Tom Grayson and his family didn't set out Thursday to reconvert Carson City's most recognizable landmark.
But when their hike through the Kings Canyon area brought them to the smiley face that used to be the C, they took a vote on whether they should do a restoration.
They could see the white paper used by the pranksters was already deteriorating in the elements and decided it would soon become a mess if they didn't proceed.
Whoever turned the C into a smiley face July 4 or 5 made it a relatively easy job to repair. They simply used freezer paper weighted down by rocks. All the Grayson family had to do was move the rocks back and pick up the paper. The bulk of the paper was too great to carry down, however, so they weighted it down with rocks before hiking back to their car.
The fix took about 30 minutes.
It was the first time the Grayson family had made the hike to the C and to the flag above it, and he said he was amazed at how large both are up close.
"You can't tell from down below," he said. "It is huge."
An injured deer in the roadway on Spooner Summit preceded an accident that blocked eastbound traffic for about 40 minutes Monday on Highway 50.
Nevada Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Clark said a Nevada Department of Transportation employee in a marked pickup with lights came upon the deer as it lay in the eastbound lanes just east of the summit at about 1 p.m.
The NDOT employee allegedly stopped his vehicle and turned on his amber light bar on top of the truck to move the deer, which had apparently been struck by a vehicle that had left the scene.
A Subaru also slowed down, or stopped completely, said Clark, when Katie Oxley of South Lake Tahoe came upon the scene. Oxley's Honda sedan slammed into the back of the state truck.
"If the Subaru had been moving, I would have hit the truck," said Oxley who suffered cuts from broken glass and a fat lip. "I had no time to stop."
Clark said Oxley was likely speeding, with one witness estimating her speed at 70 mph, when the accident happened. Oxley, however, said she was going just 35 mph when she tried to avoid the Subaru, struck the truck, then bounced into the concrete barrier.
No one was transported to the hospital, though both Oxley's Honda and the state truck received extensive damage and were towed from the scene.
A Douglas County deputy killed the deer, whose legs were visibly broken.
A Carson City man is recovering after being shot in the arm early Sunday morning on Woodside Drive.
Carson City Sheriff's Detective Daniel Gonzales said Jesus Ledezma-Garcia, 23, suffered a "through and through" gunshot wound to the left arm just after midnight.
Several people called 911 after hearing from four to 10 gunshots in the parking lot of a highly populated apartment complex in the 1100 block of Woodside Drive.
Initially patrol officers were unable to locate anything until they found Ledezma-Garcia crouching behind a truck nearby where they eventually discovered a blood trail.
Gonzales said the victim explained he was visiting a friend in the complex when he went outside for "fresh air," and was shot by a stranger he didn't see.
Witnesses have offered investigators conflicting statements, Gonzales said, including the description of a white, lowered S10 pickup seen speeding away from the area immediately following the shooting.
Gonzales said anyone with information on the shooting should call him at 887-2020, ext. 1410.
