Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels: Paying honor to some fine journalists

The Nevada Appeal's "Silver Dollar" and "Wooden Nickel" feature recognizes positive achievements from the capital region and, when warranted, points out others that missed the mark.

Silver Dollar: Veteran Carson City journalist Brendan Riley, an Associated Press reporter and capital bureau chief, announced he is retiring after 37 years of covering Northern Nevada news.

He's expected to file his last story for AP on Monday. The Genoa resident says he's written more than 20,000 stories since arriving in Carson in 1972.

Wooden Nickel/Silver Dollar: A Wooden Nickel for the sadness a generation of television viewers experienced when iconic news anchor Walter Cronkite died July 17.

A Silver Dollar in recognition of the stellar journalism career of the newsman known as the "most trusted man in America."

Silver Dollar: Encouraging signs of life in the struggling U.S. housing market.

For the first time in five years, sales of previously occupied homes rose for the third consecutive month in June, while foreclosure sales and the glut of homes on the market both declined. Sales have risen for three straight months in 40 out of 55 major metropolitan areas monitored by the AP and the real estate industry.

Wooden Nickel: Nevada's jobless rate hit a record 12 percent in June, up eight-tenths of a percent from the previous record set in May. That is the highest rate since the state began keeping records in 1976.

As a result, the state Employment Security Division is writing $37 million worth of unemployment checks a week.

Silver Dollar: The local employment scene received a positive bit of news last week. A Washington state firm, Northwest Territorial Mint, has purchased Medallic Art Co. in Dayton and will relocate its corporate headquarters there. The move could bring about 200 new jobs to the region.

Wooden Nickel: One more distressing item about the economic downturn: Area officials report an increase in discarded pets, noting many people are abandoning animals due to the costs. In turn, animals in foster and shelter care are not being adopted.

The Carson City Animal Shelter has been at 100 percent capacity since January.