Letters

Roll over

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

What should we talk about? The weather? Even after the winter-long cavalcade of wild cats, this is the March that came in like a lion and is leaving like one too. Music? R.I.P. Chuck Berry. I can’t pretend I was a huge fan— among early rock ’n’ rollers, I prefer Bo Diddley and Little Richard, among others—and Berry was definitely one of those people where you have to separate the art from the artist, but his influence on popular music is incalculable. It’s almost always a mistake to say someone was the “inventor” or the “first,” and I won’t credit Berry with anything like that, but musicians all around the around the world are still writing books with the musical vocabulary he conjured some 60 years ago. And he could write a great song. “Memphis, Tennessee” is my favorite—a poignant little story with a good beat, and you can dance to it.

Movies? Go see GetOut. Our movie guy, Bob Grimm, reviewed it a couple of weeks ago, and his piece is pretty spot on—although I think I liked it even more than Bob did. I love how it uses classic horror movie storytelling techniques to examine some hard truths about race relations in this country. It’s not preachy or anything. It’s actually really funny— and the humor never undercuts the horror. There are neat allusions to classic, socially minded horror flicks like NightoftheLivingDeadand Rosemary’sBaby, but it’s a totally original creation. One neat twist is that it actually gives a little heroism to the most universally disparaged law enforcement agency in this country.

Politics? Yep, Trump is still a liar. That tweet about Obama wiretapping him was straight-up BS. His budget and policies are great for defense contractors and oil companies, and bad for poor people, artists, scientists, immigrants, the sick, the elderly, the environment, Muppets, historians and the future. But FBI director James Comey confirmed that his ties to Russia are the subject of an official investigation. It’s only a matter of time. —Brad Bynum bradb@newsreview.com

In the drink

Assembly Bill 193 would force Truckee Meadows Water Authority to fluoridate drinking water. Both your columnists Senator Leslie and Brendan Trainor should inveigh against this proposed legislation.

Environmentally, it is disastrous to add a toxic metal to water. It ultimately returns to the Truckee River and thence to Pyramid Lake in a closed watershed. It was the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service together with the Paiute Indian tribe who nixed fluoridation the last time it was proposed. Fluoride does not evaporate, so the concentrations in the lake—a closed sink into which the river drains—would build up to levels lethal to fish.

Mass medication with a proven neurotoxin, known corrosive, and suspected carcinogen violates core libertarian principles. Who is the Legislature to make the trade-off sacrificing the health of individual water consumers for questionable improvements to the community’s dental hygiene? Fluoridation defies logic. How can a substance toxic enough to kill oral bacteria via momentary exposure not ultimately be harmful to our minds and bodies as it is absorbed into vital organs? Reno-Sparks voters were wise to have turned down fluoridation in the 2002 referendum, as was the Authority in its unanimous vote against the current bill.

Bill Stremmel Pahrump

One man’s perjury

At his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Jeff Sessions stated: “I did not have communications with the Russians.” In January, in response to a written inquiry from Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) in which he was asked, “Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?” Sessions responded with one word: “No.”

Senator Sessions lied under oath to Congress and then again in writing to a senatorial colleague. As our representatives from Nevada, Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei should call for Attorney General Sessions to resign. As the top law enforcement officer of the United States, his perjury makes him unfit to serve as attorney general of the United States.

William Fraser Reno

You say Republican, I say republic

Re “Separate the powers” (Let Freedom Ring, March 9):

Contributor Brendan Trainor helped perpetuate a common mistake in his “Separate the powers” opinion piece in the March 9-15, 2017 issue of RN&R. A republic (lower case “r”) form of government is one in which power is vested in the people who exercise it via elected representatives. A Republican (upper case “R”) form of government is the kind Donald Trump and some of his cronies would like to force on the citizens of the U.S.

Clarence Basso Reno

Fifteen questions

All the talk about health care reform has me thinking: why do humans require so much health care? Did evolution screw up, or what?

Do giraffes get stiff necks? Any owls with glaucoma? Kangaroos that fall and break their hip? Do three toed sloths get morning sickness? What about childhood cancers in seal pups or zebra foals? Can you imagine squirrels with Lou Gehrig’s disease? Lizards with diabetes? Hawks in need of corrective lenses? Breast cancer in hippos, asthma in cheetahs, snakes with back pain? Do dolphins need health insurance?

I realize wild animals get diseases. (Domestic animals don’t count here; they’ve been weakened by domestication.) But we get many more maladies than they do. Is there a cold and flu season amongst rabbits? Deer with allergies? Bears with hemorrhoids?

April Pedersen Reno

ERIK HOLLAND

Our Mission: To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live. Editor Brad Bynum News Editor Dennis Myers Special Projects Editor Jeri Chadwell-Singley Arts Editor Kris Vagner Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Contributors Amy Alkon, Megan Berner, Matt Bieker, Kelsey Fitzgerald, Bob Grimm, Anna Hart, Ashley Hennefer, Shelia Leslie, Josie Luciano, Eric Marks, Tim Prentiss, Jessica Santina, Todd South, Marc Tiar, Brendan Trainor, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young Design Manager Lindsay Trop Creative Director Serene Lusano Art Director Margaret Larkin Marketing/Publications Designer Sarah Hansel Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Designer Kyle Shine Sales Manager Emily Litt RN&R Rainmaker Gina Odegard Advertising Consultants Brit Johnson, Myranda Keeley Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Manager/Operations Coordinator Kelly Miller Distribution Assistant and Driver Max Stark Distribution Drivers Alex Barskyy, Bob Christensen, Debbie Frenzi, Gary White, Jennifer Gangestad, Lori Ashley, Lori DeAndreis, Marty Lane, Marty Troye, Patrick L’Angelle, Rosie Martinez, Tracy Breeden, Vicki Jewell President/CEO Jeff VonKaenel Director of Nuts & Bolts Deborah Redmond Executive Coordinator Carlyn Asuncion Project Coordinator Natasha VonKaenel Director of People & Culture David Stogner Director of Dollars & Sense Nicole Jackson Payroll/AP Wizard Miranda Dargitz Sweetdeals Coordinator Courtney DeShields Developers John Bisignano, Jonathan Schultz System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins N&R Publications Editor Michelle Carl N&R Publications Associate Editor Kate Gonzales N&R Publications Writer Anne Stokes

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