SILVER DOLLARS AND WOODEN NICKELS: Vance meant a lot to Carson City

The Nevada Appeal’s Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels feature recognizes achievements from the capital region and, when warranted, points out other acts that missed the mark.

SILVER DOLLAR: Forgive us for being self-serving, but this week we recognize Teri Vance for her service to the Appeal and the community. Teri had been with us since 1999 until her last day, which was Friday. Fifteen years at one community newspaper is rare, so that speaks how well the community thought of Teri — and how much Teri thought of the community.

There was never a story Teri was afraid of — she was Northern Nevada’s version of Hunter S. Thompson, if you will. That was demonstrated by her annual participation in the Virgina City Camel Races — although all the hopes and dreams of the Appeal as John Facenda would say were dashed when Teri failed to win last year’s media race.

Teri was the voice of education in this community as the Appeals’ education reporter, an award-winning education reporter at that.

Whatever the future has in store for Teri — we hear she may write the Great American Novel — we wish her well. We have to admit, though, we won’t miss her singing in the newsroom.

SILVER DOLLAR: To Carson High’s Brady O’Keefe, who finished third, and Brady Rivera, who took fourth, in the Sierra Nevada Classic in wrestling. The tournament features many of the West Coast’s top programs.

WOODEN NICKEL: We keep harping on televised sports coverage, but the National Football League threw ESPN a bone when it allowed it to televise Saturday’s first wild card game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers. (Thus furthering ESPN’s delusion it will someday receive the chance to televise the Super Bowl). We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, major sports events should be televised on one of the four major networks and not on cable. Millions of fans were not be able to see Saturday’s game, simply because they didn’t have cable.