Business briefs

Commercial Real Estate Women's Network of Northern Nevada will hold its annual installation of officers and board of directors at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at Mario's Portofino, at 1505 S. Virginia St.

Reservations to attend the installation must be pre-paid at $50 per person for members and $60 per person for non-members. Doors will open at 5:30, and dinner and the program will begin at 6 p.m. For information call 888-6168 or 858-8090.

Yates named president-elect of court reporters

Karen Yates of Minden has been installed as President-elect of the National Court Reporters Association.

A 26,000-member professional association, NCRA includes official and freelance court reporters, broadcast captioners, Communication Access Realtime Translation providers, and Webcasters. Yates, a CART provider, works locally with Captions Unlimited of Nevada and nationally with Caption First of Lombard, IL.

Unlicensed contractors arrested

Lenny Cook (aka Selimoa Finau, Tom Cook and Tom Tuipulotu), dba TC Concrete and Tree Service; and Herendira Vega-Hernandez, (aka Erin Vega), dba AAA Landscape and Design, were recently arrested by the Reno Police Department's Street Enforcement Team.

Both Cook and Vega-Hernandez have been listed on the Nevada State Contractors Board's Ten Most Wanted in Northern Nevada.

Cook allegedly received $3,500 from one homeowner to replace a roof and failed to do any work.

Vega-Hernandez, who had been convicted three previous times of contracting without a license and also advertising without a license, allegedly gave a written bid for the installation of sod and pavers at a Nevada State Contractors Board sting house in Reno.

The Investigations Unit of the Nevada State Contractors Board tracks and cites offenders and informs the public of their rights and responsibilities.

To assist in prosecuting illegal contracting, the Nevada State Contractors Board has launched an online "Ten Most Wanted." Individuals listed on the Ten Most Wanted Web site pages are those who have outstanding arrest warrants for unlicensed contracting activity. Contractors and members of the public can go online at www.nscb.state.nv.us and click "Ten Most Wanted" on the quick-link menu to review suspect's profiles.

WEACT to hold Holiday Tea

WEACT will hold a Holiday Tea and Ornament Exchange 4-6 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Country Garden Restaurant in Arling Garden Mall, 606 W. Plumb Lane, Reno.

Bring an ornament to exchange ($10 or less) wrapped and join in the fun. RSVP by Nov. 30 to shelley.l.johnson@ubs.com or 813-6949. $28 WEACT Members; $38 Non-members; $70 with 1-year WEACT. All RSVPs must be prepaid before the event. No walk-ins.

WEACT orientation meeting set

Want to learn more about WEACT and get involved? New orientation meeting 5:30-6:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at TMCC Redfield Campus, 18600 Wedge Parkway, Room # 128, Reno. RSVP www.weact.biz or 813-6949.

Renown to build center in TRIC

Lance Gilman of L. Lance Gilman Commercial Real Estate Services announced that Renown Medical Center has purchased three acres in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center for an urgent care and emergency treatment facility.

Steve Tapogna, spokesman for Renown, said that plans for the building are still in the early stages that it will probably be 90 days before plans are finalized.

They might, however, move some trailers onto the property, located centrally in TRIC at the corner of Italy and the USA Parkway, the main thoroughfare through the industrial complex, as a temporary base of operations once it is demonstrated there is an immediate need.

High-tech computer conference going on

The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis comes to Reno-Sparks Convention Center through Friday. This premier international conference includes technical and education programs, workshops, tutorials, an exhibit area, demonstrations and hands-on learning. For information or to register, visit www.sc07.supercomp.org.

Reno hospital to open centerpiece of expansion project

RENO (AP) - The centerpiece of a $275 million expansion at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno opened this week.

The hospital's 10-story Tahoe Tower on Mill Street will feature state-of-the-art surgical care, improved emergency services and user-friendly patient rooms, Renown officials said.

The Tahoe Tower stands in contrast to the humble brick structure just to the west that once was the entire hospital.

It marks the latest addition for the 131-year-old nonprofit health care facility that was known as Washoe Medical Center until last year.

The cost of the expansion, including renovations to the adjacent, smaller Sierra Tower, is being financed with tax-exempt bonds.

A Community Day open house is planned for today.