Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels: Silver to those who helped with funeral costs

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: To the Carson City Firefighters Association, Carson City Deputies Association. Walton's Funeral Home and others who donated to Carson City mother Amy Cote to cover the funeral expenses for her son, Jacob, who died of an unknown cause Jan. 29 at age 4.

"We're fathers," said Carson City Fire Capt. John Arneson, an association executive board member. "When I made some phone calls around to our general membership this morning about donating, I didn't get one person who hesitated."

Carson City showed once again that when one of its own is in need, the people of this community respond with generosity and heart.

Wooden nickel: We knew it was bad, but the extent of Nevada's budget crisis became clearer last week as the governor and lawmakers discussed options for keeping the state financially afloat - and not one of the options would come without significant pain. The state is looking at hundreds of layoffs, closing Nevada State Prison, and cutting already curtailed budgets for mental health care and social services. The university system may have to close entire campuses or raise fees 50 percent, putting higher education out of reach for hundreds, if not thousands, of students.

Wooden nickel: To the scam artists who relentlessly ply their evil trade, preying on the elderly and desperate.

The Carson City Sheriff's Office has issued a warning about a new scheme, which involves callers from Jamaica with promises of lottery winnings.

The bail scam, in which the scammers call grandparents or other elderly folks and claim to be relatives in need of bail money, recently ensnared another Carson City couple, costing them thousands of dollars. Please heed the sheriff's warning: Never send money via MoneyGram or Western Union, especially out of the country, unless you are 110 percent sure you know where it's going.

• Send ideas for Silver Dollars and Wooden Nickels to editor@nevadaappeal.com.