Past Headlines Sept. 28

Housing: 'A bear market, not a crash'

Stay put if you can, consultant says

An interest rate analyst said Wednesday that falling housing prices are a catalyst for a bear market nationally, and he predicts future market decreases of 2-4 percent annually over five to seven years.

Sales have slowed in Carson City, despite falling prices, but one local real estate agent speculates that the capital city will continue to be a buyer's market, with prices equalizing after a four-year boom.

Nationwide, real estate is sinking in its claws.

Nude show nixed at Piper's

But other, tamer fundraising shows are still allowed

Officials of Piper's Opera House, needing $70,000 annually to keep operating, considered allowing a nude show during last week's Thunder on the Comstock motorcycle event.

But the idea was nixed by Storey County Sheriff Jim Miller, who said it violated local ordinances. The show was to include the sale of sex toys outside the historic opera house, Miller said.

Miller said Piper's Opera House director Perry Arnn and Piper's board member Dawn Neamo met with him several weeks ago to try to get the show off the ground.

"They were denied because of how they insisted on presenting the dancers," Miller said. "First they wanted straight nudity, then they wanted to go topless, then see-through. They also didn't fall within the 45-day limit on permits."

Miller said he tried to work with the group to get them to do a 1930s-style burlesque with no nudity.

"The can-can dancing, taking the gloves off - but they don't disrobe," he explained. "A lot of people would enjoy that."