Silver Dollar and Wooden Nickel, July 8

The Nevada Appeal's "Silver Dollar" and "Wooden Nickel" feature recognizes positive achievements from the capital region and, when warranted, points out others that missed the mark.

SILVER DOLLAR: To the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, for once again hosting a star-spangled July Fourth carnival and fireworks show. The group performs this civic service every year mostly with donations, so thanks also go to those who donated to the cause.

SILVER DOLLAR: To the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, whose inspectors have prevented four boats infested with invasive species from entering Lake Tahoe. While Lake Mead and the Great Lakes have already been contaminated with invasive non-native species, the Tahoe-area inspectors are to be commended for trying to keep our treasure pristine.

WOODEN NICKEL: To the international computer hackers who set a malware time bomb to go off July 9 in tens of thousands of unsuspecting Macs and PCs. If you haven't already checked your computer for infection, go to www.dcwg.org/detect/ before Monday.

SILVER DOLLAR: To state government's economic development officials for persuading Apple to build a data center in Reno. The $89 million in promised tax breaks is a good investment in light of the anticipated $1 billion economic shot in the arm it should yield in the next 10 years.