Every day is Halloween for haunted house owner

It may be spring time, but for Michael Grimes it's never too early for some Halloween scares.

The owner of Grime's Castle: The Dungeon is opening the haunted house for four days this month - April 15-16 and April 22-23.

"We're rebuilding part of it," said Grimes, who started the haunted house in 2005. "It's still a dungeon. There's a big chunk that stays the same. We're making some changes to make it scarier."

It's located at 1809 N. Carson St., next to the Grocery Outlet and will be open from 7-11 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for the haunted house that Grimes said takes about 20 minutes to get through.

"I figure they open up scary movies all year long, so what the heck," he said.

About that government shut down...

So if the federal government shuts down, then that will mean the Small Business Administration will not approve new loans for businesses until the funding returns.

And, of course, that will affect Nevada firms trying to secure financing to open shop.

For some perspective, the SBA approves about $1.8 million in loans each week in the Silver State, said spokesman Mike Stamler.

Stamler said the disaster loan program will continue despite a government shut down.

"In the event of a lapse of funding, all district offices will close Monday and most personnel will be furloughed and unable to work," he said Friday. "Although we are hoping for business as usual."

For more information on what happens to the SBA if the government does hang up the "gone fishing" sign, just Google "Plan for Operating in the Event of a Lapse in Appropriations." The first hit should be a link to the administration's course of action.

Mission accomplished

Richard Langson returned from Amsterdam late last month after demonstrating his newest invention, the Total Flow Gas Letdown Generator, at Gastech 2011, a major trade show for the oil and gas industry.

Langson, who owns Carson City-based Langson Energy, developed the machine over the past year that can take the pressure generated in natural gas pipelines and convert it into electricity. He's hoping to sell the product to energy companies around the world.

"We modify readily available and proven off-the-shelf components, keeping the capital investment to implement our machine to a fraction of what would be required for a turbine installation," Langson said. "Helical screw technology has a proven track record of literally millions of hours of operation and tens of thousands of installations worldwide. It has proven itself to be reliable, durable and truly cost effective."

Major wine store coming to Reno

Total Wine and More is opening a 20,000-square-foot store on April 14 at 6671 S. Virginia St., in Reno.

The store will carry more than 8,000 varieties of wine, 3,000 spirits and 2,500 kinds of beer.

The company, founded in 1991, runs 73 wine "superstores" in 11 states. Because of its size it can offer discounted pricing for wines, spirits and beers.