Tomorrow I'll be at the Arts in Bloom Festival at the Sparks Marina. I went for the first time last year and really enjoyed it—sunshine, green grass, blue water, pretty pictures by locals and an excuse to buy something for myself.

Last year I bought a couple of prints from watercolor artist Joyce Major, one of them a bird's-eye view of Donner Lake. I hope she's there again this year.

My only complaint was the ear-assaulting sound system. I've got to remember to take ear plugs this time. I'm serious.

DETAILS: Free, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 11, benefits Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation. More information: www.cityofsparks.us/living/com_events/arts_bloom/.

My husband, a patient of Dr. James Herz for many years, saw Dr. Herz's old Reno photos displayed throughout Reno Orthopaedic Clinic. He has always wished he could get copies of them, but he never dreamed he ever would.

What a thrill it was, then, for me to open my review copy of Historic Photos of Reno and look at the acknowledgments page! Compiler/author Donnelyn Curtis thanks "Dr. James Herz, the avid collector and generous donor of the majority of the photos in this book." I knew I would love it before I turned another page.

It's a wonderful book for anyone interested in the history of Reno and surrounding areas such as the Sierra and Virginia City. The 180 or so pictures are grouped into four eras: 1868-1909, 1910-1929 (twice as many photos as the preceding and following sections), 1930-1949 and 1950-1979 (fewest photos). All are black and white.

A one-page introduction gives context to each section, and captions provide what information has been gleaned for each photo. Curtis pleads, "On behalf of future historians, the author urges readers to label their treasured photographs! The people, locations, times, and events portrayed in your photo album might be familiar to you, but fifty years after your demise, those facts may be lost forever." I echo that plea as as lifelong family historian. In spite of her apparent frustration, Curtis and her researchers were able to provide a little information about each photo.

I have never seen most of the photos in the book. The first one in the first section is really interesting—a train of freight wagons traveling down a snowy hill  on Donner Pass about 1896. One of the earliest views of Reno shows Myron Lake's hotel and the first (steel) bridge across the Truckee about 1883. The foreground is vacant land. Some of the others that caught my eye were bridges under construction and aerial photos. A photo that surprised me was one of a shantytown on the Truckee River in 1944. Another thing that surprised me was how city-like downtown Reno looked in the 1940s—"biggest little city" might have been the perfect slogan. And I always love to look at old photos of the university because it has preserved most of its buildings; it's easy to compare its past with its present.

Speaking of comparing past with present, I found myself wishing the captions were a little more specific in that regard. For example, page 108 has a photo of a Golden Rule window display "on Sierra Street" and mentions it became a J. C. Penney store (shown again on page 127 and, I think, on page 165). How about giving a cross street and saying what's there now? As fast as Reno changes, the caption would quickly become outdated, but I still wish the author had made more of an effort to orient the viewer.

My  minor complaint doesn't lessen the value of the book to anyone has ever tried to visualize what this place was like in the past 140 years. And I'm still thrilled that Mr. Ann finally has his own set of Dr. Herz's old photos.

DETAILS: Historic Photos of Reno is published by Turner Publishing Co. and has a list price of $39.95. The author, Donnelyn Curtis, will have a book signing from 2 to 4 p.m. June 14 at Barnes & Noble.

NOTE: If you're as obsessive as I am about comparing past and present, I bet you'll enjoy another book I like a lot: The Central Pacific Railroad across Nevada, 1868 & 1997. The author, Lawrence K. Hersh, became fascinated with 54 photos taken during construction of the Central Pacific Railroad construction across Nevada in the 1860s and spent several years in the 1990s locating the vantage point for each and taking one of his own. The old and new photo for each location is presented side by side. You might have to go to his site to buy the book. Happy comparing!

OTHER REVIEWS: St. Mary's Centennial Calendar, The Motel Life

Senate Majority Leader (and our own Nevada representative) Harry Reid is scheduled to appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight (11 p.m., Comedy Channel). If you don't stay up that late, it should be on again tomorrow evening at 8.

We were approaching the intersection of South McCarran and Mira Loma about 4:25 today when I noticed a black dog (probably a Lab) walking south on McCarran. It looked tired, and it was limping.

I was wishing I had the Animal Control phone number with me so they could pick it up and hold it for the owner. The dog crossed Mira Loma in the crosswalk, but as we made a left turn onto McCarran it wandered into the outside traffic lane on McCarran (speed limit 50 mph). I was horrified but didn't know what to do—strange big dog, our own dog already with us, traffic, etc.

But the driver of the bronze SUV in front of us was a better person. After making the turn in front of us, he or she pulled off the road to help the dog. When we came back a half hour later there was no SUV and no dead dog. THANK YOU!

I hope I will be better prepared the next time I see a stray animal in danger. At least I have the Animal Control number in my wallet now.

I see the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada has plans to help local employers "find skilled workers." In a column in the RGJ business section today, EDAWN president and CEO Chuck Alvey says, "Despite our increased unemployment rate, key positions are going unfilled." I don't know about positions going unfilled, but I know I'm a skilled worker (B.A. with lots of experience) and I can't get an employer to find me no matter what I do.

Only out-of-towners need apply

But wait: Alvey says EDAWN has discovered "a large number of skilled workers don't know much about our region." He's talking about people who don't live here, so that must be why they haven't found me. He defines them, by the way, as people "in their early 30s to late 40s, with a young family." Maybe that's it—employers can't see me because I look older than my late 40s.

EDAWN plans to launch a campaign in San Francisco in June; the column also mentions the "Web, social marketing, special events, advertising and public relations designed to get the attention of skilled professionals in key cities, as well as the millions who visit." Alvey says the community will benefit from "high-quality people for high-paying, top-quality jobs." There goes my accusation that local people just won't work for the pay local employers expect them to.

So what's going on? EDAWN sponsors a recruiting site called "My Nevada Dream Job," so I visited it in search of clues. The site contains three lists of links: (1) local professional organizations; (2) local events; and (3) employment Web sites of local companies and companies with local offices offering "high-paying and high-skilled jobs" in the fields of business and financial services, engineering and advanced manufacturing, software, technology, research and development, clean energy, biomedical (the only entry being our local animal testing lab), construction, health services and education.

I've applied for advertised professional positions at several of these employers in the past 6 months and thought my qualifications were a perfect or near-perfect match for each one. Even so, none of them "found" me. I bet the woman with the pending degree in finance who commented on a post I wrote a month ago ("Unemployed People Have Time to Write Blogs") has tried (at least) all the ones in business and financial services and had the same result.

Bias against locals?

I've suspected off and on since I got my degree from UNR in the 1970s that Northern Nevada employers have a bias against hiring locals. It has seemed applicants from out of state, especially California, have an exotic aura and an edge when hiring decisions are made. This is especially true when the people doing the hiring are from out of state themselves. However, I could never prove it.

I was surprised to learn the University of Nevada Alumni Association, a founding partner of EDAWN, will be involved with promoting the region to "skilled professionals who live outside our market but are open to relocating to the Reno-Tahoe region." Hello! What's the ratio of grads who've left to ones who've stayed here? Wouldn't it make more sense for our alumni association to match local grads with local employers before they go looking for grads who've left Reno and try to get them to come back?

And another thought—why does our alumni association need to help "promote the region" to people who lived here long enough to get a degree before they chose to "live outside our market"? These are not "skilled professionals who have yet to discover Reno-Tahoe as a place to live and work"! Is EDAWN saying UNR grads who have left are not "open to relocating here" until this campaign reaches them? Is it saying UNR grads who have left are qualified for the "key positions [that] are going unfilled" but the ones who've stayed here are not?

Here's what I really want to know: Exactly what professional skills are local employers having trouble finding? Until I receive a believable answer, I'm going to assume the "required" skills are having enough experience to do the job without much training and being young enough not to demand too much money or make much use of the health insurance plan. In the "preferred" skills category, I suspect they're checking resumes for locations outside Nevada.

After reading this morning's RGJ article about citing drivers who don't stop for pedestrians, I still don't know whether I have to stop for a pedestrian who is next to a crosswalk but not in the street yet. The Nevada driver's license handbook (page 51), once again, is not specific.

Drivers must exercise proper caution upon observing a pedestrian on or near a highway, street or road within or near a school zone or within a marked or unmarked crosswalk. Pedestrians have the right-of-way when crossing at an intersection. Drivers are obligated to yield to pedestrians who are attempting to cross the road. [My emphasis.]

It also says, "Motorists are required to exercise due care to avoid a collision with a pedestrian." What exactly is "due care"? What exactly is "attempting to cross the road"?

Just tell me: If I'm driving down a street and see a pedestrian on the sidewalk next to a crosswalk, will I get a ticket if I don't stop? In other words, is being on the sidewalk next to a crosswalk "attempting to cross the road"?

I know it would be courteous to stop every time I see a pedestrian near a crosswalk (or corner), but often by the time I see someone I'm so close I'd have to make a panic stop and risk being rear ended. And, frankly, I've stopped for potential crossers many times who have turned out to just be standing around on the sidewalk, wasting my time and making me feel foolish.

What about pedestrians who—out of courtesy or caution—time your approach, wait for you, and step into the street when you're almost next to them, knowing they won't be far enough out into the street to be hit by the time your car goes through the crosswalk? I know I won't hit them; they know I won't hit them; but would police officers say I'm not yielding to someone attempting to cross?

And what about the discourteous, incautious pedestrians who walk out in front of you—either not looking or daring you to hit them—without giving you time to stop? The handbook does say, "Pedestrians must not place a motorist in the position that it is impossible to avoid a collision." (Note: I'm not responsible for DMV's grammar.)

Every time I read about local law enforcement agencies conducting crosswalk stings, I wonder if they are placing motorists in a position in which it's impossible to avoid a ticket. I hope I don't find out the hard way.

UNR journalism professor Jake Highton weighs in on the Terri Patraw and Hussein Hussein cases: "Hussein firing profoundly disturbing." (Knowing the names of the people in the previous sentence will show up when they search for their names on line, I already feel the "chilling effects" I commented about on  Ryan Jerz's blog.)

I've mentioned Highton's fearlessness before; scroll down to "No media reputation is left unstained" in his blog archives. However, he concludes yesterday's entry by saying, "The [Hussein] ruling leaves all UNR professors vulnerable." I'd say he's right.

The two cases are disturbing to me, too. None of us know all the details, and we don't know which of conflicting details we can believe. Based on what has been in the media, I would be reluctant to fire either Patraw or Hussein. That leaves me to wonder what the real reasons UNR fired them were.

Again referring to Jerz's experiences, I have never used the names Anon Ymous or Anonymous Anonymous. And even though I am an anonydouche, he has never treated me like one.

I hate to just regurgitate news reported elsewhere, but I want to call your attention to today's RGJ article about Shawn Gooch, He's a civil engineer working for the city of Sparks, and the city is honoring him for his work in preparing a report about the Sparks Marina that satisfied Federal Emergency Management Agency flood control requirements. The accomplishment saves home owners from having to purchase flood insurance.

The city gave Gooch a day off, $500 and a city coffee cup.

I just think it's nice to see good news about a public employee for once. Besides, I worked with Shawn in another lifetime, and he was a really nice guy.

What's a blogger to do when she runs into an old friend/former co-worker who is in a position to hire people, hits her up for a job, is told to send her a resume, does it and never hears so much as "Got it but we don't have anything right now"? How good a friend is she?

What if this person's husband handled a real estate transaction for the blogger and her husband 15 years ago and was a such a jerk they would never use him again?

What's a blogger to do a month after the resume incident when she looks at the morning paper and sees an article about how the organization this old friend/former co-worker heads has been accused of fraud involving nearly two and a half million dollars?

I guess enough people will be piling on without my help.

In self-defense, though, I did not wish any bad luck on her when she ignored the resume she asked me to send.

My favorite restaurant has a new Web site: sardinasreno.com. If you haven't tried the place yet, maybe the site will help convince you. Besides the menu, it includes quotes from customers and a list of weekend specials (posted each Friday). Last weekend's specials were mushroom ravioli with forest mushroom parmesan, filet mignon, macadamia nut-encrusted halibut and stuffed salmon in herb marinade. Mmmm.