Nevada Briefs - March 2006

Nevada Briefs

Lieutenant Governor Lorraine Hunt, Chair of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, which oversees the Nevada Film Office, recently announced that revenues for calendar year 2005 reached approximately $102.5 million, which continues a six-year trend for Nevada of exceeding the $100 million mark. Television series, specials, reality shows and documentaries brought in $59.4 million, or 58 percent of total Film Office revenue. Motion pictures represented 18 percent of total revenue, and commercials brought in another 10 percent. Films made in Nevada in 2005 included Rocky 6 with Sylvester Stallone and Lucky You with Drew Barrymore.

Station Casinos, Inc. and the Greenspun Corporation announced they have entered into an agreement to develop Aliante Station, a hotel and casino in Aliante, a master-planned community in North Las Vegas. Station will develop and manage the facility, which will be located on a gaming-entitled 40-acre site on the northeast corner of I-215 and Aliante Parkway. The agreement calls for a 50/50 ownership of the project, with Station receiving a management fee. Station will immediately begin designing the hotel and casino and anticipates breaking ground on the project by late 2006 or early 2007.

PUC Approves Rebate Program

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUC) has approved plans by Sierra Pacific Power Company and Nevada Power Company to increase funding for high-efficiency air conditioning rebates from $2.6 million to $14.5 million. More home builders will now be able to receive rebates when they install new high-efficiency air conditioners, which use less electricity, in new homes. Thirty builders have registered to participate in the program, which will affect up to 20,000 new homes. Homeowners can also participate when they trade out older models for new ones. The PUC also approved plans for the power companies to reinstitute also refrigerator recycling programs.

AARP Nevada is presently taking applications in a competition entitled "2006 AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50." Awards will be given to employers who are developing innovative workplace policies and practices to address staffing needs in today’s competitive marketplace. Winners will be featured in its national publication. Applications are available at: www.aarp.com/bestemployers. The deadline is March 20, 2006.

"Illness and injuries don’t keep office hours," said Dr. J. Corey Brown, who along with Dr. Neil W. Goodsell, heads up the medical staff of Las Vegas’ newest medical facility, Fremont Medical Center, which recently opened in the former J.C. Penney building at the corner of Fremont Street and Sixth Street.

INN (In Nevada Network) is a cooperative effort of some of the state’s major banks, savings and loans and credit unions. Not only can INN’s 270,000 card holders withdraw cash from automatic teller machines at any of the participating institutions’ locations, but beginning this month, they will be able to purchase merchandise and services as well. Soon Atlantic Richfield Corp. customers will be able to purchase gasoline using the ATM-debit card.

State officials are slowing down their bid for a massive $4 billion atom-smasher project that would create an economic boom wherever it might be located in Nevada – now that consultants are warning them Nevada is hardly at the top of the list of potential sites. (Editor’s Note: The Superconducting Super Collider project eventually went to Texas.)