Mills Park site of Carson's National Night Out events

Tonight's the night. National Night Out happens at Mills Park this evening. It's sponsored by Sheriff Ken Furlong and the sheriff's office, and everyone is invited. See the SWAT team in action, meet your local deputies, sit on a police motorcycle, talk to the Explorers, mounted posse, bike patrol and search and rescue squad. LOTS of stuff to do, and free hot dogs and sodas, to boot. It's fun for the whole family, so see you there.

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Also, tonight, are the auditions for "Brigadoon," WNCC's musical that will hit the boards in November. It starts at 6 p.m. in room 207 in the Aspen building at WNCC. Be prepared to sing a one-minute song (NOT "Happy Birthday") and become a star. Call 445-4249 for additional information. Break a leg.

Speaking of stars, Duane "Beans" Sousa, of Station Grille fame, is releasing his third album, "Best of Beans Sousa (go to www.shoprecords.com for a copy)." If "Puff, the Magic Dragon" isn't on it, M will be totally distraught (like he cares, or anything). Congrats, anyway.

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State Senator Lawrence "Jake" Jacobsen, passed away last week, leaving Nevada in a vacuum where, before, a wealth of knowledge had been stored. The senator knew more about Nevada than most of us put together. Our deepest sympathy to his wife, Betty, and their family. This state owed him a lot, and he will be sorely missed.

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And at the Kiwanis Club meeting last Thursday (Carolyn went as the guest of Brian Harris), "Jake" was eulogized by many Kiwanian's who remembered him well. Also, at that meeting were representatives of the Carson Fire Department, who gave tips to those attending about fire safety, such as keeping a fire extinguisher not only in your kitchen, but in your car. They apparently put out a lot more car fires than they do house fires. They also have a flyer called, "Fire Safety for Homeowners," that gives many great tips on how to survive (or, better yet, avoid) a fire. For information on this, call them at 887-2220. It may save your life.

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Carolyn takes a note from "Maxine," and says she, too, is seeing five men. "Will Power gets her out of bed each morning; then she goes and sees John; Charlie Horse sometimes gets her attention before Art Ritis comes along and takes her from joint to joint. After all that excitement, she goes to bed with Ben Gay. Oh, I forgot, she's also flirting with Al Zymer." (Thanks to Jan Whaley for ratting her out.)

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We were glad to see that Frank Taylor has a new job as poster boy for Toastmasters. And we were worried he'd be up to no good. The Hooters chicks and Bud girls are, no doubt, green with envy.

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DeeAnn Parsons sent us this riddle: "You are on a horse galloping at a constant speed. On your right side is a sharp drop off. To your left is an elephant traveling at the same speed as you. Directly in front of you is a kangaroo, and your horse is unable to overtake it. Behind you is a lion running at the same speed as the kangaroo. What must you do to get out of this highly dangerous situation?" (What to do, what to do? Keep reading for the answer.)

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We see the highway department is cleaning up our highways with the help of local businesses. We are hoping the city streets and roads department can institute a similar program, if not with local citizens, then work a deal with the prison. They have plenty of untapped labor out there who could be put to good use cleaning up our city streets, particularly the stretch of Roop street between Winnie Lane and Airport road. Lordy, that area is a blight to the senses.

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Jan Whaley also sent this: "The preacher came to call the other day. He said at my age I should be thinking of the hereafter. I told him, 'Oh, I do. All the time. No matter where I am, in the parlor, upstairs, in the kitchen, or down in the basement, I ask myself, 'now, what am I here after?'" Ain't it tha truth?

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Get your picnic duds on, bring a blanket, chairs, and coats (it gets cold when the sun goes down), prepare the food ... get thee to the Nevada State Railroad Museum on Aug. 9 at 8:30 p.m. and watch a movie under the stars in the Gibson park there. The title of the movie "will be announced," but you can bet it'll probably be a great old Western (we can only hope). Lot's of fun for the whole family, and FREE.

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Also, coming up on Aug. 12 is the first trip down the new mile and a half extension of the V&T in Virginia City (call 847-4FUN for reservations). It's a two-hour ride with music, wine and appetizers. It's $40 each and you'll be making history as the first paying passengers to go that far in over 50 years.

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As Carolyn was munching on her pistachio pie at Glen Eagles the other day, and Maizie was wiping the whipped cream off her nose from the Blum's cake, Jerry Allred popped in and caught them in the midst of their hedonistic pleasures. Turns out he was probably going to order one of those goodies himself, as he said he and Lisa and the kids had just gotten back from a San Clemente camping trip in California with all his brothers and their families and there wasn't a piece of Blum's cake in sight. They do this every year and have a wonderful time.

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John Eiche told Carolyn that we missed a very important sporting event at Laguna Seca recently. Nicky Hayden, "the Kentucky Kid," won his second title in a row in the Moto/GP, the ultimate motorcycle race in the world, and an almost unheard of feat, in front of 145,000 screaming fans. And we're hoping Floyd Landis is exonerated from the doping accusations at the Tour de France. The way things have been going over there the last few years, with the doping scandals, and their dislike of an American winner, would someone stoop so low as to switch specimens? It wouldn't surprise us. Then again, anything's possible.

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Answer to riddle: "Get off the merry-go-round!"