Humboldt County News

By now most of you have noticed some changes in the KWNA Newsroom. My name is Eric Skye and I am the new News Director for KWNA. I was news director at KELY in Ely, where a majority of my experience comes from. I do hope that you like the changes being made to KWNA News and look forward to meeting and seeing all of you around town.

The new Democrat-controlled Congress will be largely hostile to the U.S. mining industry on everything from taxes to environmental regulation. "The next two years are going to be extremely challenging for the mining industry, there’s no two ways about it," said Dan Gerkin, the National Mining Association’s senior vice president for government affairs. New Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is a longtime friend and ally of the industry but "in simple terms, we’re going to have more critics and fewer friends in Congress," Gerkin said. "I assure you, environmental issues are going to be a priority in the new Congress," he told delegates at the 112th Northwest Mining Association convention. The legislative outlook was in stark contrast to the tone of most of the five-day conference entitled "Sustaining the Boom," where an estimated 2,000 delegates celebrated some of the highest gold and metal prices ever. Laura Skaer, NWMA’s executive director from Spokane, Wash., said earlier in the week the industry was enjoying a "super cycle" due largely to booming demand in China. But she bemoaned the "disastrous election results in Congress." "We’re probably going to have a little different focus politically the next two years," she said. Come January, Democrats will claim a 51-49 majority in the Senate — counting two independents as members of their caucus — where Republicans previously ruled 55-45. In the House, the GOP’s 233-202 advantage will turn Democrat, 232-203. GOP losers in the Senate included at least five "really rock-solid supporters" of mining, Gerkin said. In the House, 18 of the Republicans who lost had an 80 percent or voter voting record on the National Mining Association’s scorecard, he said. Of bigger concern are the committee chairmanships, especially Representative Nick Joe Rahall of West Virginia, one of the industry’s loudest critics who will chair the House Resources Committee. Rahall has authored legislation in the past to initiate royalty fees on minerals extracted from federal lands and repeal the 1872 Mining Act that gives company’s rights to the claims in the first place. "Mining law reform is going to be near the top of his agenda," Gerkin said. Just as concerning to the industry are some things that will not happen, such as Endangered Species Act reforms which were gaining momentum under the guidance of Rep. Richard Pombo, of Calif., the House Resources Committee chairman who lost his seat. "With Pombo’s surprising defeat, one thing is for sure — we’re not going to see that reform," said William Perry Pendley, president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation in Lakewood, Colo. Gerkin said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, of MD., "is generally pro business and somebody we feel we can work with but the odds are sort of stacked against us in the leadership." The lone bright spot could be Reid as majority leader. Nevada is the third largest gold producer in the world behind South Africa and Australia.

A new law aimed at curtailing online gambling in the United States has rattled major publicly traded Internet gambling companies but has done little to keep Americans from wagering online. The changes have been a boon to smaller, privately owned companies that may not adhere to the same level of standards public companies must meet, the experts say. The new law effectively bars online betting in the United States by making it illegal for U.S. banks and credit card companies to process payments to gambling Web sites. But gamblers still can place wagers by going through third-party sites that facilitate transactions. The online gambling industry generated about $7 billion to $10 billion worldwide in 2004, with Americans making up at least half the market, according to the American Gaming Association. It is unclear how dramatically those figures have changed since the new law has been in effect. But industry watchers say traffic to the publicly traded companies, which no longer are accepting U.S. customers, has slumped while traffic to privately owned companies, which continue to cater to Americans, have gotten a boost. "The largest, most financially transparent sites have left the market," said Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance, which lobbied heavily against the legislation. Bolcerek argues the measure infringes on Americans' personal freedoms by requiring banks and credit card companies to monitor their customers' online transactions. The law's full impact likely won't be felt until next summer when the new regulations actually go into effect.

The Newmont Mining Corporation entered into a partnership with Great Basin College to provide testing and training of 800 employees over a two-year period. At least $750,000 has been pledged to develop new mining-related courses at the college and includes 60,000 man-hours of training. The program entitled One Nevada Maintenance training program started late last month at the Elko Campus with possible expansion to other GBC campuses. The program will focus on skill areas already addressed by GBC including Diesel, welding, electrical, systems technology, instrumentation, and industrial plant mechanics. Once the Newmont training is finished, the program will be open to the public. I’m Eric Skye and you’re listening to KWNA News.

The Humbolt County School District will be holding their regular meeting today at 430PM in the District Office Boardroom at 310 E. Fourth Street. Items on the Agenda include Approval of the District Improvement Plan and Adoption of the 1000 Series of Board Policy.

The Great Basin College Nursing Program will now offer two training sessions for students interested in becoming a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). A CNA license qualifies for an entry level position in the health care industry. For more information on the CNA Program at Great Basin College, contact Jo Dean, RN at 775.753.2216 or Lisa Robinson at 775-753-2301.

A workshop will be held at the BLM Elko Field Office to discuss post-fire vegetation rehabilitation objectives as they affect grazing on public lands. The workshop will be held on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 8:00 a.m. in the BLM Elko Field Office, 3900 East Idaho Street in Elko. The workshop is free and the public is invited. The purpose of the workshop is to present and discuss the rehabilitation objectives that have been developed for vegetation which burned on public lands in the 2006 fire season. For questions or more information about the workshops, please contact Shane DeForest or any Rangeland Management Specialist at the BLM Elko Field Office at (775) 753-0200.