by Jeri Chadwell-Singley
THiS Modern World
by tom tomorrow
Cats or dogs? Asked at The Jungle, 246 W. First St.
Michael Jackson Production company co-founder
Dogs, because they have a bit more spunkiness to life. They live in the moment constantly, as opposed to cats who are in their own world all the time. They’re a little dissociated from the rest of the world, I think. And dogs are all about it.
Aren Long Production company co-founder
Dogs because they’re nice. Cats are selfish. Dogs all day.
Chanelle Bessette Content editor
The next recession
I like dogs, but I consider myself more of a cat person because they’re independent, and I feel like I can have my own life. They have their own life. And those lives just intersect at home.
The Reno City Council was distressed when it got its first communities are particularly frail because of the state’s sanity-challenged heavy reliance on the sales tax. look at City Manager Andrew Clinger’s recommended Four times in the last 35 years, Nevada and its new budget. It provided for no new police officers, which municipalities have been caught surprised and unprewas the one thing councilmembers wanted. It does not pared for a recession. Each time, services the public provide for beefed-up code enforcement, which is Mayor had paid for in good times were cut because of sharp Hillary Schieve’s pet project. revenue limits and so were not there for them in hard We were pleased when the mayor said, “I want this to be a council-driven budget and not a staff-driven budget.” times. Each time, when recovery came, governments failed to prepare for the next recession, assuming There is a great hazard in government today that staff and agency chiefs get into policymaking that is the function of that there is no way to do so. There is. And it is more important to do this time because this particular city councils, county commissions, and the legislature. recovery is so weak. Having said that, we hope the councilmembers will Clinger is not proposing a Spartan listen more closely to what Clinger starvation budget, but it is a cautious has to say. Rebuilding time one. It pays for expected expenses and There is a reason that the pays down debt while setting money economic climate we are in is called may not quite be aside. He is doing what was not done a recovery of the rich. It is very in 1983, 1993, or after the turn of the fragile. As Reuters has reported, “The here yet. century. subpar recovery of the rich world Sparks City Councilmember Julia Ratti once said from the credit shock, ‘Great Recession’ and euro crisis that she went into city government expecting to build of the past seven years has left households uncertain, and instead found herself spending most of her tenure on unequal and unnerved. For governments, central banks the council “dismantling everything.” For local officials and investors, the headline rebound has barely masked who have looked forward to the time when they can get the legacy of high unemployment, spare capacity and back to building up their communities, it is no doubt a a persistent threat of deflation. With high debts, slack disappointment to hear that there are also other priorities. demand, low inflation and near-zero interest rates, Every governing body must always keep in mind the next theories abound on everything from a ‘new normal’ or recession, whether it is in sight or not. ‘secular stagnation’ for years to come. Looming presThe city manager was state budget director when sures from aging and retiring baby-boomers only add to the Great Recession got underway in 2007, and his the gloom.” experience should not be taken lightly. It’s good Consumer spending is not something this society to know this council is in charge, but it should not can count on yet, and its weak revival could vanish dismiss wise counsel. Ω in a few days, as it did a decade ago. Nevada and its OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
Rick Shepard U.S. House candidate
We have both. We have two cats that are rescues, and we raise guide dogs for the blind. We have two permanent cats, and we rotate dogs in about once every year and change. So the reason—cats are low overhead. They’re selfsufficient, and they’re not prone to be just obedient. You’ve got to earn their respect. … Dogs are loyal, which is its own reassurance, its own value.” Phoebe Stokes Anthropology student
Right now, I would choose a cat because they’re very independent. They don’t need me all the time and, as a student, that’s really good. So I can go off and do things, and my cat’s just happy. But I love both. Dogs you take on runs and hang out with. Cats are sort of there, using you.
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THIS WEEK
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MISCELLANY
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MAY 12, 2016
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RN&R
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