Northern Nevada Briefly 11/14

School master plan committee to meet Thursday at noon

The committee to help the Carson City School District plan out the next five years will hold its first meeting at noon Thursday at the district office, 1402 W. King St.

The group had originally planned to meet earlier in the week.

Volunteers are being sought. The first goal of the committee will be to determine whether to seek a bond project in the 2010 election.

Those interested in joining the committee are asked to first call Superintendent Richard Stokes, 283-2100.

Silver Dollar Casino gets new, earthy look

The new owners of the Silver Dollar Casino have painted the one-time rainbow-colored casino on Fairview Drive in East Carson City.

The building, which closed in August and is undergoing renovations after Northern Nevada Comstock Investments, LLC., purchased it in April, will now sport desert colors, including a sandstone red and copper trim along the roof, said company owner D. Scott Tate.

Tate said the casino could be open by the first quarter next year, but "we don't have anything definitive."

The company is an affiliate of WCW Corporation and also owns Cactus Jack's Senator Club and Comstock Casino in Carson City.

Bank collects food for families

City National Bank will be collecting food for area low-income families through Dec. 21.

The bank has teamed with Carson City's Friends In Service Helping and other Nevada food banks and rescue mission to help feed a growing population of low-income households in the state.

The bank will collect canned and dried food items at its eight branch locations, which will then be donated to the non-profit organizations and given to homeless and needy families during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

The Carson City branch is located at 1811 E. College Parkway.

ElectraTherm gets $5.4M in funding

Carson City-based ElectraTherm, which manufacturers generators that are powered by waste heat, announced this week that it received $5.4 million in funding from investors

Since its 2005 inception, the company has raised nearly $10 million, the company said.

From its manufacturing plant in Mound House, ElectraTherm produces so-called "green machines" that are 5-foot by 5-foot, weigh about two tons and are capable of creating 50 kilowatts of electricity by using heated liquid and transforming it into gas, which turns a power generator. The machines have no emissions.

The company recently completed testing its product at Southern Methodist University.