Letters

Nice work

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

In reaction to the Reno GazetteJournal’s detailed, comprehensive, multi-part investigative series about the disturbing spike of inmate deaths in the Washoe County jail since he took office two years ago, Washoe Sheriff Chuck Allen released a statement blasting the daily newspaper. He condemned the series as “politically charged, opinion based, agenda driven,” and, worst of all, “tabloidism.”

By “tabloidism,” I think he actually meant “sensationalism,” but whatever. Speaking as the editor of a newspaper that’s printed in a  tabloid format—as opposed to a  broadsheet like the RG-J—I’ll take that as a compliment. It’s a great series, and I suggest readers take the time to clear their browser cache of cookies and complete whatever stupid consumer quizzes it takes to read it online. And, yes, it’s nice to see our daily newspaper aspiring to the level of a good tabloid paper. And if the RG-J did take a little inspiration for their series about inmate deaths from Fatal Encounters, the RN&R’s 2014 project examining officer-involved civilian deaths? So much the better. (RN&R editor emeritus D. Brian Burghart is still working on that project, by the way. We hardly ever see him anymore, either.)

We don’t always like what our cross-town rivals get up to over there in corporate Gannett land—we still haven’t gotten a straight answer about how many people are getting laid off when the newspaper starts outsourcing their printing—but we’re happy to doff the cap when they do great work. With hegemonic attacks on First Amendment rights occurring in this country on a daily basis, we’re proud to support good journalism wherever we see it.

And Sheriff Allen, rather than resorting to name-calling—complimentary or not—a better reaction to this news series might be a careful examination of the stories and the data, and reform of conditions—particularly regarding mental health—which might prevent these incidents from recurring, and might lead to a responsive reply to the RG-J series.

Peace born, too

Re “A gold bug’s proposal for reform” (Let Freedom Ring, March 16):

I’ll leave reaction to Brendan Trainor’s thoughts and arguments to someone else, but I could not let the opening lines stand uncorrected: “Nevada is called the Silver State. We are Battle Born because in the Civil War both sides fought over the chance to get our silver.”

This repeats, once again, the falsehood that we were admitted to the Union because the north wanted and needed our silver. Actually, the Union already had our silver. By March 1861, Nevada was a federal territory, part of the Union. Federal taxes collected here went to the Union.

The move to make us a state actually began because Lincoln feared he might need some extra votes in the Electoral College. As it turned out, after Union wins at Vicksburg and Atlanta, his reelection was assured and our votes merely added to the victory total. Lincoln still felt he would need our votes in Congress to support his moderate Reconstruction plans, and they were used that way.

We can take pride that we were the only territory of three to answer to the opportunity of statehood and follow through. Nebraska and Colorado did not. And we did provide a key vote in the House supporting the 13th Amendment, followed by support for the 14th and 15th as well, abolishing slavery and establishing full rights to all.

I’ve always thought there was much more reason to take pride in that true history than the fiction that the only reason we got in was because of our silver. Still, this myth won’t go away. It’s even found its way into textbooks. I still hear it repeated occasionally, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that it’s mistakenly taught in some Nevada classrooms today.

Former state archivist Guy Rocha called it Nevada’s No.1 Myth. Ed Pearce Reno

Poor Bruce

Gosh, how did we get to this place? How is it that someone can be so ugly?

Mr. Van Dyke has so much hate in his heart! Poor guy! I feel sorry for anyone that feels so angry. It was bad enough when Hillary called everyone that didn’t agree with her “deplorables,” but now those deplorables are goons, idiots and vulgarians of America!

I always thought that liberals were the laidback ones, who had a heart for everyone and everything. Now they just seem like a bunch of whiny babies who didn’t get their way. What happened to respect for your fellow human beings? Just because someone does not agree with you is not cause to be so angry and hateful!

I don’t like Trump any more than you do, but come on, he was elected by our countrymen, and we need to respect that! Name calling is so grade school. Maybe Van Dyke needs to go back and learn some manners!

I want to call him an idiot, but I won’t because as I said, I feel sorry for him. And besides, while I might not agree with him, I respect his right to blast off! And hopefully that’s what he will do—to the moon! The Resistance? Really?

You want to be a good citizen, Bruce? Then allow others the right to have an opinion and to exercise their rights without the insults. Suzanne Winters Reno

Bun and gone

Re “Bun and done” (Dining, April 8):

I read the RN&R at my work and noticed that it stated that Burger Me sold three-pound hamburgers. I was going to go because I thought that is a killer deal. Well, lo and behold, you don’t how to spell or this is truly fake news or false advertisement cleverly disguised as a simple typo. Talk about plausible deniability. Dude, just use spell check. Other than that, I really enjoy reading your paper and just wanted to bust some balls. Keep up the integrity.

Jason Stanley 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 Adam Martinez, Alex Barskyy, Bob Christensen, Debbie Frenzi, Gary White, Jennifer Gangestad, Marty Troye, Paola Tarr, Patrick L’Angelle, Rosie Martinez, Tracy Breeden, Vicki Jewell

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