This issue contains two separate articles about prisons. The cover story, on Page 12, is about Frank De Palma, a Reno man who spent 43 years in prison—including 22 years straight in solitary confinement. These days, he’s working with a team of prison-reform experts to change state laws that govern solitary confinement, which is used with unusual frequency in Nevada.
Jessica Santina’s art story, on Page 18, is about a group exhibition organized by local curator Frances Melhop. The show features works by artists from near and far who deal with various prison-related themes. One artist is a former inmate from the United Kingdom who makes LSD blotter art. Another is a local, Glynn Cartledge, who spent 25 years working as a criminal defense attorney. The show is hanging in a venue I never would have expected—the decommissioned Nevada State Prison in Carson City. In case you’re wondering, having two prison articles was a coincidence. People sometimes ask me how various things work behind the scenes at the RN&R, so here’s how this particular coincidence occurred.
I learned about the prison-art exhibition from Frances last August, when it was in the early stages of planning. Her work is always thought-provoking and top-notch, and this idea sounded potentially groundbreaking, so I earmarked it then for summer 2024 publication.
Frank’s story came to my attention in May, when Mary Buser, a criminal-justice reform advocate based in New York, wrote to ask if we might mention the book that Frank had just published. It just so happened that a new RN&R contributor, Max Stone— who is also a poet and an impressively meticulous wordsmith—was interested and available. Max read Frank’s book; we then talked about a reporting plan and agreed that an in-depth cover story would be the best format for the topic.
I learned a lot from these two stories—and I hope you do, too.
—KRIS VAGNER krisv@renonr.com
LETTERS
Choose democracy over autocracy
As a new state, Nevada sold gold bullion to the Union, sent silver and soldiers to shore up the Union efforts in the Civil War, and cast a deciding vote for President Abraham Lincoln. Historians credit these resources as a deciding factor in our country surviving the major threat of secession. As the fall elections approach, will Nevada once again step up to defend our Constitution and protect our precious democracy?
In our current binary selection process for president, there is only one candidate who has demonstrated an understanding and commitment to America’s role as leader of the free world, and has demonstrated the character, intellect, ability and experience to lead our country. The other candidate has vowed to do away with our revered Constitution and declared his preference for an autocratic, dictatorial form of government based on a fascist philosophy. He reveres enemies of America as the individuals he hopes to emulate if he becomes president again. He consistently shows disdain for women, immigrants and anyone different from himself, including those struggling to survive economically.
If we choose one candidate and choose wrongly, we can correct our choice in our next election. If we choose the other candidate and choose wrongly, there may never be another opportunity to vote at all. The right and responsibility for each citizen to vote has never meant more since the Revolutionary War.
I am a proud native Nevadan, a graduate of Gardnerville Elementary School and Reno High School. My grandparents, Mathias and Edith Hansen, and other family members helped settle Carson Valley, where they are buried today, and to build the communities of Gardnerville and Minden. My grandmother’s Christensen siblings played similar roles in Sparks and Fallon.
I am asking Nevada to reject destructive partisanship. Let Nevada once more show the way to a strong, democratic, inclusive America—one committed to the values expressed and reflected in our federal Constitution, and on which rest the future and character of our entire country.
Frances David Oakland, Calif.
Your vote matters
I’ve been told more than once that my vote doesn’t matter, because it isn’t measurable, and besides, all politicians are the same. Rubbish!
Voting is how our Constitution empowers us to affect change or maintain a status quo. It’s true that in most cases, a single vote doesn’t matter, but “most” by definition does not mean “all.” A quick internet search shows some interesting one-vote wins throughout history, such as in 1962, when governors of Maine, Rhode Island and North Dakota all won by an average of one vote per precinct.
The issues in this election are too clearly defined for anyone to claim that “all politicians are the same.” Global warming, two hot wars of unimaginable cruelty being waged using weapons paid for by our tax dollars, an unprecedented strain on our southern border and immigration system, and women’s reproductive rights are just a few issues where the differences between the sides couldn’t be clearer, and where the differences have tremendous long and short-term impact on everyone.
Perfect candidates don’t exist, because there are as many opinions on how to solve critical issues as there are critical issues. The best we can do is pay attention as best we can and vote for candidates who most closely reflect our own ideals. If you know what you believe in, the choices in this election could not be clearer. Mike Rottman Minden
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, Maude Ballinger, Lucy Birmingham, Owen Bryant, Loryn Elizares, Bob Grimm, Michael Grimm, Helena Guglielmino, Matt Jones, Matt King, Kelley Lang, Chris Lanier, Steven Mahaffey, Michael Moberly, Steve Noel, Dan Perkins, Carol Purroy, David Rodriguez, 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 BY
JOSEPH HOLOMUZKI
Biden’s New Deal-like actions for American families are working
History sometimes repeats itself.
By the 1950s, Americans generally liked the basic social net, infrastructure and business regulations of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, initially launched to combat the Great Depression. To regain the presidency, and return America to more corporate control, Sen. Joseph McCarthy and anti-New Deal Republicans spewed unfounded, traitorous, character-smearing accusations at opponents. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith and a few other Republicans vociferously believed these hate attacks were tools of totalitarians. Smith was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and McCarthy was censured and disgraced.
Today, the Biden-Harris administration is cham pioning many New Deal-like actions for working families. These include negating medical debt in calculating credit scores; canceling billions in student-loan debt to millions of borrowers; providing $5.5 billion in grants to address the housing shortage; enhancing the nation’s transportation, broadband internet, drinking-water and power-grid infrastructure; expanding health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act; and supporting workers organizing unions. The Inflation Reduction Act (2022), which passed Congress with no Republican support, reduced the cost of insulin for seniors to $35 per month, capped prescription drug out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year (as of 2025 for people with Medicare Part D), and gave Medicare the power to negotiate prescription-drug prices.
checks hadn’t caught up to run-ups in prices from the previous two years. Consequently, their overall purchasing power was less than it was before the pandemic-era price spike. The good news now is that wage growth is outpacing inflation, and many families are feeling some improvement in their household finances. Plus, job growth continues to boom.
The GOP has threatened to sunset Social Security and Medicare, which would particularly hurt older Americans. In contrast, President Biden wants to bolster the solvency of Social Security and Medicare by increasing taxes on earners making above $400,000 per year and on corporations. Donald Trump, if elected, has stated he would gut regulations and further cut taxes for corporations and the rich, which would continue to widen the wealth gap between the rich and poor, further shrink the middle class, and likely re-spike inflation. Moreover, he recently proposed implementing a 10% across-theboard tariff paid by consumers on all imported goods and abolishing income taxes, a policy Paul Krugman (a Nobel Prize winner in economics) and other economists say would be catastrophic for ordinary Americans, and a gift for the ultrawealthy.
STREETALK
BY DAVID ROBERT
What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve seen somebody wearing—and that you’ve worn? Asked at Mayberry Landing, 3886 Mayberry Drive, Reno
Nuvraj Bilkhu
Chemical physics grad student
I saw someone wearing a tan, cropped-up sweatshirt and long, denim shorts. I thought to myself that they might need help with their fashion choices. I felt like the fashion police. I wanted to reach out to them. The most embarrassing thing that I’ve ever worn was black high heels and white socks. I had to go to the store, and it was cold outside.
Alfonso Robles
Material flow specialist
It was like a month ago, and I was down at Meadowood Mall, and it was really hot out, and I saw this guy wearing a full-on Stormtrooper outfit. I never have seen any shit like that before. I once wore leather gloves, basketball shorts, green shoes, compression tights and a red shirt. I don’t know what I was thinking that day, but I guess that I was thinking the more colors, the better.
A goal in a second Biden-Harris term is to provide paid family leave, federal subsidies for child care, and universal preschool access.
Biden’s anti-monopoly team is investigating corporate marketing control and mergers in the artificial-intelligence sector, agriculture, airlines, hi-tech (e.g., Google, Apple) and banking to protect American consumers and small business. The nonprofit Groundwork Collaborative recently reported that corporate profits, which have skyrocketed to 70-year highs, drove more than 50% of inflation in the second and third quarters of 2023.
Still, for most of 2023, consumers’ pay-
Wealth inequality, in part, has fueled the replacement of ambition and tolerance for anger and frustration in many Americans. Telsa is laying off more than 7,000 workers in the U.S. through August, of which 700 are Nevadans, and yet shareholders just granted Elon Musk a $45 billion pay package. In the 1970s, CEOs made 60 times the pay of an average employee; today, it is 350 times. The top 1% has 30% of the wealth in America, which translates into influential political say.
Biden’s policies, which are now gaining popularity, are largely designed to improve workers’ lives. In contrast, Trump told attendees at his June 9 rally in Las Vegas, “I don’t care about you. I just want your vote.” Who will be the next Sen. Smith to course-correct today’s GOP forum of denialism and disillusionment for the needs of average American families?
Joseph Holomuzki is a retired academic and science manager with the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Research Program. He lives in Carson City.
Alex Hose
Food prep person
I was down by the river, and I saw a guy walking his little rat dog in a banana suit. I think that he was looking for attention or something. I tend to wear clothes that are too small for me, and I went to a nice restaurant with my family wearing a fancy white shirt that was way too small. It was comically out of place, and my family said that I looked totally ridiculous.
Cole Luera Cashier
I saw a dude the other night walking down Virginia Street wearing absolutely nothing! He was just wandering around, and nobody said anything to him. They just stayed out of his way. I was surprised and shocked. I once wore a Scooby-Doo costume to the store. People stopped me and asked me why I was wearing that, and I said that it felt comfortable.
Elane Wold
Retired
Plumber’s butt. I was at the big chain retail store, and a lady was bending over showing a kid a puzzle in the toy section, wearing an absolutely inappropriate, skimpy, bright-orange pair of pants. I went to an ’80s-themed party wearing something that I found in my closet—and the embarrassing thing about it was that I had actually worn the clothes back in the ’80s. It had shoulder pads and all!
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
|
BY JIMMY BOEGLE
Errors in newspapers are embarrassing—but journalists are human
The call came to the Reno News & Review phone line at 4:52 p.m. on the Sunday of the weekend our June print edition was hitting the streets. It went to voicemail; I listened to the message an hour or two later as I sat on my couch with the hubby.
“Hi,” the caller said. “I was just checking in on your guys’ crossword for this month. I am wondering if you guys have published the correct hints or … well, you know, the questions and answers just don’t seem to line up.”
“(Bad word),” I said.
“What’s up?” the hubby asked.
“The RN&R just got a call saying there’s something wrong with crossword puzzle. (Bad word)!” I said.
“Oh crap,” the hubby said.
I rushed into my home office and opened the PDF of the issue. Sure enough, the numbers on the Jonesin’ Crossword clues didn’t jibe with the numbers on the grid.
“(Bad word) (extremely bad word)!” I said.
Several days before, when I was laying out the bulk of the June print edition (graphic designer Dennis Wodzisz handles the covers and the cover stories; I do the rest), I had a brain lapse and put in the June edition’s
crossword clues … but left in the grid from the May edition. After 156 print editions of our sister paper and the RN&R under my stewardship, this was a first.
Two things were really grating about this mistake: First, I generally check to make sure the crossword clues and grid match. But here, for some unknown reason, I didn’t.
Second, for once, we were actually ahead of schedule on production of the print edition—and while we were checking to make sure the commas were all correct, we let this whopper of a goof get by.
“When you publish a newspaper, and absentmindedly forget to change one crossword puzzle grid, you reproduce that mistake 25,000 times and then put that mistake in 700 locations across hundreds of square miles.”
To everyone who was befuddled by this mistake, I sincerely apologize. To all of you who called or emailed to politely ask, “WTF?” I thank you.
Being a newspaper scribe, editor or publisher can be a weird thing. With most jobs, if you make a simple mistake, it’s no big deal; you fix the mistake and/or apologize, and move on. But
when you publish a newspaper, and absentmindedly forget to change one crossword puzzle grid, you reproduce that mistake 25,000 times and then put that mistake in 700 locations across hundreds of square miles, for all the world to see. Anyway, you’re looking for the CORRECT grid for last month’s crossword puzzle, head to RenoNR.com, and click on the “About/ Advertising” section.
To err is human, and journalists are humans, so errors in newspapers are inevitable. This whole mess got me thinking about the two most embarrassing little journalism mistakes I’ve been involved with, both of which happened during my time as the editor of a weekly newspaper in Tucson.
As for the one for which I was directly responsible: I’d written a restaurant review of a Mexican seafood place—and it just so happened this review was published in our Best Of issue, our biggest and most-popular
edition of the year. At one point in the review, I was describing the restaurant’s “delicious crab flautas.” Except I didn’t type “crab.” I typed “crap.” Don’t ask me how I accomplished this; the “p” and “b” keys are nowhere near each other. But accomplish it, I did.
Finally, the most embarrassing error with which I’ve been involved regards something I missed as an editor. An intern had interviewed someone from a local LGBTQ+ organization for our community Q&A feature. After the interview was published, the subject reached out and thanked us for the piece, and was effusive in his praise … but asked if we could make a minor correction, because one, single word had been misquoted.
The piece, as initially published, included a portion in which he explained how he grew up in the South—specifically, in the “butthole of the Bible Belt.” Of course, he actually said “buckle,” which makes a lot more sense. Somehow, I missed this in my edit.
When it came time for me to talk to the intern about the mistake, I kept cracking up, unable to stop laughing. When I finally managed to explain what had happened, the intern was utterly mortified.
ON NEVADA BUSINESS
A sweet local startup
Tahoe Treats is learning lessons about rapid growth that your company can learn, too
For the last 18 months, the RN&R has been gracious to allow me to write about unheralded business leaders, cutting-edge startups and “bleeding-edge” tech in Northern Nevada and Northern California. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing cool stories about businesses and their founders, including University of Nevada, Reno alumni, who contribute incredible talent, research and tech innovation to this incredible community.
This month’s column has none of that—well, almost none of that. It’s about the sweetest company I’ve ever profiled, founded by a really awesome (and sweet!) local husband/wife team whom I’ve gotten to know over the last several months. The company has a great story—and is on a journey that can offer other founders some valuable lessons.
Danielle and Andrew Fitzgerald are on their second entrepreneurial venture after many years of making custom jewelry for customers in Nevada and Washington. Tahoe Treats, founded in the basement of their Sparks home in 2021, makes freeze-dried cheesecake, ice cream and candies—including many flavors you grew up with, except exploded and crunchy from the 24-hour freeze-drying process, which extracts all of the moisture.
The production facility is in the Sparks industrial neighborhood near Greg Street. The lights are on late most nights, due to the unprecedented growth this team has experienced over the last 12 months. Their freezedried confections are flying off shelves in Scheels, Jacksons Food Stores (ExtraMile) and other stores around the West.
My favorite Tahoe Treat product takes me back to the original Lucky Charms, which had those awesome, crunchy marshmallows that floated to the top of my cereal bowl, where I could pick them out and eat them. Well, my friends, Tahoe Treats’ “Fruity Marshmallows,” in big silver and clear bags, will save you from having to feed the cereal to the dog when Mom leaves the breakfast nook.
Lest I digress, there is much more to this sweet story about the sweet couple, who built the sweet company, with sweet growth, sweet margins, sweet customers and a sweet team.
The Tahoe Treats crew is working their respective asses off trying to keep up with 100% growth over the last year and is maxing out on capacity. But the purchase orders keep flying in unabated, because customers love the mouthwatering snacks. Retailers can’t line up fast enough to get Tahoe Treats’ various confections. It sounds like a great
problem to have, doesn’t it? I challenge my students at UNR’s College of Business every semester to tell me: “How can a growing business be profitable and struggle at the same time? Sounds crazy or impossible, doesn’t it?”
Actually, it happens all the time. Why? Well, partly because you are so busy feeding the beast that work seems endless—but the bigger stress and challenge is cash flow. Cash flow is the king when you have it, and the killer when you don’t. As the company experiences double-digit growth, especially in manufacturing, management is taking every dollar that comes in and putting it back into ops to keep the product flowing out for distribution and subsequent payment, thereby completing the sales cycle. However, distributors’ 30-day payments actually take 45 days—dohhh! Orders come in requiring rush status, but your production line is maxed. It can be maddening to founders, and a very tough predicament when you are still a small, risky startup.
In today’s environment, the complexities of launching a startup are compounded by the fact that the cost of money has been climbing significantly for two years or more now. Money has dried up for many sectors or has gotten too expensive, squeezing business margins to unsustainable levels. What can a founder do in this current era to raise money for a (non-AI) biz? It depends.
From a founder’s perspective, it’s all about “value.” Tahoe Treats has great momentum but can’t keep up, as they need to raise their capacity to at least 125% more output.
My buddy Chris Yount and I are mentoring Tahoe Treats to help them get on track for calculated and sustainable growth, without giving away the company to investors. Maybe we start by upping their capacity by 50% to incrementally increase production and keep the cash flowing through.
One of the financing areas we are exploring with them is “receivable financing.” They have gold in the overwhelming number of orders that won’t stop coming in. In this situation, if the distributors have great credit, the small startup can get funding, even if they don’t have great credit of their own. Companies will finance it, as purchase orders are legal contracts. “Factoring” is similar to receivable financing in that there are companies that will buy the PO and finance the purchase orders. The difference between the two is that in receivable financing, you service the PO and pay back the lender. In factoring, a lender actually purchases the PO at a discount and is then responsible to collect—so the cash-strapped business gets quick money and can flip the production to
BY MATT WESTFIELD
keep the cash flowing.
If a company is going to consider either receivable financing or factoring of the incoming POs, founders need to understand their gross margins. If they’re at 50% or better, the company should be able to absorb the short-term cost of capital, which may now cost 15-20% of the order, depending on which method you choose for funding the PO. You’ll likely pay more for the factoring entity to buy the note, as they then take the risk.
Another type of funding for average startup founders who don’t want to take equity partners (and don’t have wealthy in-laws) is to consider crowdfunding, but it’s important to understand all of the inherent nuances associated with the two-decade old practice. It’s much slower and has a bunch of rules to
follow regarding the raising of funds and the commitment to all of the folks in the crowd who funded you. Some platforms require you raise all of the goal to receive the funds; others allow partial raises. The big secret to crowdfunding is that you need to bring your crowd to invest. The site won’t help unless the general crowd sees a ton of activity and decides to jump in. Read the rules, and get some legal advice regarding all of this—as I’m a serial founder and investor speaking from personal experience, not from a legal standpoint.
Tahoe Treats has been so focused on the operations that it’s been hard to get a handle on a strategy for the future. But now that’s changed. Stay tuned for the company’s explosive growth—because it’s coming now, and it’s going to be really sweet!
Danielle and Andrew Fitzgerald of Sparks are the founders of Tahoe Treats. Their freeze-fried confections are flying off shelves, but to keep up with their 100% annual growth rate, they’ll need to employ some new strategies.
UPFRONT
Prepping for Paris: 16 student journalists are bound for the Olympics
Five professors from the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, plan to accompany 16 students to Paris to report on the 2024 Summer Olympics.
To prepare, students took advanced reporting and writing courses and studied introductory French. They’ve been covering other bases, too.
“Some people are buying new wardrobes for themselves to take pictures,” said Kelsea Frobes, 20, a double-major in journalism and international affairs from Dayton. “A lot of people are renting cameras from the school. I personally have been working my butt off to afford it.”
UNR will pay for an Airbnb and tickets to the games. Airfare, food and other travel expenses are on the students.
The trip is part of the department’s new undergraduate emphasis in sports media, but for some students, the context around the Olympics will be just as important as the games themselves. Frobes said it’s possible she’ll spend more time in Paris streets and cafes than in stadiums. While she’s open to covering sports directly, her main interest regards how the games will affect the local community.
“I want to talk about maybe if people are displaced because of the Olympics or things that—real-world problems that affect real people,” she said.
The student reporters weren’t able to secure media passes to the Olympic games, but Frobes, who already has a professional journalism resume—she’s been a morning traffic reporter for KOH radio, and she’s an intern for The Nevada Independent—is unfazed.
“A lot of the reporting that we’re having to do is basically on our own— finding people, reaching out to the Olympians, seeing if hopefully they’ll respond, that kind of thing,” Frobes said. “I think that a lot of us are really kind of throwing everything out there and hoping something sticks, and hoping we can find the story—as is much of journalism.”
The group plans to depart Reno on July 23.
—Kris Vagner
Extremists defeated
The school board president says voters put an end to ‘manufactured chaos’
Voters in the June 11 primary election overwhelmingly rejected nearly all of the candidates formally endorsed by a Reno Republican donor and election conspiracy theorist—a result critics said underlines voters’ disgust with fringe ideology and campaign smear tactics.
“Locally and statewide, the takeaway is that voters are apparently paying attention,” said Fred Lokken, political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College. “They sense frustration and concern and corrected that by supporting candidates that weren’t tied to controversy.”
Robert Beadles, a GOP activist and election fraud conspiracy promoter, formally endorsed 12 primary candidates in state and local contests, including four in Washoe County School District Board of Trustees races. He dubbed those candidates “Washoe Warriors”—and 11 of them lost by wide margins. Only one, Brian Cassidy, will advance to the general election in a Reno City Council race, where he will face Devon Reese in Ward 5. A few other candidates who Beadles supported or donated to, but didn’t formally endorse, also will be on the ballot on Nov. 5. (See the accompanying story.)
Beadles is a proponent of the “precinct strategy,” aimed at electing “little Trump 2.0s” to local governing boards. He told the RN&R in 2022 that anyone who says our elections are free and fair are either corrupt
or cowards. Beadles’ claims of fraud have been repeatedly debunked by investigations and rejected by courts.
His supporters say he is fighting against corrupt left-wing politicians, systemic election fraud and “RINOS” (Republicans in name only). His critics see him as a right-wing provocateur who spreads disinformation and false narratives in an effort to create anger among voters and undermine confidence in elections.
Beadles, who moved to Reno from California in 2019, put the Washoe County school board on notice after his arrival: “God has blessed me,” he told the board members during a public comment session. “I have a shit-ton of money, and I’m going to do everything I fucking can to remove all of you.” He had a similar message for the Washoe County Commission at its March 8, 2022, meeting: “I have no problem spending millions of dollars to replace you all … we’ve got to get our county back.”
Since then, Beadles has been recruiting and endorsing state and local candidates who align with his opinions, and attacking incumbents on his Operation Sunlight blog and through his PAC, The Franklin Project. He rails against what he sees as “rigged” elections, has filed several unsuccessful lawsuits against Washoe County officials and others, and employs innuendo and sometimes vulgar attacks against politicians and government employees. He calls them radical leftists and/or criminals,
| BY FRANK X. MULLEN
Trustee Elizabeth Smith, Washoe County school board president, next to Trustee Jeff Church at a board meeting in 2022. Church lost his seat to Christine Hull in the primary. Photo/David Robert
portrays them in various costumes, and spreads rumors about their personal lives.
Beadles did not respond to the Reno News & Review’s requests for an interview.
Church loses school board seat
In the primary, four of the candidates he endorsed for seats on the Washoe County school board lost by decisive margins, including incumbent District A board member Jeff Church. Church, elected to the panel in 2020, was often at odds with the other six board members and has sued the district twice. He lost his seat to Christine Hull, a former teacher who also did volunteer work for the district. Hull got 55% of the vote; Church garnered 34%. Primary candidates who get at least 50% of the vote plus one win outright and don’t have to face an opponent in the general election.
“There was intelligence demonstrated in the voting,” Lokken said. “The voting was very directed this time. … It was a motivated group (of voters), and the election took place the way it was supposed to. Christine Hull was rewarded for her efforts as a volunteer with elected office. You don’t see much of that anymore.”
In an email exchange with the RN&R, Church noted that the winning board candidates had
continued
Conspiracy theorist and Republican activist Robert Beadles at his home in Reno in 2022. Beadles has consistently propagated false claims about election fraud and filed lawsuits.
Photo/David Robert
K-9 ball boy
Deputy John Locke and K-9 Otto, of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, repelled down from a helicopter to deliver a ball to the pitcher for the first pitch of a charity softball game at Greater Nevada Field on Thursday, June 13.
The game featured 20 players from the University of Nevada, Reno, football team playing 20 representatives from local law enforcement agencies including the Reno Police Department, Sparks Police Department, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Washoe County Alternative Sentencing, and the Nevada Department of Wildlife.
Nevada football came from behind to win, 18-17.
—Kris
Vagner photo by David Robert
Biz owners: What keeps you up at night? We get it. “Founders helping Founders” Come to the award-winning monthly roundtable Saturday, July 13 @ 9 a.m. @ The Innevation Center 450 Sinclair, Reno BizAssembly.org
NEWS
much more money in their campaign chests. Although he had Beadles’ endorsement, Church said, the activist didn’t donate to his campaign. During his tenure, Church said, “quality of education, student safety and atrisk kids was my passion.” His absence on the panel will mean that the “downward spiral” of local schools will accelerate, he said.
At board meetings, Church also raised objections to policies affecting transgender students, the district’s sex-education curriculum, and its equity and diversity strategy—which he says fosters “race shaming.” He was a favorite of protestors who attended board meetings to complain about COVID-19 mask mandates, library books they considered inappropriate for students, and other issues embraced by right-wing activists at school board meetings across the country.
Church’s conflicts with other panel members, inaccurate statements about the district and sidetracking the board with “culture wars” issues accounts for his poor showing in the primary, said Reno resident Richard Jay. Jay
has been active in local boards and civic associations for 30 years, and has been the self-appointed “Jeff Church watchdog” since 2020.
“The voters spoke clearly,” Jay said. “They are tired of (Church’s) antics. They are tired of him costing the district $500,000 to defend against his legal actions. They are tired of half-truths. … The voters have said, ‘enough is enough.’”
People reject the “chaos at the school board,” Jay said, and “they want things to calm down and get back to work. That’s the message of the primary.”
Vulgar attacks on candidates
Beadles’ blog and PAC, on internet postings and via direct mail, attacked candidates by depicting them in costume, and often describing them as leftist pawns in a vast conspiracy involving politicians, courts and the media. He dubbed Elizabeth Smith, the incumbent school board president and a cancer survivor, “Death Smith,” and depicted her as the grim reaper. He also uses the “Death Smith” nickname for her on social media.
On June 6, for example, in a reference to Smith, who is involved in a court case with her former husband, Beadles wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “So Death Smith is not only an alleged lying whore who destroyed her husband’s life, she’s also alleged to have helped frame school board trustee Jeff Church with a fabricated sexual harassment claim. … The few people who do defend her must be lying whores as well? She’s running for re-election. People wonder what’s wrong with our schools. … Let’s pray she doesn’t win.”
She won in a landslide five days later. Smith, who was appointed to the District D board seat in July 2021, kept the post in a 2022 special election by winning 67% of the vote against two opponents. In the recent primary, Smith tallied 61% of the vote against four challengers, again winning outright without having to face a runoff in November.
“With an absolute, outright win in three of the four races, and shutting out the (Beadles-backed) candidate in the District B race, there is no confusion whatsoever about what our community and our neighbors expect of us, and that’s to get back to work on public education and close the chapter on this manufactured chaos that has been Jeff Church and Robert Beadles,” Smith said.
Chris Tabarez, who was endorsed by Beadles, came in fourth in the District D school board race with 8% of the vote against Smith. Incumbent Alex Woodley won District E outright with 52% of the vote against Beadles-backed candidate Beverley Stenehjem, who got 33%. In District G, incumbent Diane
Nicolet got 17% of the vote and will face challenger Perry Rosenstein, who garnered 35% of the ballots. Paul White, endorsed by Beadles, got 12%.
Smith said the smear campaign against her was disgusting, but she had faith that voters would not be swayed by lies and insults.
“I understand that politics can be heated, and there are passions and beliefs involved, but it never has to be so dirty and depraved,” Smith said. “We’re watching personal attacks against people who are our neighbors go out on a grand scale. It doesn’t have to be that way, and only a community can set those standards.”
Smith said the outcome of the school board elections and other local races “is the community weighing in loud and clear, setting its standards for decency in Washoe County.” The new composition of the board, regardless of who wins the District G race in November, will change the atmosphere of the meetings, she said.
“We’ve had (Church), who has been trying to burn the house down from the inside for nearly four years,” Smith said. “… It’s a new day for the Washoe County school board. In January, we’ll have seven members who are all different in ways that are important and who respect the differences. We can get back to rigorous dialogue, respectful discussion and the way government is supposed to be. That’s because of the community, which in this election said we want a functional, productive, professional board—and that’s exactly what this community is going to get on swearing-in day 2025.”
Paid for by Ann Cascarano
Left: The Franklin Project, Robert Beadles’ PAC, endorsed 12 candidates in the June primary election. Right: Robert Beadles portrays Elizabeth Smith, a cancer survivor, as the Grim Reaper in blog posts and on his PAC’s website.
| BY FRANK X. MULLEN
Conspiracy theorists defeated
Robert Beadles’ PAC and blog portrayed Washoe County Commissioner Clara Andriola as a clown and falsely claimed County Commission Chair Alexis Hill “invited” a satanist to give an invocation at a commission meeting.
Andriola beats election deniers in the GOP primary for Washoe County Commission
In the Republican primary for Washoe County Board of Commissioners District 4, incumbent Clara Andriola defeated Mark Lawson, who was endorsed by conspiracy theorist Robert Beadles, and Tracey HiltonThomas, who also had Beadles’ support.
Andriola, who in 2023 was appointed to the commission by Gov. Joe Lombardo, has been the swing vote on the fivemember panel for election issues, including voting to certify election results. Although Andriola is a Donald Trump supporter, she doesn’t accept claims of a stolen election or widespread voter fraud. Of the five Republicans in the District 4 primary, Andriola was the only candidate who unequivocally acknowledged the legitimacy of the 2020 elections.
She won the primary with 43% of the vote and will face two nonpartisan challengers in her district, which leans Republican, in November.
Beadles, a GOP activist, donor and conspiracy theorist, insists elections are rigged in favor of Democrats. The Washoe County GOP, where Beadles sits on the executive committee, expelled Andriola from the party earlier this year.
Beadles has depicted Andriola as “Clara the Clown” and called her “a clownish Democrat parading as a Republican.” His PAC, The Franklin Project, sent out direct-
mail postcards with the “Clara the Clown” image, as well as another mailer depicting Reno City Councilman Devon Reese as a drag queen. By law, political action committees are prohibited from coordinating their actions with the candidates they support. Local candidates endorsed by Beadles have denied any prior knowledge of the mailers.
Beadles did not respond to requests for comment.
In the District 1 Republican County Commission primary, Marsha Berkbigler won with 51% of the vote in the three-person race. Berkbigler, a former commissioner who lost her seat to Alexis Hill in 2020, will face Hill in a rematch on Nov. 5. Beadles contributed $5,000 to Berkbigler’s campaign, according to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office, but she has said she doesn’t agree with his theories about stolen elections.
Commissioners Mike Clark and Jeanne Herman, who were not up for election this year, have ties to Beadles. In 2022, Herman, citing bogus claims of election fraud that have been debunked by state investigations, proposed drastic changes to election procedures. Those measures called for the use of paper ballots, hand-counting, stationing law enforcement officers at polling places and other changes backed by Beadles. The measure was defeated 4-1, with Herman as the lone vote in favor.
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Runoffs in Reno City Council races
In November, Councilman Devon Reese will face Brian Cassidy for the Ward 5 seat on the Reno City Council. Cassidy received Beadles’ endorsement, and Beadles’ PAC sent out mailers depicting Reese, who is gay, as “Drag Queen Devon.” Cassidy has said he had no prior knowledge of the mailers and noted on Facebook that he was “shocked and disappointed.” He did not directly condemn the content of the mailers, despite comments on his post urging him to do so.
In the Ward 3 Reno City Council race, incumbent Miguel Martinez will face Denise Myer, who has Beadles’ support, in the general election.
Jim Marchant, who has said that Nevada hasn’t had an honest election since 2006, lost the GOP primary for U.S. Senate to Sam Brown, who will face Sen. Jacky Rosen in November. Brown got 60% of the vote; Jeff Gunter, Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Iceland, won 15%; and Marchant, who unsuccessfully ran for Nevada secretary of state in 2022, captured 7% of the vote in the 12-way race.
Beadles donated $2,500 to candidate Dorzell King in the District 2 race for the Nevada State Board of Education. King was defeated by incumbent Angela Orr, who captured 51% of the vote against King and two other challengers. King got 5% of the vote.
Break the activity barrier
Advice from the pros on how and where to take up a new outdoor sport
Thinking about taking up a new outdoor sport? You’re in the right place for it: The Truckee Meadows and the Sierra offer a motherlode of trails, courses and fishing holes.
For those interested in birding, fly fishing, mountain biking and disc golf, the barriers to entry aren’t too high, but there are still a few things you should know. We turned to the experts to help you connect to with local sporting communities, build skills and camaraderie, and find events.
Birding
“I think people tend to think of birdwatching as something you would do in the wilderness, but the city is actually a really good place to birdwatch,” said Alan de Queiroz, an evolutionary biologist and avid local birder. (He also penned our March print-edition cover story.) “In fact, some of the best places are right in town.”
He recommends Virginia Lake for beginners. This urban lake attracts waterfowl that are not bothered by human presence. “So they’re not going to immediately fly away. … You can get really close to a lot of the water birds,” De Queiroz said. During summer, look for breeding cormorants, California gulls and snowy egrets, particularly on the lake’s island. “You could go there for a couple of hours, and you might see 40 or 50 species,” he said.
Rancho San Rafael Regional Park and Oxbow Nature Study Area are also good places, because they both feature water and lush growth.
De Queiroz also recommends the Merlin Bird ID app by Cornell Lab. “It’s almost like having an expert birder along with you,” he said.
There’s also the Birding Nevada Facebook group (www.facebook.com/groups/BirdingNevada), and the Lahontan Audubon Society offers a free Area Birding Guide and public field trips every other Friday. Upcoming trips include a Carson River and Silver Saddle Ranch Field Trip from 7 to 11 a.m. on July 19, and a Tahoe Meadows Nature Trail Field Trip from 7 to 11 a.m. on Aug. 2; learn more at www.nevadaaudubon.org/calendar.html.
Fly fishing
According to Jim Litchfield, owner of Reno Fly Shop, the best place to start your fishing education is actually not near water.
“For a beginner to go out in an open field and cast their fly rod is really the best way to develop a good foundation of understanding of what the fly rod can do,” he said. “You don’t have the distraction of water.” Any open, grassy area works well.
Often, Litchfield said, people fish because they want to spend time in a beautiful locale, and catching fish is a secondary goal.
“I mean, who doesn’t like to step into a cold river on a hot summer day?” he said. Litchfield’s top local suggestion is the Truckee River, with access points in Verdi, Reno and Sparks. No matter where you’re fly fishing, ensure there is a minimum of about 50 to 60 feet behind and in front of you for safe and proper aerial extension of the line. But before waving a rod around anywhere, Litchfield suggests getting formal instruction.
“It’s like any new sport that you’re starting––it’s great to get professional instructions so you don’t develop bad habits,” he said. His shop offers beginner classes every month on the second and fourth Saturdays. The next couple of events are on July 13 and 27 at 8 a.m. Classes are $25, and participants receive a $25 gift certificate to the shop once class is completed. Find more information at renoflyshop.com/ flyshop-event-calendar.
Mountain biking
There is no shortage of mountain biking trails in the area, but Randy Collins, owner of College Cyclery, noted the importance of finding the trail that’s right for you. “It’s really, really critical to get a good, positive experience on the first, second, third ride,” Collins said. “That way, they’ll come back the fourth, fifth and sixth time to do it again.”
He recommends double tracks—think forest service/fire road width—as well as trails with clear, rock-free tread, and a grade of less than 5%. Look for trails that have no steep dropoffs. And remember that mountain biking is all about mastering the techniques behind the ride, with the rider’s breath being one of the most important skills: Overexerting yourself will result in an uncomfortable, frustrating ride. (Take it from me, who threw up three times because I tried to keep up with an advanced rider in a hilly section of trail—and subsequently swore off all bipedal sports.)
Collins suggests Sierra Vista Park (1985 Beaumont Parkway, in Reno) for beginners. “The whole park is set up for anybody from kids up to adults, from beginner to expert,” he said.
| BY HELENA GUGLIELMINO
If you’re thinking of taking up mountain biking, said College Cyclery owner Randy Collins, it’s important that your first few rides be positive experiences, or you might not want to hit the trail again. Photo/ David Robert
“Somebody can progress in their riding in that area as they take different trails.” Visit the Biggest Little Trail Stewardship website at www. bltsnv.org/trails.html for a trail map.
Try the Sierra Vista DG Path in northwest Reno or South Perimeter Trail in Truckee first, then progress to routes like the Intermediate Flow Trail in Sierra Vista Park. As you progress and get more comfortable, try the non-motorized trails on Peavine Mountain, in Hidden Valley, at the Sierra Front Trail or at the Verdi-Floriston section of the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.
“I also would encourage people as beginners to take some formal skill-development lessons. … With a few basic skill sets, you can have a really good experience,” Collins said.
Sky Tavern has several options for skill building classes; visit www.skytavern.org/mountainbike-park to find the one that suits your needs. The next open skills clinic is Wednesday, July 17, from 5 to 8 p.m.
If you have any questions about mountain biking or generally feel overwhelmed, reach out to Collins and his crew at College Cyclery, at 622 S. Virginia St.; 775-323-1809.
Disc golf
Eric Wonhof, treasurer of the Reno Disc Golf Association and administrator of the Reno Disc Golfers Facebook group, explained that beginners should avoid windy days—possibly one of the most difficult aspects of the sport here—and look for courses that have distances of 200 feet or less between the tee box and hole.
Beginner courses Wonhof recommends include the Pitch ’n’ Putt at the Lizard Peak Disc Golf Complex at Sun Valley Regional Park, The Wedge at South Valleys Regional Sports Complex, and the North Tahoe Lions Club Disc Golf course in Incline Village.
However, a beginner does not have to visit a formal course to practice. Wonhof suggests going to a local park and “just pick a tree, and see if you can get there.” This technique is called object golf, and it’s a great option; players can go anywhere, Wonhof explained, mentioning that “especially this time of year … a lot of people go camping and bring their disks.”
Wonhof recommends joining the Reno Disc Golfers Facebook Group, where weekly meetup events are posted, as is information about periodic lessons or seminars. He also advises using the free UDisc app for finding courses and recording scores. And don’t forget YouTube. “You’d be shocked how many people want to teach,” he said.
Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight
For July, 2024
This sky chart is drawn for latitude 40 degrees north, but may be used in continental U.S. and southern Canada.
July’s evening sky chart. Illustration/Robert D. Miller
field of Mars, the Pleiades, Jupiter, Aldebaran and the Hyades on July 1-3 and July 29-31, creating especially beautiful vistas on those six mornings. Watch also for these events:
July 4, one hour before sunrise: The old moon—3% full and at its northernmost point this month—rises in the northeast to east-northeast, 17° to the lower left of Jupiter. The span of four solar system bodies—Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and the moon—is 96° long. (Faint Uranus and Neptune also sit within the lineup.)
July 8-22, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours before sunrise: Uranus appears within 5° of Mars, within same binocular field. Mars is moving 0.7° per day against background stars. Look for 5.8-magnitude Uranus 4.8° to the lower left of the red planet on July 8, and 4.6° to the upper right of Mars by July 22. They’ll appear closest on July 15, when Uranus appears within 0.6° north (to the upper left) of Mars.
July 9 and 19, about 1 1/4 hours before sunrise: Jupiter passes within 4.8° north of Aldebaran, a once-in-12-years event. Jupiter moves slowly, and so remains within 5° of Aldebaran July 3-16.
July skies
The planets and the moon line up to create a fantastic early-morning show
Many beautiful events involving the moon and planets—against a striking background of stars—will reward early risers this July.
Predawn skies feature a display of the three bright outer planets, all easily visible to the unaided eye. The best time to look throughout the month is about 75 minutes before sunrise. At that time, Jupiter, gleaming at magnitude -2 in east-northeast to east, appears as the brightest “star” in the sky. The other two planets glow at first magnitude—or only 1/16, or 6 percent—as bright as Jupiter. Reddish Mars appears to the upper right of Jupiter, by 22° on July 1. The gap between these two planets decreases by half a degree daily, so Mars-Jupiter will appear 15° apart by July 15, and 7° apart at the month’s end. Two weeks later, on Aug. 14, Mars will pass only 0.3° north of Jupiter, for the most impressive planetary pairing of this year.
This year, Mars joins Jupiter in the constellation Taurus, the Bull, from July 12 through Sept. 5. Jupiter, which takes nearly a dozen years to circle the sun, entered Taurus in late April 2024 and will remain within its boundaries until June 2025. Taurus is noted for its two fine star clusters, the Pleaides and the Hyades, impressive to the unaided eye, and especially so when using binoculars. First-magnitude Aldebaran, marking the Bull’s reddish eye, completes a V-shaped pattern with the Hyades, constituting the head of Taurus, with all its stars fitting within a single field of view of binoculars.
Saturn stands off by itself, in the south-southeast to southwest, in the predawn sky during July. A telescope reveals the rings, appearing almost needle-like at low magnifications, as they’re tipped at an unusually small inclination of 2° to 2.4° from edge-on this month.
The waning crescent moon sweeps through the
July 21, about 1 1/4 hours before sunrise: The full moon is low in the southwest. Mars passes within 4.8° south of third-magnitude Alcyone, brightest member of the Pleiades. Six solar system bodies—the moon, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Mars and Jupiter—span 133°. Follow the moon daily through Aug. 3, and watch it sweep past the other bodies by July 31.
July 30, about 1 1/4 hours before sunrise: Mars is 5° from the moon and 7.5° from Jupiter, while Aldebaran forms a nearly isosceles triangle with the two planets, about 6° from each.
On Aug. 1, Mars and Aldebaran have spread to 5.3° apart, while Jupiter stands 6.5° to the lower left of both reddish objects, forming an isosceles triangle.
By the closing week of July, Orion, with his two bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel—and the vertical line of three stars marking his belt midway between them—emerges low in the eastern, early twilight morning sky, below and to the right of the triangle of Jupiter, Mars and Aldebaran. The scene is well described by Robert Frost in the opening lines of his poem, “The Star-splitter”: You know Orion always comes up sideways. Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains.
Other bright stars in the morning twilight sky are zero-magnitude Vega in the northwest, accompanied by Altair and Deneb, completing the Summer Triangle; Fomalhaut, mouth of the Southern Fish, below Saturn; zero-magnitude Capella in the northeast; and the “Twin” stars of Gemini, Pollux and Castor, 4.5° apart, far below
| BY ROBERT VICTOR
Capella. Confirm the Twins by finding them about 6° to the left of the waning crescent moon on Aug. 2.
Evenings: Both inner planets, Mercury and Venus, set during dusk twilight in July, and require binoculars for a reasonable chance for a successful sighting. That’s especially true for Venus, to the upper left of the recently set sun, by less than 8° on July 1, to 16° on July 31. Using binoculars, soon after sunset, scan the horizon to the left of the sunset point. You’ll need very clear skies and an unobstructed view.
Setting later in twilight, Mercury will be easier to see than Venus. Its magnitude fades from -0.5 on July 1, to 0.0 on July 12, to +0.5 on July 24, and +1.0 on Aug. 1. Remember that a fading of one magnitude corresponds to a 60 percent loss of brightness! On July 7, Mercury will appear 3°-4° to the lower right of the crescent moon, and climb highest, but still only a few degrees up in the west-northwest in mid-twilight, the following weekend.
Skipping Venus and Mercury—which don’t impress, because they’re currently deep in twilight—the most prominent evening stars are golden Arcturus, high in the southwestern sky, and blue-white Vega, ascending in the east-northeast. Altair and Deneb complete the Summer Triangle with Vega.
During July 1-7 at nightfall, the sky is dark and moonless for fine Milky Way viewing, and for three nights more, after moonset and before midnight.
At dusk on July 8 and 9, the waxing crescent moon appears 6° from Regulus, heart of Leo, the Lion.
On Saturday, July 13, as seen from Reno, the star Spica is occulted by the leading dark edge of the moon in daylight, at 7:28 p.m.—a difficult event to observe, even with optical aid. Spica is still hidden by the moon at sunset, and emerges along the moon’s bright, sunlit edge at 8:47 p.m., in bright twilight not long after sunset, so a telescope is recommended. Later in the evening, as the moon continues eastward, Spica will become visible to the unaided eye, to the moon’s lower right.
On the night of July 20-21, the moon is full. Thereafter, the moon rises later each evening, and by July 24, it is well below the horizon at nightfall, and the sky will again be dark for Milky Way viewing.
The Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar is available by subscription from www.abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar. For $12 per year, subscribers receive quarterly mailings, each containing three monthly issues.
Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still helps produce an occasional issue. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky and other wonders of nature.
Stereographic Projection
Map by Robert D. Miller Evening mid-twilight occurs when
Deneb
Frank De Palma cried when he saw his face in the mirror for the first time after spending 22 years and 36 days in solitary confinement in the Ely State Prison.
He was 58 years old. The last time he had seen his own face, he was 35.
After being incarcerated for 43 years total, De Palma was released in 2018. Now a free man, he is devoted to telling his story—speaking out against the horror of solitary confinement and advocating for reform of the prison system.
“Parts of me are missing that might never come back,” De Palma said. “The deprivation of that cell, the ugly torture of that aloneness, has killed parts of me. My soul is like Swiss cheese.”
It was 1974 when De Palma, then 18 years old, made a rash decision. The “neighborhood jerk” who was always racing his pickup down the street ran over and killed De Palma’s beloved dog, Bud. De Palma, crazed with anger, ran to the guy’s house. He pounded on the door, but no one answered. De Palma then noticed the truck that had just ran over his best friend was in the driveway, and the keys were still in the ignition. De Palma jumped in and started the car; he drove around the block, and when he came back around, he crashed the truck into the house. When he came to, he was surrounded by cops.
Although no one was killed or injured in the incident, De Palma received a sentence of 10 years at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City, with eligibility for parole after two years with good behavior. Hopeful to serve his two
years and go home, he tried to keep to himself. But in the prison environment, he said, that wasn’t an option.
In 1982, a member of the Black Mafia Family gang attacked De Palma from behind, narrowly missing his neck but slashing him in the shoulder. The two fought until De Palma stabbed his attacker four times—fatally—in self-defense. His last words were, “They told me to get you.” Roderick Abeyta, who had been with De Palma when the incident happened and tossed him the shank to defend himself, lied during the trial, saying the killing was not spontaneous, and De Palma had forced him to sharpen the knife and hand it over. (De Palma speculated that since Abeyta was slated to spend the rest of his life in prison, the trial was his lottery ticket out.) A porter, Chris Jones, who’d witnessed everything from the opposite tier, corroborated De Palma’s story—but a jury still found De Palma guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to five years to life with the possibility of parole. He was moved to the Ely State Prison in 1989. He was put in solitary confinement in 1992.
“When I first entered prison, I vowed I’d never become one of those black-hearted monsters who walked the yard. Yet in the end, I became one of the worst of them. I tried to understand how it could be a teen who’d made a rash decision when his dog was run over could have spent most of his life in prison as a result. I would never understand it.”
‘Thankful to be alive’
“ Parts of me are missing that might never come back. The deprivation of that cell, the ugly torture of that aloneness, has killed parts of me. My soul is like Swiss cheese. ”
— Frank De Palma
De Palma was born in 1956 in Brooklyn, N.Y., not far from the boardwalk of Coney Island, but “worlds away from the Nevada State Prison and all its misery.” He lived with his parents and older sister, Marie. He was very close to his mother, Mary; he said she was his refuge—safe and affectionate. He both loved and hated his father, whom he described as a dominating force who exerted his will through violence.
saved him from a mountain lion once. Today, De Palma lives in an apartment in Reno with his cat, Fatty. He likes to sit in the sun on the Adirondack chairs near the pool in the courtyard. On the June day when De Palma talked with the RN&R, Amanda, the manager, stopped by to say hello; he told her he would get her a copy of his book and sign it when he gets more. Later, a neighbor named Che stopped by to chat.
“In the end, my worst day out (of prison), which was when I was homeless, was better than my best day in there, so I’m always in the plus column,” De Palma said. “I’m sitting out here because I can. I don’t have to ask permission, and so, I’m blessed. I’ve learned what so many of us need to learn: No matter what, just be thankful to be alive.”
Free at last
When De Palma entered the Nevada State Prison in Carson City in the mid-1970s, there were no programs or activities that offered any sort of structure or rehabilitation. In his book, De Palma describes it as a violent environment. The air was charged with tension—at any moment, a fight could break out.
“My decisions kept me alive, but at what cost?” De Palma wrote in his book, Never to Surrender! 22 Years in Solitary: The Battle for My Soul in a U.S. Prison, released in April.
When De Palma was 9, his parents divorced. After his father remarried, he moved Frank, then 14, and his sister, to Las Vegas. Soon after arriving, De Palma got his dog, Bud, a golden Labrador puppy who followed him everywhere. He said Bud even
“The years of being immersed in violence, of expecting to die every single day, (do) something to a person,” De Palma wrote. “It was as though I existed in a dark, hate-infused dome with nothing good, warm or loving to ever balance it out. … That place begins to erode away at your humanity. Like waves hitting the sand, it just keeps eroding away.”
A few years after De Palma was moved to the Ely State Prison, a watch commander asked to speak with De Palma. He told him that the Nevada prison system had a new guy “upstairs,” and he was making some changes. “They’ve got a lot of young gangbangers com-
Frank De Palma at home in his Reno apartment with his cat, Fatty. Photo/ David Robert
ing into Ely,” he said, “and he’s worried about violence here. So, his plan is to lock down the old-timers like you—guys with violent histories—to prevent problems, as a precaution.”
De Palma wrote: “On Feb. 3, 1992, 13 of us ‘old-timers’—most in our 30s—were moved into solitary confinement cells to face a brutal existence: 23-hour-a day containment in a concrete box, one hour out for rec a few times a week, twice-a-week showers, and a food tray passed through a flap in the door. But the most disturbing was the vagueness of how long it would last.”
Decades later, there was a bright spot of compassion—Lisa Walsh, former associate warden of the Ely State Prison, played a large part in De Palma’s rehabilitation. Along with a team of psychologists, Walsh helped him get used to being around people again. He was their test case: the first person who had been in solitary for decades with an impending release date. Was it possible for him to be placed back into the fold of society?
For the two years prior to his release, De Palma was transferred to Warm Springs Correctional Center, a medium-security prison in Carson City. It was a big adjustment for him to have relative freedom. That facility offered programs and activities such as gardening, in which De Palma found great joy and meaning. He slowly got used to the overwhelming stimuli of his new environment. Walsh enrolled De Palma in school, and he earned his GED and high school diploma. De Palma also won a writing contest.
On Dec. 21, 2018, De Palma, at age 62, walked out of prison a free man—into a world he hardly recognized.
De Palma wrote, “I couldn’t help but notice how majestic the sunrise looked, in much the same way it looked some 43 years earlier when a scared, freckle-faced kid had been driven to the Nevada State Prison. I’d come into prison a young man, my life ahead of me; now I was leaving an old man, my life behind me.”
He faced homelessness and dire poverty. The only people he knew were other former inmates. Though De Palma was legally not supposed to “associate” with them, they ended up being the people who helped him get on his feet.
“It was ex-cons who got me off the street,” he said. “Got me places to stay. Fed me. Gave me money. Rented me places. All ex-cons.”
An effort to change the law
Nick Shepack is the Nevada state deputy director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center. Back in 2018, he was working with the ACLU of Nevada and state Sen. Pat Spearman on a bill that would limit the use of solitary confinement
Nick Shepack, Nevada state deputy director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, in his office at The Virgil, a Reno event venue and coworking space. Shepack met De Palma when he was looking for survivors of solitary confinement to testify in support of a bill to restrict the practice in Nevada. That bill eventually became law.
Photo/David Robert
situational. Now that he’s been put back into a safe environment, he’s starting to thrive again.”
In March 2021, the ACLU of Nevada was ready to push the solitary-confinement reform bill on which Shepack had been working. Shepack asked De Palma to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Moving testimony
Shepack also asked Mary Buser to testify. She is a criminal-justice reform advocate who has worked as a clinical social worker on Rikers Island. She’s also the author of the 2015 book Lockdown on Rikers: Shocking Stories of Abuse and Injustice at New York’s Notorious Jail Buser said that when she received the email from Shepack asking her to testify, she thought that the request was a bit odd, since she was in New York and knew nothing about Nevada.
in Nevada. To identify solitary survivors to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the bill, Shepack contacted Elaine Voigt, who runs My Journey Home, a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated people. Voigt told Shepack she had the perfect person for him. Voigt helped Shepack set up a meeting with De Palma at Beto’s Mexican Food.
Shepack developed a friendship with De Palma and helped him get stable housing, access the few government benefits that were available to him, and adjust to life outside. De Palma had never even grocery-shopped for himself, having lived with his parents prior to entering prison.
Shepack said. “It’s been one of the most rewarding relationships in my life. Frank has taught me a lot. It’s an amazing transformation. It really shows you how he was turned into a self-admittedly violent and dangerous person for much of his life, but it was completely
“I decided, ‘Sure, why not?’” Buser said. “Solitary confinement is the same wherever you go in the country. So I was ready.”
The testimony took place via Zoom. When Buser entered the Zoom waiting room, she learned there was one other person testifying— De Palma.
“He introduced himself and was very friendly,” she said. “So it was just the two of us, and Frank went first. When he continued on next page
“ I was just flabbergasted, because Rikers Island is a jail where people come and go, so people are in solitary for a few months, maybe a year at most. But here I am on a call with this man talking about 22-plus years with nothing, no TV, no magazines. ”
— MaryBuser, criminaljusticereformadvocate
“Imagine entering a grocery store at 60 years old and trying to budget and do all those things there was no training for,” Shepack said. “Especially the most affordable ones like Walmart or WinCo; those are hard to navigate. I helped him a lot with things like that.”
At one point, when De Palma was between stable housing situations, he endured multiple falls, Shepack said. His spinal cord was rubbing against the bone, and he was losing the ability to walk. He started using a wheelchair and needed major neck surgery. During that time, Shepack was his transportation.
“I met this guy for a burrito in 2018, not having any idea what it would turn into,”
Mary Buser, a New Yorkbased criminal justice reform advocate and author, worked as a clinical social worker on Rikers Island. She testified via Zoom in support of a Nevada bill—which later became law—to restrict the use of solitary confinement in Nevada prisons.
continued from Page 13
spoke, I was just flabbergasted, because Rikers Island is a jail where people come and go, so people are in solitary for a few months, maybe a year at most. But here I am on a call with this man talking about 22-plus years with nothing, no TV, no magazines. So I was just like, ‘What am I doing here?’ I was this pipsqueak with my observations. I wanted to slink out of there. There was this moment when everyone needed time to kind of recover. The chairwoman (Sen. Melanie Scheible) said, ‘We will never forget this.’”
Buser was so moved by De Palma’s testimony that she asked Shepack if he could put her in touch. When she learned De Palma had been in prison for 43 years as a result of something “stupid and impulsive” he did when he was 18, she wondered how this could happen in this country. She quickly learned that De Palma’s case isn’t uncommon.
According to Shepack, prisons do not keep thorough data on solitary confinement, especially on long-term cases, and they are not required to track data on the use or duration of solitary confinement. A May 2023 study by the watchdog group Solitary Watch reported that 122,840 inmates in the U.S. were in solitary confinement at that time, amounting to approximately 6% of all inmates. The study reports that the state with the highest percentage of in-
mates in solitary was Nevada, with almost 26%.
De Palma said that many inmates over the decades have told him they have been in similar situations—locked away after making a stupid mistake.
“People are buried without a paper trail every day,” Shepack said.
Buser also spoke with Dr. Terry Kupers, a leading authority on solitary confinement, who noted the pattern throughout his years of interviewing prisoners for his research. “I found out there are tons of kids who go in for the same thing—nickel-and-dime charges—and pay with their lives,” Buser said. “I went to Nick (Shepack) and said, ‘Crazy idea, I know, but I think there’s a book here about Frank’s life.’”
Shepack didn’t think it wasn’t crazy at all. In fact, De Palma had already done a lot of writing about his life while he was in prison. At a point when De Palma’s housing situation was unstable, he gave the stacks of his writing on clipped-together lined paper to Shepack for safekeeping. Shepack passed De Palma’s writing on to Buser, who read through it all and then began to edit and compile it into a book. Buser and De Palma worked together on writing the book, and in the process became very good friends.
“We’ve talked on the phone every day for over three years,” Buser said. The bill stalled in 2021, despite De Palma’s testimony. “The director of prisons at the time (Charles Daniels) was very much against any sort of reform,” Shepack said.
After Daniels was forced to resign in 2022, James Dzurenda—a reform supporter who had been the director from 2016-2019—returned to the post in 2023, Spearman re-introduced the legislation again. Senate Bill 307, which limits the use of solitary confinement in Nevada to 15 days in most cases, was signed into law by Gov. Joseph Lombardo on June 15, 2023. It went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
A purpose born out of experience
De Palma is now committed to being a voice for all those in prison who are forgotten by society, especially those across the country who are still kept in solitary confinement.
“My life’s experiences, however unjust, led me to my purpose,” De Palma said.
De Palma’s ultimate goal is to abolish the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons. He shares his story with each person he meets.
we made major reform in Nevada, in no small part due to his testimony.”
De Palma recently visited the University of Delaware and gave a talk. Afterward, he received a letter from one of the students in attendance, which he retrieved from his apartment and read aloud.
Dear Frank,
Hello. My name is Danielle Linekin. I am 21 years old from Long Island, New York. This upcoming Aug.14, I will turn 22 years old. Meaning that my time on Earth is shorter than the time you spent in solitary confinement. Wow. Frank, I cannot express enough how grateful I am to hear your story and in your own words. Thank you for coming to our class and talking about your experiences, even though it is painful. It is difficult to imagine what you went through and how you are still so full of love, hope, kindness and humor. Your words are forever stuck with me in my mind and heart. After I graduate, I plan on dedicating my life and career to reform, rehabilitation and abolishing solitary confinement.
“He’s extremely impactful when he talks to people,” Shepack said. “It was a little bit of luck, because if I hadn’t found him—if the ACLU hadn’t been looking for people to testify—he wouldn’t have gotten plugged in with anyone who could help him on his mission. He met me and Holly (Welborn); she was the policy director at the ACLU at the time, and then we introduced him to Mary, and his world grew and grew. He started to get all these opportunities. A lot of things fell into place, and
“ In the end, my worst day out here, which was when I was homeless, was better than my best day in there, so I’m always in the plus column. ”
— Frank De Palma
Frank De Palma tears up while reading a touching letter of thanks he received from a Delaware college student after speaking with her class. Photo/David Robert
Thank you for being brave and strong while reliving the horrible things that happened to you. I want you to know that you’re not alone. We are here to cheer you on. Your words are beyond powerful and encourage us to make change in the prison system. This has to end. No one should be treated as you were. Thank you for laughing and crying with us, giving us inspiration, and showing us the fierceness of the human spirit. I think you are the strongest person I have ever (known) and will ever know. I am proud of you. You are a worthy man. I look forward to reading your book. And I hope whenever you read this, you are having a wonderful day.
I wish you peace and love and of course a very happy birthday.
Sincerely,
Danielle Linekin
De Palma hopes to do more talks at universities and other places. Buser said there’s a Reno event in the works for early August, with the exact date and venue to be determined, during which De Palma plans to speak and sign books.
Now, De Palma has a community of people around him who care, like Shepack, Buser and many others.
“People like me; they all say nice things about me,” De Palma said. “I’m just being me. I don’t know what people like about me, but I’m glad there’s something. I’ve experienced the depths of hell and despair on earth. And so, I’ve earned the right to aspire to the complete opposite: love, pure joy, happiness, contentment, beauty and peace.”
Far out of context
Michael Heizer’s enormous land-art sculpture in eastern Nevada is so unlike anything else, I never found my bearings
At Michael Heizer’s mile-and-a-half-long landart installation in eastern Nevada, there are no signs or curatorial statements. The iconic work, 50 years in the making, is in the remote Basin and Range National Monument, where hunting, hiking and camping are allowed, but there are no park amenities—no entrance booth, no ranger station, no bathrooms, no campgrounds. There is no gift shop, no souvenir travel mug. There is no tour. There is no tour guide. There’s a driver, Ed. He brought a truckful of us two-plus hours from the town of Alamo, dropped us off, showed us a subtle landmark so we could find the truck again, pointed out a semi-hidden portable toilet, and said he’d see us in three hours.
While Ed is an easy conversationalist, quick
to spin a yarn about local geography or his baby chukars, he was next to mum about the project, which he called only “the project.” Its title is “City.” Not once in eight hours did Ed say the word “City.” He only mentioned the name “Heizer” when he was talking about how he used to run cattle for the 79-year-old art star and rancher decades ago.
There is no How It’s Made episode, no behind-the scenes-documentary, no coffee table book. Photography is prohibited. (The New York Times, however, got an exception and published some fantastic drone shots. The scale of “City” is impossible to grasp in the still photos released to the rest of the media, but the drone shots do it justice.)
Before the trip, I’d received no talking points
A detail of “City,” copyright Michael Heizer. Photo/Mary Converse, courtesy of Triple Aught Foundation
than the artist would have liked, Heizer changed the terms of their friendship. Fox had to write his 2019 book, Michael Heizer—The Once and Future Monuments, without any input from Heizer
This the least-mediated art experience I have ever had in my life—by many orders of magnitude.
A lucky break, a lucky icebreaker
I was in the back-row bench seat of a white, late-model Chevy Tahoe bouncing along a gravel road, gawking at Garden Valley’s vast expanse of sagebrush steppe, the fingers of snow running down the peaks in the distance, and a few vertical, gray-blue brushstrokes near the horizon—passing rainstorms, maybe 40 miles away. I was pretending not to be carsick. I was caffeinated as heck.
I was there due to a stroke of happenstance. If you called it a “buddy deal,” I couldn’t argue. Technically, “City” finally opened to visitors in 2022, but few people have seen it. The New York-based Triple Aught Foundation, which owns and administers it, sells only six tickets per day, three days per week, for six months of the year. I’ve applied for tickets a few times, to no avail. In 2022, I pled my case to the foundation: Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Nevada journalist add to a discussion that’s been dominated so far by the national art press? Art in America got in. The New York Times got in. I got two brusque brush-offs by email.
Earlier this year, Brent Holmes, a Las Vegas artist and arts writer—who’s also a colleague and friend—got a job with Triple Aught. A few months later, he texted to say the foundation would open the velvet rope for a few Nevada journalists. The journalists’ outing I joined was the second of two.
from the media team. (There are always talking points from the media team to arts reporters. Rest assured, I usually ignore them.)
Typically, with any art piece—especially one this ambitious, especially one by an artist whose status as a giant in the international art world was secured in the 1960s—there are reams and reams of statements, declarations and documentation. Heizer, though, has been avoiding the press for a long time.
“I’m a quiet man. I just make art,” he told The Guardian in 2015. In 2016, he talked with The New Yorker for an extensive profile. I haven’t seen another one since. After Bill Fox, director of the Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art, published a book discussing Heizer in more biographical detail
Back on the third-row bench seat, the carsickness was not at all impeding a lovely conversation with Taylor Avery, a politics and government reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, who was grateful to be on the clock yet off the beaten path, a four-hour drive from her windowless office.
Taylor is a good interviewer. She asked me how I got interested in art and what I get out of being an arts writer. Every time someone asks me this, I stumble through a half-resolved answer. Due to the two cups of cold brew I’d downed back in Alamo, I stumbled through it faster than anyone could possibly want to hear. Taylor asked follow-up questions until I managed to sort of put it into words. It was something like this:
Art is this undefined, unregulated mental
territory where people are trying to get at something that is probably not a declarative statement, but is still somehow useful to know. Art is where there’s room to explore and organize and attempt to make sense of the world, in ways you cannot do in other disciplines, by manipulating materials and ideas into some kind of output that might end up ephemeral—possibly unclear or alienating, even. But when it works, there is something there that you can’t get elsewhere. Visual artists get to carve out this space where they’re the masters of their own domains. Sometimes they use an existing visual language to create their own world (like a comic book artist). Sometimes they invent their own language out of images or objects (like Michael Heizer with $40 million, several square miles of raw desert and bulldozers). Somehow, some of this output helps some people connect meaningfully with some other people.
That was as far as I got. It’s further than I usually get.
In the ‘City’
After Ed dropped us off, our group of five walked along a perfectly flat, machine-made butte, then descended a perfectly graded, weedless slope into a maze of tidy mounds, depressions and flat spots made of gravel and rammed earth. Miles of cement curbs swoop and angle across the land like drawings. The closest real-world comparisons to these shaped bits of ground I can think of are subdivisions that have been graded but not yet built, or maybe the early foundation of a fanciful, futuristic racetrack that’s not yet paved. But these shaped bits of ground have no practical purpose. They exist only to behold.
Our group was under no obligation to stick together, but we quickly agreed that what we were seeing was so disorienting, so hard to
process, that perhaps we could help each other out in trying to grasp it and describe it—so we did stick together.
We each tried our normal sets of references: How does “City” compare with other outings in wide, breathtaking Nevada valleys? With other massive land art pieces? Was it the setting for a dream? Like walking inside of a drawing? A macho, industrial zen garden? Keep in mind that, as journalists, we analyze, discuss and describe things every day. Here, we all came up short, over and over.
We meandered up and down the slopes and along the pathways. Sometimes we had a worm’s-eye view of nothing but the factory-perfect slopes and curbs under the passing clouds. Sometimes, at the sculpture’s edges, we felt like we’d reached the edge of a Hollywood movie set, where we’d been so engulfed in the story that a sudden glimpse of the real world seemed jarring.
At opposite ends of “City,” there are two groups of concrete structures that look like minimalist, sci-fi cityscapes that jumped off a page and became gravity-defying structures with concrete beams and steep triangles jutting in unlikely directions. They were appealingly confounding.
The discussions meandered to some of the major critiques that have been published about the piece. Many have called it a wasteful imposition on the environment. Others have pointed out that the land that looked like a blank canvas to a prominent, white artist in the early 1970s is the same land that was stolen from the Western Shoshone when the U.S. government violated the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley.
“The matter has been in and out of courtrooms for 150 years,” wrote art historian Chris Fernald in Double Scoop (the statewide arts
journal of which I am editor) in 2022.
“Ultimately, ‘City’ offers us the worst of our present and past,” Fernald wrote, “an immersive environment for selfie-taking and exclusive art tourism, a generational unwillingness to grapple with the complex legacies of colonization, and a willful ignorance of the interconnection of self and land.”
Our group of five discussed the fact that the exclusivity of this grand experience we were having was, on one hand, noticeably uncomfortable. We all wanted to go pick up cars full of friends and family members and share this artwork. On the other hand, when we’d each been offered a chance to jump the line, we’d all taken it, and there we were on a sunny afternoon, wandering this otherworldly marvel without a crowd, enjoying the quiet.
After maybe an hour, we stopped trying to figure it out, rationalize it, critique it or describe it, and settled into just wandering through and experiencing it. After two hours, Brent—who had been at Heizer’s nearby ranch talking with
the manager—joined us. Brent is among the most perceptive, articulate discussers of art I have ever known. He has never spoken with Heizer (who is back in New York and in poor health), and when it comes to the hows and whys of “City,” he hasn’t been privy to much more than the rest of us, even though he is employed by the foundation. But given how skilled he is at getting his finger on the pulse of that elusive, ephemeral something that a painting or performance might be accomplishing, I admit I was expecting an illuminating, if improvised, docent talk—or at least a quality rant. He started a few times and told a few stories, but when he got to trying to explain why “City” feels so meaningful, he kept skipping straight to a half-frustrated, “It’s just such fucking good art.” I have to hand it to Taylor for asking me the right question at the right time. The only framework that made sense that day was my bumbling answer: Art, at its most successful, taps into some undefined, unregulated, immensely satisfying thing that I’ve always struggled to put into words. This time, it was that undefined, unregulated, immensely satisfying thing—writ 1,000 times larger than I’d ever imagined.
“City” is located in the Basin and Range National Monument in Lincoln County, 157 miles north of Las Vegas and 108 miles south of Ely. While the monument is open to the public and free to use, “City” is on private land and will be accessible in 2025 only between May 13 and Nov. 13, and only by reservation. Tickets are $150 for adults; $100 for students outside of Nevada; and free for residents of Lincoln, Nye and White Pine counties, and Nevada students and educators (although reservations are still required). Ticket sales for 2024 have closed, and the Triple Aught Foundation plans to open requests for 2025 on Jan. 2, 2025, at 9:01 a.m. Visitation days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Learn more at www.tripleaughtfoundation.org.
This article was also published on Double Scoop, Nevada’s source for visual arts news and commentary. Learn more at doublescoop.art.
A detail of “City,” copyright Michael Heizer. Photo/Joe Rome, courtesy of Triple Aught Foundation
A detail of “City,” copyright Michael Heizer. Photo/Ben Blackwell, courtesy of Triple Aught Foundation
ART OF THE STATE
Art behind bars
A group exhibit at the decommissioned Nevada State Prison explores themes of incarceration
It’s searingly hot on the day Frances Melhop takes me into a tiny prison cell. We’re at the decommissioned Nevada State Prison in Carson City, and the concrete walls and floors have made the heat miserable inside.
The cell, originally part of maximum-security housing, is maybe eight feet square and was meant to contain two grown men, with bunk beds and a toilet. In this eerie space, guests in the coming months can experience poetry and artwork inspired by the experience of incarceration, as part of Far Beyond the Walls, the newest exhibition curated by Melhop and presented as a collaboration between Melhop Gallery ˚7077 and the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society.
The exhibition is the brainchild of Melhop, who left her brick-and-mortar version of ˚7077 gallery behind in 2022 in favor of a nomadic, pop-up gallery model that show-
“O.P.G. (Ospedale Psichiatrico Giudiziario)
Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Secondigliano, Naples, Italy” (cropped) is a 2009 photograph by artist Giampiero Assumma, originally from Naples and now based Moscow.
went nomadic and connected the dots, I thought putting his work in here would be so heart-rending and powerful.”
A second realization followed shortly after: Another artist Melhop represents, Jennifer Garza-Cuen, is a photographer whose work has explored the aesthetic of criminalization, documenting archives such as ruined, unidentifiable mugshots, press photos and processing paperwork. Soon, Melhop had the makings of a group exhibition with unlimited potential.
Melhop approached the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society, the nonprofit organization established to preserve and develop the prison as an educational and cultural site, about the idea for the exhibit, and she was met with enthusiasm from the start.
“They’ve been so positive and extremely open to the idea of putting artwork in these spaces,” she said, explaining that the society members even agreed to arrange for electricity throughout the prison during the run of the show. “Each time I find another artist, I ask for another space, and they’ve been brilliant.”
The result is Far Beyond the Walls, an immersive exhibition featuring 22 artists— showcasing photography, painting, fabric art, and poetry—in seven solo exhibitions and two group shows, located throughout the prison in cell housing, the infirmary, the culinary space, the barbering cell and the holding cell. The goal, says the show’s website, is “to move public awareness towards an understanding of the issues surrounding incarceration in the U.S., both historically and currently.”
cases artists’ work in relevant settings, to more deeply immersed audiences.
Melhop first encountered the decommissioned Nevada State Prison in 2020, when she joined her friend Lisa Jayne, a historian, to provide photography for a project. “I hadn’t gone nomadic at that point, but I knew this would be a really great space to do some relevant art projects,” Melhop recalled.
She filed it away in the back of her mind, and the idea re-emerged this year when it was time to plan an exhibition for one of the artists she represents, Giampiero Assumma.
“He is a photographer from Naples, now based in Moscow, and he spent about 10 years taking photographs of people in secured criminal psychiatric facilities in Italy,” she said, explaining how his work cautiously and respectfully records the spaces, inmates and emotions inhabiting these facilities. “Once I
In addition to works by Assumma and Garza-Cuen, the show also will feature a series of paintings called P2P: Prisoners to Paper Dolls by Glynn Cartledge, an artist who spent 25 years working as a criminal defense lawyer at this very prison, who is currently a Nevada Arts Council fellow.
“I was really interested in the fact that you have no identity when you’re in there, apart from a number,” Melhop said of the series. “Her concern is that people come out of prison, and they’re treated like two-dimensional characters—paper dolls, essentially. You have a stigma, and there are just so many obstacles when you get out. You’re seen as this one thing, this really flat entity, not as someone with potential and skills and thought processes.”
Accompanying Cartledge’s work is a soundscape created by Gia Dreyer, a queer, nonbinary composer from New Jersey whose work focuses on the experiences of exclusion and marginalization.
| BY JESSICA SANTINA
Also among the visual artists is Kevin Barron, a formerly incarcerated artist out of the United Kingdom who will be showcasing works of psychedelic art, specifically in the template of LSD blotter art. Lisa Jarrett, who makes art within the African diaspora, specifically surrounding the cultural aspects of Black hair, was inspired by the prison’s barber chair to produce a barber’s cape with stitching that portrays an elaborate escape plan, as in the Mouse Trap board game.
A video exhibition by German filmmaker Harun Farocki will be shown, and the prison’s cafeteria will present work by artists who are inmates at Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City and the Lovelock Correctional Center. Those works will be available for sale; proceeds will be disbursed to the artists’ commissary accounts, enabling them to purchase art supplies or other desired items.
Finally, Nevada poet laureate Shaun Griffin has curated a collection of poetry to be featured in the show. Griffin, who has been teaching poetry workshops to inmates over the last 30 years, has brought work from formerly incarcerated poets to contribute to the show. Their writings have been stamped into pieces torn from cardboard boxes.
“I wanted to use cardboard boxes,” Melhop explained, “because everything inside a prison becomes art material. It all gets traded. I wanted it to be something that would be used on the inside.” The punched-out lettering on the pieces, when hung in front of prison bars, will enable light to show through the words.
“Several of the guys have said that Shaun and poetry have literally saved their lives, because it was another way of communicating,” Melhop said. “I think there’s so much violence inside the prison, and you can’t talk; you can’t say anything. You need other outlets to express what’s going on, and I think he provided that—an incredible outlet to let it go, to create these new worlds.”
Ultimately, the immersive nature of Far Beyond the Walls is not a commentary on our justice system, but rather about the humanity within it, as indicated by its title.
“It’s about the fact that doing a prison sentence carries on long after you’re released,” Melhop said. “It doesn’t end. The troubles and difficulties faced by people who have completed their time, paid their dues … they’re in a terrible situation. So, it’s about way more than just being inside the walls.”
Far Beyond the Walls will be on display through Monday, Sept. 30, and is available to view by appointment. Melhop is asking viewers to book through her website, www.melhopgallery.com, and she will meet with visitors to provide a tour of the exhibit. The 2 1/2 hour tour costs $25. This article was produced by Double Scoop, Nevada’s source for visual arts news. Learn more at doublescoop.art.
ART OF THE STATE
Don’t freak out
Brüka’s ‘Side Show: The Musical’ tells a sad tale with heart and humor
It’s a sad fact of human history that the strange and the bizarre have always been sources of entertainment.
Though the days of selling tickets to see circus freaks may be gone, a quick look through today’s TV-channel guide proves that such exploitation is alive and well—copious reality shows about people who weigh 700 pounds, have had botched plastic surgeries and eat vile objects are all presented as entertainment. When we’re gawking, it’s easy to forget they are humans, with talents and dreams and feelings, just like the rest of us.
Brüka Theatre’s newest production, Bill Russell’s 2014 revival of Side Show: The Musical, is a dramatization of the lives of real people—conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton—that puts audiences’ innate desire to exploit or disparage those who are different firmly in the spotlight.
Performed almost entirely through song, Side Show tells the story of the Hilton twins’ rise to stardom during the Great Depression as a performing duo, the featured act in a carnival side show operated by a master of ceremonies known only as “Sir” (Andy Luna). The show is comprised of
“God’s mistakes,” including a bearded lady (Cindy Sabatini), a dog boy (Bay Eaton), a tattooed woman (Kelsey Mato), a three-legged man (Kaymin Sambrano), the “human pincushion” (Aiden Billharz), a half-man/half-woman (Robin Soli) and the cannibal king (Michael Smith III). When musician Buddy Foster (Adam Semas) happens upon the twins and sees their talent, he invites a talent scout, Terry (Jeff Chamberlin), to come check them out.
Terry and Buddy are captivated and want to learn more about the twins’ background. Both Daisy (Sophie Moeller) and Violet (Alexandria Pauletto) sing beautifully, but although they’re literally joined at the hip and frequently treated as one person, the men quickly discover that their personalities are quite distinct: Daisy craves stardom and excitement, while Violet wants nothing more than a home and family. But they have no home—Sir took them in when they were very young and controls their every move, abusing them harshly if they step out of line or question his authority.
Terry makes them an offer: He’ll help make their dreams come true by making them stars. With Buddy’s help, the twins become wildly popular vaudeville performers. But when Terry asks Sir to cut him in on the profits the twins
have brought in, Sir refuses. The girls now have to choose: They can stay in the only home they’ve ever known (“The Devil You Know”), or take a risk and leave with Terry and Buddy to go on tour as a vaudeville act (the devil they don’t). The “cannibal king,” their friend Jake, tries to convince them not to go, but the girls confess that they’ve developed feelings for the two new men in their lives, so they reluctantly leave their friends and hit the road.
But fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
| BY JESSICA SANTINA
The cast of Side Show rehearses in June: Rachael Gottas, Sophie Moeller, Alexandria Pauletto and Brian Hanson are in the front row; Andy Luna is behind them. Photo/ David Robert
While the twins’ act is a huge success, Violet’s dream of a home and family still seems out of reach. The reality of their situation—being unable to ever separate—sets in: One of them will always have to sacrifice herself to make the other happy. Yet who would each be without the other? Could anyone truly love them as they are? What do they value most, and what are they willing to sacrifice to have it?
Jean Paul Rivard, such an indomitable talent onstage, proves his directorial chops are just as fierce. Side Show stands apart for its acrossthe-board talent. A local show presented almost entirely in song risks being bogged down by subpar singing, but I can happily report that the voices here are consistently strong. In particular, Pauletto and Moeller both have lovely, remarkable voices worthy of top billing, and their ability to simply stay connected at the hip while physically performing is admirable. Semas, a longtime presence in the area’s musical-theater scene, is both a strong singer and a talented actor whose portrayal of Buddy makes him vulnerable and relatable. Kudos also go to Smith as Jake, the twins’ confidante and loyal protector; his deep, powerful voice and intensity command attention.
Although Side Show is touching, thoughtful and brimming with allegory, it never struggles under the weight of its own meaning. It’s an uplifting, funny, romantic, visually compelling production—just right for a summer night.
Side Show: The Musical will be performed through Saturday, July 20, at Brüka Theatre, 99 N. Virginia St., in Reno. Tickets are $40 at the door, or $35 in advance, with discounts. For tickets or more information, call 775-3233221, or visit www.bruka.org.
| BY BOB GRIMM
Humor and heart
‘Inside Out 2’ is a much-needed return to form for Pixar; Jeff Nichols’ ‘The Bikeriders’ is beautiful, but lacking depth
Pixar delivers a memorable film—albeit in safe sequel mode—with Inside Out 2, a zippy, goofy, sometimes ingenious and consistently fun riff on puberty and the new emotions that come with it.
4
Riley (the voice of Kensington Tallman) has turned 13, and with that, the likes of Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) have new competition at Riley’s emotions panel. Leading the way is, naturally, Anxiety (a hilarious Maya Hawke), unrelentingly taking command of Riley and making her hockey tryouts an extreme challenge.
The script, co-written by director Kelsey Mann, cleverly has a field day with all of the emotions that come in waves with a teen going through puberty. There’s a panic-attack sequence late in the film that is one of the best scenes Pixar has put together in more than a decade.
It’s been a while since one of their films has blown minds like Pixar once did frequently. Inside Out 2 reminds how brilliant the animation studio can sometimes be. Hawke, who has proven herself to be as
capable of an actor as her parents Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, gets a real showcase here. Her Anxiety is one of the funnier characters in the Pixar universe.
Other new emotions providing laughter include Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) and Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos). Poehler, while taking a bit of a back seat to Hawke’s Anxiety, still qualifies as the emotional ringleader and is just as fun as she was in the original.
It’s good to see Pixar hit a high note and pump some life into an otherwise dismal summer movie season. As with some of their best films, Inside Out 2 has a lot of heart to go with the laughs, and I expect there will be more of these in the future. I have to think we will see Riley in college—and the slew of emotions that will come with that.
Director Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter) is back after an eight-year hiatus from feature films. The Bikeriders proves to be one of his best-looking films yet—but it’s not one of his best.
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It’s a good movie. I enjoyed it. But it never really gets under the surface of what it’s trying to portray, that being the onset of biker-gang culture in the ’60s. He captures the look and style, but his screenplay (based on a photobook of the same name) feels a little too episodic rather than epic.
The emotions meet Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) in Inside Out 2.
Maybe it needed to be about an hour longer. That wouldn’t have been a bad thing; being in the presence of characters like Johnny (Tom Hardy), the leader of a biker gang called the Vandals, and moody rider Benny (Austin Butler, always doing good work) screams for more depth. In the end, the characters are just sketches. Maybe that was the intent—to provide sketch portrayals of images from an infamous photobook? I don’t know, but the whole thing left me mildly entertained, but feeling a little empty.
The film is garnering comparisons to some of Martin Scorsese’s works like Goodfellas. For me, the unfortunate Scorsese comparison is that Jodie Comer—an actress I love—adapts an accent that sounds way too much like the awful one Joe Pesci used in Casino, one of my least-favorite Scorsese films. There were times when I just couldn’t get past the grating sound of it.
Still, The Bikeriders is a decent, somewhat entertaining movie. It could’ve been great. Maybe we will get a director’s cut that fleshes things out a bit.
I was on the fence for most of Brats, a Brat Pack documentary by Andrew McCarthy, former member of the Brat Pack. Actually, he is still a member of the Brat Pack. Once you are in that club, you can’t leave.
2
I sympathized with his general unease in his younger acting days when, after an article written by some smartass journalist came out, he and Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Emilio
Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Rob Lowe and others were labeled the “Brat Pack.” McCarthy didn’t like the implication of being labeled a brat, and he’s held a bit of a grudge throughout the years. Understandable.
But, man, this dude—a very privileged and lucky dude, I might add—just won’t stop whining. And when he sits with the actual journalist who wrote the article at the film’s end, he just keeps drilling the guy for writing the article, even during the goodbye handshake.
Oh, shut up, you whiny bitch. You were a movie star. You are still kind of a movie star (albeit not as much of one as most of the other members of the so-called Brat Pack). Maybe that’s because you whined about being in the Brat Pack too much—and, you know, you signed on the dotted line for the Weekend at Bernie’s movies. I concur that “Brat Pack” was an unfair labeling of a solid group of young actors, and it pissed me off from day one, but come on, let it go.
Much of the film is McCarthy calling old acting accomplices and trying to secure interviews. He hooks Lowe, Estevez, Sheedy, Demi Moore and Jon Cryer, while Nelson and Ringwald abstain, probably because this dude drives them crazy.
Some of the interviews are fine (especially those with Lowe and Estevez), and being a big fan of these movies, I enjoy the subject matter. But McCarthy isn’t a great documentarian, and his pissy attitude eventually kills all the fun. Brats is now streaming on Hulu.
Gene Wilder himself provides much of the narration for the documentary Remembering Gene Wilder, as director Ron Frank uses the late actor’s voice (taken from
4
Tom Hardy and Austin Butler in The Bikeriders
the actor’s audio recordings for his memoirs) to wonderful effect.
The doc covers much of Wilder’s career, from his early roles in The Producers, through his other collaborations with Mel Brooks (including Young Frankenstein) and Richard Pryor. Sometimes it’s easy to take what a comic actor does in a movie for granted. Director Ron Frank successfully conveys, with the help of Wilder himself, just how nuanced and precise of a comic actor Wilder really was.
His power came from his acting gifts, finetuned with an early-stage career: He was a great actor who was funny. His work in The Producers, his first truly comedic feature film role, showed an actor who was hilarious while being convincingly terrified of Zero Mostel. As the doc shows, Wilder really was a little scared of Mostel. There was a lot of truth in that scene where he squealed in fear of Mostel possibly
jumping on him.
Mel Brooks sits down for an interview (the man just keeps on going!) and reveals how he fought hard with Wilder to remove “Puttin’ on the Ritz” from Young Frankenstein, because it was too off track for a film that was a consistent homage to the original Frankenstein. As Brooks acknowledges in his interview, he had to apologize to Wilder, because it wound up being the best part of his film.
Of course, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory gets its due, as well it should. Gilda Radner gets a touching place in the film—a brief but wonderful stretch in Wilder’s life. The last portion of the film is delicately dedicated to his final marriage and his battle with Alzheimer’s.
I count Wilder with the likes of Steve Martin and Bill Murray as an all-time-great, multitalented comedic actor. The man could act, paint,
write and, most prominently, deliver a comedic performance like no other.
Remembering Gene Wilder is now streaming on Netflix.
Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor and Rain Pryor in Remembering Gene Wilder.
BEST 3 THINGS
Fabulous food truck finds
Crawfish sliders, Balinese chicken skewers and Oreo pie!
For those of us in the foodie community, summer in Reno means one thing: food trucks.
Who knew that the Biggest Little City would become such a hub for mobile food vendors? With weekly food truck gatherings like Feed the Camel on Wednesdays, and Food Truck Fridays, as well a bounty of outdoor music events that feature food trucks, it seems there’s a whole world of food on the go—and that trend isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
While fun, food-truck gatherings pose some questions: Which truck? What item to order? Will it be worth it? Ordering food from a truck is already a quirky experience, and it can be disappointing to wait in a long
line, only to end up siting on the ground with a dish that’s underwhelming.
I’ve put in the grueling research to come up with a few dishes that I was impressed with—in case you find yourself in the same position.
What: crawfish sliders
Where: NOLA Sliders
Contact: www.facebook.com/nolasliders
Price: $15
With his tagline of “violent burgers, destructive taste,” Jeremiah John of NOLA Sliders has been bringing big smash-burger flavors in a slider package to Reno since 2022. I recently paid a visit while at Feed the Camel, the food-truck gathering in the McKinley Arts & Culture Center parking lot on Wednesday evenings, and
noticed the summer special crawfish sliders on the menu. I’m so glad I gave it a try. The crawfish sliders, or “crawfish bois,” are inspired by a classic New Orleans festival food called crawfish bread. Pieces of crawfish are chopped small and smothered in a thick, cheesy Cajun-spiced sauce. While one might not normally consider seafood and cheese to be a natural combination, this one works very well—and proves the NOLA Sliders food truck perfectly represents the Big Easy’s catchphrase: Laissez les bons temps rouler. Let the good times roll.
What: sate ayam
Where: Bali Express
Contact: www.baliexpress2023.com
Price: $15
| BY MAUDE BALLINGER
The chicken and coconut curry rice in Bali Express’ sate ayam are delicious, but the true star—the peanut sauce—is so perfect that you’ll want to take it home. And guess what— you can! Photo/Maude Ballinger
The Bali Express food truck offers Reno’s only access to Balinese cuisine. Launched in 2023 by owners Koming Suryani and Barry Williams, this truck has quickly become one of my favorites because of the bold flavors unlike anything else in town. If you’re hesitant to try foods you might not be able to pronounce, the sate ayam is a great introduction that bridges the new and familiar.
Chicken skewers are topped with peanut sauce and served over a bed of coconut curry rice. While the chicken is delicious and has a flavorful rub that coats every bite, the real star of this dish is the peanut sauce, which is thick, textured and fragrant with spices, herbs and heat, making it uniquely delicious. Pro tip: You can buy the peanut sauce to take home, making it a cinch to prepare fabulous peanut noodles on your own.
What: frozen Oreo icebox
Where: Silver State Pie Co.
Contact: www.silverstatepieco.com
Price: $6
Growing up, I had an obsession with Oreo pie. It was the driving force to get through my meals—a reward for cooperating during dinners out with my family. A relic of the past, Oreo pie is hard to find on menus anymore, so you can imagine my inner child’s delight when I saw it was a featured dessert from the Silver State Pie Co. truck.
I am consistently impressed with what the pie guys, Colten Johnson and Jason Stewart, concoct each month—and the Oreo pie is no exception. It’s a perfectly light, cold and sweet treat to enjoy on a warm summer evening. With an Oreo cookie crust and fluffy whipped cream topping, it’s exactly what I remember loving as a kid—except somehow even better.
Bruce Van Dyke Radio
6-10am daily: BVD in Xville His full morning shows on KTHX-FM circa 1993-96
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We’re working to make sure the RN&R never goes away again. As the Gannett daily continues to wither away, our coverage is more important than ever before. We’re currently in the process of analyzing the best path forward for the RN&R—including a conversion to nonprofit status.
That’s where you, our super-fans, come in: We want to better understand where the RN&R fits into your life. What do you like about it? What could we do better? And how are you willing to help us secure a sustainable future?
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TASTE OF THE TOWN TASTE OF THE TOWN
Happenings
Celebrate Independence Day on Thursday, July 4, at the Margaritaville Resort Lake Tahoe, 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd., with the exclusive Skyline Soiree—a lakeside fireworks celebration, where guests can watch South Lake Tahoe’s fireworks show from the hotel’s seventh-floor balcony overlooking the lake. Tickets are $200 and include light bites, two drinks and access to a full bar. For tickets and more information, search for the event on Eventbrite.
Dancing in the Streets, a celebration of all things Midtown, takes place Saturday, July 13, starting at 4 p.m. Virginia Street will be closed from California Avenue to Mount Rose Street to host eight music stages and dozens of food and drink vendors. While the event itself is free, VIP experience tickets are available. For more information, visit www. renomidtown.com/dancinginthestreets.
The Sierra Nevada Lavender and Honey Festival is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, July 14, in Idlewild Park. The free event celebrates local lavender and honey with honey tastings by the Northern Nevada Beekeepers Association alongside arts and crafts, demonstrations, music and more. Get details at www. lavenderandhoneyfest.com.
Hot Havana Nights, a fundraiser for Safe Embrace—a nonprofit working to provide resources and support to victims of domestic and sexual violence—will take place at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, July 20, at the National Automobile Museum, 1 Museum Drive, in Reno. The Cuban-inspired event will feature Latin music and dance performances, libations and Cuban treats from the Renaissance Reno catering team, and hand-rolled cigars from Ruiz Cigars. For tickets, which start at $100, or more information, visit e.givesmart. com/events/CAl.
The annual Reno Garlic Fest is scheduled to take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 3, at the McKinley Arts and Culture Center, at 925 Riverside Drive. Local farmers will sell a variety of
continued on Page 27
LIQUID CONVERSATIONS
Brain freeze!
A love letter to frozen cocktails
I am passionate about frozen cocktails in all their forms. From the Slurpee to the piña colada, the world is full of delicious cups of brain freeze—but what sets frozen drinks apart is their unique ability to transport you to a summer day with just one sip. I’ll dive deeper into the world of frozen drinks and help you understand why, of all the styles of cocktails in the world, I love frozen drinks the most.
The birth of the slushy, brain-freezy frozen drink we adore today happened due to a stroke of luck in the 1950s. Omar Knedlik, the owner of a Dairy Queen, was dealing with a soda fountain malfunction and had to think on his feet. He placed bottles of soda in the freezer, but made sure they didn’t fully freeze. When he opened a bottle and inserted a straw, the result was a drink that was neither liquid nor frozen—it was slushy. This modern-beverage marvel relies on the scientific process known as the Joule-Thomson effect. The carbon dioxide in the soda expanded upon opening, and the bubbles absorbed heat, supercooling the liquid around them and creating little ice crystals—or slush.
Knedlik did not need to know the science to know it was a hit, and he soon
designed the first carbonated frozen beverage machine—calling his creation the ICEE. A certain convenience-store chain quickly noticed the lines of kids outside Dairy Queens, and in 1965, 7-Eleven bought a few machines. An ad agency noticed the distinct sound made when the drink was properly sipped with a straw and changed the name to the now-famous Slurpee.
The Slurpee is the gold standard by which all frozen drinks are judged—and not just because I used to dig between couch cushions every summer for change to buy one. According to CNN Business, 7-Eleven sells more than 70 million Slurpees annually.
Part of my day job as a beverage innovation manager at Monin Gourmet Flavors involves examining drink trends. I’ve been at it for three years, and I am still waiting to see one report that does not mention nostalgia as a driving force in consumer demand. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, marketers have discovered that Gen Z and millennial consumers are responding to products and trends that were big before they were born, while Gen X shoppers are seeking out reissues of brands that were popular when they were kids. When we order drinks, we want to be taken somewhere by the experience, and with a frozen drink, it is almost always that feeling right before you
| BY MICHAEL MOBERLY
Frozen drinks, says our cocktail scribe, are “not just drinks, but a canvas for bartenders to create magic, inspire and delight.” Take, for example, this strawberry-infused, Tajín-rimmed Long Drink slush that bartender Rob Villa is serving at The Hideout Lounge.
Photo/David Robert
cannonball into a pool. That childlike feeling makes frozen drinks perfect for creating equally fancy and fun cocktails. They are not just drinks, but a canvas for bartenders to create magic, inspire and delight.
But a frozen drink should not simply offer nostalgia; it is also ideally a good drink—and many bars in Northern Nevada feature thoughtful and well-executed frozen cocktails that surprise and delight.
“For us at the Hideout, we really just started dabbling in the frozen game this year,” said Rob Villa, bartender at The Hideout Lounge. “I think people react to them because they offer a nice escape from the norm and bring back positive memories of that trip to a tropical getaway.”
The Hideout’s recent innovations include frozen drinks like a strawberry Long Drink slush, rimmed with chamoy (a popular sweet/ sour/spicy Mexican condiment) and Tajín— and the result is a refreshing, lightly spiced patio pounder.
For many years, during the cocktail dark ages of the ’70s and ’80s, frozen drinks were mere vessels for sickly sweet cocktails that were given little to no thought. The frozen drink was just a place to throw your cheapest alcohol and brightly colored mixer.
“We all wanted a splash of rum in our Slurpee when we were 21; what we do in bars is beyond that in quality,” said Reno Public House owner Kyle Aiton. At Reno Public House, frozen drinks have grown so popular that they are served from St. Patrick’s Day until the first snowfall of the winter.
“I love putting together recipes with fresh fruit in its peak season,” Kyle said. His team has experimented with everything from watermelon to cucumbers to get that perfect summer sip. They change their drinks sometimes multiple times a week, with their go-to cocktail being a slush featuring strawberry, basil, lemon and gin. Fresh ingredients and clever ideas are what keep people coming back for more.
My rule when making drinks is: If you can’t be fancy, you’d better be fun, but if you can do both, then that is a perfect drink. I love frozen drinks, because they take high science and make it fun. They are vessels for complex flavors, done in a disarming way.
The next time you are in a cocktail bar, take a chance on a frozen drink. More than likely, it will be worth the brain freeze.
| BY STEVE NOEL
Wine and dine
Art Mnatsakanyan: “These dinners are all about knowledge and experience. We invite the winemakers to attend—not the marketing people—to describe the winery, its history, culture and traditions, wines and pairings.” Photo/ David Robert
The Nugget’s monthly winemaker dinners offer a chance to sip, learn and feast
I enjoy a nice meal—and love great wines.
You can get both at once at a winemaker dinner, where a multi-course meal is paired with wines from a specific winemaker, who often provides insights into the winemaking process, the characteristics of the wines, and the stories behind them. In the Reno area, these dinners are generally held in high-end restaurants and casino steakhouses.
The Nugget Casino Resort has been a fixture in Sparks since 1955 and is now owned by Century Casinos, a company based in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Nugget offers one of the most refined and elevated culinary experiences in Reno at Anthony’s Chophouse, with old-school steakhouse vibes, a sophisticated yet comfortable atmosphere, and impeccable service. The wine list has 350 selections, including wines from France, Chile, Spain, Australia, Italy and Napa Valley. This list alone is reason enough to visit, but Anthony’s has great steaks and seafood, too.
I spoke with Art Mnatsakanyan, restaurant operations manager and sommelier. Mnatsakanyan said that all of the winemaker dinners at Anthony’s so far this year have sold out. “This includes dinners featuring the wines and some of the winemakers from DAOU Vineyards & Winery, Caymus Vine-
yards and Emmolo, Silver Oak and Twomey, and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars,” he said. “We are looking forward to having full houses for our remaining dinners.”
These upcoming dinners will feature Frank Family Vineyards in July, Chalk Hill in September, Opus One and Robert Mondavi in October, Shafer in November, and Rombauer Vineyards in December. That is quite the lineup of winery heavy-hitters.
“We have great relationships with these wineries,” Mnatsakanyan said. “We plan 16 months or more in advance to secure their best wines for the dinner, and also to make sure we can provide the opportunity for attendees to buy these wines at the winery’s regular prices. … Next year, we have already made arrangements with wineries to have 12 winemaker dinners. These dinners are all about knowledge and experience. We invite the winemakers to attend—not the marketing people—to describe the winery, its history, culture and traditions, wines and pairings. We also provide generous food portions in each of the five courses served, so no one leaves hungry.”
At the May 30 dinner, for example, the menu chefs devised to complement the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars selections included a pan seared Atlantic salmon, a Bibb lettuce salad, a roasted Elk chop and a grilled striploin. What a great formula. I have often left
TASTE OF THE TOWN TASTE OF THE TOWN
continued from Page 24
garlic goodness like pickled garlic, garlic fries, garlic popcorn and even garlic beer. Learn more about this Reno Food Systems event at www.facebook.com/ RenoGarlicFest.
News, Openings and Closings
Grafted Whiskey and Wine Bar, at 7300 Rancharrah Parkway, in Reno, and owned by Jade and Chad Bogan, is launching a nonprofit organization, Grafted Kitchen, to provide culinary education to at-risk 15-to-19-year-olds. The kitchen is a 2,500-square-foot culinary training facility on Oddie Boulevard in Sparks. The nonprofit will offer the opportunity to participate in a one-year, paid internship where students will receive culinary, business and hospitality training. “Our hope is that Grafted Kitchen can create a safe and supportive space for youth in our community to learn new skills and be empowered to change the trajectory of their lives,” said Jade. “On top of culinary mentorship, this internship will also give wraparound services including GED and education support, mental health support, and other needs determined by on-staff social workers.” Learn more at graftedkitchen.com.
winemaker dinners at other venues and had to stop at a drive-thru on the way home, because I was still hungry after listening to a low-level marketing person talk about the winery in a very generic way.
“My team and I know one philosophy in hospitality—the best compliment that we can get is when our guests are coming back,” Mnatsakanyan said.
This philosophy seems to be working, as the wine dinners are so well-received at Anthony’s Chophouse that 50 people have signed up for all of the remaining events for this year. That is just a little less than half of the available seats for these dinners, as Anthony’s Chophouse can seat around 120 people.
Every seat in the house has a great view of the glass wine enclosure, and rich leather and fabrics keep the noise muffled and the atmosphere intimate. I look forward to attending an upcoming winemaker dinner at Anthony’s Chophouse, and finances permitting, I would encourage you to attend one as well.
Each wine dinner at Anthony’s Chophouse at the Nugget Casino Resort costs between $169 and $219. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.cnty.com/nugget/dining/ anthonys-chophouse.
Laughing Cat Coffee, Reno’s first specialty coffee roaster, established in 1990, has re-opened under new ownership at 3545 Airway Drive, Suite 110, in Reno. Focusing on quality and master blending, Laughing Cat is introducing new signature drinks, carefully crafted blends and a rotating selection of single-origin coffees. Find out more at www.laughingcatcoffee.com.
Popular Incline Village spot Wing’s Korean Chicken has opened a new location at 2134 Greenbrae Drive, in Sparks. The concept offers Korean fried chicken wings and tenders with a variety of sauce options, such as honey butter and Korean super spicy, alongside other popular Korean street foods like Korean corn dogs and kimbap. We could not find a web presence for the new location, but the website for the Incline Village spot is wingskoreanchickenblog.wordpress.com.
The Reno branch of Sizzle Pie, the Portland, Ore.,-based pizza chain, at 190 S. Center St., has closed due to delinquent rent payments, as reported by the Reno Gazette-Journal. While the company had not yet issued a public statement as of this writing, its website link yields a “404 - Not Found” page.
Have local food, drink or restaurant news? Email foodnews@renonr.com.
—Maude Ballinger
Music and clothing finds
Tiger Rose Vintage and Vinyl brings the music store back to Carson City
As some longstanding record stores close, new takes on selling music are popping up. Take, for example, Tiger Rose Vintage and Vinyl in Carson City. The store offers both records and revived fashion, with an emphasis on alternatives to typical retail-store fare. Currently open from noon to 8 p.m. each Saturday, the shop is continuing to grow its presence since opening in May.
“I started collecting records over 30 years ago, when they were a lot less expensive than they are now,” said Jim Bowers, co-owner of Tiger Rose, during a recent phone interview. “I had a record label for a little over a decade as well, and we put out records for bands like French Kicks and Poster Children, and for friends of ours and things like that. I grew up in Carson City, and I started collecting here in Carson City when we used to have two record stores in town. There was JJ’s Ear Candy and another one when I started that was called Budget Records and Tapes. I just started my collection, and over time, it grew so large that it became a real pain to move. I lived down in Los Angeles for about almost 20 years, and kept on collecting while I was down there. I ended up selling around 900 records when I moved back to Carson City, which covered all the closing costs on the
house I bought up here.”
Collecting vinyl can be a user-friendly hobby, with a lot of records costing just a few bucks.
“You can collect them, sometimes $5 or $10 at a time, and they do tend to go up in value, but not always,” Bowers said. “… I always bought them just because I have always loved all kinds of music so much. I used to be a repeat customer of Recycled Records there in Reno for a long time in the ’90s, before I moved away, and had made some legendary purchases there that I still own.”
While Bowers handles the vinyl at Tiger Rose, co-owner Sara Turner is in charge of the vintage-clothing side.
“My partner Sara, she used to run a vintage pop-up shop down in Los Angeles at the swap meet at Fairfax and Melrose, and another one that happened at the airport in Santa Monica,” Bowers said. “She would go on the weekends and pitch a tent out there and sell vintage clothing. When she moved up here, about a year after I did, we had so much stuff in storage, so we just were like, ‘Let’s consolidate our storage.’ We ended up finding a retail space that was less expensive than what we were paying for our three storage places—and the next thing you knew, we were just like, ‘Well, let’s just open a store then.’”
Bowers found that his life gradually propelled
Currently open from noon to 8 p.m. each Saturday, Tiger Rose Vintage and Vinyl in Carson City is continuing to grow its presence since opening in May.
“I love Spotify and things like that for being able to hear about something from a friend and just being able to check it out instantaneously, so the instant gratification part is nice, and it’s fun on there to make playlists and stuff, but I have always preferred the more tactile experience that you get with vinyl records—and also being able to find things that haven’t been released digitally, that sometimes are really amazing,” Bowers said. “Also, even just on the subject of cover art, there are sometimes when you see things you normally wouldn’t have even been interested in, but you see an amazing cover, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I have to hear that.’”
Bowers prides himself in the fact that the shop carries both music by local bands and new releases that you can’t find at Walmart.
him from vinyl fan to vinyl seller.
“Through having a record label in the past, and through being in other parts of the music business over the years, I just wound up connected to a bunch of people who worked at the distributors and things like that,” Bowers said.
Bowers wanted his shop to offer a lot more than one can find in the limited selections at major retailers.
“JJ’s Ear Candy here in Carson City closed in September of 2005, which is right around when I was moving to L.A.,” Bowers said. “I was already in California at that time, and when I came back to town a couple years ago, I came home to realize there were no music stores that sold new releases in Carson City, except for Walmart. If you’re looking for the new Taylor Swift record, you can get it at Walmart, but if you’re looking for much else, it’s pretty tough.”
Swifties, fret not: Tiger Rose does carry Taylor Swift—and in fact, two of the store’s first 20 sales were Taylor Swift records.
“So far, we’ve just been inviting friends and family down and starting to put the word out,” Bowers said. “We’ve had a few customers come in every Saturday, and we’ve probably only sold about 50 records or so, so far.”
Tiger Rose is helping Bowers celebrate his life-long love for vinyl.
“Our shop is the only place in Carson City where you can buy new releases, especially if you’re looking for something that’s on a larger indie label, like Sub Pop or something like that,” Bowers said. “We do a really good job of making sure that we’ve got at least one copy of all the new stuff that’s coming out. Also, where we’re located is kind of a cool little spot … The Carson Antiques and Collectibles Mall is right across the street from us, and there are more used records in there, and there are a couple other spots, like little antique shops and stuff right within walking distance of our shop. You actually could hit four or five different places by parking your car in one spot.”
Bowers expressed pride in the fact that Tiger Rose is filling a void in Carson City.
“Silver Dollar Records (which closed last year in Dayton) was 17 miles away from where we are, and the next closest place is Recycled (Records in Reno), which is about 35 miles,” Bowers said. “I liked being a kid in this town and being able to ride my bike around and go to the JJ’s Ear Candy, or wherever it was, and check out what was coming out—so we wanted to put that back into town. We just wanted there to be a place where people could pick up new releases in Carson City. It’s easy enough in the summertime to drive up and go to Recycled or something, but when the weather hits in the wintertime, it’s not always that easy. We wanted to bring that back into town. It’s been gone for almost 20 years.”
Tiger Rose Vintage and Vinyl is located at 1802 N. Carson St., No. 122, in Carson City. The store is open from noon to 8 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, or to make an appointment to visit the shop, call 775-297-3172, or visit www.tigerrosevintage.com.
MUSICBEAT
Weird is good
Voidsinger offers a glimpse into Reno’s goth scene
For decades, musician Rob Pelikan has been a progenitor of the goth scene in Reno— from his days as a DJ on one of Reno’s first alternative-music radio shows on KUNR, to his role in starting numerous goth nights at bars and clubs around town.
He’s a self-described “elder goth”—an honorific for how long he’s been part of the scene. Now he’s one-half of the band Voidsinger, and he and bandmate Casey Fritz are responsible for a hefty percentage of Reno’s goth-music output. Since starting their collaboration in early 2023, Voidsinger
As a subculture, goth has plenty of stereotypes ingrained over decades of pop-culture representation. Pale makeup and black clothing, an affinity for being moody and brooding, and a fascination with all things macabre come to mind. But beneath the shadows and purple velvet of its vampire aesthetic, goth started as a musical subculture with roots in the ’80s new wave sound. Bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division and Bauhaus are some of the earliest examples.
Celebrating the sonic tradition of goth culture is the fundamental goal of “goth nights” like
Casey Fritz and Rob Pelikan make up the band Voidsinger, a pillar of the local goth community. Photo/David Robert
While Pelikan lists the heavy hitters of the new wave scene as his influences, Fritz draws much of his inspiration from the decade that followed.
“My influences are like The Cure, New Order, Cocteau Twins, Love and Rockets—that kind of thing,” Pelikan said. “And (Fritz) is a decade after me, and so his influences are like Nirvana, Marilyn Manson, Elliott Smith and Nine Inch Nails. That’s what makes it fascinating. It’s not like we’re two birds of the same feather.”
While Pelikan agrees that goth is perhaps the best catchall term for Voidsinger’s music, the duo’s combined tastes allow for experimentation with genres like country, jazz and acoustic.
“It’s like 70% goth rock and 30% fell-into-other-territory,” Pelikan said.
Pelikan said that The Gray Album, available on Spotify and other digital music sources, is most indicative of the band’s overall sound. The 12 tracks are dark and wonderfully spooky throughout, but they’re much more than just Halloween sounds. Voidsinger’s work is that rare breed of heavier music that is still undeniably danceable thanks to some of the hallmarks of the goth sound: a driving bass line, minor chords, and easily discernible beats.
Tracks like “Days Gone” illustrate the dichotomy well, with an electronic four-on-the-floor beat right out of the ’80s, backed by a thumping bass and droning, melancholy synths. “Killing Me” leans into a heavier rock riff, as well as Pelikan’s vocals, which alternate between a monotonous, spoken-word verse and a screaming, heavily distorted chorus. You can almost envision someone wearing a black cloak playing the church organ backing the track. “Dead By Dawn,” “Skull King” and “Down in Hell” are almost ambient in their commitment to strippedback riffs, sound effects and digital distortion.
The entire album artfully balances harmonic discord with professional production to yield a result that is both unnerving and hypnotizingly groovy. One could imagine hearing it in the speakers of a shadowy nightclub or even as the
BY MATT BIEKER
soundtrack to an ’80s slasher flick.
“I would call it, like, music from the shadows,” Pelikan said. “There’s nothing sunny about it, but there’s something comforting about it.”
As for how Voidsinger can churn out music at such a breakneck pace: Pelikan and Fritz have developed a semi-remote process that allows them each to put their individual spin on a track, then meet up once a week to clean up the sound and record everything.
“Casey doesn’t actually play an instrument,” Pelikan said. “He’s a savant with computers, so he will program the keyboard, the drum pattern and the basic overall background of the song. And sometimes it’s really melodic, and I’m like, ‘Wow, how do you not play an instrument? Like, this is fucking amazing.’”
Fritz will then send the digital track to Pelikan to flesh out with an analog guitar, bass and keyboard in his home studio. Once Pelikan has added his influence to the track, they’ll pick a day to meet in person and make the final recording. Working like this allows Voidsinger to produce three or four finished tracks per week.
“If you do that every week, you can get an album done in a month,” said Pelikan. “That’s sort of been our pace, and a lot of the credit goes to him. … He’ll just come out with song after song.”
As efficient as their digital process is, it has limited Voidsinger’s ability to play live; as a result, they’ve operated as a studio band since their inception. But Pelikan hopes they’ll be able to play a debut show sometime this summer.
In the meantime, he encourages anyone and everyone to familiarize themselves with Reno’s goth offerings by attending Ritual or seeking out the handful of other goth bands in town. As intimidating as the dark and somewhat isolating aesthetic can be, the community is accepting of social differences and eager to welcome newcomers, Pelikan said. It’s what originally drew him to alternative music in high school.
“I remember high school in the middle ’80s; there was this punk-rock crowd that would hang out in this one part of the high school, and there were so many different types of people,” he said. “I was like, ‘Wow, these are my people. They don’t have any judgments; they’re embracing of weirdness.’ Weird is good.”
Darren Senn Betty & James The
Darren James
Hula Hoop Workshop
Tacos Bar KonA
Hula Hoop Art Bar KonA
“Niko’s is wonderful! We have had the all the traditional dishes from moussaka to the gyros - all amazing! It has the feel of a local diner and the staff makes you feel at home.” — Jacqueline G.
| BY MATT JONES JONESIN'
CROSSWORD
“Freestyle, Full Substance”—celebrating puzzle No. 1200!
By Matt Jones
Across 1. Uninspired order, with “the”
6. Butt heads
11. 3-D map type
13. Keep tempo with, as a song (just not on beats 1 and 3)
14. Namesake of element #106
16. Scored 72, perhaps
17. It may precede 44321
18. Sour reactions
19. Pay phone need, once
21. Reno and Garland, for short
24. “Here’s the thing ...”
25. ___ Boot
26. Holiday that lined up with Feb. 10, 2024
27. Singer settings,
in literature
28. Suffix after ion or union
29. Actor Heo Sung-___ who played gangster Jang Deok-su in Squid Game
30. Alex P.’s TV mom
31. Millennium div.
32. MKE abbr.
33. On edge
35. Chicago Med areas
36. “Son of,” in some surnames
37. Namesake, say
38. Edinburgh-toLondon dir.
39. Far from
41. Some Bronze Age artifacts
42. Silicate mineral that sounds like paradise?
47. Crafts under investigation in 2024
48. Sierra follower
49. Played
50. Sci-fi villains
THE LUCKY 13
Tony Deputy
Guitarist/vocalist of Lol What?, performing at the Holland Project on July 23
that debuted in 1963
51. Middle name in the black-ish cast
52. Bingo coinage? Down
1. Bear seen outdoors
2. Resort to 3. Cell finish?
4. Onetime Sony line of robotic pets
5. Washington Mystics and Capitals owner Ted
6. Headwear that may ring a bell?
7. Andy’s role on Taxi
8. Material at the back
9. They may look up to a Leo
10. Savvy
12. Throughout 13. Dim
15. Air of horror 16. It may cause some division on
TV
20. 2002 Wimbledon winner ___ Hewitt
21. Like some goals
22. Manual replacement?
23. Propeller on the Mississippi, maybe
33. Adam’s group
34. Capital city close to Mount Ararat
40. Children’s movie that interrupted a 1968 RaidersJets broadcast
Find the answers in the “About” section at RenoNR.com!
The Spotify bio for local band Lol What? is absolutely truthful, as it says the trio writes songs that make you “laugh, cry or dance.” Their debut demo EP Stool Sample offers a mix of both emotional moods and musical realms. “Lego” is packed tight with feel-good punk that is angry yet bright and poppy, while “Blank Face” utilizes heavier riffs and more emotionally charged vocal deliveries for a grittier vibe. For more information, visit www. instagram.com/lolwhatnv. The band is set to perform at the Holland Project at 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 23. Tickets are $10, available at hollandreno.org. Lol What’s guitarist/vocalist is Tony Deputy.
What was the first concert you attended? I come from two musical parents, so I’ve been going to concerts since I was a baby. The first time I traveled to go to a concert was in 2015, when my friend Evan and I went to Warped Tour in his mom’s minivan. It was a chaotic adventure, but we got to wear khaki shorts and see rad pop punk bands. The big one for us that day was seeing Knuckle Puck for the first time.
What was the first album you owned? Licensed to Ill by Beastie Boys. I heard one of their songs at a family friend’s house
| BY MATT KING
when I was, like, 8, and had to get my hands on their CDs immediately. It’s been time to get ill ever since lol.
What bands are you listening to right now? Bilmuri, Sunfo, TRSH, Carly Cosgrove, Shortstop, Everglade, and Wall Carpets.
What artist, genre, or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get? I’m not a fan of how a lot of bands are having to push their songs on social media. Hearing the same 10 seconds of a song put across almost every single one of their posts just feels like overkill.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
Current: Bilmuri. Defunct: Transit. RIP, Tim Landers.
What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?
As of late, it’s been this band called Aight Bet. It’s hardcore and rap. It rips!
What’s your favorite music venue?
The Holland Project. I think every city on Earth should have a place like it. We’re blessed to have such a rad place in our community.
What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?
Usually the first three words of “Ravenous, Ravenous Rhinos” by I Set My Friends on Fire.
What band or artist changed your life? How?
The band Into It. Over It. changed everything for me. I found out about them when I was 16 and immediately knew I found the music I wanted to make. I was a drummer for my whole musical career at that point, and they got me to pick up guitar and try open tunings, and led me down the path to finding myself as a songwriter.
You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking? I’d ask any of the homies coming through Reno on tour if they need a place to crash.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Probably something out of pocket like “Sandstorm” by Darude.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
52 Weeks by Into It. Over It. It’s a 52-song album that’s beautiful front to back.
What song should everyone listen to right now? Go listen to “DOWN” by EVERGLADE.
Danny Heinsohn
Founder of cancer-survivor scholarship fund My Hometown Heroes
My Hometown Heroes is a local scholarship fund for cancer survivors. Danny Heinsohn, the founder and a cancer survivor, talked with the RN&R about his journey and the group’s efforts. My Hometown Heroes’ upcoming fundraising events include Chip in for Charity, in conjunction with the 2024 Barracuda Championship PGA Tour Golf Tournament in Truckee from July 18-21, and Networking Night at the Ballpark on Tuesday, Aug. 20, with the Reno Aces. For more information, visit myhometownheroes.org.
Tell me a bit about yourself and the history of the My Hometown Heroes program. Upon college graduation with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering, I was diagnosed with brain cancer. After 15 months of craniotomies, seizure complications and chemotherapy, I spiraled into depression and lost my sense of identity. I had to re-learn how to walk, talk and tie my shoes. By the time I got back into “real life,” I was broke, with a mound of student debt, and socially marooned— and the economy entered a 2 1/2-year recession. There were no jobs. While the rest of the world moved on, I was left in the wake of cancer and chemotherapy. I changed my way of thinking, took action and reinvented myself.
On the road to recovery, I signed up to participate in an indoor cycling class choreographed to music. The instructor was amazing, and I loved the energy and sense of camaraderie. … I decided to become a certified spinning instructor. Along with this newfound passion came a new lifestyle. I grew up playing sports
| BY DAVID ROBERT
and consuming sports on traditional media, but the parallels between cancer and chemotherapy with endurance sports became my new calling card.
Following this path led to an encounter with the owner of a startup company whose passions aligned with mine (Access Event Solutions, which designs and manufactures backstage passes and media credentials for sporting and entertainment events). I was hired the next day, and that’s when my career in sales began. Eventually, I would go on to create two divisions of the company, in the professional sports and corporate sponsorship industries. I cracked the sales code in those markets, implemented and activated new ideas, streamlined processes, differentiated on the details, and built ironclad partnerships with the biggest names in the business.
My Hometown Heroes was created to celebrate the community that supported me with compassion along my journey through brain cancer. They were my heroes. … Our mission is to help bridge the gap between cancer and college, one scholarship at a time. Since 2011, we have awarded over $300,000 in scholarships to young adult cancer survivors between the ages of 17 and 39 who are pursuing an education at universities, community colleges and trade schools, from all across the country.
Can you tell me a success story?
In July 2015, Haley Carroll was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma before her senior year in high school. I met Haley and her dad in 2016 at a My Hometown Heroes fundraising event and learned about her story. She had just started to grow her hair back from chemotherapy and would begin college that fall semester. We were with Haley every step of the way through college, when she made an announcement that she was accepted into the Orvis School of Nursing at the University of Nevada. Following college graduation, Haley went on to become a nurse at Renown hospital, and a year later, she became a pediatric oncology nurse. She recently got married.
What can the community do to help?
Support helps make scholarship dreams come true through an annual donation … or consider MHH as a beneficiary of your estate planning. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities available as well, such as reviewing scholarship applications, program development, help with operations, or joining the board or a committee.
BECOME A NEW VOLUNTEER AT NEVADA’S OLDEST MUSEUM
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Want to join the team? Learn about becoming a museum volunteer.
