Tag: carsonvalley

Highway 395 through the Carson Valley is basically a freeway. The fact that the state won't pay the money to build overpasses and make it official doesn't really matter. People use it to commute between Carson City and Minden at high speeds, and there are only a few cross streets that meet up with it. It's a freeway, and people use it like a freeway.

Freeways of course have accidents, because with that many cars traveling at those kinds of speeds it's inevitable that a couple of them are going to smash into each other. And a freeway that's not officially a freeway is going to have even more accidents, just because it doesn't have the built-in safeguards that a real freeway has, like controlled access at the intersections. That's why the stoplight at Stephanie was so important to get built; it's a poor substitute for an overpass at the intersection, but it's better than people darting out into traffic whenever they feel like it.

So collisions at the intersection are one big danger of a highway like 395, but the other big danger has proven to be just as deadly. 395 is a divided highway, but there's nothing stopping cars from crossing the median and ending up facing oncoming traffic. The median is just a big dirt ditch. At the north end of the valley, it's a fairly flat ditch, but the further south you go the more steep the sides get. Almost to the point where, if you hit that ditch down by Muller Lane, it acts as a ramp and launches your car into the air. Then you find yourself dropping onto oncoming traffic from above, instead of just meeting them head-on. Talk about a nasty accident.

Surprisingly, this is one problem that the state has actually decided to tackle. This fall, NDOT will be installing a cable barrier down the middle of the highway, stretching all the way from Muller Lane to Jacks Valley Road. The barrier will catch any cars that do make their way into the median, and stop them from crossing over into the other lanes.

Now, the cable barrier is a controversial choice. It was picked instead of the more conventional concrete Jersey barrier because of the cost, I'm sure. Concrete walls can cost 50% more than a cable barrier, and a wall would also affect the drainage in the ditch, something that was pointed out in the article. But cable barriers have plenty of opponents, mostly motorcycle riders, who contend that this kind of barrier can slice you in half, or even thirds, if you hit it just right. There also seem to be some very vocal lawyers who have a bone to pick against cable barriers, although you always have to question a lawyer's motives. Other studies show that cable barriers are safer, because they have some flexibility to them so it's like your car being caught in a net instead of slamming into a wall.

I guess the real test will be when the barriers actually get installed, and people start running into them. Whatever the result, it's got to be more favorable than having those cars jump into the oncoming lanes, doubling the chances for tragedy.

With all the flap that's been going on about Jethro's Casino being built up in the hills across from Wal*Mart, another big casino project has been able to slip by almost unnoticed, until the Nevada Appeal highlighted it today.

The Brownstone GoldTown Hotel and Casino is being planned for the corner of South Sunridge Drive and Hwy 395. If I'm right, this is on the piece of land next to the Silver City RV Park that has been rumored to be getting a casino for about a decade now. Unlike Jethro's, this casino will definitely be down in the Carson Valley, and depending on how tall their 300-room hotel is, it could possibly be seen from all over the valley. Although I'd imagine the same restrictions that Jethro is currently fighting also apply to this Sunridge site, so the owners of GoldTown have probably designed their building to fit within the county guidelines, thereby avoiding all the trouble Jethro's gotten into. That means a short, squat hotel complex, rather than a big tower.

Construction is supposed to start by the end of the year, with Phase One open in 2009.

So this marks the third big casino project for the Indian Hills area. GoldTown will be at the bottom of the south slope, Bodine's will be at the base of the north slope, and Jethro's will be up on top of the hill. One of the commenters at the Appeal brings up the obvious question: "Just where are the patrons for these mega casino's coming from?"

Update: This photo shows where I think the project location is going to be. Just this side of the RV park you can see where the land was cleared away for a casino nearly a decade ago. We'll see if they have any better luck this time.

There's a real concerted effort being organized to oppose Jethro's Beverly Hillbillies Casino, which was recently announced for north Douglas County. The effort isn't being put together by grassroots citizens or residents, though, it's being spearheaded by Big George Ventures, a developer that has plans to build houses right next to where Jethro wants his casino to go. You can imagine them being upset about the plans, because I'm sure a project like this, with a 150-foot hotel tower blocking the views of the mountains, will make their subdivision considerably less desirable.

And so, to drive the opposition to Jethro's, they've launched a website, brilliantly named NoHillbillies.com. That's just about the best domain name they could have gotten, I think. And the site itself is actually pretty professional looking, especially compared to the Jethro's Casino website, which is a hot mess and a half. And even compared to Big George's official website, which is the very definition of minimalist.

One of the stumbling block's still in Jethro's way is the Douglas County Planning Commission, who need to approve the zoning changes and variances that are required to build the casino. So of course a lot of the force of the No Hillbillies movement is being directed at the county. The planning commission met Tuesday night to discuss and vote on the changes, and they came back with a tied vote. So the issue will be continued until the next meeting in July, and voted on again.

The Big George development was approved unanimously.

Again the comments section at the Nevada Appeal is mostly positive towards the casino idea, as are the letters to the editor in the Record Courier here and here. I think probably the reason there is so much support for the project here in the Carson Valley is the same reason there was support for Wal-Mart, and Best Buy, and now Riverwood. All that development exists in a nice little dead zone, on the north slope of Indian Hills, where we get all the tax money but we don't have to see the actual development. Even Jethro's 200-foot oil derrick that some people seem to be against. It won't loom over the Carson Valley, like No Hillbillies says it will. It will loom over Carson City; from the Valley it will nice and invisible. Out of sight, out of mind.

Except for the people who end up living in Georgetown Village. This is what they'll see.

No wonder Big George is upset.

I've been a hermit this weekend, holed up working in either my backyard or my office the whole time. So I ended up missing the two biggest events of early summer, the Carson Valley Days in Minden/Gardnerville and the Carson Rendezvous in Mills Park. I'm sure I'm not the only one who missed one or both of them.

So if there's anyone out there that did make it, and has photos, video, or stories they'd like to share, I'd love to get your stuff on the site to fill in those of us who were stuck elsewhere. So if you have anything you'd like to publish, just send it my way!

The gazebo at Minden Park isn't the only place you'll be able to see concerts this summer. There is also a concert series going on at the Minden Village shopping center, you know, the one just west of the Carson Valley Inn. Nestled in between the Quiznos Subs and the Cold Stone Creamery, the sidewalk of this strip mall will be transformed into a concert venue six times this summer.

June 16 - Beppe Gambetta

July 7 - Michael Powers

July 21 - Michael Gulezian

August 3 - Bob Malone Band

August 18 - Scott Huckabay

September 1 - Duo-Tones

And most remarkably, all of these artists have agreed to play for tips in order to keep the concerts free to the public. So if you come, bring your lawn chairs, grab a sub from Quizno's, and drop a few dollars in the hat after the show. All shows start at 7:00pm, and most of them are on Saturday night, except for Bob Malone which is on Friday.

Also check out the concert series' website for more details.

This afternoon we found ourselves down in the Carson Valley in the late afternoon, and we remembered that Tuesdays are when the new Minden Farmer's Market is taking place. So we made the detour onto Esmeralda Street to check it out.

And you know, it's not a huge affair. The street is roped off for one block, between 4th and 5th Streets, and there are several tents and booths set up. Since it's a farmer's market, you'd expect to see a lot of fruit and vegetables being sold, but in reality there were only about three or four kiosks offering those goods. And all of those were freshly trucked in from California, not locally grown. The quality still beat what you get in the supermarket, though. These strawberries, in particular, were like nectar from the gods.

Another booth was selling apricots, peaches, and pluots. And while they were still certainly miles beyond the produce you can normally buy around here, they still fell short compared to the strawberries. Oh well. Not everyone can be number one.

The rest of the booths were selling various arts and crafts, baked goods, flowers, and prepared foods like bratwurst and taquitos. It's not a huge farmer's market by any means, and I'm pretty sure I could count the number of actual farmers in attendance on one hand. But it's a good showing for a small town like Minden, and even though it was a windy and chilly afternoon, there was still a good turnout. So if you ever find yourself in Minden on a Tuesday, like we did, it might be worth your time to set aside twenty minutes and stop by.

And be sure to grab the strawberries.

Also, remember that this coming Friday is the first Concert in Minden Park for the 2007 season. This first performance is by Hotel California, an Eagles tribute band, but even if you're not into the classic sounds of Don Henley and the boys the concerts are still a great place to have a picnic, kick back under the trees, and do some people-watching. See you there?

Taken from the Home Depot in Indian Hills.

The Minden Park concert series is starting up again in a couple of weeks. These concerts have just been growing and getting more popular every year, and it's a great use of the grassy park and gazebo that Minden has at its town center. Just another way Minden has the best downtown around.

So here's this year's lineup:

May 25 - Hotel California, an Eagles tribute band.

July 13 - The Comstock Cowboys.

July 27 - The Jeff Jones Band.

August 10 - The John Jorgenson Quintet.

August 24 - The Michael Powers Band.

All concerts are on a Friday night at 6:30pm, except for the final one on August 24th, which starts at 6:00. Get your picnic baskets ready!

It's not really a "surprise" storm, because we were warned that it was coming. I think the real surprise is that the weathermen were right. "Snow?" I scoffed. "I'll believe that when I see it."

Around here the default setting is sunny and hot. That's what we get ten months out of the year, is sunny and hot. Summer comes just as soon as it's possible in the beginning of the year, and sticks around as long as we'll let it. That's why we were seeing highs of like 80 degrees just a couple of weeks ago. We skip right over spring. Summer starts in March around here.

And on top of that is all the disappointment that comes from living in a rain shadow, where you get to hear about all the snow storms and rain storms that are coming your way, and you get to watch the mountains get shrouded in clouds, but the storm never makes it that last few miles. It never hops over the hump and shares its moisture with the valleys. So that's why, even when the weather report says it's going to rain, or says it's going to snow, I never believe it. I don't believe it in December, and I don't believe it in March.

But sometimes it surprises you, and even in the face of all of those obstacles you get snow in summer. Like we did today.

Here's some homework for you. Go to the website of Douglas Disposal, the company that does trash pickup for the Carson Valley. Now list fifteen ways it could be better. For extra credit, tell me what year this website reminds you of.