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The next war
Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review. Regular readers might recall that RN&R editor D. Brian Burghart is on vacation this month, which means that news editor Dennis Myers, staff writer Sage Leehey and I will cover his duties the next few weeks. That means, among other things, that I get to be the guy to meet you here at the door. So, hey, come on in and make yourself comfortable. Here’s something I’m excited about: Voting is now live for our annual Biggest Little Best of Northern Nevada contest. You can log in and vote here: www. newsreview.com/reno/ballot/ bestofreno14. This is a chance to commend your favorite local restaurants, bars, casinos, stores, artists, events, teachers and scandals. A lot of local people and businesses take this contest very seriously and campaign hard for votes and recognition. And we love that. So feel free to rally your friends on social media. However, if we catch you ballotstuffing—and it seems like every year we catch somebody—we will hunt down and destroy whatever ballot-stuffing robot monstrosities you have created. There’s an autocomplete list that will pop up whenever you start typing. That’s drawn from past winners and is there to help you, and to help us when it comes time to tally votes by eliminating some of the erratic misspellings—which really slows vote counting—but please don’t feel inhibited by it. We’re not trying to coax you into a vote. Feel free to vote for names that don’t appear in the autocomplete list. And if you don’t use autocomplete, please try to provide a correct spelling. Also, feel free to suggest categories for future contests using the freestyle feature in the ballot. We add and subtract categories annually, and we take those suggestions very seriously. Finally, every year we choose a different aspect of Northern Nevada to focus on with a special section of categories. This year, it’s women. It’s an opportunity for all of us to honor the women leaders in the arts, business and politics of our community.
My suggestion would be “Time to Celebrate.” As we plan on leaving Afghanistan at the end of this year, instead of demonstrating, I feel it’s time to stage performances in stadiums across the country, providing leadership more time to figure out more hatred and fear so we can pay for another unnecessary war! Besides, after being granted a son after 19 years of feeble attempts, my son is coming home from his fifth deployment in Afghanistan the end of this year. Jeannie Jackson Reno
Still towering
Intergenerational thoughts While listening to some pop music from the ’60s and ’70s, tears came to my eyes when I thought about where we are today socially and economically. The lyrics were about freedom and loss of identity. I thought of my 15-year-old daughter and how the newer generations don’t really know what freedom is. Today everything from birth to death is “gamed” for the profit of big power structures. It’s a covert form of indentured slavery (unwritten contracts). My daughter thinks I rant a lot and that I get overly excited and upset over social/political issues. I just feel like I’m doing my American duty in trying to keep our lives free from extortion and our individual identities intact. This is something my father risked his life for in WWII and Korea, yet today’s generation seems to just give this freedom away and accept the future as an ever escalating glott of extortions and corruptions—business as usual. I come from possibly the last generation willing to voice their opinions in a blunt and, some would say, revolutionary manner. To do so today too loudly can put the mark of extremist or domestic terrorist on your forehead. I guess that would include the authors of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of our long forgotten Constitution.
Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages people to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.
I say firstly and foremost vote, not blindly nor just along a party line but rather with some depth of thought and conscience. I feel sorry for my daughter and her generation as they have never experienced the freedoms we older Americans have, nor understand their costs. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants”—Thomas Jefferson. I told her I could explain the differences to her intellectually but that’s different than feeling it in your soul. It was a grand experiment. Too bad the tree’s been eaten away by parasites. John Bogle Reno
Re “Towering wealth” (Letter to the editor, May 29): How about this example? You cash your paycheck on Friday. Imagine having the teller count out 2,000 hundred dollar bills, a stack about 12 inches high of slightly used bills. Last you until next Friday? Could you fit that money in your purse? That’s the weekly pay of the McDonald’s CEO. C.G. Green Reno
A pat for Grimm Re “Marks the spot,” (Film, May 29): Hey—great review on the new X-Men! Gotta’ have more Quicksilver. Robert Jones Birmingham, Ala.
Forward to the past Interesting that Harry Reid is trying to strip freedom of speech out of the First Amendment. He calls it restoring democracy to the American people, which, to him, means preventing the Koch brothers from using their own money to support their political preferences. “Shady money” Harry calls it. I’ll resist the temptation to comment on the delicious irony here.
Editor/Publisher D. Brian Burghart News Editor Dennis Myers Arts Editor Brad Bynum Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Staff writer Sage Leehey Contributors Amy Alkon, Woody Barlettani, Bob Grimm, Ashley Hennefer, Sheila Leslie, Dave Preston, Jessica Santina, Todd South, Brendan Trainor, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young
—Brad Bynum
Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Design Melissa Bernard, Brad Coates, Serene Lusano, Kyle Shine, Skyler Smith Advertising Consultants Gina Odegard, Bev Savage Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Office Manager/Ad Coordinator Karen Brooke Executive Assistant/Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker
bradb@ ne wsreview . com
OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
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If Harry Reid really wants to clean up politics, he could start by introducing an amendment to repeal the 17th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Our founders originally wrote the Constitution so that U.S. senators were appointed by their state legislatures. That made them ambassadors from their state to the federal government. Pretty ingenious—no question about who they represented and where their loyalties lie. The 17th amendment, ratified in 1913, changed senator selection from appointments to popular votes. Over time that opened the door to external influences that affect Senate loyalties. No better example exists than our very own Harry Reid. Isn’t it time to accept that the founders had it right the first time? Harry, let’s repeal the 17th amendment. Robert R. Kessler Las Vegas
Ready for his breaks Re “Ready for my tax breaks, Mr. Nevada” (feature story, June 5): Dennis Myers’s informative but biased article on the film industry in Nevada included the line “Someone didn’t do his homework before committing pen to paper.” Although Mr. Myers can be forgiven for not telling the whole story, the whole story indeed is missing. The issue of tax incentives is a wide one. But since we do have tax incentives for film in place, we should not forget the immensely positive impact these incentives will have in Northern Nevada. Chief among these is the development of Northern Nevada Film Studios and its collaboration with Sierra Nevada Guitar, myself as classical guitarist and composer, and innovative electric guitarist and composer Julian Forest. Northern Nevada Film Studios is currently in production on a new film called Sign of the Sun. In addition to an amazing script and top notch regional music and acting talent, this film will revolutionize the entire film industry with a proprietary new technology that will change the film-going experience. Sign of the Sun will set the stage for a greater renaissance of arts
Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Manager Anthony Clarke Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Joe Medeiros, Ron Neill, Andy Odegard, Clayton Porter, Christian Shearer, Marty Troye, Warren Tucker, Matt Veach, Gary White, Joseph White, Margaret Underwood General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Grant Ronsenquist
NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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and economic development throughout northern Nevada. If incentives help this grown-in-Nevada initiative it will only be a good thing. Larry Aynesmith Incline Village
Another precinct heard from Re “Ready for my tax breaks, Mr. Nevada” (feature story, June 5): Thanks to Dennis Myers for his article “Ready For My Tax Breaks.” The film industry is one example of a major problem that the politicians have dropped on the citizens of Nevada. Other examples include redevelopment districts, STAR bonds, and the depreciation rule. One group receives maximum financial benefits while the majority pay the full rate. We should not only correct these injustices, but we must act to prevent them from happening in the future. We need the public and the journalists to expose these blatant acts of malfeasance before they become law. Unfortunately, deals such as the Apple giveaway are performed behind closed doors without public scrutiny and those who are involved in the giveaways are long gone from office before the ramifications are felt down the road. Mark Glenn Reno
Health vote Re “Historic vote cast” (Upfront, June 5): [On the U.S. House voting to cut off funding for enforcement of federal medical marijuana ban on dispensaries where medical marijuana is legal:] The money will always be spent if it is there, no matter what the cause or effect. At least half of Congress knows how the American bureaucracy works. Its nice that our House members were not the dummies. Shaun Gilbert Reno
Business Nicole Jackson, Tami Sandoval Lead Technology Synthesist Jonathan Schultz Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalinn Jenkins 405 Marsh Ave., Third Floor Reno, NV 89509 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds to classifieds@newsreview.com
THIS WEEK
Web site www.newsreview.com Printed by Paradise Post The RN&R is printed using recycled newsprint whenever available. Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in the RN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. The RN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form.
Cover and feature story design: Brian Breneman
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MISCELLANY
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JUNE 12, 2014
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