Welcome to the February print edition of the RN&R!
Through this newspaper’s entire 31 years, locals from various walks of life have contributed to our discussions on local news and culture. We’ve published a wide range of voices, and that has always been one of our strengths. This month, I’d like to introduce you to our newest writers.
Alex Cubbon is the mom of a 7-year-old daughter and has worked in academic research in Los Angeles and Reno, most recently with the Reno Historical Society. Now, she covers food and drink news for us. Check out her list of openings, closures and other news that will probably make you hungry in Taste of the Town on Page 23.
David Rodriguez—a semi-retired dental-industry marketer-turned-food and travel blogger-turned-food journalist—has been contributing to the RN&R for a year now. (He wrote the Wells Avenue Taco Trail guide for our April 2024 issue. It’s a keeper!) David’s new column, The Dish, debuts on Page 22. In it, he interviews a local chef each month about their philosophies, food memories and favorite dishes.
Jordan Chong is a student at the Davidson Academy and editor in chief of the school’s newspaper, the Phoenix Focus. He looked into a bill that the Nevada State Legislature is considering that aims to conserve groundwater by buying back the rights to it. Check out his explainer on Page 8.
Sitara Reganti, a senior at Sage Ridge School, began with the RN&R during election season by covering Charlie Kirk’s rally at the University of Nevada, Reno. This month, she presents some teacher and student perspectives on the pros and cons of a new proposal that would require educators to report to parents when a student is suspected of using nicotine or other drugs. It’s on Page 9. Welcome to our pages, new contributors, and thank you for being here!
LETTERS
We’ll pay for NV Energy’s follies
Santa—embodied by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC)—gave NV Energy (NVE) everything it wanted for Christmas.
On Dec. 20, the PUC approved NVE’s Integrated Resource Plan. Included on NVE’s wish list were two gas-fired combustion turbines at a price tag of $573 million. NVE’s old-school strategy is to rely on the combustion of fossil fuels to provide electricity during times of peak demand. Their questionable projections of peak demand are based on debatable assumptions.
Combustion of fossil fuels generates greenhouse gases. The continuing increase in greenhouse gases worsens our climate crisis, causing record-breaking temperatures, increasingly frequent climate-related disasters, poorer health and climate-related deaths. Gas-fired turbines do nothing to help Nevada meet our clean-energy goal.
We, NVE’s customers, will be paying for this gift to NVE for decades to come. With a lifespan of 25 to 30 years, it’s likely that customers will pay for this folly long after NVE gets with the program and abandons polluting, gas-fired energy systems in favor of less-expensive, clean-energy alternatives. Robbin Palmer Reno
Liberal media treats Trump unfairly
Jimmy Boegle: So you want to talk about press freedoms under attack. (See “Press freedoms are under attack—and Trump’s second term hasn’t even started yet,” RN&R, January 2025.) Let’s start with some facts.
Based on a Syracuse University study in 2022 titled “The American Journalist Under Attack,” there are 10 times more American journalists who identify as Democrat versus Republican, 36% versus 3.4%, compared to the general population of 27% versus 26%, respectively. The trend has been fewer Republicans and more Democrats as time passes.
A study during the 2024 presidential election found among major networks an extreme bias, with Kamala Harris receiving positive coverage 78% of the time, and Donald Trump receiving negative coverage 83% of the time.
So, yes, our free press is under attack with the majority of “news” outlets being nothing more than a propaganda wing of the Democrat Party.
If you want to understand the difference between sexual assault and rape, and why that matters in defamation lawsuits, maybe you should visit a women’s shelter and speak with the victims, and they can explain the difference to you. Words matter, and the law matters.
Regarding the suit against Ann Selzer, you note the poll did not hurt him, so there should be
no issue. Funny, in the 34 felony counts of bookkeeping errors, no one was hurt, and yet Trump was found guilty. Same applies to his alleged misstatement of asset values, and no one was hurt, yet Trump was fined upwards of $500 million. Funny how your justifications do not work both ways. Both will be overturned on appeal! If you want press freedom, maybe your publication should not start with the first three pages being liberal echo chamber talking points.
Bruce Horn Stateline
Housing costs keep people homeless
My lady friend and myself have been homeless since October 2017. (“Why are unhoused people declining services?” RN&R, January 2025.) What has kept us from finding housing is the cost of “affordable housing.” We are both in our 60s and have been on a fixed income even before losing our apartment of 15-plus years. We were evicted and had no place to go that was affordable. With a deposit and rent, three-quarters of our income is gone. Then you have the power company and their deposits taking whatever funds we have left. As for the shelter and temporary housing, the people in charge of both are cold, rude and unsympathetic people. Howard Crowley Via RenoNR.com
—KRIS VAGNER krisv@renonr.com
Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263, Cathedral City, CA 92234 • 775-324-4440 • RenoNR.com
Publisher/Executive Editor
Jimmy Boegle
Managing Editor
Kris Vagner
Editor at Large
Frank X. Mullen
Photo Editor
David Robert
Cover and Feature Design
Dennis Wodzisz
Distribution Lead
Rick Beckwith
Contributors
Matt Bieker, Jordan Chong, Alex Cubbon, Loryn Elizares, Bob Grimm, Helena Guglielmino, Matt Jones, Matt King, Kelley Lang, Chris Lanier, Michael Moberly, Steve Noel, Alice Osborn, Dan Perkins, Carol Purroy, Sitara Reganti, David Rodriguez, Sarah Russell, Jessica Santina, Max Stone, Delaney Uronen, Robert Victor, Matt Westfield, Leah Wigren, Susan Winters
The RN&R is a proud member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the Nevada Press Association, and the Local Independent Online News Publishers. Coachella Valley Independent, LLC, is a certified LGBT Business Enterprise® (LGBTBE) through the NGLCC Supplier Diversity Initiative.
GUEST COMMENT
Working in a prison can take a toll
I spent 30 years working in a prison as a doctor and had the unique opportunity to observe those upon whom it took a toll— and then I left, while others, for a variety of reasons, stayed and made the best of it.
I admit that I never thought I would end up working in prison, but when I finished my residency in internal medicine, the National Health Service Corps placed me at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center to do a four-year payback. In my second year on the job, I was taken hostage, assaulted and raped before I was rescued when a SWAT team, 10 hours later, threw in a grenade and killed the inmate a few feet from me. It happened on Friday the 13th, and I went back to work on Monday. I was still in shock, but what I experienced exemplifies what can hap pen to people who work in prison. Whether it’s verbal, emotional, sexual or physical violence to themselves, or watching what happens to the incarcerated, it affects each person differently.
When I returned to work, no one talked to me. At the time, I was too raw to initiate any conversation, but after a few days on the job, I started to feel that the people who ran the prison didn’t care. Maybe they were afraid of repercussions, or maybe they just didn’t know how to help someone who was traumatized on the job.
BY DR. KAREN GEDNEY
officers. According to the Prison Policy Initiative (a nonprofit prison advocacy thinktank), “the work environment for custody officers in prisons is significantly affected by high levels of stress, burnout, and staff turnover due to factors like overcrowding, violence, unpredictable shifts, inadequate support, and exposure to trauma, ultimately leading to negative impacts on their physical and mental health: This is often compounded by understaffing, creating a vicious cycle where the workload becomes even more demanding for remaining officers.”
I have seen the impact of the prison system on custody officers over the years. In Nevada, to become a correctional officer, one has to have a high school diploma or GED, two years of work in any field, and be 21 years old when hired. They have a minimum of 160 hours of pre-service training and then get a POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) certification. Many young officers take the lead from senior officers, and if those senior officers are burnt out and stressed, they don’t have the time and energy to help someone new on the job who experiences trauma.
STREETALK
Are you prepared for a disaster?
BY DAVID ROBERT
Asked at Forest St. Station bar, 100 California Ave., Reno
I’ve been asked a number of times why I stayed in the prison and turned it into a calling that lasted 30 years. There were a number of reasons. I had to do two more years in prison to fulfill my commitment. I was fortunate enough to have a German mother who trained me to be tough and resilient. I wanted to help the underdog and underserved. Plus, the inmates helped me heal. They sent me get-well cards and made it very clear that they, as a group, did not condone what one of them had done. They let me know how valuable I was to them, because I cared about their well-being. That made me realize how the individuals in power didn’t know how to deal with what happened to me—and if they didn’t know that, or care, what did that say about how they treated staff or the inmates in their custody?
There is a lot of research done on the impact on the mental health of custody
So what happens to people who work in prisons for years? Some are just counting every day so they can retire and get a pension. Some cope with alcohol and drugs. Some develop physical and mental-health issues related to their work, and some commit suicide. Others enjoy being professional and part of programs that benefit the inmate population and reduce violence, like Pups on Parole, the Mustang Program, educational programs, the hospice program, etc.
When I left, I wrote my memoir, 30 Years Behind Bars, Trials of a Prison Doctor. (See “Walled in: After a long career of tough decisions, a prison doctor tells her story,” RN&R, June 13, 2018.) It is available on Amazon to give a different perspective than that of a captive or captor.
Now, I’m going back into the prison to teach Psychology 101 in the college program for the incarcerated.
Dr. Karen Gedney is a retired prison doctor and an advocate for and consultant on holistic prison reform. She is a member of Nevada Prison Education Project, Return Strong, the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society and Ridge House in Reno.
Ray-Nico Galindo Bartender
It depends on what kind of disaster. If I were fighting for my own survival? Sure. If the government collapsed, and the money was no good, and there was looting and no food? Then I’d be in a position to hunt for my food. Also, I have carpentry and mechanical skills to survive with. If there was an earthquake, and my house collapsed, I don’t have a plan B. I’d live out of my car.
Starla MacLellan
Cosmetology student
No, not at all. I think that if there was a disaster, it would happen suddenly and randomly, and it’d be very devastating. No amount of preparedness would suffice. I’m not concerning myself with the anxiety of worrying about it. If such an event happened, I wouldn’t be the only one going through it, and everyone would be equally unprepared.
Branden Rising Environmental engineer
Somewhat, but probably not as far as food. I do have some water and a motorhome out in rural Nevada. My family went through the Washoe fire last year, and we learned that you have to be ready to evacuate pretty quickly, and that you have to grab your dogs, family documents and supplies—and you must have a plan for where to meet up.
Heather Wertenbaker
Social-work graduate student
I can’t say that I am prepared. Definitely not. I live in an apartment, and I have some food, maybe enough for a week or two, but not enough for a long-haul situation. If I had my own home, I’d have a generator to back up my electricity, and backup batteries. I’d store up extra food, toiletries and pet food. I’d like to have an underground shelter.
Logan McCormick
Electrician
Probably not. I just shop week-to-week for food. I don’t plan, and I’m not too worried about a disaster. If it happens, it happens, and it will eventually pass, and I don’t have much to lose.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
| BY JIMMY BOEGLE
Trump’s hostility toward science and health endangers us all
Of all the things President Trump has done in his first days back in office, I am most baffled—but not surprised—by his attacks on health. His actions have shown a hostility toward science, openness, collaboration and, well, common sense.
Consider:
• He withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization, which the U.S. helped establish in 1948. He claimed the organization mishandled the COVID-19 crisis, among other complaints, but his primary rationale: We’re paying an unfair share. As NPR reports: “(Trump) noted that the U.S. pays WHO $500 million annually compared to China’s $39 million contribution.” (However, those figures are inaccurate and exaggerated.) That NPR piece also discussed the message that the United States’ withdrawal is sending: “‘It would signal an attack by the largest and most economically powerful country in the world on international health cooperation,’ says David McCoy, a public health researcher at the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That cooperation, he argues, is essential for managing pandemics and other cross-border
health threats.”
• He’s stopped the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from functioning, essentially, at least temporarily. The New York Times says: “The Trump administration, moving quickly to clamp down on health and science agencies, has canceled a string of scientific meetings and instructed federal health officials to refrain from all public communications, including upcoming reports focused on the nation’s escalating bird flu crisis. Experts who serve on outside advisory panels on a range of topics, from antibiotic resistance to deafness, received emails on Wednesday telling them their meetings had been canceled. The cancellations followed a directive issued on Tuesday by the acting director of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, who prohibited the release of any public communication until it had been reviewed by a presidential appointee or designee, according to federal officials and an internal memo reviewed by The New York Times.” Why is he “clamping down” on science?
• Trump shut down an office intended to help the country prepare for the next pandemic. The Los Angeles Times reports: “He has … shuttered
the Biden-era White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness, which was directed by Congress to streamline and coordinate the nation’s response to burgeoning pandemics, such as avian flu. Since the office’s formation in 2023, it has initiated multiagency coordinated efforts to ‘test’ the nation’s preparedness for novel disease outbreaks, and has provided advice and coordination regarding vaccine development and availability among various health agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. A visit to the office’s website Wednesday morning showed a ‘404 Page Not Found’ error message.”
• He’s halted the distribution of U.S.-funded HIV drugs around the world. The New York Times reports: “The Trump administration has instructed organizations in other countries to stop disbursing HIV medications purchased with U.S. aid, even if the drugs have already been obtained and are sitting in local clinics. The directive is part of a broader freeze on foreign aid initiated last week. It includes the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the global health program started by George W. Bush that is credited with saving more than 25 million lives worldwide. The administration had already moved to stop PEPFAR funding from moving to clinics, hospitals
and other organizations in low-income countries. Appointments are being canceled, and patients are being turned away from clinics, according to people with knowledge of the situation who feared retribution if they spoke publicly. Many people with HIV are facing abrupt interruptions to their treatment.”
• Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. NPR reports: “The prospect of his confirmation has resulted in opposition from many people in the medical field, who cite his extensive history of promoting inaccurate claims on vaccines, infectious diseases and other areas of medical science. … Nobel laureates have written that Kennedy would put the nation’s health in jeopardy. The American Public Health Association, representing 25,000 professionals in that field, has come out against his nomination, based on his ‘consistent disregard for scientific evidence.’ And recently thousands of physicians and others in health care have signed onto letters echoing these concerns.”
The message is clear: Under the leadership of Donald J. Trump, power, politics and ideology matter.
The well-being of Nevadans and people around the world does not.
ON NEVADA BUSINESS
Gawk-worthy gadgets
The Consumer Electronics Show was brimming with fun, high-tech prototypes
I strolled aisle after endless aisle at CES— the Consumer Electronics Show—where throngs of people spent Jan. 5-10 searching for the Next Big Thing.
With 150,000 attendees and thousands of booths, there is literally something for everyone. People from every continent and every background pushed their way through to gawk at the innovations. What many folks don’t understand is that a lot of the gadgets and solutions they see are not even products yet. They are prototypes—or worse, virtual prototypes. Many won’t reach the market if they don’t get traction—investors, customers, partners or some combination thereof.
I’ve been through many cutting-edge tech trends since my days of leading teams bringing virtual reality out of the Department of Defense and into practical apps, beginning in early 1992. (That’s not a typo. My tech career really does date back to the last millennium.) We were pioneering this awesome new tech that was incredibly cool, wildly complex and crazy-expensive. We saw the potential, so we built the early applications for industry.
The gamers saw it, too. They began building more complex games as the hardware, software anda memory increased and matured. It was late in my VR tenure that a new Silicon Valley chip startup was getting known to developers; it was known as Nvidia. The founders were gamers who needed more power and more memory; we needed it, too.
Fast-forward to this year. Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s co-founder and CEO, gave the keynote at CES, with 10,000 people or more squeezed into the Mandalay Bay Arena as if Steve Jobs was giving one of his Apple speeches. Despite a record-breaking rough day for Nvidia on Jan. 27, Jensen is the new visionary, the new guru for 2025. I’m feeling ducky, because he and I are only three years apart in age, and he is a rockstar! There is always hope!
Like many game-changing founders, he saw a market that was underserved, growing like crazy, and in need of more horsepower. He started building microchips for gaming computers in the late ’90s as mobile tech and online tech were coming into their own. Nvidia basically owns the market for affordable, high-end chips that push huge computations in milliseconds—for blockchain, crypto, gaming and AI. These expanding sectors, as of now, rely on Nvidia for their success. Jensen chatted about the company’s success and the new chips being released.
CES is world-renowned for new product announcements and releases. The startups are there hawking new tech, and so are the giant, multi-national corporations. Automakers showed off the new tech in their cars and protype cars. Heavy-equipment manufacturers brought automated backhoes. Here are a few cool devices from big names that I saw:
Sony and Honda: Sony and Honda are now taking orders for their new EV joint-venture called Afeela. Last year at CES, the car was navigated onto the stage with a PlayStation controller. It promises to combine the best of Honda and the best of Sony with two models— the Origin for about $90,000, and the upgraded Signature for about $103,000. I laughed at their statement, “Make mobility a creative entertainment space.” What ever happened to, “Safe and wonderful to drive”?
Garmin: I’m a sport-watch guy, so this one caught my eye. The new fēnix 8 is touted as the most capable smartwatch Garmin has ever built. That’s saying something—it makes and take calls, with great graphics, altimeters and solar storage for 48 days. Nice. Oh, and here’s the big one: It even tells accurate time!
Goodyear Tires: Recognizing that self-driving cars don’t do well in inclement weather, Goodyear has developed a smarter tire that is specially designed for self-driving cars, exceeding the current limitations on snow and ice. (Maybe we should just put a savvy driver in there, or simply teach folks how to drive.)
Here are some interesting and cool tech startups that I ran across:
Maca Flight: The world’s first hydrogen-powered flying racecar—15 feet long, 85% recyclable, up to 300 miles per hour‚ comes from France, in partnership with Red Bull Advanced Technologies.
SkyFall: This Ukrainian company specializes in combat-tested drones, from 7-inch kamikaze strike drones to 6-foot-diameter drones with six propellers and payloads up to 50 pounds. The knowledgeable Ukrainian startup rep that told me, “We have the best real-time testing lab in the world—Russian soldiers and weapons.” She was a great booth rep. (See my January column on trade-show ROI.) I couldn’t dispute her results.
Darwing: This Dutch-Japanese company makes a wearable suit with electronic hinges and an exoskeleton that helps warehouse employees and other workers lift heavy loads without injury. It is pretty cool and crazy-looking. Think Tony-Stark-ish from Iron Man There were many startups with these types of exoskeletons or walking robotic assistance— very cool, with no smarmy remarks needed.
|
BY MATT WESTFIELD
Cat Link: The Scooper Pro Ultra, developed in South Korea, is a 5G, AI-enabled multi-cat litter box, water dish, food dish and cat door that assures “worry-free outings.”
E-Skimo Power Your Ascent: This Swiss tech booth caught my eye, as I’m a backcountry snowboarder. Listen up, my purist skier friends: This is a set of skis with electric-powered skins—kinda like e-Bikes on the trail. After powering you up the peak, the battery pops off from the front of each boot; the skin retracts up top; and down you go. Skiers, talk amongst yourselves after you check it out.
Lastly, I couldn’t finish this list without mentioning a guy I sat next to in the international business center. I was getting to my seven different email accounts for the first time in days. He asked if I’d watch his laptop while he “went to see a man about a horse,” as we say in the Southwest. When he came back, he whipped out his phone to show me
his wellness line. Because I’m a family man with young daughters who may read this, I’ll simply say he has a line of adult-oriented toys for women that are—what else—AI-driven, so you can program them for random or specific movements that rock your boat. Check out this company at senserawellness.com, and tell CFO Gabi that I sent you.
The innovations I’ve listed are fun, but understand that many of these companies will not get funded. These prototypes may never become products, and products are not companies. The road for these companies is long, and for many, it’s a dead end. They need to be accepted by the target market at a price point that will make a profit and scale. Most won’t. This is true for every new bleeding-edge product company in the world.
Make sure people want you and can cough up the cash to pay for it. Then, build the company. More on this next month.
One of the intriguing devices at the Consumer Electronics Show was the Darwing suit, with electronic hinges and an exoskeleton, designed to make jobs that require heavy lifting safer. Photo/Matt Westfield
Dispatched to L.A.
A Sparks chief’s firsthand view of the devastating Southern California wildfires
On Jan. 8, the day after the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out in Los Angeles County, Scott Means, the division chief of emergency management for the Sparks Fire Department, traveled to Southern California.
Means is a strike team leader, and was in charge of three Nevada Division of Forestry brush engines, as well as crews and vehicles from Elko County, Gardnerville’s East Fork Fire Protection District, and South Lake Tahoe’s Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District.
On Jan. 15, Means spoke with the RN&R from Altadena, where his team was working on the Eaton Fire. By then, some of the smoke and particulates clogging the air had cleared, and the sun was shining—but small fires were still flaring up.
“Our job’s basically been to come into the fire line and (stop)—they call them hotspots (isolated, smoldering pockets that could ignite) around the structures,” he said. “We’re continuing with a mop-up operation around the structures, but we’ve also been tasked with helping the residents in their recovery efforts.”
A responder sorts through debris at the Eaton Fire. Photo/Cal Fire
we pre-position in areas that we think might potentially be problems, and then we respond to service calls in our area.”
Firefighter logistics
The firefighters were working 24-hour shifts that week, with 24-hour periods off between shifts.
“We’re getting OK rest,” Means said.
They spent their off hours at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service had set up a camp for responders—one of the largest Means has ever seen.
“They set up camps like a small city,” he said. “We get water supplies, lunches, everything for the fire line from camp.”
There were quiet, climate-controlled sleep trailers with bunk beds, along with showers, kitchens, medical tents and counseling.
“It is, like, anything you ask for,” Means said. “They usually walk around dogs for therapy, so guys can pet dogs and play with dogs.”
He noted in a later conversation that interacting with the dogs can really help reduce stress levels.
“The community itself down here has been more than supportive,” he said. “We have people who cruise through our camp every day offering us fresh food, waters, Gatorades, all kinds of stuff.”
There were many residents who needed their help. As of press time, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection was reporting that 9,418 structures have been destroyed, and another 1,073 damaged, in the Eaton Fire alone.
“There are people trying to get in, trying to get their belongings and stuff, so we’ve been helping with that,” he said.
Capt. Travis Boggs, another strike team leader, is one of five people the Carson City Fire Department sent. He was also on the call and talked about what firefighters do to help fire victims.
“Whatever they need to ease their minds and help them re-acclimate to what’s happened,” Boggs said.
He said the team had been removing fallen trees from cars and cleaning up huge amounts of wind-blown debris. “We’ve cleaned up some roads, just trying to get the neighborhood back to being accessible and usable,” Boggs said.
Said Means: “Right now, we’re still a 24hour resource, which means we stay out here all night. During the wind events, because the winds usually come in, in the evening,
Among those in the area that week were crews from Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Mexico, Canada and other parts of California, as well as the California National Guard and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“We have strike teams from everywhere—ev-
| BY KRIS VAGNER
ery state on the west side of the United States,” said Means.
How resources are shared
Derek Keller, division chief of operations for Sparks Fire, explained how fire departments share resources.
“Scott only has to manage five captains, and then those captains each have their crew members,” Keller said. “It’s a tiered system to manage incidents all across the country. … When they need assistance in California, we can (often) get plugged in. We have certain specialties, and Scott is a strike team leader. So that’s what they’re looking for.”
Keller said Sparks Fire is prepared to work with agencies anywhere in the country.
“If they ask for help, we are going to try to help,” he said. “And if we ask for help, they’re going to try to help us.”
Sparks sent help to the Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in 2017, and the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, which remains California’s deadliest fire on record. Keller said that Sparks has also sent help to Utah, Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
He said that if an agency needs help with a fire in our region that is less than 12 hours in duration, no reimbursement takes place, but for incidents that are longer or farther away, the department in charge will reimburse for personnel and vehicle expenses, incidentals, lodging and, in this case, “the backfilling of Scott’s position.”
He expects to see reimbursement within a few months for Means’ work on the Eaton Fire from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and he said that office should, in turn, be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as the incident was declared a federal disaster.
For two weeks in Altadena, Calif., Scott Means, from the Sparks Fire Department, led firefighters from the Nevada Division of Forestry, Elko County, the East Fork Fire Protection District and the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Photo courtesy of Scott Means
Two weeks on the ground
Means spoke with the RN&R again on Jan. 24, one day after he returned to Sparks.
During his final week in L.A., he said, “We did a lot of community support, and we were available for calls inside the fire perimeter, so when a hotspot flared up or somebody saw smoke, we went and investigated or extinguished it.”
He and his team limbed more trees, uncovered more tree-damaged cars, and removed fire debris from entryways and yards. They put the debris in piles, and the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre picked it up to haul to dump sites.
Means’ team was tasked with identifying which houses in the fire area had pools. “Pools were considered hazardous materials at that point, because of the contaminants that got in the pool, so those had to be treated a certain way,” he said. “There were specific hazmat teams on site that would come deal with those things. There are a lot of pools down there, as you can imagine.”
Upon returning to Sparks, Means went back to business as usual. Normally, he has three-day weekends, but on his usual Friday off, he was doing catch-up work.
“Everything that’s been put off for 14 days needed to be picked back up,” he said. As the emergency manager for Sparks, he always has programs, City Council meetings and the like.
Means said witnessing such massive destruc-
A message of unity
tion has a significant impact on firefighters.
“I don’t think you ever get used to it,” he said. “You just kind of have to switch your mind into job mode—but you can’t let go of your personal attachment to what’s going on.
KaPreace Young, a member of the Northern Nevada Dr. MLK Jr. Memorial Committee, emceed the 39th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service on Sunday, Jan. 19, at the McKinley Arts and Culture Center. Young is the co-founder of the Shades of Queening women’s empowerment group and a student-voice facilitator for the Washoe County School District. Religious leaders from various faiths spoke about King’s life and message, and prayed for unity in these trying times.
—David Robert
You see a lot of people who have lost everything and are suffering, and it’s hard to detach from that.
“If you put yourself in their situation—I couldn’t imagine losing everything: photo
albums of your kids, birth certificates, memorabilia, probably family heirlooms are even gone. That’s the stuff you can’t replace. So, you stay sensitive; you stay empathetic and sympathetic. At the same time, you have a job to do.”
Therapy dogs visited traveling fire personnel working the fires in Los Angeles County. Photo/Cal Fire
Correcting over-allocation
Resource experts propose a statewide water-rights buyback program
After the Nevada Legislature reconvenes on Feb. 3, lawmakers will consider Senate Bill 36, which aims to conserve groundwater by allowing water rights to be bought—and retired.
Nevada is the driest U.S. state, receiving the least yearly precipitation. Most of the state—including much of Washoe County— is abnormally dry or in a drought, according to data from the National Drought Mitigation Center.
To get the water they need, Nevada industries look below ground. Groundwater is pumped and often used for farming, according to 2015 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data. Although all Nevada water formally belongs to the public, per Nevada Revised Statute 533, non-domestic uses must be accounted for by a contract known as a water right.
Today, in our growing state, there may be too many water rights for too little water. In 2023 testimony to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Jeff Fontaine, executive director of the Central Nevada Water Authority, said that 56 of the state’s 256 groundwater basins are over-pumped—used faster than they are replenished.
When groundwater is pumped at a higher rate than nature returns it, the water level decreases. Pumps must use more energy and
reach farther down to haul the same amount of water to the surface. This makes groundwater use more costly—or infeasible.
SB 36 was propelled by the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Natural Resources. To combat over-pumping, SB 36 establishes the Nevada Water Buy-Back Initiative to buy existing water rights in over-pumped basins, and retire them.
The bill was recommended by members of the committee and members of The Nature Conservancy, a large environmental nonprofit.
At an Aug. 23, 2024, meeting, there was no debate on it, and all committee members voted in favor. In fact, the bill was based on a 2023 bill from committee member and former Sen. Pete Goicoechea that didn’t progress to a floor vote.
The initiative follows in the footsteps of the Voluntary Water Rights Retirement Program, a buyback program that ran in 2023 and 2024. The program was funded by the U.S. American Rescue Plan Act and sought to retire water rights in central Nevada and the Humboldt River Basin. (The program could be revived this year by Assembly Bill 104, another natural resources bill.) SB 36 differs by being statewide, not regional.
Laurel Saito, Nevada water strategy director at The Nature Conservatory, said that when groundwater is depleted, surface water can dry up, damaging ecosystems and endangering spe-
cies that rely on it. Saito and a colleague filed a recommendation supporting the bill.
One largely successful Nevada buyback program, run by the Walker Basin Conservancy, was spurred by environmental catastrophe. Since 2014, the organization has been buying water rights in the Walker Basin, located southeast of Reno and the home of Walker Lake.
Well before Nevada’s founding, the livelihoods of the Walker River Paiute Tribe and other locals centered around the lake, particularly its native Lahontan cutthroat trout. But by 2009, the fish in Walker Lake had died out. Decreased inflow from the Walker River and from groundwater, caused by excess agricultural water use, resulted in the river shrinking by hundreds of feet, and the level of total dissolved solids (TDS) increasing tenfold since 1882, according to the USGS. The environmental collapse also decreased tourism, a main element of the community’s economy.
“Most of the economic drivers of the area just don’t exist anymore,” said Kat Dow, the organization’s water program manager.
With federal funding, the Walker Basin Conservancy now buys back and retires water rights in the area, increasing the volume of water that can make it to the lake. As of November 2024, this initiative has decreased the lake’s TDS level by nearly 30% from a 2017 high, according to data provided by the USGS. Dow hopes that
| BY JORDAN CHONG
Center pivot irrigation, as seen here in in central Nevada’s Diamond Valley, is a major consumer of groundwater.
Photo/Thomas Ott, Desert Research Institute
cutthroat trout may be introduced soon.
In an FAQ, the Walker Basin Conservancy says it prioritizes buying water rights that are actively used. SB 36 makes no such requirement, so it is possible the initiative could buy water rights not in use, making an impact on paper, but no real change in water consumption— but the bill does not make buybacks automatic, leaving sales to the discretion of the director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which has a vested interest in water conservation.
Dow said that many of the Walker Basin Conservancy’s buybacks come from family farms that the younger generation doesn’t want to inherit.
“A lot of our sales are driven by people who are nearing retirement and who do not have anybody to pass these rights out to, and they would like to see the land and water taken care of if it can’t be put to that same historic use anymore,” Dow said.
Given the costs of other buyback programs, it may be difficult to get enough money for substantive action. As of May 2024, the Voluntary Water Rights Retirement Program had received $25 million in funding—and still couldn’t afford to buy most of the water rights it was offered. The Walker Basin Conservancy, an ongoing project with a narrower reach, had around $35 million in expenses from 2015 to 2023, according to tax returns.
The most severely over-pumped basins are in central Nevada, like those near Eureka and Austin, according to a report by the Nevada Division of Water Resources. But the report shows basins all over the state where the groundwater level is declining, including basins in Spanish Springs, south Reno and Fernley.
One large claimant is the Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA), which uses groundwater to provide water to homes and businesses. The TMWA has no intentions of selling groundwater rights to the state, said Eddy Quaglieri, a resource services manager at TMWA. Quaglieri said the authority uses other methods to conserve.
“If we have excess surface water rights to use, we try to use those first in order to (reduce use of) our groundwater rights,” Quaglieri said.
Addressing the over-pumping crisis will require multiple strategies. In addition to buybacks, voluntary water conservation strategies and other state policies could play a role.
“We see voluntary groundwater rights retirement as a potential tool that we could have in that toolbox,” Saito said.
NEWS
Mandatory reporting
A youth-proposed bill would require schools to disclose student drug use to guardians
The Nevada Youth Legislature is a program intended to engage students in the legislative process. High school students appointed by state senators propose, draft and advocate for legislation, gaining hands-on experience in public policy.
The program also provides opportunities to collaborate with government officials and address issues affecting Nevada’s youth. Since the establishment of the NYL in 2007, the Legislature has reportedly passed seven of its nine proposed bills.
The 2023-2025 youth legislators (disclosure: I am among them) have proposed a bill that would require staff members of schools to report to a parent or guardian when a student is suspected of using nicotine or other substances. (As of press time, the bill had not yet been posted online due to amendments being added.) While the bill is still in the revision phase, Valerie Wiener—a retired state senator and chair of the NYL board—explained its intent: “With educators identifying the questionable behaviors related to these unhealthy and illegal choices, the impact of meaningful conversations and new options with people the youth trusts can create positive, life-altering shifts for the youth and can also have a significant ripple effect involving other youth.”
Scott Gorsuch, a former teacher at Damonte Ranch High School and current teacher at Sage Ridge School, likes the idea.
“I agree with the intention of the bill and that parents and guardians should always be informed when an educator, teacher or administrator believes a student is abusing
Proponents say the proposed bill would get students the help they need, while others worry that parental notification could harm students in abusive situations.
as the enforcement that the parents and guardians decide to use, or the help they decide to give.”
He pointed out that students often engage in these behaviors to fit in socially, potentially setting the stage for more dangerous habits. He noted that teachers can spot signs of substance, such as frequent coughing or watery eyes.
Simryn Desai, a senior at Reno High School who said she does not use nicotine or other substances, is skeptical about how effective the bill would be.
“A lot of nicotine users already know the negative consequences of using nicotine and vaping,” she said. “Usually, they use it because of some other circumstances going on in their life.”
nicotine or other substances,” Gorsuch said.
He sees value in strengthening the requirements to ensure consistent action. “It would be good to mandate it,” Gorsuch said. “However, the reporting to parents and guardians is only as good
Desai believes the focus should shift toward addressing the root causes of substance use, such as stress, mental-health issues or peer pressure. She suggested integrating discussions about addiction and emotional well-being into early education to prevent nicotine use before it begins.
Desai is also concerned about the potential consequences of involving parents or guardians.
“Students can come from rough households, and informing their guardians about their nico-
From Reno to Los Angeles
| BY SITARA REGANTI
tine use can make the condition in their house worse for them,” she said. Desai worries that this could lead some students to further rely on substances as a coping mechanism. She would like to see schools work to make mental-health issues and addiction less taboo.
A junior from Galena High School who uses nicotine spoke to the RN&R on the condition of anonymity, to avoid possible repercussions.
“Due to varying parental situations, I believe that telling parents about a kid’s nicotine addiction can be quite harmful and do more harm than good,” the student said. “Instead, I would propose that school counselors be notified or that a child is referred to a therapist or a doctor.”
While students can access school counselors without any prerequisites, in most cases, a child cannot be referred to a therapist or doctor without parental consent. However, pursuant to Nevada Revised Statue 129.050, a minor in Nevada can consent to medical care or counseling for conditions related to substance abuse. While providers are encouraged to notify parents or guardians, the law allows providers to administer these services without parental consent if alerting parents would jeopardize the minor’s treatment or health.
“Some parents may view the addiction as a threat,” the student added. “Instead of helping the student overcome the barrier, they might just make the student’s mental health and situation worse.”
Phil Lanzino and Jimmie Thompson, on the truck, receive donations of water, toiletries, clothes and pet food to take to the victims and rescue crews of the Southern California fires. The donation drop-off event was held on Sunday, Jan. 26, at La Gente Chicano Wear, at 1939 Prater Way, in Sparks, and sponsored by the Northern Nevada Alliance, a group that promotes unity in the local car, truck and bike scene.
—David Robert
Stepping stones
It takes three lessons to learn curling—but the camaraderie is instant
The temperature dropped as I—and 13 others—walked from the club room at Lake Tahoe Epic Curling into the arena, where smooth ice extended out before us. We were there to learn to curl.
Others chatted and laughed, but I was having flashbacks of almost killing myself falling down an icy double black diamond at Telluride. I hate ice. I’m terrified of it.
I was a first-timer, attending the second of a three-part workshop. Four others had also missed the first class. We were grouped together on the first of two lanes (“sheets”) that run the length of the building. LTEC president Shelley Morassutti led our group; the second-timers were on the next sheet, helped by two volunteers.
Morassutti directed us to our first task: pushing off from the “hack,” a foothold embedded in the ice. My attention to the maneuver was superficial; I was mesmerized by the clarity and depth of the ice. It reminded me of looking at a rock underneath the surface of Lake Tahoe. Or a siren calling me to my death.
Morassutti passed around a “slider”—a
slick piece of plastic that goes under the foot. She explained that we had to be careful, that we must maintain balance, and if we fell, we needed to tuck and roll. A cold sweat swept down my body. I touched the Ice Halo Morassutti suggested we wrap around our heads and wondered how a half-inch piece of protective foam headgear could save my skull from breaking open all over this perfectly manicured ice.
Morassutti advised us to use two stones—the smooth, 40-pound granite rounds that curlers slide across the ice. Normally, you’d only use one, but as beginners, we used one in each hand to practice our balance. Balance, balance, balance––the biggest contradiction to ice, and the most important aspect of this game.
Morassutti told us to pull our bodies back, then shoot out like a spring to increase our power.
Our group included a couple in their late 40s or early 50s, and two guys in their early 30s, plus me, a slightly chubby 30-year-old with poor hand-eye coordination. The husband of the couple slid out awkwardly, but without falling. The stones were loud as they moved across the ice––like hearing a low-flying plane from inside a building.
I was last to go. I placed my right foot on the hack, then the left on the slider (confirming that yes, this thing is slick), and took a stone in each hand. I inhaled a deep breath, and then pushed off. My mind hopped around with adrenaline. My body shook. My toe flexed on the ice. I felt that rush, the one of never being able to stop. My heart was pounding.
I made it about three feet from the hack— the shortest distance of anyone in our group. I stood up slowly, took a deep breath, and exhaled a laugh.
“Try that again,” Morassutti told me, wearing a kind, encouraging smile. We kept at it, trading one of the stones in our hands for a balancing stick, eventually making it farther onto the ice. I looked at our neighboring sheet, where the second-timers were practicing. There didn’t seem to be a discernible difference between our group and theirs in gender, age range or physique—but there was a major difference in talent. Later, as we walked back into the clubhouse, someone commented that they noticed a significant jump in ability from their first session to the second. It only takes three lessons, Morassutti said, before someone is good enough to start coming to drop-
| BY HELENA GUGLIELMINO
Curling is a “gentleman’s sport,” according to Lake Tahoe Epic Curling president Shelley Morassutti. “If someone makes a bad shot, there’s no heckling.”
in classes and playing real games.
Our group gained confidence. We started releasing the stone, and then we started talking about technique. The stones don’t slide across the ice in a straight line—they curl (get it?), and one of the most important techniques is to learn how to manipulate this movement.
We began a game. Typically, two teams of four each throw eight stones toward a target made of two concentric circles, like a dartboard. The closest stones to the center earn points. Players collaborate by “sweeping”—melting the ice with a smooth brush—when their teammates throw, helping to navigate or speed up the stone. Our team won both games we played. Our teammates cheered us on. So did our opponents and random second-timers on the sheet next to us. The hall was loud with shouts of “Sweep!” and “Yes!” and “Good shot!”
Morassutti explained the etiquette: “It’s called a gentleman’s sport. If someone makes a bad shot, there’s no heckling. It’s the opposite version of football. … It’s a very collaborative sport.”
Each player shakes hands with (or fist bumps) all of their teammates and opponents, saying something like “good game” before and after the game. Morassutti had us practice this, too. Etiquette also demands that players participate in something called broomstacking at the end of the game: This means going back into the clubhouse—or nearest pub—and enjoying a drink together. Winners buy.
“You have to come and broomstack for a little bit,” Morassutti said. “If you want to be a member of the club, this is part of the rules.”
Morassutti, who moved to South Lake Tahoe as an adult, joined the club to meet people. “Two out of three of my better girlfriends from here are from curling, just because it’s a community,” she said.
In the clubhouse, everyone grabbed a drink and a snack. The room was louder than it had been at the beginning of the night. Most of us stayed until 8:45, a full 45 minutes after the lesson ended.
“It’s a school night!” someone exclaimed, and we nodded, grabbing our coats and keys. I took one last look at the sheets. I was hooked.
Lake Tahoe Epic Curling is located at 128 Market St., No. 1A, in Stateline. Those proficient in the sport can attend drop-in classes. The next Learn to Curl series runs Mondays, Feb. 3 and 10, and March 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. The three-part series costs $100 and includes gear and broomstacking drinks. To register, visit laketahoecurling.com.
Planets and
Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight
For February, 2025
ASTRONOMY
This sky chart is drawn for latitude 40 degrees north, but may be used in continental U.S. and southern Canada.
February’s evening sky chart. Illustration/Robert D. Miller
The two faint outermost planets—Uranus, of magnitude 5.7, 8° southwest of the Pleiades cluster, and Neptune, of magnitude 7.9—can be spotted with optical aid. Uranus is easy for binoculars. For Neptune, use at least a 50-mm aperture. Neptune is very low at nightfall late in the month, so look right at the end of twilight from Feb. 1-4, before the moon gets bright, or Feb. 14-20, after the moon is past full and not yet up at nightfall.
Follow the moon: The moon is above the horizon one hour after sunset each evening through Feb. 12, and can be spotted again about 40 minutes after sunset on Feb. 28.
In Reno on Feb. 1, the moon, a 15 percent crescent, passes directly south, 49° up, at 3:05 p.m. Venus is then 2.6° to the upper right of the center of the moon’s disk, or nearly 2.4° to the upper right of its limb. Binoculars and telescopes show Venus’ 37 percent crescent, 33 arcseconds in diameter. Closest separation of Venus and the crescent moon that day occurs at 4:19 p.m., when Venus is 2.3° to the upper right of the moon’s northern cusp (point of the crescent). That evening at 6:36 p.m. (76 minutes after sunset), Venus is 2.5° to the lower right of the moon’s bright limb, with Saturn 11°-12° below them.
February skies
All of the planets of our solar system make appearances this month—and Venus is as bright as it ever gets
Evenings in February 2025 present us with a striking lineup of bright planets, and chances to attain sightings of all the planets of our solar system.
The three brightest planets are Venus, of magnitude -4.8 to -4.9, as bright as it ever gets, in the west-southwest, sinking lower toward the west as month progresses; Jupiter, magnitude -2.5 to -2.3, near Aldebaran and the Hyades cluster, high and crossing from east-southeast into the southwest; and Mars, magnitude -1.1 to -0.3, near the “Twin” stars Pollux and Castor, climbing higher in east.
Of the stars, only the Dog Star Sirius, magnitude -1.4 in the southeast to south-southeast, and Canopus, magnitude -0.7 very low in the south, outshine one of these planets, Mars.
The other planets easy to see with the naked eye are Saturn, of magnitude +1.1,
11° to 22° below and a little to the left of Venus, but sinking into an ever-brighter twilight glow in last 10 days of month; and innermost Mercury, emerging from its Feb. 9 superior conjunction on the far side of the sun to become visible far below Venus and to the lower right of Saturn around Feb. 20. From Feb. 20-28, Mercury shines at magnitude -1.3 to -1.0, but for its first evenings, you’ll appreciate binoculars, a very clear sky and an unobstructed view of the horizon below Venus 30-35 minutes after sunset. Look for Mercury 28° below Venus on Feb. 20, getting 1.5° closer each evening, to Feb. 24, when it’s 22° below Venus. In the same span of dates, fainter Saturn can be seen 7.6° to 1.5° to the upper left of bright Mercury. Feb. 24, the date of the closest pairing of Mercury and Saturn, is best for seeing both on the same night, giving you a chance to see all five naked-eye planets simultaneously.
On Feb. 2, an hour after sunset, find Venus 15° to the moon’s lower right, and Saturn 12° below Venus. Now that the moon has moved out of the field, you can get a better look at the six-star dipper to lower left of Venus and revisit Neptune. Later tonight, Mars will be 4.5° from Pollux. Since Pollux is 4.5° from Castor, the three objects will form an isosceles triangle, with Pollux at the vertex.
Feb. 3, one hour after sunset: Jupiter, ending retrograde, lingers 5.1° from Aldebaran for the rest of this week. By month’s end, the planet will shift only 1° east from tonight’s position.
Feb. 4, evening: The moon will appear half-full later tonight. First quarter, when the moon is 90° or one-quarter of a circle east of the sun, occurs at 12:02 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Feb. 5.
Feb. 6, afternoon and evening: If the sky is clear and deep blue, use binoculars and try to spot Jupiter when the moon passes closest to it between 3 and 3:30 p.m. Look for Jupiter 5° to the south (lower right) of the moon. In the evening, the moon is 5° north of Jupiter and 10° north of Aldebaran.
Feb. 8, evening: Mars is 9° to the lower left of 87% moon, with Pollux and Castor nearby.
Feb. 9 at dusk: Enjoy a close grouping of the moon (93%), Mars, Pollux and Castor.
Feb. 11 at dusk: Regulus, heart of Leo, the Lion, is 12° below the moon.
Feb. 12 at 5:53 a.m.: The moon is full. One hour before sunrise, note Regulus, 7° to the upper left of the moon. One hour after sunset, find Regulus 2° to the upper right of the moon.
| BY ROBERT VICTOR
Feb. 15 at nightfall: If you want to see all the planets in February, time is running out to see Neptune. It’s now within 31° of the sun, getting 1° closer each night. At end of twilight, it’s only 12° up. Look 10.5° to the lower left of Venus. Feb. 16, one hour before sunrise: Spica is 12° to the upper left of the 86% waning gibbous moon.
Predawn, Feb. 17: Spica is within 0.7° of northern limb of the moon, at 3:16 a.m. in Reno. Use optical aid, or block the moon to see the star. Feb. 18 at dawn: Spica is 12° to the right of 70% moon. Antares is 34° to the moon’s lower left. Arcturus is high in the southwest, with the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair in the east.
Feb. 20 at dawn: The moon is approaching last-quarter phase, half full, in the south. Antares, heart of the Scorpion, is within 10° to the lower left.
Feb. 24 at dusk: The Mercury-Saturn pair is within 22° below Venus. Use binoculars for faint Saturn, 1.5° to the upper left of Mercury. Most difficult to see is Neptune, 9° to the upper left of Mercury-Saturn. Uranus is 8° southwest of Pleiades, and Jupiter is 5.4° from Aldebaran. Mars is 7.2°-7.4° from the Twins. In order from west to east are Mercury, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars, all spanning 117.5°, plus Earth under your feet—all eight known planets of our solar system!
Feb. 25 at dawn: This is your last easy chance to see the moon this cycle, 8%, low in the east-southeast to southeast. Dusk: Saturn is 1.8° to the lower left of Mercury, and the order of planets from west to east is Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, Mars, spanning 116.8°—but Saturn and Neptune are challenging targets.
Feb. 26 at dusk: Mercury is 19° to the lower left below Venus, while Saturn is 3° to the lower left of Mercury. The span of planets, Saturn to Mars, is 116.7°. Mercury is now easy to see, but Saturn is not.
Feb. 27 at dusk: Venus has been slowing down its eastward motion, and will begin retrograde on March 1. The new moon occurs at 4:45 p.m.
Feb. 28 at sunset and dusk: Remember to get out to look for Venus, 31° to the upper right of the setting sun just before sunset, and for a short while afterward, while the sky is still bright. As the sky gets darker, look for Mercury 16° to the lower left of Venus, and 2° to the upper right of a beautiful, slender 2 percent crescent moon. These events are illustrated on the Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar. For $12 per year, subscribers receive quarterly mailings, each containing three monthly issues; learn more at www.abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar.
Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still helps produce an occasional issue.
Stereographic Projection Map by Robert D. Miller
Evening mid-twilight occurs when the Sun is 9° below the
Regulus
Vega
Deneb
Fomalhaut
In 1976, Americans formally began observing Black History Month each February.
In the decades since, some have celebrated the month dedicated to making sure Black history is visible. “Too much of our history has been paved over, gone through urban renewal, gentrified, or unidentified or un-acknowledged,” wrote Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Black History Month continues to serve us well.”
Others have spoken against it. Actor Morgan Freeman has told media outlets over the years that he detests the idea of Black history’s celebrations being relegated to a single month and has said many times over, "I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.”
I find both points compelling. But as a news organization, the RN&R had to choose: Do we observe Black History Month?
The decision started with a conversation I had with Sarah Russell—an RN&R contributor and a close friend—in January. The gist was this: On one hand, I felt the RN&R had no business asserting that stories about Black Northern Nevadans should be relegated to a special issue. On the other hand, there are a lot of stories about Black locals that haven’t been told yet, or haven’t been told enough. Sarah had a long coffee meeting with Reno-Sparks NAACP President Patricia Gallimore and asked her which stories she thought we should be telling—maybe in February, and definitely all year round.
Gallimore had a wealth of ideas and contacts for us—and this month, we’re going to share a few. We’ll introduce you to Lonnie Feemster, who experienced segregated neighborhoods firsthand growing up and played a role in deredlining Reno and Sparks; Donald Griffin, co-founder of Black Wall Street, the homegrown aid organization; and Mitch and Gieshula Moore, owners of M&M Café, who not only serve up delicious fried catfish, but provide spiritual counsel and basic necessities at the church next door. And we’ll keep telling stories of people from every part of our community, all year long.
—Kris Vagner
For Mitch and Gieshula Moore, providing food, clothing and spiritual counsel at the church next door is just as important as serving up catfish and fried okra at their restaurant.
M&M’s Southern Café has long been the local source for Southern comfort food such as catfish, oyster po’boys and fried okra.
The dining room’s booth seating and broad-back wooden chairs are perfect for friends and family to gather and linger over tender barbecue ribs and large Mason jars of sweet tea.
Less widely known is the owners’ commitment to family and serving their community. For Mitch and Gieshula Moore, compassion for others is as integral to their life’s work as the recipes from Mitch’s 82-year-old mother on M&M’s menu.
It’s no surprise that the Moores’ story begins with family. Mitch owned a salon, where Gieshula’s mother was a regular. Her aunt also owned a barbershop and mentored Mitch in barbering. The couple married in 1998 and worked together at their salon.
“His passion for food drove us to where we are,” Gieshula said about her husband, adding that he always had a good business sense.
In 2006, Mitch purchased a food truck by taking a second mortgage on their house. Serving fried chicken, gumbo, and fish and chips, the truck soon became popular at local events such as the Sparks farmers’ market.
One day, they discovered a stray bullet embedded in the truck after Mitch had worked at an evening event off Sutro Street in Reno. That’s when they had a vivid epiphany to
“get in a building to serve people,” explained Gieshula. They closed the salon and opened M&M’s Fish & Chicken Shack on Mill Street.
In 2007, Perfect Peace Community Church in Sparks asked Mitch to be their pastor.
“I marry a lot of people in the community,” Mitch said. He also presides over funeral services.
The couple organized clothing and food ministries through the church. While staffing their Mill Street location, Gieshula recalled, they were fair-minded regarding potential employees. They had at least 10 employees who had criminal records; restaurant training and a solid work reference provided those with a past a chance at a future.
One former cook eventually opened his own restaurant in another state.
schedule, there have been times the Moores have had to close the restaurant in order to meet the needs of the community.
“You don’t look for reward,” said Gieshula. “People come first.”
She added that most of their customers understand. Some of their regulars have been with them since the Mill Street years. Amos Hunt, a faithful regular, never missed dining there on Saturday until his passing six months ago. As soon as he walked in, the person working the counter would call out, “Hunt basket.” The kitchen knew to prepare a basket with two pieces of catfish, a few fries and a Coke.
“ You don’t look for reward. People come first. ”
In 2015, the Moores moved their restaurant into a space formerly occupied by a Japanese restaurant, a couple of doors down from their church, in a Sparks strip mall.
— Gieshula Moore co-owner of M&M’s Southern Café
“People know you’re a minister and want to talk to you,” Mitch said. “The biggest demand now is loneliness, struggling marriages and family life.”
Since the ministry extends beyond Sundays, and life events rarely adhere to a
“He taught you how to have a thankful disposition,” Gieshula said of Hunt.
Much has changed since Mitch and Gieshula started working together in the salon. Many of the fields that surrounded Sparks then are now neighborhoods. Their six children are grown and have their own jobs and families. But certain truths remain, such as deep relationships developed through community—and powerful memories evoked by good food.
M&M’s Southern Café is located at 820 Holman Way, in Sparks. For more information, call 775-356-1070, or visit mmssoutherncafe.com.
Photo/David Robert
When Lonnie Feemster—a real estate broker and former president/current member of the Reno-Sparks NAACP— read the book The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein, he immediately recognized the truth of the book based on his own experience.
Feemster, who was born and raised in Reno, had heard stories of racism in real estate and mortgage deals from his parents and friends. He had fielded complaints of discrimination brought to the NAACP, and he has witnessed plenty of incidents himself. In 2019, he worked with the State Senate to pass a bill to void items in the covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) connected to local properties that prohibited selling properties to buyers who weren’t white.
Segregated neighborhoods in Reno and Sparks
When he got started in real estate after working for Sierra Pacific Power for 27 years, Feemster worked for a Black real estate broker. Feemster’s first client was also Black. When they were looking at a house near Cannan Street and Silverada Boulevard, close to the Reno/Sparks border, a neighbor, who was white, came out and told them that he moved there from Ninth Street and Silverada, because he “was trying to get away from the Black people.”
Feemster laughed, remembering, “And he moved a couple of blocks away! I guess he thought he crossed the MasonDixon Line!”
Feemster said that the effect of disallowing Black people to buy property, at all or in certain neighborhoods, is to deny the opportunity to build wealth and pass it on through generations.
“In America, when it comes to building wealth, it’s required that you own real estate,” he said.
Feemster talked about growing up in Reno and Sparks in the 1960s. “We were restricted from living in most areas of Sparks and Reno through restrictions in property CC&Rs that had racial exclusions written into the deeds.”
He himself owns a property with such restrictions in the deed. “It says you can’t sell this property to anybody that’s not 100 percent white,” he said.
“When I was 15 or 16, when we were going to house parties, we had to go out to Conductor Heights. (It’s) an area where they allowed African Americans to live.” That area is now an industrial neighborhood around Hymer Avenue and Rock Boulevard.
Once, a woman who was preparing to sell a house called Feemster in disbelief, having just learned that her deed dictated
that a Black person was not allowed to be in her neighborhood after dark.
“Now, that was news to me, because I used to catch the city bus right by her house to get back over to northeast Reno,” he said. “I don’t know if they counted catching the bus next door as violating the rules. But that was the rules right there.”
According to Feemster, Kent Ervin, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, was similarly appalled when he read the CC&Rs for the home he was buying in Newlands Manor and contacted some local legislators, along with Feemster. As a result, in the 2019 Legislative Session—just six years ago—Sens. Julia Ratti and Dallas Harris sponsored a bill jointly with then-Assemblywoman Lisa Krasner to void such items in CC&Rs.
Senate Bill 117, which passed both the Assembly and Senate unanimously, voids any CC&Rs restrictions based on “race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.”
Loan applications sorted by race
These days, Feemster’s most pressing concern is discrimination in lending.
He said that banks put loan applications from Black and Latino applicants in different piles, and mentioned “Fat File Syndrome,” a phrase that describes the practice of lenders giving more information about loans to white applicants than Black applicants.
He said he was once helping a couple buy their first house, and the loan they were expecting kept getting delayed. After various delays, the lender said the couple’s file had been lost.
“I called the loan officer, and he said, ‘We finally found their file. It was in the Hispanic pile,’” Feemster said.
He was not surprised to learn that the lender was separating applications by race—only that he said it out loud.
“Banks have written algorithms that will turn you down for a loan based on some reason,” Feemster said. “They say, ‘Well, the computer said you wouldn’t be a good loan candidate.’ But what they’ve done is they’ve delegated racial discrimination to their algorithms and then blame it on the computer. They’ve shown that algorithms have a racial bias.”
Feemster believes that the answer to discriminatory practices in real estate and lending is education.
“We haven’t solved the racial bias problem in America, because we haven’t educated our children,” he said. “They don’t even know this is racial bias. A lot of kids come from good families, but they don’t realize all this stuff is going on. If you don’t work in the business of real estate and civil rights, how are you going to even know this stuff?”
When Lonnie Feemster was growing up in the 1960s, nonwhite residents were prohibited from living in most areas of Reno and Sparks through restrictions in property deeds. He himself owns a property with such restrictions in its deed.
Photo/David Robert
A chance meeting and a fledgling aid group
Back in 2020, Griffin was working with the Downtown Reno Partnership as an ambassador; they’re the people in blue polo shirts who offer directions to tourists and guide people who are unhoused to various services.
“I was helping people into facilities—dryout facilities,” he said.
A man he met at a gym, RoMar Tolliver, had been motivated by the activist momentum he saw swelling in the Black community in the months after George Floyd was killed. Toliver wanted to start a youth-literacy organization, in part to expose young people to texts demonstrating that Black history starts well before American slavery. He invited Griffin to join him.
They rented a basement space in a modest office complex and launched Black Wall Street. The mission expanded quickly, and today, five years in, the group has in-house diaper and food banks, and a Saturday drop-in program for kids, offering chess, checkers and mentorship. Black Wall Street delivers food to apartment complexes, distributes bikes to kids, and works with Wake Up Nevada, the opioid-overdose prevention group, to keep several boxes around town filled with harm-reduction supplies.
She figures her honesty made her a trustworthy mentor, rather than just an authority figure. She said she was following Griffin’s lead.
Said Griffin: “I always introduce myself (in high schools) as, ‘Donald, alcoholic, addict and former criminal. And once I go in there, and I share my story, they understand: ‘Hey, he’s not just talking behind the book. He’s actually had some life experience that’s involved.’ … And then I sit back, and I listen. Nine times out of 10, the children, they come up to me: ‘Hey, you know, I understood that; that resonated with me.’”
“ I dealt with addiction for over 23 years. Nobody ever took the time out to come to the schools and talk to us. ”
— Donald Griffin Black Wall Street co-founder
Hale said Griffin came across as “a really cool and giving, kind person. He was just really nice. No matter your background, no matter what you came and presented him with, he always tried to help you. He never judged you. He just understood the low-income and the minorities of the community, and he sees them when probably no one else really does. … Even if he doesn’t know their families, he’ll just be like, ‘How’s your mom?’” Hale said the sense of accomplishment she got from distributing necessities and mentoring middle schoolers affected her quickly.
In 2023, Jacqueline Hale was a junior at Innovations High School. Her attendance was spotty, and her motivation was dragging.
“I just wasn’t really showing up and completing the things I needed to do,” she said.
On Wednesdays, Innovations students can opt for off-campus work experiences. When Donald Griffin from Black Wall Street—the Reno nonprofit that provides a range of resources for Black and underserved communities—came to the school to talk with Jacqueline’s class, she was happy to follow him off-campus to the group’s office, where she helped distribute household goods to people who needed them.
“Sometimes I would organize the diaper pantry for all the babies, and sometimes I would help people carry food boxes to their cars, just a lot of different stuff that helped,” Hale said.
She admitted she’d dreaded community service opportunities in the past. This time, she said, it made her feel warm inside.
“I dealt with addiction for over 23 years,” Griffin said, adding that, when he was a teen, “Nobody ever took the time out to come to the schools and talk to us.”
To Griffin and Tolliver, the two most important things Black Wall Street offers are role models, and a pathway for kids to become role models. With that in mind, they expanded the Innovations students’ volunteer hours into a mentorship program wherein the teens provide guidance for younger kids.
Hale was one of that program’s first participants. At a middle school, she and her peers gave out backpacks and sometimes food bags, occasionally took on hall-monitor duties, and spent time with the younger students during lunch and recess—“just to make sure they have friends throughout the day,” Hale said. “My goal was to be kind of a big sibling and to encourage the kids.”
She prodded her charges to get to class on time instead of lingering in the bathroom. “I would tell them that I used to do that stuff, too,” she said.
“Once I started feeling the responsibility of trying to help other kids … stick to school and try to convince them that school is a good thing, it also convinced me that I need to play my part and show them what it is to go to school,” she said. When Hale was still a junior, she decided she wanted to be a social worker. She started attending class more often and raised her GPA. Now, at 19, she’s a social-work student at Truckee Meadows Community College.
A goal to grow
On a late January day, Griffin stood in the Black Wall Street office amid tables of cardboard boxes containing produce, bread and treats from FoodMaxx and Trader Joe’s. Wire shelves held diapers and assorted household goods—a toaster, a thermostat, a pair of children’s boots—donated from Walmart. The goods on offer spilled out into the hallway, where a clothing rack displayed T-shirts to give away.
Griffin said that Black Wall Street served somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 people last year, and that today, the group’s most pressing goal is to expand. They’re looking at purchasing a building with a loading dock, which would allow them to distribute food in larger quantities.
Donald Griffin is a co-founder of Black Wall Street. The group’s office houses a small food bank where produce and other items donated from grocery stores are sorted and distributed. Photo/Kris Vagner
BY KELLEY LANG
February brings opportunities to dress up for a gala, brush up on labor history, and celebrate the many aspects of local and national Black culture.
A ROARING GOOD TIME: Come dressed in your best Jazz Age attire to Black Wall Street Reno’s second annual fundraiser gala. The 1920s-themed event offers dancing, hors d’oeuvres, activities, raffle prizes and more. Money raised will benefit the nonprofit organization’s programs and services to help at-risk teens, young adults and underserved groups in the Reno/Sparks area. The party begins at 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15, at The Virgil, at 301 Vassar St. Tickets are $40 per individual or $70 per couple. Visit blackwallstreetreno.org.
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE QUEST FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE:
Greta de Jong, a professor of history at the University of Nevada, Reno, will explore the pivotal role African Americans have played in labor movements and their ongoing struggle for economic and political rights from the end of Reconstruction to the present day. Her research sheds light on the intersections of race and class, offering an understanding of how African Americans have fought for justice and equality in the workforce. The discussion begins at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 19, in the meeting room at the Northwest Reno Library, at 2325 Robb Drive. Call 775-787-4100, or visit events. washoecountylibrary.us/event/12969815.
ARTOWN ENCORE SERIES—STEP AFRIKA! The 30-year-old dance company introduces audiences to stepping through both traditional and contemporary lenses. Step Afrika! incorporates percussive dance styles practiced by historically African-American fraternities and sororities, traditional African dances and an array
of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience. Performances integrate songs, storytelling, humor and audience participation. The show begins at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 2, at the Eldorado Showroom, inside the Eldorado Reno Hotel and Casino, at 345 N. Virginia St. Tickets are $38-$51. Visit artown.org/StepAfrika.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION: Girl Scouts of all levels are invited to explore Black culture and history through music, food and quilting at this event hosted by the Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada. Register online by Monday, Feb. 24. The event starts at 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 27, at the GSSN office, 605 Washington St. Cost is $10 per Girl Scout. Visit www.gssn.org.
CITY OF RENO BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION: The city will partner with the Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society (NNBCAS), Our Story, Inc. and Tabnie Dozier Enterprises to offer a series of events, educational materials and more during Black History Month. Through February, the public can learn about and celebrate the contributions of the Black community in Reno and beyond, in areas including education, medicine, art, culture, public service, economic development, politics and human rights. There will be a public presentation at 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15, at Reno City Plaza, 30 N. Virginia St. Visit www.instagram.com/cityofreno or www.instagram.com/ nnbcas.
NEVADA
BLACK CAUCUS DAY AT THE LEGISLATURE: The Nevada Black Legislative Caucus hosts its annual Black History Month event, which includes breakfast, meetings, activities and a luncheon from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 18 in Room 3100 at the Nevada State Legislature, 401 N. Carson St. The event is free, but you are encouraged to reserve a spot via Eventbrite. You can also visit nvblc.org for more information.
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Artown presents Step Afrika!, the Washington, D.C., dance company that combines traditional African dances with contemporary forms (along with a bit of humor and audience participation) at the Eldorado on Sunday, March 2.
Honoring the unseen
Meet Jordyn Owens, the new Reno City Artist
Jordyn Owens’ art is a meditation on the overlooked—the quiet beauty hidden in the mundane, the subtle and the fleeting.
Owens, who was named the Reno City Artist of 2025 in January, uses photography, collage and her own spiritual practices to uncover layers of meaning in everyday moments. She invites her audience to see the world through a different lens. Owens was born and raised in Reno, and her artistic journey began several years ago, when she discovered a camera for sale on Craigslist. With no formal training and little other artistic inclination, she took a leap of faith, letting the camera guide her explorations of both the external world and her own evolving sense of self.
“I was always aware of just seeing beauty in the mundane,” Owens said. “I wasn’t sure how I could capture that. I never had a camera or anything like that. It was just in moments with my friends or family, where I’d admire the smallest things—like a crack in a pavement or the light in a window—just mundane things that people often overlook.”
She began documenting her life—intimate moments with loved ones that quietly captured the essence of connection and vulnerability. As her passion for the medium grew, she realized that she couldn’t craft the images she was drawn to with just her friends and family in the frame.
She pushed herself to photograph strangers,
but the shift wasn’t easy. Owens found it daunting to approach people she didn’t know. But her desire to grow as an artist led her to reach out via social media, which slowly led her to build a portfolio of portraiture that became central to her work.
Owens eventually enrolled at the University of Nevada, Reno. She said her professors first pushed her to question the deeper purpose of her work. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 2023.
As she prepared for her first gallery show, her work crystallized. She shifted from documenting the abstract to addressing themes that are more subconscious—like generational trauma, heritage and the spiritual connections she felt with her ancestors. She began incorporating traditional African-American spiritual practices—such as prayer and altar-building—into her life and her art. She plans to investigate her Filipino roots as well.
“Their presence is there,” Owens said of her ancestors. “Through my artwork, I show gratitude to them. I feel like I access more knowledge through honoring them and doing a lot of research into connecting with the unseen.”
In the past few years, Owens’ artistic work has blossomed alongside a career in commercial portraiture. Three years ago, she had a transformative experience with group collage-making at The Generator—one that would expand her creative language.
“We were strangers, but we were creating these pieces together,” she said. “What I liked most about it was the amount of images you get to see; you don’t really know why you’re pulling these papers out or what’s calling to you, and you only kind of realize it … (when) it’s done.”
Collage allowed her to explore her creativity in a different way, channeling the playful nature of her inner child while tapping into to a greater wisdom.
“It’s full access to anything,” she said. “I have so much collage material at home, I feel like I’m becoming a hoarder. But that variety— it’s insane. It allows me to go deeper. I have a sketchbook full of different collages, and I’m so grateful for it. When I go back to them, I see themes that were developing months ago, and they’re still bleeding into the work that I’m doing now.”
Owens’ journey as an artist has also been shaped by a larger social context—one that she said is sometimes difficult for artists of color. As a Black artist in a predominantly white local art scene, she’s faced feelings of isolation and selfdoubt, particularly in academic settings, where she is often the only person of color.
Upon being named Reno City Artist, Owens had some mixed emotions. Though she is grateful for the opportunity and ready to do the
| BY MATT BIEKER
work, she feels cautious about the potential for tokenism that can come with such accolades.
“I’m grateful, but I wouldn’t say it’s validating,” Owens said. “When I was in academia, I feel like I was often tokenized for the work that I was doing, so those factors still weigh in when I get achievements.”
Still, Owens sees the recognition as an opportunity. This summer, as part of her official city duties, she will curate an exhibition at the Metro Gallery in City Hall in collaboration with Of the Sol, a collective she co-founded to support local artists of color.
She’ll also have two solo shows, one at the Northwest Reno Library beginning March 1, and one at the Metro Gallery in May.
Through all of her work—whether photography, collage or curatorial efforts—Owens strives to create a space for her community, to honor the ancestors who guide her, and to celebrate the transformative effect her art has had on her personally.
“I’ve changed so much throughout the years,” she said. “I’m like a different person from when I started in 2019. But the accomplishments that I’ve had have all been internal. They’ve all been healing moments of me understanding where I was when I picked up my camera—this really insecure, shy person—to where I am now.”
Jordyn Owens’ solo exhibition Beyond the Matrix will be on display from Saturday, March 1, through Sunday, April 20, at the Northwest Reno Library, 2325 Robb Drive. There will be a reception from 1 to 2 p.m., Saturday, March 15. Learn more at jordynowens.art.
Owens, whose first medium was photography, picked up collage in recent years. She appreciates how using borrowed images allows her to be playful and intuitive in new ways. “It allows me to go deeper,” she said. Photo/courtesy of Jordyn Owens
Jordyn Owens is the new City of Reno Artist. Photo/Edgar Padilla
VALENTINE'S DAY
Beyond flowers and chocolates
How to do Valentine’s Day your way, all over town
There are a million ways to love, but sometimes it feels like there are only a few ways to celebrate on Valentine’s Day. Is there more to the holiday than kids exchanging pun-riddled cards with classmates, and adults exchanging chocolates and flowers with romantic partners and maybe going out for a nice dinner?
Of course there is. This is Reno! We’ve found events in Reno, Sparks and Carson City that range from silly to sincere, and from indulgent to avoidant—for single people, couples, children, teens and anyone else who wants to celebrate romantic love, self-love, family love or even ambivalence to Valentine’s Day.
Maximum market
Jorge Chacon and Amy Rios are on a mission to create the most vibrant, fun, multi-generational and multi-cultural events in town.
They started an organization called The Funktion last summer to showcase Mexican-American vendors and music. Their initial events had around 10 vendors with
Gina Banning has been crafting for four years. She has a booth in the Painted Tree Boutiques in Sparks and will be among the approximately 70 vendors at the Cupid’s Groove Sweetheart Market and Dance at Futsol Sports Arena in Sparks on Feb. 8. Photo/David Robert
The Funktion is collaborating with the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and its United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) Club on an event called Cupid’s Groove, which will include a Valentine’s Day-themed day market, a night market and a dance at the Futsol Sports Arena, 1580 Hymer Ave., in Sparks, on Saturday, Feb. 8. Chacon said heart-shaped cookies and pies will be among the offerings.
The event will feature about 70 vendors and will run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. At 6 p.m., the overhead lights will go off, and a DJ will spin classic love songs and R&B hits. Tickets are $10 for the dance and markets, and $3 for the markets only. For information, visit @the_funktion_775 on Instagram, or find the event on Eventbrite.
Crafts for kids and adults
Sierra View Library, at Reno Town Mall (4001 S. Virginia St.), hosts Crafternoons for kids and families on Fridays, and will be doing Valentine’s crafts from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 14. You can register for this free event on the library’s webpage.
classic soul, funk and R&B from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s—“very much a staple in the Mexican-American community,” said Chacon. The duo added theme nights, like a bicycle night featuring lowrider and custom bicycles, and a lowrider car show for Mexican Independence Day.
When the weather cooled off, Chacon and Rios hosted an event at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony gym—which was on the same day that the RSIC was also hosting a craft fair.
“We had about 20 vendors; they had about 20 vendors,” Chacon said. “We had Mexican-American food and snacks; they had Native American Indian tacos and fry bread treats for sale, and people bounced back and forth between the events and experienced both events and both cultures.”
The event had multi-generational appeal. “Elders of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony … came in, got some food, and sat down and listened to the children play in the bounce house and watch them color and do puzzles,” Chacon said. “We realized we have an opportunity to create a place where the young and the old can gather and learn about each other’s cultures.”
April Kasper, of Painting With April, hosts events for participants with any degree of artistic ability, during which she provides stenciled canvases and offers step-by-step instructions for creating a unique painting. She has been facilitating painting events for a decade and loves taking them to different venues. She said that, while some attend with family and friends, you can also come solo, because “you are never alone when you come paint.”
Several of her February events have a Valentine’s Day angle. For example, “Hoof Hearted” will be held at the Little Waldorf Saloon, at 1661 N. Virginia St., at 1 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 16. Kasper encourages participants to come at noon for lunch and a good seat. Participants will paint an adorable, chunky unicorn with legs akimbo. Tickets are $39. For more information, visit paintingwithapril.com.
Where teens can sidestep the sap
The Washoe County Library System is hosting events that will appeal to teens who would rather do something that is not Valentine-related. The Sierra View Library will host an Anti-Valentine’s Day Party at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 13, where teens can “treat (their) jaded hearts to fun and treats” as they help plan future youth library programs and earn volunteer hours. Non-broken hearts are also welcome to attend. For teens who would enjoy a distraction from
|
BY SARAH RUSSELL
Valentine’s Day complete with adventures, monsters and storytelling with other teens, the Sparks (1125 12th St.) and Spanish Springs (7100A Pyramid Way) library branches will host tabletop games (such as Dungeons & Dragons) from 4 to 6 p.m., Friday, Feb. 13. To register for either the Spanish Springs or the Sparks event, visit the library’s website. Like all library events, these are free.
Sounds like self-love
If a holiday devoted to romantic love is not for you, Jen Haddix of Intuitive Jen suggests you take two hours for yourself and spend an evening celebrating self-love at her Valentine’s Day cacao ceremony and sound immersion, at 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 14, at Sweet Apple Yoga, 1271 W. Seventh St., in Reno.
She will serve cacao, a hot drink derived from the same plant as cocoa; she describes it as a non-psychoactive plant medicine that helps open the heart. During the cacao ceremony, people will set intentions and meditate. Then, once everyone is relaxed, an hour-long sound bath will feature crystal singing bowls, gongs, a flute and singing. Tickets are $48. To register, visit intuitivejen.com.
Big-screen romance
Carson City Shorts is hosting a Valentine-themed short film competition, and you can watch the resulting 40 or so creations at the Love Notes Short Film Competition Screening and Awards Ceremony, at 2 and 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Brewery Arts Center, 449 W. King St., in Carson City.
Local filmmakers were given two weeks and a prompt. Organizer Lyric Burt said he and his partner, Taylor Wilson, began making films in short competitions like this and have gone on to become finalists in the Cordillera International Film Festival, making this a great event to catch our region’s up-and-coming filmmakers. Emily Skyle-Golden, Cordillera’s executive director, will be one of the judges, and the judge’s choice winners will be screened at Cordillera.
“You may get some cheesy rom-coms and some heartfelt dramas, but also see some things from beyond the stars—and maybe a bad romance or two,” Burt said.
Tickets are $15 to $25, available at breweryarts.org.
The South Valleys Library (15650A Wedge Parkway) is playing romantic movies in February as part of its “Isn’t It Romantic? Classic Love Stories in Film” series. On most Saturdays at 2 p.m., you can catch a classic film, including Roman Holiday, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, on Feb. 1; An Affair to Remember, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, on Feb. 8; Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, on Feb. 22; and The Way We Were, starring Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand on March 1.
ART OF THE STATE
Mountaintop melodrama
Proscenium Players revisits classic pulp-fiction satire ‘Seven Keys to Baldpate’
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A remote mountaintop resort is closed for winter. A writer is alone inside. Violence, chaos and even a ghostly visit ensue.
It’s not a Stephen King novel; it’s actually a tale dating back to 1913, when novelist Earl Derr Biggers penned a penny dreadful—one of the cheap, sensational serial novels that were mass-produced in the early 1900s—called Seven Keys to Baldpate. Later that year, playwright George Cohan, in a bid to highlight the ridiculousness of the form, wrote a play of the same name.
This February, the 60-year-old Carson City theater troupe Proscenium Players, Inc., will present this outlandish, melodramatic, locked-room mystery at the Brewery Arts Center, transporting audiences back to a time when novelists wrote on typewriters; houses had only one phone; and female journalists were few and far between.
It’s the story of William Hallowell Magee, a novelist with a reputation for cranking out dime-a-dozen pulp-fiction novels.
A wealthy friend bets Magee $5,000 that he can’t write a 10,000-word novel in 24 hours. He’ll even offer up his own property, The Baldpate Inn—a secluded summer resort that’s closed and entirely empty—as
a quiet place where Magee can work. Magee takes the bet and travels to Baldpate Mountain in New Jersey to meet the Quimby family, the inn’s winter caretakers, who share a bit of the local lore and hand him the key (which he’s told is the only one in existence) before he’s left alone to write.
But he actually doesn’t have the only key; there appear to be seven. Soon, a host of archetypes start appearing at the door: a crooked politician and his toady, a railroad magnate, an uppity female reporter, a femme fatale and a gangster—not to mention a creepy, unexpected resident living in the bowels of the inn. Suddenly, Magee is caught in the middle of a plot to steal a half-million dollars from the hotel safe that was earmarked for a railroad project—and a possible romance with Mary, the reporter he’s only just met.
As in the days of silent film, a narrator freezes the action every time a new character enters the stage to describe them, as a sort of satiric nod to the genre. The show capitalizes on all the hallmarks of melodrama, a genre of the time characterized by its wild, improbable plots, stock character types and over-the-top performances—also an effect of silent film.
Steve Burton, a formally trained actor who
| BY JESSICA SANTINA
Steven Segal plays Jim Cargan—a crooked mayor—as if he were a mafia boss from an old-timey film. Photo/Kris Vagner
plays Magee, explained: “Melodrama went out of fashion with the ‘talkies,’ so that’s when it kind of disappeared. … There’s a point in the show where a telephone rings, and in that time period, a telephone is a relatively new invention. The telephone rings, and the people onstage all gasp. So, it’s that kind of overreacting where the melodrama comes in.”
Director Warren Schader, a longtime PPI performer and director, said he’s leaning into the pulp-fiction aspects of the show, with vivid colors, makeup intended to mimic the graphic novel-style celluloid drawings found in the genre, and harsh lighting. Schader also will rely heavily on sound effects, not to mention choreographed fights and some clever set design that ensures every part of the stage is used to maximum effect.
“Hopefully this is a warning for folks: We’re using blank rounds; there is a gun,” Schader said. “Someone dies. There’s quite a bit of action and flashing lights. We’re trying to make Baldpate a little bit of a character on its own.”
Melodrama archetypes run rampant in the show, including Steven Segal as Jim Cargan, the town’s crooked mayor, who uses his naturally deep voice and muscular frame to align with the mafia stereotypes from the ’20s. Steve Burton’s wife, Maureen Burton, plays Mary Norton, the reporter who—upon getting wind of this plan to write a book in 24 hours—is convinced it would be a great story. She arrives at the inn and falls in love at first sight with Magee. She’s been focused on character traits often exhibited in the female reporter archetype.
“I’ve been watching old-timey movies, especially because there’s the Transatlantic accent, which is a little bit British and a little bit American,” she said.
As a farce, the action grows to a fever pitch, with each passing scene becoming more and more improbable and, ultimately, hilarious. Fortunately, the ending to this mystery is one you won’t see coming.
“It’s really twisty,” said Maureen said. “Every which way you look, there’s a different twist and turn, and a new person with a motive. And then there’s humor thrown in, with a little bit of passion. At the end, your mind is blown. You can’t miss a minute of it.”
Proscenium Players, Inc.’s production of Seven Keys to Baldpate will be performed at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, from Feb. 7-16, at the Maizie Blackbox Theater at the Brewery Arts Center, 449 W. King St., in Carson City. Tickets are $25, with discounts. For tickets or more information, visit www. carsontheater.com.
ART OF THE STATE
Fun with faults
‘Flawed
and Fabulous’ is a musical comedy improv about female friendships
“Not having a sister, female friendships have always intrigued me—but they’ve also mysteriously confused and disturbed me,” said Stephanie Gittleman, co-creator of Flawed and Fabulous, a musical comedy-improv show that explores female friendships. When Gittleman was in her late 20s, her best friend since junior high suddenly ghosted her. It led her to ponder why certain friendships weather life’s storms, while others never develop past polite small talk. She wondered: Wouldn’t it be better to disclose
one’s worst personality traits at the start, rather than create an unrealistic, rosy first impression, only to be crushed later?
Gittleman later parlayed her musings into Flaunt Your Flaws!, a mock reality dating musical-improv show in which eight characters sang about their faults in Act 1. During intermission, the audience voted to pair up the characters. Act 2 revealed the pairs navigating life from the first date to marriage therapy.
After the successful run of Flaunt Your Flaws!, Gittleman shifted her focus to female
Stephanie Gittleman is co-creator of Flawed and Fabulous, a musical comedy improv show that explores female friendships.
Photo/David Robert
friendships. Like many relationships, Flawed and Fabulous began in March 2024 with connecting over a meal: Gittleman posted fliers in coffee shops and online for an “informational brunch” to draw performers.
“We figured lots of food would draw them in, and we were correct,” she said.
During brunch, co-creator and director Janet Lazarus helped develop material for the script through brainstorming, sharing stories and improv with the 14 women who attended. Gittleman and Lazarus held weekly workshops with the participants from Memorial Day until Labor Day. Gittleman brought food for the meetings and drew inspiration from the workshop recordings.
While personality flaws are often easily recognizable (particularly in other people), Gittleman noted her own challenges in drafting the script. “Before auditions, I needed to weave together 14 different character flaws while still telling a cohesive story about female friendship that didn’t feel clichéd or piecemeal,” she said.
Flawed and Fabulous is slated to tour to six theaters in Reno and Sparks between Feb. 13 and March 9. The tour schedule presents some challenges: The stage sizes and layouts vary, so the blocking and choreography will be adapted. The performers will have to quickly acclimate to different entrance and exit locations.
Act 1 of Flawed and Fabulous opens with the cast of characters, among them Clingy Clarissa and No Filter Felicity, revealing their flaws through song. During intermission, the audience votes for which characters they want to see thrown together into interesting situations, like
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BY SUSAN WINTERS
three friends stuck in a tiny cabin during their cruise vacation. The audience may be asked to suggest a location or a secret to be revealed in a later scene.
Each performance features a different “Mystery Man” whose identity will be revealed at intermission. The Mystery Man acts as the emcee for Act 2 and inserts himself as various male personas into the improv scenes that follow.
“In this way, every show is unique, depending on the audience votes, as well as brand-new situations appearing on the ballot for each separate performance,” Gittleman said.
The cast of 14 women includes six of the women from the original brunch gathering. The ensemble is an eclectic blend of traditional actors and professional vocalists new to improvisation, and improvisers who didn’t realize they could sing.
“Everyone has their preferred niche in the realm of live theater, so it’s been extremely gratifying integrating all three—acting, singing and improv,” Gittleman said.
With the elements of improv, audience participation and venue variation, there’s no telling where each Flawed and Fabulous performance may lead—which suits Gittleman just fine.
“I’m a big fan of writing twists and turns and whoa-didn’t-see-that-coming storylines,” she said.
Flawed and Fabulous performances are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 13, at The Theatre; Friday and Sunday, Feb. 14 and 16, at Brüka Theatre; Saturday, Feb. 15, at Good Luck Macbeth Theatre Company (two shows); Fridays, Feb. 28 and March 7, at Reno Improv; Saturday, March 8, at Restless Artists Theatre; and Sunday, March 9, at Reno Little Theater. For tickets, times and other details, visit flawedandfab.com.
RENO’S GRANDEST ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP
BUSH Feb 1
Marca Registrada Feb 7
Cheap Trick Feb 14
Gary Clark Jr Feb 19
Theory of a Deadman Feb 21
Franco Escamilla Feb 22
Chris Janson Feb 28
The Tenors Mar 1
Dream Theater Mar 2
Whitney Cummings Mar 7
Palomazo Norteño Mar 8
Killswitch Engage Mar 14
Justin Moore Mar 20
Tesla Mar 22
Killer Queen Mar 23
Cypress Hill with Reno Phil Apr 4
Bullet For My Valentine & Trivium Apr 5
Hollywood Undead & Tech
N9ne Apr 6
Meshuggah Apr 10
Jordan Davis Apr 13
Naruto: The Symphonic Experience Apr 16
Yachtley Crew Apr 18
Tony Hinchcliffe Apr 19
Kraftwerk Apr 21
RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles Apr 24
Sevendust Apr 27
Nikki Glaser May 2
Brett Young May 3
Lord Huron May 22
Adam Ray May 30
Felipe Esparza June 13
Brit Floyd ft Alan Parsons July 15 & 16
Alison Krauss & Union Station July 18
Maoli July 22
Bailey Zimmerman Sep 12
Ninja Kidz Oct 26
Cinematic genius
‘The Brutalist’ is one of the best films of the 21st century; the re-imagining of ‘Wolf Man’ is all bore and no bite
The Brutalist is the best picture of 2024, and it is deservedly nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Let me count the ways in which I love this movie.
As you watch The Brutalist, you’ll realize you are seeing genius and historic filmmaking in progress—a sprawling, majestic, 3 1/2-hour epic in which every frame is well-played. Adrien Brody—in a year when
Timothy Chalamet sang, learned guitar and played harmonica winningly as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown—deserves a second Oscar for this one.
Laszlo (Brody), a Holocaust survivor, makes his way to the United States after the war. He’s not necessarily looking to live the American dream; he’s just looking to live without hellish oppression. An architect by trade, he endures a series of growing tribulations as he tries to reunite with his wife, Erzsebet (Felicity Jones, also Oscar-nominated), and survive New York City.
Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce, also nominated)—Laszlo’s first major client, an incredibly moody man—becomes his boss, and Laszlo is tasked with building a large memorial
and Alessandro Nivola in The
on a beautiful parcel of land. Laszlo must fight to bring his European sensibilities (a unique, maverick design style that got him the gig) to the project as Harrison oscillates between sweet, pioneering/bohemian spirit and cost-cutting, raging asshole.
This is 2024’s best onscreen battle, far more engaging and terrifying than anything in Gladiator 2. It’s also heartbreaking, because there’s the tease of genuine admiration and friendship in Harrison, something Laszlo needs after all of his trauma. As Laszlo finds out through the course of many years, for him, trauma is routine.
Laszlo and Erzsebet persist, no matter what evil mind games and betrayals those surrounding them serve up, and as you’d expect, the film gets downbeat at times. Attila (the vastly undervalued Alessandro Nivola, delivering career-best work), a kindly relative, shelters Laszlo at first and gives him a place to practice his trade and live. What seems to be a core relationship that will drive the film progressively morphs into something more somber. The adversity Laszlo faces is brutal, indeed.
There’s much ballyhoo about this film’s budget being less than $10 million, and there should be. How director Brady Corbet managed to make a movie that looks like this—while procuring such an amazing cast and capturing such magical performances—on such a small budget by today’s standards is a modern-day moviemaking miracle.
There have been recent controversies regarding the use of AI software to sharpen some of the audio (specifically, moments when Brody and Jones are speaking Hungarian), leading some to diminish the accomplishment that is The Brutalist. This is total bullshit. Special effects have been used to embellish and strengthen visuals and audio since the beginning of the film art. Whatever they did to improve the sound and visuals works in a way that is seamless and provides no distraction from the power of the performances.
Now, this film a long one. You will get an
| BY BOB GRIMM
intermission for a bathroom break, so locate the restroom before the movie starts, and have a plan. As with all long movies, if you are not vibing with the film, three hours and 34 minutes can be a slog. Be prepared.
Director Brady Corbet, Brody, Jones, Pearce and much of the crew deserve Oscars for the spectacle that is The Brutalist. I’m not predicting wins for them just yet—Oscar picks can get really screwy—but the nominations are much-deserved. This is one of the best films of the 21st century.
The latest attempt to reboot a classic Universal Studios monster results in something so boring that it’ll fracture jaws from yawning too hard.
1Wolf Man is supposed to be a wolfman/werewolf movie, but it’s more of a solemn-dad-loses-his-hair-and-a-couple-ofteeth-while-suffering-from-melancholy movie. It tries to put a new twist on the wolf man, but instead just sucks all of the fun out of it. I think this was supposed to be allegorical regarding failed fatherhood and marriages, but instead, it’s a lame ode to aging and going bald.
Werewolf movies are all about the transformation, and this features a transformation that slowly happens over a large swath of the movie’s running time. The movie is 103 minutes long, but feels more like 162 hours of sermonizing in the worst, gloomiest church ever
Blake (Christopher Abbott), the aforementioned sad dad, has just been notified that his father has died, and he is on the way to clean out his dad’s house in the Oregon wilderness; his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner), and daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), are along for the ride. An accident occurs in the woods, and Blake is scratched by an unseen beast.
Almost immediately, he starts throwing up and losing teeth while trying to eat beef jerky. (Hey, we can all relate to the jerky thing.) He notices his hair is falling out, and at one point, he tries to eat his own arm. (OK, I can’t really relate to the arm-eating thing.) He eventually becomes … something, but I was not quite sure what that something is supposed to be. A hair-
Adrien Brody
Brutalist
less werewolf sort of thing? Just a super-ugly guy? Homeless meth-head with a taste for his own arm?
Yes, I can accept that this is not an old-fashioned werewolf movie, and that it is looking to be a new spin on the sub-genre—but if it’s going to be different, it had better be compelling, and Blake’s seemingly endless transformation is just not engaging. He’s eventually sharp-toothed and howling, but last I checked, most wolves have all of their hair. He winds up looking more like Jeff Goldblum’s Brundle Fly from The Fly in the early stages of transformation—but a more boring, less visually interesting version of that.
The script lays it on thick and slams you over the head with the overriding message that dads sometimes really suck. This is basically The Shining, minus the snow, the hotel, Jack Nicholson, any sense of style and nuance, Stanley Kubrick, alcoholism undertones, the powers of Stephen King, and any sense of fun.
Director Leigh Whannell is essentially returning to the well here after the massive success of The Invisible Man, his other unorthodox Universal monster reboot. That movie leaned heavily on allegory and drama, but it had, of course, an unseen monster. This one relies heavily on monsters, but those monsters are filmed in the dark without any true sense of character.
The film’s written opening says those afflicted have some sort of legendary curse called “face of the wolf.” In other words, they aren’t standard-issue werewolves; they can be killed with shovels, normal bullets, knives, bites to the throat and a series of well-placed, hard-hitting insults about their lame appearance that hit home and drive them to suicide. (That last one doesn’t happen in the movie, but I would imagine it’s true.)
Abbott fails to shine in the central role. His Blake is unlikable and dull, and never rises above that, even when he’s running around howling. Garner, normally reliable, is saddled with a role that requires her to simply put on a quizzical face and stand in the corner.
Watch closely, and you’ll see a few homages to films like An American Werewolf in London Sorry, but a movie this bad doesn’t deserve to pay homage to anything far superior. Instead, it should just stay on the shelf and not bother anybody.
After a grand start, Netflix’s American Primeval fades toward a bland, copout finish. The brutal depiction of the old American West can’t maintain its energy over six episodes.
Directed entirely by Peter Berg, this feels a lot like The Revenant meeting his own Friday Night Lights. When it clicks, it really sparks, and it’s not afraid to go dark and bloody—but it also meanders. The ending feels like a last-ditch effort to create something feel-good after six hours of bloody action scenes woven between dull stretches.
Boy, this depiction of early Mormon settlers is certainly not positive. Brigham Young (Kim Coates), Mormon leader and the governor of the Utah Territory during the period depicted here, is shown as villainous scum. Perhaps that really was the case, but he’s like Satan in this thing. The dude doesn’t possess a single redeeming quality.
The majority of the story follows Sara (Betty Gilpin), a fugitive trying to make it across the country with her young son. She winds up with a rather feral man (Taylor Kitsch) as her guide; he’s a sort of John Wick of the Old West: He can kick ass, and he’s severely bummed out.
Dane Dehaan plays a Mormon settler who suffers a major injury during a particularly violent attack. He spends most of the show with blood caked all over his head, woozily searching for his lost wife (Saura Lightfoot-Leon). I often can’t stand Dehaan, but his performances have been a little less hammy as of late, and he does OK playing a poor fellow whose scalp has been sloppily stitched back on. Jai Courtney and Shea Whigham help round out a strong cast.
The violence in the show would merit a hard R rating, similar to the gory reality of Berg’s Lone Survivor. The Wild West depicted here is very gray, dirty and despairing, and it gets a bit tedious past the halfway point. Some subplots involving
the anguish of Native Americans feel like they’ve been abbreviated. There’s not enough heft.
Gilpin and Kitsch are good with what they are given, but even with six hours of running time, their characters don’t feel fleshed out enough. There’s a scene in which Gilpin flies into action like she’s been handling guns since the crib, but the show never really explores how she got those skills. Maybe a prequel is planned?
Actually, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. That moment when Gilpin goes crazy with the guns reminded me what a great action star she can be. Her action moments are actually far more compelling than when Kitsch is kicking butt. A show that depicts how her character got to her status
at the beginning of this show would probably be a lot better. After The Hunt—an underrated gem released in the early days of the pandemic—I’ve always wanted to see Gilpin get more badass. There’s a little bit of that here, but not enough.
A story thread involving the owner of a fort (Whigham) squaring off with the Mormons is interesting, thanks mostly to Whigham’s growly performance and his character’s moxie as he faces Brigham Young.
The show was decent enough for me to binge it rather rapidly, even though the returns diminish in the final third. Some episodes, including the first one, are stand-alone good and worthy of your time, but overall, American Primeval feels a bit shallow and pieced together. Berg is a talented director, and it shows at times—but it seems like he runs out of things to say.
American Primeval is streaming on Netflix.
Preston Mota and Betty Gilpin in American Primeval.
THE DISH
David Holman Assistant executive chef at the Atlantis
David Holman cultivates both a home garden and a place in Reno’s fine-dining scene. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, he mastered French technique under Chef Charlie Palmer at Aureole Las Vegas and Charlie Palmer Steak Reno, and then led the kitchen at Campo before becoming the assistant executive chef at the Atlantis. His backyard harvest—heirloom tomatoes and fresh herbs—inspires restaurant menus and weekend cooking adventures with his children, Aurelia and Henry.
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten locally in the last month?
Hamachi crudo at Centro. It is delicious and had a uniquely non-typical Asian flavor combination. Travis Stehman creates memorable cuisine.
Your kitchen is on fire!
(Metaphorically.) What are you cooking?
Ora King salmon with miso butter and baby bok choy. Delicious with a nice sauvignon blanc.
| BY DAVID RODRIGUEZ
Who is/was your strongest culinary influence?
My mom. If there’s a recipe, restaurant, wine bar or farmers’ market, she is always the first to jump in the car with me and explore. That curiosity and fearlessness to try something new and see new combinations of flavors still amazes me.
What is your go-to midnight snack?
A fried ham-egg sandwich. It’s quick and easy, and with two kids, those ingredients are always in the fridge.
Which local restaurant deserves more attention, and why?
I think Centro, Liberty (Food and Wine Exchange), Kwok’s Bistro, and Arario. They are all delicious with memorable experiences and unique cooking styles. Plus, they are all friends of mine. I want them to keep crushing it, and more attention equals more success—they deserve it.
How does food contribute to our community? It binds us together and brings people to our city. Our conventions and big groups like Burning Man and Hot August Nights are fun, but when people visit our local bars and restaurants, they are amazed how great they are.
What is the most unusual thing in your refrigerator?
Chili crisp. It is a new ingredient over the years. I always had truffles, harissa and some sort of chimichurri and steak sauce, but now this new Asian condiment spices up all my dishes.
Please share your favorite food memory from growing up.
Watching my mom and grandma making chicken noodle soup. They’d roll out the pasta and let it dry on newspaper, then make a traditional stock with all the carrots and celery, and poach the thick, springy noodles at the very last minute for that perfect texture. I could go for a bowl right now!
What is the one kitchen tool you can’t live without?
My KitchenAid mixer. It’s the workhorse of the kitchen. I have tons of attachments, too. Whipping up cakes, cookies, pasta and even house-made bread—is easy to do.
If you could have dinner at any restaurant in the world, where would it be, and why there? PRESS in the Napa Valley. Chef Philip Tessier’s food is so delicious. He just earned his first Michelin star there, and it’s sure to get even better.
Valentine’s Day delights
Expert tips for pairing wine and chocolate
As Valentine’s Day approaches, I have a confession: I’ve avoided writing about wine and chocolate pairings in the past, because, frankly, the ones typically presented by wineries, wine bars and restaurants have been boring.
The art of pairing wine with chocolate has become more popular in recent years, with connoisseurs and casual drinkers alike seeking the perfect combinations. Here in Reno, we are lucky to have a place to indulge in world-class pairings: Champagne and Chocolate.
The story begins with the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory, which has been crafting exquisite candies and chocolates since 1936. This is where Cesar Acosta, the owner of Champagne and Chocolate, apprenticed as a chocolatier under Ed Feriance, who is a third-generation candy maker. Acosta founded the first Champagne and Chocolate store in South Lake Tahoe in 2021 and opened the Reno location at 550 W. Plumb Lane in September 2024. A third location opened in Virginia City in January—and Acosta
became owner of the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory upon Feriance’s retirement in 2024.
I asked Acosta how his staff members present the pairings. “We’re not your typical snooty place,” he said. “It’s for people who love wine and chocolate, even if they don’t know anything about wine or chocolate. They’re here to have fun. They’re here to experiment. We try to cater it to everyone.”
The pairings don’t come from a set menu.
“We have a lot of (people with) nut and other allergies, and also just different likes,” Acosta said. “So if you say, ‘I love red wines,’ and, ‘I love milk chocolate,’ your pairing is going to consist more of that, and we’re going to curate it just to you and your group, versus you being given one cookie-cutter template.”
Chocolate and wine share many similar flavor compounds, allowing them to enhance and complement each other. Both contain hundreds of different volatile molecules that contribute to their complex taste profiles. When paired correctly, these flavors can create a harmonious balance or provide interesting contrasts. Just as pairing wine with other food has basic rules, so
| BY STEVE NOEL
News and events
does pairing wine with chocolate. Those rules govern intensity-matching, sweetness balance, texture contrast and flavor harmony.
The key to a successful pairing is matching the intensity of the chocolate with the body of the wine. Lighter chocolates, such as white or milk chocolate, pair well with lighter-bodied wines, while some darker, more-intense chocolates can stand up to fuller-bodied wines. A light red wine would not pair well with an extremely dark chocolate with a lot of bitter components. If they’re paired correctly, neither the chocolate nor the wine overpowers the other.
Sweetness levels play a crucial role as well. This is why sweeter wines often pair well with chocolate—they can complement the sweetness while balancing the bitterness of cocoa.
The creamy, melting texture of chocolate can provide an interesting contrast to the liquid nature of wine. This textural interplay can enhance the overall sensory experience of the pairing. The amount and quality of the milkfat and cocoa butter can have a huge effect on this mouthfeel.
Champagne and Chocolate offers a pairing service for small or large groups in a dedicated room set aside for these types of tastings. I asked Acosta for some tips, and he said the No. 1 thing to ensure you have the highest quality chocolate is to read the ingredients label.
“You want to make sure there is no palm oil or other artificial additives,” he said. “Palm oil is used as an extender to make the chocolate go further, but reduces its quality and hides the pure expression of the chocolate.”
Acosta added that many well-known chocolate producers use these ingredients, so you can’t just trust the name on the package—you need to read the label.
Regarding the level of cacao that should be used in a wine pairing, Acosta said: “If you use any chocolate with over 80% cacao, it will be too bitter for a good pairing, even with a dark red wine, so 60 to 70% is a sweet spot for red wines.”
Acosta said he’s a fan of pairings with milk chocolate. “Any chocolate with less than 50% cacao is milk chocolate and pairs well with light reds. White chocolate can pair well with many white wines, and, of course, our main thing is the champagne side of things. Champagne pairs well with all chocolate, especially those with fruit fillings.”
Whether you are looking to surprise your significant other or create an experience for a group of family or friends, self-guided or expert-guided wine and chocolate pairings can be a great option—just use the best chocolate and wine you can find. Roses are optional.
The 2025 Nevada Craft Beverage Passport is now available at 52 participating establishments across the state. This collaboration between the Nevada Department of Agriculture and Made in Nevada highlights businesses that make beverages locally. Patrons can win prizes by collecting stamps at breweries, wineries and distilleries. The first five participants to return their passports will win a Made in Nevada gift basket. Stamps can be collected through Dec. 31. To view and print the passport, visit agri.nv.gov.
City Brew Tours, which operates in more than 20 locations in the U.S. and Canada, launched a 3 1/2-hour van tour of Reno breweries in January. Tickets are $89 per person for the “original tour,” which includes up to 16 samples of beer. City Brew Tours also provides private tours and packages for special occasions. In Reno, participating establishments include Brewer’s Cabinet, The Depot and Slieve Brewing Company. Learn more at citybrewtours.com.
Openings
Tickets are on sale for the Black Tie Dive Bar Tour, a fundraiser hosted by the Red Shoe Society in support of Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern Nevada. The event kicks off at Lucky Beaver Bar and Burger, at 3655 S. Virginia St., at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15. This year’s other stops will be Alibi Lounge, Filthy McNasty’s Irish Bar, Red Rock Bar and Boar’s Head Saloon. Tickets, which start at $140 for nonmembers, are available on Eventbrite and include transportation via limo bus.
Josef’s Vienna Bakery and Café opened a second location at 606 W. Plumb Ln. It features the same menu as the Moana Lane location, serving breakfast, salads and sandwiches in addition to the European-style pastries, breads and coffee beverages that Josef’s has made fresh since 1980. Learn more at josefsbakery.com. New to Storey County is Roots Indian Restaurant and Bar, offering authentic Indian cuisine featuring vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, as well as a full-service bar. Owned by Mandeep Kaur, who runs the establishment alongside her family, it is located at 420 USA Parkway, Suite 10, at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. The website is rootsindianrestaurant.com.
Los Angeles-based restaurant chain Mochinut has arrived at 5150 Mae Anne
Erika Villaseñor, a server at Champagne and Chocolate in Reno, presents lighter chocolates and champagne, a classic Valentine’s Day pairing. Photo/David Robert continued on next page
TASTE OF THE TOWN TASTE OF THE TOWN
continued from Page 23 Ave., Suite 213, in northwest Reno. The franchise sells mochi donuts, Korean-style hotdogs, boba teas and coconut jelly pudding, the last being unique to the Reno location. Mochi donuts are made with rice flour, giving them a stretchy, chewy consistency. Owner Jeff Wang, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, operates the shop alongside a group of employees that includes his mother and his wife. Get details at www.instagram. com/mochinut_reno.
Bol de Mélange is the most recent addition to the Reno Public Market, at 299 E. Plumb Lane. The restaurant offers dishes including wraps, schnitzel and salads, showcasing global flavors. Owned by Selman Ozhan, a chef with more than 20 years of experience, Bol de Mélange brings an emphasis on healthy, well-balanced ingredients to Reno’s eclectic food hall. Get details at www.instagram.com/ boldemelange.
Chrome Coffee Works is open for business at 131 Pine St., in Reno, and is the latest in a series of coffee establishments to occupy the space. Located just a few blocks south of the National Automobile Museum, the shop has a nostalgic vibe inspired by classic cars. Learn more at www.instagram.com/chromecoffeeworks.
A new Mediterranean joint has opened at 1171 Steamboat Parkway, Suite 100, in Reno. The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill—a fast casual restaurant franchise— serves appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrees. Founded by a Greek-Armenian family in 2011, the Great Greek now has more than 25 locations in 18 states. Menu items include classics such as souvlaki, gyros and, of course, Greek salad. Get details at www.thegreatgreekgrill.com.
Closings
Blind Dog Tavern, at 50 N. Sierra St., in downtown Reno has closed. The cocktail bar had been in operation since 2017.
IMBĪB Custom Brews will be shuttering both its Reno and Sparks locations at the end of February.
Cafe Capello, located at 248 W. First St., in downtown Reno since February 2019, closed on Jan. 17.
Cocktail bar and live music venue The Loving Cup and its neighbor, Satisfaction Pizza, both closed in January. They were housed in the same building at 188 California Ave.
Pola Poke Bowls, at 3594 W. Plumb Lane, has closed.
Have local food, drink or restaurant news? Email foodnews@renonr.com.
—Alex Cubbon
LIQUID CONVERSATIONS
Cutting-edge libations
The newly opened Curse of Cane dazzles with high-concept cocktails
Style can be effortless, but to be stylish is an act of devotion and curation. To be stylish, you must know what looks good but is not trying too hard, what feels timeless but happens to be surprising. You must be a student of style, constantly learning what is next, and why it feels classic.
For more than a decade, the owners of Death and Taxes, Amari and now Curse of Cane have worked tirelessly to create some of the best drinks in Reno, in decidedly stylish environments. It is no small feat to run some of Reno’s most cutting-edge, quality cocktail bars for so many years. I sat down with owners Sadie Bonnette and Ivan Fontana to discuss Curse of Cane, which they opened this past fall, and what it takes to stay relevant all these years.
Walking into Curse of Cane, people instantly realize: This is not Death and Taxes.
“Death and Taxes is a legacy brand,” Fontana said. “We wanted to challenge the people who thought we were going to do the same thing. We wanted to create
something that felt like you popped a balloon, and fun went everywhere.”
Where Death and Taxes is dark, moody and filled with candlelight, Curse of Cane is bright, bold and ready to party, with walls lined in pastel colors and green velvet seats. The drink names are cheeky and fun—like “One Bad Bitch” and “The Ghost of Biggie”—and the music is nostalgic, mainly hip-hop and house-party classics.
The key to understanding Curse of Cane is to not let the fun fool you: All of the attention to detail and dedication to the craft of making drinks that you’d expect from Bonnette and Fontana’s bars are still there.
“If this bar opened six years ago, I would not be as happy with the product as I am today,” said Fontana, the mastermind behind the drinks. “I have learned so much, technique-wise, that I can streamline this program and not compromise the product.”
Complicated and trending techniques, like acidulation and clarification, that are used to make the drinks are ingredients as important
| BY MICHAEL MOBERLY
Mixologist Hunter Grimmer puts the cherry on a “Rum and Coke,” a housemade blend of cherry cola flavors and premium rums. Photo/David Robert
as the rums that line the shelves. What looks like a fun red drink poured from a plastic two-liter bottle has been clarified, temperature-controlled, force-carbonated and balanced to perfection. Every detail has been considered, so you do not notice it, but enjoy it. Classics are upgraded with personality—like a German chocolate old fashioned.
“The menu is a conversation,” said Bonnette. “We kept the descriptions vague, so it gives the opportunity for the bartender to talk about these techniques if it comes up, because if it’s something that looks as simple as a rum and Coke, it’s not.”
The Curse of Cane “Rum and Coke” is a clarified, force-carbonated blend of housemade cherry-cola flavors and premium rums.
How do Bonnette and Fontana keep their finger on the pulse after 12 years of running bars? “We’re constantly visiting big, reputable bars across the world,” said Bonnette. Among those that have inspired the Curse of Cane team are Thunderbolt in Los Angeles and Denver’s Yacht Club, both bars pushing the boundaries of what it means to have fun, technique-driven cocktails.
“When you try something new, it gets the gears turning, so you are not stagnant,” said Fontana. “That growing and learning becomes contagious when you are taking that and sharing it with your team.”
Bonnette and Fontana know that what works in New York may not work here in Reno, but ambition is in their DNA.
“You just have to stay true to what you believe in, and what you do best,” Fontana said. They have been partners in business and life since 2011, when their first business, Midtown Eats, opened. They’ve worked through opening multiple concepts; they’ve weathered a pandemic; and they still want to do more.
“We’re business partners; we’re partners in life—it’s the full shebang,” Fontana said. Traveling together and growing together is what makes their vision for Curse of Cane so clear to them. “We know what our strengths are, and how to stay true to those things,” Bonnette said.
Building something new is hard. Creating something unique is even more challenging. At Curse of Cane, you will get a stylish drink made with techniques from some of Reno’s best cocktail minds.
Curse of Cane is located at 809 S. Center St. Learn more at www.instagram.com/ curseofcane.
MUSICBEAT
Always all ages
The people behind The Empire hope the new venue helps resolve struggles in Reno’s
Nearly a year ago, a new venue emerged, providing Reno with an all-ages space for metal, hardcore, indie and more.
The Empire is an intimate music venue located on Ryland Street, and in less than a year, it has hosted 30 shows spanning genres and fanbases. The duo of Chloe “Bug” Saunders and Noah Burton have given music fans from all walks of life another outlet of self-expression thanks to The Empire. During a recent phone interview, they talked about why they opened the venue.
“We felt like Reno needed another all-ages music space, especially for heavy music,” Saunders said. “I had been booking shows for a while, and the place that I was booking shows at closed down, so it was hard to find a space that had open dates, or is chill with booking heavy music. Some of us got together and threw around the idea, and we just opened up our own space.”
Added Burton: “There are not enough all-age venues; 95% of the venues around here are bars, so it’s all 21 and up. Not a lot of kids under 21 are able to go to see any kind of genre, or even bigger acts that come through here.”
The venue has only hosted concerts so far, but the owners are dedicated to expanding their offerings in 2025.
“We opened it with the intent to do an art space-type thing, but we just haven’t had the opportunity yet,” Burton said. “We’ve been open for less than a year now, so we’re trying to get our name out at this point, and try
to provide any shows that we can around here.”
The Empire has a forgiving policy regarding misbehavior.
“Obviously, there’s stuff that we have no tolerance for, just like any sort of music venue,” Saunders said. “We went into it with the idea of: If something happens at a show, or if someone gets too rowdy or whatever, and it gets to the point where they need to be removed from the show, they’re not (permanently) 86ed from the venue, so they can come back next time.”
Added Burton: “We haven’t really had any instances where we’ve had to 86 anybody. People make mistakes at shows, so sometimes fights happen, but we don’t want to permanently ban or exclude anybody from the scene here just for something minor.”
The owners are happy that The Empire is giving fans of heavier genres more options.
“Especially when it comes to black metal or death metal, a lot of those shows were only at bars,” Saunders said. “I’m only 20 years old, and aside from a few shows that would happen at other venues, I never got to see metal shows, and that’s my favorite genre of music. We’re opening up our doors to more extreme metal. Vakker comes through a lot, and they bring in a lot of death metal and black metal, so it’s really cool to see kids who are my age and younger coming in and experiencing that firsthand, rather than just online. I’ve been seeing a lot of repeat faces coming in, for sure.”
Added Burton: “I feel like a lot of the black-metal groups around here are all generally older people, so a lot of them have kids, and not a
music scene
lot of them get to bring their kids to shows. That happens a lot here, which I think is really cool.”
That said, The Empire is not just a metal venue.
“I’d say over half of our shows have been indie shows that have been really successful,” Burton said. “They obviously have other places to go that they could play around here, but they really like playing here, and we like having them play here, too. We try to go for every genre of music that we can in here.”
Burton and Saunders said that despite the positive response thus far, there is a lot of work to be done.
“We want to make the place as nice as we can,” Burton said. “We got the keys back in August (2003) or something like that, but we didn’t have our first show until March, because we were just slowly piecing everything together—putting carpet in, taking down walls,
making sure we have a green room, making sure we have equipment, PA, house instruments and all that type of stuff. We also are a nonprofit, so we take (in) little to no money at shows a lot of the time. Sometimes, we’ve had shows where we’ve taken no money, because there wasn’t a lot to distribute. We make sure all the bands are paid before anything else. We want to get more stage lights and projectors and stuff like that, so we can do movie nights. It’s just been a slow process, step by step. We want the place to grow, it’s just been kind of slow.”
The owners hope The Empire can help Reno’s music scene get over some recent struggles.
“The hardcore scene has definitely taken a step back in the past year,” Saunders said. “As far as the history with Reno and the hardcore scene, it’s been around for a very long time, and it is definitely something that I want to get back on the map again, just because there are a lot of people here who like hardcore, and I really like hardcore, so I think it’d be cool to get bigger bands out here. That’s definitely one of my goals.”
Added Burton: “The only time you get really big shows are at bars, and it’s just big touring bands. That’s really the only time we get any kind of big scene here. It’s definitely not as prominent as it used to be, and I think that’s been our main goal, is to try to get it to where it was even 10 years ago.”
Saunders has a proclamation for people who may think The Empire is not a space for them.
“Our venue is meant to be an inclusive space for everybody,” Saunders said. “I would just like to put out there that everyone is welcome, regardless if you’ve never been to a hardcore show, if you’ve never been to a metal show, or if you’ve never been to an indie show. Come out, and check it out. It’s definitely worth a shot.”
The Empire is located at 620 Ryland St., in Reno. For more information, visit www.instagram.com/620ryland.
Noah Burton and Chloe “Bug” Saunders are the founders of The Empire.
JONESIN' CROSSWORD
| BY MATT JONES
“The Best of 2024”— let’s look back, one more time. By Matt
Jones
Across 1. It comes to mind
5. Presidential nickname 8. About to run out 11. Sonnet division
13. Reaction to some memes
14. Additional 15. Rodeos and Axioms, e.g.
16. Miranda July novel that made The New Yorker’s “The Essential Reads 2024” list
18. Netflix “true story” miniseries that was No. 2 on The Guardian’s “50 Best TV Shows of 2024”
20. Quaff made with honey
21. Build up 25. Jason who’s one half of Jay and Silent Bob
Screw up
Andean wool
Schwarz
33. Onetime office note-takers
34. Dinghy propeller
35. Poker-themed roguelike deckbuilder nominated for The Game Awards’ 2024 Game of the Year
37. “___ Been Everywhere”
38. Marvel mutant with cold powers
40. “___ Meninas” (Velazquez painting)
41. Slumdog Millionaire actor Kapoor
42. Reserved
43. Attached document, sometimes
44. Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew
45. Tailless breed
47. Growing business?
49. Country crossover album that made many “Best of 2024” lists
54. Character paired with Wolverine in a 2024 title, the highest-grossing R-rated film ever
57. ___ del Fuego
58. Where eye color comes from
THE LUCKY 13
Tucker Scozzafava
Also known as Primadonis
Primadonis, aka Tucker Scozzafava, is an electronic pop artist who crafts upbeat, synth-driven jams. Although Scozzafava has only released a few singles, each one has brought high-energy vibes thanks to fast drums, bright keyboard tones and a crooning vocal delivery. “Beach Party Tonight” combines synthwave and Talking Heads sounds; “Johnny Baseball” is perfect for a coming-of-age movie’s long-drive scene, and newest single “Primadonis Theme” is a triumphant dance-inducing epic. Learn more at www. instagram.com/primadonisofficial.
59. Penn who’s not opposite Teller
60. Pants length measurement
61. ___ see ew
62. Greek letter found within other Greek letters
63. “Don’t change that,” to an editor
Down
1. “___ little too late for that”
2. Paint badly
3. Organic catalysts
4. Sky blue shades
5. Permanent QI panelist Davies
6. Not as shy
7. Grey’s Anatomy star Pompeo
8. “Skip to My ___”
9. Hockey star Bobby 10. Isle of Dogs director Anderson
11. Member of the fam
12. Out sailing 14. Personnel concern 17. Was defeated by 19. Best possible 22. Froglike, to biologists
23. Film appropriate for all ages
24. Art studio props
25. “Little Red Book” ideology
26. Bet at Churchill Downs
27. ___ American Band (1973 Grand Funk Railroad album)
Find the answers in the “About” section at RenoNR.com!
What was the first concert you attended?
I saw Blink-182 with my cousins in San Diego when I was 9. My cousins went to the same high school as them. I still stand by a few of the songs. Tom DeLonge used to be a crazy vocalist, but now he’s, like, a conspiracy alien person? His vocals on the chorus of “Stay Together for the Kids” were a big influence on me. I like their ballads. But most of their aura annoys me.
What was the first album you owned?
I remember having 808s and Heartbreak on my iPod Shuffle when I was 7. I would run around the neighborhood listening to it. I loved “Amazing.” I can’t remember the name of the artist who made that album, but I’m sure he turned out to be a nice, normal guy. He was a big influence on me.
What bands are you listening to right now? I’ve gotten really into Prefab Sprout recently. They are really strange and catchy and scratch a weird itch in my brain for some reason. Their song “The King of Rock ’n’ Roll” was my top-streamed song last year. I am also currently obsessed with Mount Eerie. Also, this band called The Book Club. They have an EP called Friendo that I love a lot. Also, Adrianne Lenker.
| BY MATT KING
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?
Everything is great. The public is the ultimate arbiter. Mass appeal is the highest form of art.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live? Cocteau Twins.
What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure? Recently, Bruce Springsteen. I think he’s actually kinda sick, ha ha, but I would never say that in a newspaper interview. He did a cover of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream” that I dissociated to for a full week recently. I’m mad I didn’t get cast in the upcoming biopic. Like, not even an audition.
What’s your favorite music venue?
The Holland Project is basically the only venue I can even think of right now, ha ha.
What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?
“A vegetarian since the invasion / she’d never seen the word ‘bombs.’ She’d never seen the word ‘bombs’ / blown up top 96-point Futura. She’d never seen an AK / in a yellowy Day-Glo display. A t-shirt so lovely / it turned all the history books grey,” Vampire Weekend, “Holiday,” randomly LOL.
What band or artist changed your life? How? James Murphy showed me that it’s OK to be old and washed up and failing at life and still think you deserve to be an electronic-dance popstar.
You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking? To Dan Bejar (Destroyer): Do you want to make a Watch the Throne-style album with me? We could switch off verses like Kanye and Jay-Z. I’ll make the beats. Lmk.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
So basic and corny, but “My Way” (Frank Sinatra). I recently sang it at my dad’s 60th birthday, and idk, something about being Italian. You wouldn’t understand …
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Beach House, Depression Cherry. It is by no means the most important album in the world, but it’s the most important album in my world.
What song should everyone listen to right now? “Primadonis Theme,” Primadonis.
Rosie Trump
Founder and curator of the Third Coast Dance Film Festival
Rosie Trump is a choreographer and dance filmmaker based in Reno. She is the founder and chief curator of the Third Coast Dance Film Festival and an associate professor of dance at the University of Nevada, Reno. Trump is currently creating a new full-length, multimedia dance performance titled Slow Motion Collision that explores the ideas of force and movement. The Third Coast Dance Festival will hold two screenings of dance film shorts: at the Nevada Museum of Art at 6 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 20; and at 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Holland Project. For more information, visit thirdcoastdancefilmfestival.com.
Tell me about the dance scene in Reno. What’s it like, and where should people go to see dance? There’s a lot of great dance happening in Reno. We have two festivals that occur over the summer: the Reno Dance Festival, which usually happens in early summer, and then there is the Dog Days of Summer dance festival that happens on the plaza in front of the Pioneer Center. There’s also some really great contemporary dance in Reno. There’s a new dance collective named the Convergence Dance Collective that’s up and coming in the community. A great thing about Reno is that it’s a great place for emerging artists, because it’s a place where artists can make things happen for themselves, especially if they’re willing to be a little DIY and self-produced. Of course, there’s great dance happening at UNR. We bring in world-renowned guest artists regu-
| BY DAVID ROBERT
larly, and we train students in dance … so they’re getting this professional-level training as part of their college education.
How did the festival first come about?
It started in 2010, first in Houston, Texas, which is how it got its name, which is where I was living at the time. (The Gulf Coast is sometimes known as America’s Third Coast.) It’s a festival that highlights short dance films. … We did an open call for films, so there were new, original works. At the time, I looked around, and I didn’t see festivals programming the work of my peers and colleagues, so I was interested in creating an event that, from a curatorial point of view, reflected what I saw in my community. We specialized in what I call “low budget, high impact,” so you don’t need a million-dollar budget to make great work.
Has the festival changed or evolved much in its 15 years? Have trends in dance changed during that time?
I think social media has influenced dance as well as regular media has. For a while, we were sort of seeing the So You Think You Can Dance effect, and then we saw the Glee effect, and now I think we’re seeing the social media effect. But what I like about social media and dance is that it challenges people to get their message across creatively in a short amount of time.
Our festival specializes in short films; it really works well. It’s more accessible now with social media and with cameras in people’s pockets. Anyone can now be a dance filmmaker. From the beginning— working with my first screening partner with the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston—we’ve been able to pair with art museums and art-centered locations. I appreciate that bridge between the performing arts and the visual arts when possible.
What is the difference between watching a dance performance in person versus, say, on your phone or TV?
There’s an empathetic and a kinesthetic experience that happens when you watch dance live or on the big screen. I think a lot of people recently experienced this when they watched Wicked, for example. Being able to see dance in the theater or at the movies gives us that body-to-body experience of connection. While it’s kind of cool to consume media on our phones with the in-your-hand closeness of proximity, I feel like you really get that toe-tapping, heart-beating physical response when you see a live performance on the stage or up on the big screen.
Our building will be closed as we undergo a major renovation, but we’ll continue to share the stories of Nevada’s past through Nevada Historical Society On The Go! off-site events. In conjunction with community partners, we’ll host fascinating programs and exhibitions at venues throughout the community. Check the website for events and locations.
