Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels: Helping out kids in need, soldiers

Silver dollar: To Kids in Transition and its director Jeannette Famoso, who is organizing a drive for coats, hats and gloves for area schoolchildren. The need this year is greater than ever as the economy has pushed some families that were borderline into poverty. Sizes 4T up to large adult sizes are needed. Hats, gloves and socks are also welcome. Donations can be delivered from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays to the Professional Development Center, 604 W. Musser St. This is a terrific program that does so much for the most vulnerable members of our community. Please give it your support.

Silver Dollar: To P.J. Degross, for spearheading a project to bring a little entertainment to our troops, "Take a Soldier to the Movies." Degross is asking for people to fill a large Ziploc bag with everything a soldier needs to enjoy a night at the movies: one or two used or new DVDs, bags of microwave popcorn, pre-sweetened drink mix, candy and a greeting card. Degross is founder of Web of Support, which matches families in the U.S. with deployed soldiers to whom they send care packages and cards. Degross said that to participate people just need to assemble a package and drop it off at Charley's Grilled Subs in the Carson Mall. Please include $1 to help defray shipping costs.

Wooden nickel: Once again, boos and hisses go to the economy. The national jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent in October - a 26-year high. And whatever green shoots of recovery may be sprouting around the country are taking their sweet time to get to Nevada. The latest Associated Press Economic Stress Index report shows Nevada may be in for a long economic winter. The index calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on a county's unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates, with a score of 11 or above indicating a county in stress. This week, three of the five worst counties in the nation were Lyon, with a score of 24.72, Clark, 23.8, and Nye, 23.72.