Scott Schrantz's Blog

Mayor Marv left office yesterday and a new mayor of Carson City, Bob Crowell, was sworn in. Marv served three terms as mayor. He started in 1988, then re-elected in 1992. In 1996 Mayor Ray took office for two terms, then Marv was back in 2004. So the same two guys have been handing the mayor's office back and forth for 20 years, and this is the first time Carson has had somebody new in the job since 1996.

Mayor Marv's last official act as mayor was granting a pardon to the new guy's pig. Last year it came out that Bob Crowell was keeping a pet pig in his Carson City home, and that's considered livestock, which is against city code. So the pig had to be removed from his home and go to a rescue group. Yesterday Marv issued a proclamation letting Bob have his pig back, although everyone seems to agree that the mayor doesn't have the power to do that.

So much ruckus. Just let the man have his pig!

Downtown Makeover has the first downtown Reno photowalk of the year. 93 pictures!

New Then And Now:
#38 - The Other Enginehouse

New Then And Now:
#37 - Orion Clemens Home

I found myself driving around the west side of Carson today, out past Ormsby Blvd. I turned into "Kingston Park", one of the most upscale neighborhoods in town, and just had to take pictures of some of these homes.

A Washoe Zephyr has blown in today, whipping the valleys into a fine froth. These are the winds that will blow away tree branches, lawn furniture, small dogs, and anything else that isn't tied down. It will also try to blow you right off the road, so watch for crosswinds while you're driving.

The demolition of the Mirastar gas station, in the parking lot of the Douglas County Wal*Mart, is continuing this week. I still don't know why they have to tear it down; such a waste.

I always love seeing progress on the new section of the freeway, so here are a couple of quickie snaps I took while I was out that way.

This is the new bridge they're building at the Fairview interchange. Unlike at Hwy 50, where the freeway went over the road, here the road is going over the freeway. The roadbed is being prepared to take asphalt, so they can start routing Fairview over the bridge instead of around the temporary shoo-fly to the left.

A look under the bridge. The quickest way for them to build a bridge like this is to pour the support columns, then fill dirt all the way up to where the bottom of the roadway is going to be. Then they can set up forms and pour concrete right on the dirt without needing any kind of elaborate scaffolding and support. So all that is finished, and now they have to dig out the dirt underneath the bridge to reveal the brand new overpass. Once Fairview traffic is going over the bridge, they'll finally be able to start on the actual roadbed of the freeway itself.

New Then And Now:
#36 - Across the River

A lot of high-level people with the state have been coming out against the deep budget cuts being handed down by the governor's office, some of them more vocal than others. But State Archivist Guy Rocha is doing more than just complaining, he's taking the protest to another level and leaving his job. Rocha, who runs the State Archives in Carson City, but is more well-known for acting as the unofficial official State Historian, says that the coming budget cuts will ruin the agency permanently, and he doesn't want to be around to see it. And he sure doesn't want to have to be in charge of carrying it out. So he's retiring February 2nd, exactly 28 years after he took the job.

I think retirement's been on his mind for a while anyway. Back in May the paper ran a story about how he was afflicted with glaucoma and was rapidly losing his sight. I think (I hope!) that condition has been slowed and kept in check, but still in the article he talks about how he could accept leaving his job if he had to, because he's accomplished a lot and feels satisfied with his work. So he's at the point where he feels comfortable leaving, and the stress of staying on and having to deal with the budget cuts would be too much to handle.

One can hope that even though he's left an official position, he'll still continue to be a voice in the community. I know Guy not because of the work he does running the Archive, but because of the knowledge he spreads out to the community, the sense of history that he shares both in details, like dates and names, and the perspective that he brings to discussions based on his 28 years of being focused on Nevada's history. His Historic Myth a Month article series has always been a favorite of mine, spending his time busting popular myths and misconceptions that have crept into common knowledge. He's also a go-to guy for the newspaper to get a historic perspective on the issues, especially during the last year with the Sesquicentennial going on. I can hope that he'll still be around as an independent voice, and keep that kind of stuff flowing.

Guy is also featured at NewsCarsonCity today, sitting down and discussing Nevada's budget problems, and comparing it both to the Great Depression and the slump of the 1890s. He's also critical of the "No New Taxes" crowd, because, as he says, there is a certain base level of service that the government has to provide, and if you reach the point where you can't even provide that, raising taxes needs to be a viable last resort. And Nevada is at that point now, and something needs to be done. The interview is part of the Our Town Carson City video series, and a nine-minute clip can be watched here.

So stick around Guy! We still need you, even if you won't have a title.