January 2023

EDITOR'S NOTE

Downtown’s ‘sense of place’ depends on human connection

Imagine a vibrant downtown Reno.

We had one, decades ago, when retailers, restaurants and other businesses peeked out from historic buildings under the neon glow of the relatively small gaming joints—before the mega-hotel/ casinos walled off the streets from their “cities within a city.”

Downtowns everywhere declined in the 1960s and 1970s as residents and businesses fled to the suburbs. City cores became ghost neighborhoods. Buildings deteriorated. Downtowns slouched toward extinction. Over the last two decades, though, many of the nation’s city centers have been reborn.

Reno is undergoing another downtown renewal effort, led by the city government and the Regional Transportation Commission. The ROW, Virginia Street’s three interconnected casinos, already had a wish list. Its suggestions include installing landscaping and sidewalk improvements—as was done in Midtown, Reno’s previous makeover effort—and creating more open space for parking and special events near its properties, as explained in our cover story.

But it is foot traffic, not more concrete pads, that will renew downtown. There must be street-side shops, bars, restaurants and stores there next to the massive hotel-casinos. Renewal depends on a diversity of people, businesses and buildings—and a web of human connections—amid a streetscape reflecting Reno’s character, quality and continuity.

Adding more sterile plazas, luxury apartment towers, parking spaces and cosmetic features won’t do the job alone. Sitting out the process and ceding decisions to the big players invites failure. We all have a stake in downtown’s future. If it is again to become a hub of foot traffic, shops and vitality, residents and small businesses have to get involved in the conversation surrounding Reno’s “placemaking” effort. The city’s core may again become a district where both tourists and locals want to be.

One thing is certain: No matter who calls the shots, we’ll get the downtown we deserve.

—FRANK X. MULLEN frankm@renonr.com

LETTERS

Thinking about the Donner Party’s courage

I loved the story about the Donner Party’s Christmas experiences in 1846 (RN&R, December 2022). I had the pleasure of having Fred Horlacher as a teacher when I attended Swope Middle School. Mr. Horlacher made the Donner Party come alive, including one winter day when he opened the windows and had us all sitting on the floor in a circle around a fake fire pit, wrapped in blankets, as he told us about their ordeal. He was excited about the story, and that got us excited.

When the snow covers the Sierras, and the wind blasts down the mountain to Reno, I also think about the Donner Party and their suffering and courage. We need more teachers like Mr. Horlacher who make history come alive with lessons students remember for the rest of their lives.

Mazie Rosen Incline Village

Climate change is really real

Most of us know that climate change is real (RN&R, December 2022) and vote accord-

ingly; however, climate-change deniers will continue denying until Lake Tahoe boils dry.

Monty Hansen Reno

Stop the slaughter of pets

Animal shelters are quickly filling to maximum capacity, and many healthy pets perfectly eligible for homes are being euthanized. On average, 3 million shelter animals are killed each year despite many of them being perfect fits for families. Meanwhile, countless numbers of pets are being purchased from breeders instead.

Now, animal shelters nationwide are filling to capacity. Our local SPCA is a no-kill shelter, but many unfortunate animals are being euthanized elsewhere. Almost 10 times as many animals as there are people in Reno are put down each year in U.S. shelters. While many people mistakenly believe that all of the pets euthanized are unfit for homes, most of these animals are killed simply because shelters could not find a loving family to care for them. While buying from a breeder may get you the exact type of animal you want, shelters offer plenty of great pets at much lower costs. Each pet adopted means the difference between their life and death.

Even if you are not interested in getting a new pet, there are plenty of ways you can help with the shelter crisis. Getting your pet spayed or

neutered will help prevent unwanted litters. You can also help by volunteering at your local animal shelter, many of which are currently short-staffed and would be glad to receive your assistance. Your help will mean the world to these animals.

Kevin P. Reno

Reno’s survey about adaptive cycling

The City of Reno’s Adaptive Recreation team is piloting an Adaptive Cycling Center this coming summer at the Rosewood Nature Study Area, formerly known as the Rosewood Golf Course. This membership-based program will allow people with disabilities to access the city’s many adaptive bikes and go directly on the trail, eliminating the need for bike transport.

The city is looking to gauge community interest in this type of adaptive cycling program and determine the best hours of operation. Community members are invited to take a survey and share their feedback. The deadline to complete the survey is Jan. 10.

To learn more about the city’s adaptive and inclusion programs, visit Reno.gov, or contact April Wolfe at wolfea@reno.gov.

April Wolfe City of Reno

GUEST

COMMENT BY JEANMARIE SIMPSON

Nevada is one of two states without professional theater—and that needs to change

I served on a theater panel for the National Endowment for the Arts. When Greg Reiner, the NEA’s director of theater and musical theater, was getting the panelists up to speed, he shared the NEA’s deep concern about the lack of professional theater in two states: North Dakota and Nevada.

That makes sense for North Dakota. The population is small, largely rural, etc. Nevada, though? Our population is more than 3 million, and we are within easy driving distance of the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

For the last 40 years, I have harped on this string. I’m sure the people who know me are sick of hearing about it, but isn’t it time we got serious about having resident professional theaters in our beauti ful, culturally rich state?

In Northern Nevada, we have several indie theaters in addition to institutions like the Reno Little Theater (87 years of programming) and Brüka (30 years of programming), not to mention the Brewery Arts Center and Piper’s Opera House.

Most area actors, directors, designers, stage managers, prop and set makers, costume makers, box-office personnel and concessionaires are volunteers. We have master directors, singers who blow us away, and actors who amaze us with their depth and detail, but Northern Nevada theater-makers spend the lion’s share of their budgets on rent and utilities. Are Reno theater-goers aware that the performers who pour their hearts out on those stages also worked 40-hour weeks at what we call “regular jobs”?

Paid, professional theater artists and technicians elsewhere have 40-hour theater work weeks rather than rehearsing after work. In addition to living wages, they also have health insurance, a pension and worker’s compensation. As performers, they can put the bulk

of their time and energy into polishing their performances. Their work contributes significantly to the artistic landscape of the country. Nevada’s children deserve to live in such a culture.

Imagine your jaw-droppingly talented neighbor staying in town rather than moving to New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver or Dallas, or dedicating their time to their craft rather than selling insurance during the day and volunteering at night.

Society is in a liminal phase—a post-pandemic era, and a Black Lives Matter era that thankfully has shattered the status quo in myriad ways, especially in entertainment and the arts. For the first time ever, the Actors’ Equity Association, the union of American actors and stage managers, has open enrollment. Hundreds of regional theater artists can join through May 1.

Meanwhile, the Lear Theater stands empty. What’s wrong with this picture? In 1994, when the Lear Theater conversation began, the region’s theater artists were excluded from all but a few crumb-throwing exercises. Rather than pulling together the community, the now long-dead Theater Coalition set us up in competition with each other.

I submit that we are ready to pull together and be the change we need to see. We can and must evolve, with professional theater as a dazzling touchstone at the heart of our priceless, exquisite region.

Jeanmarie Simpson trained in Toronto in the 1970s. Over the past four decades, she has directed, written and performed in hundreds of professional plays. She moved to Nevada in 1978 and founded the Nevada Shakespeare Company in 1989. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the Dramatists Guild of America. She is a retired (vested and pensioned) member of Actors’ Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA.

STREETALK

BY DAVID ROBERT

Asked at Somerset Town Square, 7655 Town Square Way, Reno

Osman Castellano Handyman

My prediction is that the economy will be worse than it is now. I think that other countries will unite their economies together to help themselves. The only change that we might see is if a new president is elected. This current president is getting too old.

Lindsay Bortle Bartender

My prediction is that the community will come back together. We will not be so divided as we have been in these last few years. We are all humans, and we must take care of each other. We will all be back together as one.

Anita Noble Business owner

I don’t expect a lot, economy-wise. I do hope that the economy stabilizes, and we don’t get into a recession. The past two years have been very tumultuous. The economy will take a while to turn around. I do predict that I will open up another (business) location. … Build it, and they will come.

Alan Boedicker Cook

I predict that people’s morale will change with the new year. There have been so many negative years back to back to back. The worst was when the new president came in, and things took a downturn with inflation. Hopefully in the new year, people will be positive and have a new and better normal.

Peggy Brennan Retired

I don’t really know what to expect, especially with politics, and of course, the economy goes along with that. It’s going to be an interesting year. I just don’t know. I wish I had a crystal ball!

What do you predict for 2023?

| BY JIMMY BOEGLE

Gannett’s begging for money is wrong and pathetic

For three straight days during the week leading up to Christmas, the top news story in the Reno-Gazette Journal’s daily email wasn’t about local issues. It wasn’t about the pandemic, or homelessness, or holiday travel problems.

No. Instead, it was an ineptly managed multibillion-dollar corporation begging for money.

“Please donate to keep Mark Robison reporting for the RGJ,” read the subject and headline of the RGJ’s Daily Briefing email on Dec. 21, 22 and 23. Once you opened the email, this summary was below the headline and a picture of a smiling Robison with a dog, also smiling: “Mark Robison joined the RGJ a year ago to expand our coverage of local issues. His wages are paid 100% by a grant and donors. Please help if you can.” Ugh.

I need to make one thing clear: I have no issues with Robison—who’s a great reporter—or his local managers making this ask. The reporters and editors at the RGJ work hard, do good stuff, and are truly doing the best they can to keep the community

served with local news.

I do have an issue with Gannett, the RGJ’s parent company. If you’re unfamiliar: Gannett Corp. is the RGJ’s longtime owner. Under Gannett’s “stewardship,” the newspaper’s staff and resources have been constantly slashed—but in recent years, things have gotten even worse.

In August, the company laid off 400 people, said it would not fill hundreds of positions and offered employees buyouts. In October, CEO Mike Reed announced employees would need to take five mandated days of unpaid leave in December, suspended 401(k) matches and offered severance for “voluntary resignations.”

On Dec. 1, the company announced it was laying off another 6 percent of its U.S. media division. Happy holidays!

One of the reasons Gannett is in such a rough position is it took on more than $1 billion in debt during a 2019 merger with Gatehouse. As a result, Gannett is selling off everything that isn’t nailed down. According to an October story by

the Poynter Institute, “Gannett reported it had paid down $55 million of that debt since June 30. It also will be selling $65 million to $75 million in real estate and other assets.”

That same Poynter story says: “Gannett has cut its staff considerably since the 2019 merger. At the time, the two companies had roughly 25,000 employees. By the end of 2021, that number had shrunk to 13,800 in the U.S. and 2,500 abroad.”

While Gannett’s poor employees are being laid off, or forced to take unpaid leave if they still have jobs, Gannett’s executives are paying themselves rather handsomely. Reed, the CEO, took home $7.74 million in 2021, including a $900,000 salary, a $767,052 bonus, and a little more than $6 million in stock. CFO Doug Horne received more than $1.7 million in salary, bonuses and stock.

So, to summarize: The RGJ’s parent company is a huge corporation—it still took in $749 million in revenues during the second quarter (and reported a loss of $54 million)—that took

on a crazy amount of debt in a 2019 merger, has since cut nearly half of its employees, and paid its CEO $7.74 million in 2021 … and it wants you to help pay for a reporter as it makes all sorts of cuts around him.

I’ll put it another way: Gannett wants you to invest in the RGJ, even though the company is unwilling to do so itself.

I repeat: Ugh.

Rather than sending Gannett a few bucks, may I suggest an alternative? Instead, you could support local, independent and/or nonprofit media—local news sources that will take that money and invest it in its news product.

Consider supporting Double Scoop, or the Sierra Nevada Ally, or This Is Reno, or the Nevada Independent, or, of course, the Reno News & Review

Given the trajectory of Gannett, and its greedy corporate management, it’s hard to see a future for the RGJ—unless Gannett sells it off to benevolent new owners who happen to have deep pockets.

However, the aforementioned local news sources do have a future—as long as you show them your support.

UPFRONT

Abortion bans elsewhere increased procedures in Nevada

After other states banned or restricted abortions in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s gutting of the Roe v. Wade decision, Nevada has seen a major increase in abortion procedures.

The Society of Family Planning recently reported a 21% increase in abortions in the Silver State since the court’s ruling in June. The national report compared procedures in April 2022 (1,030) with the number in August (1,250), according to the report.

Nationally, the number of abortions decreased by 6% during the same period, the report noted.

The right to an abortion is guaranteed in Nevada up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy, thanks to a state law twice approved by voters. Family-planning advocates say the state’s increase in procedures can be traced to women traveling to Nevada from states that restrict abortions.

Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada, an advocacy group, told the Las Vegas Sun in November that about half of its patients are now coming from outside the state. Lindsey Harmon, the group’s executive director, told the Las Vegas Sun that “there’s just a lot of fear out there with patients, and they’re looking for alternative methods or alternative locations to serve them in a safe environment.”

On June 24, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the high court overturned Roe v. Wade, which since 1973 guaranteed access to abortion in all U.S. states up until fetal viability. When the decision was announced, some states reactivated laws that were already on the books but not enforced because of Roe, or quickly passed abortion bans or severe restrictions on the procedure.

The Society for Family Planning’s report documented that the greatest decline in abortions occurred in the states with “the greatest structural and social inequities in terms of maternal morbidity and mortality and poverty.” The report noted that, overall, “people of color and people working to make ends meet have been impacted the most” by the court’s ruling.

—Frank X. Mullen

Education and empowerment

Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence training sessions are busting myths about sex trafficking

Nevada is among the top 10 states with the highest rates of human trafficking, but that alarming ranking can lead to misconceptions.

“All too often, people think of human trafficking as something caused by strangers, when in reality, it is also perpetrated against intimate partners, spouses and even children,” said Amy-Marie Merrell, execu-

tive director of The Cupcake Girls, a group that provides services to women who worked in the adult entertainment industry.

“Victim-survivors are sometimes led to believe they are in a relationship with the offender who will then use and exploit them repeatedly in the sex trade. It can also be a forced marriage or making a child work or beg instead of attending school.”

| BY FRANK X. MULLEN

from Save Our Children demonstrate on Virginia Street near the Truckee River on Sept. 6, 2020. The group attracted participants with various concerns and political views. The messages on their signs reflected different takes on the issue of human trafficking.

Some activist groups, although often well-meaning, have perpetrated the myth that predators who are strangers to their victims are responsible for most cases of human trafficking. Social media and some websites are rife with tales of predators in vans cruising cities or special-event venues ready to kidnap children and young women.

There are cases that fit that template, but they are extremely rare, experts note.

To combat such misconceptions, the Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence (formerly the Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence) is offering a series of virtual training workshops on Jan. 24, 25 and 30; and on Feb. 2. The fee is $35, with discounts for those who want to earn continuing education units. Details are available online at www.ncedsv.org.

The coalition’s partners in the effort include The Cupcake Girls, 3Strands Global Foundation, and Xquisite, a group dedicated to bringing freedom and empowerment to sexually exploited survivors of sex trafficking, sexual assault and domestic violence.

The Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence educates the community about the intersection of human trafficking and domestic and sexual violence, and debunks misinformation. For example, although some activists insist that incidents of human trafficking increase during large sporting events such as the Super Bowl and Formula 1 Racing, studies show that isn’t the case, researchers concluded.

“Human trafficking and domestic violence don’t occur in silos; both abusers and traffickers utilize their power to control victim-survivors,” said Amanda Bullard, interim executive director of the Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence. “(Our) trainings will help in understanding the complex patterns of abusive behavior so we ensure that victim-survivors are identified and given the correct resources to begin their healing journey.”

Concerns about human trafficking peaked in 2020, when citizen groups took part in public demonstrations to raise awareness of the problem. But the groundswell of concern also spawned rumors and spread misinformation that originated on, and was amplified by, social media. Fringe groups including QAnon, an

Protesters

Photo/ Frank X. Mullen

online conspiracy-theory movement, injected false information and wild accusations into the public conversation.

In Reno, a group of concerned residents staged weekly demonstrations on Virginia Street near the Truckee River in the summer and fall of 2020. The group, then under the umbrella of Save Our Children Reno, was among scores of similar organizations—some named “Save Our Children” and others called “Save the Children”—that popped up on social media feeds and street corners around the nation during the height of the pandemic. At the time, demonstrators told the RN&R that their goals were to raise awareness of child-sex trafficking and to lobby for tougher penalties for pedophiles, human traffickers and those involved in child pornography.

Administrators of that loosely organized group, which included participants who demonstrated against mask mandates, said they had no links to QAnon or other organizations that spread conspiracy theories. But some members posted QAnon-related memes on the group’s website or posted information that had been repeatedly debunked.

Law enforcement and academic studies confirm that although stranger abductions occur, they are far from the norm. The truth is closer to home: Victims generally know their traffickers, who may be relatives, neighbors, acquaintances or guardians. Runaway minors may be befriended by traffickers who gain their trust and then turn on them.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notes that traffickers usually target children with heightened vulnerabilities. They often groom and study their victims prior to luring them away. One of the highest reported types of victims are children who are missing from care and/or frequent runaways. The center received reports of 23,500 endangered runaways in 2019 alone, and it estimated that one-sixth of those (about 3,900) may have become victims of sex trafficking.

The center estimated that each year, more than 200,000 children are abducted by family members. In 2019, just 115 reported abductions represented cases in which strangers abducted and killed children, held them for ransom, or took them with the intention to keep them.

The Nevada Coalition’s training sessions offer verified information and help cut through the conspiracies and myths surrounding the issue, members said.

“It is important for advocates who fight against human trafficking to be educated on the ways we can help empower sexually exploited women and victim-survivors of human trafficking to live healthy, flourishing lives,” said Brenda Sandquist, founder and executive director of Xquisite. “The training series is a way we can make a difference.”

lives

Van Dyke, 69, who died Sept. 16, was a popular Reno disc jockey whose stints at various Reno radio stations provided soundtracks for thousands of Nevadans’ lives. BVD, as he was known, also was the author of the “Notes From the Neon Babylon” column in the Reno News & Review for 25 years. He anchored shows on the Reno airwaves from 1978 to 1986, and returned to Nevada in 1990 to work at KTHX, known as “The X.” Fans kept the often beleaguered station alive several times with phone calls and letter-writing campaigns and followed it through two frequency changes on their radio dials.

BVD left The X (and Reno) for California in 2005, but it wasn’t a full retirement. His last gig was on internet-based JiveRadio, which is keeping his voice and music selections alive by streaming a virtual station with the call letters KBVD. That stream is a compilation of Van Dyke’s JiveRadio “Big Bucket o’ Tunes” (a collection of more than 4,000 tunes he curated from 20142022), old and current station IDs and blurbs, and “outtakes” from his morning show on KTHX in the 1990s. That stream can be accessed at www.jiveradio.org/BVD. Van Dyke’s RN&R columns are archived at RenoNR.com.

In an interview with the RN&R in 2021, BVD noted all the changes in the radio industry during his career, but said that “even so, terrestrial radio is never going to go away. It’s a perfect thing, a perfect entity. You get in the car, turn on the radio, and get your favorite station as you drive around town. It’s a wonderful thing.” The same can be said of William Bruce Van Dyke.

Reno remembers Bruce Van Dyke, who broadcast the soundtracks of many Nevadans’

Family, friends and fans of the late Bruce Van Dyke gathered at the Nevada Museum of Art on Dec. 1 to celebrate his life, well lived.

Photos by David Robert

| BY TAYLOR HARKER

Sound and breath

Holistic healers tout meditation methods

Mention “meditation,” and lots of folks imagine Buddhist monks sitting crosslegged in an incense-filled temple, remaining still and quiet for hours.

In truth, meditation comes in many practices and forms beyond remaining in the lotus position for hours. Reno has always marched to the tune of its own drum, a tradition that carries over into the health and wellness scene. I got the opportunity to explore two different meditation modalities via Reno holistic healers—an experience that expanded my views about mediation and natural therapies.

Good vibrations

Wyatt Smith is a sound-bath engineer. A sound bath is an immersive and unique tradition that involves different cadences and pitches of sound for a full-body listening experience. OK, that sounds good—but I didn’t really know what to expect.

Upon arrival at The Center, a local yoga studio, I noticed yoga mats were set up in a circle around the instruments used for the sound baths. Those included colored crystal bowls of all sizes and large gongs.

Smith instructed participants to lay on their backs with their heads near the

instruments. Every yoga mat had blankets and pillows; some people brought eye masks to allow for a deeper meditation experience. After a few minutes of guided deep breathing, a cycle of sounds and music began. Various loud and intense sounds emanated from the crystal bowls and gongs and washed over me in an audio wave.

“The vibrations are going to enter the body and bring it back to balance,” Smith explained.

Smith became a sound-bath engineer after a friend “dragged” him to a session 14 years ago. That first meditation experience inspired him to learn the techniques and eventually guide his own sound meditations. The process, he said, helps people feel a deeper and more profound connectivity to themselves and the space around them.

“I had that moment of bliss when the monkey chatter was quiet,” Smith said. “It’s intuitive for me; I don’t follow a script.”

Some of the benefits of sound baths, he said, include lowering depression or anxiety, and allowing a person to have more restful sleep. People have varied reactions to the therapy. They may laugh or cry; they may surrender to a deep state of relaxation; others may feel some discomfort. With any kind of therapy and self-improvement, someone may need to over-

come some difficult moments, Smith said.

Immersed in my first audio bath, I never quite knew what was going to happen next. (That felt like a general metaphor for life.) Smith once had a client explain that in her first session, her mind was racing, and she wound up watching the clock. She felt better the next time, he said, and by the woman’s fourth visit, she was able to immediately go into a deep relaxed state.

The hour-long sound bath felt like it went by in a matter of minutes. Afterward, I felt a sense of ease and was in an almost dreamlike state. My fellow bathers seemed to have a similar reaction. Smith recommended that we stay away from loud music on our way home, because in the aftermath of the therapy, the sounds are still being absorbed, and the benefits of the meditative state are still being accrued. The more baths a person takes, the better they will feel, Smith said.

He occasionally hosts pop-up sound baths at local yoga studios and is available for private bookings. For more information or to schedule a private session, email soundbathbywyatt@ gmail.com.

The breath of life

“Breathwork” is another meditative practice used by many to help heal traumatic wounds

and chronic stress. The technique involves using breath as a means to open up and expand the body and mind.

Proponents say the power of breathing is vastly underrated, and most people don’t realize they may hold their breath when things get tough, either mentally or physically. In my case, when I’m in the midst of a hard gym workout or deeply focused at work, I’ve noticed I unconsciously hold my breath. That means oxygen is withheld from our bloodstreams, a condition that doctors say can result in a flight-or-fight reaction in our central nervous system. The idea behind breathwork, proponents say, is to be mindful of breathing in order to release toxins and stress while exhaling, and nourish your body and mind on the inhale.

Adrienne Rivera, a Reno native and certified breathwork coach, holds a four-week series of guided sessions focused on breathing techniques. The classes allow a community to form among the participants, she said, as they build trust and closeness. Breathwork evolves beyond a traditional meditation, because it involves doing something active and not just sitting still, she said. The different breathing exercises build focus within the body and allow people to work through unprocessed trauma, Rivera noted; some often report having a spiritual awakening.

“Breath can allow people to disconnect from themselves,” Rivera said. “This is a place for people to carve out space to feel unprocessed emotions. Anybody can do breathwork.”

Rivera’s origin story is similar to Smith’s: She saw a breathwork-class flier and attended the session “on a whim.” The experience, she said, was so profound, she felt like she needed to teach others about it.

“We can create (a) big shift in our body with the power of our breath,” Rivera said.

Each session builds on the last, as Rivera teaches different breathing techniques. One of the practices is called “breath of fire,” a form of controlled breath also found in many yoga practices. Participants lie supine, with their eyes closed, as they focus on fast inhales and exhales. Some participants say the technique can take them into an alternative state of consciousness, or help them feel more alert and mindful.

Rivera’s next breathwork class is scheduled at The Virgil, 301 Vassar St., in Reno, on Jan. 9, 16, 23 and 30, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. She is also hosting a Valentine’s Day class aimed at couples who want to create deeper intimacy through breathwork. Visit www.breathofgold. com for more information.

Adrienne Rivera, a breathwork coach, demonstrates meditation techniques with Ashley Ahmadzai. Photos/David Robert

We live on location

Reno grew up on the silver screen

In the 1930s, Reno became world-famous thanks to celluloid images of the Silver State flashing across the silver screen.

Hollywood documented the changing face of Northern Nevada, from our vast sagebrush ocean to the Reno craps tables of yesteryear. The movies’ plots often centered on Nevada’s divorce industry, gambling, heists or adventures in the high desert. Hollywood legends and countless extras tread the paths Reno residents walk today. The films are a time machine traveling to our city’s past. We live on location.

Robin Holabird, a Reno author who was a Nevada film commissioner for 21 years, has studied our celluloid landscape. She also hosts a video tour of Reno movie locations on the Historic Reno Preservation Society web page. In the introduction to her book Elvis, Marilyn, and the Space Aliens, Holabird explained why filmmakers and the nation’s moviegoers are drawn to the Silver State, and why that’s a good deal for Nevadans.

“(The) way that movies and television affect attitudes about Nevada hits me repeatedly,” said Holabird, whose most recent book is Around the World in 80 Movies. “Projects shooting in the state provide immediate impact when producers spend millions of dollars by hiring crew members and paying for accommodation, locations and other services. But these projects’ lingering effect comes from images they portray, the way famous people and places connect in a wild, wonderful and wacky world vastly different from Middle America. Nevada blends beautifully with extreme and intense pop culture icons.”

Beginning with the 1897 Corbett-Fitz-

simmons Fight in Carson City, hundreds of feature films have been shot, at least partially, in Northern Nevada. Even culling that herd down to a Top 10 list is, of course, wholly subjective and objectively difficult—but we tried, and got it down to 11. In some cases, a movie was chosen based on the number of local scenes rather than overall quality. But a few of the flicks are recognized classics.

In addition to the films listed below, Holabird also recommends some others that have local ties, including: Top Gun: Maverick, which was partially shot at the Fallon Naval Air Station and Tahoe locations; Kill Me Again, with Val Kilmer; and Jane Austen’s Mafia!

Some ‘essential’ Reno movies

Here, in no particular order, and subject to the writer’s bias (and questionable taste), are the 11 Reno movie “essentials.” All are available, instantly, for streaming on digital platforms, some for free; others can be rented in HD for $3.99 and in SD quality for $2.99. All are connected to the northern part of the Silver State.

The Misfits, 1961: This one’s a classic, written by Arthur Miller and directed by John Huston. The stars are Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift; Thelma Ritter, Eli Wallach and Kevin McCarthy grace the supporting cast. The movie was filmed on locations around Northern Nevada, including Reno and Dayton, in 1960. It was both Monroe’s and Gable’s last completed picture. The cast stayed at the lost and lamented Mapes Hotel. The plot: Monroe comes to Reno to get a quickie divorce and develops a friendship with her landlady (Ritter). She winds up hanging out with an aging cowboy (Gable), his rodeo-riding pal (Clift) and his pilot buddy (Wallach). The three men chase

down mustangs in the desert because it “beats (working for) wages.” From the writing to the acting to the cinematography, it still shines 60 years later. If you see just one movie on this list, make this the one. Available for streaming on Amazon Prime, $3.99 in HD.

Apartment for Peggy, 1948: Based on a novelette by Faith Baldwin, this is the tale of a depressed college professor, played by Edmund Gwenn, who is contemplating suicide until he gets involved with a young couple (William Holden and Jeanne Crain) looking for an apartment. The movie was shot in Reno just after World War II, when the University of Nevada campus quad was ringed with trailers that served as housing for the hoards of ex-servicemen who were getting an education thanks to the GI Bill. There are lots of views of the postwar campus and glimpses of downtown Reno in the 1940s. Free on YouTube.

California Split, 1974: This comedy-drama is directed by Robert Altman and stars Elliott Gould and George Segal as a pair of gamblers loose in Reno. The film is a time capsule of Virginia Street and some of its casinos in the early 1970s. A high point of the film is a high-stakes game with real-life world poker champion Amarillo Slim portraying himself. Amazon Prime, Vudu, $2.99.

The Godfather Part II, 1974: The second part of Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy is a prequel-sequel to the original film. Robert De Niro is young Vito Corleone; decades later, Al Pacino is his son, Michael, who becomes the heir to the family business. Michael has moved the family’s headquarters to Lake Tahoe, where his brother, Fredo, relies on the Blessed Virgin Mary to assist him during a fishing trip. A California estate serves as the location for Tahoe scenes, including the First Communion celebration which opens the film. Amazon Prime, $3.99.

Charley Varrick, 1973: Charley Varrick and his pals rob a small-town bank—only to discover that they absconded with mob money, and they are now the prey of hit men. OK, so the plot’s been done before. But what makes this neo noir of interest to Northern Nevadans is a cameo by the late Joe Conforte in scenes shot inside the old Mustang Ranch brothel in Storey County. A hulking Joe Don Baker is a relentless hit man. Prime Video, Google Play, $3.99.

Love Ranch, 2010: Speaking of Joe Conforte, Love Ranch is based on the fatal shooting of Argentinean boxer Oscar Bonavena just outside the Mustang Ranch in 1976. In real life, Joe’s wife, Sally (played in the movie as “Grace Bon-

| BY FRANK X. MULLEN

tempo” by Helen Mirren), managed the by-then low-ranked heavyweight contender. Conforte, on the lam in Brazil, told me in a phone interview in 2010 that he enjoyed the film. Google Play, $2.99.

Pink Cadillac, 1989: The plot involves white supremacists who can’t shoot straight. The film stars Clint Eastwood as a bounty hunter who is chasing Lou Ann, played by Bernadette Peters. Lou Ann steals her husband’s car when she flees the marriage, but the pink auto is crammed with counterfeit money that belongs to the husband’s neo-Nazi buddies. Peters, the Caddy, the cash and Clint race off to—where else?—Reno. Action, romance and hilarity ensue. In one scene, the pink whale of a car cruises under the Reno Arch, then crashes into the entrance of the Eldorado. Google Play, iTunes, $3.99.

Sister Act, 1992: The movie begins and ends in Reno, but most of the film supposedly takes place in San Francisco (yet several of those scenes also were shot in Reno). It’s funny and has some great singing. Seeing Whoopi Goldberg, dressed in a nun’s habit and yelling the f-word at a gaming table, is alone worth the price of streaming. Amazon Prime, SD, $2.99.

The Ox-Bow Incident, 1943: Based on the 1940 novel by Nevada’s own Walter Van Tilburg Clark and directed by William A. Wellman, the movie stars Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews and Mary Beth Hughes. A great supporting cast includes Anthony Quinn, Harry Morgan and Jane Darwell. It’s the tale of two saddle tramps caught up in a posse that turns into a lynch mob. It was filmed in California, but it’s a Nevada tale. The flick probably would have won a Best Picture Oscar, but it was up against Casablanca Free on YouTube.

The Shootist, 1976: The film is set in Carson City in 1901, and some scenes were filmed there. John Wayne, in his last screen appearance, plays aging gunfighter J.B. Books. Books is dying of cancer and is marked for death by rivals who want to take credit for his demise before the disease can claim him. Wayne actually had terminal cancer at the time of filming, a detail that makes the Duke’s excellent performance even more poignant. The supporting cast includes Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart, Richard Boone, Hugh O’Brian, Harry Morgan, John Carradine, Sheree North and Scatman Crothers. This also is one of the gems. iTunes, $3.99.

Nomadland, 2020: This Best Picture Oscar winner was partially shot at the Desert Rose RV Park in Fernley and in the now-deserted town of Empire. The movie also won Academy Awards for Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and for Best Director (Chloe Zhao).

Many other flicks feature Reno-area locations, including Andy Hardy’s Blonde Trouble, partially shot at UNR; the original Top Gun; Waking Up in Reno; Kingpin, with scenes at the National Bowling Stadium; and The Cooler

Marilyn Monroe at Pyramid Lake during the filming of The Misfits in 1960 (cropped). Photo/Don Dondero; Frank and Susan Mullen Collection

Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight

For January,

January skies

Evening skies feature an atypically large number of bright stars

Evenings in January 2023 feature a spectacular array of four bright planets in a long line across the sky at dusk, shrinking from 130° on Jan. 1 to 104° on Jan. 22.

In the first three weeks, in order from very low in the west-southwest to well up in the east, they are Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. In a pretty conjunction of planets on Jan. 22—from sites with no mountains nearby blocking the view toward the westsouthwest—Venus passes within 0.4° to the south (left) of Saturn. It will be fun to keep an eye on the pairing for several evenings before and after, to watch for daily changes. Nine days before and after the pairing, on Jan. 13 and 31, Venus-Saturn are 10° apart! After Jan. 22, the changed order of planets will be Saturn-Venus-Jupiter-Mars. Saturn will drop from view, sinking into bright twilight by early in February.

January’s evening twilights also feature

an unusually large number of bright stars—11 of the 15 stars of first magnitude or brighter ever visible from our home latitude. The 11 stars are all shown on our evening twilight map for January. Castor, of magnitude +1.6, should not be counted in the total, but it’s plotted anyway, to help identify its brighter “twin,” Pollux, 4.5° away. In mid-January at dusk, we see the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair in the northwest to west; Fomalhaut, mouth of the Southern Fish, low in the southwest, to the left of Saturn and below Jupiter; Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, near Mars in the east; and Orion’s red Betelgeuse, with blue-white Rigel below (with his three-star belt between them). Capella, the “mother goat” star, is in the northeast to eastnorthwest, to the upper left of Orion; and the “Twin” stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux, are below Capella and to the left of Orion. Finally, watch for the rising of Procyon, just north of due east, and the brightest star Sirius, in the

January’s evening sky chart. Illustration/Robert D. Miller

east-southeast, in line with Orion’s belt extended downward. Sirius and Procyon are the “dog stars” of Canis Major and Canis Minor. These dog stars complete the nearly equilateral Winter Triangle with Orion’s shoulder, Betelgeuse, and they chase Orion across the sky. If mountains don’t block your view, you can catch Sirius rising before Altair sets just north of west, and you’ve got your 11 bright stars—six of them in the Summer and Winter Triangles, simultaneously.

The waxing moon adds its beauty and presence to the planetary lineup at dusk through Jan. 6, and again Jan. 22-Feb. 5. Catch the moon near Mars and Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, on Jan. 2 and 3; and the full moon near Pollux and Castor, the “Twin” stars of Gemini, on Jan. 6.

Starting another two-week journey through the sky at dusk on Jan. 22, the very thin young crescent moon appears 7° below the VenusSaturn pairing; on the next evening, Jan. 23, the moon is 9° to the upper left of Venus. For the next week, until dusk on Jan. 30, the moon and four bright planets span 104° as our satellite shifts more than 13° daily against the background stars of the zodiac. On Jan. 25, the moon is 2-3° to the lower left of Jupiter.

On Jan. 30 at dusk, the moon will dance with Mars. Observers in Reno will see the moon’s northern edge pass narrowly south of Mars. The least separation of Mars from the moon’s northern limb will be 2.7 arcminutes, or less than one-tenth of the moon’s half-degree diameter, at 9:01 p.m.

At dusk on Jan. 31, the moon will have moved 11° east of Mars.

Telescopic views: Only three months out from its passage on the far side of the sun, Venus still appears small and full. Its best display at dusk will be in June and July, when it transforms into a thin crescent, growing five times as large in apparent size as it is now. In January, Saturn is best seen early in the month, before it sinks low. On Jan. 22, Venus and the ringed planet will appear within 0.4°, easily fitting into the same low- or medium-power telescopic field. End-toend, the rings, tipped less than 13° from edgeon, appear nearly as wide as Jupiter, currently the most impressive planet for viewing. Jupiter displays cloud belts parallel to its equator and a system of four bright satellites discovered by Galileo in 1610. Mars is currently the closest planet to Earth, but because of its small actual size, its disk appears only about one-third of the size as Jupiter’s. It is now early spring in Mars’ northern hemisphere, and a 6-inch telescope at 150-power reveals a bright polar cap of frozen carbon dioxide. Syrtis Major, a dark triangular surface feature on Mars first recorded in 1659

| BY ROBERT VICTOR

and now known to consist of volcanic rock, can be spotted near the center of the Martian disk on Jan. 6 near 6 p.m., and 37-38 minutes later each evening, until Jan. 14 at 11 p.m.

In the morning sky in mid-January, find the “twin stars” Pollux and Castor sinking in the west-northwest; Regulus in the west, to upper left of the twins; golden Arcturus and blue-white Spica well up in the southern sky; Antares, heart of the Scorpion, in the southeast; and the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair in the northeast to east. Notice that in mid-January, you can observe the Summer Triangle both at dawn, in the eastern sky, and at dusk, in the western sky. Its stars are far north of the Earth’s orbit plane. Its stars are above the horizon all day and for longer than the sun, making their appearance possible at both times. In mid-January, the Summer Triangle, visible at dusk, sets early, and rises in time to bring up the rear of the overnight parade of stars. Of all the other bright stars, only Capella in early June, and Arcturus in late October, are far enough north of the Earth’s orbit plane to have two separate appearances on the same night.

After passing inferior conjunction on Jan. 7, Mercury is faint for several mornings and overwhelmed by the dawn glow, but it flares up to magnitude +1.1 by Jan. 15, to 0.0 by Jan. 22, and brightens slowly thereafter. Mercury is highest in the east-southeast to southeast morning twilight on Jan. 24 and 25, and reaches greatest elongation, 25° from sun, on Jan. 30.

Follow the waning moon mornings from Jan. 7 to Jan. 19 or 20. Catch the full moon near Pollux on Jan. 7; a gibbous moon near Regulus on Jan. 10; close to last quarter phase (half-full) near Spica on Jan. 14 and 15; as a crescent near Antares on Jan. 18; 13° to the right of Mercury on Jan. 19; and, very thin and challenging in bright twilight, 9° below Mercury, on Jan. 20.

Binoculars provide good views of the moon; conjunctions of planets; and star clusters such as the Pleiades and Hyades in Taurus, the Great Nebula in Orion’s Sword, Andromeda Galaxy, and even an occasional comet.

Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3)—Zwicky Transient Facility—is predicted to reach magnitude 5.5 near the end of January. It will pass closest to Earth, within 26 million miles, on Feb. 2. It passes within 10° of Polaris on Jan. 29 (on a line from the North Star toward the Pointer Stars of the Big Dipper), and on Jan. 30 (on a line from the North Star toward Omicron in Ursa Major, marking the nose of the Great Bear). For a few days, the comet moves 6° daily, on a line toward Capella, which it passes on Feb. 5. On the night of Feb. 10-11, the fading comet passes about 1° east of Mars.

Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968, and still produces issues occasionally. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the wonders of the night sky.

Our volcanic history

The Incandescent Rocks Scenic Area, a short drive north of Reno, offers stunning views and geology

Nevada wears its geological history on its proverbial sleeve. Our iconic basin and range landscape was formed over millions of years as the Earth’s crust slowly moved, leaving wide swaths of the underlying rock exposed for all to plainly see.

Though anyone who’s flown over or driven across Northern Nevada knows there’s no escaping the mountains, tourists and sightseers often overlook the area in favor of more classically striking formations. Places like the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park and Moab, and Red Rocks Canyon outside Las Vegas capture far more attention. Many native Renoites aren’t even aware there are places within a 20-minute drive of the Biggest Little City with equally spectacular colors and stunning striations that tell a rich history of Nevada’s ancient volcanoes—and make for a great photo op.

Incandescent Rocks Scenic Area is located on federally owned land, managed

by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and is classified as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. This designation helps preserve the colorful geological history exposed at this site. It’s an area that’s open, exposed and easy to navigate—though its lack of trails can make the going a bit slow.

To get to Incandescent Rocks, head north out of Reno on Pyramid Highway. A little more than 20 miles from the intersection with North McCarran Boulevard, turn left onto Grass Valley Road. You’ll follow this bending gravel road for a little more than 2.5 miles (Atlas Obscura has an excellent description of how to get to Incandescent Canyon) before turning on a primitive road with a cattle gate and a sign indicating you’re entering BLM land and Incandescent Rocks. Remember to leave the cattle gate as you found it (which is typically closed), to avoid letting cows meander where they shouldn’t.

You’ll need a 4-wheel-drive vehicle with decent clearance to drive much further. Several

It’s impossible not to notice layers and layers of red, yellow and whitish rocks, remnants of dramatic volcanic explosions and flows. Photo/Maggie Nichols

small pullouts allow you to leave your car and continue on foot, rather than chance driving through one of many washes that can easily trap your car in their steep, narrow depths. Be sure not to drive or park anywhere that isn’t part of the rudimentary road, as per the regulations for this Area of Critical Environmental Concern. If it has rained, snowed or had snowmelt in the past few days, it’s best to avoid driving here at all.

Wherever you ultimately park your car, simply continue walking up the road until you can clearly see the stripes of bold colors along the ridgeline of rocks to your north. There are no official foot trails through this area, so choose your path over the loose rocky ground and through the shrubby vegetation with care. There’s no wrong way to explore this colorful area, but we like to head straight toward the center of the canyon to get amazing views of Nevada’s volcanic history before cutting to the east, and scrambling up the side of this rocky ridge.

Even before you climb, it’s impossible not to notice layers and layers of red, yellow and whitish rocks, remnants of repeated and dramatic volcanic explosions and flows between 20 and 30 million years ago. The whole area is a very in-your-face way to see exactly how much Nevada has changed in, geologically speaking, the relatively recent past. Much like spreading layers of peanut butter and jelly across a slice of bread and then breaking it apart to lay on separate sides of a plate, the fractured lines of rust-colored rocks are a testament to the movement and breakage of Nevada’s tectonic plates in the past 25 million or so years since these rocks flowed from nearby volcanoes.

If you make it to the top of the southeast side of the ridge, you’ll be rewarded with commanding views of the north valleys, the

| BY MAGGIE NICHOLS

Sierra Nevada and a nearby airstrip. You can also clearly see how the rock layers in Incandescent Canyon have been exposed, broken and shifted from their original locations. The continuation of these volcanic rock flows can’t actually be seen east or west of Incandescent Canyon. In fact, the local fault lines have allowed so much slippage in the millions of years since these rocks were laid down that, to find where these ancient flows continue to the west, you’d have to get into your car and drive another 10 or so miles farther north to pick up their trail again.

From the vantage point at the top of the eastern side of the ridge, you can continue your journey upward, adding another mile or so to your nearly 2-mile journey already, by turning north and west to follow the ridgeline. If you don’t want to simply turn around and retrace your steps, you can start making your way down the back side of the formation toward a dry streambed at the bottom that will eventually take you back to your car. Either way, more picturesque landscapes and additional arresting views await you.

As you approach the bottom of the backside drainage, you’ll see the dry wash (though it’s not dry during rain or snowmelt season!).

Don’t walk in the dry creek bed too soon, though, or you’ll find yourself stuck at the top of a 30-foot dry waterfall—and will you need to do a little backtracking to find a safe passage to the bottom. After the waterfall cliff, the dry wash is walkable and has sections reminiscent of the slot canyons of the Southwest, cut in miniature through a magenta-colored layer of rock. Following this water path will lead you back to the road, forming a circular route through and around Incandescent Canyon, ending back at your car.

Though there’s no coverage from the elements along this hike (so take plenty of water, and be prepared), the views you get every step of the way make it a great place to explore in colder months. Just remember to take only photos and leave only footprints as you stare in awe at the awesome power of Nevada’s ancient volcanoes.

not the case here. … There are positive things going on, but the question is: How do you put all the positives together to build momentum for downtown?”

When downtown-Reno

business owners were told that city officials are working to revitalize the city’s deteriorating core, it was hard for some of them to hide their skepticism—or resist rolling their eyes.

They’ve heard it before. Every decade or so, a plan to invigorate the downtown “entertainment” district emerges. In the 1990s, resurfacing sidewalks with Italian paving stones was part of the formula; in 2007, North Virginia Street got wider sidewalks, narrowed traffic lanes and old-timey streetlight fixtures. No matter: Each year, more historic buildings dissolve into vacant lots, often with no hint of what might replace them. More businesses close and are boarded up. Vacant properties are the missing teeth in Reno’s aging smile.

A report notes that about 70 percent of the street frontage in the downtown core is vacant storefronts, false fronts, inactive plazas or windowless walls. The mega-hotels have sealed off access to large segments of Virginia Street, a thoroughfare once bustling with gaming parlors, shops and restaurants.

“(Downtown Reno) has become a ghost town,” said Gary Foote, owner of Harry’s Business Machines, at 323 West Street. His grandfather founded the business in 1928, and it’s one of the oldest in the city. Harry’s, also known as HBM Technology Partners, began as a typewriter store, but now sells, maintains and provides technical support for a wide range of office technologies.

In the 90-plus years that Foote’s family business has adapted to economic, social and technological challenges, the city’s core area became less nimble. From the 1930s to the

1960s, downtown Reno was the heart of the entertainment and gaming district. But in the 1970s, retailers and other small businesses moved to outlying parts of the city—a national trend. Gaming spread to other areas of the country in the 1980s, and the advent of Indian casinos in Northern California further eroded Reno’s Bay Area customer base.

By the 1990s, many smaller casino properties closed, and larger properties consolidated. Massive hotel-casinos towered above Reno’s downtown core, competing with gaming palaces that sprouted up in other parts of the Truckee Meadows. The hotel-casinos are self-contained cities within a city: Guests can have all their needs met without ever venturing out onto Virginia Street. Downtown stagnated.

“What we need is some kind of momentum,” Foote said. He noted that other Reno revitalization efforts, including the Riverwalk and Midtown’s pedestrian-friendly makeovers, have been successful. Those districts are “elbow to elbow” with downtown, but the renewed activity in those areas hasn’t spilled over to the city core.

“There are a lot of positive (changes) all around downtown,“ he said—but not in its center, where historic buildings often are razed, leaving vacant lots in their place. “In other downtown areas of the country, the buildings were vacant, but at least you have the bones of those stores, something to build on. That’s

RIGHT: A man and his dog sit outside the Eldorado Hotel Casino on Virginia Street in December.

ABOVE: The Reno City Center project on the former Harrah’s Reno site at Second and Lake streets in downtown Reno is being converted into 530 market-rate apartments, 150,000 square feet of office space and 78,500 square feet of retail space. It’s expected to open in the spring.

That’s the question the city and the Regional Transportation Commission are trying to answer with the current “placemaking” effort. Officials hope the project will result in a road map for the revitalization of the downtown area. Gehl Studios, an urban design and research consultant, has collected data, conducted surveys and hosted public meetings aimed at developing a “shared vision” for Reno’s downtown.

The goal is to create “an environment that is safe for people to work, live and play, develop public-private partnerships to foster a greater vision for the area (i.e. the Downtown Reno Partnership), and encourage certain types of development through zoning and incentives,” wrote Cassie Harris, the city of Reno’s communications program manager, in an email to the RN&R.

Foote, at the helm of one of downtown’s oldest businesses, was unaware of the placemaking study when interviewed in December. Sam Samir, the owner of North Virginia Street’s newest business, also hadn’t heard of the revitalization effort, but he welcomes anything that might increase pedestrian traffic downtown.

Samir’s Rice and Kabab restaurant opened in early December at 440 N. Virginia St., across the street from the Silver Legacy Resort Casino. That hotel-casino is the centerpiece of The ROW, a three-resort complex that includes 25 restaurants, 23 bars and lounges, 11 nightspots, a luxury spa, entertainment and more than 4,000 rooms and suites.

Most of the customers who came through the door of Samir’s restaurant during the first two weeks of business were casino employees, not tourists or local residents.

Photos by David Robert

A man pushes a cart on a sidewalk outside the Reno City Center project on the former Harrah’s Reno site at Second and Lake streets in downtown Reno. Photo by David Robert

Rice and Kabab’s menu features Afghan cuisine, made with fresh lamb, chicken, vegetables and rice. “It’s different from Mediterranean, Middle Eastern or Indian food,” he said. “Most people here have never had this kind of food before. I thought being in the center of town, we’d not only get tourists, but local people who would be return customers.”

But walk-ins are rare, so he is expanding his options for takeout food, while hoping to gain more repeat patrons via word of mouth.

“It’s been slow,” Samir said. “We are open very late, after (many of) the casino restaurants have closed. It gets a little busier on weekends, but where are the people? We need a lot more foot traffic on Virginia Street. That would help us a lot. People need to get out of the casinos and see what else is available.”

Gehl, the city’s placemaking consultant, queried 2,700 community members about their perceptions of downtown, whether they go there, and why. The survey results, released in November, confirmed what Reno residents have known for decades: Except for special events, locals avoid downtown, because there are few things to do aside from gaming; homeless people wander the streets; and the city’s core is perceived as a high-crime area.

Dianna Sion, an artist who lives in the Riverside Hotel lofts on Virginia Street, told the RN&R last winter that she avoids walking in the downtown area late at night. Her apartment window gives her a seagull’s-eye view of Virginia Street and Reno City Plaza. After dark, she said, unsheltered people and drug addicts “run the streets”; she often hears gunshots and sees altercations.

“It’s just not safe at night,” she said.

One of the goals of Reno’s revitalization effort is getting more people to live in and around downtown. There are now about 6,000 residents in the business and entertainment district, according to the Downtown Reno Partnership. The Reno City Center project, at the site of what was Harrah’s, is expected

to soon add another 550 apartments to the area. Other proposed developments would attract 1,500 tenants over the next three years, with another 1,500 three years after that.

“When you get 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 people living there, that’s when you reach critical mass,” said Nathan Digangi, economic development manager for the Downtown Reno Partnership. “That’s when retailers start talking about the downtown area.”

That’s the rub: Retailers need to see a customer base before they invest in an area, but prospective residents want to live near grocery stores, shops and entertainment venues—while walking in a safe neighborhood.

It’s a “chicken and egg” dilemma, said Chris Shanks, who owns Louis’ Basque Corner, which occupies the first floor of a hotel, built in 1908, at 301 E. Fourth St. He also owns The Depot Craft Brewery and Distillery in the renovated railroad depot at 325 E. Fourth St., which was built in 1910. Those businesses are part of an effort to reinvigorate East Fourth Street, another formerly neglected district on the edge of downtown.

“I’m optimistic,” Shanks said. “I hope for more of a resident base, more interaction with the (University of Nevada, Reno), more programming of some of our event spaces

downtown, and getting more locals to visit downtown—just more activity that would be beneficial for all businesses down there.

“I think Gehl’s doing a pretty good job of laying some framework, but in the end, it’s going to have to be generated by residents, by people living downtown.”

Without those residents, Shanks said, “no one is going to bring in a grocery store; no retailers are going to come in. So, really, people being willing to live downtown needs to be the driver of getting more people downtown.”

More people in the area would have a “cascade effect,” he said. “We’re not going to get a Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or a Sprouts downtown without more people living there.”

Shanks understands long-time residents may be skeptical of another downtown renovation scheme. Previous efforts, he said, ran afoul of “terrible market timing. Every time we start gaining momentum, we hit an economic crisis,” including the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000, the 2008 recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic hitting in 2020. “We get going, and then the rug gets pulled out from underneath us, and we start from scratch again,” Shanks said.

In both cases, the business and property owners accused the city of selective enforcement—using the city code violations as a weapon to get rid of businesses it doesn’t like—an accusation officials deny. They said that public safety is their prime concern, and that city officials treat all businesses equally. Even so, the strict code enforcement often results in more shuttered businesses and vacant lots.

— Cassie Harris, city of Reno spokeswoman

“This whole notion of knocking things down without building anything in their place is the idea that something looks bad, and having nothing there is better,” said Alicia Barber, a professional historian who keeps track of Reno development issues on her Substack, The Barber Brief. She noted that some council members hailed the liquor-license rejections as the dawn of “a new day downtown” and vowed to continue targeting “bad actors.”

Still, he said, “We’ve been slowly chipping away at (fixing) downtown my whole life. I was in school in 2004, and it wasn’t as nice as it is now. We’re going in the right direction, but not as fast as we would like. … The hope is that stakeholders downtown, (and the) RTC, will really step up and make some of these changes.”

Reno spokeswoman Cassie Harris said the city’s goal in enforcing code violations is to provide “a safe shopping experience for all customers, as well as a safe environment for neighboring residents, businesses, publictransit riders and the community at large.” By mitigating the high calls for police service and crime around those two convenience-store locations, she said, “residents and visitors may be more inclined to frequent them, as they feel safer throughout the area.”

In addition, she noted, prospective businesses may be more inclined to open a storefront in a cleaner and safer area, “creating a more vibrant downtown. … Our hope is that with a safer downtown, more businesses will thrive, and more activity is likely to occur.”

City staff, she said, will develop “a proactive plan to drive storefront activation and attract business activity into the downtown core. … We are going to go out and target businesses to bring in.”

The city is using code enforcement to crack down on businesses that often show up in police reports, or are violating city building codes. On West Fourth Street, some of the city’s weekly-rental motels closed—and were later demolished—after repeatedly being cited for violations of city regulations. Some of those sites remain vacant lots. In December, the City Council declined to renew the liquor licenses of two Virginia Street stores, citing a frequency of police calls and safety issues.

Those spaces will remain inactive while the city comes up with plans and works on crafting a shared vision. In the end, though, property owners, not city officials, control those parcels and will set the course for downtown’s future.

The ROW, owned by Caesars Entertainment, is the largest property owner. The ROW didn’t respond to the RN&R’s multiple requests for comment about the placemaking project, and it had no representatives at Gehl’s November continued on next

Trevor Foote and his father, Gary Foote, whose family has owned Harry’s Business Machines in downtown Reno since 1928. Trevor is the fourth generation of the family to work at the store. Photo by David Robert

The goal is to create “ an environment that is safe for people to work, live, and play; develop publicprivate partnerships to foster a greater vision for the area; and encourage certain types of development through zoning and incentives. ”

focus-group session for downtown businesses. However, a letter sent by The ROW to the Regional Transportation District in 2021 outlines its wish list. Those suggestions included creating sidewalk enhancements on Virginia Street between the university and the Truckee River, similar to what was done in Midtown; putting protected bicycle lanes on Virginia Street rather than Center Street; creating more open plazas for special events near its property; and creating a lot more parking places downtown—in open concrete areas, on streets and in underground structures.

The problem is that plazas become more empty, inactive space when special events are over, Barber said. “When will Caesars tell us what they will do, not just with properties they not only own, but also have indicated they really want, like the old bus-station site?” she asked. “What are they doing? All we know is what they want the city to do for them.

“So you have the largest property and business owner downtown clearly still interested in acquiring property, and can do it,” Barber said. “So what is their intent? Without knowing that, the city can’t make any plans. They need to be up front about that. I don’t think anyone is demanding that of them.”

Some of those who attended Gehl’s focus groups were optimistic about the placemaking effort.

Jory Mack, whose family owns Palace Jewelry and Loan, a pawn shop at 300 N. Virginia St., said the session he attended was a forum for ideas, including suggestions that “sounded really good.” He gave Gehl high marks for listening to stakeholder proposals.

“It went a lot better than I expected,” Mack said. “Unlike when I talk to (some city officials), what I said didn’t fall on deaf ears.”

Shanks said he has confidence in Gehl’s process of getting stakeholders together.

“We can hear grievances and get as much information as we can,” he said. “We want everyone in on the conversation and at the table working on solutions. There will be some people who may pooh-pooh everything, but at least they get their voice heard.”

He encourages Reno business owners and residents to get involved and to stay informed.

“In this day and age, a lot of people may base their thinking on a headline, when actually, it needs a deeper dive,” he said.

Piper Stremmel, who owns The Jesse boutique hotel at 306 E. Fourth St. and just reopened Abby’s Highway 40 bar at 424 E. Fourth St., said Shanks’ businesses and others along what was formerly Reno’s major highway are proof that small businesses can activate a formerly depressed district. She noted that visitors to her hotel usually patronize other businesses on Fourth Street or make the trip to Midtown, even though the downtown core is just three blocks away.

“East Fourth Street is more of a localized area,” Stremmel said.

“… Business owners see its potential. The small businesses are within proximity to each other, and people can go from bar to bar, to restaurants and retail.” That’s the sort of formula that can renew downtown, she said.

Anonymous GPS

location data from the last 18 months show that, based on zip code IDs, out-of-town visitors venture beyond the downtown hotels more than some people assume. The Downtown Reno Partnership’s analysis of that data—purchased from a company that compiles information from cell phones and other portable electronic devices— indicates that, on average, Midtown gets 40% of its visitors from outside the Reno area. At the Riverwalk, the percentage is 46%, and the Brewery District gets 36% of visitors from afar. On Virginia Street, the data show a mix of 36% locals and 64% out-oftowners walking in the city’s core.

Creating a web of human connections—among a city’s history and culture, commerce and character—is at the heart of the placemaking effort, officials and stakeholders said.

Gehl, Barber said, is working hard to fulfill its mission to come up with a road map to a better downtown. Property owners will drive any changes, she noted—but The ROW, now silent, is the most powerful force in the district.

“What will Caesars Entertainment do to be more responsible for its impact to the surrounding area?” she asked.

Setting aside more open concrete plazas and making cosmetic changes to sidewalks, she said, won’t transform the area without a diversity of businesses that will attract visitors and locals. Downtown is already being transformed “one demolition at a time,” Barber said. “… Who will matter in the new vision of downtown? Who are the people you are trying to make it a better place for?”

The placemaking study raises larger questions, including whether the downtown area is still the center of the city. “It’s no longer a thriving downtown or the main casino district anymore, with gaming disbursed all over town,” Barber said.

Entertainment do to be more responsible for its impact to the surrounding area (downtown)? Downtown is already being transformed one demolition at a time. … Who will matter in the new vision of downtown? Who are the people you are trying to make it a better place for? ”

Stremmel said Midtown, East Fourth Street and the Riverwalk have the vitality residents would like to see in the downtown core. A wide-angle view of the city, with downtown at its center, she said, shows “such promising little areas within it, these tight concentrations. You see the pockets forming, but I don’t know how they can be connected.”

“It remains important because of the Reno Arch and its history as the city center…. It doesn’t have a particular identity or a single role for the city anymore.”

Gehl is scheduled to present its placemaking findings and design suggestions at another public meeting in February that will kick off the “engineering phase” of the project.

“(The goal) is a shared community vision that represents what our community is looking for downtown,” said Amy Pennington, a city of Reno spokeswoman. “We’re trying to create a roadmap so we’re all moving in the same direction. … Everyone is in their own lane right now, and those lanes have to come together for Reno to grow and improve. Residents love Reno; we want to have that (Virginia Street) stretch be something they love, too.”

“ What will Caesars

— Alicia Barber, Reno historian and editor of The Barber Brief

Sam Samir, owner of Rice and Kabab, 440 N. Virginia St., opened the restaurant in early December across the street from the Silver Legacy Resort Casino. He is dismayed by the lack of foot traffic in the city’s core, where the large hotel-casino properties are walled off from the sidewalks. Photo by David Robert

In 1995, Circus Circus, the Eldorado and the new Silver Legacy Hotel Casino were connected by an interior skyway to form The ROW, now owned by Caesars Entertainment. The complex is self-contained, with restaurants and shops along the skyway, and mostly walled off from the sidewalks that surround it. Image courtesy of Caesars Entertainment

FOR DECADES, downtown Reno was a thriving, exciting district where crowds of tourists and local residents mingled amid busy streets chock-a-block with casinos, retailers, bars and restaurants.

From the mid-1930s to the 1970s, the city’s core was the vital, beating heart of the Biggest Little City.

“It was wonderful,” said Joan Arrizabalaga, who grew up in Reno and attended the University of Nevada, Reno, from 1957 to 1961. “In my day, there was so much to do downtown. We went to all kinds of places from one end of Virginia Street to the other. There were so many shops and storefronts, all open doors and windows you could look into from the street.”

Things have changed—and not for the better.

“The thing I notice when I drive through downtown now is that there is no sign of life,” Arrizabalaga said. “We have the big casinos and pawnshops, but not a lot of stores or restaurants. There’s a lot of dead space. I don’t know how you’d get that life back. Nothing feels good down there. It’s like a bomb went off. … It’s not inviting now; it’s repelling.”

Reno native Neal Cobb, who, with Jerry Fenwick, co-authored two Reno: Now and Then books, noted that the advent of “dead space” preceded the creation of The ROW, the three interconnected hotel-casinos that now dominate downtown Reno. Cobb and Fenwick’s books contain historic images contrasted with modern photographs of the same areas. After Harrah’s Reno built its second hotel tower, Cobb and Fenwick wanted to capture an image showing the change in the streetscape, but there was nothing to photograph.

“It was just a bare wall where stores had been,” he said. “(The photo) could have been taken anywhere. We didn’t use it, because it just didn’t show any activity downtown.”

Cobb also waxes nostalgic about the people, places and popularity of the city’s core in its heyday. “Downtown was bustling back when there were plenty of doors you could go into, whether it was restaurants, bars or shops or whatever. People wanted to be there. That started to change when Las Vegas started growing, and then gaming spread to other parts of the country.”

When downtown was a popular destination, locals would regularly head to Virginia Street to have dinner at the

Waldorf or one of the other restaurants, and attend movies at the Granada or one of the other movie houses. In between dinner and a movie, there were plenty of other things to do and see.

“It was a wonderful place,” Cobb recalled. “You could walk over to the Mapes Hotel and run into the people and the bands that played there back then. … Liberace, Sammy Davis Jr.—the list of celebrities just went on and on. They walked up and down Virginia Street with the rest of us, and we’d wave and say howdy. We didn’t make a fuss over famous people. We were used to it.”

Both locals and out-of-towners would flock to downtown to go shopping, especially at Christmastime. The lineup of retailers included local stores like Parker’s Western Wear, many shoe stores, a furrier and stationary stores. Chain stores included JC Penney, Montgomery Ward, Sears and Woolworth’s.

“There were people all over the place,” Arrizabalaga remembered. “The hustle and bustle, people carrying armloads of packages. Downtown was all decorated for the holidays, and there was music everywhere. … There was so much to do and so many people. Just walking around was exciting.”

Reno officials have commissioned a “placemaking” study with recommendations expected in February about how to redesign the downtown core area and attract more residents and businesses. That’s a tall order, Cobb said.

“You go there today, and you see some people with serious mental problems walking around,” he said. “You’re sticking your neck out when you go downtown. It’s no longer the three things that it was all those years ago: It’s not clean; it’s not safe; and it’s not friendly.”

Arrizabalaga also lamented the loss of a vibrant downtown district, when the casinos were smaller, and the private owners were active in the community. “People like Harold Smith (who owned Harold’s Club) and Bill Harrah were very involved in the town. Their properties were open to the streets, and they cared about the city and the community around them. We don’t have that with the corporations. It’s soulless now.”

Cobb said the success of revitalization efforts along the Truckee River shows that previously neglected areas can be again become vibrant districts. “I used to brag to people about downtown; now I brag about the kayaks,” he said. “Downtown can be vibrant again, but the streets have to be safe, and you’ve got to have some places for people to go and to shop, places other than the casinos and convenience stores and liquor stores. Until you have pedestrian traffic down there, until downtown is a safe, clean, friendly place again, it’s just a no-go.”

Arrizabalaga said Reno, once world-famous as a quickie divorce and gambling capital, ought to embrace its history.

“(Planners) seem to want to forget that,” she said, “but it’s a big part of who we are. We were once world-famous as a sin city; why don’t we play off of that? It seems we’re trying to erase that past. Why not have a museum that celebrates the way we were?”

History should be one of the town’s selling points, she said.

“It’s sad that people don’t know what it was like, and it’s sad that’s it’s gone,” Arrizabalaga said. “It was a rare place. (Corporations) care about the money, but we need to care about what really makes a city vibrant—what connects people with a city’s soul.”

—Frank X. Mullen

ABOVE: A view looking north on Virginia Street, circa 1960, when Reno’s downtown was a thriving hub of tourists and local residents.

Photo courtesy of Neal Cobb

BY JESSICA SANTINA

With a little bit of luck

With a new executive director, Good Luck Macbeth raises money to cement its Midtown presence

Good Luck Macbeth Theatre Company’s entire existence is a lesson in defying the odds.

Founded during a recession in 2008, it was named with words usually unutterable in theater circles, as if to flout superstition and taunt naysayers. Since then, the company has continued to stand firm on even the shakiest of ground. Since the pandemic, it’s not only survived, but thrived, repeatedly selling out shows and snagging Best Theater Company honors in the RN&R’s 2022 Best of Northern Nevada readers’ poll.

And now, with a brand-new executive director and a major capital campaign underway, GLM intends to do what it has always done: succeed, despite the odds.

Changes at the top Sarah Hinz, who took the helm as executive director just three months ago, knew this was a

winning company when she moved here from New York in the summer of 2020.

“I was really worried about the art scene in Reno, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how big it actually is, and the work is so good,” she said. “… I’ve been blown away by the talent here.”

Hinz’s background includes formal theaterdevelopment training from the University of Minnesota, starting up Minneapolis’ What’s Next Productions theater company as managing director, and producing shows in New York (including a popular improv show, Sex Ed: a sexprov). Then the pandemic brought live theater to a screeching halt; when her boyfriend landed a job in Reno, she followed, reluctantly.

Before long, she was co-producing The 24-Hour Plays: Reno at Reno Little Theater. It was during this time that she learned of the

impending departure of GLM’s longtime executive director, Christopher Daniels, and the need to replace him; she applied. Daniels—who, for many, embodied the company and was a major part of GLM shows’ appeal—would remain local but transition into a life-coaching career; his last show as executive director was GLM’s fall production of Evil Dead: The Musical Hinz was thankful to have him by her side to slowly, gracefully hand over the baton.

“It’s an adjustment, because Chris and I have worked so closely together for such a long time,” said artistic director Joe Atack, who joined GLM with Daniels in 2013 and worked with the board and GLM staff to interview potential replacements. “But it’s also really been a gift to assess what we’re doing and see how we can do things more efficiently, and Chris has really been part of that, helping

Sarah transition into the company.”

One of Hinz’s first major tasks was helping to create the 2023 season, the lineup for which was only released in mid-December. GLM is remaining on brand, with its commitment to brave new works, outrageous comedies, improvisation and plays that explore controversial issues. Hinz’s own Sex Ed improv show kicks things off in February, featuring Hinz in her directorial debut, and Daniels himself as improv director. The roster also includes three comedic parodies, including two GLM originals—Shark!, a Jaws parody, and Die Difficult, a Die Hard riff— plus William Goldman’s parody of Stephen King’s Misery. There’s also the recurring Ten 10-Minute Plays Festival, as well as two provocative works that deal with gender expression (Men on Boats) and women’s reproductive rights (Keely and Du).

And if all goes well, Hinz’s tenure will also feature the purchase and full renovation of GLM’s existing Midtown theater space, cementing its presence for many years to come.

Building a future

When Daniels shared the news in 2018 that GLM had moved into its current space on Taylor Street in Midtown, he called it “a miracle” that frequent GLM player Amanda Alvey happened upon the space for rent just as the team was looking to move out of its tight quarters on South Virginia Street. But the fiveyear lease they signed meant they needed to form a long-term strategy.

“The current owner of the building has always been supportive of us and of having the arts here,” Atack said, adding that a lack of inventory and rising rents are particularly troublesome for arts organizations—especially for those, like GLM, that are committed to paying their staffs at least a stipend for their work. “The rental value of this place is something like 141% higher than what we pay ... and a lot of our money already goes toward rent. So the long-term vision is for stability.”

Atack then gestured around the theater where we were sitting during our December chat, to indicate the equipment currently being stashed here for the Reno Jazz Orchestra’s holiday show. “And then it comes down to other issues. It’s not just about money, but it’s also about capacity—the capacity to pay our artists, but also to fit them in. … The only way to really grow the company is to grow the size of the audience.”

He explains that in addition to GLM’s own

GLM executive director Sarah Hinz and artistic director Joe Atack are leading the capital campaign to raise $4 million. Photo/ David Robert

mainstage shows—about five a year—the company rents out its space to other local performing arts companies, like the RJO. It’s an important source of income and helps address the lack of space most local companies face, but the small venue limits to whom and how often GLM can rent the space.

Thus, Elevate was born. It’s a capital campaign to raise the money to purchase the $1.4 million building and complete a $2.6 million renovation and expansion. The down payment of $420,000 is due in the new year— half at the end of January, the other half in late March. The current owner would hold the note for five years at a fixed 5% interest rate, meaning that GLM has five years to raise the entire $1.4 million.

“But we project being able to raise it sooner,” Atack said.

Following that, plans will begin for a total overhaul of the space. Local architect and fellow actor Lewis Zaumeyer, known for his work with Brüka Theatre, has designed the reimagined space, complete with a second stage upstairs for rehearsals, an additional bathroom, a conference room, an expanded lobby/lounge area with an art gallery space

and bar, individual dressing rooms, storage and several classrooms.

Since Elevate kicked off in mid-October, the effort had raised roughly $80,000 as of our interview—nearly half of its January payment— thanks mostly to individual donors and one early-December fundraising event. The second will be a cabaret-style show on Valentine’s Day. To encourage donations, Atack emphasized the perk of naming a part of the theater after you—a seat for $500, or a room, or even the whole building, if the price is right. Atack and Hinz point out that GLM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so donations are tax deductible.

Atack is so enthusiastic that he encouraged potential donors to stop by and have a look at the plans.

“When I first came on, Joe and Chris walked me around the space, and it just made me so excited,” Hinz said. “If anyone is interested in supporting us and wants a tour, we’re happy to bring you through.”

For details about GLM’s upcoming season or how to make a donation to Elevate, visit www. goodluckmacbeth.org.

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GLM artistic director Joe Atack (with GLM executive director Sarah Hinz): “The rental value of this place is something like 141% higher than what we pay ... and a lot of our money already goes toward rent. So the long-term vision is for stability.”

Photo/David Robert

ART OF THE STATE

| BY KRIS VAGNER

High tech basketry display open in Nixon

Reno Balloon Race, held each September.⁠ The 14-foot-tall balloons, each a different color, are in Somersett West Park, located on Hawk Meadow Trail, off of Somersett Parkway.

Photographer Nolan Preece featured in new book

Retired Truckee Meadows Community College Art Prof. Nolan Preece is featured in the new how-to book The Experimental Darkroom by Christina Z. Anderson, a professor of art photography at Montana State University. You can find Preece’s work in the chapter on “chemigrams,” about a process of camera-less images made using light-sensitive chemicals in the darkroom, which he helped pioneer.

City of Reno arts and culture grants announced

The scoop on the scene

News and notes from the Reno art world

As 2023 gets under way, here’s what’s happening behind the scenes—and out in the sunshine—in local art news. There are new grant winners, a new outdoor sculpture installation, a chance to get involved in the arts on the local-government level—and more.

On Dec. 14, the Reno City Council approved $76,265 in arts and culture grants to arts nonprofits for 2023 projects. The recipients are:

• KWNK Reno Community Radio (Reno Bike Project)—$5,897.50

• The Holland Project—$5,740

• Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts— $5,722.50

• Reno Chamber Orchestra—$5,635

• Note-Able Music Therapy Services—$5,600

• Arts for All Nevada—$5,512.50

• Reno Little Theater—$5,425

• Nevada Gay Men’s Chorus—$5,390

In November, the University of Nevada’s University Libraries expanded its Virtual Museum of Native American Basketry project with the opening of a new virtual-reality kiosk at the Pyramid Lake Museum and Visitors Center in Nixon.

The “virtual museum” is a collection of 3-D scans of 100-plus baskets by weavers from more than 25 Indigenous tribes. Using VR headsets, users can wander through a museum that only exists digitally, and virtually “pick up” baskets, turn them over, and inspect them from all angles.

To create the basketry VR collection, the digital media team worked with other institutions, including UNR’s Anthropology Research Museum, home to a large collection of historical baskets; the Nevada Historical Society, which lent access to baskets by Northern Nevada’s best-known 19th-and-20thcentury Washoe weaver, Dat So La Lee; and the Nevada State Museum, which provided access to works by the contemporary PaiuteShoshone artist Rebecca Eagle.

The Virtual Museum of Native American Basketry can also be accessed at University Libraries’ @One Digital Media and Technology Center on the first floor of the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center.

City of Reno seeks new Public Art Committee members

The city of Reno Arts and Culture Commission is seeking new members for its Public Art Committee.

New outdoor art in

Somersett Reno’s newest public art installation is a trio of colorful steel sculptures of hot air balloons by Mike Burke, a local artist who has designed and fabricated several creative bike racks and other outdoor art pieces. The new installation, Rising Together, was created to celebrate the Great

• Sierra Nevada Ballet—$5,390

• Reno Philharmonic Association—$5,320

• Reno Jazz Orchestra—$5,320

• Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival—$5,250

• A.V.A. Ballet Theatre—$5,092.50

• Northern Nevada Rural Concert Initiative—$4,970

Members serve on a volunteer basis. Duties include reviewing artist submissions, approving calls for artists, and identifying new potential public art projects. The committee meets monthly for up to two hours, and committee members are expected to invest two to six additional hours each month. To apply, fill out the form on the city’s Boards and Commissions page.

A November reception celebrated a new virtual reality basketry kiosk at the Pyramid Lake Visitors Center and Museum in Nixon. Photo/Kris Vagner

8. All Quiet on the Western Front: This is one of the greatest war movies ever made. This third film take on the classic novel is the first in German—and it is the best.

9. Triangle of Sadness: One of the year’s most-overlooked films, this is a crazy, dark and sickly funny satire of the rich, social media and yachting. Woody Harrelson does some of his best work yet as a blotto sea captain who is constantly drunk and hooked on cheeseburgers.

The year in film

The big 2022 film story is the return of James Cameron’s Avatar. As you will see later in this article, Avatar: The Way of Water has a dubious distinction on my year-end lists.

The film is memorialized in the illustration, by my brother, Mike Grimm. That’s me dropping money-food into the deliriously boring James Cameron’s Avatar Aquarium of Lies. (Mike is riffing on a putdown from my Way of Water review.) Mike contemplated putting 3-D glasses on my caricature, but opted instead for the glazed, lost look of my naturally despondent eyes.

But enough about Avatar … for now. Most of this year’s best films were artier stuff, and that’s fine by me. This Top 10 list can stand up to any of my Top 10 lists over the last decade; it was a great film year. That said, the Worst 10 list is just as hearty, and includes of stuff so monumentally bad that it could destroy franchises and streaming services.

Welp … I’ve droned on long enough in this intro. Here be the lists!

The best

1. The Banshees of Inisherin: Writerdirector Martin McDonagh solidifies himself as one of the finest current filmmakers with this tale of a dude (Colin Farrell) who has suddenly become way too dull for his friend (Brendan Gleeson). It’s the year’s finest example of filmmaking all-around, from its terrific performances to its fantastic art direction. A triumph on all fronts.

2. The Fabelmans: Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical look at his family growing up, and how he basically became

a filmmaker, is must-see viewing for anybody who respects one of the greatest directors to walk the Earth. As great as it is, it was a box-office bomb and is already available on streaming services. That makes me sad.

3. Aftersun: One of the year’s more thoughtprovoking films, Aftersun reminisces about a final holiday trip for a father and his daughter through the prism of her memories. Told in a dreamlike way by writer-director Charlotte Wells, it’s the year’s most heartbreaking movie.

4. Everything Everywhere All at Once: It came out earlier in the year and was thankfully not forgotten, as it is doing well with the critics’ groups. Michelle Yeoh is phenomenal in this twisted adventure that saw the return of Ke Huy Quan (Short Round!). An instant classic.

5. Bones and All: Just when you’ve had it up to here with cannibal movies, director Luca Guadagino comes at you with a bloody new twist. Timothee Chalamet, Taylor Russell and Mark Rylance are at their best as people with a physiological curse that leads them to eat freshly dead people’s stomachs. It’s all very interesting, truly gross and oddly romantic at times.

6. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: While Avatar is getting a lot of attention for its visual effects, not enough is being said about the accomplishment that is this stop-motion masterpiece. Guillermo del Toro manages something out of this world here, and he didn’t need 13 years to make it happen.

7. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: This one improves mightily on the original and takes the whodunnit franchise into hilarious new territories thanks to a stellar cast including Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista in his best role yet.

10. The Menu: Cheeseburgers also figure prominently in this one, featuring Ralph Fiennes as a committed chef who has reached the end of the line. Anya Taylor-Joy is typically divine as somebody unfortunate enough to be dining at his place on a night when he’s in a really bad mood.

Doing just 10 for your “best of” list is so cliché. Let’s take this mother to 20. Well, technically, 21!

11 and 12. Pearl and X: These are two pretty darned good, interconnected horror films from Ti West. While I really liked X, I liked Pearl even more, and I firmly believe Mia Goth deserves an Oscar for what she does in it. It will never happen, but it should.

13. Nope: Jordan Peele continues to rock out in his own weird sub-genre of horror, and his masterful streak continues. I like this one even more months after seeing it.

14. The Bob’s Burgers Movie: One of this year’s very best animated movies, and a fine

BY BOB GRIMM

musical to boot. It increased my appreciation for the TV show and the ongoing great works of creator Loren Bouchard.

15. Tár: Cate Blanchett is her alwaysawesome self in this spellbinder that goes to some surprising places. Conducting orchestras is hard! Really hard!

16. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent: Nicolas Cage plays himself in what is essentially the year’s best buddy movie, with Pedro Pascal, aka The Mandalorian. It’s good to see Cage get his freak on.

17. Clerks 3: Writer-director Kevin Smith delivers his most emotionally satisfying comedy yet, giving his two infamous convenience-store clerks a fitting conclusion. Or is it? You never really know with Mr. Smith.

18. Top Gun: Maverick: This is the year’s best “big” movie, and Tom Cruise continues to amaze at just how absolutely bonkers he is. He’s going to blow up or fall way too far one of these days. Enjoy these spectacles while he lasts.

19. Barbarian: Hats off to the makers of this creepy-crawly movie, one that had me constantly disoriented and clueless about what was coming next. I love when movies mess me up in a good way.

20. Prey: Did you ever think you would see a good Predator movie again? I certainly didn’t. Thanks, Hulu!

21. Emily the Criminal: What’s criminal in the cinematic world is that Aubrey Plaza doesn’t get enough accolades for her constantly impressive work. It’s her best movie since Safety Not Guaranteed.

A lot of amazing movies came out in 2022. There were some stinkers, too.

Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin.

Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell in Bones and All.

The stanky worst

1. Avatar: The Way of Water: I hate to be predictable, but my hatred of all things Avatar has continued with this useless, overly long, padded sequel that does nothing but set the stage for unending yet-to-come chapters in this bland universe. We have forever lost James Cameron to the creative wasteland of Pandora.

There’s a character called Spider in this movie, a human teenage boy who wants to be a Na’vi. He paints himself blue and gives himself dreadlocks while frolicking with the people of Pandora. I maintain that all of the Na’vi could’ve been like Spider—just humans with some paint and dreadlocks. The movie would’ve been the same boring dreck, minus all of that effort and money they put into motion-capture suits and CGI. Just have a bunch of people running around in dreads and blue paint, and call it a day. It’s basically the same thing.

I legit despise this movie with passion, and the general popularity of this shit makes me feel like a funky alien on my own planet.

2. Black Adam: James Gunn and company are currently in the DC factory shaking everything up, and garbage like this mundane movie featuring Dwayne Johnson would be the reason. Say goodbye to Johnson’s Black Adam, Henry Cavill’s Superman, Batgirl, Gal Gadot’s next Wonder Woman, and more. Mr. Gunn will hopefully put an end to the crapfest. His wonderful Peacemaker series and his take on The Suicide Squad provide hope.

3. Disenchanted: Here’s the year’s other long-awaited sequel (this one took 15 years compared to Avatar: The Way of Water’s

13 years), and both needed to stay in hiding. An enthusiastic Amy Adams can’t hide the discombobulated script and terrible music in this slandering of all that was once good.

4. Blonde: Ana de Armas works hard in a film about the exploitation of Marilyn Monroe. The movie doesn’t earn her performance, and ironically, it kind of exploits de Armas in the process. One of the year’s drearier viewing experiences.

5. Samaritan: Me before the movie: Sylvester Stallone as a former superhero in hiding who is discovered and stalked by a neighborhood kid? That sounds cool! Bring it! Me after 15 minutes of the movie: OK, scratch that. I was wrong. This is shit.

6. Bodies Bodies Bodies: A lot of critics loved all over this tongue-in-cheek horror movie. I just snored.

7. The Pale Blue Eye: Christian Bale and director Scott Cooper have done good together before (Hostiles, Out of the Furnace), but this strange mystery/horror film involving Edgar Allen Poe is a hilariously bad misfire.

8. Firestarter: Stephen King’s movie about a fire-starting kid was ripe for a remake, but this remake was rotten.

9. Where the Crawdads Sing: I have a lot of good friends who loved the book and excitedly asked me if I liked this movie adaptation. I broke a lot of hearts this year, as did this film.

10. Crimes of the Future: After a nice detour into solid dramas (Eastern Promises, A History of Violence), David Cronenberg returns to his body horror roots. Alas, it’s unwatchable, seeming proof that sometimes you can’t go home, especially when that home involves graphically removing organs during live theater.

The Grimmy Awards

Best Actors: Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin; Ralph Fiennes, The Menu; Paul Mescal, Aftersun; Austin Butler, Elvis; Gabrielle LaBelle, The Fabelmans

Best Actresses: Mia Goth, Pearl; Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once; Cate Blanchett, Tár; Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu; Aubrey Plaza, Emily the Criminal

Best Supporting Actors: Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin; Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once; Edward Norton, Glass Onion; Paul Dano, The Fabelmans; Woody Harrelson, Triangle of Sadness

Best Supporting Actresses: Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin; Carey Mulligan, She Said; Jessie Buckley, Women Talking; Claire Foy, Women Talking; Janelle Monae, Glass Onion

Best Director: Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Injector: The guy at Costco who gives me my COVID boosters. He’s a real sweet guy!

Most Overrated Films: Avatar: The Way of

Water; The Whale; Till

Most Underrated: Emily the Criminal; Triangle of Sadness; Clerks 3; Spirited

Most Underwear: Babylon (The cast is huge, so I’m guessing there’s a gigantic quantity of undergarments. A lot of nudity, too, not to mention vomiting.)

Best Actor in a Bad Movie: Christian Bale, The Pale Blue Eye

Best Actress in a Bad Movie: Ana de Armas, Blonde

Worst Actor in a Good Movie: Tom Hanks, Elvis

Worst Actress in a Good Movie: Natalie Portman, Thor: Love and Thunder

Worst Sounds Ever Created by a Rock Group: The harmony of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Fuck those guys!

Best Animated Movies: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; The Bob’s Burgers Movie; the return of Beavis and Butt-head!

Best Guilty Pleasure: Jackass Forever Best Guilty Ledger: The cooked books of Al Capone!

Best Cinematography: The Banshees of Inisherin; Top Gun: Maverick

Worst Scientology: Tom Cruise. Always Tom Cruise. Tom, I love ya … but come on, man.

Daisy Edgar-Jones in Where the Crawdads Sing.

Ana de Armas in Blonde.

| BY TAYLOR HARKER

Sports bar, elevated

Chickie’s & Pete’s mixes pub favorites, seafood and gaming at the Grand Sierra

The Grand Sierra Resort has added a taste of Philly to its restaurant row.

Chickie’s & Pete’s sports bar—which got its start 45 years ago and became a fan favorite in the City of Brotherly Love— opened in the GSR in early December.

In a town with sports bars in seemingly every other shopping center, and big-screen TVs taking up wall space in many other bars, restaurants, taverns and dives, does the Truckee Meadows really need another place to drink beer, eat pub food and watch games?

Christopher Abraham, the Grand Sierra’s vice president of marketing, thinks it does. “We wanted to bring something new to the market that’s unique and hasn’t been done before,” he said.

What’s different from the usual pint-andhot-wings eatery? Let’s start with the crabfries, the restaurant’s MVP on the menu. A regular order of crinkle-cut fries, sprinkled with Old Bay and other seasonings, is

offered for $11, while the “ultimate crabfries” option will set you back $29. The upgrade starts with the same crisp fries and seasonings, and is then layered with a creamy white cheese sauce and topped with chunks of crab. The substantial portion is a tasty, if messy, option for a shareable appetizer. You may need a fork for this rich and decadent take on French fries.

The menu includes expected sports-bar fare, such as pizza and burgers, but Chickie’s & Pete’s adds an upscale seafood twist to just about everything. Lisa’s Blonde Lobster Pie, for example, is a white pizza topped with fresh lobster meat ($49). The crust, crustacean and cream sauce make a great combo.

The ultimate tailgate burger ($29) is topped with a large crab cake drizzled with aioli sauce between a brioche bun. The restaurant got its start in Philadelphia, and its Philly cheese steak ($19) is served with onions, peppers and cheese sauce. Add (what else?) lobster, and the cost goes to $39.

Just about anything on the menu can be prepared with the addition of lobster or crab. That’s been a tradition since Peter and Henrietta Ciarrocchi opened the first Chickie’s and Pete’s in Philadelphia in 1977. The place was a hit, and other incarnations of the sports bar popped up in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, Minnesota and, of course, Nevada.

Founder Peter Ciarrocchi was on hand for the Reno opening. He and his son, Pete Jr., helped guide the preparations for the bar/ restaurant’s début. The father-and-son duo helped train the staff and told them the business’ origin story, a tale the servers pass along to patrons at the tables.

Sports bar food often seems to cater to carnivores, but vegans and vegetarians also watch sporting events and get hungry while doing so. Chickie’s & Pete’s offers a selection of meat-free dishes including vegan crabfries ($11), veggie nachos ($19), a BBQ meatless pizza ($22), an onion-shroom burger ($18) and “cheesy” crabfries, minus the crab ($20).

The sports bar hopes to attract guests staying at the GSR as well as local fans, Abraham said. Weekend visitors from the Bay Area, who often come to Reno to gamble on sporting events, are among the bar’s target customers.

If Pete Ciarrocchi’s smile and energy are any indication, the restaurant that bears his name will rack up a high score in Reno. His excitement in opening another restaurant was infectious … or maybe, as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, he is just riding high with his team having the NFL’s best record (as of this writing).

The restaurant’s walls are covered in HD TVs, and each seat has an unobstructed view of the screens. A variety of live sporting events, game highlights and sports talk shows are on all the time.

The addition of Chickie’s & Pete’s is part of a $10 million investment for the GSR, which also remodeled the sports book next to the new restaurant. The new William Hill Race and Sportsbook is a 3,000 square foot space surrounded by televised sporting events on the walls. Diners with bets riding on games can move seamlessly between the sports book and restaurant without missing any of the action.

“My guess is that 75% of the people watching (games) here on Sunday have some sort of bet in place,” Abraham said.

The bar also has live entertainment every weekend and will host a mix of local bands and DJs; karaoke nights are a possibility. Nevada locals can receive a 20% discount Sunday through Thursday.

Chickie’s & Pete’s sports bar—which got its start 45 years ago and became a fan favorite in the City of Brotherly Love—opened in the GSR in early December. Photo/David Robert

BY STEVE NOEL

Inflation-busting wines

Stores like Trader Joe’s and Grocery Outlet offer some great deals—but you have to know how to find them

Welcome to the New Year! Out with the old, and in with the new!

One old thing that will unfortunately be sticking around for a while is inflation. The costs of virtually everything, including wine, are higher. Those high prices do not mean we need to enjoy wine less, however; it means we simply need to drink smarter.

Drinking smarter does not mean giving up quality; it means finding quality at a good price point. My “drinking smarter” goal is to find a bottle of wine that has 80% of the quality of a $100-plus bottle, while costing only around 20% of that price.

While every wine retailer carries lowprice wines, not all of those low-price wines are necessarily good. There is a big difference between inexpensive wine and cheap wine, and as we all know, life is too short to drink cheap wine. When I am looking locally for good-quality inexpensive wine that I don’t need a membership to buy, two names come to mind: Trader Joe’s and Grocery Outlet.

When most people think about wine at Trader Joe’s, the first thought is Two Buck Chuck. Three important facts about Two Buck Chuck. First, you cannot get these Charles Shaw wines for $2 anymore, although they’re still quite inexpensive.

Second, if you do a blind tasting, you’ll discover that some of them are much better than you may think. Third, they are not the only value wines that Trader Joe’s has on its shelves.

Trader Joe’s opened in 1967, with the business model of creating a neighborhood

grocery store with unique products, and buying direct from suppliers whenever possible to get the best possible prices. Charles Shaw wines showed up on their shelves in 2002. Trader Joe’s purchases these wines, along with some of their own private-label wines, from Bronco Wine Company. Bronco has more than 125 different wine brands under its corporate umbrella, with many different price points and quality levels. However, Bronco is not the only provider of wines to Trader Joe’s; the company purchases from many providers around the globe.

Each of us has our own price point for wines for usual consumption, and a price point for special wines for a date, party or other celebration. Here are a couple of my favorite wines from Trader Joe’s that fall into my daily budget—and each of these wines tastes like a wine you would expect to find at two to three times the price.

The Reserve Merlot Sonoma Valley 2020 at $9.99 tastes amazing; it’s everything you would expect a luscious merlot to be, offering a silky, mouth-coating red-fruit explosion. I also love the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 2020, also at $9.99. If you search the internet for Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley and look at brands and prices, you might be shocked at the value this wine provides; for one example, Silver Oak Alexander Valley starts at $90 a bottle.

My No. 1 go-to store for quality wine at a value price, however, is Grocery Outlet. I cannot begin to tell you how many unique wine varieties I’ve been able to find and purchase at Grocery Outlet—at unbelievable values.

The company that would become Grocery

Outlet was founded in 1946 and has grown to more than 400 stores. Grocery Outlet sells discounted, overstocked and closeout products, including wine. The Reno area is home to a few independently owned and operated Grocery Outlet stores, with each store selecting which wines to carry. The store at 3800 S. Kietzke Lane is owned by Brian and Tammy Vieira. I asked Brian how Grocery Outlet provides such values with its wines.

“The buyers at Grocery Outlet have relationships with wine-sellers all over the world, and we trust them and the high quality wine that they procures for our customers,” he said.

When asked about the wine purchased by his customers, Brian said his store has a diverse clientele, and he is able to purchase wines from the corporate wine list to match all of his customers’ needs.

“Most of our wines are in the $6 to $15 price range, but I’m not a price-point guy; I want to provide value,” he said.

If you are curious, chardonnay is the mostsold wine variety at Brian and Tammy’s store.

Over the past 10 years or so, I have developed a few “pro tips” for finding quality wines at Grocery Outlet. Pro tip No. 1: Look for wines that have a UPC code label separately added to the bottle. Wine bottles with labels that were not printed with a UPC code were not initially produced for retail sale. This means these bottles were only sold at the winery— and this is a good indication that the wine is a higher-quality bottle and should be sampled.

Pro tip No. 2: Let technology help you crowd-source good decisions. There is a phone app called Vivino that allows you to take a picture of a bottle’s label. The app will then tell you the average cost of the wine, and give a rating of the wine based on reports by other Vivino app users. As you use the app over time, it will get better at helping you identify wines that are like others you have enjoyed.

Whenever I buy a new wine from Grocery Outlet, I try to taste it as soon as possible so I can go back and buy more of the ones I love. While some wines are regularly available at Grocery Outlet, others have very limited quantities. In other words: What is on the shelf today may be gone for good tomorrow. Buy accordingly.

When looking for inflation-busting wines, remember to look for high value, not low prices.

Brian and Tammy Vieira own the Grocery Outlet on Kietzke Lane in Reno. “Most of our wines are in the $6 to $15 price range, but I’m not a price-point guy; I want to provide value,” Brian said. Photo/David Robert

Surviving late night

standing, with some escalating to gunfire and street brawls that blocked busy downtown intersections.

You’re likely unaware of these sorts of things if, like me, you’re sung in your bed well before midnight—but a whole industry remains up late to keep the party going, and this group of hard-working bartenders is doing everything in their power to keep their patrons safe and provide fun, vibrant environments for people to enjoy themselves.

Josh Callen, the owner of Blind Dog Tavern in downtown Reno, has worked hard to create a dynamic gathering place in the city’s center. Blind Dog offers a large selection of curated spirits, with some of the best staff in Reno making thoughtful cocktails.

“An incident has happened every week without fail for five weeks in a row,” Callen said, describing brawls, with 15 to 30 people, taking place on the corner of Sierra and First streets. “Right after COVID, we felt that the bar was doing its thing and getting its groove back—and all of that slowed down.”

These fights are out of Blind Dog’s control, as they happen outside on the street, where all the staff can do is watch in horror. “We have lost a third of our weekend business, because when the cops show up, we are done for the night,” Callen said.

BY MICHAEL MOBERLY

of repercussions, told me they felt a lack of support when they reached out for help, and that the city remains understaffed for late-night enforcement. All most bars can do is push the violence outside and hope for the best. While Callen and his team have procedures and protocols to deal with violence, not everyone is as proactive as the crew at Blind Dog Tavern.

Many late-night bartenders hired after the pandemic are new to bartending and do not always have the necessary experience to defuse uncomfortable situations. This lack of experienced bartenders and, in some cases, professional management can lead to guests being overserved, and staff being overwhelmed. A busy bar late at night can quickly escalate without the proper training and resources. The fusion of a crowded bar, alcohol and incivility can make for an unsafe work environment— which, in turn, makes it even more challenging to hire the right people. Who wants to pour drinks while being screamed at for minimum wage? Who wants to own a bar when you know the city won’t help you when a situation gets out of hand?

So what can be done? The best bar operators around town are being assertive about these issues by hiring more security, supporting their staff with trained management, charging covers, and changing their programming to create a more positive and fun environment for people to enjoy.

Many aspects of the bar and restaurant world have taken time to recover after the beating they took during the time of COVID-19 shutdowns. From supply-chain issues to inflated prices for raw materials, there has been a constant barrage of struggles for business owners and bartenders to

deal with every day.

Now some owners and employees have something else to worry about: Toward the end of the summer, many local bars started seeing an unexpected rise in violence and bad latenight behavior. These incidents went beyond the average bar fight or drunken misunder-

He said he’s done everything he can to communicate with local police and city code enforcement, but feels left twisting in the wind. “I feel crazy sometimes when I tell people about this, and they have no idea it’s even going on. It’s just my staff and me. I wish people knew the city did not do anything about this as it got worse.”

Callen is not alone in feeling frustrated. Other bartenders and bar owners, who preferred to remain unidentified due to fear

I am not telling you to stay in or go home early; late nights can be some of the most fun you can have in Reno. Callen said it best: “We should be focusing on making this area as good as it can be.”

We need to support the bars making these positive changes by asking our city to have the backs of our late-night economy—and to ensure our friends go home safely when they have too much to drink. We, as patrons, need to support the places that provide safe environments where we can dance the night away. So grab your friends; stay out late; and look out for each other—and the community pouring your drinks.

Downtown bar owners say the city needs to do more to keep people safe

Josh and Missy Callen, owners of the Blind Dog Tavern, talk about the violence that’s taken place outside their bar. Photo/David Robert

MUSICBEAT

BY MATT BIEKER

April Higuera. Photo/David Robert

all over New York and New Jersey, garnering recognition from the National Academy of Popular Music and Broadcast Music, Inc. She eventually relocated to Nashville, where she spent 10 years performing and writing new music. She also enrolled at Belmont University on a partial academic and golf scholarship, where she graduated from the business program with an emphasis in music business.

“It’s funny, because when I was in New York City, everybody’s like, ‘Oh, you should go to Nashville; your voice is kind of country,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘Country? I’m not country!’ I wanted to be a raspy rock singer, but I just never had that throaty voice. … When I went to Nashville, I wasn’t country enough. I was too progressive for them.”

Higuera has cut albums with producers who’ve worked with stars including Jewel, Celine Dion, Joan Osborne and the Scissor Sisters. She’s also achieved some commercial success, with tracks from her albums Watercolors Fade and Unpainting Portraits finding placements on network and cable TV in the U.S. and abroad. These songs still bring in modest royalties to this day, she said—but soon after her time in Nashville came to an end, Higuera grew frustrated with the realities of the music business and found herself ready to put her guitar away.

“I was tired of banging my head against the wall and being poor,” she said. “After, you know, two decades of—well, 2 1/2 decades, really—of working at, I basically quit.”

“When we got Sierra Roc going, we were just taking off like a jet,” Higuera said. “I mean, we had some great shows set up in our first six months, like big shows, opening at the River Fest. … And so all that got shut down.”

Sierra Roc has again started playing shows around town. But Higuera is also performing her originals as a solo acoustic act—she recently performed as one of the openers for Night Ranger—and gigs as part of a ’70s folk/ soft-rock duo with fellow guitarist Sheldon Felich, in an act aptly named April & Sheldon.

“All of them are great outlets for me, because I enjoy each genre, you know?” she said. “I enjoy my original music. I enjoy the ’80s rock, and I love the ’70s—the acoustics. So it’s really a great emotional outlet for me to be singing all that.”

She has the chops for each of them. Higuera’s genre-spanning discography is a credit to her vocal dexterity; she lives in the lilting, melancholic moments of her folk work and dishes out soaring, powerful ballads from the heyday of hair metal in equal measure.

She cites contemporary influences like Kelly Clarkson alongside Paula Cole and Heart’s Ann Wilson.

With three different musical vehicles at her disposal, Higuera has also dipped her toe into the promoter and organizer pool as well, with the recent addition of her Reno Writers in the Round Local Songwriters Showcase Series.

Renaissance woman

After taking a break from music, April Higuera is quite busy with her encore

April Higuera has been many things in her life. For starters, she’s a published author, a private investigator focusing on violent crimes and murder cases, and a licensed tile contractor who flips multi-million-dollar houses in Lake Tahoe.

But ever since she was 9 years old, what Higuera really wanted to do was make music.

“I wanted to be a famous singer,” she said. “I used to come home after school

almost every day and put records on and sing to them. My mother bought me a guitar when I was 13, so I started learning acoustic guitar and writing songs. And then when I was 17, I was good enough to play out solo and make money.”

Originally from the New York metropolitan area, Higuera went from singing along to James Taylor, Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell especially, to spending her 20s playing acoustic originals at big nightclubs and bars

She didn’t completely abandon music; she still recorded albums but eschewed any live performances. Meanwhile, she found her aforementioned careers. She has lived in Reno for the past 8 years, a mountainous change of scenery that she appreciated. But she noticed a change within her as well—an anger at her keyboard and computer, and the daily grind of life.

“I was like, ‘Wait a minute; I shouldn’t be this angry,’” she said. “So I just dusted off my guitar, and I started singing, and I felt so much better. I’m like, ‘Wow, I should be doing this again.’”

Soon after, she returned to her musical journey—and she’s been busy. Higuera currently fronts three musical projects with different genres, goals and members. The first is a cover band called Sierra Roc, where she and a rotating cast of local musicians (except for her professional partner and guitarist, Kevin Jones) put their spin on the rock hits of the ’70s and ’80s, à la Heart, Pat Benatar, Scorpions and Led Zeppelin. Higuera said the pandemic slowed the trajectory of the band.

“I pick and choose singer-songwriters in town who want to be involved and put together either a show that has three or four different genres of artists, or all the same genre,” she said. “We do one song each, and go down the row, and then go down the row again. We tell the back stories to each song so the audience gets to know us and what the song means to us, why we wrote it—that kind of thing.”

The next performance is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 19, at Peavine Tap House.

Higuera said her music goals are different this time around. Instead of chasing the life of a touring musician, her goals for her solo work are to take bigger and better stages and open for the greats. Sierra Roc, in the meantime, is looking to maintain its festival-ready momentum, while April and Sheldon, she said, is a fun side gig that keeps her busy on the weekends.

For as long as Higuera went without playing live, it hardly seems fair to call her return to the stage a second act; it’s more like an encore.

“People who are creative musically, they can’t stay away,” she said. “It’s in our blood. I mean, it courses through your body, and you can’t really stop it—nor would I want to.”

For more information, visit www.aprilhiguera.com.

From heavy to poppy

Too Close for Comfort is set to perform at the Holland Project after releasing its debut LP

Can a group of metalheads make a fantastic pop-punk record? The members of Too Close for Comfort can.

Tyler Pfeifer (vocals), Ryan Gilpin (lead guitar/backup vocals), Evan Dini (drums) and Jimmy “Coop” Cooper (bass) combine blast beats and heavy guitars with bright choruses and sing-along vocals.

The band has quickly gained traction after forming in 2022 and releasing debut album We Only Live Here on This Planet for So Long. While the record is primarily pop-punk, there are some heavier elements, which can be attributed to some of the members’ previous endeavor—a slam-metal band.

“Me, Tyler and Coop were in another band in Reno called Convulsions,” Gilpin said during a recent Zoom interview. “I hit Tyler up one day and said I was working on pop punk, and he liked it, and we started writing some more stuff. We started trying to go for an EP, and then we pushed for an album, and that’s kind of how we got started. I knew Evan from a different project

before, and then we asked him if he wanted to join, and then Coop. It’s a change in genre. It was a change for me. I had never really written pop-punk before.”

Transitioning from heavier music to a brighter and poppier approach caused the band to rethink its songwriting process.

“I always had been in a metalcore band or playing in a deathcore band, so it was always drop-tunings all day and seven-string guitars,” Cooper said. “Me and Tyler were in another pop-punk band, and once I started doing that, that’s when I started getting into a different realm of the process of writing and being like, ‘Well, OK, now we need to write stuff that can support melodies and harmonies.’ … Now what I write has to make sense. It can’t just be a bunch of riffs; you’ve got to make things that sound really good.”

Most of the members of Too Close for Comfort said they were fans of the pop-punk genre in the past.

“If you go all the way back to listening to music growing up, you obviously had a lot of people playing (the videogame) Tony Hawk

Pro Skater and stuff like that,” said Cooper. “You get a lot of bands like Goldfinger in there, and Green Day. I was listening to Blink-182. When you start getting into more heavy music, you’re always on the softer side a little bit at first, so I feel like for us, doing this music is us going back to what influenced us to be making music and being in a band.”

We Only Live Here on This Planet for So Long came together quicker than many other musical projects, because the members of Too Close for Comfort encouraged each other—and stuck to their schedule.

“Ryan just grinds out songs, and it’s crazy,” Pfeifer said. “He’ll grind out a song in a day, and then it’ll take me a week or more to write the vocals and the lyrics. We were just so stoked on it, and that’s all we were focusing on, so it kind of came out a lot faster than I thought it would.”

Added Gilpin: “I almost feel like we pushed each other when we wrote the record. I was writing songs so fast, and he was trying to get the vocals done. Then he would get caught up on the vocals, and I’d go and write two more

songs. When we got the record done, we’re like, ‘When do we want to track it?’ Tyler pulled up his calendar, and he’s like, ‘We should track it here. … We should shoot for these releases.’”

The band has already earned a fanbase, and is setting out on its first tour in January.

“(This music) is easier to listen to for the general public,” Pfeifer said. “My dad will listen to it and be like, ‘Yeah, that’s dope,’ but when he listened to my heavy stuff, he was like, ‘What are you saying? What’s going on here? Why are you yelling?’ We put a lot into the PR and reaching out to a lot of people and trying to push this. … I’ve been in a lot of projects that just kind of start up and never really take off or go anywhere, so I wanted to have something that I can maybe go on a couple tours with and hopefully make some money off of—like any musician wants to do.”

The response to the group’s music has shocked the band.

“We announced a couple of extra dates on the tour a few days ago, and someone commented on my post and said, ‘I’m going to come to all of your California shows,’ and none of us follow them (on social media),” Gilpin said. “There are plenty of people who are like, ‘I’ll see you in Chico; I’ll see you in Vegas,’ and you’re like, ‘I have no idea who you are.’ It’s almost like a surreal feeling that people actually enjoy my music.”

Too Close for Comfort’s only local show on their upcoming tour will be on Jan. 11 at the Holland Project.

“Without a doubt, Holland is definitely all about the bands and the art,” Cooper said. “They are seriously one of the greatest venues I’ve ever played at, and they also have, like, the friendliest staff, too. When you’re there, it’s so nice and smooth. Holland does a lot for the community, and it’s a great venue.”

Added Pfeifer: “It’s cool too, because it’s not a bar; it’s for art and music and stuff. It’s geared toward that, and it feels like it. Nothing against bars and VFW halls and stuff; they’re also fun to play, but Holland is cool, because they’re really focused on the art aspect of things.”

Too Close for Comfort will perform with Split Persona and Cherry Godmother at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 11, at the Holland Project, 140 Vesta St., in Reno. Tickets are $8 in advance, or $10 day of. For more information, call 775448-6500, or visit hollandreno.org. For more information on Too Close for Comfort, visit instagram.com/toocloseforcomfortnv.

Too Close for Comfort. Photo/Ally Gillam

Think Free!

THE LUCKY 13

Guitarist

for Cyanate, From the Ruins, Alice Unchained, and more

The Reno music scene would truly be incomplete without the guitar wizardry of Scott Schlingheyde. He currently plays guitar for bands including Cyanate, From the Ruins, Alice Unchained and Reverse the Cycle. He’s got one hell of a musical resume—and some electrifying skills handling a guitar to back that up.

What was the first concert you attended? Elvis, and not the good Elvis. I really don’t remember much of it. My first awesome concert was Ozzy, which I may not remember that well, either.

What was the first album you owned? Styx, Paradise Theatre. It had a badass hologram on the B side of the album. Then it was Kiss, a lot of Kiss, then AC/ DC and Maiden.

What bands are you listening to right now? Iron Maiden is always in the mix, but I have been listening to a lot of heavy stuff lately. Also, Alice in Chains; I’ve been busy learning those for Alice Unchained.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get? Christmas music … fa la no.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live? Jimi Hendrix. I would have loved to see him live.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure? It all makes me wanna play more guitar.

What’s your favorite music venue?

Virginia Street Brewhouse has the best stage to play on. You can’t help but feel like a rockstar up there.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head? Ooh, don’t get me stuck on that one. Luckily, it’s gone for the moment.

What band or artist changed your life? How? Kiss. That is when I knew I wanted to play guitar.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking? I would ask Randy Rhoads to miss the bus on March 18, 1982, and meet up with the band later on the 20th.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“Dreamer Deceiver,” Judas Priest.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

Probably Piece of Mind, Iron Maiden, but there are so many favorites.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

From the Ruins, “No Honor.”

Scott Schlingheyde

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Sam Sprague

Sam Sprague is the owner/operator of Micano Home and Garden, a rather unique and quirky store located at 1350 S. Virginia St., in Reno, just south of the heart of Midtown, and just north of Reno Public Market. Micano sells home decor, furniture and garden art, often made with locally sourced materials. During nearly 20 years in business, Sprague has seen his neighborhood—and his clientele—change and grow, something we discussed in-depth. Learn more at www.micanohome.com.

How long have you been in business?

What was your initial vision for Micano? I’ve been here since August of 2003. I wanted to open up a store with handmade metal and wood products. It was going to be rustic, but then it grew into a Nevada theme when I realized what was going on, and what people wanted to acquire.

You’ve seen a lot of economic ups and downs over the years. How do you manage during tougher times?

By staying relevant and just being pertinent to the next generation. Also, I made things that were super-popular and that sold. Whatever was trendy, I was always making. I have a huge support system, and I own the building.

How did the business fare during the pandemic?

I actually did better than in other years. It was great, because the community reached out to me. … I had a lot of people wanting to support the business. People were coming in and buying things to keep this type of business going.

What’s going on in your neighborhood with all the changes, such in the old Park Lane Mall area?

There are elements all along this corridor that are (positively) affecting the brightness of the landscape. You can see the smiles. There are more people walking, more people talking, more contact. The vibe is that people with the incomes, the jobs and the culture are moving here. They’re talking about our town; they’re liking the people; they’re liking the walking; they’re liking the river, they’re liking the art. They seem really excited about what we’re doing here, and in return, I’ve got to be really excited about them.

BY DAVID ROBERT

Where are these folks moving to Reno from?

They’re moving from places like Colorado, California, New York, St. Louis, New Hampshire and even Wyoming—all across the board, and they are mostly tech people. Reno is still a place where you can drive around easily to explore. You especially see the growth of new business on this corridor, this lifeline from UNR to Plumb Lane.

What are they looking for in Reno?

They’re looking for the new San Francisco, it feels like. They’re looking for the new Nashville. They’re looking for something real, a cultural center like Midtown and the growth around it.

Do you

think

that Reno

is going to do that for them?

I believe so. I’m sitting here with chills in my body just thinking about that.

I think that we’re real enough to be approachable, and we can build on that. I think (newcomers) can see that in us.

What do you see for the future in this area?

I think that it’s going the way of the tech people, with their discretionary incomes, and there will be more opportunity for us.

… (We’ll see) more diversity with the bars, the restaurants and the stores that we’ve always wanted to produce, and more depth in those choices—the hippie part of Nevada.