deCember
20-26,
2018
Rockin’ Roll call
Rock’ n’ Reno Book See Arts&Culture, page 16
From the ashes
liFe in Butte County sinCe the Camp Fire s e rv i n g n o rt h e r n n e va d a , ta h o e a n d t r u c k e e
“
HIV testing was a part of my routine before my relationship, and it continues to be a part of my routine now that I’m in a relationship. — Paolo
”
I’M
DOING IT For info on free testing & HIV care, call 775-328-6147
#DoingIt This publication was supported by the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health through Grant Number 1NU62PS924579-01-00 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health nor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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EMail lEttErs to rENolEttErs@NEWsrEviEW.coM.
Nog days of winter
Homeless beers
Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review. I’d like to give a quick shout-out to the rest of the RN&R’s editorial team: Associate Editor Jeri Chadwell, News Editor Dennis Myers, Special Projects Editor Matt Bieker and Calendar Editor Kelley Lang. I had not one, but two unexpected family medical emergencies arise in the last couple of weeks, and they’ve pulled my attention away from the office and the community. I’m grateful that I’ve got such a strong, supportive team, and the last two or three issues of the RN&R have been solid editions without much input or help from me. So, thanks, crew. The good news is that those family medical issues have compelled me to be at home more the last few weeks, and I’ve been enjoying the time, curling up next to the fireplace with my gal, Margot, and our one-year-old son, Clyde, and watching lots of documentaries. Ironically, though—or maybe to counteract the effects of the season—we’ve been watching Ken Burns’ 1994 PBS documentary series Baseball. It’s a great way for me to get my baseball fix during winter— while simultaneously giving archaeologist Margot her fix for weird, old Americana. And we’ve been drinking a classic Northern Nevada seasonal beverage: Frankovich Holiday Nog. I always hated egg nog as a kid, but I love this stuff. Probably because of the booze. Anyway, it’s one of those great local holiday traditions that you might not be familiar with if you just moved here three months ago. So get yourself educated. And don’t forget to submit a story to our 95-word fiction contest! Check out the promo on page 30 for details. Happy holidays, folks!
Re “The Fourth coming” (cover story, Dec. 6): It amazes me that people are more determined to create a Brewery District than to address the homelessness issue in Reno. I don’t know what kind of people who care about a city would suggest simply moving the homeless shelters so they can come in with their brews and cater to the middle and upper class without trying to actually find ways to address the homeless population on 4th Street. Catholic Charities, the St. Vincent Dining Hall and the VOA shelter are some of the very few resources that the homeless population have in Reno, not to mention the bus station is essentially the only means of transportation for this population when they can even afford a bus ticket to get somewhere. Why can’t brewers pick a different place for their Brewery District? Are there no other places in Reno that offer the “industrialness” that these brewers are looking for? What a great idea to displace the people in Reno who are struggling most so we can cater to the people who need to satisfy their taste for craft beer. That’s exactly what Reno needs—more gentrification. Mariah Murphy Reno
—Brad Bynum bradb@ ne wsrev i ew . com
Being anti-science has a price Imagine yourself in Paradise, California, stuck in traffic, surrounded by flames, and your gas tank ruptures. You hear a whoosh and feel the intense heat and realize you will suffer an agonizing end. It happened. That is the result of an extremely dry autumn and climate change. Every year is warmer. Every fire is larger. The east coast and Texas now have superstorms. If you live in any forested community you better be scared. We put 100 million tons of CO2 into a paper thin atmosphere every
Jessica Santina, Todd South, Luka Starmer, Bruce Van Dyke, Ashley Warren, Allison Young Our Mission: To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live. Editor Brad Bynum Associate Editor Jeri Chadwell News Editor Dennis Myers Special Projects Editor Matt Bieker Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Contributors Amy Alkon, Kris Vagner, Bob Grimm, Andrea Heerdt, Holly Hutchings, Shelia Leslie, Josie Glassberg, Eric Marks,
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decembeR 20, 2018 | Vol. 24, ISSue 45
day. That effects our air and oceans, and it’s bad. The entire Republican party thinks it is a hoax. It’s not. The scientists are starting to panic and even the corporate media is beginning to mention it. The Pentagon and insurance companies have been alarmed for years. We need to tax the crap (I’m being nice) out of fossil fuels and begin a transition to sustainable living. We can do it. Don McKechnie Sparks
Belief Reincarnation is the belief that the soul is reborn into a new body again and again. The soul has the ability to create. The body has the means to create and the senses to observe the creations. It is said that we have lived thousands of lifetimes. Each new embodiment is an opportunity to experience this wonderful gift of being human. Abortion is a woman’s right to stop a body from developing and being born. In my opinion, there are five circumstances when this is an appropriate choice. In all the examples the common denominator is a soul incarnating into a damaged body, the hard being so significant that the child will be a burden throughout its like. First, the medical advances of today can determine if there exist genetic or other problems early in a pregnancy. It allowed to be born the child will constantly struggle due to its physical or mental handicap. Do such children feel imprisoned within a body that does not work? Second, is the situation where an unborn is subjected to the poisons of alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. … Think of the disadvantages a human will endure because of such substances. A third situation in which a human may never overcome is to be born in the state of extreme poverty, a place where stavation is a daily factor and the source of food uncertain. Fourth on the list is when the mother and/or father hate the child. From
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conception to the age of five a child’s world is emotions. The feelings of the parents are indelibly etched on both the unborn being and the growing youngster. Although the effects of being unwanted may be overcome later in life there will be severe hardships endured before any peace and love is felt. The last area where abortion is acceptable is when the welfare of the mother or child is a concern. Any problems leading to the likelihood of death to either or both makes this situation a logical choice. Of course, humans will never agree completely on the issue of abortion. But this is as it should be. Pat Wendt Reno
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Can the “One-man Show of Organ Harvesting” Still Go On? In order to smear the Chinese government and struggle for survival, Li Hongzhi, the leader of the cult Falun Gong, has spread the rumor of “organ harvesting” for more than ten years. From the awkward farce of “organ harvesting” with Sujiatun to the “investigation report” as the upgraded version of the rumor and the hotchpotch of rumors in “Holocaust”, he tried every means and went frantic. But since he can’t provide any conclusive evidence, the spectators are getting fewer and fewer. People begin to find him shameless and disgusting. It is obvious to all that the organ donation and transplantation is booming in China while the rumor of “organ harvesting” spread by the cult Falun Gong is dying. The “Chinese model” is praised by the international community, while the rumor of the cult is regarded as “a mad dog barking at the sun” pathetically. “Organ harvesting” seems to exist only in the holocaust of the German Nazi and in the vivo experiment of the Japanese fascism, both of which were far from real life. When the cult Falun Gong picked up this topic and launched rampant attacks, we need to revisit the following facts throughout its bloody development history: When Li Hongzhi strongly preached heretical ideas like “going to an upper level” and “flying away for consummation”, Feng Shaobao, a Falun Gong practitioner in Pukou District of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, abandoned his wife and young daughter and hanged himself at home. When hearing “Falun is the epitome of the universe” that can absorb and release energy, “condition the body, treat diseases” and protect life, Ma Jianmin, an employee of Huabei Oilfield and Falun Gong addict, cut his belly with scissors at home and died of hemorrhagic shock, just in order to look for the “Falun” in his belly. Jiao Yonggui, a young man from Hubei, felt that he had reached the consummation of “Falun Gong” and cut his belly on the bed with a blade. His intestines exposed out of the belly, and he was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. Shi Shuyan, a Falun Gong practitioner in Dongguang Town, Dongguang County, Hebei Province, claimed that she would go to heaven when she took out the “elixir of life” from her mouth. Then, she did so with a kitchen knife and ended up in skull fracture, broken cerebral dura mater, brain tissue overflow, and death due to excessive hemorrhage... These bloody facts showed that the alleged fallacies invented by Li Hongzhi were the culprit of the suicidal acts of hanging oneself and cutting one’s body part. Aren’t these acts vivid evidence of “organ harvesting”? Li Hongzhi kept blaming others for “harvesting the organs” of his disciples, but the unbearable “organ harvesting” incidents were self-imposed repeatedly on them for they were “misguided” by the evil doctrines of Li Hongzhi. The spark of their lives was extinguished under the guidance of the so-called “consummation” and “going to an upper level” doctrines and the glory of the “tenet of Falun Gong”. Who persuaded the disciples to “harvest” their lives? Undoubtedly, Li Hongzhi is the very culprit of those dead disciples!
Li Hongzhi once said, “Practice is get yourself out of mind.” Once a person loses his or her “mind”, he will become a manipulated puppet and a walking skeleton without self-consciousness. In order to snatch money and for his ulterior motives, Li Hongzhi invented many stories about his “magic power” and “mysterious signs” to mislead the disciples. He fabricated a series of heretical ideas such as “the consummation theory”, “the karma theory”, “the heaven theory”, “the Dharmakaya theory”, and “the demon removal theory” to put the disciples under his spiritual control, which finally led to many tragedies. He intimidated his disciples to “abandon the last attachment” and to “forget about life and death”, and the disciples were induced to “burn themselves”; he preached “the expelling from hell”, “the garbage dump of Earth”, and “the elimination of harmful affections”, proclaiming that the disciples had been “expelled from hell” to live forever, that “ordinary people” are “garbage in the universe”, and that the disciples should abandon family, friendship, love, and dignity of life. These fallacies eventually led to real “organ harvesting” tragedies. The lies of the cult Falun Gong kept growing. On June 22, 2016, the Falun Gong media published a report named “The Holocaust — Bloody Harvesting”. They claimed that there are 60,000 to 100,000 cases of organ transplantation per year in China and that these organs are from “conscientious criminals” such as the “Falun Gong” practitioners. This unfounded accusation immediately stirred outrage of the authorities and people in the medical and health circles around the world. Regarding the rumor created by the cult Falun Gong, many international organizations, mainstream media, and governments, parliaments, and judicial institutions of many countries conducted investigations and all found that it was totally groundless. At the 26th International Congress of the Transplantation Society held in Hong Kong, the China International Organ Donation Conference and the International Organ Donation and Transplantation High-Level Symposium held in Beijing, and the Global Summit on Organ Trafficking in Vatican, there was a common voice — China is a country ruled by law and has complete legal system and criminal law system. The sale of human organs is explicitly prohibited in China, and violators will be sanctioned by law. The Chinese government respects and protects human rights. The transplantation of organs in China is open and transparent, and it has been fully recognized and trusted by the international community. The Chinese organ donation and transplantation system has been integrated into the international community and is in line with the world. Nearly 300,000 Chinese people are registered organ donors, and China is expected to become the largest organ transplantation practitioner in the world by 2020. The array of data and facts are amazing. As Jose Nunez, an official of organ transplantation at World Health Organization, put it, “The organ donation and transplantation in China is moving and developing in a very promising direction, and the achievements are amazing.” No deception is allowed in history, and justice will prevail. After all, rumors are rumors. How could a lie of which the liar finds himself hardly convinced go any far? Is it possible for the “heart” butcher Li Hongzhi to continue his “one-man show”?
A PAid AdvertiSement
4 | RN&R | 12.20.18
By matt bieker
Which state has the worst drivers? aSkeD at wingfieLD park, 2 S. arLington ave.
Jimmy Dunn Musician
Oregon, because they drive really slow. They follow their own speed limits when they should be following ours.
Sophie L awrence Stay-at-home mom
I would say California, just because there’s so many people there, and, I don’t know, the highways are always so busy. The rush hours are crazy.
roD pr ay Tree trimmer
The whole community should define progress “Harry Reid is an idiot.” That’s what a White Pine County resident said to Gov. Jim Gibbons at an Ely gathering one day in 2007. U.S. Sen. Reid was then trying to kill two coal-fired power plants in White Pine and another coal plant in Clark County, near Mesquite. The Mesquite City Council did not want the plant, but the Ely City Council wanted the other two in their county, and they were furious at Reid for trying to block them. Ely Councilmember Jim Northness: “He has never cared about White Pine County.” It wasn’t as though Ely and White Pine had not been aided by Reid. The county had been hurting since the early 1980s when a Kennecott open pit copper mine closed. The state helped the town by building a prison there and aided a proposed tourist railroad, and Reid won approval of the state’s only national park, Great Basin. But the city and county still wanted the two power plants. So did Gibbons, U.S. Rep. Jon Porter, a local tribe and many others. The local newspaper editor wrote, “Sure, he can throw his weight around, make life miserable for the BLM or EPA if they don’t single out eastern Nevada for his prohibition. But what’s the point, if dozens of plants are allowed to be built elsewhere in the country?” Built elsewhere? No one was lining up to build coalfired plants, and there were non-titled locals in White Pine who supported Reid’s efforts. Anyway, here we are 11 years later. In the ensuing years, investors—including governments—have been increasingly and steadily dumping their coal shares. Environmental leader and author Bill McKibben wrote last
week, “Heavy hitters … make it clear that the first line of objection to fossil fuel divestment has long since been laid to rest: this is one big action you can take against climate change without big cost. Indeed, early divesters have made out like green-tinged bandits: since the fossil fuel sector has badly underperformed on the market over recent years, moving money into other investments has dramatically increased returns. Pity, for instance, the New York state comptroller Thomas DeNapoli—unlike his New York City counterpart, he refused to divest, and the cost has been about $17,000 per pensioner.” Donald Trump’s strange flirtation with propping up coal has changed nothing. Perhaps White Pine officials would have preferred the health maladies that accompany coal, dirty air in that pearl of a national park, the huge plants always on the edge of bankruptcy and always at risk of becoming empty hulks. Perhaps the editor who lectured that Reid “represents us only in national and international matters, not in matters reserved to the authority of the state. It’s called federalism,” felt that particulate and sulfur dioxide emissions caused by burning millions of tons of coal annually would stop at the borders of Nevada and not become a national problem. Officials and businesses wanted to tie their community’s fortunes to coal just as coal was headed straight downhill. State and local officials who think growth is the be-all and end-all should widen their horizons and treat businesses and their demands as one part of community and quality of life to be an equal part. Those who see change as progress are sometimes seeing only change. Ω
California. I’m from California. I’ve been here 20 years, but you come up here, and the drivers are way different. They just drive too fast, and they’re inconsiderate, more than anywhere else that I’ve been.
meLiSSa Le a Student
Can it be a country? Costa Rica. I felt like I was going to get hit all the time. … I saw quite a few accidents. I don’t think there are driving laws there, and there probably should be. [I was there] like, three months ago.
SterLing cLyDeSDaLe Artist
Colorado. I’m from Colorado. Denver and Colorado Springs drivers have no idea what they’re doing. There’s a lot of bumper to bumper accidents because people are just always on their phone, because that’s still not a top priority for them. But other than that, California.
12.20.18 | RN&R | 5
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by SHEILA LESLIE
The downside of caucuses Nevada is not Iowa, especially when it comes to choosing a president. Iowa has a 46-year history of holding successful caucuses for presidential candidates as the first contest in the nation. The Iowa caucus receives an oversized portion of national attention for its sophisticated and localized method of involving the citizenry, which is 98 percent white, in the process. Nevada also has a caucus system, but until we moved up to the third state that votes (after Iowa and New Hampshire), only die-hard party activists participated. Nevada’s urban population is diverse and mobile, but our state has virtually no tradition of meeting in small caucuses to respectfully debate the merits of presidential candidates. In 2008, our early voting position made us instantly more attractive to would-be presidential candidates, and they courted us assiduously. Candidate visits and rallies were fun and exciting. And it made sense to include a Western state with a diverse population in the early months of presidential campaigns.
What made no sense at all was the caucus itself. The national spotlight revealed an embarrassing, disenfranchising and contentious process that caused frustration and ire to the point of rebellion. At my own caucus, there has been no organized, civil discussion about the merits of the candidates. There has been plenty of chaos and confusion though. I’ve watched as dozens of people stormed out of overcrowded rooms, angrily saying they’d never participate again. I’ve seen hand-in-the-air voting, counted haphazardly by an operative who clearly had a preferred outcome in mind, as evidenced by her candidate shirt. I’ve heard the complaints, and I can validate them. Nevada is not Nebraska either. On Dec. 8, the Nebraska Democratic State Central Committee voted overwhelmingly to return to a primary system, reversing a decision in 2008 to use an earlier caucus to have more influence in the nomination process. Nevadans can empathize with their reasons, which included angry voters being turned
away when they arrived a few minutes late, neighborhoods choked with cars, and a survey that showed Democratic Party members supported a return to a primary by a three-to-one margin. According to an article in the Nevada Current, even the Democratic National Committee, an entity not known for its forward thinking, recommended Nevada dump the frustrating and antiquated caucus system for a primary. In early December, the DNC approved reforms to its presidential nomination process to try and “grow the party, increase participation, and rebuild trust with voters after the contentious presidential primaries in 2016,” advocating governmentrun primaries instead of caucuses. If state parties continue to use caucuses, the DNC-mandated reforms to make them “more inclusive, transparent, and accessible to participants,” citing the need to accommodate shift workers, those in the military, seniors, people with disabilities, parents of young children and others who could not attend a caucus.
But Nevada’s Democratic leaders and behind-the-scenes strategists chose the flawed and frustrating caucus system instead, valuing Nevada’s national profile above voter participation. They committed to expanding access but still cherish Nevada’s third position, ensuring that presidential candidates pay attention to us. These leaders risk further alienation of their party members and less enthusiasm for political involvement of all age groups by clinging to a caucus. It’s a given that fewer people will participate. According to the Center for Politics, in the eight states where both parties use caucuses instead of primaries, 11.3 percent of registered voters participate, compared to primary states where 36.1 percent of voters cast a ballot. Nevada is trading visits from candidates and their surrogates and a little national attention—remember, we are not Iowa—for less voter participation and a deepening distrust of a party system controlled by insiders. Maybe staying home on caucus day will convince them we deserve better. Ω
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by Dennis Myers
Heller pet measure enacted
UNR scientist Glenn Miller, left, poses with California farmers Dave Roberti, Jane Roberti, Kevin Moats and Erica Kay. COURTESY/PLUMAS NEWS
This is the kind of proposal conservatives like Adam Laxalt like to poke fun at—a law making it a federal crime to stalk pets. Journalists would probably not be very respectful of it, either. They’d probably run headlines like “Dems behind law that would make pet stalking a federal crime.” Well, as it happens that proposal is about to become law. It was added to the farm bill that got so much attention for making hemp legal and is awaiting Donald Trump’s signature. The measure is sponsored by Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters and Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller. It is designed to combat domestic abusers who terrorize their partners or former partners by threatening, harming or even killing pets. The headline quoted above appeared in the Detroit Metro Times. Reno’s Committee to Aid Abused Women, now called the Domestic Abuse Resource Center, began providing shelter facilities for pets in 2015.
texts disclosed in filings
Hemp emerges from 81 years of illegality
Text messages among Reno City Hall figures tend to reveal their mindsets. These messages were included in court filings, apparently the fruit of discovery in litigation over sexual harassment charges against former city manager Andrew Clinger, and show a coziness with lobbyists and a disdain toward colleagues. The former city manager who has just been appointed financial head of the state’s higher education system. The texts were reported by reporter Bob Conrad of This is Reno. One text sent by Assistant City Manager Kate Thomas called City Finance Director Robert Chisel a “fucking greedy bastard.” She was commenting on a text by Clinger saying “the rats are jumping ship” about city workers who were leaving city employment. Paradoxically, Thomas, Chisel and Clinger all later left the city. Chisel now has the same post at the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority and Thomas is assistant county manager. On another occasion, City Clerk Ashley Turney informed Clinger that City Councilmember Jenny Brekhus was objecting to a Verdi development: “FYI Jenny filed an appeal. I already notified Jessica.” This apparently references former city councilmember Jessica Sferrazza, now a developers’ lobbyist and member of the Washoe County Airport Authority. Clinger has been the target of litigation by female city administrators claiming sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. He was also hit with a lawsuit by another woman during his service as state budget director, but it was dismissed.
Hemp, classified by the federal government as a Schedule One controlled substance, is about to become a legal product again. It was an industry until 1937, when the Marihuana Tax Act—backed by the lumber and liquor industries—was enacted by Congress, using heavy taxation to make hemp and cannabis, in effect, illegal. It became actually illegal in 1970 with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act. Hemp is distinguished legally from cannabis by a limit—it cannot contain more than 0.3 percent of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). That limit will remain in place, and plants exceeding that level would be considered cannabis, which is still illegal under federal law. Congress has passed the 2018 Farm Bill that contains language lifting the listing of hemp as a controlled substance and sent it to the White House for signature, which is expected. The language of the hemp legislation originated with a familiar figure—Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “Last year alone, Kentucky hemp recorded more than $16 million in product sales through the state pilot program I previously secured, demonstrating that hemp holds great potential for the future of Kentucky agriculture,” McConnell said in a prepared statement. But he still kept one politically protective foot in the drug warrior’s space: “My Hemp Farming Act as included in the Farm Bill will not only legalize domestic hemp, but it will also allow
—Dennis Myers
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state departments of agriculture to be responsible for its oversight.” Section 10113 of the new law says state departments of agriculture will consult with governors and chief state law enforcement officers to write plans for local cultivation. Those plans must be approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A state’s plan to license and regulate hemp can only commence once the USDA approves that state’s plan. However, states will not be able to defeat the purpose of the legislation by failing to write a plan. There is no opt-out, as exists in Nevada’s marijuana law under which some counties have declined to make marijuana legal. If a state does not write a plan, the federal government will administer its program instead of state officials. Thus, hemp farmers—unlike those who grow hay or corn—will have to be registered, licensed and regulated. State industrial hemp program manager Ashley Jeppson said the state will start work on a plan as soon as they get the language of federal regulations. Hemp products have been common for many years. Hemp, like marijuana, is amazingly versatile, used in products like construction materials, batteries and lip balm. Their availability has depended on a lot of things. Some states repealed prohibitions under state laws and the federal government sometimes more or less looked the other way. Nevada has a pilot program for growing hemp under the Nevada Department of Agriculture,
which reported earlier this year that there are 110 registered farmers growing hemp on about 2,000 acres. That does not count indoor growing, which is substantial—150,000 square feet. In Pahrump, the measure is a local story, with 16 local growers. In July, Sierra Gold Hemp issued a press release datelined from Pahrump: “Sierra Gold Hemp (“SGH”), announces their successful expansion into Colorado and Nevada. SGH is planting and developing additional acreage for cultivation throughout the 2018 season—totaling 2,557+ acres in Nevada, in addition to their current genetics research facilities in Colorado.” That acreage number exceeds what the NDOA later announced for all registered farmers. We made an inquiry to NDOA and were told that Sierra Gold is “not actually a registered grower” in Nevada, so there may be news still to come on that angle. Other communities where growing is happening include Orvada, Winnemucca, McDermitt, Tonopah and Baker. University of Nevada, Reno agriculture professor Glenn Miller has been assisting the Roberti family, in need of a new crop, in California’s Sierra Valley. “Dairy is collapsing,” Dave Roberti told Plumas News. “We are very limited in what else we can grow up here.” The family could grow hemp only if a research university were part of the experiment. “We were fortunate in partnering with University of Nevada, Reno,” family member Jay Gant told KXTV in Sacramento. (The operation got a lot of news coverage.) The Robertis planted hemp where alfalfa previously grew. The water table has been falling, and alfalfa is relatively water-hungry. As for hemp—“Oh, it takes less water. Yes, absolutely,” Miller told us. The crop is watered by drip. All of this applies to Nevada, he said. “The water table has dropped a hundred feet or so in the Eureka region, and that would be a place that would be a candidate for growing hemp.” The Robertis had a so-so first crop, and Miller said they treated the year as a learning time. It was the same for Miller, who is particularly interested in pests and predators that threaten crops. “We watched as the competition of weeds took over, and it was clear that the crop was not going to be as good as they had originally anticipated.” Then there were antelopes.
Hippies Pipes and Incense in Sparks carries an array of hemp products. PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS
“Who would ever have imagined that the antelope could have been a pest?” He said NDOA has been supportive of research and of hemp growers and he would expect that to continue under a state plan. The Robertis are planning another year using the lessons of the first. Businesses other than farms will also have an easier time of it with the new law. Now that hemp is no longer a controlled substance, banks have no basis for refusing service, credit card companies will have no reason not to process payments, advertising will be on a par with detergents and cars, and there will be no reason for Facebook or Instagram to take down ads. It will remove any legal basis for raids of businesses that sell or advertise goods
associated with hemp. State law will also become less threatening to businesses. Nevada Revised Statute 453.566 reads, “Any person who uses, or possesses with intent to use, drug paraphernalia to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, conceal, ingest, inhale or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled substance in violation of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor” (emphasis added). Hemp will no longer be a controlled substance. N.R.S. 453.564, dealing with “unlawful” advertising, does not reference controlled substances, but the statute itself may now be repealed since the state no longer has a stake in enforcing it. Ω
Sculpture?
In Sparks, the remains of the second, third and fourth floors of the nearly demolished Silver Club building were being held up by columns and girders. PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS
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tahoe
by Jeff DeLong
The U.S. 50 South Shore Community Revitalization Project will take five and 10 years to complete. PHOTO/JEFF DELONG
High road U.S. 50 redevelopment A sweeping do-over of South Lake Tahoe’s downtown core has been approved by land-use regulators. Last month, the governing board of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency unanimously approved the U.S. 50 South Shore Community Revitalization Project, an ambitious proposal to reroute highway traffic and improve the tourist experience at the area’s downtown center. The project has been pursued in one form or another since 1985, undergoing two different environmental review cycles before stalling only to ultimately start over. TRPA lastly re-initiated the project in 2008, with the Tahoe Transportation District assuming the role of lead sponsor the following year. “It would get started, but it would hit roadblocks along the way,” TRPA senior planner Shannon Friedman said of earlier efforts. What had once been envisioned as merely a “loop road” around the area’s casino core transformed into a much larger revitalization plan, building on other successful redevelopment—including Heavenly Village and a mountain gondola—already completed in the area, Friedman said. “The U.S. 50 project is much more than a road realignment,” said Carl Hasty, director of the Tahoe Transportation District. The approved project will realign about one mile of U.S. 50, sending the highway from the area of its current intersection with Pioneer Trail in South Lake Tahoe to run behind Heavenly Village and the Stateline casino core, spilling out at the current intersection of Highway 50 and Lake Parkway in Stateline.
The former five-lane highway directly in front of Heavenly Village and the casinos will be converted into a two-lane main street with expanded sidewalks and bicycle lanes, enhanced transit services and street-side landscaping improvements. A pedestrian bridge will be built, connecting the casino core to the recently completed Van Sickle Bi-State park to the east. “It’s transforming the existing highway into a main street, so it’s more bikeable and walkable, safer and more inviting for people to enjoy,” said Friedman. “It will become a real tourist hub.” There are homes that stand in the way of the new highway route. Some 76 homes or other aging housing units will have to be razed to make way, a fact that generated substantial controversy. To address concerns, the transportation district has agreed to build 109 new affordable housing units, all within a quarter-mile—walking distance—of the project area. The new units will be served by transit and are required to remain affordable for residents through permanent deed restrictions. The result will be a net gain in housing, Friedman said. The project will also address an ongoing problem that has many local motorists bypassing Highway 50 and driving through residential streets in the Rocky Point neighborhood east of the casino core. Detailed plans must still be prepared regarding the replacement housing, the future state of Rocky Point and management of the Main Street component. The replacement housing will be the first construction completed, probably in two or three years, Friedmen said. Completion of the overall project, at an estimated cost of about $100 million, is likely five to 10 years away. Ω
Read about the U.S. 50 South Shore Community Revitalization Project here: https://bit.ly/2A6EAtR.
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frOm THe ASheS Life in BuTTe cOunTy since THe cAmP fire
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ttorney Joe Earley and his wife, Ashley, discovered the perfect location for their family dream home in 1999: an old apple orchard on Lovely Lane in Paradise. Earley developed an affection for Paradise as a college student, after his parents moved to the Ridge from San Diego in the ’80s. It’s where he launched his practice, where Ashley and he raised their daughter, Elisabeth, now 21, and son, Joey, now 19. On Dec. 3, in front of an audience of more than 200 Camp Fire survivors at Chico’s Elks Lodge, Earley projected an image of his stark white office on the Skyway ablaze against a black sky. He showed a photo of the ashes of his family’s home, of his parents’ home. There was a collective groan after each image of destruction was displayed. One man called out, “My home looked like that, too.” Another uttered simply, “Sorry.” Earley wasn’t seeking pity, but solidarity. He has joined three law firms launching a mass civil lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric, and recruited one powerful ally—environmental activist and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich, famous for successfully waging battles against PG&E over the past 20 years. Though the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Earley, Brockovich and their cohorts with three law offices around the country believe the utility giant is responsible for it and the subsequent deaths of at least 86 people. “When you tell me those three words—‘We lost everything’—I get that,” Earley told the crowd. “I know that loss. I know it deep,“I’m going to do everything I can do to push this thing through to the end, get maximum recovery, make sure they pay what they have to pay, and you all get treated with respect in the meanwhile.” That evening, the legal team answered questions and explained their plans to operate as a network, representing Ridge residents individually via a mass tort. They’ve already established a Chico office. They’ll operate under a contingency agreement, Earley said: If the lawyers succeed, they’ll take 33 percent of the recovery. If they fail, nobody will be charged.
The firms are among the dozens homing in on Butte County in the wake of the catastrophic firestorm, amid reports that the utility reported an outage to the California Public Utilities Commission at a high-voltage power line in Pulga near the origin of the fire. Recently, the company said its crews found a damaged transmission tower and a power pole with bullet holes at separate locations near where the fire started. Jennifer Robison, a spokeswoman with PG&E, provided this statement from the company: “The cause of the Camp Fire is still under investigation. PG&E is fully cooperating with any and all investigations.” On its website, PG&E has stated, “Our hearts are with the communities impacted by the Camp Fire. PG&E continues to focus on assessing infrastructure, safely restoring power where possible, and helping our customers recover and rebuild.” Brockovich has a long history of battling the energy giant. In 1992, the same year Earley opened his practice in Paradise, she uncovered documents that, four years later, led to a $333
Erin Brockovich has joined a legal team, which includes Paradise attorney Joe Earley, that is organizing a mass civil lawsuit against the utility company.
PHOTO/AsHiAH scHArAgA
ince Nov. 8, the journalists at our sister paper in Butte County—the Chico News & Review—have done a tremendous amount of reporting on the Camp Fire and its aftermath. The fire resulted in at least 86 deaths and burned the town of Paradise to the ground. In its pages, the CN&R has told the personal stories of people who lost everything in the fire and helped disseminate important information to the community as its residents have begun the long work of rebuilding. Gathered here you’ll find four stories about rebuilding. From a Chico State professor and ecological reserve field director who plans to continue his decade-long work of protecting the university’s two reserves using prescribed burns to counselors in the Paradise Unified School District providing mental health crisis services for their students, these stories are about healing and rebuilding efforts underway in Butte County and the resilient people leading them.
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s the full cans of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Resilience IPA sped down the line inside the brewery’s packaging facility, they came to a sharp 180 loop in the track that flipped them upside down so a robot could tattoo each one with the day’s production date: “121018.” On Monday, Dec. 10, just three weeks after announcing its plans for a Camp Fire beer, the Chico brewery was ready to start selling it. And watching the massive automated packing machinery of the 10th largest brewery in the country corral the dark green and pale blue cans into 12-pack boxes that were then stacked high on pallets, the scope of the project that will contribute 100 percent of all sales to those impacted by the recent fires came into view. “As far as commitments go, we’re well in excess of $10 million,” said Sierra Nevada owner/founder Ken Grossman about the estimated proceeds, before adding, “I think we’ll blow [past] that.” He has good reason to be so optimistic. In addition to the Chico brewery’s production of a little more than 4,000 barrels of Resilience (a barrel equals 31 gallons, or about 14 cases of beer), Grossman said there will be about 6,000 barrels brewed by the more than 1,400 partner breweries that responded to Sierra Nevada’s “bat signal” and have signed up to make the beer as well.
PHOTO/JASON CASSIDY
million settlement that found PG&E culpable for water pollution in the Southern California town of Hinkley. That story was the subject of the movie bearing Brockovich’s name, starring Julia Roberts. In Chico, she didn’t mince words. “If I get upset, it’s because I am very pissed,” she said. “This is a company that has continually, repetitive[ly] lied, dodged, concealed and utilized their money for their gain. And not building out a safe structure for this utility is inexcusable. It’s despicable, and it’ll take you to rise up and hold them accountable.” Brockovich said that she escaped Southern California’s Woosley Fire, returning to just a few singed trees and her home intact. But even that experience has left her uneasy. “I cannot imagine what you have all been through. And for every person in here, I am deeply sorry.” She asked for a show of hands of those who had lost their home to the fires, and hundreds of arms shot into the air. “Does it matter if you’ve lost it, if you lost your community?” one woman spoke out in the silence that followed, with several others chiming in. “It’s a ghost town,” the woman continued, “You’re displaced. You can’t go back.” Between their comments, the pain in the room was palpable. Some attendees sniffled and wiped at their eyes. “You’re exactly right, you have lost everything,” Brockovich replied, adding that rebuilding is possible but will take time. Brockovich added that she is frustrated with the state, which she believes has given PG&E “a pass” from one disaster to another. “Legislation has to change, and we’ve got to fight like sons of bitches to change that policy to rest assured that Pacific Gas & Electric never gets another chance again in the state of California to burn down another town, ever.” In 2010, a pipeline explosion in San Bruno killed eight people, prompting the CPUC to investigate PG&E’s safety culture. Based on its findings, the regulatory agency ordered the utility to improve several procedures and protocols. “Evidence shows that, although there are a few bright spots, PG&E appears not to have a clear vision for safety programs and instead pursues many programs without thought to how they fit together,” CPUC President Michael Picker said in a press release. After the meeting, Brockovich said that ideally PG&E will not be allowed to declare bankruptcy and avoid paying for the damages it has caused, and it will no longer be allowed to operate a monopoly. “Maybe if they had some competition they’d behave better,” she said. “This can’t continue to happen. Just one utility providing for [tens of millions of] people, and they have the freedom to come blow ’em up and burn ’em down. That’s why I said I’m frustrated with the state. I think they have something to answer for here, too. … [California] better not forget what just happened here in Paradise.” Ω
sierra nevada employee Jeff Poliquin—a Paradise native whose parents and grandmother lost their homes in the Camp Fire—with a can of resilience iPa fresh off the line.
by Jason Cassidy ja so nc @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m
“It’s pretty unique, I think, in any kind of business industry for that kind of cooperation amongst your competitors,” Grossman said. In addition to giving out the recipe for the IPA (which, on canning day, tasted like a traditional piney/citrusy West Coast IPA, a slightly sweeter and less bitter version of Celebration Ale), Grossman reached out to suppliers to donate raw materials—all of the hops, malt and yeast needed—so that the participating breweries would be able to donate all the beer proceeds. “I asked the brewers to forgo any profit,” Grossman said. “If you sell the beer for $5, you have to send us $5. So, the brewers who are participating, they’re donating their time, labor and their proceeds to the nonprofit.” The money raised will go into the Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund that the brewery set up at Golden Valley Bank and seeded with a $100,000 donation just days after the fire broke out. Since the beginning of the tragedy, Sierra Nevada has been on the front lines responding to those impacted by the fire, including many of its own employees, 50 of whom lost homes. According to its Facebook page, during the first week, the brewery’s pub served 8,000 complimentary meals to first responders and friends displaced by the fires and gave out $200,000 in clothing. And on Thanksgiving, Sierra Nevada teamed up with Chico State and World Central Kitchen to feed anyone impacted by the fire, with Grossman himself in the kitchen. “I boiled the potatoes in our old brew kettle, and I spent the day before making stock and gravy,” he said. “I made 75 gallons of gravy.” Resilience is already showing up in taprooms all over the country, including in Chico and Reno As the money comes in, Grossman said the brewery will meet regularly with city and county officials as well as community groups like the North Valley Community Foundation to determine the best ways to distribute funds for rebuilding efforts. “We’re very supportive of our community,” he said. “We’ve grown up here, and we wouldn’t have been successful without the early support from Chico and Butte County.” Ω
“frOm THe Ashes” continued on page 14
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“from the ashes” continued from page 13
Feet to the Fire Photo/evan tuchinsky
chico state Prof toes line between urgency, fears with Prescribed burns
by Evan TuCHinsky
Don Hankins, at the Butte Creek Ecological Reserve in the first rains after the Camp Fire, shows where prescribed burning affected wildfire’s spread.
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on Hankins had Nov. 8 marked on his calendar long before it became a notorious day in California history. That Thursday evening, he was scheduled to speak at the Chico Creek Nature Center about fire ecology, an emphasis of his research as a Chico State professor. Needless to say, the talk didn’t happen. The Camp Fire ignited early that morning and by afternoon had enveloped the Ridge. Hankins tracked the progress from his home in Forest Ranch until receiving an evacuation order.
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The Butte Creek Ecological Reserve, one of two owned by the university, burned extensively—only 5 percent of the vegetation escaped flames. The fire did not reach as far north as the other, the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve, or neighboring Forest Ranch. Fire will come there, though. Hankins, field director for the reserves, plans to continue the prescribed burns he’s performed at the Big Chico Creek site since 2007 and also initiated at the Butte Creek site. They’re part of a management system that integrates techniques and concepts from indigenous people native to the land—something he’s studied and advocated. As wildfires devastate California, and officials lower their protracted resistance to controlled burns, Hankins’ work has gained prominence and significance. “His work is paramount; his work is critical,” said Calli-Jane DeAnda, executive director of the Butte County Fire Safe Council, which until the Camp Fire was based in Paradise. Hankins has been a member for 12 of her 14 years with the council. “We need all the tools in the toolbox,” DeAnda continued. “Don is the academic and professional expert at the type of prescribed fire he’s been doing on his own property and the reserves for Chico State. “It’s about the culture we’re creating around that, a culture that
can understand how we really use this tool—where it’s appropriate, when it’s appropriate, how we do this.” Hankins’ “how” goes back centuries—and draws on the Mechoopda. Tribal members go out with him to the reserves, or onto their land south of Chico, to perform burns that bolster wildlife. They’ll time their fires to burn specific grasses, clearing the way for others, and draw out certain seeds. Native species replace invasive species; animals find forage; the Mechoopda glean materials for food, baskets and other items. In the process, lands lose some of their load of fire fuels. “It’s awesome when you get to take part in it and see it,” said Kyle McHenry, a Mechoopda tribal council member who serves as environmental and cultural affairs officer. “That’s how our ancestors have done it for thousands of years. It’s a pretty powerful connection when you actually get to do that, then come back in the spring and see all those new grasses and things come back revitalized.” Traditions permeate Hankins. Raised in the Central Valley, he absorbed native ways from his grandfathers: one Osage, one Me-Wuk. Hankins speaks the Me-Wuk language. His endorsement of tribal practices goes beyond cultural affinity. Throughout his studies at UC Davis—conservation biology as an undergraduate, geography for his doctorate—he kept finding connections between fire and the environment. Fires as occur in nature, or set with the specific intent of enhancing wildlife, provide benefits. That eye to nature represents a key distinction between his prescribed burns and those of Cal Fire and foresters. “I don’t cut lines,” Hankins said, referring to the earth-moving that
firefighters may use to control their burning. “We read the landscape: We look at where moisture is within the landscape, where vegetation communities shift—and at the right time of year, you don’t need to cut a line. You can use the dew and the moisture that’s retained at the edges of the area you want to burn to stop the fire.” His training does include contemporary tactics. Hankins completed instruction in wildland firefighting and earned certifications for planning and implementing prescribed burns in Australia, where he’s taught certification courses. Likewise, he’s trained U.S. firefighters on prescribed burning. The burns he conducts for Chico State—coordinated with the reserves’ manager, Eli Goodsell—range from several-acre research projects, sometimes with students, to 100-acre reductions in conjunction with Cal Fire. “It’s a tool on multiple levels,” Goodsell said, noting ecology as an overriding principle. Hankins emphasized that a prescribed burn is not fire let loose upon land. Neither he nor Cal Fire, for instance, would “just light it and walk away.” Nonetheless, for the past halfcentury, residents and regulators alike have bristled at allowing these burns. In his time on the fire safe council, Hankins has found “people on the board generally support the idea, but it’s where—and how do you have that confidence to put prescribed fire on the landscape, particularly within that wildland-urban interface? “People are a little bit leery burning next to houses,” Hankins continued, “but at the same time, that’s one of the tools you have to be able to use to protect those houses. It’s very effective.” McHenry endorses the traditional approach to prescribed burning but doesn’t flatly oppose the fuel thinning Cal Fire undertakes. “Just for overall society to see that fire is useful, not something to be feared or suppressed, is a turning point,” he said. “I think it’s good both ways [of prescribed burning]; having fire on the ground is better than not having fire on the ground.” Ω
PHOTO/AsHiAH scHArAgA
cOPing
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together by ASHIAH SCHARAgA
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sabella Mitchell was on the phone with her father, who was at work in Redding, as flames rapidly approached the SaveMart parking lot where she and a few hundred others had gathered in Paradise. “I told him that I didn’t think we were going to make it out,” she said, her voice breaking. “I kind of said my last goodbye to him, and I said I loved him, and then the AT&T cell towers stopped working.” She’d woken up on Nov. 8 and got ready for school but never made it to Paradise High. She escaped with her mother, brother and four dogs. They were not reunited with her father until 6 p.m., when they made it to Chico. “He was crying,” Mitchell said. “I was crying. My mom was crying, and we were all just hugging.”
Recognizing the trauma endured by students and staff, Paradise Unified School District has worked with the Butte County Office of Education to provide mental health crisis services. BCOE spokesman Neil Meyer said via email that, prior to classes resuming on Dec. 3, the focus was to bring in local and national trauma response experts to train staff not just from Paradise but also across its 14 districts and 18 charters (where many displaced students have now enrolled). Another effort was to assign counselors to the schools most heavily impacted. One such expert is developmentalbehavioral pediatrician Dr. David Schonfeld, director of the University of Southern California Center for School Crisis and Bereavement. Secondary stressors and losses often follow disasters, he said, and people can uncover pre-existing trauma or loss.
When a large percentage of the population relocates, even temporarily, “you lose all these things that are important to you, and that may be what is actually upsetting.” Parents can become stressed over finances or job loss following a disaster, as well, prompting marital conflict and even an increase in substance use and domestic violence. Among California’s 58 counties, Butte has the highest prevalence of adverse childhood experiences—such as abuse or witnessing domestic violence—which places children here at a higher risk of developing an overactive or toxic stress response, said Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, pediatrician and CEO of the Center for Youth Wellness. School psychologist Carly Ingersoll said that BCOE has gathered a roster of volunteer mental health professionals to help students and staff. Last week, there were six mental health counselors, plus five academic counselors, working between the high school and Paradise Intermediate School resource centers at the Chico Mall. They, along with the teachers, have been focusing
on listening to their students when they want to share their experiences and creating a safe, stress-free space, Ingersoll said. “Consistency is huge,” she said. It can be as simple as being able to regularly see friends and teachers again. Teacher Ambrosia Krinsky spoke highly of her students bravery and resilience. She’s been checking in with them periodically. One asked her if it is OK to feel happy. “I said, ‘Absolutely. Everything you’re feeling is normal,” she said. Ω
Isabella Mitchell reunited with her biology teacher, Ambrosia Krinsky, at the Paradise High School Resource Center at the Chico Mall.
A more permanent school location will open in January at 1000 Fortress st., chico, california, the site of a former Facebook operations center, with capacity for 700 students. That’s when psychologists will start looking out for delayed trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder, ingersoll said.
HELP THE VICTIMS OF THE CAMP FIRE IN PARADISE AND BUTTE COUNTY
THA NK YOU T O OUR H ERO ES ! Thank you to the firefighters, EMS personnel, first responders of all varieties, nurses, neighbors in Chico and Paradise, and all of the many people, businesses and organizations helping evacuees and the Butte County community during the Camp Fire.
O P E N YO U R H O M E If you have a home that you’re willing to list for evacuees (any time through December 14), visit www.airbnb.com/welcome/evacuees/buttecounty.
$ D O NA T E TO HE LP T HE VIC T IMS
D O N AT E TO YS TO CH I L DR E N
There are many worthy organizations raising money. Please donate to the organization of your choice. If you’d like to “give to a fund that’s going to be in this for the duration, then the foundation is your answer.” -Alexa Benson-Valavanis, CEO of North Valley Community Foundation, as quoted in the CN&R. To donate to the NVCF, go to www.nvcf.org.
Ashlee’s Toy Closet in Sparks, NV is collecting new toys for children affected by the Camp Fire. You can donate new toys, books or clothes at The Laughton Company offices, 140 Washington St. Ste. 100 Reno, NV 89503 or make financial donations here https://www.facebook.com/donate/351226489019537.
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t a website called Fandalism, there is an undated interview with Reno guitarist Brian Frakes. The first question is, “What was the first concert you ever went to?”
A gorgeous example of the style of posters of the period.
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A demo record by Reno’s Rock Bottom, with David Ward’s “Morning of the Day” on one side and “Funny Money” by Bruce Krueger on the other.
Frakes replied, “Locally, probably the Justus V. Nationally, probably Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Centennial Coliseum in Reno in, I believe, 1968.” The Justus V may not ring a bell for many Renoites today, but there was a time when it owned the town. The band’s record keeper, Mike Mantor, has now co-authored a book—Rock ’n’ Reno—about those times, written with one of the audience members, Gerry McCarroll, for whom they played. “I remember going to the National Guard armory in 1965 to see the Jesters,” she said last week. “Who would have imagine that 50-plus years later I would be recording their history?” Historians often complain that groups from service clubs to churches do not preserve their history. Mantor did a fine job preserving the history of rock in Reno and included chapters in the book written by other participants. In the early days of rock and roll, some local manifestations were not all that inspiring. Some were just lame. Reno’s Channel 8 (first KZTV, then KOLO) once carried a lip sync show—local teens “singing” by mouthing the words of hit 45s on camera.
More reasonable was a local American Bandstand called Beat 90, with Bob Carroll as the Dick Clark of Reno. But good rock can’t be kept down for long, and soon local garages were giving birth to bands. In the 1960s, Justus V was the best known, most admired local rock band. It began as the Jesters, a surf band (in a desert state) that evolved into the Justus V (just-us-five, get it?), and then into Justice V. Members included Mantor, Bill Church, Steve Hatley, Paul Manketlow, Billy Ray Payne, Ron Ryser and Kootch Trochim. “They could really sing ‘Louie Louie’ and ‘Gloria’ and ‘Honky Tonk Woman.’ ... They were the best Reno had during the time frame,” according to Tom Myers. Yes, he is a relation— brother of this writer and a student at Manogue High School during those years. He said the V was so popular that when his classmate and Justus V member Steve Hatley graduated from high school, “Hatley insisted we get someone else for the senior all-night party at the top of the Mapes. He wanted to enjoy himself for once.” John Carrico, Jr., son of the late music director at the University of Nevada and now a Reno lawyer, said, “Justus V was the Reno version of the Dave Clark 5.” The members learned to deal with bad news coverage. On one occasion a Reno newspaper— not this one—reported that the V bandmates had all gotten haircuts in protest against antiwar sentiment—“Their answer to Vietniks.” The band denied it, and the newspaper corrected it without calling it a correction: “In the past, they sported what might be called ‘Prince Valiant’ haircuts. … But because they must attend National Guard meetings, they’ve had to get trimmed down low.” The locations for local bands were limited in a town of 51,470 in 1960 and 72,863 in 1970. Among them were the YMCA across the street from Reno High, a VFW hall on Moana Lane, Huskie Haven (a sort of teen nightclub), the National Guard armory, and the State Building. This last was the best of all, located on the present site of the Pioneer Theatre, but this was the era when local politicians considered new to be progress and old to be regress, so the State Building was torn down over the objections of community organizations. With the State Building gone, Greenbrae Bowl Coffee Shop owner Bob Renovich opened the Door, a teen nightclub, in a former Cadillac shop. Members of Justus V dubbed Renovich “Bopper Inc.,” which became the company name. The Door became the place to be in Reno for high schoolers. Renovich used numerous local bands and also brought leading groups like Quicksilver Messenger Service to Reno, both for the Door and for shows at the Centennial Coliseum (later renamed the RenoSparks Convention Center). Justus V’s experiences, of course, were being duplicated by many other bands.
Mike Mantor and Gerry McCarroll, authors of Rock ’n’ Reno.
PH OT O/ ER
While the V dominated, there were dozens of other bands at any given time, with similarly changing lineups and migrations from one group to another. Rock ’n’ Reno lists 191 of them. Some band members now cannot remember the names of all the bands for which they played. The groups played Reno and also regionally, plus Las Vegas. Winnemucca, for some reason, was a particular mecca. Guitarist Bruce Krueger, now a retired graphic designer in New York City, played with Hemrock, Rock Bottom, Eternal Five—which was renamed the Cheshires—and Fourth Street Bridge, plus two bands whose names he cannot recall. He also filled in occasionally with New Jukebox Band. With Rock Bottom, one of his fellow musicians was David Ward, now owner of E Media Ad Group. The group cut a record with songs with two songs—one written by Krueger, one by Ward—and “We really sold that one,” Krueger said, meaning that they marketed it aggressively to about 60 record labels. Krueger said, “One of the best of the rejections we got was from Apple,” the storied Beatles label. Krueger said his most lucrative gigs were in the early 1970s when he played with a band in Winnemucca for $100 for two nights on weekends (more than $600 in 2018 dollars) with the band sometimes held over on Sundays to play for even more profitable weddings. He remembers the band taking a tour of the town’s brothel row but cannot remember the name of the band.
Some of the groups survived for long periods and had a measure of success. “That’s all I ever wanted to do,” Mantor said of his desire for a life-long musical career. Jack Bedient and the Chessmen broke into playing casino lounges. Mantor said Justus V bass guitarist Bill Church—known as Electric Church—was and is one of the most successful of all Reno musicians, playing regularly on Van Morrison and Sammy Hagar recordings. He now plays with the DHC Band. There would likely have been more, but there was—the draft. It was probably the single thing that most interfered with careers. Dropping and then picking up bands again is difficult. “The writing was on the wall,” said Mantor of the way the group slowly died. “And as trite as it sounds, we have to go to National Guard meetings and summer camps, and we had to keep our hair short, and 1966 was not a time to be in music with short hair.” Many members of bands reference the draft as an obstacle to success. All this was happening either before or during the rise in the late 1960s-early 1970s of the women’s movement. The local bands tended to be very male. Grant Sims played with two bands that referenced gender right in their names, Male Order and House of Lords. Paradoxically, House of Lords was one band with a female member—vocalist Evelyn Hajek, a serious singer who was also in training for opera and once took part in the Western Regional Metropolitan Opera auditions in Los Angeles. But that was an exception—and when
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women were included, it was usually as vocalists, not as musicians. “I remember a few bands where they had a female singer backed up by guys,” Sims said. “But they didn’t usually play an instrument beyond maybe keyboards.” Unfortunately, we were unable to interview the few women who did perform because they were difficult to locate. The practice of women changing their names not only injures them financially but denies them credit in the history of innumerable fields. Sims is one musician who stayed with it. Though he is a businessperson and served as a Reno city councilmember and a Washoe County commissioner, he is still in a band— Route 66. “It’s been around about 20 years and has been a staple of Hot August Nights for about 20 years,” he said. He remembers playing junior high dances but doesn’t remember much about the money. “Money—what’s that?” He said the money was truly not the big thing about being in a band, at least for him. “We were so young. … We didn’t do it for the money. We just really enjoyed playing and learning to play. There’s something magical when you create your own music.” He said that feeling seemed to be shared by the public. “Kids were really turned on,” he said. “I loved it. Absolutely loved it. It was the ’60s. I was changing. I got the bug to play.” Ω Rock ’n’ Reno is available locally at Sundance Books, the Nevada Historical Society, Bizarre Guitar and Copper Cat Studio.
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by Matt Bieker
ma ttb @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m
Peter Laxalt and Matt McIver maintain a presence in both Reno and New York City.
Getting up Laxalt & McIver In graffiti writer parlance, “getting up” means leaving your tag somewhere easily seen. Peter Laxalt, of the design studio Laxalt & McIver, used to apply that mentality to his actual graffiti writing as a teenager. For the past four years, however, Laxalt and his partner, Matt McIver, have been putting their mark on the city—and the rest of the world— through branding. “I think that kind of established that baseline introduction to something I didn’t even know was right in front of me,” Laxalt said. “Like graffiti—it’s like its topography, its geometry, its layering, its color, its style.” Laxalt’s interest in graffiti led to a few criminal charges on his record even before his freshman year at Reno High School. After attending a local vocational training school for graphic design, where he won multiple state-wide design awards, he graduated in 2012 and found work at Branded, a screen printing and design shop. McIver attended Douglas High School, where he discovered a love of photography and design, In 2014, he returned to Northern Nevada after he abandoned his formal education at the Seattle Institute of Art when he realized he wanted to pursue branding and business management. “So I’m just like, you know, dropped out of high school, dropped out of art school, and then I’m sitting here like they’re telling me to go to business school,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, the best way for me to learn is by doing.’” McIver found Laxalt through his online work and invited him out for coffee. “That was the first intro to McIver,” Laxalt said. “We went to Coffeebar, who’s one of our clients now.” 20 | RN&R | 12.20.18
Photo/Matt Bieker
In the four years since, they have designed logos, fonts and artwork for brands all over the world. They attribute their success to a fluid style that’s minimalistic, yet still recognizable. The point, they said, is to design work for clients to use and for designers to reference for other projects. “It’s a double win, because then the clients are interested in us because we now have a problem that they can reference and they can see that we’ve solved it before,” Laxalt said. “And then there’s other designers that might work at other agencies or other agencies might start following us, which is another part of the engine.” Some notable local examples of Laxalt & McIver’s work include designs for Shawarmageddon, The Depot, Magpie Coffee Roasters, and the City of Sparks, but they have produced artwork for companies in San Francisco, New York and in other countries around the world. “We currently have 40 clients,” Laxalt said. “We’re literally integrated in companies like in New York City. One of the clients that we work with, like, I am their design team. … It’s brought us all over the world to do this.” Laxalt moved to New York full-time this year and travels back to Reno every few weeks, while McIver manages the operations from the Reno location, 119 Thoma Street in midtown, which houses their small team of designers. Neither Laxalt nor McIver plan to grow the company beyond maybe 10 or so employees, but they do intend to start offering more in-house coding and app development. One of their previously designed apps won Shopify’s 2017 Global E-commerce award for best User Interface. Both Laxalt and McIver have their sights on the New York market. One such project will potentially feature Laxalt’s artwork on the trains and billboards of Brooklyn. To a graffiti artist, it’s the chance to “get up” in an entirely different way. Ω
by BoB Grimm
b g ri m m @ne w s re v i e w . c o m
SHORT TAKES
1
“What do you mean by, ‘spider infestation?’”
Well versed While Tom Holland’s live action Spider-Man remains in limbo due to that infamous Thanos finger snap, Sony Pictures ups the ante on the Spidey franchise with the eye-popping, all around ingenious SpiderMan-Into the Spider-Verse, one of 2018’s greatest cinematic surprises. While there have been awesome superhero movies and terrific movies based on comic books, this very well might be the best “comic-book movie” ever made. No movie has ever captured the rush of reading a great, original, exciting comic book like this blast from directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman. They go for broke with a mixture of visual styles—hand drawn and computer animated—that magically splash across the screen. And the story is pretty great, to boot. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is trying to adjust to a new, upscale school after winning a scholarship. He’s away from his big city friends and getting some guff from his well-meaning police officer dad (Brian Tyree Henry), who wants him to appreciate the chance he’s been given. Miles’s uncle (the ever busy Mahershala Ali) keeps him grounded, encouraging him to continue as a graffiti artist. On one of their painting excursions, Miles is bitten by a strange spider and then—well, you know. He eventually crosses paths with the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker (Chris Pine). And, as the plot would have it, parallel universe portals open and allow in a whole fleet of different Spider-Men, Spider-Women, Spider-Pigs and Spider-Robots. That group is comprised of Peter B. Parker (the invaluable Jake Johnson), Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Ham (a mishmash of Spidey and Porky Pig voiced by John Mulaney), Peni Parker and her robot (Kimiko Glenn) and, best of all, Nicolas Cage as the black-and-white Spider-Man Noir. So Miles is one of many Spider entities on hand to go up against Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), whose corporation is responsible for the time hole rip allowing all of his adversaries into his
corner of the universe. The reasons why are convoluted, but discernible if you pay close attention. Like any good comic book, the movie is stacked with action, plot threads, and many twists and turns. I’m not a big comic book collector, but I did go through a phase where I was reading graphic novels (often compilations of a comic series), and a few of those artists really grabbed me. I loved the artwork of Bill Sienkiewicz in an Elektra Assassin series he did. Much of the art in Into the Spider-Verse reminds me of the work of Sienkiewicz and those like him. Comic art with a nice level of depth to it. Spider-Verse, to me, plays like every frame is a page out of those awesome graphic novels, edited together into a movie. There’s a slight jaggedness to the flow of the film, an almost stop-motion feel to it at times. The film is absent of anything that could be remotely considered a boring visual moment. The movie is also very funny, poking fun at past Spider-Man movies and taking advantage of Johnson’s comic timing. Lily Tomlin voices a very different Aunt May, who is more like Batman’s Alfred with a little more edge. Yes, there’s a Stan Lee cameo and, coupled with his also-animated cameo in this year’s Teen Titans Go to the Movies, Lee made some pretty great, unusual cameos in the year before he left the planet. Honestly, while I enjoy Tom Holland as the liveaction Spider-Man, this sort of animated offering is more up my alley. There’s a new Holland movie, along with the next Avengers, coming next year, but I want more Spider-Verse. This is surely one of the best movies of the year, the best Spider-Man movie to date, and one of the best animated films ever made. Yeah, it’s that good. Ω
Spider-man: into the Spider-Verse
12345
Bohemian Rhapsody
Rami Malek gives it his all as Freddie Mercury, the late lead singer of Queen, in the new biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. That, and a competent recreation of Queen’s Live Aid domination, are just about the only good things you can say about this mostly embarrassing effort to memorialize an incredible person and his sadly short life. The movie basically takes Mercury’s legacy, completely screws with his life’s timeline and makes up a bunch of unnecessary events to pad its 135-minute running time. Malek, acting through a big set of fake teeth made to capture the look of Mercury’s four extra incisors, is decent in the role. He actually sang on set, his voice blended with a Mercury soundalike to keep the movie from being a completely lip-synched affair. The musical sequences, including the Live Aid gig, are fun to watch. But, hey, if I want good Queen music, I can just watch the videos of Queen. There’s a movie happening between those musical sequences, and that movie is terrible, a messed-up bit of fakery that prompts a lot of unintentional laughter. There’s a great, truthful movie to be made about the life of Freddie Mercury. Bohemian Rhapsody doesn’t even come close to being that movie.
4
Boy Erased
Lucas Hedges continues his rise as one of his generation’s best actors as a young gay man forced into conversion therapy by his Baptist parents (Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman) in this adaptation of Garrard Conley’s memoir. Hedges plays Jared (a character based on Conley), a college student who, after a horrible event on campus, reveals to his parents that he “thinks about men.” This sends his parents into a religious panic, and they send him to a facility where a shifty preacher/counselor (Joel Edgerton) tries to convince him that homosexuality is a sin and the wrong choice. Jared is forced to withstand all of the strains of psychological torture and gradually realizes that, despite his upbringing and the wishes of his parents, he’s gay, and no amount of bullshit preaching is going to change that. Edgerton, who also directs, does a respectable job of keeping all characters in the film based in reality; the crazed preachers and misguided parents have depth to them and aren’t reduced to caricature. Kidman and Crowe are both very good, but the film’s main triumph belongs to Hedges, who continues to amaze.
3
Creed II
Thirty-three years removed from the moronic Rocky IV, the Rocky franchise says hello again to Ivan Drago (a weathered Dolph Lundgren) and his boxing son Viktor (Florian Munteanu) with Creed II, the follow up to Ryan Coogler’s excellent Creed. Coogler has not returned, replaced by Steven Caple, Jr., in the director’s chair. Michael B. Jordan and Stallone are back, doing pretty much what they did in chapter one, which is not a bad thing. Creed II doesn’t break any new ground and represents a step backward from the astonishingly good Creed, but it’s still a lot of fun. This surprises me, because it dares to take the ridiculous story of Ivan Drago and expand upon it. Creed II tries to make Drago a real person, a defeated man living in shame for decades after losing to Rocky. His loss to Rocky came after killing Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the ring, so when Drago comes looking for a fight using his young, up-and-comer son Viktor, Adonis Creed (Jordan) can’t help but take notice. He’s got a score to settle, and he wants Rocky in his corner. Sound stupid? It is a little bit, but Caple, Jr., manages to continue the authentic vibe of Creed, even with the Dragos back in the ring. Lundgren actually gives one of the film’s best performances, his sense
of humiliation oozing from his pores as he tries to regain former glory and the love of his estranged wife (Brigitte Nielson). Caple, Jr., and his screenwriters, which include Stallone, manage to make Drago a real character rather than a stereotype. They lose the whole U.S. versus Russia shtick and focus on the characters, resulting in a decent boxing movie.
3
Green Book
4
Roma
Director Peter Farrelly gives us Green Book, essentially a remake of Driving Miss Daisy with the roles reversed and starring Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and the Academy Award winning actor from Moonlight (Mahershala Ali). It’s a feel good movie about race relations that goes light on the grit and heavy on the sentiment. Based on a true story, Mortensen plays Tony Lip, an Italian bouncer at the Copacabana who finds himself temporarily without a job while the club is being renovated. His next gig installs him as a driver and bodyguard for Dr. Don Shirley (Ali), an African-American classical pianist who is touring a jazz trio in the early 1960s Deep South. So this is a road movie, with Tony driving and Shirley sitting in the back. As they venture south, they talk about fried chicken, Chubby Checker and letter writing. There is nothing in their dialogue that is anything remotely original or surprising, but Farrelly is lucky to have these two guys in the car. Without them, this film would be a total slog. The duo is, at times, fun to watch, even when the movie around them isn’t. Mortensen, who has had his share of dramatic and action roles, gets a chance to show off some comedic timing. He also put on over 40 pounds for the role. Mahershala is good as Shirley, so good you wish the script matched the majesty of his work. Seamless special effects make it look like he can play a mean piano. The movie is average at best, delivering a relatively good time while feeling quite dated. I expect a little more heft from a movie with this subject matter.
Four years after his Oscar-winning Gravity, director Alfonso Cuarón returns with a decidedly different film in Roma. Working on a much smaller, but no less effective-scale, Roma is a moving tribute to the female servant he grew up with during the early ’70s in the Mexico City suburb of the movie’s title. Cuarón, who claims 90 percent of the movie is based on his childhood memories, tells the story from the female servant’s point of view. Renamed Cleo for the movie, and played by Yalitza Aparicio in an astonishing, heartbreaking performance, Cleo is the glue holding the family she tends together as their philandering patriarch, Antonio (Fernando Grediaga) abandons them. The movie covers about a year in the life of the family, and it’s a slow build. Filmed in black and white, its every shot is a beautiful thing to admire, all the more amazing in that Cuarón acted as his own cinematographer for the first time on a feature film. Much of the movie happens in slow pans. It isn’t very wordy, and it adheres to a certain level of reality that can be taken as mundane at times. It’s daringly simple and somehow simultaneously majestic. There are some grand scale moments. A sequence depicting a violent student uprising is visceral and taut. A near-tragic event on a beach is frighteningly real and totally fills the screen. Roma continues what it is turning out to be a breakthrough year for Netflix, which has given the movie a limited big screen release along with making it available for streaming. This, along with The Ballad of Buster Scruggs by the Coen brothers, is proof that the streaming service has become a giant purveyor of original cinema goodness.
12.20.18
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RN&R
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21
Michael croft
Author, literary editor
4 Week Writers’ Workshop for Novel excerpts · short stories · Creative Non-fiction · Genre Writing Small Group · Limited Spaces · Jan 14 through Feb 4th.
Pen and Word Scholarship Available
mikedcroft@sbcglobal.net
775.786.7816
www.michaelcroftworkshops.com
May I Introduce to You
San Francisco String Trio
FOR THE LOVE OF JAZZ Presents
A 50th Anniversary Beattles Tribute to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Friday December 28, 2018 7:00 PM Nevada Museum of Art 160 West Liberty Street Reno, NV $25 General/ $20 Museum Members $20 FTLOJ Members/ $20 Students 22 | RN&R | 12.20.18
by Todd SouTH
The Martin Hotel in Carson City serves up Basque favorites in its family-style dining hall.
Side hustle The Martin Hotel was opened in Winnemucca more than a century ago. It’s a classic example of this type Basque-American hospitality business, serving up lunch and family-style dinners in its dining hall. Now the business has expanded to a second location, setting up shop in Carson City. The place was pretty hopping, so there was time enough for a round of picon cocktails ($5 happy hour, $11 normally) made with grenadine, Torani Amer, brandy, soda and a twist of lemon. With our bartender’s artful attention to their assembly, they were a great start. Dinner entree pricing seems a bit eye-popping, but when you consider the unlimited side dishes and—more importantly—the carafes of table wine, things come into focus. A meal like this is designed to be shared, often with strangers, and shared with gusto. Wear your comfortable pants, and plan on skipping the next day’s breakfast—and probably lunch. Service was excellent, despite a very full house. The red wine was nicely dry, and we availed ourselves of more than one round. Ciabatta rolls paired perfectly with a savory vegetable and chorizo soup filled with big chunks of potato, celery, three colors of bell pepper and slices of link-style sausage—a meal by itself. Next was a dish of pinto beans stewed with ground chorizo. The beans still had some bite to them, flavored with plenty of seasoned pork and suspended in the resulting gravy. It provided excellent contrast to the basic salad that closely followed, a very American mix of chopped iceberg lettuce with shredded carrot and purple cabbage, tossed in a garlicky vinaigrette. Next were Winnemucca potatoes served two ways— as very crispy, hand-cut shoestring fries; and as a bowl of peel-on, chunky mash. I’m good with the ubiquity of fries in Basque meals, but doubling-down with mashed spuds seemed a bit of overkill. Then again, I didn’t mind so much when a stew of hominy, tomato, pepper and
PHOTO/ALLISON YOUNG
chorizo arrived; it made sense to pour that over a pillow of potato. The stew was rich, slightly spicy and on par with the soup. Yellow cobs of corn rounded out the sides, another oddity given the inclusion of a superior corn dish. Heavily steamed into submission, one bite and I skipped it as an unnecessary addition of starch. My friend’s Steak Carolina ($39) featured 12 ounces of cooked-to-order, black Angus rib-eye grilled with lemon pepper and piled with sautéed mushroom and garlic. The medium rare beef was excellent—a nice amount of char complementing the pink interior—and the sauté was a perfect accent. An order of lamb shank ($37) was loaded with fresh garlic, herbs, olive oil and salt. The meat fell off the bone and was one of the most tender, succulent renditions of lamb you could hope for, though it was a wee bit on the small side. Pasta conchiglie de la polo ($29) combined cubes of chicken breast with garlic, onion, asparagus and mushroom sauteed in white wine. It was served with Alfredo sauce over slightly overcooked pasta shells. The flavors worked well together, though intact spears of asparagus were hidden in the center of the dish, requiring a knife to cut and consume. Solomo—a Basque favorite—is sometimes served as a sandwich, or as a plated entree. I ordered an entree version ($33), which came with a trio of three-ounce pork loin medallions simmered with roasted red bell pepper, fresh garlic and pimentos. The pork was juicy, and the dish was, overall, delicious. After that and all of the other courses, I was barely able to sample a bite of apple bread pudding. It was quite good, but I just couldn’t eat another bite until the next day’s dinner. Ω
The Martin Hotel 308 Curry St., Carson City
The Martin Hotel serves lunch, Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and dinner, seven days a week from 4 to 9 p.m. Learn more at themartinhotel.com.
12.20.18 | RN&R | 23
Win 2 ticketS to
“Saved by the 90’s” December 29 @ 10:00pm
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24 | RN&R | 12.20.18
by JeRi Chadwell
j e ri c @ne w s re v i e w . c o m
Sam Ravenna moved to Truckee in 2013 after graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston the previous year.
Break free Sam Ravenna Truckee artist Sam Ravenna has always been a big fan of Motown music. “It’s a big inspiration,” he said. “But that’s not the only type of soul I’m into. I really like neo-soul, like D’Angelo’s stuff; Southern soul, like Tedeschi Trucks Band; more funky stuff like Earth Wind & Fire.” Ravenna recently returned from several months on tour with New Orleans soul and roots rocker Eric Lindell. Lindell is one of several big-name artists with whom Ravenna has collaborated since his time as a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. They include bassist MonoNeon, members of Odesza and local favorites like Mark Sexton of the Sextones. Ravenna moved to Truckee in 2013, a year after finishing college. His self-titled debut EP came out in 2017. In October, he released a follow up—a full-length album titled Fragile. “I totally had that idea where I wanted it to start off kind of where my last one leaves off, which is in this Motown soul realm, and then it slowly morphs into ‘what is going on?’—you know what I mean?” Ravenna said. “It’s psychedelic, kind of taking you for a ride.” The tone of Fragile does change. As Motown and soul give way to jazz and psychedelia about three quarters of the way through, it becomes darker and even a bit frantic sounding. According to Ravenna, it’s the result, at least in part, of disparate songwriting techniques. “I had songs I was writing on acoustic guitar. And then I had songs I’d start in the studio … where I’d start with more of an electronic production—and I’d make a beat. … I was thinking of them in two different ways, and then I kind of wrote a couple, in between, that were not like quite totally organic, live band—but not quite totally
PHOTO/JERI CHADWELL
crazy, electronic production. So with the introduction of those songs, I was able to tie it all together using some interludes and stuff like that.” The interludes lend a nostalgic R&B feel to Fragile and help ease its stylistic transitions—but the “ride” the album takes listeners on is more than a sonic one. While the first tracks are series of love songs laid out one after another, Fragile’s later songs deliberate on darker themes like mental illness and relationship strife. “I was in a relationship when I wrote all of those love songs, you know what I mean?” Ravenna said. “And I was madly in love. And a lot of those I wrote when the relationship was super fresh. … And then towards the end of the relationship, there was a lot of turmoil.” Ravenna said the album’s latter part was inspired by reflecting on the demise of his relationship, which lasted three years, and on other life events, like a car accident that nearly killed him when he was 16 and a manic episode he suffered shortly after college. “I ended up in the psych hospital and was diagnosed with a heavy diagnosis— and then, after that point, [had] to figure out whether or not I was actually bipolar or whether that was an acute episode,” he said. “Finding my center again and reflecting on that, I was able to get off meds, and I haven’t had an episode since.” Now Ravenna’s preparing to take the record on tour in Hawaii and begin work on a new one, which, he said, is likely to pick up where Fragile leaves off. “Definitely, there are more breakup songs on the next record,” he said. “There are breakup songs that have been written that are not on the first one. … That’s how I reflect on life. I write songs.” Ω
Sam Revenna will play at the Alibi Ale Works – Truckee Public House—10069 Bridge St., Truckee—at 8 p.m. Dec. 21. Learn more and get tickets here: https://bit.ly/2QyKEpr.
12.20.18 | RN&R | 25
THURSDAY 12/20
FRIDAY 12/21
1up
5 Star Saloon
Karaoke, 9pm, no cover
Home for the HoliGays Party & Drag Show, 10pm, $5
Dance party, 10pm, $5
alIBI alE WorKS
Tahoe Comedy Show, 7;30pm, $5
Sam Ravenna CD release party, 9pm, $TBA
Farrow and the Peach Leaves, 9pm, no cover
Jo Mama, 9pm, no cover
Jo Mama, 9pm, no cover
132 West St., (775) 329-2878 10069 Bridge St., Truckee, (530) 536-5029
Dec. 20, 10 p.m. The BlueBird 555 E. Fourth St. 499-5549
Bar oF aMErICa
10040 Donner Pass Rd., Truckee, (530) 587-2626
tHE BluEBIrD
555 E. Fourth St., (775) 499-5549
Ookay, BONNIE X CLYDE, DMNO, 10pm, $20-$30
Cole Adams, 9pm, no cover
538 S. Virginia St., (775) 329-5558 10142 Rue Hilltop, Truckee, (530) 587-5711
Axton & Co., 6:30pm, no cover
DaVIDSonS DIStIllErY
Comedy Carson Comedy Club, Carson City Nugget, 507 N. Carson St., Carson City, (775) 882-1626: Derek Richards, Fri-Sat, 8pm, $15 LEX at Grand Sierra Resort, 2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-5399: Dennis Gaxiola, Fri, 6:30pm, $15-$20 The Library, 134 W. Second St., (775) 683-3308: Open Mic Comedy, Wed, 9:30pm, no cover Pioneer Underground, 100 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-5233: Dennis Gaxiola, Fri-Sat, 8:30pm, $15-$20
The Beat: Kyu, Nick Tesla, Envious, The BlueBird Two Year Anniversary Creedence, Silence Code, 10pm, no cover Part One, 9pm, $5
CEol IrISH puB
CottonWooD rEStaurant
The Peanuts Gang Trio, 7pm, no cover Whiskey Preachers, 9pm, no cover
275 E. Fourth St., (775) 324-1917
DEaD rInGEr analoG Bar FaCES nV
All Star Fridays with Nikki, Vel Veeta, TCandy, 8pm, no cover
239 W. Second St., (775) 470-8590 599 N. Lake Blvd, Tahoe City, (530) 583-3355
Karaoke Night, 9pm, no cover
HEllFIrE Saloon
Kindred Souls, 8pm, no cover
Pearl, 8pm, $5-$25
jIMMY B’S
The Wind Down, 10pm, no cover
Karaoke Competition, 9pm, Tu, no cover
Open mic with Monsterbug Productions, 9pm, W, no cover
180 W. Peckham Lane, Ste. 1070, (775) 686-6737
juB juB’S tHIrSt parlor
Outlier, Flesh To Dust, 8pm, $5
tHE junGlE
Trivia Night, 8pm, no cover
Live music, 9pm, no cover
lIVInG tHE GooD lIFE nIGHtCluB
Greg Austin Holiday Fun, 7pm, no cover
“Ev” Friday Christmas Gig, 7:30pm DJ Bebop, 11pm, no cover
26 | RN&R | 12.20.18
Post shows online by registerin g at www.newsrev iew.com/ren o. Deadline is th e Friday before public ation.
The Peanuts Gang, 7pm, $5
140 Vesta St., (775) 742-1858
1480 N. Carson St., Carson City, (775) 841-4663
Holiday Funk Trio, 5pm, no cover
Indigo Grey, 10pm, no cover
tHE HollanD projECt
246 W. First St., (775) 329-4484
Karaoke, 9pm, W, no cover
Deception, 8pm, no cover
3372 S. McCarran Blvd., (775) 825-1988
71 S. Wells Ave., (775) 384-1652
MON-WED 12/24-12/26
Funky Fizzy Disco Christmas, 9pm, no cover
432 E. Fourth St., (775) 409-4431
Fat Cat Bar & GrIll
SUNDAY 12/23
A Very Barbershop Christmas, 10pm, no cover
214 W. Commercial Row, (775) 813-6689
Ookay
SATURDAY 12/22
Psychedelic Holidaze with Shu Lace, 9pm, $TBA
Deception, 8pm, no cover
THURSDAY 12/20
FRIDAY 12/21
SATURDAY 12/22
SUNDAY 12/23
MON-WED 12/24-12/26
The LofT
Magic Fusion, 7pm, 9pm, $21-$46
Magic Fusion, 7pm, $21-$46 Magic After Dark, 9pm, $31-$46
Magic Fusion, 7pm, 9pm, $21-$46
Magic Fusion, 4:30pm, 7pm, $21-$46
Magic Fusion, 7pm, M, Tu, W, $21-$46
The Loving Cup
The Peanuts Gang, 8:30pm, no cover
MidTown wine Bar
DJ Trivia, 7pm, no cover
1021 Heavenly Village Way, S. L. Tahoe, (530) 523-8024 188 California Ave., (775) 322-2480
Arizona Jones, 8pm, no cover
Musicole, 8pm, no cover
2100 Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 378-1643
Banda Pachuco, Tamborazo 4 Vientos, 10pm, free for women before 11pm
Xmas Party with DeeJay Mario B, Miggz, 10pm, free for women before 11pm
Moody’s BisTro, Bar & BeaTs
Live music, 8pm, no cover
Live music, 8pm, no cover
Karaoke, 9pm, no cover
Ugly Sweater Crawl with Soul Kiss, 8pm, no cover
HallowChristmasWeen 2018 with Schizopolitans, 9pm, no cover
Swigsmas 2: The Grimtones, Grimedog, SWIGS, 9pm, no cover
Jake’s Garage 5.0, DJ Bobby G, 8pm, no cover
Wanderlust, DJ Bobby G, 8pm, no cover
Steel Rockin’ Karaoke, 8pm, no cover
Live music, 8pm, no cover
1527 S. Virginia St., (775) 800-1960
MiLLenniuM
10007 Bridge St., Truckee, (530) 587-8688
paddy & irene’s irish puB
906-A Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 359-1594
Acoustic Wonderland Sessions, 8pm, no cover
pigniC puB & paTio 235 Flint St., (775) 376-1948
The poLo Lounge
1559 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-8864
Bingo with T-N-Keys, 7pm, DJ Bobby G, 9pm, no cover
ponderosa saLoon
106 S. C St., Virginia City, (775) 847-7210
red dog saLoon
sT. JaMes infirMary
Live Funk Fridays featuring Phat Mark, 9pm, no cover
445 California Ave., (775) 657-8484
The sainT
Santos de la Salsa, 8:30pm, $5
spLash reno
Divas Latinas Show, 11:30pm, $5
340 Kietzke Lane, (775) 686-6681
Trivia Night, 8pm, W, no cover
Funk You Up Anniversary: Ego Death, Poeville, Cue:Lad, 10pm, no cover
231 W. Second St., (775) 337-6868 211 N. Virginia St., (775) 433-1090
Karaoke, 7pm, M, no cover
Saturday Dance Party with DJ Payne, DJ Montague, 9pm, no cover
Meme Queens Christmas Show: Jasmine Masters, Mayhem Miller, 11pm, $TBA
ToniC Lounge
virginia sTreeT Brewhouse
Dec. 21, 9 p.m. Pignic Pub & Patio 235 Flint St. 376-1948
Open Mic with Canyon White, 7pm, W, no cover
76 N. C St., Virginia City, (775) 847-7474
761 S. Virginia St., (775) 221-7451
Schizopolitans
College Night with DJ Chau, 10pm, no cover
washoe CaMp saLoon
3155 Eastlake Blvd., New Washoe City, (775) 470-8128
DJ/dancing, 10pm, $10
DJ/dancing, 10pm, $10
Country Western Night/Karaoke, 9pm, W, no cover
Zion Roots, 9pm, no cover
Open mic, 9pm, M, no cover
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SUNDAY 12/23
2) Two Way Street, 8pm, no cover
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1) Dean O Holics- Rat Pack Christmas, 7:30pm, $20-$25 2) Funksalot, All Good Funk Alliance, 10pm, no cover
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Pizza Baron, 1155 W. Fourth St., Ste. 113, (775) 329-4481: Wacky Wednesday Karaoke with Steve Starr & DJ Hustler, 9pm, no cover. The Point, 1601 S. Virginia St., (775) 3223001: Karaoke, Thu-Sat, 8:30pm, no cover Spiro’s Sports Bar & Grille, 1475 E. Prater Way, Ste.103, Sparks, (775) 356-6000: Karaoke, Fri-Sat, 9pm, no cover West 2nd Street Bar, 118 W. Second St., (775) 348-7976: Karaoke, Mon-Sun, 9pm, no cover
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1) The Unbelievables Christmas 1) The Unbelievables Christmas Spectacular, 2pm, 5:30pm, $19.95-$49.95 Spectacular, 7pm, Tu, W, $19.95-$49.95
1) Holiday Dreams, 8pm, $11-$21 2) Throwback Thursdays: Trivia Night, 7pm, no cover
1) Holiday Dreams, 8pm, $11-$21 2) Ugly Sweater Party, 10pm, $20 3) All In, 6pm, no cover
1) Holiday Dreams, 8pm, $11-$21 2) DJ Neil Jackson, 10pm, $20
1) Brian Wilson presents The Christmas Album Live, 8pm, $55-$125
1) Stampede Country Music & Dancing, 8pm, no cover
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2) DJ/dancing, 10pm, no cover
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1) Holiday Dreams, 8pm, M, Tu, W, $11-$21
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1) Reno Dance Company: The Nutcracker, 1) Reno Dance Company: The Nutcracker, 1) Reno Dance Company: The Nutcracker, 7pm, $19.95-$36.95 2pm, 7pm, $19.95-$36.95 2pm, 7pm, $19.95-$36.95
1100 Nugget Ave., Sparks, (775) 356-3300 1) Celebrity Showroom 2) Nugget Grand Ballroom
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1) Mestizo Beat, 7pm, no cover 2) Spin Thursdays, 10pm, no cover
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Get
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Time for our annual micro
The
fiction
competition!
’s 95-word fiction contest Write a miniature story that’s exactly 95 words long.
We want exactly 95 words, as counted by LibreOffice, Google Docs or Microsoft Word. Email submissions to contest@newsreview.com with the subject line “Fiction 2018.” Put each story in the body of an email because we won’t open attachments. We require the author’s name, email address and phone number listed above each story. (That stuff won’t affect word count and will be removed before judging.) Titles are acceptable, without affecting word count, but not required.
Stories must be received before Jan. 16, 2019.
Here’s an example: Lieutenant Nishiyama’s unit searched for Viet Cong soldiers in a village near the Laotian border. As expected, they found nothing. No hidden enemies. A solitary, elderly woman was cooking rice. The smell made Nishiyama homesick. Nishiyama called to the translator: “Tell her I’ll trade two packs of American cigarettes for a bowl of that rice.” It was delicious. “Ask her for more.” “She’s not poor enough? You’ve got to eat all her food?” “What? There’s enough food here for a dozen men.” Nishiyama looked at the woman. “Hey Captain, we better search this property again.” *This year’s story example is based loosely on a story told by Vincent Okamoto in Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s 2017 documentary series The Vietnam War.
Looking for inspiration? Check out last year’s winners here: www.newsreview.com/reno/short-cuts/content?oid=25735902
30 | RN&R | 12.20.18
FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 20, 2018 For a complete listing of this week’s events or to post events to our online calendar, visit www.newsreview.com. ICE GARDEN & TRAIN RIDES: Kids can take a ride on the mini-rail Polar Express around the ice garden at Merry Wonderland for free. Each day there will be special appearances by Santa Claus. Weather and conditions permitting. Professional ice carvers will give live demonstrations in the Ice Garden at Merry Wonderland (Olympic Village Lodge) carving sculptures of penguins, stars and other shapes and figures. Thu, 12/20-Sun, 12/23, 2pm. Free. Olympic Village Lodge, 1901 Chamonix Place, Olympic Valley, (800) 403-0206.
NOEL NIGHTS: Celebrate the holiday season with carolers, sleigh rides, face painting, holiday crafts and pictures with Santa Claus. Fri, 12/21, 5pm. Northstar California Resort, 5001 Northstar Drive, Truckee, (800) 466-6784.
NORTHSTAR SILENT NIGHTS: Enjoy ice
DEC/26:
NEVADA CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
The Reno Chamber Orchestra kicks off its 15th annual event on Wednesday, Dec. 26. The festival features concerts showcasing world-class musicians and the best in classical music, culminating with a New Year’s Day celebration. Concerts take place in the daytime and evening through Jan. 1 at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 357 Clay St.; Trinity Episcopal Church, 200 Island Ave.; Nightingale Concert Hall in the Church Fine Arts Building, 1335 N. Virginia St., at the University of Nevada, Reno; and the South Reno United Methodist Church, 200 De Spain Lane. Tickets are $5-$250. Call 348-9413 or visit www.renochamberorchestra.org.
EVENTS BREAKFAST WITH SANTA: Join Santa for an intimate breakfast to kick off the week of Christmas festivities. The kids can start the morning with some cookie decorating with help from Santa Claus, while the adults can choose between either a complimentary Bloody Mary or mimosa. Next, enjoy breakfast while Santa reads traditional Christmas stories. End the morning taking photos with Santa before heading out to the ice skating rink. Mon, 12/24, 8am. $25-$45. TC’s Pub, 2000 N. Village Drive, Truckee, (530) 562-2250.
CHRISTMAS DAY BREAKFAST WITH SANTA: Enjoy breakfast starting at 10am with Santa followed by a half day of skiing and riding with Santa. Lifts open at 11:30am. Tue, 12/25, 10am. Lift ticket or season pass is required to ski and ride. Tahoe Donner Downhill, 11603 Snowpeak Way, Truckee, www.tahoedonner.com.
CHRISTMAS EVE TORCHLIGHT PARADE: Granlibakken was the host to the 1932 Olympic Ski Jumping Trials. Follow a similar route as the athletes of yesteryear when you ski down Granlibakken’s Ski Hill on Christmas Eve. The Torchlight Parade is followed by hot chocolate, mulled cider, s’mores, and gifts and photos with Santa. Mon, 12/24, 5pm. Free. Granlibakken Tahoe, 725 Granlibakken Road, Tahoe City, granlibakken.com.
DISCO TUBING: Families can spin, slide and speed down the snow tubing lanes to vibrant DJ tunes as the night is illuminated with colorful lights and lasers splashed on the mountainside. Snow tubing sessions are 55 minutes long and begin at the top of the hour. Sat, 12/22Mon, 12/24, 5-8pm. $51 for snowtube rental. SnowVentures Activity Zone, 1651 Squaw Valley Road, Squaw Valley Ski Resort, Olympic Valley, squawalpine.com.
HEAVENLY HOLIDAYS: The festival continues through Dec. 31 with rail jams, ice sculptures, breakfast with Santa, ice skating performances starring Disney characters, a Ferris Wheel, magic shows and other entertainment. Thu, 12/20-Wed, 12/26. Prices vary. Heavenly Village, 3860 Saddle Road, South Lake Tahoe, www.skiheavenly.com.
HORSE DRAWN SLEIGH RIDES: Let Santa’s Reindeer take you on a special holiday path between Merry Wonderland (Olympic Village Lodge) and The Village at Squaw Valley free of charge. Board Santa’s sleigh at Merry Wonderland or in The Village from 2-5pm on Dec. 19-23. Rides are offered on a first-come, first-served basis Thu, 12/20-Sun, 12/23, 2pm. Free. Olympic Village Lodge, 1901 Chamonix Place, Truckee, (775) 588-2953, squawalpine.com.
skating and s’more roasting while watching holiday classics. Thu, 12/20, 5-6:45pm. Free. Northstar California Resort, 5001 Northstar Drive, Truckee, www.northstarcalifornia.com.
ORNAMENT FOOD DRIVE: Trade food for a handmade ceramic ornament made by studio members. Barrels from the Food Bank of Northern Nevada will be set up to accept approved non-perishable and non-expired food donations. Thu, 12/20 -Fri 12/21, 10am. Free. The Wedge Ceramics Studio, 2095 Dickerson Road, (775) 770-4770.
THE POLAR EXPRESS TRAIN RIDE: Characters, entertainers and Santa Claus bring the story to life with a souvenir silver sleigh bell to remember the journey. Trains depart at 5pm, 6:30pm and 8pm on Friday-Sunday through Dec. 16 and Tuesday-Sunday on Dec. 18-24. There will be no 8pm ride on Dec. 24. All children age 2 and younger ride free on a parent’s lap. Fri, 12/21-Sun, 12/23, 5pm. $27-$69. Carson City Eastgate Depot, 4650 Eastgate Siding Road, Carson City, vtrailway.com.
RENO BEER CRAWL: Attendees can sample domestic, nationally recognized and locally distributed craft beers at 15 participating bars and restaurants in downtown Reno. Purchase a $5 ticket online or in person at the start location on event day. Once you redeem your ticket at the start location on event day, you’ll receive a commemorative Reno Beer Crawl glass, wristband and map to use throughout this self-guided event. For $1 you can enjoy 6-ounce samples at each of the participating downtown Reno locations. Sat, 12/22, 2pm. $5. The Library, 134 W. Second St., renobeercrawl.com.
SANTA TRAIN: Nevada State Railroad Museum celebrates the 34rd year of the Santa Train. Ride in rail cars pulled behind the historic V&T Railroad No. 25 steam locomotive. Santa Claus will hand out candy canes to all the riders and listen to children’s Christmas wishes. Trains run every 30 minutes. Sat, 12/22Sun, 12/23, 10am-3pm. $5 per person, free for children under age 3 and sitting on a lap. Nevada State Railroad Museum, 2180 S. Carson St., Carson City, (775) 687-6953, nvculture.org.
SNOW TUBING WITH SANTA: Enjoy a fun,
CHRISTMAS ON BROADWAY: A night of singing
family-friendly round of snow tubing with a special guest appearance by Santa Claus. Snow tubing is located at SnoVentures Activity Zone in the base area of Squaw Valley adjacent to the parking lot. First come, first served. Fri, 12/21, 11am. $39. SnoVentures Activity Zone, 1653 Squaw Valley Loop, Olympic Valley, (800) 403-0206.
and dancing with some of the best talent from Truckee, Tahoe and Reno. All proceeds help fund two full musical productions in 2019. Fri, 12/21, 7:30pm; Sat, 12/22, 7pm. $10-$20. InnerRhythms, 12047 Donner Pass Road, Ste. B7, Truckee, (530) 550-8464, www.innerrhythms.org.
GOLDEN GIRLS LIVE HOLIDAY SPECIAL: In this
STARS & S’MORES: Participants are invited to meet at the resort’s Fireside Terrace for a fireside astronomy session with telescopic viewing followed by s’mores around the outdoor fire pit. These events will occur on Dec. 21 and 28, weather and conditions permitting. Advance reservations are recommended. Guests should wear warm clothing and sturdy shoes for the snowshoe stargazing events. Fri, 12/21, 7pm. $45. Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe, 13031 Ritz Carlton Highlands Court, Truckee, tahoestartours.com.
WINTER SOLSTICE YOGA CELEBRATION—AN HOMAGE TO ANNE BRIGMAN: Enjoy an evening of yoga, reflection, poetry, tea and conversation. All levels of yoga practitioners are welcome, including first-timers. Thu, 12/20, 5pm. $8-$12. Nevada Museum of Art, 160 W. Liberty St., (775) 329-3333, www.nevadaart.org.
WINTERFEST RENO: Adults and children can ride the Holiday Express Train, a narrated journey around the inside of the stadium taking you on a mission from Reno to the North Pole to deliver Santa’s Naughty and Nice list. Visitors can also take pictures with Santa Claus and go ice skating. Train rides are 5-9pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 4-7pm on Sundays and Christmas Eve, Dec. 21-24. Tickets are $10 for train rides and free for kids age 2 and younger. Santa photo packages start at $15. Ice skating admission is $10 for kids ages 3-12 and $12 for teens and adults ages 13 and older. Thu, 12/20-Wed, 12/26. $0-$12. Greater Nevada Field, 250 Evans Ave, winterfestreno.com.
ONSTAGE A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS: The Brewery Arts Center and TheaterWorks of Northern Nevada presents its theatrical production based on the classic animated television special A Charlie Brown Christmas. Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts Gang discover the true meaning of Christmas. Sat, 12/22, 2pm & 7pm. $10$12. Brewery Arts Center, 449 W. King St., Carson City, (775) 883-1976.
THE 39 STEPS: This two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning play by Patrick Barlow and John Buchan is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters, an onstage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and some good old-fashioned romance. Thu,
12/20-Sat, 12/22, 7:30pm; Sun, 12/23, 2pm. $8-$20. Restless Artists Theatre,
parody production of the 1980s-1990s sitcom The Golden Girls, audiences will see drag queens reenact all of the holiday episodes from the series. Thu, 12/20-Sat, 12/22, 7:30pm. $18-$20. Good Luck Macbeth Theatre Company, 124 W. Taylor St., (775) 322-3716.
HANDEL’S MESSIAH: TOCCATA—Tahoe Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will conclude its 14th season with a production of Handel’s Messiah, along with seasonal carols. Sat, 12/22, 6pm. $40-$85. Olympic Village Lodge, 1901 Chamonix Place, Olympic Valley, toccatatahoe.org.
JAZZ FOR THE HOLIDAYS: The Reno Jazz Orchestra performs holiday classics. A pre-show reception starts at 5:30pm. Doors open at 6:30pm. Show starts at 7pm. Thu, 12/20, 7pm. $45-$70. Olympic Village Lodge, 1901 Chamonix Place, Olympic Valley, squawalpine.com.
LOVE: Join The Alchemists as they explore ideas of love and more through prayer, meditation, music, sermon and visual art. This event will feature musical guest Gary Lynn Floyd. The show begins at 7:30pm. How Bazzar—A Healing Marketplace, offering reiki, prayer, readings and art, opens at 6:45pm. Wed, 12/26, 7:30pm. $15-$25. Center for Spiritual Living, Reno, 4685 Lakeside Drive, www.alchemistmovement.org.
THE MOUSEHOLE FAMILY CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA: In Brüka Theatre’s original holiday romp, the Mousehole Family is visited by the “Twelve Days Of Christmas Angel,” who brings them a whole new angle on Christmas traditions and holiday joy. Thu, 12/20-Sat, 12/22, 8pm. $18-$25. Brüka Theatre, 99 N. Virginia St., (775) 323-3221.
RENO DANCE COMPANY—THE NUTCRACKER: RDC’s production of the holiday classic features 20 professional dancers and 200 local children from the Reno-Sparks area. Fri, 12/21,7pm; Sat, 12/22, 2pm & 7pm; Sun, 12/23, 2pm & 7pm. $19.95-$36.95. Nugget Casino Resort, 1100 Nugget Ave., Sparks, nuggetcasinoresort.com.
SVI COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS CONCERT: Squaw Valley Institute’s annual community Christmas concert features local artists covering Christmas classics by BB King, Nat King Cole, John Lennon, Otis Redding, Micheal Bublé, Nina Simone, Eric Clapton and more. Fri, 12/21, 7:30pm. $15-$25. Free for SVI members. Olympic Village Lodge, 1901 Chamonix Place, Olympic Valley, squawalpine.com.
295 20th St., Sparks, (775) 525-3074.
12.20.18
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RN&R
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2018
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From babies to grandparents, RN&R’s family guide explores how technology affects our lives a special supplement to the reno news & review
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Family Guide May 2018
FAMILY GUIDE FEBRUARY 23
If you’re interested in advertising, call (775) 324-4440. 32 | RN&R | 12.20.18
by AMY ALKON
Things that go bump in the knight I’m confused. Does treating women as equals mean not doing those things that would previously have been considered chivalrous, like opening doors and giving a woman your coat? What’s now considered polite, and what’s considered offensive? The response by some women these days to men’s well-intentioned acts must tempt at least a few men to swing entirely in the other direction. To these women, chivalry is “benevolent sexism,” affectionate but patronizing sexism—a way of treating women that suggests they are in need of men’s help and protection. It involves things like opening doors and offering to carry a heavy item for a female colleague and being the one who runs for the car in a downpour—instead of handing the girlfriend the keys and announcing, “I’ll just wait here under the awning!” Research has found that benevolent sexism can be undermining to women—even leading them to feel less competent at their job. However, complicating things a bit, new research by social psychologists Pelin Gul and Tom R. Kupfer finds that women—including women with strong feminist beliefs—are attracted to men with benevolently sexist attitudes and behaviors despite (!) finding these men “patronizing and undermining.” The researchers theorize that what women are actually attracted to is the underlying signal of benevolently sexist behavior—that “a man is willing to invest” (in them and any children they might have together). Frankly, even I engage in benevolent, uh, something or other—like by holding the door open for any person, male or female, coming up to an entrance behind me—simply because it’s nice for one human to look out for another. Or, as my mother would put it, it’s genteel. Ultimately, your best bet is behaving as genteelly as you would if you had no idea about benevolent sexism. Most women will probably appreciate it.
Girls just wanna have funding? I’m a 34-year-old man, newly single after a relationship that started in college. Though I love the work I do running a small nonprofit, I don’t make tons of money. I’m worried that my inability to “provide” in any sort of lavish way will make it hard for me to attract post-college women. I do often write about how women evolved to prefer male partners with high status—men with the ability to “provide.” However, what’s important to note is that ancestral humans lacked anything resembling “wealth” (portable, conservable assets). Though no modern woman wants a man who lives paycheck advance to paycheck advance, there’s hope for you—from research on one of the few cultures today in which men aren’t the primary earners. Political scientist Nechumi Yaffe looked at ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel—a community in which the men spend all day hunched over studying the Torah and the women are the breadwinners. Yaffe finds that, as in other cultures, the men the ultra-Orthodox women prefer as mates are those who are the best in their “field”— which, in this community, comes out of the level of “religious devotion and piety” the men show. In other words, though men’s status is a vital mating asset across cultures, “how status is achieved may be culturally specific.” You’re surely part of a community that shares your beliefs about the importance of making a difference. Chances are, many of the women in your world don’t want some moneyworshipping hedge fund buttknuckle. To ramp up your status, you need to stand out as a top do-gooder—like by coming up with and implementing innovative ideas to make the world a better place. This should make you extremely attractive to a woman with similar values. Ω
ERIK HOLLAND
Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave., No. 280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com).
12.20.18 | RN&R | 33
Free will astrology
Call for a quote. (775) 324-4440 ext. 2
For the week oF December 20, 2018 ARIES (March 21-April 19): Consumer Reports
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says that between 1975 and 2008, the average number of products for sale in a supermarket rose from about 9,000 to nearly 47,000. The glut is holding steady. Years ago you selected from among three or four brands of soup and shampoo. Nowadays you may be faced with 20 varieties of each. I suspect that 2019 will bring a comparable expansion in some of your life choices, Aries—especially when you’re deciding what to do with your future and who your allies should be. This could be both a problem and a blessing. For best results, opt for choices that have all three of these qualities: fun, usefulness and meaning.
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TAURUS (April 20-May 20): People have been
upgrades.
trying to convert ordinary metals into gold since at least 300 AD. At that time, an Egyptian alchemist named Zosimos of Panopolis unsuccessfully mixed sulfur and mercury in the hope of performing such magic. Fourteen centuries later, seminal scientist Isaac Newton also failed in his efforts to produce gold from cheap metal. But now let’s fast forward to 20th century chemist Glenn T. Seaborg, a distinguished researcher who won a share of the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1951. He and his team did an experiment with bismuth, an element that’s immediately adjacent to lead on the periodic table. By using a particle accelerator, they literally transmuted a small quantity of bismuth into gold. I propose that we make this your teaching story for 2019. May it inspire you to seek transformations that have never before been possible.
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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): President Donald
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CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian poet and
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filmmaker Jean Cocteau advised artists to notice the aspects of their work that critics didn’t like—and then cultivate those precise aspects. He regarded the disparaged or misconstrued elements as being key to an artist’s uniqueness and originality, even if they were as yet immature. I’m expanding his suggestion and applying it to you and all Crabs during the next 10 months, even if you’re not strictly an artist. Watch carefully what your community seems to misunderstand about the new trends you’re pursuing, and work hard to ripen them.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 1891, a 29-year-old
British mother named Constance Garnett decided she would study the Russian language and become a translator. She learned fast. During the next 40 years, she produced English translations of 71 Russian literary books, including works by Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev and Chekhov. Many had never before been rendered in English. I see 2019 as a Constance Garnett-type year for you, Leo. Any lateblooming potential you might possess could enter a period of rapid maturation. Awash in enthusiasm and ambition, you’ll have the power to launch a new phase of development that could animate and motivate you for a long time.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I’ll be bold and predict
that 2019 will be a nurturing chapter in your story—a time when you will feel loved and supported to a greater degree than usual, a phase when you will be more at home in your body and more at peace with your fate than you have in a long time. I have chosen an appropriate blessing to bestow upon you, written by the poet Claire Wahmanholm. Speak her words as if they were your own. “On Earth I am held, honeysuckled not just by honeysuckle but by everything—marigolds, bog after bog of small sundews, the cold smell of spruce.”
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out.” This advice is some-
times attributed to 16th century politician and cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Now I’m offering it to you as one of your important themes in 2019. Here’s how you can best take it to heart. First, be extremely discerning about what ideas, theories and opinions you allow to flow into your imagination. Make sure they’re based on objective facts and make sure they’re good for you. Second, be aggressive about purging old ideas, theories and opinions from your head, especially if they’re outmoded, unfounded or toxic.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Memorize this quote
by author Peter Newton and keep it close to your awareness during the coming months: “No remorse. No if-onlys. Just the alertness of being.” Here’s another useful maxim, this one from author Mignon McLaughlin: “Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those slight changes that would make all the difference.” Shall we make it a lucky three mottos to live by in 2019? This one’s by author A. A. Milne: “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Until 1920, most
American women didn’t have the right to vote. For that matter, few had ever been candidates for public office. There were exceptions. In 1866, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the first to seek a seat in Congress. In 1872, Victoria Woodhull ran for president. Susanna Salter became the first female mayor in 1887. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Sagittarius, 2019 will be a Stanton-WoodhullSalter type of year for you. You’re likely to be ahead of your time and primed to innovate. You’ll have the courage and resourcefulness necessary to try seemingly unlikely and unprecedented feats, and you’ll have a knack for ushering the future into the present.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Studies show that
the best possible solution to the problem of homelessness is to provide cheap or free living spaces for the homeless. Not only is it the most effective way of helping the people involved, in the long run, it’s also the least expensive. Is there a comparable problem in your personal life? A chronic difficulty that you keep putting Band-Aids on but that never gets much better? I’m happy to inform you that 2019 will be a favorable time to dig down to find deeper, more fundamental solutions to finally fix a troublesome issue rather than just addressing its symptoms.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Many people in
Iceland write poems, but only a few publish them. There’s even a term for those who put their creations away in a drawer rather than seeking an audience: skúffuskáld, literally translated as “drawer-poet.” Is there a comparable phenomenon in your life, Aquarius? Do you produce some good thing but never share it? Is there a part of you that you’re proud of but keep secret? Is there an aspect of your ongoing adventures that’s meaningful but mostly private? If so, 2019 will be the year you might want to change your mind about it.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Scientists at
Goldsmiths, University of London did a study to determine the catchiest pop song ever recorded. After extensive research in which they evaluated an array of factors, they decided that Queen’s “We Are the Champions” is the song that more people love to sing than any other. This triumphant tune happens to be your theme song in 2019. I suggest you learn the lyrics and melody, and sing it once every day. It should help you build on the natural confidence-building influences that will be streaming into your life.
You can call Rob Brezsny for your Expanded Weekly Horoscope: (900) 950-7700. $1.99 per minute. Must be 18+. Touchtone phone required. Customer service (612) 373-9785. And don’t forget to check out Rob’s website at www.realastrology.com.
by BRAD BYNUm
Believer
PHOTO/JERI CHADWELL
James “D” Darnell is a fourthgeneration Renoite. He co-hosts a radio show with his partner, Zoe Ztarr. exploring the “paranormal and beyond.” It airs from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., Monday through Friday, on the America Matters website. An archive of previous shows can be found at americamatters.us.
What’s the name of the show? The name of the show is “Spend the Night with Z.” … [Ztarr]’s my girl. She’s a metaphysicist. She works with the stones, the healing, the good spells. Knows everything you can do about mixing herbs together to put in a candle.
So, she’s a witch? Yeah [laughs]! I was going to say that. … [The show] is “paranormal and beyond,” so we’ve been covering many different topics. We’ve been at it a little more than a month, and we’ve been getting wonderful response from people out there listening—even from out of the country. For not being at it that long, we’re getting a good response from people wanting to be on the show. … They want to talk about who they are and whatnot, and get involved with the paranormal. We even have a gentleman that lost a bunch of weight that we’re putting on there because Fridays we do the mind and spirit. … Things like that, that’s where the “beyond” comes in. We don’t just limit ourselves to the Art Bell thing. We have a different approach. We don’t have book writers on, and, “Tell
us about your book, Bob.” We’re not that type of a paranormal show. We’re a lighter show. We laugh. We have fun. ... We’re certified paranormal investigators, if you will. We have a business called Parormal Extraction.
So, you’re a Ghostbuster, and she’s a witch? Nice little irony there of some sort. So, we do that. We go cleanse people’s homes. Lately, we haven’t done much because we’ve been doing this show. … We just go in and cleanse. Sometimes, I take measurements, but we just go in to cleanse, to show these people how to help themselves instead of entertain the ghosts. Maybe help it to move—help the entity to move on.
If I said, “I’m skeptical, and I don’t believe in ghosts,” what would you tell me?
I’d say that’s absolutely within your rights. … We have our Paranormal Extraction shirts and on our car we have magnets, and people come up to us, and they want to spill their guts about their story, because if they tell it to someone else they might just think they’re crazy. What we get more often than not is somebody coming up, telling us their story, and then they want our business card, and sometimes we get work—but you know how that goes. But most of the time, people just want to talk to somebody that they trust. But I never close the door on somebody that says they don’t believe it, because maybe they just haven’t met somebody or been in a situation that would change their mind. Skeptics are what drive us in this subculture of the paranormal.
Oh, because people are looking for someone who believes? Yes, and a lot of them want help. We don’t even charge that much money. We charge $100, which is nothing. … Zoe is an empath and a pretty good psychic. She can feel things, where some other people can’t, and she can explain it to you, and she can tell you what’s going on. … She’s the one who feels stuff. I’m the one who comes in and says, “No, that’s just your hot water heater. You don’t have any ghosts. I’ll show you what’s making that rattling.” … What I believe is that you can’t destroy energy. It just changes its shape. But what gets me is that it’s so intelligent. It has an intelligence sometimes. It messes with people. Ω
by BRUCE VAN DYKE
The Trump Book Club Gee oh gee oh gee, how exactly does one conflate the good vibe of The Season with the nasty old Scroogey Scrooge vibe of our Pouty POTUS? The Trump Book List, offered here for all those who get that stocking stuffer gift certificate to a bookstore. It’s the Holiday Hit List for the Hyper-informed! Presented in no particular order: Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff. With a title taken from Twitler’s Threat at the UN for North Korea, Wolff got the party started with his juicy, controversial insider look of the first year of Trumpistan. Called onto a journalistic carpet for including some stuff that seemed too incredible even for Trump, there’s plenty in here that was accurate and chewable. Wolff leaned heavily on Steve Bannon, who was pretty darn chatty at the time, and this connection gave Wolff’s book some serious gravitas. It also got
Steve canned. Reading it now, it all seems so long ago, that summer of ’17, topped off by the craziness of Charlottesville. Unhinged by Omarosa. Don’t write this one off as pure tabloid fluff. It’s not. Omarosa is a smart woman, and one of the very few members of Cult 45 that has been to the white hot core of MAGA Madness, then slowly, steadily awakened, escaped and lived to tell the tale. The first half is pretty ho-hum, but the second half is a chronicle of her year as a White House staffer, and she fires up plenty of fun inside info about the Doddering Dotard. Yes, she compares the Trump of The Apprentice years to the President, and, yes, she concludes that he’s losing it. Losing it bigly.
Russian Roulette by Corn and Isikoff. A remarkable piece of journalism by two men who’ve
been on this beat for years. Told in a straightforward, chronological way, they do a terrific job of laying out the story of this highly complex and mind-boggling conspiracy to install a working asset of Putin in the White House.
House of Trump, House of Putin by Craig Unger. More masterful journalism and somewhat overlooked, this is the one that digs real deep into the numerous connections between Trump and various Russian oligarchs. When the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics disintegrated in the 90s, we here in America lazily thought, OK, fine, and good riddance. As it turned out, what that political development eventually did was unleash a plague of Slavic locusts upon an unsuspecting planet—The Plague of The Billionaire Oligarchs. And they is one nasty bunch of bad boys. Ω
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