The Nevada Appeal's Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels feature recognizes positive achievements from the capital region and, when warranted, points out others that missed the mark.
SILVER DOLLAR: To Nevada maintenance workers John Klapper and Frank "Bud" Blazek, who with the help of some colleagues, returned a wallet that they found on the side of the road to its owner. There was $120 in cash inside. Gov. Brian Sandoval honored the men with a letter of thanks and a governor's medallion.
SILVER DOLLAR: To Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey for seeking legislation to ensure that all legislative interim committees follow Nevada's open-meeting law. While it has been policy, Hickey wants to make it law. After all, open government is the best government.
SILVER DOLLAR: To Sen. Dean Heller, who on Tuesday urged Congress to close oil company tax loopholes. With gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon, it seems logical to close loopholes reportedly worth at least $21 billion during the next 10 years. That's a large chunk of change for an industry whose top five companies recorded profits of $135 billion in 2011.