Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels: Community invests in public safety, 4-paws at a time

The Nevada Appeal's Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels feature recognizes positive achievements from the capital region and, when warranted, points out others that missed the mark.SILVER DOLLAR: To the community members who donated so that the Carson City Sheriff’s Office could purchase two new K-9 deputies. A $20,000 donation from an organization, which wishes to remain out of the media, wrote a check pushing the Sheriff’s Office well beyond its goal for the replacement deputy and into the push for a fourth.Rex and Tommy just joined two other four-legged deputies. Rex is handled by Deputy Jeff Pullen, and Tommy is handled by Deputy Darin Riggin. The four dogs are cross-trained to patrol. The other two sniff for drugs and one dog is a tracker.With the fourth dog, or any of the dogs, the entire area is safer.“We’re now able to help ourselves and our neighbors,” Sheriff Ken Furlong said.SILVER DOLLAR: The bells were ringing, the yellow school buses filled the streets and Carson City youth returned to the classroom last week. Empire Elementary students returned to find 25,000 additional square feet of classroom space. The renovations were made possible by the 2010 rollover bond. The extra space eliminated the need for 11 portable buildings that had been used as classrooms. At Eagle Valley Middle School, students returned to a new front entrance. The students there await a new gymnasium that will be completed later this fall. As students, teachers and staff settle in for the school year, we wish everyone a safe and successful school year.