Saying farewell to our beloved publisher

We'll be saying farewell to R-C Publisher Janet Geary on April 20 with a party at the Carson Valley Inn's Dublin Room and we'd love to have you join us.

Hors d'oeuvres will be on the menu for the 5-7 p.m. event during which we will officially present Janet with her rubber boots and nor'wester for that Coos Bay, Ore., weather.

It's a heck of a place for a fellow Las Vegan to end up, but she's close to family and it's not like she hasn't done her northwest time before.

Both Janet and I grew up in the same western neighborhood in a city at a time when there weren't quite as many people as there are in Carson and Douglas combined today.

Janet was a little ahead of me in school. We think she was one of my dad's students at Hyde Park Junior High School when I was in the first grade or so.

She went to Western High School, I went to Clark, but we both attended UNLV and carry that certain attitude all Las Vegans used to be handed when they graduate from high school.

In my time back at The R-C, Janet has been the big sister I've never had. She's read nearly every one of the nearly 300 editorials I've prepared for the newspaper, discussed the issues, made the changes, and supported our newsroom in our effort to keep up with the events of life in Carson Valley.

I'd hoped we'd all grow old together, but things change and great people have great opportunities.

All they have to do is reach out for them.

We've another week to enjoy Janet's company, so if you can't make next week's party, give her a call or drop her a line congratulating her on her promotion and future.

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Wendy Davis of Gardnerville won $9,100 on Wheel of Fortune on Tuesday night, according to one watchful correspondent.

Wendy won the first round for $2,450 and the third round for $3,650 by guessing "Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles" very quickly. She took the quick round by solving the puzzle "Italian Greyhound." and came in second with a total of $9,100.

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Education reporter Sharlene Irete will be recognized on April 24 for her coverage of issues related to enforcing underage drinking laws.

She will be attending the second annual Nevada Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Task Force awards luncheon.

The task force is an advisory group to Stand Tall Don't Fall.

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The Nevada Attorney General's Office is warning Nevadans that tax refund loans tend to carry hefty interest charges.

Taxpayers who receive these loans pay a finance charge that can cost between $29 and $120, according to a 2006 National Consumer Law Center report. Depending on the size of the refund, that could mean an interest rate of between 40 and 700 percent a year.

"We hope consumers will decline these offers and see the advantage of waiting just a short time to receive the entire amount of a refund. Avoid borrowing funds on terms that are so unfavorable," said Eric Witkoski, Chief of the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

My observation is that those folks most likely to take out one of these loans are the ones who can least afford to do so.

-- Kurt Hildebrand is editor of The Record-Courier. Reach him at khildebrand@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 215.