The Rape Crisis Center (RCC) reaches a significant milestone in 2014 —
40 years of service in Southern Nevada. To mark the achievement, The
Rape Crisis Center is kicking off a year of events and celebrations
with the organization’s first-ever run/walk. The Healing Hearts 4K and
8K will take place on the Lake Trail at Sunset Park the day after
Valentine’s Day – February 15, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. Early bird
registration is now available through Jan. 31 for $36 for the 4k and
$40 for the 8k. Prices increase to $40 and $48, respectively, after
Jan. 31. Participants may register by going to
http://www.rcclv.org/events/. The Rape Crisis Center asks everyone to
show their support and help celebrate 40 years by registering, running
or walking, and wearing red on race day to show support for survivors
of sexual violence.
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Las Vegas residents invited to beers with Councilman Bob Beers
Residents looking to meet and converse with Ward 2 Councilman Bob
Beers will have the opportunity to join him for a beer and a chat from
5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, at Three Angry Wives Pub, located
at 8820 W. Charleston. Blvd., Suite #105
Councilman Beers invites residents to discuss what is happening in
Ward 2 and the city of Las Vegas. For more information call (702)
229-2144.
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State scouts northern Nevada for new veterans home location
The state is scouting locations in northern Nevada to build a new
veterans home, in an effort to keep up with the growing demand to care
for aging veterans. Charles Pullen, public information officer, Nevada
Department of Veterans Services, said the current demand far outweighs
the number of beds in the existing facility — and there are more than
300,000 veterans living in the Silver State.
“We also have an aging population within the veteran community, and
this would be a way of helping with those aging veterans in the
northern Nevada area,” Pullen said.
The 180-bed state veterans home in Boulder City is Nevada’s only
nursing home for vets, he said, pointing out the long waiting list to
get in. Reno and Sparks are among locations being considered for the
new veterans home, which would be a 90-bed facility, he said.
The veterans homes are for patients with health conditions that
require skilled medical care and treatment, he said. The state would
build more facilities, but doesn’t have the money, Pullen added.
“The funding is what we think that we can do right now. We’re always
looking for other avenues to perhaps be able to increase that, but
that’s the number that we can achieve at this point in time,” he
explained.
Pullen acknowledged that the timeline for a new facility is unclear.
The Nevada Legislature has allocated just over $1 million for
planning, but has yet to set aside money for land purchase or
construction. He said the federal Veterans Administration would likely
cover about two-thirds of the cost of what will be a
multimillion-dollar project.
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Corporate Challenge seeks involvement by more local businesses
Corporate Challenge, the largest amateur athletic competition in the
State of Nevada, seeks to involve more local companies and
organizations in the annual event. Corporate Challenge is a way for
employees to build teamwork and friendships and become more at home in
the community while being more physically active. It has helped to
foster company pride, corporate wellness and unity since 1985.
Management participation in this 11-week competition is an excellent
way to encourage initiative, reward the commitment of key staff,
improve morale, and motivate future performance. Many of today’s most
successful local companies have been involved in this annual activity
for many years.
Companies may register for participation in the 2014 Corporate
Challenge competition through Feb. 14. Costs for participation range
from $1,800 for companies of up to 300 employees to $2,200 for
companies of 1,000 or more. Companies are divided into three
divisions, based on the number of employees. This makes competition
fairer, so companies with only a few employees are not challenging
those with a base of thousands.
Events will begin Feb. 28 and continue through May 17, and include
most sports as well as less strenuous activities — a comical executive
relay, parade, blood drive, chess, 8-ball, kart racing, poker, table
tennis, shuffleboard, horseshoes, bocce and a T-shirt design contest.
Smaller companies that share business often join forces to form a
combined team.
Corporate Challenge competition brings company names and images into
the limelight – a real marketing benefit for all area enterprises.
Some 20,000 players and spectators are exposed to businesses and their
staff throughout the 36 events. Competitors wear their company
T-shirts in a variety of locations, and the company names are
displayed on the canopy of lights at Fremont Street Experience during
opening ceremonies.
Corporate Challenge is operated by the city of Las Vegas. For more
information and to register for Corporate Challenge 2014, visit
www.lasvegasnevada.gov/
at (702) 229-6706.
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Nevada farmers still waiting on a Farm Bill
The new year is here, and Nevada farmers continue to feel the pinch of
helping to produce the nation’s food supply without a Farm Bill.
The last five-year Farm Bill expired at the end of September.
Political gridlock in the nation’s capital is causing economic
uncertainty for farmers, said Zach Allen, communications director for
the Nevada Farm Bureau Federation, because it puts programs such as
crop insurance in jeopardy. He said it’s time for farmers to put more
pressure on lawmakers to end the stalemate.
“Voices in the rural parts of the country need to speak out to their
elected representatives and push for the Farm Bill to get done,” he
said.
A major cause of the delay is the battle over how much to cut from the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps.
The Senate approved $4 billion in SNAP cuts, while the House wants a
$40 billion cut. Some reports say a potential compromise could trim $8
billion from SNAP over 10 years.
Allen said he believes the Farm Bill delay is hurting the Silver State
and much of the nation’s economy. Following another year of drought in
Nevada, he said one of the biggest challenges facing farmers is the
uncertainly of the crop insurance program.
“Nevada’s still in a drought,” he said. “We’ve had a very dry winter.
Moving forward, as we go into the summer months, there’s still a lot
of uncertainty with weather, and it’s important for producers to know
what they have to do in terms of getting their insurance taken care
of.” Allen said agriculture contributes more than $5 billion a year to
Nevada’s economy. It’s the state’s third biggest money maker, behind
gaming and mining.
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Nevada AARP members judge products at CES
Members of AARP offered opinions on some of the new technologies
unveiled at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this
week. Mark Eisele was among those judging offerings in the product
competition called the “50-Plus IT List.”
Eisele said it was an amazing experience to see firsthand the products
geared toward people age 50 and older. A lot of the technology is
focused on health and wellness, he noted.
“They had the apps that were the heart-rate monitors. They had the
blood-pressure monitors. Again, that’s something that’s not just for
older people,” he said.
According to AARP, baby boomers are spending more on technology than
any other age group. They are exploring health and fitness
innovations, home security and road safety applications, home
entertainment and more. Nevada is home to more than 1 million
residents age 50 and older.
CES also showcased wearable technology such as glasses and watches
that act like smartphones and personal computers. Contrary to the
possible cultural assumption that technology is a young person’s
arena, Eisele said many people in his age group are tech-savvy.
“We all have Twitter accounts, we all have Facebook accounts,
definitely Skype, FaceTime – all of the latest technology. Definitely
all of my friends that are my age, we have,” he added.
In addition to using technology in his personal life, Eisele said he
uses music apps to help in his job as a violin teacher.
AARP Nevada spokeswoman Hillary Grey said 50 of their members attended
CES this week.
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Study: Little difference in risky behaviors in PG-13, R movies
Many parents in Nevada would never think of allowing their young teen
to see an R-rated movie, but a new study shows those films have much
of the same type of content as those that are rated PG-13.
Amy Bleakley, a senior research scientist with the Annenberg Public
Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, says the PG-13
rating, determined by the motion picture industry, doesn’t always stop
the kind of material parents may think it does.
“We found that there is really no difference between PG-13 and R-rated
movies with regards to the extent to which this content is featured,
except with tobacco and explicit sex, which is more common in R-rated
movies,” she explains.
Bleakley’s study on film ratings was recently featured in the journal
Pediatrics.
The study found that in 400 of the top movies from the past 15 years,
a main character was involved in violence and also a second risky
behavior such as drinking, smoking or sexual activity 80 percent of
the time – whether the film was rated PG-13 or R.
Bleakley says the big question in the wake of this study revolves
around how children process what they see at the movies and whether
they’re more likely to act out on a broad range of risky behaviors.
“We know that when kids see just tobacco on screen, they’re more
likely to initiate smoking,” she explains. “And when, you know, they
see alcohol on screen they’re more likely to drink, and so on.
“But we don’t know the effect of these clustered behaviors. So that’s
our next step. We want to try and find that out.”
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Rape Crisis Center marks 40 years with 4K run
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