EDITOR'S NOTE
February 2024 | Vol. 29, Issue 12
I want the ‘RN&R’ to help chip away at the ‘us vs. them’ divide Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263, Cathedral City, CA 92234 775-324-4440 • RenoNR.com
Publisher/Executive Editor Jimmy Boegle Managing Editor Kris Vagner Editor at Large Frank X. Mullen Photo Editor David Robert Cover and Feature Design Dennis Wodzisz Distribution Lead Rick Beckwith Contributors Alicia Barber, John Barrette, Matt Bieker, Maude Ballinger, Lucy Birmingham, Brad Bynum, Zoe Dixon, Loryn Elizares, Bob Grimm, Michael Grimm, Helena Guglielmino, Matt Jones, Matt King, Michael Moberly, Maggie Nichols, Steve Noel, Dan Perkins, David Rodriguez, Jessica Santina, Jason Sarna, Brianna Soloski, Delaney Uronen, Robert Victor, Matt Westfield, Leah Wigren The Reno News & Review print edition is published monthly. All content is ©2024 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The RN&R is available free of charge throughout Northern Nevada, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $5 by calling 775-324-4440. The RN&R may be distributed only authorized distributors. The RN&R is a proud member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the Nevada Press Association, and the Local Independent Online News Publishers. Coachella Valley Independent, LLC, is a certified LGBT Business Enterprise® (LGBTBE) through the NGLCC Supplier Diversity Initiative.
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I recently went to a local restaurant for dinner with my husband. The menu was creative; the food was delicious; and the server was efficient, knowledgeable and congenial. But one thing gave me pause. As the server told us about the daily special, she noted that the vegetable was a hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower. She lingered on the topic of the vegetable for a moment, stating in a couple of different ways that it was strange. She called it a “marriage,” as opposed to a “hybrid,” and then delivered what sounded like a well-practiced punchline: “They’ll let anybody marry anybody these days, am I right?” She moved seamlessly to the next subject—mashed potatoes, if you’re wondering—but I stayed stuck on the punchline, thinking, “Would you have cracked that joke to me if you’d been aware that I’m among the majority of Americans who don’t oppose gay marriage?” I have never been able to wrap my head around the notion of why gay marriage was ever considered problematic. If I ran the world—along with all of its taxonomies and nomenclatures—we would barely, if at all, recognize “gay,” “straight” or any other orientation as categories of people. I can think of endless criteria that I’d rather use to assess people. Are you a kind and generous person? A good neighbor? A loving parent? At least trying to be one of the above? I let the server’s punchline slide. I’ve been noodling for days over various retorts I could-have, should-have made. I haven’t come up with one that would have done much good. My main takeaway from the broccoli-cauliflower-hybrid quip does not involve me convincing her. It’s that it got me thinking about the issues on which we can rationally disagree—and which ones we can’t. Show me evidence or offer an informed perspective on a topic where we don’t see eye to eye, even a polarizing one—immigration, abortion, gun control—and I will hear you out and do my best to understand where you are coming from. My opinions
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are rarely set in stone, and even when I believe in something deeply, there’s room in my mind to acknowledge that there are different lenses and experiences through which we each see the world—and various sides to almost every issue. Our collective unwillingness to hear each other out is a big problem. Liberals and conservatives, I’m looking at both of you—at all of us. But when it comes to opposing gay marriage, the only defense I’ve ever heard is that god and/or a religious text disapproves. There’s a long list of atrocities committed in the name of god that have put us on the wrong side of history—and if the only rationale is “because god said,” we’re not having a fact-based argument; it’s a moral panic. A lot of people critique the RN&R for not showing more sides on certain issues. I think that’s a fair critique, and I would like for us to include more voices from across the political spectrum. If you disagree with
the news and perspectives you’ve been reading in our pages, and you’d like an opportunity to discuss your take, please consider reaching out. We publish unpaid guest commentaries each month—and we welcome opinions that vary from mine and those of the RN&R’s other editors, as long as they are based on verifiable facts and informed perspectives. (“God disapproves” is not a verifiable fact.) We also have a spot open for a regular columnist—and that monthly columnist does not have to be a bleeding-heart liberal. We’re looking for someone who can discuss timely issues that are relevant to Reno and Northern Nevada; make clear, specific and well-reported points based on facts; cite those facts; and hand in reasonably clean copy on deadline. We won’t edit your opinion (but we do edit ruthlessly for clarity and accuracy—and we expect you to as well). The pay is modest, but we do pay. If you’re interested in submitting a guest commentary or becoming a columnist, drop me a line at krisv@renonr.com. —KRIS VAGNER krisv@renonr.com
GUEST COMMENT
BY JONATHAN SHARP
How the VET PFAS Act could help veterans injured by toxic exposure at military bases More than 43,000 veterans receive a cancer diagnosis every year across the country, and a major contributing factor to this harrowing statistic is toxic exposure occurring at military bases. Right now, there are 710 military installations contaminated with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances nationwide. By training at these facilities, service members are inevitably exposed to these harmful agents, also known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” which increase their risk of developing cancer later in life. Additionally, exposure to PFAS is responsible for health problems such as high cholesterol, thyroid disease, fertility issues, preeclampsia, ulcerative colitis and liver damage. Sadly, most veterans who have the misfortune of coming to struggle with a disease encounter many obstacles in accessing the health care they deserve, and in a lot of cases, this is a matter of life or death. However, the situation might change in the near future if the VET PFAS Act, a new bill, is passed and signed into law. Home to four military bases, Nevada has a population of approximately 205,615 former service members. Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which is partly operated by the military, is one of the facilities in the state with a high concentration of “forever chemicals” in the water. Built in 1929, the airport has a PFAS level of 119,700 parts per trillion, which exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency’s new safe exposure limit of 4 parts per trillion by 29,925 times. Another military installation with a staggering PFAS level in the environment is Naval Air Station Fallon, with a concentration of “forever chemicals” of 1,670,000 parts per trillion, eclipsing the safe exposure limit by a whopping 417,500 times. Because PFAS can infiltrate water systems close to military bases or airports, the drinking water of people living near these installations is also contaminated with “forever chemicals.” Research has recently found PFAS in surface waters and
sediments in the Reno area. In Fallon, because other toxic substances might have been used at the nearby military base, the drinking water supply now contains 12 contaminants over the maximum permissible limit, among which are bromoform, radium, arsenic and trihalomethanes. Although the health of residents might be at risk, the people who are the most susceptible to developing illnesses are veterans, as they came in direct contact with these agents. Since many veterans have difficulties accessing health care for the health issues they developed as a consequence of “forever chemicals” exposure at military bases, the VET PFAS Act was introduced on July 17, 2023, by Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman. The bill would provide hospital care and medical services to veterans and dependents who were stationed at military bases where they were exposed to PFAS. Moreover, it would establish a presumption of service connection for certain veterans who were stationed at military installations at which they were exposed to “forever chemicals” so they can access the VA benefits to which they are entitled. The VET PFAS Act would help veterans with thyroid disease, kidney cancer, high cholesterol, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis and preeclampsia. A lot of veterans affected by PFAS exposure experience financial hardship due to the high cost of treatment, which is why this bill would be of tremendous help if it became law. For example, the annual treatment cost of kidney cancer can reach nearly $200,000, which, for many veterans, is unaffordable without VA health care. Cancer, as well as most diseases caused by PFAS exposure, can take a heavy toll on veterans’ finances, which is why this bill could be the difference between life and death for many. Jonathan Sharp is the chief financial officer at Environmental Litigation Group, P.C., a Birmingham, Ala., law firm that provides assistance to veterans injured by toxic exposure at military bases across the country.
BY DAVID ROBERT STREETALK What do you miss about ‘old’ Reno?
Asked at Casale’s Halfway Club, 2501 E. Fourth St., Reno Briana Day
Foster care worker
The biggest thing that I miss about old Reno is the music downtown, like at Harrah’s cabaret. It was a two-drink minimum, and you could see all kinds of entertainment. Downtown was really laid back then. I miss Del Mar Station. You could see local bands play there, and in those days, everybody knew your name.
Don Bandera
Retired sheriff’s office pilot
I miss the old Mapes Hotel and Casino. They never checked our IDs back in the day. I also miss the Liberty Belle restaurant. They had the best prime rib and French-dip sandwiches. The Fey brothers who owned the place had all kinds of old slot machines on display. I miss the Sportsman’s store across from the Gold ’N Silver restaurant. That was the place to buy your sports gear that the school didn’t supply for you. I bought my letterman’s jacket there.
Clinton Peterson Bartender
I miss the people. I miss Inez (Casale Stempeck) and Tony (Stempeck) from the Halfway Club. They were the ones who introduced me to Fourth Street. They were very unique people. They were kind, gracious, caring and very witty! They had family dinners here. People got married here, had receptions here, and they also had holiday dinners. If you didn’t have a place to go, they would welcome you in. “Some call it chaos. We call it family.”
Blaine Moore
Real estate agent
I miss having less traffic in Reno. There is a lot of traffic that you have to deal with nowadays. Even in the Old Southwest, traffic is backed up today. I miss Reno’s open spaces, like the ranches down in south Reno. Now when you get off the freeway at Damonte (Ranch Parkway), there are warehouses popping up everywhere.
Kaydin Meyer Student
I miss the Awful Awful burger at the old Nugget casino. It was cheap, loaded with fries and delicious. Downtown used to be a destination place. Now you can’t walk through downtown Reno. It feels less safe today.
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A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
| BY JIMMY BOEGLE
We all need to make sure we don’t fall prey to deepfakes and misinformation On the day before New Hampshire’s presidential primary, a number of voters received a rather disconcerting phone call. As reported by NBC News: The New Hampshire attorney general’s office says it is investigating what appears to be an “unlawful attempt” at voter suppression after NBC News reported on a robocall impersonating President Joe Biden telling recipients not to vote in Tuesday’s presidential primary. “Although the voice in the robocall sounds like the voice of President Biden, this message appears to be artificially generated based on initial indications,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement. “These messages appear to be an unlawful attempt to disrupt the New Hampshire Presidential Primary Election and to suppress New Hampshire voters. New Hampshire voters should disregard the content of this message entirely.” The investigation comes after a prominent New Hampshire Democrat, whose personal cell phone number showed up on the caller ID of those receiving the call, filed a complaint. “What a bunch of malarkey,” the robocall
phone message begins, echoing a favorite term Biden has uttered before. The message says that “it’s important that you save your vote for the November election.” This NBC News story included the audio of the call. It sounded a little strange to me—but I was listening to it knowing it was fake, in the context of a news story. If I’d simply picked up my phone and heard it, I may have believed it could be real (if I also put aside the fact that it’s highly unlikely President Biden would ever do such a thing). Still, this makes it clear that the era of video and audio deepfakes is here. The dangers of deepfakes go beyond politics and government—other recent news stories have covered a fake Taylor Swift selling cookware, a fake Russell Crowe selling real estate in Malta, and, horrifyingly, a 17-year-old actress being victimized by sexually explicit deepfakes on social media. But it’s now clear that bad actors who want to influence opinions—and therefore elections—have yet another tool at their disposal. While some states are pondering legislation to deal with deepfakes, I can’t say I am optimistic that, in this internationally interconnected world, state laws will do much good.
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Folks, we all need to be extra vigilant at making sure the information we get online is trustworthy—and we especially need to vigilant here in Northern Nevada. Washoe County is the swing county in a swing state, so it’s very plausible that the Reno area could decide the presidency of the United States. As the cliche goes, looks (and sounds) can be deceiving—and people with ill will are working hard, right now, to deceive YOU. Thanks to all of you who attended our community meeting at The Generator on Jan. 3, and to all of you who reached out to offer suggestions or assistance as we head down the figurative road toward nonprofit status. We’ll have another community meeting here in a month or two, and we’ll be updating you on our progress here in the pages of the RN&R. I want to quickly address a couple of things that have come up in conversations, phone calls and emails with concerned readers. • The RN&R is not in imminent danger of closing. Things have not been trending in the right direction, but barring anything cataclysmic and unforeseen, we’re going to be here next month, and the month after that, and so on. We’re acting now so we don’t reach
the point where our existence is in imminent danger. • Our problems have to do with revenue, not readership. A lot of readers have offered suggestions about content we could add to attract more readers and advertisers—everything from “do more investigative journalism” to “add features pandering to casinos.” Two things here. One: More content equals more expense; writers and additional print pages cost money. Two: We already have the readers that casinos, real estate agents, attorneys, restaurants, etc. want to reach—but too many of these businesses are still not advertising. We’re distributing 25,000 print copies each month and getting tens of thousands of visitors to RenoNR.com. This is not to say that we can’t improve our content—we can—and that we don’t want to add content—we do. We’re working on both of those things, but having a lot of amazing readers who are desirable to advertisers isn’t the issue. After all, you’re reading this, right? Thanks to everyone who’s offered suggestions and/or assistance. If you have any thoughts, my email address: jimmyb@ renonr.com.
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ON NEVADA BUSINESS
| BY MATT WESTFIELD
How to assess your value components Looking in the mirror can be intimidating, but we need to do it anyway Howdy, Nevada. Last month, I was set to discuss the deeper “business value” discussion we founders should have more often than we do. I got hijacked after the first line—by myself. This time, I’ll get to the point, I swear. When working in a founder silo, we don’t have anyone with whom we can have that chat, and we certainly don’t look in the mirror nearly enough with true objectivity. It’s really scary to see the truth. As we build organizations, we obviously and fundamentally need to create customer “value.” It’s pretty simple, but if we don’t do it repeatedly and consistently, week in and week out, we’re out of business. Done. We need to keep our eye on the prize, tighten our belts and pay close attention to every aspect of our business. We are often so busy chasing customers and payments that we lose sight of our respective operations and how they affect the business—and, most importantly, the bottom line. I was asked to launch a new MBA-only course last fall at the University of Nevada, Reno. The topic was to be “value.” I sat down in July—and realized what I’d gotten myself in to. Holy mackerel! I need to create a 16-week course around this?! I’m such a dumbass for saying “yes” to this. These students have had enough of academia, with at least six years of theory—and, often, years in the job world. A severe case of writer’s block set in. “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not,” said Albert Einstein. I agree. I’m big on practicum for our future leaders. So in this class, we began looking at what I termed “value components.” We analyzed leadership one week, and how it
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can positively or negatively affect a company’s value. We also looked at operations and how they can affect organizational value. We looked at human resources, IT and security, sales, marketing, legal and logistics. I asked each student to analyze a company, list the value components in order of importance, and justify their answer. The No. 1 value for Patagonia, according to a student, was “culture,” with “quality” second. Amazon had “logistics” as its top priority. Coca-Cola had “brand.” It was really interesting to see how varied and diverse the companies are. The students’ observations are subjective, to a point, but they illustrate some fantastic areas of analysis for every founder or CEO. What are we founders doing when looking into that aforementioned mirror? Are we seeing the truth? We need to take each component of our business and honestly break it down—isolate it. Is each one adding its own value to the org? How? Is it detracting from overall value? How? Are we being as efficient as we can in each component of our company—leadership, sales, marketing, operations, HR, accounting, finance, logistics and so on? If you own a delivery company, are you maximizing your route structure? Think of the UPS’ “No left turns” mantra, saving millions of dollars yearly in gas and time. When you think about efficiency, ask yourself: Did HR hire the right salesperson? Is the marketing team promoting the correct message and growing the footprint of the company? Are we getting every dollar out of our accounting? Do we have optimum financing, whether reinvestment or lines of credit? Is it helping the company during ebbs and tides? If you own a restaurant, do you know the top five or 10 meals you sell each day? Do you know which dishes make the most revenue
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per plate? Those two figures are usually not the same. It’d be great to know exactly how to increase efficiencies and limit waste. It would help you order supplies and maximize operations—only storing and cooking the foods customers really want and buy. If you are an Uber driver, can you find efficiencies in your one-person operation? The solutions may include choosing the times and routes that create the most frequency and/or the highest pricing, and knowing how to exploit those demand curves. If you are selling clothes on eBay, are you packing and shipping in the most efficient manner? We can all benefit from taking time to work “on” our companies, instead of “in” them. Breaking down each component of the organization and analyzing it closely can help you create efficiencies that likely result in
bottom-line revenue. I’ve had founders tell me that this exercise produced an unforeseen 20 percent revenue increase. That’s real money being left on the table by many of us business owners every month. There are many different ways to look at and create value efficiencies. Perhaps departments analyze themselves or each other. Let’s find the best way for your organization to honestly and openly put each department or component into focus, and be sure we have the right people doing the right jobs for the right price—the ones who add true value. Redundant or repeatable tasks need to be automated. Difficult customers and vendors need to be eliminated. If you can fire your worst customer and your worst vendor, and replace them with profitable customers and hungry partners or vendors, that’s rather cathartic.
Commitment to community PAID ADVERTISEMENT
How employees embrace Southwest Gas’ culture of giving By Dr. Laura Nelson
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outhwest Gas’ commitment to our community extends beyond providing safe, sustainable and reliable natural gas service. This commitment is also reflected in our philanthropic efforts and the impact we make in the communities where we live and work. Giving back to the places our customers call home is a part of our company culture and key to our vision of building a more safe and sustainable future for everyone. Our employees embrace this vision and Southwest Gas’ culture of giving, opening their hearts and volunteering their time. Through workplace giving programs such as FUEL for LIFE, and BLUE-Building Lives Up Everywhere, they generously contribute to numerous initiatives that support the most vulnerable and improve and beautify the areas we serve.
Last year, our employees pledged a total of $2.4 million companywide through FUEL for LIFE to local charitable organizations supported by the Southwest Gas Foundation. The program allows employees to contribute to local nonprofits directly from their paycheck, with 100 percent of their donation going to an organization of their choice. Our employees are reaching into their own pockets to financially support areas of need, and engagement is high, with 78% of employees participating in our 2023 FUEL for LIFE campaign. Comparatively, the average employee participation rates nationally for workplace giving is 33%, according to America’s Charities Corporate Benchmarking Analysis. Since launching 11 years ago, employees have supported more than
2,200 nonprofits across our service for activities such as tree plantings, territories with more than $22 milfood packing, and preparing care lion in total funding companywide. packages for communities in need. These funds support various organiIt is inspiring to see employees zations including the Boys and Girls participating in these efforts with Club of Western Nevada, Nevada their children, sharing their passion Military Support Alliance, and for service with the next generation Tahoe Rim Trail and exemplifying Association. This our culture of philA MESSAGE FROM past summer, emanthropic giving. ployees gave both Southwest Gas financial donations is extremely proud and volunteered of our employees to assist the Sugar and thankful for Pine Foundation. our customers and We were able to gift community part$6,000 and have 30 volunteers conners. Together we are fostering hope, tribute 60 hours to plant 700 trees creating meaningful impact, and at the Caldor Fire burn scar. strengthening our communities to Additionally, employees along build the path to a better future for with their families are making a everyone we serve. difference, donating thousands of hours supporting our communities Dr. Laura Nelson is the Southwest through our volunteer program Gas Vice President, Sustainability and BLUE. Year-round they volunteer Public Policy. RenoNR.com
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UPFRONT
NEWS
| BY DELANEY URONEN
Study: Reno benefits from the arts On Jan. 3, the city of Reno released the results of the Arts and Economic Prosperity Study, conducted by Americans for the Arts, a national nonprofit that works to advance the arts and arts education. Using data from 2022, the study reports that nonprofit arts and culture organizations supported 1,728 jobs (including full-time, part-time and seasonal employees), generated $63.1 million in household income for residents, and contributed $21.6 million in tax revenues to local, state and federal governments—with $3 million directly benefiting the city of Reno. The 55 arts and culture nonprofits that participated in the study reported direct expenditures of $48,895,286 and generated $1,603,487 in local government revenue. Crucially, the study looks at the economic impact of arts patrons and what they spend beyond the cost of events admission. It considers expenditures such as restaurant meals, parking, public transport and baby sitters. The study found that attendees spent an average of $38.12 per person, per event, beyond the cost of admission. “We have a great relationship with our neighbors at the Pioneer,” said Reto Gross, a manager at the Wild River Grille. “In fact, we do a lot of different things, not just with the Pioneer, but with a lot of other art foundations in the city of Reno. It definitely generates business. It generates a camaraderie and a community that is something we want to get behind.” Wild River Grille is located across Virginia Street from the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts and shares a building with the Sierra Arts Foundation. Gross said that both businesses generate revenue for the restaurant. Gross said that the restaurant is consistently sold out on nights when the Pioneer has events, and that patrons—especially out-of-town visitors—will often return on occasions unrelated to the arts. —Matt Bieker
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Kurt Thigpen, a Nevada State Assembly candidate, said that when he was a Washoe County School Board trustee, he and his husband caught strangers lurking around their home. Photo/courtesy of Kurt Thigpen Initiative found that “threats to and harassment of local officials present a significant challenge to American democracy by discouraging civic engagement, undermining the work of public servants, and creating unprecedented stress on the cornerstones of democratic society including elections, education and public safety processes. A heightened environment of fear among local officials seems ubiquitous.” Washoe County is no exception. Officials who hold positions in the areas of education, elections and public safety have witnessed this harassment first-hand. As another presidential election year kicks off, the RN&R spoke with two of these officials.
Kurt Thigpen, Assembly candidate and former School Board trustee
‘Heightened environment of fear’ Two public officials reflect on the lasting effects of threats to their safety On Jan. 2, Washoe County Registrar of Voters Jamie Rodriguez submitted her resignation. While Rodriguez has not given a reason and declined a request to speak to the RN&R, her predecessor, Deanna Spikula, cited harassment—including death threats— as a primary reason for her July 2022 resignation. In a comment made to the Washoe County Board of Commissioners at a Jan. 16 meeting, Jennifer Willett, of All Voting Is Local—an organization that aims to protect voter freedom at the local level—urged the commission to support election officials. “Election officials have cited harassment,
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death threats, lack of trust from voters due to election conspiracies, burn out and more,” she said. In January 2023, Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria left his position after 28 years due to harassment. In September 2023, the Nevada Current reported that 10 of Nevada’s 17 counties had lost their top election officials since the 2020 presidential election. Of Western states analyzed in a report by Issue One, Nevada was second only to Arizona in top election officials lost. In December 2023, CNN reported that threats to public officials have been on the rise in recent years—and the disruption coincides with an especially politically contentious climate in 2024. In a 2022 analysis, the Bridging Divides
In May 2021, then-Washoe County School Board Trustee Kurt Thigpen announced his resignation after less than six months in office. His short tenure on the school board, intended to be a four-year term, came to an end due to harassment and intimidation from right-wing groups, he said. This harassment began at the board meetings themselves—including a meeting when attendees protested COVID-19 safety measures by collectively storming the room from their seats in overflow areas. At the height of tensions, a safe room was established, just in case it was needed by members of the board. Thigpen, a Democrat, said the harassment stemmed from frustration about COVID-19 mitigation efforts in schools and at board meetings, as well as accusations that the board was pushing critical race theory and a gay agenda. “They pointed to anything that they saw as progressive as being critical race theory, or trying to indoctrinate children,” Thigpen told the RN&R. “We were seeing this play out nationally. It felt like it was part of a playbook.” Thigpen and some of his fellow trustees weathered threats of violence that were thinly veiled, if at all. “They had said, ‘Drag them out of their houses,’ and things like that,” he said. The personal information of Thigpen and of some of his fellow trustees—including Thigpen’s home address—was discovered and shared. He began to receive personal attacks through social media, emails, phone calls and texts. More than once, Thigpen said, he and his husband caught strangers lurking around their home.
“I definitely feared for my and my family’s safety,” he said. “I made the decision to resign to protect myself and my family.” The harassment Thigpen experienced was often homophobic in nature. “(They were) insinuating that I was hurting children, indoctrinating children. … They were reaching out to make me feel unsafe and let me know that, basically, I was being watched both online and possibly in person,” Thigpen said. This hatred took an intense toll on his physical and mental well-being. In addition to insomnia and chronic pain, Thigpen said, “I started having a lot of overwhelming anxiety and feelings of depression, which eventually led to suicidal ideations. You know, ‘Maybe it’d be better if I just wasn’t here,’ essentially. When you deal with that much hate coming at you for so long, it does something to somebody. I’m only human.” Thigpen is currently running for the State Assembly in District 24, which covers most of the center of Reno.
Washoe County District Attorney Christopher Hicks
It’s not uncommon for a county district attorney to receive unsettling emails or veiled threats— something Washoe County DA Christopher Hicks learned in the nine years he’s been in office. However, these threats reached a new level in June 2022, when a Sun Valley man by the name of Nicholas Vietti recorded graphic
Washoe County District Attorney Christopher Hicks: “The first day I received the threat, I actually didn’t sleep that night. I kind of set up in an area of my house where I could watch the street just to make sure that nobody was coming.” Photo/courtesy of Washoe County
and detailed threats toward Hicks and Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam and their families. The threats earned Vietti the maximum five-year sentence on two counts of intimidation of a public officer with the immediate threat of force. “These particular acts went so far that they became criminal,” Hicks during an interview with the RN&R. The extensive, graphic threats were made on Vietti’s podcast, BattleBorn Marine. Vietti threatened to kill Hicks and Balaam—including strangulation, shooting and slitting Balaam’s throat. He also threatened to sell Hicks’ wife into sexual slavery, used homophobic slurs, accused Hicks of being a socialist, claimed to have his home address, and claimed to have placed trackers on “everything.” “The BattleBorn podcast really took it to the next level,” said Hicks, who is a Republican. “There were very direct threats made to kill me in different ways, to arrest my family members and to rape my wife. There were acknowledgments of knowing where I lived and deadlines given where I had to do certain things, or these (acts of violence) were going to happen.” These ultimatums related to Vietti’s frustration regarding court orders in a child-support case involving his ex-wife. The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office is mandated to enforce such court orders, and this enforcement led Vietti to fixate on Hicks and Balaam. “The first day I received the threat, I actually didn’t sleep that night. I kind of set up in an area of my house where I could watch the street just to make sure that nobody was coming,” Hicks said. “We did not know at that time where the defendant was when law enforcement was actively looking for him. So in the following days … it changed my behavior, and it still has to this day.” Hicks said he now regularly carries a firearm and changes the route he takes on his drive home. In a victim-impact statement Hicks made at Vietti’s sentencing, which was shared with the RN&R, Hicks explained how Vietti’s threats significantly affected his life and made him question continuing his two-decade career in the District Attorney’s Office. “Is it worth doing anymore? Is it worth death threats?” Hicks stated. “I regularly worry about my safety and my family’s safety. I feel like I always will. … I’m hyper-vigilant about my surroundings. I’m often uneasy even in my own home. I’ve fortified my house with security, watchdogs and other safety measures.” While Hicks and the District Attorney’s Office have endured threatening messages through the years, the anger has escalated recently, he said. “There’s definitely an uptick,” Hicks said. “There is a higher frequency of those … disgruntled individuals or veiled threats. And I know that other public officials have been subjected to the same type of thing, whether it be judges or elected policymakers.”
Grassroots activists offer $10K for a temporary shelter
Lily Baran: “It’s time to be very real about the reality that there are still hundreds of people who are outside, and they’re dying in multitudes, and we need other options.” Photo/Kris Vagner
On Jan. 11, Lily Baran posted on Facebook asking if anyone would accept $10,000 to open their building as a warming center to provide unhoused people with a roof during winter nights. Baran is co-board president of the Reno Initiative for Shelter Equality (RISE), community engagement manager for Planned Parenthood, and a candidate for the Reno City Council. “Citizens of the city are getting together to do this,” she told the RN&R. Baran and her peers are following in the footsteps of groups like Night Off the Streets (NOTS)—the nonprofit made up of four Carson City churches that operates pop-up warming shelters—as well as Family Mutual Soup Aid and Food Not Bombs, which host outdoor potlucks in Reno for anyone who may need a meal, and do so without government support. “Over the last several years, people have been asking at city and county meetings for contingency plans for when shelters are full,” Baran said. “In that amount of time, we’ve spent almost $100 million of federal funds on solving this crisis.” Baran lives near downtown, where she regularly sees unhoused people outside on the coldest nights of the year. She said that even with the Nevada Cares Campus and other resources, many people still need shelter. “It’s not time to point fingers at where the Cares Campus is and all of the things that they’ve done,” Baran said. “It’s time to be very real about the reality that there are still hundreds of people who are outside, and they’re dying in multitudes, and we need other options.” The funding for a pop-up shelter, Baran said, will come from RISE and community donations. Anyone who’d like to participate or donate can call her at 707-596-0510. —Kris Vagner RenoNR.com
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NEWS
| BY DELANEY URONEN Library Board Chair Gianna Jacks (left, with Trustee Lea Moser) frequently criticized library director Jeff Scott at the January meeting. File photo/David Robert
Library tensions continue After trying to fire director Jeff Scott in December, the Library Board continued criticizing him in January The Jan. 17 Washoe County Library Board of Trustees meeting marked Gianna Jacks’ first as the board chair after Frank Perez resigned in December. (See “The library wars: Right-wing allies appear to have taken control of the Washoe County Library Board,” RN&R, January 2024.) As acting chair, Jacks took firm charge and adopted a demeanor that seemed to recall her military background—a marked change from her first meeting as a trustee
in October, when she presented herself with humility. During the January meeting, Trustee Lea Moser was elected vice chair without controversy—but tensions between Jacks and Washoe County Library Director Jeff Scott were palpable, after Jacks unsuccessfully tried to fire Scott at the December meeting. Fewer members of the public attended the January meeting compared to December’s robust turnout, but familiar faces showed up
to both support and protest drag queen story hour and select books in the library system’s collection. Jacks refused to vote to approve the meeting minutes from December, calling them “horrible” and “embarrassing.” Her repeated refusal to approve the minutes at past meetings has come with an insistence that the minutes, especially public comments, be entered into the record verbatim. (This is a frequent ask of both Jacks and some right-wing protesters.) Jacks called for Library Board meetings to be moved to “proper chambers” so that the minutes could be handled by a professional transcriptionist, rather than by library staff; she called the current system “totally inappropriate” that yields “egregious errors, time and time again.” Trustee Ann Silver also said she believed having library staff transcribe extensive meeting content was impractical. Deputy District Attorney Herbert Kaplan responded that there is no requirement that public comments be recorded in the minutes verbatim. The agenda included a review of the cost of drag queen story hour. Jacks took issue with the information provided to the board by Scott, which stated the total dollar amount spent on the events in 2023 by Our Center, but did not include itemized expenses. Scott explained that the money was not given to the library system, but that Our Center—the area’s LGBTQ+ nonprofit community center—covered the expenses directly, so a more detailed breakdown would need to come from Our Center. Jacks became agitated and raised her voice when speaking to Scott. She asked him, “Is this out of your purview? Can you not handle this job of giving us these financial reports?” After repeatedly demanding that Scott provide specific numbers—which Scott said that Washoe County Library System did not have—Jacks said: “That is your job. Once again, you’re failing at your job.” Scott offered to have Stacey Spain, the exec-
utive director of Our Center—who was at the meeting—answer questions regarding financial details. Jacks declined. Jacks also took issue with the possibility of indirect costs—including event promotion and security—being paid for by the library system for drag queen story hour. Moser and Trustee Al Rogers called for a more thorough look at the costs for all library programs, while Silver requested that a ballpark number detailing the indirect costs be put together. Scott told the RN&& that a cost analysis for all of the library system’s youth events will be presented to the board at a future meeting. Also on the agenda was an update by Scott regarding the Library Expansion Fund. This funding—implemented in 1994 and set to expire this year—provides more than a quarter of the library system’s budget. While the funds come from property taxes, they do not represent an additional tax; instead, the county is required to set aside the funds for the library system when it collects property taxes. Jacks became frustrated with the update, which she considered inadequate and called “aloof,” claiming that the public is unaware of what the tax initiative is. Scott had previously presented information on the initiative at the October and November board meetings, and the board had discussed it in November. Moser requested training for the board members so that they could know more regarding the tax process. During a five-minute recess called by Jacks following the heated discussion, Kaplan appeared to criticize Jacks, saying, “I’m cautioning you,” to which she replied, “This is a lackluster update.” When the meeting resumed, Jacks seemed to rein in her frustrations for the remainder of the meeting. The board discussed revisions to the trustee bylaws and manual, but tabled any decisions for a future meeting. Nonaction items included a review of the library director evaluation process and Library Board of Trustees policies. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the Sparks Library. Perez’s seat on the Library Board is expected to be filled by the Washoe County Board of Commissioners soon, with the new trustee being seated in time for the March Library Board meeting.
Writers wanted! • Outdoors columnist • Beer columnist • Feature writers Interested? Email krisv@renonr.com!
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NEWS
| BY HELENA GUGLIELMINO Actress Rita Hayworth established residency in Nevada in 1951 in order to divorce her third husband, Prince Aly Khan. Photo/courtesy University Libraries Digital Collections, University of Nevada, Reno, originally made by Hoag’s Photo Shop
Don’t be my Valentine Forget the hearts and flowers—it’s time to brush up on Reno’s divorce history Valentine’s Day is coming up, but if you’re looking to get your fill of all things sweet and romantic, we’ll have to direct you elsewhere. With love and commitment often comes divorce, and as an industry and a cultural phenomenon, divorce plays a major role in Reno’s history. “I don’t think we’d have the slogan ‘Biggest Little City in the World’ if it hadn’t been for the divorce industry,” historian Alicia Barber said in an interview. “We’d just be, like, a little city out West.” ’Tis the season to get you up to speed on the topic.
The divorce industry’s dawn
When Nevada became a state in 1864, it established seven grounds for divorce for residents and only required a divorce-seeker to be in the state for six months to qualify. This was a far cry from the strict divorce laws of many states—some would only grant a divorce in the cases of cruelty or adultery—and from the mores of the generally modest 1800s. What cemented Reno as a divorce haven was not the general modesty or strict divorce laws of the time, however. It was the headline news of Laura Corey’s 1906 divorce from the president of U.S. Steel, William Ellis Corey, one of the world’s richest men. This news triggered an influx of divorce-seekers, especially the wealthy and famous. Many businesses began profiting from the spike in temporary residents—but not all Nevadans were pleased with the situation. “There was some pushback from people who were concerned about … getting known for things that some might consider immoral,” Barber said. A 1913 bill was passed that increased Nevada residency to one year to
satisfy this moral outcry from citizens. Just two years later, the bill was reversed, and the six-month residency was restored. “Those voices were definitely outweighed by those who were immediately concerned about the economic fallout of making it harder to get a (divorce),” Barber said. Economics drove Nevada to lower the residency period again in 1927, to three months, and in 1931, to six weeks. “What the divorce industry did in Reno was show its leaders and the broader public how much of an economic boost catering to the needs of outsiders could provide for the state or the city,” Barber said. Though modern “no-fault” divorce laws nationwide ended Reno’s reign as a divorce capital, the local economy still benefits from out-of-state visitors in other industries. “There’s always this desire to see how you can try to encourage investment and visitation from outsiders … whether it was no income tax or, more recently, having economic advantages for warehousing and logistics,” Barber said. “Sometimes that is ultimately good for the state or the city. Sometimes it might feel like it happens at the expense of people who live here. That’s just that constant balance that we’re always trying to strike in this state.”
Ring toss
“If you throw in your ring, you’ll never get another divorce,” said Isabelle Steers, played by Thelma Ritter, to the freshly divorced Roslyn Taber (Marilyn Monroe) in the 1961 movie The Misfits as they stood on the old Virginia Street Bridge overlooking the Truckee River. “Go ahead, honey. Everybody does it. More gold in that river than there is in the Klondike.” While Taber declined, instead opting for a drink at Harrah’s, the idea of throwing one’s ring into the Truckee from the Virginia Street
Bridge was heavily advertised in pop culture throughout the height of Reno’s divorce fame. However, there is some debate over whether or not the practice occurred before the flux of postcards, media and literature popularized the idea—and just how many women ended up flinging their ring into the waters below. A 2015 Reno Gazette-Journal article “Fact Checker: Tossing wedding rings in Truckee a myth?“ found that the practice wasn’t as common as some in the media made it out to be. Though the celebratory tossing of love’s eternal symbol into the river might look crass, it is a reminder that access to divorce marked an important liberation for women. “I think in many ways, the divorce trade was connected to the campaigns for women’s rights,” Barber said. “I think that’s part of why it was accepted by so many Reno residents. … That was something a lot of people could relate to—and still can.”
A growing, cosmopolitan town
Beyond divorce, Reno gained another reputation—one reported on with surprise, as evident in the July 1922 Travel article “Aspects of Nevada’s Hybrid Metropolis—The Transformation of a Frontier Town—How the Divorce Industry Is Operated—Reno’s Reckless Past.” As said by writer William W. Greene: “The town is remarkably clean and well-kept, with many concrete sidewalks and a good deal of asphalt pavement.” The local amenities included more than sidewalks. By 1922, Reno boasted beautiful a train depot, a university, a Carnegie Free Public Library and numerous estates such as the (since-demolished) John Newton Evans mansion, built by a wealthy miner. “I think that was really why it became so fascinating to a lot of the divorce-seekers who came here. They expected to find a Wild West town,” Barber said. “Instead, it was this charming, cultural city with a river running through it, and the climate was beautiful, and there were shops and restaurants and all sorts of entertainment. It caught them by surprise.” As the decades wore on, the influx of divorce-seekers only increased the development and the cosmopolitan image of Reno. George Wingfield, for example, capitalized on the wealthier divorce clients by commissioning the luxury Riverside Hotel, by prominent architect Frederic DeLongchamps. He expanded the hotel in 1950 to include more rooms and a casino, where Frank Sinatra frequently performed. RenoNR.com
Historic divorce tour
Here is a brief list of buildings that represent Reno’s divorce culture that you can still visit today. Southern Pacific Railroad Depot: Without a railroad to connect Reno to major cities across the country, the city might not have been able to attract so many divorce-seekers. “The train station itself was so important to that divorce industry,” Barber said. “People would talk about it being a place where you could ‘watch the tide come in. and the un-tied go out.’” The 1926 Mediterranean-style depot still operates today at 280 N. Center St. Riverside Hotel: Though Wingfield’s glorious hotel and casino no longer exists in that capacity, the six-story building stands to this day at 17 S. Virginia St., housing Sierra Arts Foundation, Wild River Grille and the Riverside Artist Lofts. Washoe County Courthouse: The stunning 1911 neo-classical building was the stage for tens of thousands of divorces. “These steps might truly be called the ‘great divide,’ as many thousands have tripped up united and returned divided,” said Lilyan Stratton, author of the 2010 novel Reno, about the building. The courthouse is located at 117 S. Virginia St. Downtown Post Office: “Gagsters claim enough alimony has come through the Reno post office to retire the War Debt,” a 1940s postcard depicting the Reno post office reads. Across the street from the courthouse, at 50 S. Virginia St., this Art Deco building now houses a large retail space and a basement-level marketplace called The Basement.
Love will tear us apart
Here is the easiest way to get a quickie divorce in Reno in 2024 (with no minor children and both spouses agreeing on all issues): • You must be a Nevada resident for at least six weeks. • You and your spouse must sign up for an electronic-filing account either online (www. washoecourts.com/EFiling/SignUp) or in person at the Second Judicial District Court Resource Center (1 S. Sierra St., third floor). • Fill out all forms under D-2 Joint Petition for Divorce, including Family Court Information Sheet, Joint Petition for Summary Decree of Divorce, Declaration of Resident Witness, Request for Submission and Index of Exhibits, and Exhibit Cover Page and Decree of Divorce. Find the forms at www.washoecourts.com/ Main/FormsAndPackets. • Form information may be typed, but signatures must be made in pen. • File via mail, at the Resource Center or online. A fee of $284 applies. • Joint petitions are usually granted without a court hearing and quicker than complaints. • Free legal advice is offered through Lawyer in the Library via Zoom on Tuesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Find more information at www. washoecourts.com/LawLibrary/LawyerInLibrary.
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| BY MAGGIE NICHOLS The Tahoe Rim Trail Association offers overnight classes that show you how to set up a campsite in winter safely. This one's at Chickadee Ridge near Incline Village. Photo/Maggie Nichols
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Peak winter for non-skiers Where to snowshoe, sled, skate— and pick up some backcountry skills We get it—Tahoe is an epic destination for skiers and snowboarders to rip down long groomers and blast through powder-covered terrain while enjoying unparalleled views. But what about the majority of people who don’t ski and have no interest in flying down slopes at high speeds? Fear not, friends, for there are boundless opportunities to appreciate the beauty of our winters without joining the lift line. For starters, it’s hard to go wrong with sledding. Whether you’re looking for a fun date night or an outing with the kids, spots to sled are everywhere. A quick blast of snow across town turns every city park with a small hill into a sledding mecca. My personal favorite sledding hill is Shadow Mountain Sports Complex, at 3300 Sparks Blvd., in Sparks, just down the road from my house. With rocky trails leading up every side of this oversized mound, sledding runs form organically, as my neighbors and I shriek and laugh our way down on coated-foam toboggans and thin plastic saucers. No snow in the valley? No problem— Tahoe Meadows, just over the crest of Mount Rose Highway heading down toward Incline Village, is another popular spot for sledding, with a wide expanse just begging to be covered by the flattened tracks of plastic-protected bums. While many of the ski resorts, including Heavenly and Palisades, sell snow-tube tickets, there’s plenty of excellent sledding
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to be had all around Lake Tahoe; just look for slopes with reasonable angles, and pay attention to the parking (and other) regulations. Just remember that if your sled breaks from having too much fun, take all the pieces with you to throw in the trash. For something a little more active, cross-country skiing is a great way to stay warm outside and can be tailored to your desired adrenaline rush. Rent a pair of skis, and zoom around groomed tracks at Tahoe City Cross-Country Ski Area (Tahoe XC), Sugar Pine Point State Park near Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe Community College in South Lake Tahoe, or Donner Memorial State Park in Truckee. For a slower approach with more solitude, check out the official U.S. Forest Service list of XC areas, and glide among the trees just about anywhere around the lake. Slow things down a bit further by strapping on a pair of snowshoes. Bobos in Reno rents them for just $25 a day, and with snow blanketing the forest and mountains, you can truly go anywhere. Check out your favorite summer trail in a new season, or wander through a nearby section of woods above the bushy undergrowth that confines you to paths in warmer weather. Just be sure not to get lost along the way! For a more curated experience, there are tons of opportunities for tours and guided outings in the area. The Tahoe Rim Trail Association (TRTA) and Sugar Pine Foundation have teamed up to offer a guided Tree Trivia Snowshoe Trek to Castle Rock on Tahoe’s
eastern shore at 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 5, and one around Spooner Lake on Sunday, March 10. Every Saturday, park officials at Sugar Pine Point lead a late-morning, two-mile trek through the towering coniferous forest that defines this stunning area. The morning of Tuesday, Feb. 13, the TRTA and Tahoe Institute for Natural Science are hosting the Winter Wildlife Survival Nordic Tour to Chickadee Ridge, just above Incline Village. If you’d like to learn more about enjoying and appreciating winter, the Tahoe Rim Trail Association is an excellent educational resource. Their winter events calendar is full of great (and sometimes free!) opportunities. You can learn about snow camping and snowshoeing from TRTA guides at the Patagonia store in Heavenly Village on Thursday, Feb. 15, or take an indepth winter navigation workshop at the TRTA office in Stateline on Saturday, Feb. 24. Stay out longer by taking the TRTA’s overnight Snow Camping 101 course on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 17 and 18. You’ll learn the basics of staying warm in the winter, and smart, safe camping in the snow—and put those skills immediately to the test on an overnight out in the field with a snow survival expert and certified TRTA guide. If you’d prefer a more front-country winter camping experience, Sugar Pine State Park in Tahoma has several year-round campsites available with open bathrooms nearby, and Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe rents cabins in the woods for an easier, cozier outing. Did you know you don’t have to go to Alaska to try dog sledding? Sierra Adventures, operating out of Reno, designs and leads custom, kid-friendly dog-sledding adventures through the mountains. For something fun without needing so much snow gear, ice skating opportunities abound. Reno’s Grand Sierra Resort is open for evening skating sessions, with rental equipment available on-site. Glide across the frozen surface indoors at Reno Ice on the south end of town. Of course, Tahoe has a plethora of ice-skating opportunities in spots like Heavenly Village, North Star Village and Tahoe City Winter Sports Park. For a fresh experience, head east to the brand-new Fallon on Ice, a uniquely Nevadan seasonal rink with charming small-town appeal. Though the holiday season is well behind us, there are still plenty of things to look forward to through the rest of this winter. With a warm jacket and an adventurous spirit, these cold months can be filled with heartwarming experiences—creating fond memories.
Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight For February, 2024 This sky chart is drawn for latitude 40 degrees north,
but may be used in continental U.S. and southern Canada. ASTRONOMY
| BY ROBERT VICTOR
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February’s evening sky chart. Illustration/Robert D. Miller Vega
Deneb
Regulus
Pollux
Castor
Capella
E
W Procyon Betelgeuse
Aldebaran
15 1
Sirius
8
22
29 15
Jupiter
8 Saturn
Rigel
1
Fomalhaut
Evening mid-twilight occurs when the Sun is 9° below the horizon. Feb. 1: 45 minutes after sunset. 15: 44 " " " 29: 43 " " "
S
February skies
Stereographic Projection Map by Robert D. Miller
Spot the Milky Way and the zodiacal light while the skies are darkest Binoculars provide wonderful close-up views of the sky this month! In February at nightfall, aim them high above bright Jupiter to enjoy the compact dipper-shaped Pleiades, or Seven Sisters star cluster. Some 14 degrees to the upper left, note the bright star Aldebaran, Follower of the Pleiades. In the same binocular field with Aldebaran, find other more distant background stars, belonging to the Hyades cluster and completing a letter “V,” the head of Taurus, the Bull. The Great Nebula in Orion’s sword and the Beehive Cluster in Cancer are among February’s favorites. Locate the Beehive by aiming your binoculars at fourth-magnitude Delta in Cancer, Asellus Australis, the southern of the two donkeys feeding from Praesepe, the Manger, an older name for the Beehive. Delta Cancri is the brightest
star near the center of the triangle formed by Procyon, Pollux and Regulus. The Andromeda Galaxy is still well up in the west-northwest at nightfall in February. Use the brighter half of the “W” of Cassiopeia—the second-magnitude stars Beta, Alpha and Gamma—as an arrowhead pointing southward to the second-magnitude star Beta in Andromeda. Then, using binoculars, short star hops northward past fainter Mu and Nu Andromedae will bring you to a fuzzy spot— the Andromeda Galaxy! In the evening sky, Jupiter, at magnitude- 2.4 to -2.2, is high in the southwest to west-southwest at nightfall. Early in the month, Jupiter passes 11° south-southeast of 2-magnitude Hamal, Aries’ brightest star. Uranus, of magnitude. 5.7 to 5.8, is 12 to 8° east-northeast (to the upper left) of Jupiter in February. To home in on the planet, aim your
binoculars at 4.3-magnitude Delta in Aries, the brightest star between Jupiter and the Pleiades cluster. Three nearby stars—Zeta, Tau and 63 Ari, of magnitude 4.8., 5.3 and 5.1 respectively—complete a distinctive quadrilateral with Delta. February opens with Uranus 3° southsouthwest (to the lower left) of Delta Ari. Closer to Delta’s southwest and south-southwest, by 1.2 and 2.1° respectively, are the stars 54 Ari (of magnitude 6.3) and 53 Ari (of magnitude 6.1). Around Feb. 22, a line from 54 to 53, 0.9° long and extended 0.7°, locates Uranus. For a chart of the star field, visit www. abramsplanetarium.org/msta. Saturn (magnitude 1.0) is only 4° up in the west-southwest as evening twilight ends on Feb. 1. Saturn sets in twilight within a week, but binoculars will enable you to follow it until mid-month if you have an unobstructed view of the horizon. Mornings: In the east-southeast, brilliant Venus (magnitude -3.9) sinks into bright twilight in February. Faint Mars (magnitude +1.3) can be spotted with binoculars to the lower left of Venus, by 10° on Feb. 1; 5° on Feb. 11; and 2° on Feb. 18. On Feb. 22, Mars appears closest to Venus, only 0.6° to its lower right. By Feb. 29, Mars appears 3.4° to the upper right of Venus. The moon: Follow the waning moon an hour before sunrise Feb. 1-7, and watch it pass Spica, Antares, Venus and Mars. See the thin old crescent Moon one additional morning, Feb. 8 by looking only a half-hour before sunup, In the early evening on Feb. 10, catch a very thin waxing crescent moon, only 27 hours after new, with Saturn 2° to its upper right, very low in the west-southwest less than an hour after sunset. On the next evening, Saturn is 14° to the moon’s lower right. See the moon near Jupiter on Feb. 14; near the Pleiades on Feb. 16; and a wide 10-11° from Aldebaran on Feb. 16 and 17. On Feb. 18, the northernmost moon is 7° east of 1.6-magnitude Elnath, or Beta Tauri, the tip of the Bull’s northern horn. That same night, Regulus, heart of Leo, is at opposition, low in the east-northeast at dusk; high in the south in the middle of night; and low in the west-northwest at dawn. On this night, Spaceship Earth is rushing away from a point 4° south of the Pleiades in the evening sky, and heading toward a point 3° west of Beta in Scorpius, top star of the head of the Scorpion in the morning sky. Continuing east against the stars, the moon passes closely south of Pollux on the evening of Feb. 20, and almost as closely north of RenoNR.com
Regulus on Feb. 23. The next morning, Feb. 24, one hour before sunrise, we find the moon low in the west, 5° to the upper left of Regulus. On Feb. 28, the waning gibbous moon will be in the southwest, very close to Spica. From dark places on the moonless mornings of Feb. 8-19, just before the onset of morning twilight, the Milky Way will be visible in the eastern sky, passing through the Summer Triangle—just as it appears in July at nightfall. From very dark sites on moonless mornings through Feb. 10, and Feb. 27 through March 10, just after the close of twilight (about 90 minutes after sunset), look for the zodiacal light, a huge pyramid of light extending up from the western horizon and its axis along the ecliptic (or plane) of Earth’s orbit, tapering upward toward Jupiter and the Pleiades. It’s the result of the reflection of sunlight by dust particles in the inner solar system. The Milky Way and the zodiacal light are best seen from dark places such as the Black Rock Desert—or anywhere away from city lights. Views of the night sky in the Truckee Meadows aren’t so pristine—but things could get better! For information and ideas, visit the website of DarkSky International at darksky.org. There’s a major solar eclipse coming on Monday, April 8. It will be seen as a total eclipse within a track crossing Mexico, the United States from Texas to Maine, and eastern Canada. It will be seen as a partial solar eclipse from nearly all of the rest of North America, including here in the west. For details, including maps and information on observing the event without the risk of damage to eyesight, and weather prospects at places within the path of total eclipse, visit eclipse.aas.org/eclipse-america-2024. The Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar is available by subscription from www. abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar. Each monthly issue consists of a calendar page illustrating events such as mentioned in this article, and an evening sky map. For $12 per year, subscribers receive quarterly mailings, each containing three monthly issues. Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still helps to produce an occasional issue. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky and other wonders of nature. Robert Miller, who provided the evening and morning twilight charts, did graduate work in planetarium science, and later astronomy and computer science at Michigan State University, and remains active in research and public outreach in astronomy.
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Sarah Rively strode into Pignic Pub and Patio just after 5 o’clock on a chilly evening wearing a signature flowy dress—and a wide smile.
She’s the founder of Curious in the City, a brand that helps sober and sober-curious people navigate Reno’s nightlife scene. After some pleasantries, Rively took a seat at the bar without hesitation, beamed at the bartender and ordered a City of Page mocktail. A couple of others sat at the bar, ringing in Wednesday evening with a whiskey straight and a beer, respectively. Sitting next to Rively, I eyed the bartender, curious whether her mocktail order would be greeted with disdain. “There would be too many times that I’d be out, and a bartender would not want to make something nonalcoholic,” Rively said. “They didn’t understand the concept … or kind of poo poo you and say, ‘Then don’t come out.’” The bartender gave her full attention to Rively’s drink—consisting of Lyre’s Dark Cane Non-Alchoholic (NA) Spirit, a rum alternative; Lyre’s Apértif Rosso NA Spirit; lime; and passionfruit—carefully presenting it in a textured rocks glass, garnished with a dehydrated lime slice.
Opting out of booze while opting into nightlife There are a lot of reasons people are going out but not drinking. For Reno native Diana 14
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10,000 households. Reno even surpassed Las Vegas, which came in sixth. Rively’s previous experience with sobriety led her to read Sober Curious, a handbook to sober living by lifestyle journalist Ruby Warrington. The book inspired Rively to separate herself from societal pressures, empowering her to create the type of relationship she wanted to have with alcohol. “Just because society says one thing doesn’t mean that you have to do that,” she said. “And that seems so obvious, but alcohol is such an intricate part of society that it’s hard to separate.” Rively said she started Curious in the City in part to be a more-present mother. “But as I’ve grown, the real goal is to help the community socialize safely,” she said. She described her business, which formally launched in January with a party at Pignic, as “your guide to sober entertainment in Reno.” Curious in the City connects people who are sober-curious to welcoming places where they can navigate nightlife and support local businesses without the pressure to consume alcohol. Plans are in the works for an Bradbury, her sobriety is tied to moving back home after a 12-year hiatus. “Growing up here, I drank a lot, and I continued that for many years,” she said. “I wasn’t a daily drinker; I was a social drinker. But my decision-making went off the deep end, and I did a lot of stuff that I regretted. I knew that moving back to Reno, I wouldn’t survive if I kept drinking here, specifically where bars don’t close. (Sobriety) was definitely something that needed to happen in my life.” However, Bradbury’s relocation has also given her a desire to socialize and meet people. “Since I just moved back, my options are kind of limited as for what to do socially,” she said. “I want to go out. I also love to dance. I love to do karaoke. I love to do a lot of things that happen in places where people are drinking.” Bradbury said she appreciates how much the climate in Reno’s nightlife scene has changed, allowing more space for nondrinkers. “It’s definitely leaps and bounds different from a decade ago,” she said. At bars, she usually opts for an NA beer. She also lauded the menu of lavish, tropicalthemed mocktails at Rum Sugar Lime. “It is a really cool way to remove the awkward conversation and the stigma behind (sobriety),” Bradbury said. Rively started exploring sobriety when she became pregnant in 2018.
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“I found I was being hit over the head with the message that motherhood and alcohol are equal partners,” she said. “And that became increasingly alarming to me as I looked at myself, my relationships and the bigger picture.” Rively didn’t immediately jump on the wagon. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfurled, she felt compelled to patronize local restaurants and bars by purchasing takeout cocktails. “As the supporter of Reno that I am, I felt like I singlehandedly needed to keep the bars in service,” she said. “… It felt like every day was just an excuse to drink.” She said she never had a relationship with alcohol that felt abusive or addictive, even during the COVID-19 shutdowns. But she does love to celebrate. “Reno celebrates everything, but everything celebrates with alcohol— bar crawls, wine crawls, paintand-sips—the list goes on, but everything involves alcohol,” Rively said. A 2021 Newsweek article lists Reno as having the third-highest number of bars per capita in the nation, 14 per
Pignic’s Espress-No Martini contains cold-brew coffee and toasted marshmallow syrup. Photo/David Robert
interactive map on the website, as well as an support you for that.” app that lists restaurants, venues and bars that However, a lot of non-drinkers want to offer NA drink menus. A participating business avoid the nightlife scene, perhaps because must have dedicated they’re facing and regular NA addiction, or they’re offerings, which not comfortable might include being around zero-proof beer alcohol. Curious and wine, or a craft in the City aims mocktail menu. to help people in Rively does not those positions by include businesses planning private that simply offer sober events. soda or juice to “Going to a sober patrons. bar and having a She also mocktail is not for envisions the everyone,” Rively Curious in the said. City logo to be a She’s thinking beacon displayed in about events like the front windows sober paint-andof participating sip nights, drag businesses. She brunches and baby likens it to a showers. National Safe Place “There’s a really sign—a yellow sign cool community — Sarah Rively indicating to youth here of nondrinkers. that a business or … Once you start organization is a safe place for them to request talking about it, it’s exciting to see who comes help with homelessness, abuse or suicide out of the woodwork,” she said. ideation. Rively’s model is new in Reno. National “If you’re walking up and down Midtown sites like The Sober Curator don’t include with your girls and you don’t know where to Reno-specific events or content. A popular stop, you have a recognizable brand that you know you trust,” she said.
found I was being “hitI over the head
with the message that motherhood and alcohol are equal partners. And that became increasingly alarming to me.
sober dating app called Loosid does include Reno, but it tends to favor chain restaurants such as The Cheesecake Factory, Chili’s and Olive Garden.
Not drinking in spaces meant for drinking
In 2023, Rively was awarded the Windfeldt INSPIRE Award from the Dry Society Social Club, a local organization that “empowers individuals and communities by promoting a sober lifestyle and providing resources and support.” The award, named after Dry Society Social Club founder Lori Windfeldt, recognized Rively as an inspiration to the community through her work founding An increasing number of local bars are creating appealing NA cocktails. Pignic Pub and Patio’s Winter Margarita is made with NA Curious in the City. She is the third tequila and triple sec alternatives, as well as spiced cranberry syrup, recipient of this award, following and rimmed with Tajín. Photo/David Robert Laura Van Antwerp (2022), author and founder of Your Sober Pal personal growth, online communities and Adventures; and Celeste Yvonne resources for help, Rively is focused on (2021), author and sobriety coach. what happens next—after people re-enter the As Rively talked about these women, nightlife world and want to navigate social she unknowingly highlighted an important spaces where sobriety is not the default. distinction between them and herself. While a “Certain places lend to different lot of voices in the sober community discuss atmospheres and different conversations and different feels,” Rively said. “Again, why did I invite you here (to Pignic) versus a coffee shop? Timing. We are meeting after work, so let’s go somewhere fun. What the average person does after work is go get a cocktail. I’m no different.” As we talk, the ice melts into my How the West Was Won mocktail, made with Lyre’s American Malt—a bourbon alternative—along with spiced syrup and NA walnut bitters. It does not totally replicate the hearty sting of my beloved old fashioned, a cocktail with which I now have a twisted relationship as I begin my own sober-curious journey. But it does help create a kindred experience. “We want to feel grown up,” Rively said. “We want to feel classy, elegant, sexy holding a cocktail. But I don’t want to have any of the effects that I know were poisoning my system.” Swirling my mocktail around and experiencing its crafted flavor, I felt grown up, like I belonged in a bar environment. I didn’t feel like a child tagging along for the night. Most importantly, I didn’t feel like I was taking up space in a place that isn’t meant for me. Sarah Rively is the proprietor of Curious in the City, a new venture that hosts sober-friendly nightlife continued on next page events and plans to publish a guide to local, sober-friendly bars and restaurants. Photo/David Robert
”
The nuances of ‘sober curious’
After celebrating more than three years of sobriety, Rively said she finds the power to abstain from drinking by labeling herself as “curious.” She initially called the business “Sober Mom Reno,” but realized that she wanted it to be more inclusive. “People have opinions about (the word) sobriety,” she explained, calling it “a triggering word.” In contrast, “sober curious” describes a spectrum of people who are reevaluating how alcohol fits into their lives. Rively said she likes the freedom of avoiding an all-or-nothing approach to alcohol. A study conducted by industry analyst IWSR found that 41 percent of consumers who contribute to the no- or low-alcohol market seek full-strength drinks on occasion. “I want to empower people to make that choice again, whether you’re abstaining for a week or about to celebrate three years,” Rively said. “Whatever it is, (Curious in the City) wants to be there for your journey and to
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continued from Page 15 it supports Rively’s theory: “NA-beer, that is, a flavor associated with alcohol, induced One week after I met Rively, a friend similar reductions in arousal … and increases suggested a post-hike drink at a popular in feelings of pleasure as alcohol-containing Tahoe resort bar. After squeezing into the crowded space, I asked for a hot chocolate; the beverages do.” Thanks to bartender replied by forward-thinking placing a cocktail While a lot of voices in the bar managers at menu in front of me places like Pignic, and pointing to a sober community discuss Death and Taxes, hot drink made with personal growth, online and Rum Sugar rum. Lime, there is a Rively has communities and resources growing acceptance a message for of NA drinkers bartenders and for help, Rively is focused on among Reno bar managers who businesses. look down on what happens next—after “Full inclusivity non-drinkers: “I’ve for any guest who heard from other people re-enter the nightlife walks in the doors sober people (that) world and want to navigate is obviously a very we end up tipping important part of better, having more social spaces where sobriety creating a great fun and dancing guest experience,” more recklessly, all is not the default. said Ivan Fontana, when we’re sober,” owner of Death and she said. Taxes, in a phone interview. “They want to An article published in the January 2019 feel included. We have, since day one, always issue of the academic research journal had a nonalcoholic cocktail portion of our list, Chemical Senses compared the brain’s just exactly for those reasons.” responses to alcoholic versus NA beer, and
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The bar’s NA menu is reasonably priced ($11 a drink) and features drinks like the “Ginger,” made with house ginger beer, vanilla, orange and lime. “I think many times, people are blown away at the fact that there’s actual thought and creativity put into the nonalcoholic portion just as much as it is put into the ingredients that are used in the alcoholic variations,” Fontana said. “Nobody would be the wiser. They would think it’s just a great cocktail.” Curious in the City’s next event is “Savor the Moment,” a dinner party co-hosted with interior design firm Flow Designs featuring tastings from NA wine brand Jøyus Wines and NA mocktails created by Pignic, from 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, Feb. 2, at 129 Bell St., in Reno. On Saturday, March 9, Curious in the City will provide sober experimental lounges for “Music Festival in March,” an event that showcases female musicians across Reno venues. Learn more at curiousinthecity.com.
Death and Taxes’ NA cocktail simply named “Fruit” contains strawberry, lemon, macadamia nut and pineapple. “Full inclusivity for any guest who walks in the doors is obviously a very important part of creating a great guest experience,” said owner Ivan Fontana. Photo/David Robert
Are you a fan of the Reno News & Review? If so, we want you! We are in the process of planning the future of the paper. Whether you’ve been a RN&R fan for years, or you discovered us when we rebooted postpandemic, we want your input. We’re working to make sure the RN&R never goes away again. As the Gannett daily continues to wither away, our coverage is more important than ever before. We’re currently in the process of analyzing the best path forward for the RN&R—including a probable conversion to nonprofit status. That’s where you, our super-fans, come in: We want to better understand where the RN&R fits into your life. What do you like about it? What could we do better? And how are you willing to help us secure a sustainable future?
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ARTS
| BY JESSICA SANTINA The cast of Assassins rehearses the opening number. Photo/David Robert
Polarization runs eternal
UNR Theatre & Dance takes aim at modern politics with Sondheim’s ‘Assassins’ There’s an odd sense of comfort that comes from knowing people have always hated American presidents. In this election year, when it feels like there’s never before been such divisiveness, it’s worth remembering that divisiveness has always been around. Some presidents were even assassinated, they were so reviled. If you want to explore this in more detail, there’s a Sondheim musical for that. It’s called Assassins, and the University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Theatre and Dance will present it in February. Assassins opened Off-Broadway in 1990, 34 years ago. Deb Leamy, the show’s director, said the plot explores what American presidential assassinations reveal about the state of the country—and it is somewhat surprising how prescient these revelations are for a 2024 audience. As Leamy explains, Sondheim updated the 18
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show with a new song in 2004, and this is the version UNR musical theater students will perform, though the story is unchanged. It not only tackles political division, but also mental health, our nation’s obsession with guns and more. “It’s a satirical bent on the assassins (both successful and attempted) of U.S. presidents. Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth, John Hinckley … they’re all characters in the show,” Leamy said. “It could have been written today. The same problems are still happening, the same kind of disenfranchisement of people. We’re commenting on why people are upset with the political establishment and people are divisive and fighting, and nobody gets along. It’s all the same. So throughout the show, there’ll be very common themes that the audience can certainly relate to.” How do you present such dark themes in a musical? As Leamy explained, Sondheim’s
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sharp lyrics bring audiences into the minds of these killers, making them, if not sympathetic, at least somewhat understandable. They’re experiencing many of the ills that plague us all— unrequited love, loneliness, rejection, anger at political opponents, etc. As Sondheim explores these issues, he capitalizes on their relatability through laughter. The show is “darkly funny,” Leamy said. Although there aren’t any big dance numbers in the show, Leamy has turned to a live, six-person band led by musical director Aren Long, as well as “movement” designed by choreographer Nate Hodges. “The show is really interesting, because it takes you through this myth of Americana,” Long said. “There are different styles to represent these different eras of American history and different themes. So it’s really intricate and nuanced and layered, and it takes a lot of
familiarity with American language and style to understand. … It’s Sondheim’s brushstroke of what the American ideals are, and the American sound is.” The styles, he explained, vary radically, from country hoedown, to Gershwin-like love songs, to big brass numbers reminiscent of Aaron Copland, to ’80s synth pop and more. Hodges, whose formal training was in both dance and horror, specializes in staging the macabre. Rather than showy dance numbers, the movement Hodges brings is designed to heighten the drama, using exaggerated gestures to accentuate the absurdity. “There’s a lot of writing that’s been done about how two people, say, will see the same horror movie, and one person will laugh, because there’s an element of slapstick, or something so ridiculous it feels funny. I think there’s a little bit of that in Assassins,” he said. “The idea that some of these assassins failed so miserably, it’s really humorous. And some of them were so mad with their own delusions that it feels unrelatable. So when we’re uncomfortable with the unknown or unknowable, that has a tendency to work as humor. I’m trying with all of the numbers in which the assassin is talking through their experience to amp up the hyper-theatricality, the over-the-topness. Everything goes into this heightened space, rather than a normalized, pedestrian space, because it’s not rational thinking.” Take, for example, a barbershop quartet-style ode to guns. Hodges says that the student actors were uncomfortable portraying characters who freely and recklessly wield guns as if they were simply physical appendages. Hodges’ choreography forces audiences to confront the fact that such normalization—not unlike what happens today after mass shootings—is anything but normal. “I think that the show really stands as a true testament to the American system, and what systemic problems can do to people, and how even the even the most crazy or harmful people in our country who have done these heinous acts are really just victims of the system,” Long said. “The idea of the American dream is not universal, and not applicable to everyone.” The UNR Department of Theatre and Dance’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins will take place at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 1:30 p.m., Sunday, from Friday, Feb. 9, through Sunday, Feb. 18, at the Redfield Proscenium Theatre in the Church Fine Arts Building. Tickets are $20 with discounts, and the show is recommended for viewers age 16+. For tickets or more information, visit unr.universitytickets.com.
ART OF THE STATE
| BY KRIS VAGNER Reno artist Mike Burke’s new bike rack sculpture was installed at the Pioneer Center on Jan. 5. Photo/courtesy of the Pioneer Center for Performing Arts summer, is the “Temple of Together” by Caroline Ghosn. It will include a central chamber with communal seating; a private indoor space for reflection, meditation and communion; and four open-air shrines with seating and shade. The structure’s design incorporates neo-Gothic, Art Deco and futuristic aesthetics.
Pioneer Center unveils new bike rack sculpture by Mike Burke
Art news and notes New appointments, new sculpture, new venues, new conference—and more Chris Lanier is the new City Artist
The city of Reno announced in January that Chris Lanier is the new City Artist for 2024. Lanier works in several media including digital animation, web production and comics. He is a professor of digital art at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe, and a contributing writer for Double Scoop (where, full disclosure, I am the founder and editor) and the Capital City Arts Initiative. As part of Lanier’s City Artist activities, he’s scheduled to have a solo exhibition at the Metro Gallery in Reno City Hall beginning March 28, and he plans to curate a group exhibition there in summer.
Jesse James Ziegler is the new Reno Poet Laureate
The city of Reno also announced in January that Jesse James Ziegler is the new Reno Poet Laureate for 2024-25. Ziegler is the creator and manager of Monday Night Poetry and vice president for the Spoken Views Collective. He is a member of the Sierra Literary Cooperative
and the spoken word/poetry contributor to Reno Arts News. “Poetry is the language of bridge building, activism, catharsis, edification and love,” said Ziegler, according to a news release. “I intend to further the art form in our region through community building and community service.”
Artist Galen Brown has died
Galen Brown, the Carson City artist known for his ambitious, abstract drawings, died on Jan. 10. Brown was born in Reno in 1959, and raised in Kings Beach, Calif., on Lake Tahoe’s north shore. He attended the San Francisco Art Institute. He often drew obsessively meditative concentric circles with pencil on pieces of matboard up to 12 feet across; they sometimes took years, or even decades, to produce. Brown had a solo exhibition at the Nevada Museum of Art in 2019 and was represented by Melhop Gallery º7077.
Burning Man announces 2024 temple
Burning Man announced the 2024 temple design on Jan. 17 on the Burning Man Journal. The structure, slated to be constructed this
The Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts unveiled a new bike rack sculpture by Mike Burke at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 5. The bike rack is shaped like a somewhat abstract upright piano; the white keys are rectangular shapes to which bikes can be locked. Among Burke’s other local outdoor sculptures are the “Pollinator Garden Sculpture” in Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, “Rising Together” in Somersett West Park, and “Slinky Dog Bike Rack” in the Biggest Little Dog Park. Another bike rack by Los Angeles artist Jeanette Degollado is slated to be installed at the Pioneer later this year.
New performing arts hub to open this spring
Sierra Nevada Ballet announced that it will open a new performing arts hub, the Nevada Performing Arts Collective, in collaboration with other groups, including Steinway Piano Gallery and Music School, the Sierra School of Performing Arts and Silver State Storytellers. Organizers envision the project as “a unified space where ballet, musical theater, filmmaking, writing and piano seamlessly come together.” Plans include a space for showcasing visual arts as well. The collective will be located at 500 E.
Moana Lane, in Reno. Organizers are planning a grand opening event for May. To learn more or to contribute to the project’s capital campaign, visit sierranevadaballet.org.
Las Vegas announces new art museum
The Las Vegas City Council has approved “an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Las Vegas Museum of Art to continue working on plans for a 90,000-square-foot, three-story art museum in Symphony Park at the southwest corner of South City Parkway and Symphony Park Avenue.” According to ArtNews, the new project is not affiliated with the Nevada Museum of Art, whose plan for a major Las Vegas museum was scrapped in 2020. KTVN Channel 13 in Las Vegas reported, “Philanthropist Elaine Wynn, whose foundation is a major player in this project, spoke at the meeting, saying the problem in the past was not having enough art for the space. To ensure that’s not a problem this time around, Wynn said they’ve partnered with” the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The Reno Arts and Culture Commission seeks new members
The Reno Arts and Culture Commission has two vacancies open. One is allocated for an arts educator; the other is an at-large position that is open to anyone. Applications are due Friday, Feb. 16. To apply, fill out the boards and commissions application at www.reno.gov/ government/boards-commissions.
Save the date for a new statewide arts conference
The Nevada Arts Council plans to hold a new statewide art conference at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Reno from May 30 to June 1. The conference will be open to the public. To see announcements as they are released, follow @nvartscouncil on Instagram.
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WESTERN LIT
Subordination by Death An excerpt from new graphic novel ‘Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis’ Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis is an original graphic novel by journalist Dave Maass and artist Patrick Lay, based on a suppressed opera written by two concentration camp prisoners. In 1943, Peter Kien and Viktor Ullmann, two prisoners at Hitler’s Terezín concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, created a gripping one-act opera. They did not live to see
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their masterpiece performed. Berger Books and Dark Horse Comics are presenting their story in a form that the two authors never imagined: as a graphic novel that combines dystopian sci-fi, mythic fantasy and zombie horror to create a one-of-a-kind reading experience. “Written in a concentration camp, Peter Kien and Viktor Ullmann’s opera is the truest form of artistic resistance, a middle finger to the Nazis and
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| BY DAVE MAASS AND PATRICK LAY all authoritarians across history,” said Maass—a Reno resident who is the director of investigations for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Reynolds scholar in residence at University of Nevada, Reno, Reynolds School of Journalism— in a press release. “By adapting this fierce, genre-blending satire, we hope to introduce this nearly lost masterpiece to new audiences—and to challenge the tyrants of today.” Said artist Patrick Lay, in a news release: “We’ve incorporated Peter Kien’s own incredible artwork, excellent character designs by Ezra Rose and the architecture of Terezín and Prague to craft visuals draped in passing shadows, smoke and vapor. From the book’s ‘Realm of the Unreal’ to the streets of Atlantis, the history of resistance against oppression and censorship is
ingrained in the world.” Below are two pages from a six-page excerpt from Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis, by Dave Maass and Patrick Lay, with permission. You can see all six pages at RenoNR.com. “This excerpt is from the second chapter, which is set almost completely in a cramped cell in Emperor Overall’s tower, where his only connection to the outside world is a two-way radio,” Maass said. “Yesterday, he ordered that everyone in the world slaughter each other. However, as the reports from the field come in, he learns that people have just totally stopped dying. Rather than see this as a miracle, Overall sees it as subordination by Death himself. Kien and Ullmann really leaned into the wordplay and off-stage violence in this section of the opera, and so did we.”
WESTERN LIT
| BY FRANK X. MULLEN Cody, Shaun and Nevada Griffin at Victoria, Idaho, near the end of their month-long bike trek. Photo/ courtesy of Shaun T. Griffin
The gift of slow travel
Shaun Griffin’s new book traces the 1,200-mile bike trek of a father and two sons
For Shaun Griffin, a journey on bicycles with his two adult sons across the mountains and valleys of three Western states was an act of faith. Griffin, a Virginia City-based poet and teacher, knew a month of pedaling across hard country in the summer of 2019 would be physically challenging, and subject to the whims of weather and equipment. Other things also were unpredictable. “I hoped to have four weeks of close time with my sons as peers,” Griffin said. “It was 10 years since they had moved away.” Griffin was 65 during the trek; his son, Nevada, was 35 and Cody was 30. “I wanted to let our relationships rekindle and become more important,” Griffin said, “to live and learn and joke with each other, not as a father and sons but as grown men, to see ourselves as equals.” In his latest memoir, River Ask Me Why: Into the West on Two Wheels, Griffin takes readers on that journey from the Oregon coast to the peaks of Idaho’s Sawtooth Range. The distance is about 700 miles on a map, he noted, but side trips and detours added another 500. Along the way, one of
Nevada’s most celebrated poets meditated on fatherhood, family, the impact of people on fragile landscapes and the freedom of what he calls the “gift of slow travel.” “The elements of wind and sun reveal how close things are,” Griffin wrote. “We lifted our heads to examine much beyond the wheels. This was our place of rhythm for weeks and it became a winnowing rhythm. It took us from our lives and poured us into this new one. ... The sheer stamina it took to cross miles of lava, hay, mountains and river valleys required us to pay attention, to be present, without affiliation. This was what we left for; this is what we left behind.” Wind and wildlife were constant companions. “No matter what we did, the wind came with us,” Griffin wrote. “We learned to live with its covenant of dust and surgical precision. It cut the road ahead and behind like it was cloth. When we turned into the corn rows, the killdeer distracted us, screeching at our proximity: Their eggs were on the ground. I learned to live with the birds; they followed us every mile. So did the hooves and horns and tails: Cody happened upon a herd of bighorn sheep; Nevada (saw) an elk, and I looked up
to see red-tail chicks standing as their mother fed them.” The trek, Griffin said in an interview, was “one of the best things I’ve ever done in my adult life. I was incredibly physically stretched, but also emotionally very fulfilled. We encountered incredible wildlife, beautiful country and incredible people. We experienced the West in a way we couldn’t have done in a car.” On most days, the riders didn’t even look at their phones, he said, “and when we did, we often didn’t have any service.” Travel was slow, purposeful and methodical, he recalled, and occasionally grueling. Temperatures exceeded 90 degrees on some days, and the trek over the Sawtooths left the trio exhausted after 10 hours in the saddle and a climb of more than 6,000 feet in elevation. “But you just keep on pedaling and find the end of the road,” Griffin said. “Then everything is better. You find sleep and food. (While riding), there’s really not much else to think about. You become the bike and become the path you are riding on.” The riders followed roads that snaked along rivers; on rest days, they often took their fly rods to the water. They camped in forests and sometimes stayed in motels. Traveling by bike proved to be a conversation-starter whenever they stopped to rest. “So much of what we experienced, the people we met, were just wonderful and kind, really good people,” Griffin said. Griffin said the best part of the journey was being able to spend time with his kids. “They are so busy, we would not have this time otherwise,” he said. “It forced us to get closer together physically, emotionally, to push through this thing called the West.” While speeding down switchbacks on a mountainside in Oregon, Griffin said, his perspective as a father changed. He realized his offspring were now leading, and he was following. “At the top of the volcanic pass, we looked down to the John Day River canyon,” Griffin wrote. “(It was) a descent that was a first of many for my sons, who could not find the brakes and chose instead the howl of wind in their faces. I tried to ask them to slow down, but they disappeared before I heard any response.” As in life, the young men were traveling their own paths at their own speeds. “I got to watch them as they rode away from me, literally and metaphorically,” Griffin said. “They are men now, and I had to let that idea of them being boys go. There were so many good moments like that, coming to that underRenoNR.com
standing. When you are in the saddle for a long time, you think a lot. At other times, you are just completely empty of any noise, which is the beauty of it. You are just riding, and there’s not a lot to interfere with that.” At journey’s end, he said, his “act of faith” was affirmed. The trip left him with the feeling that “what just happened really matters. Human relations are absolutely necessary, yet very fragile. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, have a special bond. It takes work to keep it, and it takes work to make it lasting.” Griffin’s attempt to “find a way to keep our relationship sacred” was rewarding. In 2020, he wrote an essay about the trip; friends suggested he expand the narrative into a book. “Writing the book was much like the ride, an act of faith,” Griffin said. “When we started the trip, we didn’t know if we could finish, whether our bodies and bikes would hold up. Like writing the book, I wasn’t sure if I could do it. … It’s escaping the highs and lows of everyday life and the intensity of the experience that makes it so potent, that made it really intense, just like any journey you may go on. “It’s something the three of us will never forget.” River Ask Me Why: Into the West on Two Wheels by Shaun T. Griffin is being published by the Southern Utah University Press and will be available in bookstores and for purchase online after March 15. Griffin’s other works include Anthem for a Burnished Land: What We Leave in This Desert of Work and Words; Bathing in the River of Ashes; The Monastery of Stars; and Because the Light Will Not Forgive Me: Essays From a Poet.
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Writers wanted! We're accepting applications for freelancers: • Outdoors columnist • Local beer columnist • Feature writers Interested? Send writing samples and an explanation of why you'd be a fit to krisv@renonr.com!
Become a part of the RN&R by joining our distribution team! • Flexible hours, non-rushed, 1-3 days per month • Good pay • Be a crucial part of the RN&R team
If you have reliable transportation and are interested, email jimmyb@renonr.com for details!
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Meet other founders and prep your biz for 2024! Come to the free BA founders workshop and roundtables. Light refreshments served. 9 to 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 10 @ the UNR Innevation Center, 450 Sinclair St., Reno
BizAssembly.org
FILM
| BY BOB GRIMM Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott in All of Us Strangers.
A new love story ‘All of Us Strangers’ is not getting the awards buzz it deserves; Peacock’s ‘Ted’ is a pleasant surprise All of Us Strangers, which got a limited release last year in order to qualify for awards season, is now in wider release—and it’s quite simply one of the best and most beautiful films of recent months. Directed by Andrew Haigh (who co-wrote the script), the film combines bold narrative choices with powerful-across-the-board acting to provide a love story that is unlike anything I’ve seen before. The film provides constant surprises and manages to be both touching and haunting at the same time. It’s quite the accomplishment. Andrew Scott plays Adam, a relatively depressed guy who is visited at his lonely apartment one night by an equally lonely neighbor, Harry (Paul Mescal). The two wind up in a relationship that provides much healing for both parties. In the meantime, we see Adam traveling frequently to his childhood home to visit his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy), who are awfully young-looking for their ages. Adam has deep discussions with his parents about his sexuality, which are at times confusing but always infused with love and attempts at understanding. Adam’s relationships with both Harry and his parents are all very idealistic, in a way, as if the universe is finally aligning
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for him, providing him with a chance to finally be happy. Scott and Mescal’s performances are full of greatness and aren’t getting the kind of notice they deserve. This movie came in a bit under the radar, and I’m quite sure most readers haven’t heard about it before. Bell and Foy are absolute perfection as Mum and Dad, one of the more memorable parental teams of 2023. Very few movies in 2023 made me feel like I was seeing something truly new—and All of Us Strangers is one of them. When it’s over, you’ll realize you’ve never seen anything like it, and probably won’t see anything like it again. I had a good time with Seth MacFarlane’s original Ted movie, a profane blast of comedy starring Mark Wahlberg as Johnny—and a wise-assed talking teddy bear voiced by MacFarlane. Unfortunately, the sequel, Ted 2, showed the formula wasn’t strong enough to sustain a cinematic franchise. The laughs died out, and the premise got tired fast. With that in mind, I wasn’t really looking forward to watching MacFarlane’s new Ted show on Peacock. It’s a prequel to the original film with Wahlberg’s character as a teen (now played by Max Burkholder) in the early ’90s. I figured there was no way the premise would keep my interest through a single episode. The talking-bear shtick was dead to me. Well, I laughed my ass off watching all seven episodes of this thing—perhaps even more than I laughed at the original film. Ted is full of
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hilarious ’90s references, somehow funny-again pot jokes, and lots of riffs on pop culture. Oh, and there’s a lot of profanity. This is one nasty show, with the sort of no-holds-barred humor you don’t see a lot of these days. It’s as if MacFarlane (who still voices that nasty little bear) has been saving his best obscene jokes for 30 years and let them loose for this project. Most of the show’s plots involve Johnny and Ted in high school. The setting provides all the usual setups—the bully, the attempts to lose one’s virginity, the prom, etc. MacFarlane and his writers (including Dana Gould for a hilarious episode involving the renting of porn) keep the humor far from standard or clichéd. Yes, it’s yet another high school comedy, but MacFarlane has a fresh take on the formula. The jokes are rapid-fire; the show doesn’t take a breath. An episode that starts off with a welcome homage to the Jerky Boys (if you don’t know who they are, you are missing out) evolves into perhaps the funniest take on high school bullying I’ve ever seen. Johnny and Ted start with a prank phone call and proceed to construct an elaborate scheme—and then their consciences get the best out of them as they become emotionally invested in their bully’s life. It’s a thing of comedic beauty. There’s a Christmas show involving a racist talking toy truck that is going to become a holiday staple for me. The episodes include a lot of stoner humor and seemingly endless jokes that go into pop-culture wormholes—yet don’t get tired. Much credit goes to the amazing Alanna Ubach, playing Johnny’s mom, Susan. Ubach mashes up the sitcom moms who came before her to come up with a character who is, simply put, hilarious during every second she spends onscreen. She’s also a total sweetheart and a character to root for. While her mannerisms are a bit exaggerated for comic effect, what she does here is no caricature. Ubach, an actress you’ve seen many times before (she played the girl who had a crush on Marcia in the original Brady Bunch movie; that’s just one of her 170-plus acting credits on IMDb) has given us a great gift with
A scene from Ted. RenoNR.com
this performance. I’m sure all the awards shows will ignore it. Rounding out the Bennett family is Scott Grimes (who played Lt. Malloy on MacFarlane’s The Orville), who is hilarious as Johnny’s father, a Vietnam War vet who enjoyed the war so much that he cried when the helicopters showed up to take him home. (He’s also very afraid of spiders.) Giorgia Whigham provides the moral (sort of) compass for the clan, playing the cousin who lives above the garage in the Fonzie apartment. There’s no word yet on whether or not this is a one-season-and-done show. I certainly hope not; I would love this show to take us right up to the Wahlberg years—so that gives MacFarlane another 20 years or so breathing room. The talking bear is funny again! Ted is now streaming on Peacock. Jake Johnson makes his directorial debut with Self Reliance, a comedy about a fictional dark-web game. Johnson also wrote and stars in the film—and unfortunately, he doesn’t pull all of its elements together in a cohesive way. Things start promisingly as Tommy (Johnson) is picked up in a limo by a very nervous Andy Samberg, playing himself. Samberg—while continuously pointing out that it’s a paid gig that he might regret taking—lets Tommy know that he’s been chosen for a game in which he could win a million dollars. He’s going to be hunted by mostly unseen foes, and in order to stay alive, he must never be alone. He’ll also be constantly filmed wherever he goes. This scenario creates some relatively funny moments, such as when the unseen production crew reveals itself in Tommy’s bedroom (there’s a whole bunch of people), and when Tommy winds up befriending a homeless man (Biff Wiff) to keep him company. Tommy is eventually contacted by another contestant, Maddy (Anna Kendrick), and they conspire to complete the game together. The film hums along for stretches and is mildly entertaining, but there are too many scenes that feel padded with useless dialogue. It often feels like the idea for the movie doesn’t have enough going for it to justify is already-meager 85-minute running time; this should’ve been an hour long, max. Too many scenes feel like the actors were simply instructed to stretch things out. Kendrick is charming and funny in whatever she does, and that’s certainly the case here. Johnson is a master of wise-guy comedy, and he’s mostly in good form. The best parts of the film belong to the few scenes containing Samberg, who taps into something a little darker than what we usually see from him. Self Reliance’s enjoyable moments prove Johnson has some potential as a director. Perhaps he should just go behind the camera next time and let others do the acting, giving him a chance to focus on the story and flow. Self Reliance is now streaming on Hulu.
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• Bob Grimm’s movie reviews every Monday • More theater reviews • Western lit book excerpts • Free online archives going back to 2000 All of this, and much more, can be found online—only at RenoNR.com! LISTEN ONLINE
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BEST 3 THINGS
| BY MAUDE BALLINGER
The Kitchen Table’s fettucine carbonara boasts perfectly al dente ribbons of house-made fettuccine and tender, salty pancetta that shines in every bite. Photo/Maude Ballinger
Reasons to resist being a winter couch potato Fettuccine carbonara, a lemon picatta meatball and standout casino sushi! There’s something luxurious about going out for a nice meal during the winter. The process of making a reservation, exchanging cozy sweats for a smart outfit, and resisting the urge to just curl up and microwave leftovers makes me feel like I’ve got my life together. So this month’s Best 3 Things are slightly more upscale than my usual picks, which makes each spot great for date night—including, ahem, Valentine’s Day. (Hint, hint: All three of these places take reservations.) What: Fettuccine carbonara Where: The Kitchen Table, 530 W. Plumb Lane, Suite A, Reno Price: $23 Contact: 775-384-3959; www.thekitchentablereno.com The Kitchen Table consistently crafts some of the best house-made pasta in town. The atmosphere is casually elegant; the service is always on point; and I have yet to hear a bad word from anyone who has paid the restaurant a visit. While one of their most popular—even iconic—dishes is the raviolo uovo (a single, large, raviolo filled with ricotta, spinach and a runny egg yolk), I’d like to shine the spotlight on the fettuccine carbonara.
The dish features perfectly al dente ribbons of house-made fettuccine noodles tossed in a glossy sauce, with pieces of tender, salty pancetta that shine in every bite. If you’ve been hunting for good, proper carbonara in Reno, The Kitchen Table is your answer. What: AYCE sushi Where: Oceano, Inside the Peppermill, 2707 S. Virginia St., Reno Price: $42.99 for dinner Contact: 775-689-7050; www.peppermillreno. com/dining/casual-dining/oceano When people ask me where to get good allyou-can-eat sushi, I always forget about our casinos. If I’m craving AYCE sushi, I’m usually too lazy to make my way through a clamoring casino to get it, but on the rare occasions that I do, I’m reminded of how good it can be. I recently went to Oceano and was really impressed by the quality of the fish and the diversity of rolls; anything with maguro (tuna) tended to be a favorite. While the price point is a bit higher for dinner than it is at other AYCE places in town, Oceano and other Peppermill restaurants offer a 20 percent discount for locals. (You need a player’s club card.) If sushi isn’t your thing, Oceano also has a vast dinner menu, making it a safe bet for a seafood meal—whether you prefer it raw or cooked.
What: Lemon piccata meatball Where: Centro, 236 California Ave., Reno Price: $10 Contact: 775-737-9062; www.centroreno.com My favorite thing about Centro is being able to order a bunch of different small plates to share without breaking the bank, and the menu rotates seasonally, so each time I visit, there’s something new to try.
During my last visit, I opted for the lemon piccata meatball per the server’s recommendation. If you like chicken piccata, then you’ll enjoy this dish: It’s a four-ounce chicken meatball on a bed of creamy polenta with a lemon caper sauce on top. The meatball is tender with a slightly spicy kick; the polenta is a welcomed texture; and the bright sauce ties everything together.
RENO’S BEST CONCERT VENUE G3 Reunion Tour: Satriani, Johnson, Vai Feb 2 Bad Friends Feb 3 Chris Distefano Feb 9 Dropkick Murphys Feb 15 Bert Kreischer Feb 16 Juanes Feb 17 Brincos Dieras Feb 18 Colter Wall Feb 24 Lukas Nelson + POTR Feb 25 Treaty Oak Revival Mar 14
Divas’ Day Out Mar 23 Tesla: Time to Rock! Tour 2024 Mar 23 Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen Mar 24 Marisela Apr 5 Peter Frampton Apr 11 Nate Smith Apr 26 Gladys Knight Apr 28 The Dead South Aug 13 Banda MS Sept 14
For complete show lineup, visit GrandSierraResort.com/Shows RenoNR.com
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Happenings
Brew HaHa, the Sierra Arts Foundation’s largest annual fundraiser, is taking place Friday, Feb. 2, at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks from 7 to 11 p.m. The event will feature a wide variety of alcohol vendors, live music and art vendors. “This event is about showcasing and supporting the arts in every aspect, from the craft of brewing to the live performances on the stage and, of course, all of the impressive work that our local artists will be selling,” said Tracey Oliver, executive director at Sierra Arts, in a press release. “We invite the community to join us, where they will be surrounded by an immersive art experience that displays creativity and culture that inspires and uplifts us all.” For tickets, which start at $65, and more information, head to sierraarts.org. Jeff Paine, owner of the Gold ’N Silver Inn, announced on Facebook that Jacobs Entertainment would take ownership of the restaurant on May 1. “Jacobs Entertainment has advised me that they intend to ‘keep things as they are,’ with plans for future expansion and remodeling,” he said. Jacobs Entertainment—the owner of the land the Gold ’N Silver occupies—has apparently claimed that it will offer current Gold ’N Silver employees opportunities to stay, maintain the current menu, and make changes slowly over time. Watch www. facebook.com/goldnsilverinn for updates. The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) and Made in Nevada (MIN) have created the Nevada Craft Beverage Passport, a printed or printable digital booklet and “guide to a fun, educational and rewarding time exploring Nevada’s finest craft beverage establishments,” according to the NDA website. Each participating establishment has a page in the passport, and when guests visit, they will receive a stamp. “This passport is a great opportunity to support small business and bolster our economy, while getting to taste the flavors of Nevada-made products,” said NDA senior trade officer Dillon Davidson, in a news release. “We are proud to be in our third year with 45 establishments representing different parts of Nevada, and grateful to have ongoing support from our local leaders that makes this initiative thrive.” For the list of participating Northern Nevada establishments, head to agri.nv.gov/passport.
Openings and honors
Margaritaville Resort Lake Tahoe has opened at 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd., in South Lake Tahoe. Following a $70 million-plus renovation, the resort features amenities including an indoor pool; a nine-story, continued on next page 26
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LIQUID CONVERSATIONS
| BY MICHAEL MOBERLY Anna Vetter, bartender at 40 Mile Saloon and Beer NV: “Every day, someone asks me not to serve their beer in a ‘girly glass.’” Photo/David Robert
Don’t fear the ‘girly’ drink Why are we still gendering beverages in 2024? I was out the other night and overheard a person say to the bartender, “I want that cocktail, but I don’t want it in that girls’ glass.” This request used to haunt me when I bartended, because I could never wrap my head around why we choose to gender glasses and cocktails—why someone would ask to have their martini served in a bucket glass, or why someone would not choose a beverage they want just because it’s pink. When we decide to filter our drinks through ideas like gender, we limit the world of flavor we get to enjoy, and feed into outdated ideas. “Every day, someone asks me not to serve their beer in a ‘girly glass,’” said Anna Vetter, one of Reno’s most award-winning bartenders, who splits her time between Beer NV and 40 Mile Saloon. “The glass can be the same size, but because it has a stem, people will ask me not to use it.” Beer, wine and cocktails all traditionally have proper glasses that correspond with the style of beverage—usually for a reason. Why do you drink a highball out of a Collins glass? Because the longer, thinner style of glass helps hold the carbonation of the cocktail longer. Why do you drink a chilled cocktail out of a martini or coupe? Because the drink has been diluted and chilled to perfection, and the temperature of
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your hand can change that, so you hold it by the stem. Associating a drink’s glass with anything other than being the right vessel for the right drink keeps people from properly enjoying their beverages and discounts the intentionality of the bartender preparing it. A few years ago, I was on Conan O’Brien’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and he said something surprising: “I like a drink that emasculates me the minute it hits the table. I wish I liked bourbon; bourbon is such a cool drink, of all the drinks you can order as a guy.” I could fill this article with statistics on how the best-selling beverages in the country are bright, fruit-forward and, most of all, colorful. Having a part of you that yearns for that cosmo while you sip your old fashioned is unfair to yourself. You should be able to try what you want. Listen to that voice, and celebrate what you love. Life is too short, and there are far too many delicious things that are bright and pretty. Being afraid to try a drink because of its assumed gender based on color or glassware can do more than just limit the flavors you get to enjoy; it can filter other interactions through stereotypes, reinforcing antiquated ways of treating others. And that feeds into larger, more systemic problems. “These stereotypes reinforce an archaic gender binary, which crudely assumes there are
only two genders, and the sex you are assigned at birth automatically ascribes you to that gender,” said Amie Ward, executive director of Safe Bars, a national nonprofit whose mission is to prevent sexual harassment and assault, and create safe, welcoming, alcohol-serving hospitality spaces. “People that ascribe to the gendered binary way of thinking make assumptions about a person’s gender when they see them, and often misgender people,” Ward said. Misgendering someone involves the use of incorrect pronouns; it can not only be offensive, but detrimental to that person’s mental health. “Traditional stereotypes breed aggressors who view their targets as ‘less than’ or lower than them on the social hierarchy,” Ward said. Of course, targets of assault or aggression are predominantly women, nonbinary folks and those in the LGBTQ+ community. Ward is by no means saying that declining to order a lavender martini because you feel it is “girly” is likely to lead to violence—but our choices, especially the ones we are vocal about, can create a toxic atmosphere. Misgendering people and relying on restrictive gender stereotypes are sometimes only a few steps away from otherizing behavior, aggression or even assault. Bartenders, around 60 percent of whom in the U.S. are women, are running into the same gender dynamics in how guests treat them. It is unfortunately common to have guests assume feminine-presenting people are not as capable as their masculine-presenting co-workers. “Because we are working for tips, many people feel like they cannot say or do anything to stop the cruddy behavior,” Ward said. “The subminimum tipped wage has resulted in persistent gender and racial wage gaps, forcing an industry that is largely women—and disproportionately women of color—to tolerate inappropriate behavior, because their income is so dependent on tips.” Said Vetter: “As far as we have come, we still have to have a thick skin.” Bars should be places to come together, be ourselves and drink what we want, with people who make us feel good. When we limit that experience with preconceived notions and clichés, we take a big piece of what makes bars great out of the equation. Raise whatever drink makes you happy, and cheers to safer bars free from nonsensical stereotypes. To find out more about Safe Bars and its active bystander intervention, de-escalation and allyship strategies, visit www.safebars.org.
WINE
| BY STEVE NOEL
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Craig MacDonald and Kate Boyle MacDonald, who moved from Murphys, Calif., to Reno, now own Nevada Sunset Winery. Photo/David Robert
A chance encounter These NoCal winemakers did not expect to buy a Reno winery, but one thing led to another Kate Boyle MacDonald and her husband, Craig MacDonald, are the new owners of Nevada Sunset Winery on Fourth Street, in Reno’s Brewery District. The MacDonalds also own Boyle MacDonald Wines in Murphys, Calif., which they said often attracts customers from Reno. That’s why the couple thought they might want to also do business locally. One of their first steps into the Nevada wine industry happened in 2012, when they visited Churchill Vineyards in Fallon— years before it transitioned into the Frey Ranch Distillery. “We actually went out to Churchill Vineyards, because that was the only vineyard that was close to Reno,” Kate said. “We had a great tour and everything, and then at the end of it, we were talking about how we just really couldn’t wait to make a go of it and open a winery in Reno. And they said,
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‘Oh, you can’t do that. It’s not legal to produce wine in Washoe County.’” In 2015, Nevada law changed to allow wine production in counties with a population greater than 100,000. This change was largely thanks to efforts by Mike Steedman and Alynn Delisle—Sunset Winery’s previous owners— and many others. “We didn’t realize until COVID happened that life could literally change overnight,” Kate said. “And so we said, ‘What are we waiting for? Let’s just go for it and see if we can make this happen.’ So we moved to Reno. … Alynn and Mike were some of the first people who I called when we moved to Reno, just as friends to tell them, ‘Hey, we moved here.’ So we did not move to Reno with any intention of buying Nevada Sunset Winery. That was just fortuitous.” Fortuitous, indeed—but Kate has done a lot to make her own luck in the wine world. She
has more than 25 years of wine-making experience, starting as a cellar rat (an entry-level winery helper) before eventually becoming an experienced winemaker; she also planted and worked on her family’s estate vineyard in Napa. “I have a bit more of a European style, which is always trying to accentuate what nature is trying to give us as far as the nuances, and all the different layers of flavor that you can coax out of the fruit without having one extremely dominant flavor,” Kate said. “I then do very traditional winemaking methods. My wines are (stored) in-barrel for three, four or five years depending on (what the wine needs). I bottle when the wine is ready, not because I need to get my next vintage out. I have that luxury, being such a small producer, which is really nice. “I love the challenges, and that’s why Reno is so exciting. I love the idea of being challenged by new fruit, and so far, the few new (Nevada-grown) varietals I’ve worked with are extremely challenging. So that’s new and exciting.” This is a winemaking philosophy I love— simple and clean, making the best wine you can that reflects the nature of the grapes and the environment where they grew. “You know, one of the things that we absolutely love about Reno and Nevada in general is how Nevada-proud and supportive people are,” Kate said. “That is so heartwarming, and I love the fact that people come into the winery now, and when I let them know which wines are 100 percent Nevada grown, they’re just so excited about that. “I always joke that I’m more Reno than anybody from Reno, like an advocate. I love it so much. I want to wear all the T-shirts and have some gear and tell everybody to come and visit.” She enjoys the fact that Sunset is located in Reno’s Brewery District, where patrons can go next door to Lead Dog Brewing for a beer flight or across the parking lot to Black Rabbit Mead Company for a mead flight. The MacDonalds’ current plans include adding more seating. The tasting room is already a super-lively environment and a great destination point—and I can’t wait to see it after it can accommodate even more wine fans. Nevada Sunset Winery is located at 415 E. Fourth St., in Reno, and is open 3 to 7 p.m., Thursday through Saturday. Learn more at nevadasunsetwinery.com RenoNR.com
open-air atrium; and the License to Chill Bar. Guests can also enjoy an array of signature restaurants including LandShark Bar and Grill, Joe Merchant’s Coffee and Provisions, Come Monday Café and JWB Prime Steak and Seafood. Find out more at www.margaritavilleresorts.com/ margaritaville-resort-lake-tahoe. Reno is getting three new branches of Teriyaki Madness—a Seattle-style teriyaki shop brand with locations all over the country—making for four total area restaurants. The first one has been at the Summit Reno (13963 S. Virginia St., Suite 904). The second just opened at 6637 S. Virginia St., Suite C, owned by franchisees Rick and Wendy Henrickson and their two sons; they plan on opening two more locations soon. Get details at teriyakimadness.com. Tangerine Bistro has opened in Truckee at 10412 Donner Pass Road. Led by chef Brandon Kirksey of sister restaurant Great Gold, Tangerine Bistro focuses on French cuisine with bistro classics like French onion soup, escargots and steak frites; www.tangerinetahoe.com. La Victoria Coffee, the popular Riverside Farmers’ Market coffee trailer, has a new storefront at 1620 Robb Drive, in Reno. While the mother-daughter duo will still serve their signature coffee drinks at the farmers’ market, their new storefront is a welcome addition to McQueen Crossings; www.lavictoriacoffee.com. The Biggest Little Café opened on Jan. 17 in the Reno City Hall lobby at 1 E. First St. The cafe is operated by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation Vocational Rehabilitation Bureau through the Business Enterprises of Nevada program, which provides entrepreneurial opportunities for the visually impaired to own and operate vending facilities in public buildings and properties. The café will serve coffees, snacks and a variety of sandwiches and salads. “If you support the café, you are also supporting the success of DETR’s program and helping create an even larger inclusive community,” said City Councilmember Naomi Duerr in a press release. “It is a win-win as people in downtown have another convenient way to get food while helping to expand an amazing service offered by DETR.” Finally, congratulations to the three Reno restaurants that made Yelp’s Top 100 U.S. Restaurants list for 2024: Arario (No. 26), R Town Pizza (No. 64) and La Condesa Eatery (No. 67)! Have local food, drink or restaurant news? Email me at foodnews@renonr. com. —Maude Ballinger
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MUSICBEAT
| BY MATT BIEKER Anthony Ashworth, Mark Earnest, Alex Alcantar and Julian Iosty are Kanawha.
Escaping the doom Kanawha’s new album ‘Broken Branches’ marks a turning point Doom metal is often assigned adjectives like “sludgy,” “swampy” or “grimy.” In its muddy cultural footprint are images of purple witches and green goblins, badass trucks and motorcycles, and a relentless, churning beat that powered bands like Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard and Candlemass to their places in music history. But if doom metal were to crawl from the muck to find itself sprawled beneath the high desert sky—were the mud baked into fine dust and blown across barren ranges to settle on sagebrush, lonely highways and humming neon lights—it might sound something like Reno band Kanawha’s newest album, Broken Branches, released in September 2023. “They classify us as this idea of ‘stoner/ doom,’ which is still how other people kind of know us,” said vocalist Mark Earnest. “Even though if you listen to the first two records, we’re heading farther and farther away from that and more into this semi-unclassifiable, ’90s hybrid, loud-guitars, inyour-face stuff. They called it desert rock for a while, too, which I kind of dig.” The four-piece band got its start in 2016 when guitarist Tony Ashworth went looking for a new project to bring him back to his ’90s rock roots. He linked up with Earnest, a long-time friend from the Reno music scene, and a few other musicians. 28
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“We still tell people when we first started, we kind of sounded like Soundgarden covering Black Sabbath,” Ashworth said. Kanawha, named for Ashworth’s home county back in West Virginia and registered under Earnest and Ashworth’s label, ToneMark Sounds, cut two records with their original lineup, generating some local buzz and praise from online metalheads near and far. Their first LP even found airtime in the United Kingdom, and inspired vinyl sales in the U.S. After some amicable lineup changes, though, Ashworth and Earnest were joined in 2022 by drummer Julian Iosty and bassist Alex Alcantar. The new lineup has a near-instant onstage chemistry, born from years of stage experience and camaraderie. Most were already fans of each other’s previous bands or projects. They started recording a new album in the winter of 2022. “Mark said something in some other interview that he did recently, that Kanawha didn’t find its sound until this lineup, and I think that’s something that is really truthful,” said Ashworth. “Having that kind of friendship and intimacy with the four of us, like, if we’re going to take care of each other outside of the band, we make sure to take care of each other inside the band. So we don’t let each other write crappy riffs or lay down some lazy fucking bass lick.” Recording Broken Branches also gave Kanawha an opportunity to fundamentally
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change the sound and direction of the band at the mechanical level. As new members, Iosty and Alcantar were able to put their marks on the existing songs and draw from their own tastes in developing something new. “When I came in to record our first fulllength album, I had a skeleton of somebody else’s songs, because their original drummer had already laid down stuff,” Iosty said. “Then through my own head, or what I hear, what I feel, I could just add in a little bit of this— there’s this little spice; here is this little fill here. And with Broken Branches, it was all me.” Said Alcantar: “As the newest member of the band, I had a lot of anxiety about it, because there is so much love, and a lot of the songs, especially the ones that had already been written before, I almost felt like the stepdad. I just want to make sure that it’s good. I remember sitting there. It was me and Tony, and he’s got the best bedside manner I’ve ever seen of anybody guiding you through the recording process.” Broken Branches was recorded and mixed over several months in the Great Divide Den, Ashworth’s home studio. In Ashworth’s words, he’s “fairly new to the mixing game,” and was meticulous about the sound of their new album. “These guys were very great at being like, ‘Hey, you’re new; what you’re trying, it’s not working,’” Ashworth said. “There were some things that Alex pointed out, some things that Mark pointed out, and some things that Julian
pointed out that I’m like, ‘All right, there’s something I’m not getting.’ So, after months, I just stripped it down. Stripping it down, and just having us as the band in the room, made that record what it ended up becoming.” The bandmates noted that they come from disparate musical influences—everything from early punk to indie rock to Pacific Northwest grunge—all of which pulled Kanawha even further from the doom-metal moniker they had acquired through their early work. “I think just throwing this blanketed genre on, it’s always kind of bugged me,” Ashworth said. “We’re very talented dudes. Why would we just pigeonhole ourselves? So we decided to not just slowly progress and open our box a little. We were just like, ‘Let’s just have fun with this.’” Branches has plenty of notable moments, from the double-time, mosh-pit-worthy breaks on the intro track “Strings,” to the true doom sludge fest that is “Destroyer,” or the blues-esque solo on “Screaming Eagle”—the band’s homage to the life of soul singer Charles Bradley. To all four members of Kanawha, though, “Long Lost” represents a true turning point in the band’s sound. Melodic and grungy with soaring vocals and an uplifting message, it’s a riff-driven standout on an otherwise consistently heavy album. “It’s about someone going through a rough situation, but it’s definitely like, you know, ‘We’ll find you,’” said Earnest, who co-wrote the lyrics with Ashworth. “‘You may be gone; you may be lost now, but you have us, you know.’ That was really a moment where our identity kind of changed.” With the newest album in the rearview, Kanawha’s next steps are, as of yet, unclear. There’s already talk of getting back in the studio, perhaps recording an EP in Seattle with the engineer behind Sound Garden’s first few records. As for local shows, they’re biding their time. Aside from the daily stresses of life that make shows and tours difficult to plan, the four veterans of the Reno music scene confess to being disheartened by some of the setbacks the city has seen in the aftermath of the pandemic closures. The loss of iconic local venue Jub Jub’s Thirst Parlor, they agreed, was particularly heartbreaking. But new venues like the Cellar Stage at Alturas Bar signify a renewed enthusiasm for the scene and have the band members hopeful that they’ll be playing live again soon. “Everybody in Reno that’s in this music scene, everybody’s so thirsty to see something weird and new,” Alcantar said. “It’s just a matter of getting that stage for them to play.”
MUSICBEAT
| BY MATT KING Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley is a Saturday headliner at the Lake Tahoe Winter Reggae Festival.
Snowy vibes The Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival launches a winter edition at the new Tahoe Blue Event Center The Reno music scene would be incomplete without reggae music. The mountains inspire a certain sonic vibe, and the upbeat guitar drags, bouncing basslines, clacking drums and soothing vocals of the reggae genre are a perfect fit. Various reggae festivals have been hosted in the area throughout the years—and now another big festival is making its debut. On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 17 and Feb. 18, the Lake Tahoe Winter Reggae Festival will take place at the brand-new Tahoe Blue Event Center. Eight reggae acts—including headliners Damian “Jr. Gong” and Stephen “Ragga” Marley (Saturday) and Stick Figure (Sunday)—are set to bring rhythmic beats to Lake Tahoe. The event is being produced by Good Vibez, promoters of other events including the summer Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival. During a recent phone interview with Good Vibez co-owner Dan Sheehan, he explained how the reggae fest’s winter edition came to fruition. “There’s this brand-new event center in South Lake Tahoe named the Tahoe Blue Event Center. It was a cool opportunity to bring something in the winter,” Sheehan said. “We do the summer reggae festival by the Palisades. … There were a bunch of different artists who were already going to be
on the West Coast, so we were able to create the lineup knowing that there would be artists who were available. … It all just kind of lined up. We secured our dates there months ago, sometime in the summer, right when they were finishing construction and getting everything dialed up.” Sheehan said he’s seen how local crowds have fallen in love with reggae. “Last year, we moved the summer reggae out to the Palisades, but before that, everything was in South Lake,” Sheehan said. “We’ve had great success with the summer reggae festival, and we’re finding that the same is true for winter. You obviously have locals and everybody who’s coming from around the surrounding area, but we’re also finding out that people are pretty stoked on coming out and coming up, especially in the winter, to see this cool event that’s taking place.” I reached out to Jay Hatchett, a Reno musician whose reggae band Lizano has performed at Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival, about the area’s growing love for the genre. He responded via text message. “In the past, bigger touring reggae bands rarely made a stop in the Biggest Little City,” Hatchett wrote. “With Reno’s recent building boom that has flooded our valley with diversity and culture comes the opportunity to envelop new growth into our local collectives. Reggae and its laidback California-style vibes have come riding in
on the shoulders of the changing times in Reno. I think that’s what people love about it here. … It’s been amazing to watch it grow, and Lizano has been blessed to be able to be emerged in its uprising. Back when the band first started many years ago, we had to tour far and wide to any sleepy beach town that we could to play places people would buy a ticket. Now, there are a ton of reggae-centric bands that are all at the highest level, and it’s really cool to see.” Hatchett said bigger festivals like the Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival have been a boon to local bands. “For a long time, our area … (has) been overlooked by the reggae scene,” Hatchett wrote. “The effect a festival like that has in our area is paramount, because it brings the biggest artists in reggae music right to our backyard, where I feel like a lot of people relate to the music and the message. Having played LTRF in the past, it also gave us the opportunity to level up and play a national music stage with a lot of our heroes. Talk about dreams coming true. The band SOJA won a Grammy in 2022, and when we got off stage, the singer, Jacob Hemphill, came up to me and gave me a fist bump and said, ‘Way to start the festival with energy; I dig the vibe.’ That was so unreal to me and definitely a cool moment.” During past interviews with Reno event promoters, they’ve talked about the dangers RenoNR.com
touring musicians can face in the wintertime. Last year, Debauch-A-Reno organizer Pete Menchetti said: “It’s pretty risky to plan a stop in Reno anywhere outside of the months of June through August, because you never know when there’s going to be a lot of snow on the mountains. If you’re on tour in a big old van, you don’t want to get stuck having to drive through that stuff. After our 2018 event, a band from France who had played our event, which was in April, was leaving and got in an accident in the snow on the way out.” Sheehan promised that every precaution possible is being taken. “We obviously have weather insurance on this,” he said. “We want to make sure that we’re protecting ourselves. We are working with all the artists to ensure their routes on how they’re getting in. A lot of them are coming from Southern California from a festival that’s happening down there. Some are flying directly into Reno, so we’re working with the city and the venue to ensure that everybody that’s coming in is as safe as possible.” Sheehan talked about the local ties of one of the festival headliners. “(Local audiences) are huge fans of Stick Figure,” Sheehan said. “Stick Figure has definitely had a big following within the region. (Frontman Scott Woodruff) lived there for about two years, so he’s always a crowd favorite. We’re finding that most of the artists, if not all the artists, look forward to playing Tahoe, whether it’s in summer or winter, just because it’s such a beautiful destination. The artists are completely stoked on getting there. It’s becoming somewhat easier to book because people and a lot of the artists are really pumped coming to this market.” Sheehan said he takes pride in how Good Vibez has always been genre-centric in their lineup approach. “It’s kind of our wheelhouse,” said Sheehan. “We’re not trying to compete with the big guys, so we’ve always been genre-specific on festivals. You just have an understanding of those artists, an understanding of their fan bases, and then it comes down to routing and if they’re on tour, and if they’re going to use your festival as kind of an anchor date for that.” The Lake Tahoe Winter Reggae Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 17 and 18, at the Tahoe Blue Event Center, 75 Highway 50, in Stateline. Tickets start at $105, and only a limited number remained as of our press deadline. For tickets or more information, visit www.tahoeblueeventcenter.com.
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THE LUCKY 13
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Jimmy James Guitarist for True Loves, performing at Cypress Reno on Feb. 7 Few musicians are as skilled and energetic as Seattle’s Jimmy James. The guitar-shredder earned fans during his time with the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, and is now doing so with the funk/soul group True Loves, where his otherworldly talents elevate the classic groove to another level. You may even see him play the guitar with his teeth or behind his back. The band True Loves is set to perform at Cypress Reno on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Tickets are $15; for more information, visit cypressreno.com. What was the first concert you attended? UB40. I must have been 13 or 14. It was at the Seattle Coliseum. What was the first album you owned? Best of the Blues Vol 1. I was really excited because it has BB King on there, and John Lee Hooker, and all these people. What bands are you listening to right now? I’ve been listening to a group called The Ambassadors from the ’60s. I started revisiting Dyke and the Blazers. Aretha Franklin, of course, and Jimi Hendrix. Anything Stax Records or Motown, and the TSU Toronados. “Welcome to ’24”—the year with things in common. By Matt Jones Across 1. Roast battle hosts, for short 4. Bumble profile maintainers? 8. Flight seat option 13. “___ y Plata” (Montana motto) 14. Actress Mitra of The Practice 16. National prefix 17. Lead character of 24 19. Feeling regret 20. Early Peruvian 21. Nursery rhyme pie fillers (“four and twenty,” they say) 23. Connect with 25. Barely achieve 26. Rowboat implement 27. George Burns title role 29. Impersonated 30. Spot for a soak 33. Big name in circuses 36. Loads 37. Ratio that’s often 24 for film cameras 30
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42. Like some salad dressings 43. Stracciatella, e.g. 44. 7’7” former NBAer Manute 45. “___ the Walrus” (1967 Beatles tune) 48. Uno plus uno 49. Talk trash about 52. Removes names from pictures, on some social media platforms 54. To the letter 56. Units where 24 = 100% 60. Poodle plaguer 61. Remain patient 62. The NBA sets it at 24 64. Penny-pincher 65. Vietnamese capital 66. Burns downvote? 67. Planetarium display 68. ___ baby (one who’s famous via family connections) 69. Pre-album drops Down 1. Mint-garnished cocktail 2. They surround brains 3. Goal-oriented item? |
4. Royal sphere 5. Obsessive whale hunter of fiction 6. Biffed it 7. Creep around 8. “He’s right. Ain’t no rule that says a dog can’t play basketball” movie 9. Arctic First Nations resident 10. Make Kool-Aid 11. Give for a bit 12. Rowing machine units 15. Took a curved path 18. WandaVision actress Dennings 22. Pond fish 24. Fairy tale meanie 28. Come-___ (enticements) 30. Was the odd one out 31. “___ de Replay” (Rihanna’s first single) 32. Joining word 34. Actress Adams 35. Sister of Chris and Stewie 36. Division for Hamlet or Hamilton 37. Keyless car key 38. Duran Duran hit of 1982
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39. Former Viacom chairman Sumner 40. ___-pitch softball 41. Reduce 45. Comic book artists 46. ___ standstill 47. Swampland 50. Polar covering 51. They may never have been higher 52. Part that the ointment Bag Balm was designed for 53. Depeche Mode lead singer David 55. Short-lived gridiron org. revived in 2020 56. Legs, in film noir monologues 57. “In memoriam” piece 58. Simpson who got into crosswords around 2008 59. Word before “Hammer time!” 63. A.F.L. merger partner © 2024 Matt Jones Find the answers in the “About” section at RenoNR.com!
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What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get? I think I appreciate most of everything for what it is. I feel like everything has its place, and I listen to a little bit of everything. What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live? Khruangbin. I really, really dig Mark Speer and what he does on the guitar. He’s very fabulous with it. Another group, of course, if she was still here, but I already saw them many times, was Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure? “Stuck on You” by Lionel Richie, “Material Girl” by Madonna, “Crush on You” by The Jets, “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, “Caribbean Queen” by Billie Jean, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper and “Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen. What’s your favorite music venue? I’ve never had one that I didn’t like. Just like different genres of music, I can’t really pin it down. It’s the venue, but it’s also the people, so it’s hard for me to really pin one down and say, “Oh, I like this over that.”
What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head? There’s a song I’ve been listening to by the Fantastic Four, “The Whole World Is a Stage,” and I would later come to find out after my mom passed away in 2022 that it was one of her favorite songs. I didn’t know that at the time, because it wasn’t mentioned to me until after her passing, from her cousin. It goes, “The whole world is a stage, and everybody’s playing the part. The stage is set, and the curtain goes up. The scene is a broken heart.” What band or artist changed your life? How? After hearing Robert White, who was the session guitar player on “My Girl” by The Temptations, that’s what made me want to pick up a guitar. Also hearing Eddie Willis’ guitar part, the other Motown session player from the Funk Brothers, his guitar lick melody on “I Second That Emotion” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, that was another thing that changed me. You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking? I would have asked the great James Jamerson how he felt when he played the bassline on “It’s a Shame” by The Spinners. What song would you like played at your funeral? Natalie Cole’s “Inseparable,” Henry Mancini’s “Nadia’s Theme,” Isaac Hayes’ version of “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” the isolated string session by the Detroit Symphony of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Drifting” by Jimi Hendrix. Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time? It’s a tossup between Dyke and the Blazers, Funky Broadway, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced. What song should everyone listen to right now? The Ambassadors, “Ain’t Got the Love of One Girl (On My Mind)”. That’s my go-to song that I’ve been listening to a lot.
15 MINUTES
Ernest Hemmings Las Vegas performance artist debuting TSTMRKT in Reno
The Las Vegas performance art group TSTMRKT, which has been performing for 20 years in Southern Nevada and across the country, is making its Reno debut. For comedy fans, it’s unique, dark sketch comedy with a complex framing device. For people who enjoy performance art, it’s theater of the absurd with wildly imaginative collage work. The show takes place at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 3, at Good Luck Macbeth Theatre, 124 W. Taylor St., in Reno. Tickets are $15 to $75. Ernest Hemmings, the group’s founder and lead performer, talked with the RN&R about the show and the precision behind the apparent chaos of the group’s performances. What is TSTMRKT, and how did it come about? TSTMRKT is a comedic performance-art stunt that incorporates film collage, timed sound effects and cheap theatrics. It was created from an urgent need to push the boundary that separated sketch comedy from legitimate theater and fine art. I took on the moniker “Test Market” to erase preconceived expectations and worked exclusively in a timed framing device to let the audience in on the inherent danger of a live performance. The first TSTMRKT show was a midnight performance done in a junkyard in Las Vegas. Since that moment, the show has had multiple residencies and lengthy theater runs, and has toured multiple times across the country. The production sounds complicated with the visuals and soundtrack loop. Do you have to sync up with it, or do you just let it rip? Synchronization is key to making the
| BY DAVID ROBERT performance work. Every second and beat is counted. A single off syllable has the potential of wrecking the show, which is why we disregard audience reactions to the material. We cannot “hold for laughs.” We have to just keep going. What’s the show like? There is a pre-show and then the show. Both are on the same track on two separate laptops connected to two different projectors. If you (the audience) come when the doors open, you’ll likely see me on the ground hovering over one of the laptops and my partner hovering over the other. You’ll hear me count down, “3, 2, 1, go!” The screen and sound begin, and we leave the stage. The preshow is called “Nothing,” and is a straight film collage made up of ancient ephemeral clips of B-roll, camera tests, commercials and home economics films— with a disco beat. It provides a countdown to the actual show, “TSTMRKT,” which is why we always tell people, “You need to show up early. We cannot hold the curtain.” Once we start, we just go. There is no pause, just like life. This collection will take you from a frustrating call to the local internet company, to a ride on an Amazon spaceship, to a Tinder date that goes horribly wrong, to the afterlife, to—well, it’s an adventure. Tell me about the framing device. The framing device is time constructed in the space of a recording. The sets and props only exist in sound effects—like a door opening, cabinet closing, a dish landing on a table, etc. Those sound effects are recorded in the order and timing of the imagined performance. The audio recording is then married to timed film loops. The film loops are then split into a diptych. The show begins with me hitting “start” on a laptop, and all of the tech is automated. There is no or little room for error. You’ve been doing this for 20 years. What gives your work such longevity? It’s a very unique show, and it’s always changing, so our home audience in Las Vegas enjoys seeing the new content and characters, while the audiences we have yet to engage in other cities are pretty intrigued. Also, as a playwright, I love the challenge of constantly creating new shows. What is the future of TSTMRKT? Right now, it’s laser-focused on building out projects for the 2024 festival season, including the Philadelphia FringeArts Festival and the Toronto Comedy Festival. RenoNR.com
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Senator James Slattery, front of line and Civil Rights Activist Bertha Woodard, holding “Slattery Denies Civil Rights” sign. Bertha Woodard participated in active sit-ins and picketing to campaign against racially discriminatory practices used by businesses and casinos in Northern Nevada. NHS Photo Collection.
STORIES OF STRENGTH. H T N O M Y R O T IS H K C A L B CELEBRATE
James Beckwourth was born into slavery, but his father’s claim for emancipation in 1824-1826 granted him freedom. He became a successful trapper, trader, and businessman, and his efforts contributed to the establishment of the settlement known as Beckwourth, California. NHS Photo Collection.
The Nevada History Society is celebrating Black History Month by highlighting the stories of Nevada’s brave men and women who took a stand against civil injustice. Visit the museum to learn about their stories.
BECOME A MUSEUM MEMBER FOR FREE ADMISSION TO ALL STATE MUSEUMS. Visit NVMuseums.com for museum locations, exhibits, & events. 32
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