judge in May signed the judgment against Tarkanian and other members of his family stemming from a failed real estate deal. Tarkanian is fighting that judgment.

Vice President Joe Biden kicked off a two-day campaign swing through Nevada on Wednesday by appealing to Nevadans to get to the polls as soon as early voting begins Saturday. He told a crowd of more than 300 in a ballroom at a Reno convention center, “If we win Nevada, we will win this election.”

Biden said Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan, continue to spread doom and gloom about the economy despite signs of recovery. Biden noted that Nevada had recently seen an improvement in foreclosure and unemployment rates.

Biden heads to Las Vegas next.

Alo in Washoe County, officials say a record number of voters have registered to vote in the upcoming election. The 241,400 voters exceed the old record reached in the 2008 presidential election by 10,000.

Republicans hold a tiny lead in registration totals, having just 1,160 more registered voters than Democrats. Officials said a breakdown shows there are 91,937 Republicans and 90,777 Democrats in Washoe County. Nonpartisan and voters who align with minor political parties total 58,686.

Statewide, figures from the secretary of state’s office show Democrats hold about a 90,000 voter registration advantage statewide. In Nevada’s population hub of Clark County, the Democratic edge is nearly 127,000 as of Monday with one day to go to sign up voters.

Democrats have been far outpacing Republicans in this battleground state, with President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney both hoping to take Nevada’s six electoral votes en route to the White House.  Voter registration is also a big reason in the tight U.S. Senate race between Republican Sen. Dean Heller and Democratic Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.

The victor in that race could decide control of the Senate.

As the senate battle continues, Nevada’s two competitive House races are drawing big bucks from outside groups trying to influence the election, though it’s a lopsided third-party money matchup in the state’s new congressional district.

In the 4th District race between Republican Danny Tarkanian and Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, outside groups led by the National Republican Congressional Committee have spent nearly $2 million to oppose Horsford. Federal Election Commission reports show only $415,000 has come from outside to try to tarnish Tarkanian.

It’s a different story in Nevada’s 3rd District.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $1.5 million opposing the re-election of Republican Congressman  Joe Heck. On the opposite side of this race, the National Republican Congressional Committee has doled out $1.3 million to bash Democratic Assembly Speaker John Oceguera.

Finally, the Federal Election Commission is looking at the findings of an audit showing financial irregularities with Sharron Angle’s 2010 senate campaign. The FEC says the group “Friends of Sharron Angle” failed to report nearly $250,000 in contributions in a timely manner.

The commission auditors say the campaign also failed to itemize $2 million in debts. Auditors recommended the group amend its filings.

Angle lost in a tight race against Senator Harry Reid.

Shuttered for a three-month period during the winter and vandalized, the boss decided to hire an extra person to help keep an eye on the place as Rob and I repaired fence lines and attended the cows we’d already drove up top. Our new roustabout, Jesus, arrived shortly afterwards.

Jesus’ was short on English-speaking ability and at first had a hard time communicating. To make it even harder for Jesus, Rob spoke with a heavy Australian brogue which I even found difficult to understand at times.

But after a month or so, we were getting along pretty good.

In fact, Jesus and I had traded out places a few times so he could get some saddle-time. It was during one of these times that I grew bored with myself and started looking for trouble.

When Rob and Jesus returned to camp that afternoon, I handed Jesus a rifle and told him he had to kill a cow we had in the yard, as we needed some fresh meat. Being 18 or 19-years old and inexperienced, he grimaced at the idea.

But not wanting to say no, he took the rifle over to the corral fence and using one of the timbers for support, he fire a shot into the cow. The animal jumped at the report of the rifle and ran panicking around the corral.

Jesus turned and looked at me; he had a quizzical look in his eye as he knew he’d shot the animal and it should have dropped over dead. I waved at him to shoot again.

Blam!

Again the terrorized beast raced around the corral. And again, Jesus looked back at where Rob and I were standing.

“Dammit, kid,” Rob yelled, “you can’t even hit the broadside of a barn, can you?”

In frustration, he walked over and took the rifle from Jesus, and pumped two rounds into the cow, and still, it didn’t go down. Then in rapid succession, Rob cocked and fired five more shots into the animal.

As the frightened cow continued to run around the corral, Rob turned and looked back at me. That when he knew he’d been had, falling for another one of my jokes.

Unknown to him or Jesus, I had loaded the 30-30 Winchester with blanks.

When I was a Senior in high school, I met a girl who was a Freshman. Every time I tried to pay her a compliment, she had some sort of snide comeback and eventually stopped talking to her.

It wasn’t until several years later, when I was managing a photo lab, that a man came in with her last name. Once I noticed his name, I asked if her was related to the girl I had once tried to be nice too.

He told me she was his daughter, only he wasn’t nice about it. The man called her vulgar names and was so vocal about his disgust for her that it was embarrassing.

After he left my shop, I understood why she was as negative as she had been. She either didn’t believe me when I complimented her and felt defensive or that was simply the way she had been brought up.

Either way, I shouldn’t have stopped trying to be her friend.

Despite going after and winning two convictions in 2008’s ACORN “Blackjacking” where canvassers were paid based on the number of voters registered, Nevada’s Secretary of State Ross Miller accepted funding from the SoS Project (SSP) two-years earlier.  The donation tainted Miller’s reputation.

The SSP was created by the Democracy Alliance in 2005, funded by George Soros and made itself known during the 2010 U.S. Senate race between Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle and incumbent Democrat Harry Reid. Though leading in state polls,  Angle lost to Reid by nearly five-percentage points.

While Clark and Washoe Counties carried the majority of voters for Reid, the surprise was Mineral County, which polled less than two-percentage points in favor of the incumbent. Historically, Mineral County never carried Democrat during a national election, which left many Nevadan’s shaking their head.

In Clark County, Reid’s son, Rory Reid, while a candidate for Nevada Governor, was in charge of the voting machines that were malfunctioning and being repaired by members of Service Employees International Union. The SEIU is one of the five major unions, forming “The Shadow Democratic Party,” also funded by Soros.

Critics charged the voting machines were rigged to place check marks next to Senator’s name before a person had even voted. In the end and after an investigation, Secretary of State Ross Miller’s office concluded no fraud occurred.