Letters

Signs of spring

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Y’all remember D. Brian Burghart? Long-time editor of this newspaper? Wrote a bunch of stories about police violence? Among other things? Looks like Mr. Clean?

When Brian was writing this column, he used to write about his garden. He’d write about how his xeriscaping plans, rant about the neighbor dog who peed on his tomatoes. Riveting stuff.

I once asked him why he liked writing about his garden. He said, “I’ve noticed that the more my personal life is in disarray, the more I write about my garden.”

Writing, like gardening, is a small act of organization. We organize words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into stories. Sometimes, when life seems chaotic, having something small to organize can be helpful. That goes for chaos in our personal lives as well as chaos in the world at large.

There are heartbreaking atrocities happening in Syria. There’s the continued threat of climate change. There’s the weekly litany of crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Trump administration. It’s enough to drive a man to gardening.

One thing I liked about Brian’s gardening writing was that it was so seasonal. I don’t garden, but this time of year, there’s only one thing on my mind—well, two things, but we’ll talk about the wholesome one—baseball.

As a San Francisco Giants fan, I was thrilled when pitching ace Madison Bumgarner totally crushed two home runs on opening day— becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to hit multiple home runs on opening day. After a couple of days of play, MadBum leads the majors in strikeouts as a pitcher, and also has the best batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging as a hitter. Those stats won’t last, but it’s a fun fluke of early April to see a pitcher on top of the hitting statistics.

The real bummer was that the bullpen let him down, and the Giants went on to lose that game to the D-backs, 6-5. Still, anyone who follows baseball knows this country is already great.

—Brad Bynum bradb@newsreview.com

Buckle up

Re “Repeal mandatory seat belts” (editorial, March 30):

I am a taxpayer. As a taxpayer, I get to pay for the health care of people who elect not to wear seat belts and carry the state’s minimum $5,000 medical insurance policy. I also get to pay for their long-term care in the event the hospital is able to save their life, but they can no longer work. Fortunately/unfortunately they are not all killed when they are thrown from the vehicle when it rolls.

Since we as a society have decided we cannot/will not allow citizens to suffer from the consequences of their decisions—leave them dying by the side of the road unless they can pay for their health care and on-going care—I support the mandatory seat belt law. I want to pay as little taxes as possible. If the possibility of a fine has a driver put on their seat belt, I am all for it.

Debbra King Reno

Re “Repeal mandatory seat belts” (editorial, March 30):

I’m a liberal and I believe government has a role in protecting our civil rights, saving the environment, and a wide swath of other functions. I also believe we need liberty and that we should be careful to lay out restrictions on government’s involvement in our lives, particularly in our personal space—our homes, bedrooms, cars. We can always find rationales for why something is good so government should be involved in spreading it. But that can eliminate the concept that there are limits to government’s power.

Seat belts serve a very good purpose. But to me, then making the leap to say that government should force the wearing of them by adults is a step beyond where government should go. This commentary did not say that seat belts are a bad idea. It said that government enforcement is a bad idea. I agree.

George Stanley Reno

Arcana

Re “Identity theft” (cover story, March 23):

Dennis Myers is not a science writer, as evidenced by the text of his article. Nonetheless, we get the gist of his argument, which still somehow seems arcane. I mean, Range magazine has been sniping around the perimeter of academic science and green sensibility for many years now.

It’s ironic and bears pointing out that Myers fails to mention that Carson was a scientist, possibly an entomologist or aquatic biologist. Suffice to say, she was an ecologist. His biggest omission is of the impetus for the eventual DDT ban—DDT residue was destroying the eggs of birds, most notably, our national symbol, the Bald Eagle. This in part popularized the term “food chain.” It is so typical of the insular, idiosyncratic style of RN&R to omit these very relevant facts. Sieve Klutter Sun Valley

Editor’s note: As noted in paragraph five of our piece, Ms. Carson was a marine biologist. She worked at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but tended to regard herself as a writer first and left the FWS in 1952 to write full time

Which party is that?

Why is one political party so determined to make every part of my life a salable commodity? I like the rule that kept internet companies I deal with from selling my information to third parties. The only conceivable reason for collecting my info would be national security, not to solicit me to buy a toaster.

Keep my info private! We have a president who won’t share his tax returns, which may be quite relevant to national security considerations, but who is just fine with selling the privacy of the rest of us to commercial third parties.

Paul Alan Lenart 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 Marty Lane Distribution Drivers Alex Barskyy, Bob Christensen, Debbie Frenzi, Gary White, Jennifer Gangestad, Lori DeAndreis, 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

Cover Design: Margaret Larkin 405 Marsh Ave., Third Floor, Reno, NV 89509 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-2515 Website www.newsreview.com Got a News Tip? Fax (775) 324-2515 Calendar Events www.newsreview.com/calendar Want to Advertise? Fax (775) 324-2515 or rnradinfo@newsreview.com Classified Fax (916) 498-7910 or classifieds@newsreview.com Job Opportunities jobs@newsreview.com Want to Subscribe to RN&R? renosubs@newsreview.com

Editorial Policies: Opinions expressed in rn&r are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permissions to reprint articles, cartoons, or other portions of the paper. rn&r is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or review materials. Email letters to rnrletters@ newsreview.com. all letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form and to edit them for libel.

Advertising Policies: all advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of acceptance. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes the responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.

rn&r is printed at Sierra nevada media on recycled newsprint. Circulation of rn&r is verified by the Circulation Verification Council. rn&r is a member of CnPa, aan and aWn.