Water and changes affected county

This continues the LVN’s 2017 Year in Review.

May

Help for elderly and disabled residents who need assistance with the placement of sandbags is available.

The annual spring job fair hosted by the Fallon Chamber of Commerce and local businesses offered different types of employment and shifts.

Bark in the Park began with the annual 5K walk/run at the Churchill County Fairgrounds. All the money raised from this event goes to support the Churchill Animal Protection Society.

Banner Churchill Community Hospital welcomed a new chief executive officer after former CEO Hoyt Skabelund accepted a similar position in Colorado. Banner Churchill’s new CEO is Rob Carnahan, who has been the chief nursing officer for four years.

Churchill County High School hosted the All-State Small Schools Band & Orchestra the end of April.

Kirk Robertson, a longtime and well-known prolific literary writer, poet, columnist and conversationalist, died from complications of a stroke on May 1. He and his wife, Valerie, were involved with the Churchill Arts Council, where he was responsible for development, coordination, and fundraising for the CAC’s programs, including the capital campaign for the adaptive re-use and rehabilitation of Oats Park School into the Oats Park Art Center/E.L. Wiegand Community Galleries.

Local officials praised city and county workers along with volunteers and state and federal agencies who spent countless hours and days digging out a 17-mile channel, known as the Big Dig, that is now carrying water from the Carson Lake to the Carson Sink via the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge.

Churchill County High School teacher Steve Johnson was named Nevada’s VFW Teacher of the Year and learned in June he had been tabbed as the VFW Teacher of the Year.

Kent’s Supply on North Maine Street celebrated its 125th anniversary in Churchill County.

Western Nevada College graduated one of its largest classes ever, with 551 students graduating with 592 degrees and certificates during a commencement ceremony. Uniquely, 89 of the 2017 graduates are high school students who participated in WNC’s Jump Start College.

Forty Oasis Academy seniors graduated in the Venturacci Park Gymnasium. Churchill County High School’s class of 2017 graduated on the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex’s football field, featuring guest speaker Hale-Smith, CCHS girls’ basketball coach and a physical education teacher.

Nevada’s New Voices bill, Senate Bill 420, passed the state Legislature, awaiting only the governor’s signature before it becomes law. The bill extends First Amendment freedoms to student journalists at colleges, public high schools and charter schools.

Memorial Day events in both Fallon and Fernley honored veterans who served their country and passed on. In Fallon, the Memorial Day weekend is highlighted by services at Churchill County’s three cemeteries.

June

Middlegate Station’s Monster Challenge burger was recently voted the second-most over-the-top burger in the state. USA Today’s 10 Best editors and Sandwich America wanted to find the state’s best over-the-top burger and so teamed up with local Nevada food writers and The Food Channel to nominate 20 worthy restaurants.

The Truckee Carson Irrigation District and other government agencies monitoring water levels and flood potential in western Nevada reassessed river flows in the Carson River and storage in the Lahontan Reservoir.

The Western Nevada College Fallon campus received $10,000 in donations for its rural nursing program from the Banner Churchill Community Hospital Auxiliary, Churchill County, Churchill Community Hospital, Inc. and Banner Health.

Gov. Brian Sandoval signed the New Voices Senate Bill 420 into law in Carson City at Nevada’s 78th legislative session, extending press freedom for high-school and college journalists and advisers.

After nearly four hours of testimony, passionate pleas from Stillwater farmers and ranchers and assurances from Enel Green Power North America, the Churchill County commissioners approved a special use permit (SUP) at a public appeal hearing.

Octane Fest 2017 kicked off in early June, bringing a weekend of motorsport fun with everything from track races to monster trucks. The Monster Truck Motorsports Jamboree featured monster truck rides, truck pulls, kart races, stunt drivers and all manner of heavy vehicle entertainment. A car show was also held at Walmart.

The community celebrated a milestone Saturday that honored the pioneering spirit of women who made a difference in Fallon’s development. Begun by Soroptimist International of Fallon in 1997, Pioneer Park is one of many reminders of the area’s history.

The new William N. Pennington Life Center at 952 S. Maine St. opened its doors to the public including serving its first lunch and a special cake. The 16,000-square foot, $5 million facility replaced the smaller, 40-year-old, former senior center on Court Street. A dedication was held later in June. Fallon Elks Lodge BPOE 2239 also conducted Flag Day observances at the new William N. Pennington Life Center.

The Churchill County School District Board of Trustees approved upgrading all site phone systems to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) using CC Communications.

Two new directors have come on to help the community at the Fallon Chamber of Commerce and the Churchill Economic Development Authority. Nathan Strong became the new director at CEDA at the start of April and Lucy Carnahan for the chamber in mid-March.

The Fallon Theatre on S. Maine Street has become the latest addition to the Nevada State Register of Historic Places. The State Historic Preservation Office, established in 1979, said the register is a list of Nevada properties that reflects the history and traditions important to Nevadans, and encourages the conservation of these historic places for future generations.

A century of service to the Fallon community was recognized when the Fallon/Churchill Volunteer Fire Department dedicated its new memorial to retired firefighters.

July

The Fallon Cantaloupe Festival & Country Fair in August will bring with its new summer weekend other surprises — especially for taste buds. A community tradition since 1985, the festival is going to feature a new addition: The Cantaloupe Corral, where everything on the menu is made with Fallon Hearts of Gold cantaloupe.

The annual Fourth of July parade and family day celebrated the country’s independence.

Western Nevada College will participate in the state’s new Nevada Promise Scholarship program, so young Nevadans can attend WNC starting with the fall 2018 semester, free of class fees.

Kaelehn Nemeth, who graduated from Churchill County High School, had perfect attendance throughout her 13 years of schooling. From kindergarten through her senior year, Nemeth never missed a day of school.

Churchill County High School alumna Crystal Powell was recently named Student Filmmaker of the Year at the Nevada Women’s Film Festival. Powell, who attended the University of Nevada, Reno Reynolds School of Journalism, was given the honor at the third annual event in Las Vegas with her nearly 38-minute documentary on child abuse.

Editor Steve Ranson of the Lahontan Valley News was elected Saturday as president of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. In July, he also announced his retirement as editor, effective Aug. 1 after being with the paper for 30 years.

The Draw Fire burned more than 26,000 acres 60 miles east of Fallon near Cold Springs. At times, the Nevada Department of transportation has closed U.S. Highway 50 because of smoke or fire edging toward the highway. To the west, the Bravo-17 fire burned thousands of acres.

Gov. Brian Sandoval recognized Churchill County School District Superintendent Dr. Sandra Sheldon and Western Nevada College Dean of Students John Kinkella for pioneering the JumpStart initiative.

The Nevada Department of Transportation and partners reopened the Bafford Lane (State Route 726) bridge in Fallon following coordinated flood mitigation efforts. Since April 19, Bafford Lane has been closed at the Carson River after NDOT and local agencies cut sections of the road and riverbed embankment to allow increased river flow as part of coordinated local flood mitigation measures.

Rochelle Tisdale, principal of Oasis Academy College Preparatory School, received the Western Nevada College Principal of the Year award at the Governor’s Mansion in Carson City.

Ten “pools” were confirmed as positive for West Nile virus in Churchill County. These mosquito pools were collected from five different areas in Churchill County.

Researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno, along with researchers at Utah State University and University of Idaho, are assisting rural communities such as Churchill County by applying economic, environmental and social factors to community economic development planning.