Y2K bug takes a holiday from state

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The $6 million the state spent on preparing its massive computer system for the change of centuries apparently paid off.

"We had fewer problems today (Monday) than we've had on normal days," said Marlene Lockard, director of the state Department of Information Technology, which oversees the more than 12,000 computers in state government.

Monday was the first day the full state work force was on the job since the calendar changed to 2000. And it was the first real test to see if all Y2K bugs had been driven out.

There were isolated problems, Lockard said, but none directly related to Y2K. For instance, she said, there was a wrong date involving food stamps for a man. But she said that wasn't tied to the switch-over and it was quickly corrected.

Secretary of State Dean Heller said that despite the worry of a computer glitch, his office inaugurated a new service Monday, allowing customers to electronically reserve names for new corporations.

Heller believes this is the first e-commerce system in state government. Lockard said, however, there are other pilot e-commerce programs running in government, developed by her agency.

Kim Evans, public information officer for the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, said there were no reported problems in that agency, which has been sharply criticized in the past for its new computer system.

At one minute after midnight Friday, a power outage in Carson City took down the electricity at the Nevada Highway Patrol headquarters. But a standby generator kicked in and the agency never missed a step, she said.

The blackout of a small section of Carson City occurred when a balloon became entangled in power lines, tripping the breakers. Sierra Pacific Power Co. said the outage was not Y2K caused.

Lockard said the rest of the state system went on auxiliary power at 9 p.m. Friday night and avoided any interruption during the blackout.

"Everything kept humming along," she said.