Column: Get the scoop on Nevada history

(This column ties into a live TV talk show, Another Point of View, which will air tonight on Channel 10 at 8 p.m.)

Silly season has finally sizzled to a close. By now we've all probably expressed our cheers or tears and can proceed to proceed with the business of doing business.

Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to the challengers. Your efforts, time and research gave us a choice and a varied perspective on the issues, problems, questions and competing candidates. To those who didn't win the majority vote trophy, you did not lose. Your commitment and involvement in the political process made us a better informed and thereby stronger citizenry.

There are no losers when we have races and ballot issues challenged. Without challenges and debates, the public only gets one point of view, and then we all lose.

Join me tonight as we look at a historical point of view from State Archivist Guy Rocha. Nevada's history is peppered with pioneers, creative characters and rugged individualists. Guy will clear up some historical myths about Carson City and the state of Nevada as well as answering your questions on tonight's show. He has published two books, written many articles and book reviews and worked on numerous productions with KNPB Television Channel 5 in Reno. He hosts a live, call-in radio talk show on Carson City's KPTL and publishes the "Historical Myth a Month" column in the Sierra Sage monthly newspaper.

Is Carson City the smallest state capital or the largest area-wise, and was it named after Kit Carson? The answers might surprise you.

Did Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy have a tete-a-tete at the Club Cal Neva at Lake Tahoe? How did some of the West Side streets get their names - such as Musser, Proctor, Curry, Corbett, Phillips (or is it Philips, oops)?

They weren't pulled from a dictionary or thought up by the street department. They were named after people who made up Carson's colorful past, and Guy has their stories along with excerpts from Nevada's oldest continuously published newspaper since 1865, the Nevada Appeal.

Carson City had a thriving Chinatown at one time. We'll find out when and where it was and if there are any remnants of it today. Is the dome of the capitol made of silver? What's the real story of the inventor of the Ferris Wheel and the Ferris Mansion on Third Street? How and why did Nevada become a state?

If you have questions or stories to share with us tonight, give us a call at 882-2839 between 8 and 9 p.m. on Channel 10 where we'll be discussing Nevada's history on Another Point of View.