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 Western Nevada College nursing program and Carson Nursing and Rehabilitation, which put first-year nursing students into the center to work directly with residents. They treat maladies, but they also learn to interact with patients as people.
WOODEN NICKEL: To a new report that ranks Nevada dead last among the states in an "opportunity index." The good news: Carson City ranks better than the statewide average in many areas.
SILVER DOLLAR: To Carson City Health and Human Services, for offering flu shots in exchange for two cans of donated food. The deadline is Dec. 9; for information, call 775-887-2195.
WOODEN NICKEL: To the entrepreneurial but unethical guy who offered to paint homeowners' addresses on curbs, implying in a flier that he had the endorsement of Carson City's sheriff and fire chief - when he had neither. Fliers were distributed in the Northridge subdivision in northeast Carson City.