Sept. 27, 2012

Letters............................ 3 Opinion/Streetalk............ 5 News.............................. 6 Election........................... 7 Green............................. 9 Feature.......................... 11 Arts&Culture................ 14 In.Rotation..................... 16

Art.of.the.State............. 17 Foodfinds...................... 18 Film.............................. 20 Musicbeat.................... 23 Nightclubs/Casinos........27 This.Week..................... 31 Free.Will.Astrology....... 38 15.Minutes.....................39 Bruce.Van.Dyke............39

walden vs. hascheff See Election, page 7.

reef or

madness?

See Green, page 9.

Kris Pittman liKes

sPorts, action movies and worKing out.

he sPent seven years

in the air force …

and was born female

it’S Gr-r-rEat! See arts&Culture, page 14.

women’s health

See Special Supplement, inside.

RENo’s NEws & ENtERtaiNmENt wEEkly

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VolumE 18, issuE 32

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sEptEmbER 27–octobER 3, 2012

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EDITOR’S NOTE

LETTERS Factual letters

Ednote headline Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

I spent last weekend in Las Vegas at the Nevada Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. We cleaned up, and I don’t want to sound all humble, because you know, we freaking work our asses off, and we deserve a little recognition. The biggest award to note is the one won by Ashley Hennefer called Journalist of Merit. It’s given to journalists with less than 5 years in the business, and it’s meant to encourage them to stay in the business when a total lack of payraises, an uncertain future and crabby bosses don’t do the trick. At any rate, congratulations to all the winners, and to our bigger, better financed competition: There’s always next year.

First Place Awards Journalist of Merit, Ashley Hennefer; Best Feature Story, D. Brian Burghart; Best Business News Story, Ashley Hennefer; Best Investigative or In-depth Story or Series, Dennis Myers; Best Local Column, D. Brian Burghart; Best Sports Story, Tim Hauserman; Best Editorial Writing, Dennis Myers; Best Information Graphic, Hayley Doshay, D. Brian Burghart; Best News Photo Coverage, Anicia Beckwith; Best Special Section (Editorial), Kat Kerlin, Nicole Seaton, Clint Demeritt, Sharon Black, Megan Berner, Laura Davis; Best Multi-Color Ad, Skyler Smith, Beverly Savage; Best Special Section or Campaign (Advertising), Kids & Staff, Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows, Priscilla Garcia, John Murphy, RN&R staff.

Second Place Awards Community Service, Dennis Myers; Best Feature Story, D. Brian Burghart; Best Portrait, Amy Beck; Best Large-Space Ad, Skyler Smith, Beverly Savage; Best Multi-Color Ad, Skyler Smith, Beverly Savage; Best Special Section or Campaign (Advertising), Priscilla Garcia, John Murphy, RN&R Staff.

Third Place Awards Freedom of the Press, Dennis Myers; Best Editorial Writing, D. Brian Burghart; Best Page One Design, Design Staff; Best Multiple Photo Essay, Anicia Beckwith; Best Large-Space Ad, Priscilla Garcia, Gina Odegard; Best Black & White Ad, Skyler Smith, John Murphy; Best Special Section or Campaign (Advertising), Marianne Mancina, Ricardo Olvera, RN&R staff.

Re “Yes. I don’t know. Probably.

Nope. Nope, again. Recycle it. Yes.” (Letters to the Editor, Sept. 20): Craig Bergland’s letter to the editor began with the following sentence, “It’s rumored that a couple of executives from health insurance corporations make near a billion bucks a year, including bennies and platinum parachutes.” A simple Google search would have brought up the following information on http://blogs.wsj.com on a site called “Health Blog” that gives information as to health care company executive’s salaries: “The median CEO pay in the industry was $10 million, according to the study, which was done in conjunction with consulting firm Hay Group. The study looked at total direct compensation, which includes salary, bonuses and the value of long-term incentives, including stock and stock options at the time of the grant.”

Is it really so difficult to learn the difference between $10 million and a “billion bucks” a year in salary and benefits? The key word in the letter, of course, is “rumored.” Are we now using rumors to substitute for facts?

While $10 million is a hefty income, let’s at least attempt to be accurate in relating information in forums such as letters to the editor. Had he done so, his argument about substantial salaries and benefit packages would carry more weight.

Fred Speckmann Reno

Love the ones you’re with With the presidential election not too far off, I’ve heard a good amount of criticism towards Romney, Reid, and Mormonism in general, which, as a non-Mormon, got me to thinking: What is wrong with polygamy? I understand the child abuse aspect of the matter, but if we throw that out then, aside from the fact that it’s Mormon, I can’t find what’s wrong with polygamy. Now, I don’t want to hear about how the Bible says marriage is between a man and a woman, because Deuteronomy 21:15-17 seems to imply that polygamy is A-OK. In addition, many of the patriarchs of

Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages people to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare.

To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.

Send letters to renoletters@newsreview.com the Old Testament had multiple wives such as Father Abraham, Jacob, King David and Solomon. So while the Bible doesn’t instruct people to have multiple spouses, it also doesn’t condemn the practice. With all the rhetoric on the economy, polygamy makes perfect sense because you would have a two income family with one spouse staying home to raise the kids. What’s so bad with that? With unions and pensions falling apart it’s a great way to get into and stay firmly within the middle class. And a few lucky families could even break into the upper class. Just saying.

Josh Cameron Reno

There are so many infants and babies that have never been loved.

What a shame. Yet the talk seems to be for the “unborn.” While there are unwanted kids, who’s to blame? So conservatives are making some noise about how Planned Parenthood is “evil.” Are hospitals down on skull fractures? Are the priests running low on young boys? Let’s force women to pump out more babies.

Who cares if they don’t have a clue?

How much money do you give to raise them? And how many are living with you? Maybe lesbians and gays have the answer. Birth control is not something they need. Could be heterosexuals are just ignorant.

We give birth “to the mouths we can’t feed.” Who speaks for the toddlers we already have? Are you deaf? Can’t you hear their cries?

They are living, right now, all around us. They are starving and bruised. There are so many neglected young children—the ones “parents” consider “mistakes.”

Mistreated, abused, raped, and tortured, found in graves, and floating in lakes. Won’t you help out the children who suffer, the ones living their short lives in fear. Can’t you open your eyes, right-to-lifers, and help out the kids already here?

Laura Jackson Reno

—D. Brian Burghart brianb@newsreview.com 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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IN ROTATION

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ART OF THE STATE

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FILM

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William Hapner Allendale, Mich.

Re “Support Staff” (Gadget, Sept. 20): It is true, that bra ads have always existed in order to feed masturbatory fantasies among males.

However, those males are usually pre-adolescents.

Why on earth would you print a bra “review” written by a man? Did he get all hot, taking and looking at those photos of his (possibly “surgically enhanced”) wife?

How is this any different from Mr. Akin opining about female-only concerns, such as abortion and “legitimate” rape?

Stupid.

Juvenile.

Valerie P. Cohen Reno

Prosecute thieves When did Republicans become so mean-spirited and rude? Four years ago, I posted Obama campaign signs at the front of my neighborhood with all the other campaign signs. They would be gone the following day.

Being a believer in a different kind of America than that, I dutifully replaced them every day—it went on for the whole campaign season. This year, I put my Obama signs well onto my own property, just in case the problem was that one of my neighbors felt some kind of tyrannical obligation to save their small piece of America from whatever the right-wing noise machine had them fearing this week. I figured that my Executive Assistant/Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker Assistant Distribution Manager Ron Neill Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Jesse Pike, John Miller, Martin Troye, David Richards, Warren Tucker, Matthew Veach, Neil Lemerise, Russell Moore General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley

Design Manager Kate Murphy Art Director Priscilla Garcia Associate Art Director Hayley Doshay Design Brian Breneman, Marianne Mancina, Mary Key, Skyler Smith, Melissa Arendt Art Director at Large Don Button, Andrea Diaz-Vaughn Advertising Consultants Gina Odegard, Matt Odegard, Bev Savage Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Office/Distribution Manager/ Ad Coordinator Karen Brooke Business Manager Grant Ronsenquist

FOODFINDS

Re “Reid’s attack on Romney” (Feature story, Sept. 6): Nevada, you must be very proud of your lying senator, Dumb Harry, a coward who makes disgusting fabrications from the floor of the Senate.

He has stopped any attempt to have compromise between the parties. If you care to see what is happening, he is the self-appointed leader of Obama’s reelection and the thorn in the side of democracy. You must be very proud!

Apples and melons

For the children

Editor/Publisher D. Brian Burghart News Editor Dennis Myers Arts Editor Brad Bynum Special Projects Editor Ashley Hennefer Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Contributors Amy Alkon, Amy Beck, Megan Berner, Matthew Craggs, Mark Dunagan, Marvin Gonzalez, Bob Grimm, Michael Grimm, Dave Preston, Jessica Santina, K.J. Sullivan, Bruce Van Dyke

Our hero, Harry

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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

property was my own personal piece of America and that any true believer in American values would respect that. Didn’t matter—came home this evening and the signs were gone. Besides being completely counter to anything honorable, patriotic, or American, it’s just mean and rude. Shame on you! If you can’t play nice, go play somewhere else. And you have to know that those signs will be replaced daily. That’s the America I believe in.

Michel Rottmann Virginia City Highlands

If the glove fits Re “The man who would be prez” (Feature story, Sept. 13): Ending prohibition would greatly reduce the market in illegal narcotics, cause a reduction in the number of users and addicts, greatly curtail drug related illness and deaths, reduce societal harm from problematic abusers, and bring about an enormous reduction in the presence and influence of organized crime. The people who use drugs are our own children, our brothers, our sisters, our parents, and our neighbors. By allowing all adults safe and controlled legal access to psychoactive substances, we will not only greatly reduce the dangers for both them and ourselves but also greatly minimize the possibility of ‘peer-initiation’ and sales to minors.

If you sincerely believe that prohibition is a dangerous and counter-productive policy, then you can stop helping to enforce it. You are entitled to act according to your conscience! It only takes one juror to prevent a guilty verdict. You are also not required to give a reason to the other jurors on your position when voting. Simply state that you find the accused not guilty!

Jurors must understand that it is their opinion, their vote. If the judge and the other jurors disapprove, too bad. There is no punishment for having a dissenting opinion.

We must create what we can no longer afford to wait for: Please vote to acquit!

Malcolm Kyle via email

Credit and Collections Manager Renee Briscoe Business Zahida Mehirdel, Shannon McKenna Systems Manager Jonathan Schultz Systems Support Specialist Joe Kakacek Web Developer/Support Specialist John Bisignano 708 North Center Street Reno, NV 89501 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds & Talking Personals to N&R Classifieds, Reno Edition, 1015 20th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 or e-mail classifieds@newsreview.com

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MISCELLANY

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Web site www.newsreview.com Printed by Paradise Post The RN&R is printed using recycled newsprint whenever available.

Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in the RN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper.

The RN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher.

We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form.

Cover design: Hayley Doshay Feature story design: Hayley Doshay

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

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special aDVeRTising secTion

special aDVeRTising secTion

!

It’s happen ing in

ART ADVENTURES FOR KIDS

It’s painting, collage, clay and more! Explore different media and techniques weekly. Give your child a sound base for a lifelong appreciation of the arts. Th, 4-5PM through 11/1. Opens 9/27, $45 for six classes. Alf Sorensen Community Center, 1400 Baring Blvd. (775) 353-2385

11/1. Opens 9/27, $45 for six classes. Alf Sorensen Community Center, 1400 Baring Blvd. (775) 353-2385

ALFREDITO OLIVAS

All ages Event F, 9/28, $20. New Oasis, 2100 Victorian Ave. (775) 359-4020

VICENTE ARREOLA

All ages event Sa, 9/29, free. New Oasis, 2100 Victorian Ave. (775) 359-4020

FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL AND ARTISAN FAIR

The second annual Fall Harvest Festival and Artisan Fair. See the harvest of our local farmers and gardeners, enjoy great food and fun activities for the family. Sa, 9/29, 10AM-5PM and Su, 9/30, 10am-5PM. Free. Rail City Garden Center, 1720 Brierley Way (775) 355-1551

SCHEELS KIDS KLUB: ICE CREAM BALLS

Let’s have fun and make homemade ice cream! Please meet in Gramma Ginna’s. All kids will receive a free ride on the Scheels Ferris Wheel. M, 10/1, 6PM. Free. Scheels, 1200 Scheels Dr. (775) 331-2700

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

Improvisational music M, 8:30PM, no cover. Sidelines Bar & Nightclub, 1237 Baring Blvd. (775) 355-1030

GREAT BASIN THURSDAY NIGHT FARMERS’ MARKET

This farmers’ market celebrates the late-season Nevada harvests featuring produce from local Nevada farms. The market will be held every Thursday in September. Th, 4:30-7:30PM through 9/27. Free.

Great Basin Brewing Co., 846 Victorian Ave. (775) 355-7711

Give your child a lifelong gift learning the fundamentals of drawing. Your child will learn value, shading and an introduction to perspective while developing techniques. Th, 5:15-6:15PM through

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This special exhibit commemorates the nation’s battles from the Civil War to the Global War on Terrorism. Tu-Su through 11/17, $5 adults; free for children under age 12, museum members, active duty military. Sparks Heritage Museum, 814 Victorian Ave. (775) 355-1144

BLACK AND BLUES JAM

FUN WITH DRAWING

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A SALUTE TO OUR MILITARY

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Tu, 8:30PM, no cover. Sidelines Bar & Nightclub, 1237 Baring Blvd.

(775) 355-1030

Follow me to Sparks - where it’s

happening now!

MUSIC AT THE MARINA

Sing for fun or compete for prizes,depending on the number of contestants, with DJ John Graham. Th, 9PM and F, 9PM. No cover.

Anchors Bar & Grill, 325 Harbour Cove Dr. (775) 356-6888

JAZZ

With First Take, featuring Rick Metz. Th, F, Sa 6PM. Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen, 1180 Scheels Dr. (775) 657-8659

BEADS AND BOOKS!

Learn basic beading techniques with volunteer beading expert, Jamie, and work on projects with other beaders. First Su of every month, 1-3PM, free. Spanish Springs Library, 7100A Pyramid Lake Highway, Spanish Springs (775) 424-1800

KARAOKE

ASPEN GLEN BAR Every Sat night. Hosted by Mike Millard of Cycorockstar Entertainment. Sa, 9PM-2AM through 9/14.

Aspen Glen Bar, 5215 Vista Blvd., Sparks, NV 89436 / (775) 3542400 STEVE STARR KARAOKE M, 8PM. No cover. Grumpy’s Sports Bar & Grill, 2240 Oddie Blvd. (775) 358-2316 SPIRO’S F, 9PM, no cover. 1475 E. Prater Way (775) 356-6000 THE ROPER DANCEHALL & SALOON Country music dance lessons and karaoke, Th, 7:30PM, no cover. 670 Greenbrae Dr. (775) 742-0861

OPEN MIC

GREAT BASIN BREWING Open mic comedy. Th, 9PM, no cover, 846 Victorian Ave. (775) 355-7711

SEND US YOUR SPARKS EVENTS! E-mail to: sparks@newsreview.com

GET INVOLVED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY!

CITY OF SPARKS Geno Martini - Mayor, Julia Ratti Ward 1, Ed Lawson - Ward 2, Ron Smith - Ward 3, Mike Carrigan - Ward 4, Ron Schmitt - Ward 5, Shaun Carey - City Manager, Tracy Domingues - Parks & Recreation Director.

Mayor and Council members can be reached at 353-2311 or Sparks City Council Chambers, 745 Fourth St.

WEB RESOURCES: www.cityofsparks.com www.sparksrec.com www.thechambernv.org www.sparksitshappeninghere.com THis secTion anD iTs conTenTs aRe noT FUnDeD BY oR cReaTeD

BY THe ciTY oF spaRKs

BIG HE A SMALL H

by Dennis Myers

THIS MODERN WORLD

BY TOM TOMORROW

BIG HE ADERS GIZA 25pt 25kWhat’s the biggest change SMALL HEADERS GIZA 15pt 55k (60% OF BIG HEyou AD) ever made?

Asked at Java Jungle, 246 W. First St. Dan Lee Retiree

The biggest change in my life was when I had children. It became much more important that I keep a steady job.

Taking care of kids occupied a lot of my time. It was more important to be a great role model.

Shawn Finn Student

Moving here from Denver after I got out of the military. I started riding my bike all the time, started going to college.

I’ve gotten into that lifestyle, college lifestyle.

Daenel Wells Student

Our good friend, Eddie Floyd We are the last people on the planet to call for a positive election. The primary way voters can find out the truth about candidates—who has had nasty business dealings, or who has been unmannerly toward seniors, or who has proven they can’t handle money—is for candidates to bring this information out about their opponents. Yes, you’ll likely read it on Facebook, or see it in a commercial on local television, or hear it on the radio, or read it here in your local newspaper, but it almost always starts with the competitor.

There’s a big difference between that and the situation where candidates hide knowledge they have about their opponent in order to have a “clean” race. There’s a big difference between that and a politician who falsely attacks the character of another candidate for political gain.

Campaigns are supposed to be rough and tumble, and anything that might illuminate one or the other’s personality is fair game.

This campaign has been extremely dirty—even in the local races. Let’s get one thing straight: These people are our neighbors and friends. These races are fundamentally grasps at the power to make change, and so the stakes are high, but these people will still be your neighbors and friends when the dust settles on Nov. 7.

So when we hear that Neoma Jardon’s signs are getting vandalized, it concerns this editorial staff. But we see from the evidence of our senses that she is no greater victim than any other, and even her supporters especially have shown that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to win this election.

OPINION

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NEWS

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GREEN

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ARTS&CULTURE

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When I stopped smoking marijuana. I used to use it in my everyday life because I thought it made everything more fun, but I figured if I can live without it, then why not?

That jury is out. But the evidence is a little clearer in another race. It starts with the words: “I’m Shelley Berkley, and I approve this message.” In this television ad, Berkley seeks to tar Dean Heller’s character by associating him with conservative radio host Eddie Floyd, a convicted drug trafficker and money launderer. Floyd is the first to admit he screwed up, he’s willing to talk about why he pled to the crimes he did, and in any case, he paid his debt to society. For a memory refresher, check out our story from May 4, 2006, “The Importance of Being Ernest”: www.newsreview.com/reno/importance-of-being-earnest/content?oid=56716.

It’s pretty tough to argue that Floyd did not have many people of conservative bent on his show: Jim Gibbons, Geno Martini, Bob Cashell, Dick Gammick, U.S. Drug Czar John Walters, and then-Washoe County Sheriff Dennis Balaam were among his guests.

Look, we have a hard time trying to find nice things to say about Dean Heller—he immediately turned intransigent right when he got to Washington, D.C. But if the worst thing that Berkley can say about his character is he once palled around with a conservative radio host, maybe his character isn’t so low.

But if hanging around convicted felons is an indictment that should preclude someone from representing the fine citizens of Northern Nevada in Washington, D.C., maybe Ms. Shelley Berkley—she of the current ethics complaint—can explain what she was doing recording an interview on Eddie Floyd’s radio show on Sept. 7—mere days before her attack ad hit the airwaves. Ω IN ROTATION

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ART OF THE STATE

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FOODFINDS

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FILM

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Scott Armstrong Business owner

Leaving my comfort zone and going out and creating an opportunity and developing a company. … I’m a cofounder. I decided to start a company and grow a company.

Rosemary Teary Homemaker

I guess moving here to Reno. I’m originally from Massachusetts, and then I went to San Francisco, and now I’ve been living here for about 12 years now and own a home and love it here.

NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

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PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS

Lowe’s opened a store at the Sparks Marina, then closed this store on Oddie Boulevard, leaving behind this empty hulk.

Vetting veterans On Sept. 12, U.S. Sen. Dean Heller announced he had introduced S. 3530, a measure to compensate Philippine veterans who fought in World War II. That same day the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Heller was being “endorsed by a Filipino-American veterans group … a new political action committee” called the Filipino-American Families of America in Politics (FAFAP) and that the endorsement was a “blow” to Heller’s election opponent, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley.

Then commentator Jon Ralston reported that FAFAP was not a vet group and that it was essentially invented for the purposes of the campaign: “It’s a new organization, yet to be formed, and not a veterans group, that is endorsing him, supposedly started by a couple of guys who are well known in the Asian community. But there is no PAC yet, and who knows how much money there might be?”

As previously reported here (“Veterans: Berkley over Heller,” RN&R, May 10), Heller has not done well with veterans groups.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, founded by vets from those wars, has consistently found Democrat Berkley stronger on veteran issues than Republican Heller. In “report cards” issued in 2008 and 2010 representing their votes as members of the U.S. House, IAVA found Berkley more supportive of veterans than Heller.

Other vet groups do not have congressional rankings.

Asian-American voters are a significant bloc in Nevada.

Romney on health care Faced with competing for a general election electorate, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has embraced most of the Democratic health care program, rejecting only the individual mandate and its accompanying enforcement mechanism—the latest permutation in his evolving position on health care.

Last month Kaiser Health News, to help voters navigate Romney’s twists and turns on the issue, posted a page that provides a lot of information on his record and public statements. It goes beyond the Democratic program and his corresponding Massachusetts program he pushed through the legislature as governor. It also has information on his stances on Medicare, Medicaid, health care as commerce, and his philosophy of health care—so far as it can be determined—as well as video clips on all these topics. In addition, there are a number of comments from people who have analyzed Romney’s health care positions.

The page can be found at http://tinyurl.com/d87ev53.

Champs Amid the celebration over the Reno Aces’ first championship, more mundane matters still intrude. A reader pointed out to us that according to the Washoe County Treasurer’s office, taxes on the land on which the Aces ballpark site—250 Evans Ave.—have not been paid for two years. The arrears for 2001 ($410,884.43) and 2012 ($354,888.23) come to more than three-quarters of a million dollars.

Elko elk pampered What is reportedly Nevada’s first “conservation easement” has been granted in Elko County. In an agreement with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, property owner Gardner Davis has set aside 645 acres of prime elk habitat near Wells.

Foundation spokesperson Les Smith said, “A conservation easement is an agreement between a landowner and an agency or organization ... It sets aside the property for conservation purposes, while allowing the landowner to continue to use the land in ways that won’t conflict with the conservation purposes. So, a rancher could continue to graze the land, but would have to modify grazing practices to be compatible with wildlife conservation.

Obviously, subdividing and selling the land for summer homes would not work. That’s why Gardner Davis connected up with us on this conservation easement. ... Do a lay-over of elk habitat with sage grouse habitat and it’s an almost perfect match. So, what’s good for elk is good for sage grouse—and visa-versa.”

—Dennis Myers 6

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SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Legendary problem Whether Sparks development project is really working goes unexamined Andrew Barbano was distressed. There was lots of news happening locally and, by he believed, reporters were either Dennis Myers missing it or sugar-coating it with an upbeat spin. So the Sparks Tribune columnist and labor activist sent out a mass mailing last week to newsrooms all over the valley.

One line in the message read, “This week, you totally missed that T.J. Maxx and Old Navy will be closing tax-producing stores to score legendary chunks of corporate welfare at the Sparks Marina. Walmart is next in line.”

“How many Californians are saying, ‘Let’s drive to Scheels in east Sparks?’ ” Glen Atkinson Economist Eleven months earlier, Barbano had reported in his column that Lowe’s Hardware, after it moved to the Marina, would “close an existing store.” That’s what subsequently happened. So this new message from Barbano prompted some concern, particularly in the case of Walmart, which has a history of shedding its old stores. Locally, Walmart closed its North McCarran store after building stores in Spanish Springs and on Glendale Road.

“I was told that T.J. Maxx and Old Navy are each closing a store [in the

Truckee Meadows],” said state legislator Debbie Smith. “And I was told that by a source close to the project.”

Linda Smith, manager of the Reno T.J. Maxx said she has heard nothing about any closing and referred other inquiries to the corporate office. Reno Old Navy manager Leslie Crossley could not be reached for comment.

Outlets at Legends, the commercial name of the Sparks Marina shopping project, was developed by RED Development LLC, based in Kansas and Arizona. Old Navy and T.J. Maxx already have stores at the Marina. Walmart is constructing one.

Legends was developed under Nevada’s Sales Tax Anticipated Revenue (STAR) bonds law. The law, enacted by the 2005 Nevada Legislature, allow the creation of special STAR tax districts in which companies that lure tourists can be subsidized for to the tune of 75 percent of the sales taxes they generate.

At the time the Nevada Legislature enacted the law, the bonds were relatively untried—only one other state, Kansas—home of RED Development—was issuing them, and so the technique was fairly uncooked.

The Nevada law did not provide for independent substantiation of corporate claims of ability to draw tourists, nor did it provide a remedy if the tourists failed to come—no way to withdraw the subsidy if they failed.

Without having a lot of evidence of how it worked elsewhere, the Nevada Legislature decided to try it and see

what happened. In addition, without having more versions of other state legislation, Nevada lawmakers did not anticipate everything that might be needed in the Nevada version.

Once qualified for Nevada STAR bonds, a business cannot then be denied if its predictions of out-ofstate customers fail to materialize.

And license plate counts in parking lots provide little evidence that STAR bonds projects work, except to injure local firms in the same product lines.

The STAR bonds law was enacted two years before the recession got underway. Nevada is very dependent on sales taxes, which become much more important when times are hard and people turn to government for help. The sales tax revenue normally is divided among cities, counties, school districts and state government.

In the case of Legends, which qualified for STAR bonds, a promised hotel/casino was never built, sharply undercutting its ability to draw tourists.

The intent of STAR bonds was to bring in new tourist-oriented business, not shift existing businesses from current locations to tax sheltered Legends.

Not all stores that move into the Marina project benefit directly from STAR bonds. Specifically, they don’t get sales taxes for their bond financing. But 75 percent of the sales tax they collect still is used to repay the Legends bond debt. And they benefit indirectly by the very existence of Legends, which was created by STAR bonds.

None of the dominant anchor stores at Legends are locally based, which means they ship capital out of state, making local benefits far from certain. Names like Target, Scheels and Best Buy provide much of the draw, which means that Minnesota (Target and Best Buy) and North Dakota (Scheels) will be getting more benefit from Legends than Nevada.

Three months ago, RED Development negotiated new loan terms for Legends. The new financing arrangement lets RED make more than $30 million in new investment in the project. RED said the new funds would be used to construct more than 300,000 square feet of new retail space. But if that results in more outof-state firms that further drain the valley of capital and injure locally based merchants, it could hurt rather than help the local economy.

“It’s highly unlikely that this would be a good deal for local governments,” said economist Glen Atkinson.

“That’s the whole issue around this and that’s why last session we

Efficient justice passed a bill to require some reporting,” lawmaker Smith said. “That’s exactly what we wanted was some reporting to make sure it is helping.”

But she said the resulting information drawn from reports by companies operating under STAR bonds has not been all that useful, sometimes consisting of estimates instead of hard numbers.

“It wasn’t contemplated that nontourist companies would come in as a result of STAR bonds,” Smith said.

“It wasn’t contemplated that existing businesses would be hurt by STAR bonds. It wasn’t contemplated that the state would lose money from these projects.”

“How many Californians are saying, ‘Let’s drive to Scheels in east Sparks?’ ” asked Atkinson.

He said that in addition to the quarter cent sales tax and wages paid, the Truckee Meadows will also benefit from property taxes and a business tax calculated on payrolls—which, like the sales tax, are split among various governments. “But that’s about it,” he said.

He said that without the tourist component of STAR bonds, the only thing developments like Legends do is shuttle sales taxes around the valley—and create “unfair competition” for local businesses from big box chains.

“Does this move the sales base from one location to another?” he

asked. “Unless they’re bringing in customers from outside the state, it’s the same tax base.”

Some Sparks officials have said that businesses that moved to Legends from other valley locations would otherwise have left the valley altogether. No company has confirmed that.

Meanwhile, RED is also having problems that transcend Sparks— including some in the birthplace of STAR bonds. Steve Vockrodt wrote in the June 8 edition of the Kansas City Business Journal, “RED Development LLC’s local status is cooling after years as one of the area’s hottest retail developers. In the span of a week, its One Nineteen retail project in Leawood sold, and a federal judge appointed a receiver for RED’s signature Legends Outlets Kansas City that will look to replace the company as property manager and explore a sale of the Kansas City, Kan., project.”

The full name of the project is Outlets at Legends and some of the stores have outlet or factory in their names, but few if any of them have the pricing policies that are normally associated with outlet stores. “[C]all them ‘outlet’ if you want, but I’m not paying those prices,” wrote thenSparks Tribune editor Nathan Orme last year. Ω

On Nov. 6, the Reno Justice Court will gain a sixth department and a new justice of the peace in its ranks. Candidates by Pierre Hascheff, a lawyer and Reno Bethany Deines City Councilman since 1993, and Gemma Greene Waldron, a criminal lawyer and 16-year deputy district attorney, are competing to fill the newly created position.

Previously, the justice court was composed of five departments, each with one justice of the peace at its head. But due to a higher volume of court cases, another seat was added to meet increased demand.

The Reno Justice Court handles a wide array of legal cases—JPs hear everything from citations and small claims to misdemeanors and even the preliminary examination of felony cases. Both candidates have stated that, if elected, increasing efficiency within the court will be at the top of their to-do list.

justices take on share of such cases, carving out one morning a week to dedicate to the task.

“It would require the whole justice court to sit down and reevaluate,” she said. “How do we, now six judges, make the court more efficient as a whole, but still keep it at four days a week, keep the budget straight, and not have to hire more people?”

Pierre Hascheff, Waldron’s opponent, agrees that increasing efficiency should be a top priority of the court, given Washoe County’s tight economic condition. He said that although the Reno Justice Court is one of the most efficient courts in the state, there is still work to be done.

He believes his years serving on the City Council lend him a large amount of knowledge and experience in creating efficient government.

Hascheff suggests exploring the option of merging the municipal court and the justice court to increase efficiency. In his City Council experience, such consolidation efforts were he said.

The candidates agree: very“Ineffective, the city we consolidated a lot Budget limits will impose a of our functions,” Hascheff said.

Another of Hascheff’s suggestions changes in how the court includes the continued advancement does business. of the technological capabilities of the court. He wants to continue initiatives such as “out of line and online,” a goal set by the justice court to get at least Waldron said the six justices need 40 percent of those with outstanding to become more uniform in their fines to pay online. If not required to court proceedings. She believes the come to court, Hascheff said people use of a courtroom script would will be more likely to pay their fines, increase efficiency by making the allowing the court to create revenue court more productive and prewhile saving on court costs. dictable.

“It’s very expensive to have “Some judges take longer to do a people go through the system,” he task than others,” she said. “If we said. “On-line services provide the became more uniform in how we do a same result without the cost.” canvass, in how we take a plea, in Hascheff’s ideas extend beyond how we handle arraignments … if we mergers and fines. He calls for all followed a certain script, we mandatory settlement conferences, would know that we could hear X which he said allow the court to disamount of people in X amount of pense justice without the expense of a time.” lengthy trial period.

With the county already stretched “If the judge can resolve a case for funding and a population that con- before it goes to a two-week trial or a tinues to grow, Waldron said the one-week trial, it saves the court a lot court’s efficiency problems will only of money,” he said. worsen if correctional action is not Hascheff said the creation of taken immediately.

Department 6 could not have come at “The court just can’t afford to a better time in his career. After a 23increase hours,” Waldron said. “The year stint serving as a member of the only solution is to do things in a more Reno City Council, Hascheff said efficient manner.” he’s now ready to give up his law Waldron believes that increased practice fulfill his lifelong goal of efficiency is possible in the court’s becoming a judge. sentencing process. Currently, she “It won’t be hard to move on,” he said, the court allocates a single jussaid. “I’m 57 years old, I’ve been tice to handle all cases that are practicing for almost 30 years, so I deemed to require extra tutelage. look at this as another opportunity.” Ω Waldron would propose that all six

Gassing up PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS

In Sparks last weekend, mounted police officers patrolling the Street Vibrations motorcycle events stopped under a convenience store carport to eat some fast food lunches. There was no hay at hand for the horses.

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GREENSPACE

PHOTO/ASHLEY HENNEFER

GREEN

GROW closes Local nonprofit GROW—Gardeners Reclaiming Our Waysides—concluded its decade and a half of activism beautifying Nevada freeways.

Fifteen years ago, Nevada resident Mary Fischer started GROW as a way to green up the slopes along the sides of the freeways. Fischer is a master gardener, and recruited members for GROW through a gardening class, where she pitched her idea. According to a statement, “As a nonprofit organization, GROW’s mission was to ensure the establishment of a low-maintenance, water-efficient landscape on the slopes, interchanges, and gateways of the Carson City Freeway using native plants. The vision also grew into including steel statuary and artistic enhancements.”

GROW was also involved in several legislative efforts for freeway improvement projects.

Spokespeople for the nonprofit said that GROW had accomplished its goals, and that further freeway garden maintenance will be funded by the state.

The organization was honored last weekend at the Governor’s Mansion in Carson City for its contribution to the community.

The REEF, left, resembles a real house, with the workshop to its right.

Smart house

Ban in the bag A five-year extension has been approved by the Superior Court of California for San Francisco’s ban on plastic bags, but not without opposition. The Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, a plastics industry group, is appealing the decision after the court turned down the coalition’s efforts to remove the ban, and on the claims that the court did not conduct an environmental impact report (EIR). Save the Plastic Bag Coalition’s full appeal can be read at http://bit.ly/OXY7M7.

The ban prohibits stores from using plastic bags, and will extend to all restaurants in summer of 2013. The coalition has been active in other California cities, trying to overturn existing bag bans in cities like San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz.

Other cities with plastic bag bans include Seattle, Portland, Ore., San Jose, Calif., and Austin, Texas. An effort to ban plastic bags in Reno is underway, starting with a Facebook page called the “Reno ‘Plastic’ Bag Ban,” found at http://on.fb.me/Shpq4A/.

Renewable Energy Experimental Facility Now that building the alternative power resources at the Renewable Energy Experimental Facility (REEF) is nearly complete, the fun begins for scientists at the Desert Research Institute—fun as in data collection by Ashley and a quest to prove that sustainable homes are possible and a realistic Hennefer goal for housing of the future.

“We’re trying to show how all of these energy needs—heating, coolashleyh@ newsreview.com ing—can be met through renewable energy,” said Curt Robbins, research engineer. “We want to demonstrate that this can be done with commercially available products.”

The REEF, constructed in early 2011, is 1,400-square-feet and resembles a standard house, complete with a living room and kitchen, two bedrooms, one bathroom and a utility room. A separate 600-square-foot workshop sits next to it. The facility is powered mostly by solar resources, including solar thermal panels, solar air roof and photovoltaic panels. A biomass reactor used for biofuel production is studied in the workshop, and the facility also has two wind turbines. Hydrogen power—generated by wind and solar, stored in batteries, and transformed into alternating current electricity—is used to power the workshop, including a motor designed to run off of different For more information gases. The hydrogen power also powers an electrolizer, which in turn on the REEF and produces more hydrogen. other DRI research, “We’re testing out a few different solar applications, like solar air visit www.dri.edu. collectors, hydrogen production, solar air conditioning,” said Robbins.

“We’re looking at how the integration of all these resources complements this facility.”

The project’s aim is to be a “net zero” facility, which means that it strives to produce more energy than it consumes throughout the year, or to at least break even. It is also intended to be an example for off-the-grid homes made for people who live in rural locations. According to the project’s website, “It can cost up to half a million dollars to extend power lines out to very rural locations, whereas the installation of a sustainable energy system of solar panels and wind turbines is more cost effective at around $20,000-$30,000.”

The systems tested are from various businesses, including solar thermal panels from Sunvelope, a Sparks-based company (“In hot water,” April 19).

Robbins says that having local products to test would be ideal because the REEF would provide a place to test and collect data on new projects.

“We’d love to have locally made resources, so they can come here and check out how their systems are working,” he said. “We test conventional systems against these to see how they compare.”

An open house was held on Sept. 21 for researchers but was closed to the public. A public tour has yet to be announced. However, Robbins says that those interested in seeing the data from the renewable energy sources can contact DRI. The timeline for data collection is “indefinite,” for now, according to Robbins.

“We had funding to build it,” he said. “Now we have to find funding to keep it going.” The facility was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, and also serves as the home for DRI’s GreenPower education and outreach program. Ω

—Ashley Hennefer ashleyh@newsreview.com

ECO-EVENT Urban Roots Garden Classroom will host a Harvest Festival on Oct. 5, 6 and 7. Music, food, food workshops, baking competitions and locally grown cuisine will be offered. Free, but tickets must be purchased for workshops. Oct. 5, 6 p.m.-late, Oct. 6 and 7, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

West Fourth Street. For more information, email info@urgc.org.

Got an eco-event? Contact ashleyh@newsreview.com. Visit www.facebook.com/RNRGreen for more.

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BYNUM

by BRAD view.com e r s w e n bradb@ Y BRADBUR A N A I D y photos b

K

ristian Jamison Pittman is a guy’s guy—an adventurous, outdoorsy type. He enjoys sports, action movies, piloting planes and riding horses. He’s a fitness enthusiast who plans to enter his ripped physique in a bodybuilding competition next summer.

He spent seven years in the Air Force. He’s a registered nurse and wants to become a doctor. He has a rugged charm, a quick wit, and a hearty laugh. And he was also born female.

“People don’t know when they meet me,” he says. “They have no clue. Then, to be able to say, yeah, I was in the Air Force, and I’m a nurse, and then to say, and I’m also transgender. People go, ‘What?’ I think that stereotype that folks have is usually like a RuPaul type character.”

ABOUT A TOMBOY Pittman was born Kristine Pittman in Spokane, Wash. His father was in the Air Force and then flew commercial planes. The family—Pittman, his mother, father and brother, Josh— lived in Newport, Wash., and was tight-knit, conservative and Christian. They moved to Salt Lake City, and then, in 1989, to a ranch, complete with horses and sheep, in rural Washoe Valley.

“I can remember being 2, 3 years old, from the time when you first start having any memories of yourself, and always knew that I was male,” says Pittman. “I was pretty disillusioned at the fact that my body didn’t agree. I personally feel that when we’re that young, that’s the time in our life that’s most true to ourselves. We don’t care about cultural norms or other input. It’s not about who you’re attracted to or anything like that. You don’t have those hormones going. That part of your brain isn’t really humming yet. You don’t know who you’re into, but you certainly know what your gender is.

That’s just a very innate thing. People know their gender from the time that they’re small, for the most part. My story, my experience with transitioning is mine. Everybody has different experiences.”

As a child, Pittman asked her parents to refer to her as “Dave Boy.” She liked to play with G. I. Joe toys rather than Barbie dolls. She liked to wear camouflage clothing and watch action movies, especially anything starring her idol, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

At that time, her parents just thought she was a tomboy who really looked up to her older brother.

“He always just played with the boys,” says Pittman’s mother, Vicki.

“He very rarely played with the little girls, always a tomboy. He could always beat the boys at anything he did.”

“LIFE IN TRANSITION” continued on page 12

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“LIFE IN TRANSITION” continued from page 11

“I remember the first time I ever heard about a sex change operation,” says Pittman.

“I think it was actually my big brother that told me about it. I can vividly remember laying in bed at night thinking about it, like, ‘I can not wait until I am able to do that.’ I was young, 10 or 11. ... It’s very clear that it was innate in me. And I have no questions about always knowing it was in there. But not knowing what to call it, and also feeling that maybe this is normal. Maybe everybody is disillusioned with their bodies and wants to be a man or whatever, but you just have to deal with it.”

In middle school, as puberty was hitting, Pittman would wear baggy clothing, much of it borrowed from her brother, to hide her body. As she got older she’d often wear two tight sports bras to conceal her breasts.

“I didn’t fit in very well,” he says. “I didn’t fit in with the girls, and I didn’t fit in with the boys very well either. But I had a couple of good friends.”

Pittman went to Galena High School, class of 2000, where she found a degree of social acceptance by virtue of her natural athleticism.

She played volleyball, ran track, and skied on the ski team.

“I was actually really good at volleyball,” he says. “I’m still good at volleyball. The biggest problem is you had to wear spandex.

And it was so uncomfortable for me. They don’t leave much to the imagination. … I was embarrassed and uncomfortable. And I remember having crushes on some girls on my team.

And it made me so nervous all the time that I couldn’t do what I normally could do. It was really frustrating because it held me back from being better at stuff, because I was always in my head too much, just awkward and uncomfortable. I hated wearing those damn spandex.

Most of my teammates would practice in spandex too, and I would always wear shorts.”

At age 16, Pittman started lifting weights.

“I got really big into the gym,” he says.

“I always wanted to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. When I was a little guy, I was like, I want to be Arnold. So I wanted to work out and masculinize my body. I always really wanted to have that ideal male body. So I worked out like crazy.”

FAMILY VALUES “A transition is really that, because it’s a process of transitioning everything, your mind, your emotions, your body, and also transitioning your close family and friends along with you,” says Pittman.

Though Pittman now feels that his parents support him “100 percent,” the transition toward acceptance for this conservative family was difficult.

“I grew up in a very, very conservative, pretty closed off, closed-minded sort of house,” he says. “That’s a big reason that I didn’t come out—whether it was being gay or whatever I was at that point—because I didn’t know what to call myself. I didn’t know another trans person. I didn’t even know what a transgendered person was back then. I knew that inside I always felt that I was a heterosexual male. And in fact, I would cringe at the thought of being called a 12

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lesbian. … I hated that term, because it just didn’t fit with me.”

Pittman entered the Air Force in 2002, when she was 20. She had her first ever girlfriend at the time, and was trying to keep this fact secret from her parents, who, at the time, had expressed anti-homosexual views. The situation was extra tense for Pittman, because her older brother, Josh, had died in a car accident a few years earlier, in 1998, a tragedy from which her parents were still recovering.

“It made me more afraid to tell my parents because I felt an enormous amount of guilt,” Pittman says. “They’ve gone through the loss of their son, which was devastating. It really changed things a lot, obviously. I didn’t want to put them through any more grief, and I figured whatever I did, it was going to ruin them. So I tried to hide it and hold it in for a long time, but then it got to the point where I was like, if I don’t just come forth with this and be me and be brave about it, then I’m going to die, because I’m not going to live like this. I’m miserable. And I think a lot of trans people—the suicide rate, at least the

“I was self medicating myself to masculinize my body,” he says. “I remember all the research I would do, because I was nervous to take ’em. ... And I always did fairly low doses.

I wasn’t crazy about it. I did the lower end of the doses. … I definitely noticed the effects.

My voice started dropping. And I was certainly able to keep the muscle on more and a little bit easier. I did that until I got started on prescribed testosterone in 2008.”

Her nametag just said “Kris,” and customers would often presume she was a man. One day, Olivia Rodriguez, a woman Pittman had known a few years earlier, happened into the restaurant.

“She knew me back when I was right out of high school,” says Pittman. “So she knew me as a female, but she had moved away, and she came back and … from the moment she saw me, she just used the male pronouns.”

“When I saw him again, I did notice a change in him,” Rodriguez says. “And I think it was that he was getting more comfortable in his own skin, and I think that kind of oozed out of him, that confidence. Immediately, it was just, finally,

projected rate for suicide in the trans community is, I’ve heard, 41 percent, and I’ve heard 49 percent, but I’m confidant that that’s actually underreported because there’s a lot of people out there who commit suicide who never tell anybody the reason.”

Just before leaving for boot camp, Pittman came out as a gay woman to her mother.

“Just a day or two before I left, I sat my mom down, and I told her, I’m gay,” he says. “I’m attracted to women. And she tried to stay very calm, but she was not happy. She was crying, and, being a Christian, she was very worried, at this point after losing my brother, about us going to heaven and being together. It was all very fresh, an open wound, losing Josh. She had a hard time. And I left. I was gone for almost a year ... and during that time, she probably mailed me three Bibles, and was really struggling with it. But I never got mad with her, because I know that that was what she was raised in.”

Later on, in 2006, Pittman was working as a server at Bully’s. She had a shaved head, and a muscular body. In addition to constant weight lifting, she had started taking small amounts of steroids.

you’re being true to yourself. It was really nice for me to see that he was more comfortable too.

That was the beginning of the journey.”

The two quickly became a couple and were eventually engaged.

“I just knew,” says Rodriguez. “It just happens when people fall in love. It’s just this magical moment. It all sounds so hokey, but that’s exactly how it went down.”

“Liv was hugely instrumental with helping me with my transition and being confidant with myself,” says Pittman. “Especially because I didn’t know another trans person, and I didn’t know what trans was, or who I was, or what I was doing, but then along came Liv. And it was around that time that I figured out that what I am is trans. I figured out that transgender was a label that fit me—because we all have to have labels [laughs].”

Rodriguez helped Pittman transition from a her to a him, but their relationship was sacrificed in the process.

“I still had not told my family or friends, ‘OK, switch the pronouns and start calling me he,’” says Pittman. “I hadn’t done that yet, because I wasn’t sure how. And I’m thankful that she came

along, because she sort of did that for me. She actually had fights. In fact, I think one of the big reasons for the demise of our relationship is my family and friends, by the end, they didn’t really like her because she was hard on them. ... She would get so pissed at them if they would slip.”

“I had always seen him as a man,” says Rodriguez. “I would take offense and be very protective when it came to other people who wouldn’t refer to him as male. ... If I wasn’t the way that I was, his transformation would have been more difficult for him. ... At the end of the day, he’s a happy person. I’m a happy person, and whether we’re together or not, that friendship meant more than anything.”

Rodriguez became a target for Pittman’s family and friends’ frustrations and apprehensions. This conflict reached a boiling point in 2007, as Pittman was leaving to be deployed in Qatar.

“My mom and Liv actually got into a big fight, I guess, the day that I left,” says Pittman.

“She said, ‘That’s my daughter! She’ll never be my son. I will never change the pronouns. This is ridiculous. Stop trying to change my child.’

Then, while I was gone, apparently they watched a Barbara Walters special sort of documentary thing on cases of little kids who tried to cut off their penises with scissors. And they were such little kids that they didn’t know. And they didn’t have a sexual orientation at that time. It was very much a gender thing. ... So that was when it clicked for them, and after that, they just really started to grow and ... remembering back to me saying, ‘My name’s Dave Boy. Call me that.’

And that started to make a lot more sense.”

Pittman is proud of his parents and the supportive transitions they have made alongside him.

“It’s kind of like you go through a mourning, I would say, because all of a sudden you don’t have your little girl anymore, your daughter that you gave birth to,” says Vicki. “It was almost like we had to bury Krissy. We still have our child, but we don’t have our child like we gave birth to. It’s really hard to put into words, but after you go through all that, you look back and you look at Kris, and he’s still just Kris. I think he’s just a great kid.”

“You can either accept it or not accept it,” says Pittman’s father, Jim. “And if you don’t accept it, then you lose your kid. And Kris is a great kid, and we love him.”

“I knew that it was not only my transition, but their transition,” says Pittman. “And I knew that even if she was very adamant that she wasn’t going to do that, that came from her loving me and protecting me in a way. … I’m still me. I’m still Kris. I’m still the same person that I’ve been.

Just now the difference is that I’m true to myself. ... I’m a much happier, healthier person than I was before. I wanted to have a shot, at least a shot, at a happy life, and if I didn’t transition that wasn’t going to happen.”

“I think it’s a really tough life to have to go through this,” says Vicki. “He said this to us one time, he said, ‘Do you think I would choose to be this miserable?’ That’s when the light went on for us. We went, no, I don’t think you would.”

AIR FORCE BE WITH YOU Pittman is almost entirely positive about his experiences in the Air Force. He says that most of the other people in his unit were accepting and supportive of him through his transition. He says senior officers would take him aside and ask him

directly about his gender preferences for pronouns. But transgender people are not allowed to serve in the military.

“Knowing that I ran the risk of being kicked out, instead I left of my accord,” he says. “If I had my druthers, I would have stayed in and made a career out of the military, but unfortunately at this time, the military still won’t allow trans people to serve.”

He had originally joined the Air Force to follow in his father’s footsteps and be a pilot.

“I became disillusioned with it after really only a couple of years because I was transitioning, and I knew that this is not a feasible future for me because I can’t be trans in the military,” he says. “So I was sort of lost for a while in the military. Like, what do I do?

Where do I go from here? Because this is what I always wanted to do. ... I always wanted to be a soldier. I always wanted to be a fighter pilot or in the Army. I realized at some point that I can’t actually do this. I’m not going to be able to do this for the rest of my life, if I want to continue with my transition. So I was lost for a while. I didn’t know what to do. So I was actually pretty miserable for a long time while I was still in, which was unfortunate because I loved the military, and I miss it every day now. … To have somebody who wholeheartedly wants to serve his country and be in the military—and I thrived in the military. I left as honor graduate. I was the top PT [physical training] athlete. I left boot camp with the maximum amount of awards you could get. Every tech school I went to, I was the top graduate. I exceeded my classmates, and have usually always done that in academics. To say OK, I’m good at what I do, in fact

I’m great at what I do, I’m a good troop. I’m healthy physically. I’m healthy mentally. Just let me serve.”

Different recruiters have given Pittman different reasons why transgender individuals aren’t allowed to serve—including regulations against body modifications and hormone injections.

Pittman believes that the underlying problem is that many people consider transgender as a mental disorder. And in fact it’s classified as such in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

“It used to be called gender identity disorder,” he says. “In fact, it’s still called that right now. But in the new DSM that’s coming out ... they’re changing the nomenclature to gender disphoria. … I have no gender disphoria. I

Transgender Education, Treatment and Consultation services, and is basically an educational outreach program aimed primarily at helping health care professionals better assist transgender individuals. He’s also helping to organize a Trans Remembrance Day event at the University of Nevada, Reno on Nov. 20 and a film screening of the film Trans, also at UNR on Nov. 9. He also speaks regularly about his experiences to human sexuality classes at the university.

As a health care professional, Pittman is able to discuss in great detail and with great enthusiasm some cutting edge research into the science of chromosomes and gender identity.

He had his breasts surgically removed in 2008, but he hasn’t had “gender confirmation” genital surgery, or “bottom surgery,” as he calls it. He has a consultation for the surgery in January, but he’s not yet sure if he’ll do it.

“A lot of trans people don’t opt to have bottom surgery because it’s very expensive, most of the time its not covered by insurance, and you jeopardize sensitivity, you can have urinary restrictions,” he says. “There are a lot of complications that develop with it.”

He doesn’t feel as though the gender confirmation surgery is necessary. As it is, no one ever thinks he’s a woman.

“I feel myself transitioned, like that’s very much my role and I live like that,” he says.

“And yeah, I haven’t had any sort of bottom surgery done yet. ... I consider myself transitioned. But I will say that, as a person, I’d say that we’re all always growing, always becoming more of who we are. In that sense, I think that everyone is in transition.” Ω

have no disphoria whatsoever. I’m very comfortable and OK with who I am and where I am and very much male.”

ACTIVE LIFE “He’s way more comfortable now, than when he was trying to fit in and trying to be a girl,” says Vicki. “You can see a big difference in him now.

He stands straighter now.”

Pittman is very active in the small local transgender community. He’s launching a new business, called Trans ETC, which stands for

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Jewel

In Rotation 16 | Art of the State 17 | Foodfinds 18 | Fi¬m 20

NEVADA’S NATIONAL PARK DOES MORE THAN JUST DRAW TOURISTS BY DENNIS MYERS

Snowcapped mountains, tall trees, rushing water at Great Basin National Park—all the things many people think Nevada doesn’t have.

W

h ile traveling overland

from Salt Lake City to San Francisco in October 1860, the explorer Richard Burton stopped in what is now eastern Nevada and wrote of the Great Basin, “In this season the scenery is really pretty. The white peaks tower over hill-land black with cedar, and this looks down upon the green bottom scattered over with white sage-winter above lying by the side of summer below.”

Burton set no pattern for later writings about the Great Basin. Instead, the Basin became known as something of a horror, an area whose resources could be removed but which could also be lethal. Travel guides for emigrants—some of them written by people who never saw the territory— spread the word. Indeed, by the time 14

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Burton wrote, the Donner Party fiasco had already shown the consequences of the Basin’s reputation. When the party found itself in treacherous snow, it could have turned back to the relative safety of the Sierra foothills to winter over. The Truckee Meadows even offered hot springs. But emigrant travelers had been so thoroughly indoctrinated with the idea that the Basin was to be gotten through as fast as possible without ever turning back that going back was inconceivable.

It was a status that endured well into the 20th century. President after president “withdrew” land from public use for undesirable projects that other areas didn’t want, from an ammunition depot in Hawthorne (established after a 1926 disaster in New Jersey killed 21 people) to atomic testing and its radioactive strain of peril.

State leaders aided this reputation by encouraging any dirty project in the name of jobs and economic development. They helped foster an attitude that Nevada was a big sandbox where messes were welcomed.

During battles over the federal plan to put MX missile installations in Nevada and Utah an Air Force officer beheld the Nevada desert and called it a “great nuclear sponge.”

Later, a visiting officer at the Fallon Naval Air Station had a similar reaction—“Never Never Land,” he called it. These out-of-state figures had no notion of the fragility of a desert ecology, much less of the change in the terrain over the horizon.

Thus, the national notion of Nevada as brown and gray and useless thrived. There were occasional breaks, such as the 1974 publication

by National Geographic of the article

“The Other Nevada,” that showcased the beauty and diversity of less known parts of the state, but they were like pellets against the hull of a tank.

COUNTERING STEREOTYPE

In the 1920s, there were some efforts to create a national park in some of the most stunning areas of eastern Nevada.

It failed, but it kept coming back.

The term Great Basin can be misleading. Historian James Hulse has compared it to a bowl of mashed potatoes. The potatoes rise higher in the center than do the sides of the bowl.

It was the high places in the basin that were always considered an important part of the concept of a national park. Nevada’s stereotypical features did not match anyone’s idea of a national park. Wheeler Peak, Mt. Washington, Granite Peak, and the water features among them—Teresa

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Lake, Shoshone Creek—helped dispel the stereotype. Lehman Caves—actually one cave—did the same.

In 1934, landscape architect William Penn Mott surveyed the area for the National Park Service and recommended creation of the park. It didn’t happen.

In the 1950s, a new figure arrived on the scene. Darwin Lambert, a newspaper editor formerly associated with existing national parks like Shenandoah, became editor of the Ely newspaper, head of the local chamber of commerce, then a state legislator. He brought the idea of a national park back to life. He won enactment of state legislation, made movies about eastern Nevada, and proselytized the park every chance he got. In 1959, he said, “The [national] park proposal has had enough support and publicity now to

gain attention in all the top echelons, but still the trail to success is quite long. It is up to all of us in Nevada, interested in promoting the economy of the state and in preserving for all time an important park of America’s heritage, to get behind this movement.”

In 1962, President Kennedy sent a conservation message to Congress calling for creation of Great Basin National Park. In 1966, President Johnson did the same.

But the park faced opposition from the spiritual ancestors of today’s anti-government groups. It also became ensnarled in congressional rivalries.

1965 seemed to be the year— Nevada Senators Alan Bible and Howard Cannon sponsored a Great Basin Park of 123,380 acres, but it died when U.S. Rep. Walter Baring insisted on his own proposed 53,000-acre park and refused their offer to cut 19,500 acres.

By then Lambert had become an Alaska editor, but he had given the park idea visibility it never had before.

Then in 1982 Harry Reid won election to the U.S. House. It was a period when Congress was establishing wilderness areas in various states. Reid decided to use the Nevada wilderness bill as a vehicle for the park.

It was not a propitious time. Reid was the only Democrat in the fourmember congressional delegation, and Republicans Barbara Vucanovich, Paul Laxalt and Chic Hecht were all skeptical about the park. But Reid was relentless and very cooperative. Whenever one of the Republicans raised an objection—grazing, mining, water, whatever—Reid was agreeable to changing his proposal. He didn’t let the amount of acreage let things break down again. He wanted 174,000 acres, Laxalt countered with 44,000. Reid worked out an agreement with Vucanovich for 77,000, a break in the Republican wall. Reid wanted a park under almost any circumstances. He could add later.

Forget the ‘deal of the day’! Visit www.newsreview.com

That’s the way it went through, and on Aug. 15, 1987, the park was dedicated. The Reagan administration did its best to reduce Reid’s role in the ceremony—Laxalt was made the principal speaker—but there was no obscuring Reid’s stature as the man of the hour.

Also on hand were Mott, finally seeing his 1934 vision come to fruition, and Lambert, finally seeing all his efforts pay off. Mott, by then National Parks director, called the new park “the jewel in the crown” of the parks system.

The creation of the park went a long way toward broadening the nation’s view of Nevada. “The Last Great Park,” Newsweek called it.

“Stalagmites And Stunning Vistas” was the headline in Time. Travel guides added the park to their pages and in subsequent years Reid added to the acreage. Next year the U.S. Mint will stamp a Great Basin Park quarter.

Utah State University has published a new book, Great Basin National Park by Gretchen Baker.

Though marketed as a park guide, it’s more than just that. In some ways it is an odd book—sometimes history, sometimes tourism, sometimes science. It even busts a myth about a 1919 shoot-out tale. There are times when it appears to be a family history of White Pine County’s Bakers while giving too little attention to other prominent figures in the park’s history.

Nevertheless, it’s a compilation of information on the park that is unmatched elsewhere. And it comes at a good time.

As Nevada faces the most serious economic rebuilding job in decades, Great Basin National Park has done a good deal to reposition the state’s marketability, change its image, and widen its appeal. Ω Darwin Lambert’s book about the battle for a national park in Nevada, Great Basin Drama, is available at the Incline Village, North Valleys, Sparks and Sierra View branches of the Washoe County Library and at the UNR library. His book on the bristlecone pines, Timberline Ancients—with photos by David Muench—is available at the Incline Village branch and the UNR library. Gretchen Baker’s new book Great Basin National Park is available in Reno at Sundance Books.

PHOTO/NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE

Water clarity sometimes makes fish in Great Basin National Park appear to be swimming in air.

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Spitting Image Valley Floor

In the Mix is a monthly column of reviews of albums by musical artists local to the Reno area. To submit an album for review consideration, send a physical copy to Brad Bynum, Reno News & Review, 708 N. Center St., Reno NV 89501 or a digital link to bradb@ newsreview.com.

For more information, visit spitimage.tumblr.com or www.timtucker band.com.

An unhappy truth for local music fans is that the best bands often don’t stay in Reno. After a certain amount of success, the bands move to a bigger market, or a couple of the key members do, or, frustrated by the lack of opportunities, the bands either implode or drift into some narrow niche and lose whatever innovative vitality they might have once had. In other words, either they move away or they start to suck. (There are exceptions, of course.)

This is especially true for bands ART PUNK on the far left end of the dial, and Spitting Image is definitely found there. The quartet plays art punk, with broken rhythms, abstract, occasionally atonal sounds, and violent bursts of energy. But most bands associated with these types of sounds, like Talking Heads, Fugazi or Sonic Youth, seem distinctly urban, whereas Spitting Image is a band of the desert.

Guitarist Julian Jacobs tempers his ferocious guitar lines with hints of Western twang. All the members play with the sense of spacious balance of a landscape photograph. Vocalist Austin Pratt sometimes sounds like Ian Svenonius of the influential D.C. punk band Nation of Ulysses, but while Svenonius’ lyrics were usually satirical and political, Pratt’s are evocative of Western imagery: “No saloon, and no stone tomb, no weed tumbled, black smoke, old legends doom,” he sings in “Stone Tomb.”

Tim Tucker Band Tucker Too

One of the coolest things about this three-song 7-inch record is that it comes packaged with a zine, titled “Sympathy for the Detail,” after a lyric in the song “Negative Space,” and featuring artwork by more than a dozen of Reno’s best visual artists, including Nick Larsen, Ashley Westwood, Kelly Peyton, Chris Carnel and Michael Sarich.

Pratt and drummer Casey Conrad also contribute artwork. The images in the zine range from photographs of Nevada deserts to drawings of animals, and it’s sequenced to reference the lyrics or the energies of the music, almost like a kids’ read-along storybook.

This visual accompaniment reinforces the Northern Nevada-centricity of the music and lyrics. Keen listeners might even notice musical references to bygone local bands. The best music always reflects the place it comes from, and it’s a high compliment—and an encouraging sign for local music fans—to say that these songs could have come from no place other than Reno.

It would be easy to dismiss the Tim Tucker Band as a studio owner’s vanity project— Tucker owns Sierra Sonics Recording Studio—but Tucker Too, the band’s new album, is surprisingly accomplished.

The songwriting is good, if a bit rudimentary, often relying on heavily repeated refrains. But there are enough musical surprises to maintain interest. The funky sax solos on leadoff track SOFT ROCK “Jamestown” are especially welcome. All of the musicianship is very pro, especially guitarist Adlai Alexander, whose playing is often reminiscent of Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame. Overall, the album combines appealing, simplistic songwriting, sort of like Neil Young in Harvest mode, with slick adult contemporary production. It’s pleasant, smooth, and easy on the ears, if a bit dated to the ’80s, sort of like the audio equivalent of a Patrick Nagel print.

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—Brad Bynum

PHOTO/ALLISON YOUNG

Fool the eye

"Flood," by Beth Lo, is one of many ceramic pieces in the current exhibition at Stremmel Gallery.

Contemporary Ceramics The Contemporary Ceramics exhibit at Stremmel Gallery is a survey of top-notch examples by of some functional, some conceptual work Kris Vagner that shows how ceramics, even though it “arrived” as a fine-art medium long ago, still has a self-conscious streak.

Each piece in the show is impressively creative, experimental or just plain interesting enough to merit its own article. What struck me most is that a good 75 percent of the pieces look like they could have been made from materials other than clay, or at least borrowed techniques and aesthetics from other media.

Contemporary Ceramics John Mason, a ceramics-world heavyis on exhibit at Stremmel weight who grew up in Fallon, showed Gallery, 1400 S. Virginia human-sized, architecturally abstract St., until Oct. 20. For more information, visit ceramic sculptures that my gallery-going www.stremmel companions were convinced were made of gallery.com or call metal. Berkeley artist Robert Brady’s 786-0558. ceramic tribal masks look like they could be made of wood. Larry Williamson’s matte black cairns, cast in ceramic from rocks in his Virginia City yard, have the patina, surface marks and weight of apparent cast bronze. The surfaces of Robert

Harrison’s smaller-than-a-breadbox houses resembled enameled metal. Richard Newman’s lifelike baseball mitt look looks a readymade sculpture, something purchased from a store and placed in a gallery to upend our notions of art makership, but the “leather” cord laced through “metal” grommets on the worn-in mitt are all made of clay.

I wondered whether making clay sculptures look like other materials had become sort of a game among contemporary ceramicists. And I wondered whether this meant, given the long-running art vs. craft debates, whether ceramicists were trying to transcend their medium, defend it or something else entirely.

I caught up with Robert Brady by phone. He took a breather from biking up a steep slope in the Berkeley Hills to give me his perspective on the matter.

“The amazing thing about clay is it can be made to look like anything,” he said.

“And it has been used to represent the sensation of other materials. That is inherent in the dialogue, image and content in the his-

tory of ceramics.” He mentioned that the tradition of trompe-l’œil in ceramics goes back at least a couple of centuries. (The term refers to imagery that’s so super-realistic it “fools the eye,” which is its literal translation.)

He cautioned me against the assumption that his colleagues were trying to replicate wood or metal, though.

I pointed out that his wall pieces in the show looked decidedly like clay, but that they were the same scale as paintings you’d hang in a home or office and that he could have achieved approximately the same look using welded pieces of square metal tubing.

“I could see your position in that it’s kind of constructivist,” he answered thoughtfully.

“It’d be a logical way to work with pre-formed industrial tubing.”

Brady, who frequently works in wood and had a solo exhibit of wood sculptures at Stremmel recently, mentioned that viewers tell him his wood pieces’ “dry and desert-like surfaces sometimes look like clay.”

He said he’s not trying to make his materials look like something they’re not.

And while he wouldn’t mind ceramicists being more aware of the prevailing trends in non-ceramic artwork, he sees no point in trying to copy them and he’s comfortable with the fact that “ceramics” and “cuttingedge” don’t often meet.

Bottom line, says Brady: “You need to find yourself. That’s the whole thing.”

It’s a tall order to do that in ceramics, with its conceptually weighty history. The Contemporary Ceramics exhibit gives us a great range of examples of how ceramicists are doing that. Ω

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University of Nevada, Reno Performing Arts Series Presents

H'Sao

Mamma mia Saletti’s Restaurant & Bar 1623 Highway 395, Minden, (775) 782-2500

Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012 | 7:30 p.m. | Nightingale Concert Hall

PHOTO/ALLISON YOUNG

The award-winning Afro-pop quintet H’Sao draws on native roots (from Chad via Montréal, with family ties as brothers) and artful blends of gospel, soul and jazz to produce their magnificent a capella sound. Add to that keyboards, djembe, drums, guitar, bass, hopeful words, contagious energy and mesmerizing African dance and they sizzle on the vast soundscape of world music. (Just ask Queen Elizabeth, for whom they’ve performed.) H’Sao: H for hirondelles/swallows — the birds their father says are always searching for higher ground — and Sao for an ancient civilization of Chadian warriors. Definitely powerful, definitely flying high.

I always know I’m going to have a great meal when someone says it’s their “grandmother’s recipe” during an by Dave Preston interview. And when you know the repast is an Italian/Sicilian combinadavep@ tion, mamma mia, it’s a bona newsreview.com mangia! Italian cuisine makes you think of pasta and romantic music, while Sicilian cuisine is more inclined toward seafood, fruits, vegetables and other produce.

Tickets: Adult $24/ Senior $20/ Youth $12

(775) 784-4ART | Buy tickets online at www.unr.edu/pas

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Owner Faith Saletti and server Casey clink glasses at Saletti’s.

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• Pet First Aid, Animal Behavior (limited time) and Grooming Experts available for questions

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• All families that adopt will be entered in a drawing for a year’s supply of Mars pet food

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• Sam’s Starter Kit including a bag of Mars Petcare Food, treats Club/Walmart Parking Lot on Kietzke Lane

Dog/Cat essentials for school each adoption Several rescues/sheltersand from the Northern Nevada area Grooming students on site to provide grooming tips Pet First Aid, Animal Behavior and Grooming Experts available for questions All families that adopt will be entered in a drawing for a year’s supply of Mars pet food Starter Kit including a bag of Mars Petcare Food, treats, and Dog/Cat essentials for each adoption WAIVER AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY MARS PETCARE US ADOPTION EVENT (“the Event”) is open to the general public. All persons (“Participant”) attending the Event recognizes that his/her participation in the Event is voluntary and may result in personal injury or property damage. Participant assumes all risks and dangers incidental to his/her participation in the Event, including, but not limited to, attendance at the Event, observation of the Event and participation in attractions offered at the Event and all other risks and dangers, known or unknown, associated with the Event, whether such risk or danger occurs prior to, during or subsequent thereto and agrees that Mars Petcare US, Inc., its divisions, subsidiaries, parent and corporate affiliates and its owners, shareholders, officers, directors, employees, agents, successors, and (collectively the “Entities”) shall not be responsible for any personal injury, property damage, or other loss suffered as a result of participation in the Event and/or resulting from the negligence of the Entities. Participant further releases the Entities from and against any and all claims which Participant or any minor(s) accompanying Participant has or may have for invasion of privacy, defamation, violation of any right of publicity, or any other cause of action arising out of production, reproduction, distribution, transmission, publication, public performance, broadcast or exhibition of advertisements, promotions, content, programs and/or materials in which recordings or photographs of Participant or any minor(s) accompanying Participant from the Event appear. BY ATTENDING THIS EVENT, PARTICIPANT IS DEEMED TO HAVE GIVEN A FULL RELEASE OF LIABILITY TO THE ENTITIES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. IF THE PARTICIPANT IS A PARENT OR GUARDIAN ACCOMPANYING A MINOR OR MINORS TO THE EVENT, BY ALLOWING THE MINOR(S) TO ATTEND THE EVENT WITH THE PARTICIPANT, THE PARTICIPANT IS DEEMED TO HAVE GIVEN ALL OF THE FOREGOING RELEASES AND WAIVERS ON BEHALF OF SUCH MINOR(S). IF THE PARTICIPANT DOES NOT WISH TO OR IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO RELEASES AND WAIVERS ON BEHALF OF THE ACCOMPANIED MINOR(S), THE PARTICIPANT SHOULD IMMEDIATELY ACCOMPANY THE MINOR(S) OUT OF THE EVENT.

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Saletti’s Restaurant & Bar is open for lunch Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and for dinner, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.

John and Faith Saletti moved to Northern Nevada about six years ago to find a better quality of life. With John’s Italian/Sicilian heritage and passion for food and Faith’s passion for baking—both Salettis are accomplished chefs—a gem of a restaurant was born. Salette’s in Minden is primo Italiano, and with the new freeway open, it was an easy 55 minutes from Reno at the speed limit.

Both the lunch ($5.75-$13.95), with a kid’s menu ($3.75-$6.50), and dinner ($12.99-$34.99) menus are filled with traditional dishes as well as steaks and chops. There’s early-bird dining ($10.99-$22.99), happy hour (4 p.m.-6:30 p.m.), and nightly specials.

There’s a very friendly staff, seating in the bar and three other rooms for a total of over 200 seats, a simple, but pleasant décor, and linen napkins— that touch of class.

From the extensive menu, the basil prosciutto prawns ($11.99) charbroiled and served with a dijon vinaigrette sauce was my first amazement. Juicy, salty, herbaceous, sweet, minty, chard tastes delighted my mouth—what flavor! It was only the beginning and from Neptune’s bounty came a plentiful bowl of cioppino, a half order to boot ($24.99).

This Italian seafood masterpiece was filled with delicately cooked clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, prawns, king crab legs, salmon and halibut floating in a broth erupting with Vesuvian flavors. An explosion of Roma tomatoes, garlic, chile flakes, a dash of cayenne and a nice touch, a spiced Sambal chile sauce from southeastern Asia … wow, bring on the bread to soak up the juice, I couldn’t and wouldn’t waste a drop.

John also had to tempt me with a taste of his grandmother’s 90-year-old recipe for Bolognese Sicilian-style, three meats—veal, pork, and ground chuck—and five tomato sauce for pasta. Worthy of no less than the gods of Mt. Olympus, I, a mere mortal, was humbled by this delectable, amazing work of food-art heritage.

There’s a decent wine list ($20$120) with a modest by-the-glass offering ($5-$14). When I started, white seemed appropriate and Caposaldo Pinot Grigio ($9) was right.

The color was pale, straw yellow, with delicate white fruit and apple aromas.

The flavors were offset by notes of acacia blossoms and almonds. The texture is crisp and vibrant with a well-balanced, bright acidity and a clean, fresh finish.

But the colossus of the cioppino, a fish stew, called for red. Michael David makes a black-as-night Syrah called 6th Sense ($9), true to its roots, with flavors of dark red fruit, bacon and toast, with a wall of vanilla and oak. It’s juicy, jammy and surprisingly well integrated.

Before my Mediterranean repast ended, I had a piece of carrot cake ($7) with cream cheese frosting appeared, and I was at peace. Superb, unique, no nuts—just melt-in-your mouth sumptuous flavors of sweet cream and spice.

It’s well worth the drive to Minden but more importantly, it’s worth experiencing because the art of cuisine is sacred and John and Faith are willing to share this art from their heritage. At a place like this, food stirs up childhood memories. My grandmother taught me cooking for and feeding someone is one of the sweetest gestures in the world. Even watching someone eat can be a delight. I’ve learned food and love are undeniably connected, and that’s evident at Saletti’s. Ω

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H’SAO

WIN TICKETS TO SEE THE

ON OCTObEr 4TH aT 7:30PM aS ParT Of THE UNr PErfOrMINg arTS SErIES!

Director’s cult The Master I appreciate much of what writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master has to offer. The movie looks terrific, and features two of the year’s best performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I can recommend the film based on those factors alone.

And, yet, I can’t call The Master one of the year’s best films. I surprise myself as I type this because I count Anderson’s Magnolia and There Will Be Blood as two of by the best films in cinematic history. Perhaps Bob Grimm Mr. Anderson is a victim of my super high bgrimm@ expectations. I just don’t think he’s delivered newsreview.com the goods with The Master on a level with his past films (which also include Boogie Nights and Punch-Drunk Love).

Phoenix plays Freddie, a troubled World War II vet who returns from a stint with the Navy a little messed up in the head. He’s having trouble finding his place in the world, and he’s constantly swigging potentially lethal alcohol drinks he makes out of anything he can find in the medicine cabinet or tool shed. He’s prone to major mood swings and violence. His relationships and jobs

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aren’t working out, and his drinking is getting him into a lot of trouble.

He winds up a stowaway on a luxury yacht where he meets Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), leader of The Cause, a cult-like movement with more than a few similarities to Scientology. Dodd takes an immediate liking to Freddie and his crazy alcoholic concoctions.

He invites him to stay with his family, which includes wife Peggy (Amy Adams).

1

2

3

POOR

FAIR

GOOD

4 VERY GOOD

5 EXCELLENT

There’s a great tension to the scenes where Freddie is “processed” by Dodd, asked a series of intense questions where he’s not allowed to blink, or forced to walk back and forth in a room and declare what comes to his mind when doing something as simple as touching a window. Phoenix and Hoffman take these scenes into the stratosphere.

Where the film falters is in a number of scenes that feel, dare I say, badly directed by one of our best directors. There’s a staginess and artificiality to some of the scenes that makes them stilted. I especially disliked many of the moments featuring Adams, whose character feels shoehorned into the movie. Her moments don’t flow with the film.

I also got a sense of déjà vu with some of the film, as if it were a There Will Be Blood retread in spots. I think this is due in part to the soundtrack from Jonny Greenwood, who also did the music for Blood. It has the same percussive sounds as the prior score, which had me thinking Daniel Day Lewis could show up at any minute and cave in the side of Phoenix’s head with a bowling pin.

Phoenix, his face gnarled with anguish, makes an impressive return to narrative filmmaking after the crazy experiment that was I’m Not There. While The Master falters from time to time, he never does, and I fully expect him to be in Oscar contention. He has a moment in a prison cell that shows he’s an actor who will throw his entire being into a performance.

As for Hoffman, he’s in typical genius mode, portraying Dodd as a super intelligent yet highly unstable man. Freddie and Dodd share a tendency to, let’s say, overreact, and the two actors portray this with scary ferocity. However, the usually reliable Adams seems adrift in this movie.

See the film for Phoenix and Hoffman.

They are epic, and it’s too bad the film itself doesn’t’ go deep enough with its narrative.

The Master is a relationship movie, and little more. Those looking for a stinging indictment of organized religion and, more specifically, Scientology, are bound to be disappointed. Those looking for a piece of work comparable to Anderson’s best will be crushed. Ω

3

Dredd 3D

4

End of Watch

This reboot, with Karl Urban putting on the helmet and keeping it on for the duration of the film, is a vast improvement over the embarrassing Sylvester Stallone effort. Urban plays the title character, a generally angry man living in a post-apocalyptic world where policeman are also the judge, jurors and executioners of criminals on the spot. When he and a trainee (Olivia Thirbly) investigate a homicide, they wind up trapped in a building with a crazed drug lord (Lena Headey) trying to take them down.

Director Pete Travis has made a grim, very violent film. Because the drug in play here is something called SLO-MO, a drug that makes the brain feel as if it has been slowed down, much of the violence is depicted in slow motion. Yep, slow-motion shots of bullets passing through faces. It’s a visual feast for the eyes, and Urban is perfect in the part.

4

Finding Nemo 3D

3

The Expendables 2

Nine years after its original release, this Pixar charmer comes back to screens with a nice 3-D presentation.

Honestly, I felt like I was watching it for the first time. The Pixar films are primed for 3D. The movie looks like it was always intended to be this way. Albert Brooks voices Marlin, a paranoid clown fish who loses his kid Nemo to human divers. While Nemo sits in a dentist’s aquarium, Marlin frantically races across the ocean with new friend Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) in tow. For me, DeGeneres is the true star of this movie. Her voice work will always stand as a favorite cartoon character of mine, especially when she speaks whale. Other voice actors include Willem Dafoe as a growling angelfish and Brad Garrett as a puffer fish. I know I sound a bit clichéd saying this, but this is a real treat for the entire family.

Here’s a sequel that learns a lot from the mistakes of the first installment, while capitalizing on the ideas that should’ve made the first installment good fun. It gathers up a bunch of old goons, gives them big guns, and tells them to shoot things. And, this time out, they do it better and with much aplomb. It’s obvious before the opening title credit, in a sequence where many a man is shredded via gunfire from aging American action superstars, that Stallone and friends are going to get things right and deliver the crazy-gory goods. Much of the credit must go to newly anointed Simon West, who replaces Stallone in the director’s chair. West made the ridiculously enjoyable Con Air, which combined stellar action with funny, dumb dialogue to much success.

Unlike Stallone’s effort with the first movie, Expendables 2 gets real laughs, rather than groans, from its boneheaded dialogue.

Reno Century Park Lane 16, 210 Plumb Lane: 824-3300 Century Riverside 12, 11 N. Sierra St.: 786-1743 Century Summit Sierra 13965 S. Virginia St.: 851-4347 www.centurytheaters.com

OPINION

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NEWS

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GREEN

2

I was hoping for a late summer powerhouse that would top off a mediocre season with something to remember. I figured a film with John Hillcoat at the helm and featuring the likes of Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce and Shia LaBeouf couldn’t fail.

While it isn’t a complete failure, it is a bit of a letdown. Considering the star power and the director at hand, I was expecting much more than your typical backwoods moonshine thriller. John Hillcoat (The Road) telling the “true story” of the Bondurant brothers, Depression-era bootleggers who stood up to the law, had a great amount of appeal. It makes the mistake of positioning LaBeouf’s youngest brother Jack as the primary character, when his older brothers Forrest (Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke) are far more compelling. LaBeouf isn’t necessarily bad in the role; it’s just that Hardy and Clarke are way better and far more interesting to watch. Guy Pearce overdoes it as the bad guy in a film that ultimately feels empty and misdirected.

ParaNorman

4

Here’s a stop-animation movie that isn’t afraid to be creepy for the kids. Norman (voice of Kodi Smit-McPhee) can see dead people and has premonitions, for which he gets picked on at school and yelled at by his parents. As it turns out, he’s the only one who can save the town from a curse involving zombies and witches. Directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell have put together a great-looking movie.

And Butler’s script actually pushes the limit of the PG rating to the point where adults might be surprised by what they have taken their kids to see. As for this being too scary for kids, let me tell you that the kids were screaming with delight at my screening. They love this stuff. Also features the voices of John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Casey Affleck and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. One of the year’s best animated films.

The Possession

2

As far as demon possession movies go, I’d have to count this as one of the better offerings in recent years. That still doesn’t make it all that good. Based on a “true story”—bullshit!—it stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a basketball coach who moves his two daughters into a new house. They go to a yard sale, where the youngest daughter (an impressive Natasha Calis) grabs a mysterious box that has dead moths and spooky stuff in it. She winds up getting possessed by a demon, requiring the help of a Hasidic Jew instead of Roman Catholic priests for a change. And, of course, that Hasidic Jew is none other than Matisyahu. Director Ole Bornedal provides some genuinely creepy moments—I especially liked the very spooky CAT scan—but he also provides a little too much bad melodrama that drags the film down. Still, Morgan and Calis are good here, and the possession portions of the movie do have a decent freak-out factor. (Love those hands coming out of mouths!) A hearty “Screw you!” to the dumbass who decided to make this a PG-13 affair. This one should’ve shot for an R.

Resident Evil: Retribution

1

In the fifth chapter of the popular zombie franchise, things get so sloppy, disorganized and frantic, it’s as if one of the TVirus zombies bit the movie on the leg and it got all crazy and infected. This is the third installment directed by the much-maligned Paul W.S. Anderson, who has been involved with the franchise from the beginning in various capacities. He directed the first movie, took a couple of movies off, and returned for 2010’s lousy Afterlife, and now this even worse monstrosity. He has the dubious distinction of having directed the best and worst films in the franchise. Milla Jovovich returns as Alice, zombie killer, and her efforts are all for naught. The movie makes little to no sense, the action is haphazard and clumsy, and this franchise seriously needs to call it quits. It got off to an OK start with the first two films, but things have deteriorated mightily since then.

Grand Sierra Cinema 2500 E. Second St.: 323-1100 Nevada Museum of Art, 160 W. Liberty St.: 329-3333

Carson City

Sparks

Horizon Stadium Cinemas, Stateline: (775) 589-6000

Century Sparks 14, 1250 Victorian Ave.: 357-7400

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FEATURE STORY

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Galaxy Fandango, 4000 S. Curry St.: 885-7469

Gift certificates make great gifts! Visit www.newsreview.com

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña shine in this absorbing cop drama from writer-director David Ayer (Harsh Times).

They play Los Angeles police officers who go above and beyond the call of duty, and sometimes bend the rules just a little bit.

Their willingness to put their necks on the line eventually leads to trouble with a drug cartel, and their lives are threatened.

Gyllenhaal and Peña make for a great screen duo. The movie is often very funny simply because of the way they interact. Ayer uses the old “cops videotaping themselves on the job” gimmick a little bit, but it never becomes too distracting. He also fills his movie with great action and chase sequences. The movie is a shocker in many ways, and truly makes you think about what cops go through on a daily basis. Nice supporting performances from Anna Kendrick and America Ferrera.

Lawless

Tahoe

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Carefully selected artisans will create spooktacular & frosty merriment for this 100% handcrafted show. Their visions of … take TheonPremier Halloween & Christmas offer a spellbinding the two Holiday A seasons that have fascinated us since childhood. Our show will also feature artisans offering unique holiday gift2012 items September & 30, … The Premier29Holiday Art & Craft Fair and jewelry. Saturday 9 AM – 4 PM; Sunday 10 AM – 3 PM

The Premier Holiday Art Admission: Saturday $5; Sunday $3 September & 30, for 2012 Food and drink will be 29 available purchase. Sipping & & Craft Fair shopping 9 is AM allowed comeSunday early and10 stay late!

Saturday – 4soPM; AM – 3Kick PMoff the September 29 & 2012 fall art &30, craft showSaturday season at the best show in town!

Admission: $5; Sunday $3 Carefully selected artisans

will cr 100% handcraf Halloween Christmas offer a sp Carefully selected artisans&will create spooktacu Carefully artisans spooktacular frostywill merriment seasons that have fascinated s Glowing selected shades of fall andwill the create glistening twinkle of& winter create merriment our backdrop inside the beautifully remodeled for this 100% handcrafted show. us The for this 100% show.

Food & will beLane, available Reno Elkshandcrafted Lodge, which is located at drink 597 Kumle Reno,for NV. (across from the Convention Center) will also feature artisans offering purchase. Sipping & shopping is allowed so come early and stay late!Halloween & Christmas offer a spellbinding tak and jewelry. that have fascinated us since childhood Reno Elk Lodge • 597 Kumle Lane, Reno (across from the Conventionseasons Center) www.SpookyJingles.com for additional information will also feature artisans offering unique holida and jewelry. Food and drink will be available … The Premier Holiday Artshopping & Craft Fair is allowed so come early fallwill art &becraft show season at the b Food and drink available for purchase September 29 & 30, 2012 Saturday 9 AM – 4 PM; Sunday 10 AM – 3 PM shopping is allowed so come early and stay late!

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Queasy as pie Sweeney Todd If you’ve ever been confounded by watching actors in a locally produced musical struggle with challenging vocal roles, by Mark Dunagan Nevada Opera has the antidote. Its new production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd is packed to the gills with people whose primary artistic pursuit is flooring you with their voices. Think of it as one of the benefits of an opera company staging a classic piece of American musical theater.

PHOTO/MEGAN BERNER

The cast of Sweeney Todd, including Gary Simpson as the demon barber, rehearse at Pioneer Center for the Arts.

Nevada Opera presents Sweeney Todd at The Pioneer Center for the Arts, 100 S. Virginia St., on Friday, Sept. 28, and Sunday, Sept. 30. For tickets or more information, visit

OPINION

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NEWS

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Though Nevada Opera was founded in 1967, and has always been active in advancing Reno’s identity as a center for the arts, local theater fans may have overlooked the company due their own associations about what opera is and who it is for. The new production offers the company a chance to prove to new audiences that they have more to offer than Viking hats and metal underwear, and it offers theater fans a deliciously dark tale delivered by singers with real chops.

In the role of the titular demon barber is the formidable baritone Gary Simpson, a professional opera singer who relishes the rare opportunity to ply his trade in his native tongue. Most opera audiences in America don’t understand the languages they hear. Simpson describes his work as moving his audience by conveying emotion through voice alone, often without much help from the actual words.

“It’s extra fun to sing in English, though,” Simpson says, “because people get all the jokes immediately.”

It’s a good thing, because the jokes come so fast and furious in Sweeney Todd that they spin the heads of even those with a keen ear for wordplay.

While composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim is famous for GREEN

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FEATURE STORY

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ARTS&CULTURE

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packing his songs with witty and elaborate rhymes, it’s his operatic chord structures that make Sweeney Todd so well suited to production by an opera company.

“It’s not just the lyrics, but the music itself that actually explains the characters’ emotions, and of course the music is technically difficult … incredibly complicated,” says Cami Thompson, a stage veteran and Reno favorite who plays Mrs. Lovett, a down-on-her-luck pie shop owner.

Difficulties notwithstanding, Thompson’s eyes gleam when she talks about the challenge of biting into Sondheim’s music. “It’s luscious!” she says before dashing off to rehearse a demanding scene involving the suspicious rise in popularity of Mrs. Lovett’s pies.

In the director’s chair is Germany native Joachim Schamberger, a seasoned professional and the innovator of something he calls “virtual theater design.” Essentially, Schamberger’s brainchild is a melding of film and theater in which projectors are used to create dynamic backgrounds onstage.

The result, which is cost-effective and brimming with creative potential, should be something fresh for Reno audiences.

While Schamberger is obviously concerned with the production’s visuals, he’s less interested in the distinctions between opera and musical theater and doesn’t approach Sweeney Todd any differently than he would a more traditional opera. Whatever name the final product has, the translation for his cast and crew is the same.

“Nine hours of rehearsal a day,” Schamberger says grimly (or maybe it’s just the German accent). “And that’s nine hours of actual work, not just standing around.”

Though he has worked extensively with professional opera performers, Schamberger doesn’t undersell a cast that includes a lot of locals in the chorus. “It’s been a great cast to work with. I’m very happy with them.”

He seems equally pleased with his venue, the Pioneer Center for Performing Arts. “It’s definitely big enough, but it’s not too big, so there is still some intimacy.”

Getting intimate with a murderous razor-wielding barber may demonstrate questionable judgment, but fans of theater and opera alike mustn’t delay.

Sweeney Todd runs for only two nights and tickets—like Mrs. Lovett’s meat pies—will go fast. Ω

IN ROTATION

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For questions or sponsorship opportunities please call (775)324–7773 x204

THURSDAY 9/27 3RD STREET

FRIDAY 9/28

Blues jam w/Blue Haven, 9:30pm, no cover

125 W. Third St., (775) 323-5005

SATURDAY 9/29

SUNDAY 9/30

Midnight Minx Burlesque, 9pm, no cover

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 10/1-10/3

Moon Gravy, 8pm, no cover

DG Kicks, Jakki Ford, 9pm Tu, no cover

ABEL’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT

Jazz Night, 7:30pm Tu, no cover

2905 U.S. Highway 40 West, Verdi; (775) 345-2235

THE ALLEY

Rockie Fresh, 7:30pm, $12, $15

BAR-M-BAR

Freestyle firespinning, 9pm, no cover

906 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 358-8891 816 Highway 40 West, Verdi; (775) 345-0806

Sucka Punch, Ninja Slaughterhouse, Surf Curse, 8:30pm, $5 Sunday Night Acoustics/Open Mic, 8pm, no cover

BIGGEST LITTLE CITY CLUB

Peaches

Open mic comedy night, 9pm, no cover

188 California Ave., (775) 322-2480

THE BLACK TANGERINE

Bike Night Blues Jam w/live music, 7pm, no cover

CEOL IRISH PUB

Pub Quiz Trivia Night, 8pm, no cover

CHAPEL TAVERN

Sonic Mass w/DJ Tigerbunny, 7pm, no cover

9825 S. Virginia St., (775) 853-5003 538 S. Virginia St., (775) 329-5558 1099 S. Virginia St., (775) 324-2244

Celtic Sessiuns, 7pm Tu, no cover Good Friday with rotating DJs, 10pm, no cover

CLUB BASS

Ladies Night w/DJs (dubstep, electro, house), 10pm, $5 for women

COMMA COFFEE

Celtic/American Tune Session, 7pm, no cover

535 E. Fourth St., (775) 622-1774 312 S. Carson St., Carson City; (775) 883-2662

COMMROW

2) DJ Double B, DJ Luciano, 10pm, no cover

1) Peaches, 9pm, $18-$40

255 N. Virginia St., (775) 398-5400 1) Cargo 2) Centric 3) Main Floor

Sept. 27, 9 p.m.

CommRow 255 N. Virginia St. 398-5400

College Night w/DJs (dubstep, electro, house), 10pm, $5 with college ID Large Bills Accepted, noon M, no cover 1) DJ Fredy G, DJ Hektor S, DJ Kentot, 10pm, $10 before 11pm, $12 after; 2) DJ Double B, DJ Luciano, 10pm, no cover

DAVIDSON’S DISTILLERY

Karaoke, 9pm Tu, no cover; Open mic, 9pm W, no cover

275 E. Fourth St., (775) 324-1917

EL CORTEZ LOUNGE

Karaoke with Doug, 9pm, no cover

235 W. Second St., (775) 324-4255

Karaoke with Nick, 9pm, no cover

FRESH KETCH

Karaoke with Alex, 9pm, no cover

Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, no cover

Karaoke, 9pm M, no cover; Karaoke, 9pm Tu, no cover; Karaoke, 9pm W, no cover

New World Jazz Project, 7pm, no cover

2435 Venice Dr., South Lake Tahoe; (530) 541-5683

FUEGO

Live flamenco guitar music, 5:30pm, no cover

170 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-1800 846 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 355-7711 Speak Easy, 7:30pm, $5

140 Vesta St., (775) 742-1858

3rd Street, 125 W. Third St., 323-5005: Comedy Night & Improv w/Wayne Walsh, W, 9pm, no cover Catch a Rising Star, Silver Legacy, 407 N. Virginia St., 329-4777: Rocky Whatule, Th, Su, 7:30pm, $15.95; F, 7:30pm, 9:30pm, $15.95; Sa, 7:30pm, 9:30pm, $17.95; RC Smith, Tu, W, 7:30pm, $15.95 The Improv at Harveys Cabaret, Harveys Lake Tahoe, Stateline, (800) 553-1022: Joel Lindley, Avi Liberman, Th-F, Su, 9pm, $25; Sa, 8pm, 10pm, $30; Charles Fleischer, W, 9pm, $25 Reno-Tahoe Comedy at Pioneer Underground, 100 S. Virginia St., 686-6600: Hypnot!c with Dan Kimm, F, 7pm, $13, $16; Ladies of Laughter w/Carla Rea, F, 9:30pm, Sa, 7pm, 9:30pm, $13, $16

GREAT BASIN BREWING CO. THE HOLLAND PROJECT

Comedy

Who Cares w/ Verbal Knit, $5, 7pm

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1555 S. Wells Ave. Reno, NV

www.Rapscallion.com

775-323-1211 • 1-877-932-3700 Open Monday - Friday at 11:30am Saturday at 5pm Sunday Brunch from 10am to 2pm

OPINION

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THURSDAY 9/27

FRIDAY 9/28

SATURDAY 9/29

SUNDAY 9/30

JAVA JUNGLE

Sunday Music Showcase, 4pm, no cover

246 W. First St., (775) 329-4484

JAZZ, A LOUISIANA KITCHEN

1180 Scheels Dr., Sparks; (775) 657-8659

Jazz Jam w/First Take featuring Rick Metz, 6pm, no cover

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 10/1-10/3 Java Jungle Open Mic, 7:30pm M, no cover

Live jazz w/First Take featuring Rick Metz, 6pm, no cover

JUB JUB’S THIRST PARLOR

Open mic, 9pm M, no cover

71 S. Wells Ave., (775) 384-1652

KNITTING FACTORY CONCERT HOUSE 211 N. Virginia St., (775) 323-5648 1) Main Stage 2) Top Shelf Lounge

Rockie Fresh

2) Boggan, 11:30pm, no cover

2) Mike Madnuss, 11:30pm, no cover

2) Erik Lobe, 11:30pm, no cover

KNUCKLEHEADS BAR & GRILL

Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m.

The Alley 906 Victoria Ave., Sparks 358-8891

Open Mic Night/College Night, 7pm Tu, no cover

405 Vine St., (775) 323-6500

PIZZA BARON

Acoustic Open Mic hosted by Roger Scime, 8pm, no cover

Steve Starr Karaoke, 9pm W, no cover

PLAN:B MICRO-LOUNGE

Open Mic Night w/Dale Poune, 7pm, no cover

Open jazz jam, 7:30pm W, no cover

THE POINT

Karaoke hosted by Gina Jones, 7pm, no cover

1155 W. Fourth St., (775) 329-4481 318 N. Carson St., Carson City; (775) 887-8879 3001 W. Fourth St., (775) 322-3001

PONDEROSA SALOON RED ROCK BAR

Thursday Jam Session, 9pm, no cover

RUBEN’S CANTINA

Hip Hop and R&B Night, 10pm, $5; no cover charge for women before midnight

1483 E. Fourth St., (775) 622-9424

Post show s online by registering at www.newsr eview.com /reno. Dea dline is the Friday befo re publication .

RYAN’S SALOON

924 S. Wells Ave., (775) 323-4142

SIDELINES BAR & NIGHTCLUB 1237 Baring Blvd., Sparks; (775) 355-1030

SIERRA GOLD

ST. JAMES INFIRMARY STREGA BAR

STUDIO ON 4TH

432 E. Fourth St., (775) 786-6460

DJ Couch King, Infinite Love, (530) MotorHome, 7pm, no cover

TAPS & TANKS

Dave Alvin, 7:30pm, $30

WALDEN’S COFFEEHOUSE 3940 Mayberry Dr., (775) 787-3307

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Sunday Night Strega Mic, 9pm, no cover

310 S. Arlington Ave., (775) 348-9911

1155S. Rock Blvd.; (775) 856-1177

|

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Spontaneous Combustion, 8:30pm M, no cover; Black and Blues Jam, 8:30pm

Bluegrass, 7pm M, no cover; Trivia, 8pm Tu, no cover

445 California Ave., (775) 657-8484

Sept. 29, 8 p.m.

Silver Legacy 407 N. Virginia St. (775) 826-7401

Karaoke w/DJ Hustler, 9pm Tu, no cover; Hip Hop Open Mic, 9pm W, no cover

Jamie Rollins, 9pm, no cover

680 S. Meadows Pkwy., (775) 850-1112

Joe Walsh

Karaoke hosted by Gina Jones, 7:30pm W, no cover

Karaoke w/Steel & the Gang, 7:30pm, no cover

106 S. C St., Virginia City; (775) 847-7210 241 S. Sierra St., (775) 324-2468

Karaoke hosted by Gina Jones, 9pm, no cover

DJ Couch King, Infinite Love, (530) MotorHome, 10pm, no cover

All Hat No Cattle, Alisha Sadler, 7pm, no cover

Reno Music Project Acoustic Open Mic, 6:30pm, no cover

Local Band Listening Party, 9pm M, no cover; Dark Tuesdays, 9pm Tu, no cover

THURSDAY 9/27

FRIDAY 9/28

SATURDAY 9/29

SUNDAY 9/30

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 10/1-10/3

CRYSTAL BAY CLUB

14 Hwy. 28, Crystal Bay; (775) 833-6333 1) Crown Room 2) Red Room

2) NVO, 10pm, no cover

ELDORADO HOTEL CASINO

345 N. Virginia St., (775) 786-5700 1) Showroom 2) Brew Brothers 3) BuBinga Lounge 4) Roxy’s Bar & Lounge

1) Jersey Nights, 7pm, $19.95+; 4) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover

1) Jersey Nights, 8pm, $19.95+; 3) Skyy High Fridays w/Roni Romance, DJ Dragon, 9pm, $10; 4) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover

1) Jersey Nights, 7pm and 9:30pm, 1) Jersey Nights, 7pm, $19.95+; 4) Live $19.95+; 3) Addiction Saturdays, 9pm, $10; piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover 4) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover

1) Jersey Nights, 7pm Tu, W, $19.95+; 2) Live Band Karaoke, 10pm M, no cover; 2) DJ Chris English, 10pm Tu, no cover; 3) Spindustry Wednesdays, 9pm W, no cover

4) Rustlers’ Heat, 9pm, no cover; 4) Jackson Michelson, 9pm, no cover

4) Rustlers’ Heat, 9pm, no cover; 4) Jackson Michelson, 9pm, no cover

4) Rustlers’ Heat, 9pm, no cover; 4) Jackson Michelson, 9pm, no cover

4) Whiskey Dawn, 9pm W, no cover

1) Penn & Teller, 9pm, $77; 3) DJ/dancing, 10:30pm, $20

3) DJ/dancing, 10:30pm, $20

1) Persuasion, 9pm, $25, $30; 2) Live local bands, 10pm, no cover; 3) Club Sapphire, 9pm, no cover

1) Persuasion, 9pm, $25, $30; 2) Live local bands, 10pm, no cover; 3) Club Sapphire, 9pm, no cover

GRAND SIERRA RESORT

2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000 1) Grand Theater 2) WET Ultra Lounge 3) Xtreme Sports Bar 4) Mustangs 5) 2500 East 6) The Beach 7) Summit Pavilion

HARRAH’S LAKE TAHOE

15 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (775) 588-6611 1) South Shore Room 2) Casino Center Stage 3) VEX

HARRAH’S RENO

219 N. Center St., (775) 788-2900 1) Persuasion, 9pm, $25, $30 1) Sammy’s Showroom 2) The Zone 3) Sapphire Lounge 4) Plaza 5) Convention Center

5) Cash Only, 9:30pm M, no cover; 5) DJ JBIRD, 9:30pm Tu, no cover

5) DJ Chris English, 10pm, no cover

1100 Nugget Ave., Sparks; (775) 356-3300 1) Showroom 2) Cabaret 3) Orozko 4) Rose Ballroom 5) Trader Dick’s

5) Ladies’ ‘80s w/DJ BG, 6pm, no cover

5) DJ BG Weekend Jump-Off Party, 10pm, no cover

5) DJ BG Weekend Jump-Off Party, 10pm, no cover

55 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (800) 648-3353 1) Theatre 2) Opal 3) Blu 4) Onsen Beach & Nightclub 5) Convention Center 6) Outdoor Event Center

Matisyahu, The Dirty Heads, Pacific Dub, 8pm, $39.50; 1) Matisyahu, Dirty Heads, 8pm, $39.50

PEPPERMILL RESORT SPA CASINO

4) Salsa dancing with BB of Salsa Reno, 7pm, $10 after 8pm; 4) DJ Chris English, 10pm, $20

4) Bad Girl Thursdays, 10pm, no cover charge for women

Flowing Tide Pub, 465 S. Meadows Pkwy., Ste. 5, 284-7707; 4690 Longley Lane, Ste. 30, (775) 284-7610: Karaoke, Sa, 9pm, no cover

The RN&R no longer a ccepts emailed or phoned-in listings.

Post show s online by registering at www.ne wsreview.c om/reno.

Deadline is the Friday b efore publication .

MONTBLEU RESORT

Red’s Golden Eagle Grill, 5800 Home Run Drive, Spanish Springs, (775) 626-6551: Karaoke w/Manny, F, 8pm, no cover Sneakers Bar & Grill, 3923 S. McCarran Blvd., 829-8770: Karaoke w/Mark, Sa, 8:30pm, no cover

4) Rogue Saturdays, 10pm, $20

Spiro’s Sports Bar & Grille, 1475 E. Prater Way, Sparks, 356-6000: Music & Karaoke, F, 9pm; Lovely Karaoke, Sa, 9pm, no cover

SILVER LEGACY

407 N. Virginia St., (775) 325-7401 1) Grand Exposition Hall 2) Rum Bullions 3) Aura Ultra Lounge 4) Silver Baron Ballroom 5) Drinx Lounge

OPINION

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NEWS

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GREEN

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Bottoms Up Saloon, 1923 Prater Way, Sparks, 359-3677: Th-Sa, 9pm, no cover Elbow Room Bar, 2002 Victorian Ave., Sparks, 359-3526: F, Tu, 7pm; Su, 2pm, no cover

JOHN ASCUAGA’S NUGGET

2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121 1) Tuscany Ballroom 2) Cabaret 3) Terrace Lounge 4) Edge 5) Aqua Lounge

Sept. 27, 8 p.m.

Montbleu Resort 55 Hwy. 50, Stateline (800) 648-3353

Karaoke

HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE

18 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (800) 427-8397 1) Cabaret 2) Tahoe Live 3) The Improv 4) Outdoor Arena 5) Cabo Wabo Cantina Lounge

Matisyahu

2) DJ I, 10pm, no cover; 3) Ladies Night & Karaoke,

FEATURE STORY

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ARTS&CULTURE

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1) Joe Walsh, 8pm, $79.50, $89.50; 3) Live music, 5pm, no cover

7pm, no cover

IN ROTATION

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ART OF THE STATE

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FOODFINDS

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FILM

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2) DJ REXX, 10pm, no cover; 3) Live jazz, 4pm, $10; 3) Salsa Etc. 7pm, no cover

3) Dance party, 10pm, no cover

MUSICBEAT

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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

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THIS WEEK

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MISCELLANY

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Washoe Club, 112 S. C St., Virginia City, 8474467: Gothic Productions Karaoke, Sa, Tu, 8pm, no cover

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

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Reno/Sparks, help us

protect your Tahoe backyard.

Come to a workshop about the National Scenic Byway (SR28), the stretch from Crystal Bay to Sand Harbor to Spooner Lake.

Help us create a ridge-to-shoreline plan to keep the lake’s waters clear, improve access to trails and public beaches, make the highway safer, and preserve the environment you love to play in.

Attend the October 2nd Workshop DAYTIME:

OR EVENING :

10:30am-2:30pm UNR Joe Crowley Student Union

5pm-7:30pm The Grove at South Creek

1664 N. Virginia St.

(event center)

95 Foothill Rd., corner of S. Virginia and Foothill Rd./South Meadows Pkwy.

775.589.5500 tahoetransportation.org/openhouse Participate at a workshop or on our website for your chance to

win a $150 Scheels gift card!* *Need not be present at drawing to win. Rules/details at tahoetransportation.org

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SEPtEmbEr 27, 2012

For Thursday, September 27 to Wednesday, October 3

BIGGEST LITTLE PET ADOPTION DRIVE: MARS

To post events to our online calendar and have them considered for the print edition, visit our website at www.newsreview.com/reno and post your events by registering in the box in the upper right of the page. Once registered, you can log in to post. Events you create will be viewable by the public almost immediately and will be considered for the print calendar in the Reno News & Review.

FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL AND ARTISAN FAIR: Rail

Petcare and more than 20 area shelters and rescues present the second annual pet adoption drive. More than 200 pets will be available for adoption. Activities include drawings for free pet food, training discussion with Animal Planets Joel Silverman, Nevada Highway Patrol pet food drive, agility and training demonstrations by the Reno K9 unit and Q&A with pet first aid trainers. Sa, 9/29, 10am4pm. Free. Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart parking lot, 4835-4855 Kietzke Lane, (636) 218-8757.

Listings are free, but not guaranteed.

Online and print submissions are subject to review and editing by the calendar editor. For details, call (775) 324-4440, ext. 3521, or email renocalendar@newsreview.com.

CANDY DANCE ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIRE: The 92nd annual fundraiser for the town of Genoa features handmade candies and treats and 300 craft and food vendors set up along Main Street and nearby streets.

The Denim & Diamonds Dinner Dance featuring The Joni Morris Band and Cash Only takes place from 4:30-10pm on Sept.

29 at Genoa Town Park. Sa, 9/29, 9am-5pm; Su, 9/30, 9am-5pm. Free admission for fair; $20-$50 for dinner and dance. Town of Genoa, Main St., Genoa, (775) 782-8696, http://genoanevada.org/candydance faire.htm.

The deadline for entries in the issue of Thurs., Oct. 4, is Thursday, Sept. 27. Listings are free, but not guaranteed.

For more information, call 324-4440 ext. 3521.

Events 2ND ANNUAL VICTORIAN STEAMPUNK BALL: The 2nd Annual Victorian Steampunk Ball will feature an evening of dancing and entertainment. All manner of fantastical costume is admired (but not required)— Steampunks, Victorian ladies and gentlemen, soldiers and cavalrymen, Neo-Victorians, explorers, miners and doves. The dance taught at the Victorian Ball this year will be Contra set to the band 6 Mule Pileup. Other music provided

by DJ Sepia Tones. Several other Steam events throughout the weekend include riding the train from Carson City to Virginia City (or from Virginia City to Gold Hill and back), tour mines and haunted saloons, ghost hunting in the Virginia City graveyard to name a few. Sa, 9/29, 711pm. $20 in advance; $25 at the door.

Pipers Opera House, 12 N. B St., Virginia City, (775) 378-0931, www.highdesertsteam.com.

CHILDHOOD CANCER SURVIVOR CELEBRATION: The Childrens Specialty Center and Cure 4 the Kids organization sponsors a Survivor Celebration Picnic for all current fighters and their families and all patients treated by Dr. Caroline Hastings over the last 20-plus years in the Reno and Carson City area. RSVP requested.

Sa, 9/29, 12-3pm. Free. Virginia Lake Park and Virginia Shelter, 1980 Lakeside Drive, (775) 657-8981.

CONFERENCE ON THE SPIRITUAL STATE OF THE WORLD: Cosolargy International presents its third annual Conference on the Spiritual State of the World. Titled “Dawn of the Golden Age of Light: Transformation through cosmic/solar intelligence,” the event’s focus is to provide empowering tools and information for personal spiritual transformation.

Lectures, panels and interactive workshops will be hosted by some of the world’s foremost applied and spiritual thinkers. Th, 9/27, 9am. $75-$225.

Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, 3800 S. Virginia St., (775) 786-7827, www.spiritualstateoftheworld.org.

A.V.A. BALLET THEATRE FUNDRAISER: A.V.A. Ballet Theatre will hold an Early Thanksgiving in Never Land fundraiser. Proceeds pays for orchestra, dancers, sets and costumes. F, 9/28, 6pm. $100. Somersett Club at Town Center, 7650 Town Square Lane, (775) 762-5165, www.avaballet.com.

City Garden Center holds its second annual event featuring the harvest of local farmers and gardeners, food, activities for the kids and a veggie competition for the best and biggest veggies in Northern Nevada. Local artisans will also be on-hand with their creations. Sa,

9/29, 10am-5pm; Su, 9/30, 10am-5pm.

Free. Rail City Garden Center, 1720 Brierley Way, Sparks, (775) 355-1551, www.railcitygardencenter.com.

FARMERS COUNTRY HARVEST FAIR: Full Circle Compost and Hungry Mother Organics celebrates the harvest with local farmers and vendors. Highlights include the Third Annual Tomato Tasting, local food and crafts, live music, kids’ activities and scarecrow stuffing. Proceeds will be donated to the Holley Family Farm.

Sa, 9/29, 10am-4pm. 3190 Highway 395, Minden, (775) 267-5305, www.facebook.com/events/ 414540751940214.

GRC ANNUAL MEETING & GEA ENERGY EXPO: The Geothermal Resources Council (GRC) presents this meeting for those interested in geothermal power. 9/30-10/3, 8am. $325 -$900; free for students.

Peppermill Resort Spa Casino, 2707 S. Virginia St., (530) 758-2360, www.geothermal.org/meet-new.html.

GREAT BASIN THURSDAY NIGHT FARMERS MARKET: This farmers’ market celebrates the lateseason Nevada harvests featuring produce from local Nevada farms. The market will be held every Thursday in September on the plaza next to the Great Basin Brewing Company. Th, 4:30-7:30pm through 9/27. Free. Great Basin Brewing Co., 846 Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 3512551, http://greatbasinbrewingco.com.

NEVADA CRAFT BREWERS FESTIVAL: Nevada Craft Brewers Association hosts its first Nevada Craft Brewers Festival showcasing brews from all over Nevada. The event also features a selection of Northern Nevada’s gourmet food trucks and music by by Jelly Bread. All proceeds from the event benefit the Nevada Craft Brewers Association. Sa, 9/29, 3-7pm. $25 in advance; $30 at gate; $5 for designated drivers. Wingfield Park, 2 N. Arlington Ave., (775) 722-3949, www.facebook.com/ NevadaCraftBrewersAssociation.

OPEN WATER FOOD WEB IN LAKE TAHOE: Dave

FUN WITH DRAWING: Students will learn value,

Beauchamp teach about Lake trout, Kokanee salmon and Mysid shrimp interactions in the open water (pelagic zone) of Lake Tahoe based on past research and will also describe the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service efforts to fill in information gaps related to the Kokanee salmon, Mysid shrimp, and Lake Tahoe zooplankton. He will describe how seasonal changes in environmental conditions, food supply, predation and competition between these species influence a potential niche for Lahontan cutthroat trout.

W, 10/3, 3:30pm. $5 suggested donation. UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, 291 Country Club Drive Incline Village, (775) 881-7560 ext. 7562.

PEOPLES AND ENVIRONMENTS OF NEVADA: Galena Creek Visitor Center presents a new series of talks that will focus on the history, prehistory and past and present environments of Nevada. The talks, which will be held on the last Thursday of each month, will be presented by local experts in the fields of federal and state resources management and specialists in their fields. Last Th of every month, 6pm through 8/31. $5 per person.

Galena Creek Visitor Center, 18250 Mt. Rose Highway, (775) 849-4948, www.galenacreekvisitorcenter.org.

SCIENCE CAFE: Physicist Thomas Herring presents “Graphene: What is it and what is it for?” The talk will cover a brief history of graphene along with a bit of quantum mechanics to help describe some of the material’s more interesting properties. The talk will conclude with a summary of what might happen with graphene research in the future. Sa, 9/29, 2-5pm. Free. Swill Coffee and Wine, 3366 Lakeside Court, (775) 335-5505, www.renoskeptics.org.

SNAFU CON: Sierra Nevada Anime Fans Unite Convention (SNAFU Con) is a collaborative effort of local anime, game, comic book and science-fiction fans. Th, 9/27; F, 9/28; Su, 9/30. Visit website for details. Grand Sierra Resort, 2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000, www.snafucon.com.

All ages ART ADVENTURES FOR KIDS: Explore different media and techniques weekly. All supplies are included. One-hour workshops, Thursdays, Sept. 27-Nov. 1 and or Nov. 8Dec. 20. Pre-registration required. Th, 4-5pm through 11/1. Opens 9/27. $45 for six classes. VSA Nevada at Lake Mansion, 250 Court St., (775) 826-6100 ext. 3, www.vsanevada.org.

Good head

It wouldn’t be like us to miss an opportunity to send people downtown to get drunk, now would it? Well, it just so happens that that the Nevada Craft Brewers Festival is an arts event. It’s the first ever attempt to bring masses of people down to sample a bunch of made in Nevada beers by the members of the Nevada Craft Brewers Association. It appears that all the best known area brewers are going to be involved, and tickets are only $30 for all-you-can-drink. But you don’t actually drink the beer. You sample it—tasting the artful mélange of flavors and swishing it around in your mouth before lasciviously spurting it into a waste cup. Or … OK, swallowing it. Designated drivers gain entrance for $5 and get free soft drinks. The event is Sept. 29, at Wingfield Park, and more information can be had at www.facebook.com/NevadaCraftBrewersAssociation.

This may be a first for the Craft Brewers Association, but take it from someone who knows: This is the sort of event Reno people like.

—D. Brian Burghart

ART ADVENTURES FOR KIDS: Explore different media and techniques weekly. All supplies are included. One-hour workshops, Thursdays, Sept. 27-Nov. 1 and or Nov. 8Dec. 20. Pre-registration required. Th, 4-5pm through 11/1. Opens 9/27. $45 for six classes. Alf Sorensen Community Center, 1400 Baring Blvd., Sparks, (775) 826-6100 ext. 3, www.vsanevada.org.

BARNES & NOBLE STORYTIMES: Staff members and guest readers tell stories to children.

Sa, 10am. Free. Barnes & Noble, 5555 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-8882.

CLAY, CLAY, CLAY (AGES 8+): Explore hand building and glazing techniques. Classes are held every Wednesday beginning Oct. 3. W, 4-5:30pm through 11/28. Opens 10/3. $95 for eight classes. VSA Nevada at Lake Mansion, 250 Court St., (775) 826-6100 ext.

3, www.vsanevada.org.

DOWN SYNDROME FAMILY SUPPORT GROUPS: Meet other parents who are going through issues faced by relatives or caretakers of a child with a disability. The Down Syndrome Network of Northern Nevada seeks to connect families and create a strong foundation of support.

First Tu of every month, 5:45-7:30pm.

Free. Nevada Early Intervention Services, 2667 Enterprise Road, (775) 828-5159, http://dsnnn.org/ FamilySupportGroup.aspx.

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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IN ROTATION

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ART OF THE STATE

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FOODFINDS

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FILM

| MUSICBEAT

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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

| THIS WEEK

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MISCELLANY

shading and an introduction to perspective while developing techniques and skills to practice on their own. One-hour workshops, Mondays, Sept. 24-Oct. 29. M, 4-5pm through 10/29. $45 for six classes.

VSA Nevada at Lake Mansion, 250 Court St., (775) 826-6100 ext. 3, www.vsanevada.org.

FUN WITH DRAWING: Students will learn value, shading and an introduction to perspective while developing techniques and skills to practice on their own. One-hour workshops, Thursdays, Sept. 27-Nov. 1. Th, 5:15-6:15pm through 11/1. Opens 9/27. $45 for six classes. Alf Sorensen Community Center, 1400 Baring Blvd., Sparks, (775) 826-6100 ext. 3, www.vsanevada.org.

INTERMEDIATE SEWING: Have fun learning how to sew multiple projects. Classes are held every Thursday through Nov. 8. Th, 45:30pm through 11/8. Opens 9/27. $55 for seven classes; supplies not included. VSA Nevada at Lake Mansion, 250 Court St., (775) 826-6100 ext. 3, www.vsanevada.org.

KIDS ACTING: Learn to act while gaining selfconfidence and poise. Classes are held

every Wednesday, Oct.3- Nov. 7. W, 4-5pm through 11/7. Opens 10/3. $45 for six classes. Alf Sorensen Community Center, 1400 Baring Blvd. in Sparks, (775) 826-6100 ext. 3, www.vsanevada.org.

LEARN TO SEW: Have fun learning how to sew multiple projects. Classes are held every Wednesday through Nov. 7. W, 4-5:30pm through 11/7. $55 for seven classes; supplies not included. VSA Nevada at Lake Mansion, 250 Court St., (775) 826-6100 ext.

3, www.vsanevada.org.

Art BREWERY ARTS CENTER: Nevada Artists Association Show. The Nevada Artists Association presents its Early Fall Featured Artists Show featuring work by Nancy Clark and Joanne Wood. Clark will show her landscapes and national parks paintings through Sept. 28. Woods works of flowers and landscapes will be on display Oct. 1-19. The works of other NAA artists are also on display. M-Sa, 10am4pm through 10/19. Free. Contact Bob Hickox (775) 882-0189, bobhickox@sbcglobal.net, www.nevadaartists.org for details on this exhibit. 449 W. King St., Carson City, (775) 883-1976, http://breweryarts.org.

HOLLAND PROJECT GALLERY: Modern Ciphers.

Seattle glass artist Tyler Kimball and Reno collage artist Gordon Magnin explore the alchemy of images and connectivity of symbols across medias.

Featured in the gallery will be Kimball’s large glass shuttlecocks as well as multiple diptych collages by Magnin. Tu-F through 9/28. Free. Contact Sarah Lillegard (775) 742-1858, sarah@hollandreno.org, www.hollandreno.org/gallery/ upcoming-exhibitscalls-for-work for details on this exhibit. 140 Vesta St., (775) 742-1858, www.hollandreno.org.

NORTH TAHOE ARTS CENTER: Nature’s Colors in Fiber and Glass Exten. North Tahoe Arts presents a collaborative exhibit featuring sister artists Catherine and Linda Strand. Catherine’s fused glass and Linda’s fiber-based wall hangings are distinctive yet complementary media celebrating color and design with nature themes. M, W-Su, 11am-5pm through 10/1.

Free. Bits & Pieces: A Sculpture & Mosaic Exploration. North Tahoe Arts features five sculpture and mosaic artists whose body of work includes glass, ceramics, wood, canvas, found objects and paint swatches. There will be an artist reception on Friday, Sept. 14, 5-7pm. M, W-Su through 10/1. Free. 380 North Lake Blvd.

Art Gallery & Gift Shop, Tahoe City, (530) 581-2787, www.northtahoearts.com.

THIS WEEK

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continued from page 31

Museums

Film

NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART: Juvenile-In-Justice: Photographs by Richard Ross. W-Su through 1/13. $1-$10. Tim Hawkinson: Totem. W-Su through 10/7. Jacob Hashimoto: Here in Sleep, a World, Muted to a Whisper. W-Su through 1/1.

KING OF DEVILS ISLA: Artemisia Moviehouse pres-

$1-$10. Jorinde Voigt: Systematic Notations.

W-Su through 1/6. 1-$10. Ice Music. W-Su through 10/28. $1-$10. Arthur and Lucia Mathews: Highlights of the California Decorative Style.

Tu-Su through 10/14. $1-$10. 160 W. Liberty St., (775) 329-3333, www.nevadaart.org.

SPARKS HERITAGE MUSEUM: A Salute to Our Military. This exhibit commemorates the nation’s battles from the Civil War to the “Global War on Terrorism.” Tu-Su through 11/17. $5 adults; free for children under age 12, museum members, active duty military. 814 Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 355-1144, www.sparksmuseum.org.

RONALD M. JAMES BOOK SIGNING: James signs and

ents a screening of Marius Holst’s 2011 Norwegian thriller starring Stellan Skarsgård about the infamous Bastøy Boys Home correctional facility in Norway. Tu, 10/2, 7-10pm. $7 general; $5 members, bicyclists, students.

Midtown Good Luck Macbeth, 713 S. Virginia St., (775) 337-9111, www.artemisiamovies.org.

discusses his new book Virginia City: Secrets of a Western Past. Th, 9/27, 6:308pm. Free. Sundance Bookstore & Music, 121 California Ave., (775) 786-1188, www.sundancebookstore.com.

Music BIG REMOTE JENKINS CD RELEASE: The band cele-

Poetry/Literature DOUGLAS VEENHOF BOOK SIGNING: Douglas Veenhof signs and discusses his new book White Lama: The Life of Tantric Yogi Theos Bernard, Tibets Lost Emissary to the West . W, 10/3, 6:30-8pm.

Free. Sundance Bookstore & Music, 121 California Ave., (775) 786-1188, www.sundancebookstore.com.

brates the release of its first studio album, Jenkins. The all-ages show will kick off at 7pm with opening acts. Sa, 9/29, 7-11pm. $10. Reno Art Works, 1995 Dickerson Road, (775) 378-5559, http://renoartworks.org.

THIS WEEK

continued on page 35

The tweakest link I met this man, and it was instant attraction. I’m a 40-yearold woman with my own place, a car and a good job, and he’s an ex-convict who served four years in prison for selling meth.

He’s very loving, but he has no car or driver’s license (it expired during prison), has a minimum-wage job, and is too needy—always checking up on me and doubting where I am. I pay for our meals, etc., and drive him everywhere. It’s like I’m taking care of a child. I’m trying my best to forget about the material things and just base this on love.

It’s a good thing you think the guy’s hot, or you might try to trade up to a serial murderer with a driver’s license.

It must’ve been a kick to get it on with a real bad boy instead of the kind who pulls up on a Harley wearing a leather jacket he bought at the mall. But, assuming you don’t have all the conscience of a dirt clod, how could you make this more than a onenighter? Sure, officially, he’s “paid his debt to society,” but he wasn’t in prison for growing pot, the gateway drug to lying in a beanbag chair and reinventing the wheel. He was selling snortable slow suicide, complete with rotting teeth and a “meth mite” bonus—nonexistent but seemingly real crawly bugs that users try to dig out from under their skin with their fingernails or sharp objects, leaving some really sexy open sores.

Beyond what he’s done to make a buck, he’s now about as independent as one of Paris Hilton’s purse dogs. You can’t possibly respect him, and if you 32

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can’t respect him, you can’t love him. You’ve just been calling this “love” to cover for a bad decision that you let give birth to a whole litter of bad decisions. You did have help—the flawed machine known as the human brain. When we do something dumb, our brain encourages us to ignore evidence we’ve made a mistake so we can hang on to our shiny image of ourselves as smart people making wise choices. This feels good in the moment but can, say, leave a person working hard to convince herself that she’s shallow and materialistic to want her equal.

If you can accept making mistakes as a normal, expected part of being human, you can put your braying ego on mute, critically assess all your decisions, and admit your mistakes instead of getting into a committed relationship with them. There’s no time like the present to start. As wonderful as it is to feel needed by a man, it’s best if it’s simply because he loves being around you, not because without you he’d have to eat raw hotdogs out of the package and take two buses to make the meeting with his parole officer. Ω

Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave., No. 280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com).

AROUND THE WORLD

DOWN ON THE BAYOU DINNER

SUSHI, SASHIMI AND SAKE TASTING

Friday, October 5

Harveys Convention Center

Friday, October 5

Saturday, October 6

WITH PINOT NOIR AND CHARDONNAY

Harveys Lake View Lounge

Gi Fu Loh

Beyond the Fork “An Affair of the Senses”

Epicurean Expo Saturday, October 6 | 2pm – 5pm | Harrah’s Special Events Center 14 Food Stations, 12 Wine Stations and 10 Liquor Stations.

Cooking Demonstrations and Live Entertainment.

Indulge at our relaxing and luxurious Wine Garden featuring unique wines, Champagnes and cognacs from various regions and enhanced by aromatherapy and live music. Learn from up-close cooking demonstrations with celebrity chefs Mark Estee and Nathan Lyon. Be dazzled by exciting, live, interactive entertainment, flavorful foods and wine tastings.

A portion of all proceeds will be donated to the Carson Valley Community Food Closet.

Must be 21 or older to attend this event.

Harveys Champagne Brunch Hosted by Nathan Lyon £m=!¨: 3 p)F 2 sn a 3^Fm 2 !

Our à la carte Champagne Brunch features a wide variety of culinary delights, hosted by Nathan Lyons. Non-ticketed event; reservations recommended. Please call 775-586-6777.

See box office for details and age restrictions. Shows subject to change or cancellation.

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Call 1-800-522-4700. ©2012, Caesars License Company, LLC. T1600-12-163

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SUPER DIAMOND

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See box office for details and age restrictions. Shows subject to change or cancellation.

Must be 21 or older to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700. ©2012, Caesars License Company, LLC.

OPINION

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BREAST CANCER ON WITH LIFE: This support group

LIFESCAPES: The writing program provides seniors

provides a highly educational approach to looking at breast cancer. The latest research is discussed, along with alternative therapies, side effects of chemotherapy, reconstruction and community services. The group meets on Tuesdays at Saint Mary’s Center for Health’s Radiation Oncology Department. Tu, 4:30-6pm.

Free. Saint Mary’s Center for Health & Fitness, 645 N. Arlington Ave. Ste. 100, (775) 722-1222, www.supportsaintmarys.org/inthe news/195174.

an opportunity to write and share their memoirs. First and Third W of every month, 1-3pm. Free. Northwest Reno Library, 2325 Robb Drive, (775) 787-4100.

Treat yourself to gift certificates up to

LIFESCAPES: The memoir writing program for seniors meets. Second and Fourth Th of every month, 10:30am. Free. South Valleys Library, 15650A Wedge Pkwy., (775) 851-5190, www.washoe.lib.nv.us.

NEW MOTHERS SUPPORT GROUP: This group offers support to first-time mothers in dealing with the changes and issues that come with having a new baby. Th, 10-11:30am. Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center, 235 W. Sixth St., (775) 770-3843, www.supportsaintmarys.org/ inthenews/195174.

BRIDGEWIRE-MAKERSPACE OPEN SPACE NIGHT: Learn about this member-funded, non-profit makerspace, hackerspace workshop. Th, 69pm through 12/27. Bridgewire, 1055 Industrial Way Ste. 20, Sparks, (775) 219-7987, http://renobridgewire.org.

75% OFF!

NEWCOMERS CLUB: Newcomers Club of Reno-

CROCHET CONNECTION: Learn to crochet or share tips with other crochet enthusiasts. Second and Fourth Th of every month, 4-5:45pm. Free.

Sparks is an organization welcoming all Northern Nevadans with recent life-altering events such as a move, retirement or death of a loved one. The group hosts an informational coffee at 9:30am on the first Tuesday of each month. Seventy interest groups provide opportunities to meet new people and develop lasting friendships. First Tu of every month, 9:30am. Best Western Airport Plaza Hotel, 1981 Terminal Way, (775) 881-2040, www.newcomersclubofreno-sparks.com.

Spanish Springs Library, 7100A Pyramid Lake Highway, Spanish Springs, (775) 424-1800.

DEPRESSION BIPOLAR SUPPORT ALLIANCE: The Reno chapter of the national DBSA meets. Fourth Th of every month, 7-8:30pm. Renown Health Boardroom, 1495 Mill St., (775) 835-6410.

DHARMA BOOK GROUP: This group meets to read and discuss books of interest to Buddhists.

Check the website for the current offering. For beginning and long-time Buddhists alike. Enter the building by the Taylor Street entrance. First and Third W of every month, 6-7pm. Free. Reno Buddhist Church, 820 Plumas St., (775) 3486603, www.renobuddhistchurch.org.

OPEN THROW CERAMICS: This is a community night where people can come work on a pottery wheel or hand-build ceramics in a ceramics studio. Experience in a ceramics studio is preferred. The fee includes clay, studio time, tools and a bisque firing. W, 6-9pm through 12/26. $20 for non-members; free for members. The Wedge Ceramics Studio, 2095 Dickerson Road, (775) 770-4770, www.thewedgeceramics.com.

FRIDAY NIGHT BALLROOM DANCING: Every Friday night The Senior Dance Club of Nevada presents ballroom dancing featuring live music by the Ninth Street Band. Singles and beginners are welcome. F, 8-10:30pm. $7 members; $9 nonmembers. Washoe County Senior Center, 1155 E. Ninth St., (775) 828-1993, lreidenbaugh@washoecounty.us.

RENO DOWNTOWNERS TOASTMASTERS: Weekly meetings provide a forum for developing and practicing public speaking skills in a supportive environment. Participants range from experienced speakers to novices. Tu, 12:15-1:15pm through 3/6. First-time free, then dues. Round Table Pizza, 4007 S. Virginia St., (775) 750-5256, www.facebook.com/pages/RenoDowntowners-Toastmasters/144836042254990? sk=info.

LAWYER IN THE LIBRARY: The Volunteer Lawyers of Washoe County present a Lawyer in the Library program where lawyers provide general guidance on a variety of legal topics. W, 5-7pm. Free. Washoe County Law Library, 75 Court St. inside Washoe County Courthouse, (775) 328-3250, www.washoecounty.us/lawlib.

Visit www.newsreview.com

GIFT CERTIFICATES FROM RESTAURANTS, BARS, CLUBS, TATTOO, RETAIL, THEATER, SALONS, SPAS, GOLF, VACATIONS & MORE OPINION

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ARTS&CULTURE

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IN ROTATION

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ART OF THE STATE

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FOODFINDS

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BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Here’s the

curious message I derived from the current astrological configurations: It’s one of those rare times when a wall may actually help bring people together. How? Why? The omens don’t reveal that specific information. They only tell me that what seems like a barrier might end up serving as a connector. An influence that in other situations would tend to cause separation will, in this case, be likely to promote unity. Capitalize on this anomaly, Aries!

Think Free

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In my first

dream last night, I gave you a holy book that you left out in the rain. In my second dream, I cooked you some chicken soup that you didn’t eat. My third dream was equally disturbing. I assigned you some homework that would have helped you discover important clues about tending to your emotional health. Alas, you didn’t do the homework. In the morning, I woke up from my dreams feeling exasperated and worried. But later, I began to theorize that maybe they weren’t prophecies, but rather helpful warnings. Now that you’ve heard them, I’m hoping you will become alert to the gifts you’ve been ignoring and take advantage of the healing opportunities you’ve been neglecting.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): There’s a

good chance that your rhythm in the coming days will resemble a gentle, continuous orgasm. It won’t be stupendously ecstatic, mind you. I’m not predicting massive eruptions of honeyed bliss that keep blowing your mind. Rather, the experience will be more like a persistent flow of warm contentment. You’ll be constantly tuning in to a secret sweetness that thrills you subliminally. Again and again you will slip into a delicious feeling that everything is unfolding exactly as it should be. Warning! There are two factors that could possibly undermine this blessing: 1. if you scare it away with blasts of cynicism; 2. if you get greedy and try to force it to become bigger and stronger. So please don’t do those things!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Philosopher

Jonathan Zap (www.zaporacle.com) provides the seed for this week’s meditation: “Conscious reflection on the past can deepen the soul and provide revelations of great value for the present and future. On the other hand, returning to the past obsessively out of emotional addiction can be a massive draining of vitality needed for full engagement with the present.” So which will it be, Cancerian? One way or another, you are likely to be pulled back toward the old days and the old ways. I’ll prefer it if you re-examine your history and extract useful lessons from the past instead of wallowing in dark nostalgia and getting lost in fruitless longing.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Picture a TV satellite

0

dish on the roof of a peasant’s shack in rural Honduras. Imagine a gripping rendition of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata played on the mandolin. Visualize the Dalai Lama quoting Chris Rock a bit out of context but with humorous and dramatic effect. Got all that? Next, imagine that these three scenes are metaphors for your metaphysical assignment in the coming week. Need another hint? OK. Think about how you can make sure that nothing gets lost in the dicey translations you’ll be responsible for making.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The German poet

and philosopher Friedrich von Schiller liked to have rotting apples in his desk drawer as he worked; the scent inspired him. Agatha Christie testified that many of her best ideas came to her while she was washing dishes. As for Beethoven, he sometimes stimulated his creativity by pouring cold water over his head. What about you, Libra? Are there odd inclinations and idiosyncratic behaviors that in the past have roused your original thinking? I encourage you to try them all this week, and then see if you can dream up at least two new ones. You have officially entered the brainstorming season.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): It’s expen-

sive for the United States to hold prisoners at its Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba: $800,000 per year for each detainee.

That’s 30 times more than it costs to incarcerate a convict on the American mainland.

According to the Miami Herald, Guantanamo is the most expensive prison on the planet.

How much do you spend on locking stuff up, Scorpio? What does it cost, not just financially but emotionally and spiritually, for you to keep your secrets hidden and your fears tamped down and your unruly passions bottled up and your naughty urges suppressed? The coming weeks would be a good time to make sure the price you pay for all that is reasonable—not even close to being like Guantanamo.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

What time is it, boys and girls? It’s Floods of Fantastic Gratitude Week: a perfect opportunity to express your passionate appreciation for everything you’ve been given. So get out there and tell people how much you’ve benefited from what they’ve done for you. For best results, be playful and have fun as you express your thanks.

By the way, there’ll be a fringe benefit to this outpouring: By celebrating the blessings you already enjoy, you will generate future blessings.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Telling

the whole deep truth and nothing but the whole deep truth isn’t necessarily a recipe for being popular. It may on occasion provoke chaos and be disruptive. In an institutional setting, displays of candor may even diminish your clout and undermine your ambitions. But now take everything I just said and disregard it for a while. This is one of those rare times when being profoundly authentic will work to your supreme advantage.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Show me

the money” is a meme that first appeared in the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire. It has been uttered approximately a hundred trillion times since then. Have you ever said it in earnest? If so, you were probably demanding to get what you had been promised. You were telling people you wanted to see tangible proof that they valued your efforts. In light of your current astrological omens, I propose that you use a variation on this theme.

What you need right now is less materialistic and more marvelous. Try making this your mantra: “Show me the magic.”

BIG HE ADERS GIZA 25pt 25k SMALL HEADERS GIZA 15pt 55k (60% OF BIG HE AD) VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Here are some

ways to get more respect: 1. Do your best in every single thing you do—whether it’s communicating precisely or upholding the highest possible standards at your job or taking excellent care of yourself. 2.

Maintain impeccable levels of integrity in everything you do—whether it’s being scrupulously honest or thoroughly fairminded or fiercely kind. 3. On the other hand, don’t try so compulsively hard to do your best and cultivate integrity that you get self-conscious and obstruct the flow of your natural intelligence. 4. Make it your goal that no later than four years from now you will be doing what you love to do at least 51 percent of the time. 5. Give other people as much respect as you sincerely believe they deserve. 6. Give yourself more respect.

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): My acquain-

tance Jacob fell for a woman who also professed her ardor for him. But in the midst of their courtship, as the mystery was still ripening, she suddenly left the country. “I’ve got to go to Indonesia,” she texted him one night, and she was gone the next day. Jacob was confused, forlorn, dazed. He barely ate for days. On the sixth day, a FedEx package arrived from her. It contained a green silk scarf and a note: “I wore this as I walked to the top of the volcano and said a five-hour prayer to elevate our love.” Jacob wasn’t sure how to interpret it, although it seemed to be a good omen. What happened next? I haven’t heard yet. I predict that you will soon receive a sign that has resemblances to this one.

Don’t jump to conclusions about what it means, but assume the best.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text message horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at (877) 873-4888 or (900) 950-7700.

by Ashley Hennefer PHOTO/ASHLEY HENNEFER

Friends with benefits Sarah Fierro

Sarah Fierro runs the Reno branch of Just Between Friends, an organization that helps communities host consignment events for pregnant mothers and families with young children. Just Between Friends events are seasonal and the fall event will be Oct. 5, 6, and 7 at the Livestock Event Center. Learn more about Just Between Friends at www.jbfsale.com/reno.

something similar. So I think they had 17 close friends to come to their living room, and that’s how the original concept got started. In 2004, they started franchising, and now there are over 120 Just Between Friends franchises across the country. And we are fortunate enough to have the Reno location that we’ve had here now for two years. I had been involved with Just Between Friends in Minneapolis, and when we started thinking about coming out here to be close to family, we looked to see if there was one here because I couldn’t imagine not having that outlet. We had just started having kids, and I loved it, and so when we saw there wasn’t a Just Between Friends out here we thought, “Perfect!” We really thought that Reno needed more kids’ consignment outlets. That’s kind of how we came across Just Between Friends and how we got started out here.

Tell me about the history of Just Between Friends and how you got involved.

I have always loved consignment, thrifting, just any type of bargain you can think of— that was my thing, and I had heard about a similar sale that had the same type of concept about nine years ago. And I met the lady who had started this and asked her, “What is this?” I sat down with her, and she explained the concept of a seasonal consignment sale that happens twice a year to give families the chance to sell their gently used clothing items. And I just was in heaven.

At this point I didn’t have any children, we were newly married, so fast forward a few years, and we were in Minneapolis, and we came across Just Between Friends, and we researched it, and it was exactly what I was looking for, and I was really excited about it.

And so Just Between Friends … two moms, two best friends, started it back in 1997 in their living room, and they had heard about

There is supposed to be a kickoff event next week, right?

Yes. It is our fifth sale, and we do these twice a year so they are seasonal. We do a springsummer, and we do a fall-winter, and we

Taylor Swift in your home When I was younger and my dad was in his 60s, I noticed he didn’t go out of the house much any more. I asked him about it. “Bruce,” he replied, “when you get to be my age, you really don’t want to suffer fools.”

Translation: “When you get older, you really want to minimize your contact with jagoffs, jerks and cretins. And believe me, boy, they’re out there.”

This attitude has spread and fostered a booming new trend in modern life, that of the home theater.

It’s pretty darn easy these days for those with 60-inch plasmas to say about a new movie in theaters, “Uh, no. I’m quite happy to wait until it comes out on video.” Translation— “people sending texts and coughing up their popcorn are buggin’ me to point where I went ahead and bought this enormous television.

Theaters? Later.”

And why not? With movies like The Campaign and Cosmopolis and Arbitrage, why NOT wait for the vid?

OPINION

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NEWS

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GREEN

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FEATURE STORY

actually are doing an off-season sale. It takes place at the Livestock Event Center off of Wells Avenue, in the exhibit hall. We’re open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Sunday is our really popular half-price day. Not all the items are half-price but many of them are. We do charge admission on Friday and Saturday, and 100 percent of admission benefits Step 2 [a nonprofit substance abuse program].

However, shoppers can visit the website and print off a free admission coupon. Any items are from consigner families, local families who are selling the items, they have any option to pick up any unsold items at the end of the sale or they can donate them. One hundred percent of the donations goes to Casa de Vita [a program for young pregnant girls]. They have a kid’s closet where they let the girls come in once a month to shop for free. Our target for this sale are pregnant moms or moms of kids age zero to 5 so a lot of those items will go to that kid’s closet.

You’ve been doing this for a while. The economic climate contributes a lot to hardships for families. Have you seen an increase in people needing these resources?

I think so. We hear a lot at every sale at what a blessing this sale has been, that they have either used the money that they made to pay their mortgage, car payment, pay bills. There are moms who stay home and are looking to find that extra way to contribute, even if it’s just a little bit, you know, every bit helps. So for parents to be able to go through their houses, clear it out and get some space back, and sell these items, then take that money and shop for that next season coming up is, I mean, they love it. It’s such a great outlet, too. Ω

∫y Bruce Van Dye

What are you missing by not seeing it on the big screen? For many, especially those comfortably north of 40, the answer is an emphatic, “Nada!”

The next field of entertainment that will head in this direction, I boldly predict, will be live concerts. I say this as a new convert to the experience, as delivered by my boys Phish.

What these shrewd fellers are doing these days is pretty simple and quite terrific. When they go out on tour, they’ll make a handful of concerts available for download at a cost of 15 bucks per. The feed comes into your computer from that evening’s performance in, say, St. Louis, via internet. Once it’s streaming into your laptop, it’s a simple one cord patch job into your big screen system, and voila, you’re now doing the show live in your living room on your bodacious tube—watching in your undies, enjoying beers that are considerably better than those ridiculous $8 PBRs at the sports

brucev@newsreview.com

arena, going to the restroom at your convenience, setting the sound at your perfect level, watching the band via the superior closeups of onstage cameras, and not being jostled by carefree too-highs stumbling into your personal space via dervish dance frenzies.

Damn, I’m starting to sound like the old man.

But why Green Day and Aerosmith and Toby Keith and Neil Young and Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift wouldn’t all be offering these very cool and very lucrative “couch tours” right now is something I can’t answer.

Maybe they are, and I’m just unaware. But if they’re not, they will.

Get your patch cords ready. These home shows are gonna be hotter than holograms. Ω

BIG HE ADERS GIZA 25pt 25k SMALL HEADERS GIZA 15pt 55k (60% OF BIG HE AD)

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ARTS&CULTURE

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IN ROTATION

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ART OF THE STATE

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FEMININE

WILES 4

USE YOUR VOICE 6

s ’ n e H m T o WHEAL GUIDE

PITCH A RED TENT

ROAD

11

RUNNERS

8

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW | SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

What’s Your Leg Pain Trying to Tell You? According to the American Heart Association, about 7.1 million adults, including one in three over age 70, have peripheral artery disease (PAD). The association also says that people with PAD are four-to-five-times more at risk for heart disease and stroke and are likely to go undiagnosed.

That’s because many people dismiss one of the primary symptoms — troublesome leg pain — as arthritis or part of the aging process and not as the very serious health concern that it is. Don’t ever ignore your health symptoms.

Write them down and bring them to the attention of your doctor.

What Does PAD Feel Like?

The symptoms include, but are not limited to, the following: ƌɄɄ $)Ʉ*-Ʉ - (+$)"Ʉ$)Ʉ/# Ʉ' ".Ʉ*-Ʉ#$+.Ʉ2#$' Ʉ2 '&$)"Ʉ that subsides after a few minutes of rest ƌɄɄ 0( ) ..Ʉ*-Ʉ2 &) ..Ʉ$)Ʉ/# Ʉ' "Ʉ*-Ʉ!**/ ƌɄ #$)"Ʉ$)Ʉ/# Ʉ!**/Ʉ2#$' Ʉ /Ʉ- ./ ƌɄɄ Ʉ' "Ʉ*-Ʉ!**/Ʉ/# /Ʉ! '.Ʉ *' -Ʉ/# )Ʉ/# Ʉ- ./Ʉ*!Ʉ/# Ʉ * 4 ƌɄ **/Ʉ.*- .Ʉ/# /Ʉ2*)Ɩ/Ʉ# ' If you experience these symptoms, do not ignore them.

PAD is a serious medical condition that requires treatment.

In most cases, PAD can be managed with lifestyle changes or drug therapy. In advanced cases, surgical procedures can help open or bypass blocked arteries.

Dr. Truong is board certified in internal medicine and cardiology and is board eligible in interventional cardiology. He obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Nevada, Reno where he received the “Nevada Henry Albert Senior Public Service Award”.

He studied medicine at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, Missouri. He completed his residency in internal medicine and pediatric medicine at University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he received the “Ralph and Frances McGill Foundation Award” for teaching excellence. Later, he studied general cardiology and was named “Fellow of the Year” at Oklahoma State University College of Medicine. He went on to complete fellowships in interventional cardiology and peripheral vascular medicine at Largo Medical Center in Tampa, Florida.

Dr. Truong grew up in the Reno area and always knew that he would one day return and give back to this wonderful community that has given him so much. In his free time, he enjoys impressionist art, classical music, biking, camping and skiing.

Prevention is Great Medicine Some lifestyle changes can help prevent the condition: ƌɄɄ 0$/Ʉ.(*&$)"ƆɄ (*& -.Ʉ# 1 Ʉ Ʉ#$"# -Ʉ-$.&Ʉ!*-Ʉ Ʉ and a higher risk for heart disease and stroke if they already have PAD. ƌɄɄ $)/ $)Ʉ Ʉ# '/#4Ʉ2 $"#/ƆɄ $(Ʉ!*-Ʉ Ʉ * 4Ʉ( ..Ʉ $) 3ɄƧ ƨɄ*!ɄŴŶɄ*-Ʉ' ..Ʉ/*Ʉ 1*$ Ʉ 1 '*+$)"Ʉ ƇɄ diabetes, high blood pressure and other serious health conditions. ƌɄɄ /Ʉ(*1$)"ƆɄ '&Ʉ/*Ʉ4*0-Ʉ * /*-Ʉ *0/Ʉ 3 - $. Ʉ programs that may help protect your heart and reduce PAD symptoms. ƌɄɄ *)/-*'Ʉ4*0-Ʉ '** Ʉ+- ..0- Ʉ ) Ʉ #*' ./ -*'Ʉ2$/#Ʉ your physician’s guidance.

Thomas Truong, DO

Assess Your Risk Online Don’t wait to find out if you’re at risk for PAD. Visit NNMC.com/assessments to complete a quick, online assessment.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Truong, call 775-352-5300.

ŴŵźŷɄ ƆɄ - / -Ʉ 4ƇɄ 0$/ ɄŴŲŷɄƦɄ + -&.ƇɄ ɄƦɄŹŹŷƝŵŷŴƝŷŵŲŲɄƦɄ222Ɔ Ɔ *( Information is provided for educational purposes only, and is not intended to constitute medical advice or to be relied upon for the treatment of any particular condition. If you have concerns or questions about specific symptoms that may affect your health, please contact your healthcare provider.

2 | W O M E N ’ S H E A LT H

| SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 | A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW

WONDER

WOMEN Welcome to the 2012 women’s health guide

Throughout the past year, women’s health has been a political talking point and the source of countless debates, thanks to the upcoming presidential election. But the health of more than half of the population is not just a social issue, given that it encompasses much more than a woman’s ability and choice to have children. As we’ve explored in our past guides, women’s health is about the trifecta of physical, mental and emotional health. For most women, finding a balance between these is a constant challenge, made even more difficult by the narratives pressed on us by society, the ones that try to tell us how our bodies work and what we should do with our lives.

In this year’s women’s health guide, we talked to women’s rights activist Alison Gaulden, who spoke candidly about the political conversations on female health throughout the past few decades. Tim Hauserman caught up with some of Tahoe’s most athletic women and Caitlin Thomas explores two of Reno’s new female-driven movements.

Women’s health depends on the presence of women’s voices in the discussions that will impact our lives. Let’s take back the conversation.

Cheers, Ashley Hennefer Special projects editor, RN&R

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Table of

CONTENTS

Someone you know has

4

A NEW WAVE: FemSex comes to Reno

insurance

ONE WOMAN, ONE VOICE: Local activist Alison Gaulden discusses women’s health in the political arena

but has a high deductible.

5 8 11

UP TO THE CHALLENGE: Tahoe inspires women athletes GO WITH THE FLOW: Women find solace in the Red Tent • Experienced, women only clinicians • Confidential services General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Director of Human Resources Tanja Poley

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W O M E N ’ S H E A LT H | 3

wave

A NEW FemSex opens up discussions and minds

by

Clinical sexologist Dr. Tory Clark felt the cravings.

She signaled a group of women on Facebook with a video of a rambunctious Berkeley student explaining a new obsession on her campus, a student-taught class being offered called “Female Sexuality.” FemSex for short.

“This class changed my life,” the student said on camera. “It changed my life.”

a meeting at Clark’s office. We found ourselves pouring over a syllabus from UC Berkeley in frenzy. Curriculum included classes like “Self Love, Pleasure, and Orgasm,” and “Power and Privilege.” It seemed unfamiliar and exhilarating. We agreed this project was worth digging into.

Kari Ramos, a program director at NCASV (Nevada Coalition Against Sexual Violence), acknowledged the potential the course could have, especially in the spirit of feminine unity.

“I’m a sucker for strong, educated and empowering women coming together to spread what they know in a fun, healthy and conscious way,” Ramos explained. “This is the definition of the leadership of FemSex. We value women and sexuality … and we really value all the ways those two

FemSex was described as a class that served as a safe place for women to share an understanding of diversity, exchange knowledge about their bodies, and cover a broad spectrum of sexuality, all building as a basis for social change.

When Clark sent out a mass Facebook message with the subject line, “We could have this here,” I took it as a red-hot feminist alert.

In November 2011, a small group of women, including myself, RSVPed to

blend together and with the rest of the human experience.”

A string of meetings ran weekly for two months prior to the University of Nevada, Reno’s spring semester.

Keeping with the protocol of FemSex Berkeley, our group decided to break each week into a different theme.

While it was true we were a small group of women, each of us offered various subject knowledge spanning from a focus on psychology to the history of sex work. Some were grad

FILE PHOTO BY AUDREY LOVE

Caitlin Thomas

Last year, the biggest little city felt dry of girl power. We felt the dehydration. A wave of feminism felt necessary to water the garden we deserved.

Dr. Tory Clark, a Reno clinical sexologist, approached a group of women about a new kind of student-led class on sexuality.

4 | W O M E N ’ S H E A LT H

| SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 | A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW

students, some single moms—many shades of female dimension were represented.

We built up a buzz of goddess energy the best way we knew how. No one knew what to expect. FemSex was a title that sparked interest and blushed faces. We put up bright yellow posters around campus. Soon we had a website up and were accepted by the Associate Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN), which meant we were an official university club, and applications became available.

And the buzz worked. More than 20 students showed for the first day, eager and curious over our syllabus statements: “BECAUSE we crave conversation, books, projects, speakers and films that speak to US so WE feel included and can understand ourselves better,” read one out of nine manifesto-like statements. A declaration of female promise and empowerment spoke volumes.

What we hadn’t anticipated was two male students enrolling. Quickly, we found power in their conviction for better understanding of femalekind. Surely, the contagion would run rapid through male groups.

Ramos found the gender diversity non-threatening.

“I was comforted to know they wanted to learn about female sexuality and women’s experiences in the world,” Ramos explained. “And hopeful that they might share this new knowledge with their peers and encourage other men to take the class.”

Farah Rashdan, a classmate, initially found their presence to be confusing, but eventually educational to the overall mission of FemSex. “What surprised me about FemSex was walking in and finding two males in the classroom,” Rashdan laughs. “At first, totally not OK …

Then it was comforting, getting the male perspective was interesting.”

Matt Ford, one of said male students, felt the experience had an extraordinary impact on his views.

“What surprised me was twofold: first, how different the female perspective on many of these issues can be from the male perspective, and second, how much common ground can still be found,” he explained. “Women make up more than half of the population, so it’s not even fair to call them ‘women’s issues’ when they affect every human being. It was helpful to hear that not only did men have a role in addressing gender issues, but that it could be a positive one, too.”

Masculine energies aside, a microcommunity of women’s health was built. The exchange of information was endless. After a facilitator would end a lecture on rape or boundaries, a student would come forward with an offering; a story, opinion, or even advice on the subject. FemSex meant freedom.

Lisa Kasum, a neuroscience major, explained her relief in finding that freedom to discuss often taboo subjects.

“What initially interested me was a space to openly discuss topics which often go unspoken,” she said.

“Previously, I had only found such spaces at Burning Man. My favorite was just listening and sharing personal experiences in a very positive learning environment … This ‘safe space’ has provided an incredible opportunity for us to learn from one another.”

Though an open discussion usually meant heavy dialogue on very tragic realities in women’s health. Often tension ran high. The class became group therapy, and the classmates became more like family.

Shayla Kranovich, a 22-year-old university student, felt she left with a fresh sense of reflection and newly founded friendships.

“By the end of the semester, I felt like I had a new family,” she said. “I talked to the FemSex group about a lot of things that I do not share with most people who know me pretty well. I was not expecting FemSex to go as emotionally deep as it did.

Basically, FemSex made me feel extremely blessed and empowered.”

With FemSex just beginning our second semester, as facilitators, we are evolving with new ideas to expand and push forward. Still, perhaps the most remarkable evolutions might be watching past students spin their own web of feminist activism.

Kranovich being one of them.

“I am excited to start a whole new group,” Kranovich said. “I am also facilitating the Body Image week, which I’m super excited about. I am currently completing an internship oncampus related to bringing body image and eating disorder awareness to the UNR campus, and am really excited to partner with FemSex on that.”

And just like that, the garden of girl power started to feel like a jungle. Ω

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W O M E N ’ S H E A LT H | 5

PHOTO/ASHLEY HENNEFER

Alison Gaulden said the signs of the current political war on women were there for years.

One woman,

ONE VOICE Women’s rights activist Alison Gaulden talks about the politics of women’s health

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by

Ashley Hennefer ashleyh@ newsreview.com

Alison Gaulden is the vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, and has spent many years as an activist for women’s access to health care and contraceptives.

It seemed silly to do a women’s health guide without acknowledging the political climate.

Why, yes! It is the entire political climate, apparently.

So, why is that? What has sparked this to be such a huge part of this political cycle?

It isn’t new. I’ve worked at Planned Parenthood as a volunteer and as staff for more than 20 years and have watched, similar to the frog boiling in the pot, that this has been something that’s been occurring increasingly over the last 20 years. Ten years ago, people were telling me when I was saying, “Look, they’re going after birth control,” they said there’s no way in hell, Alison, you’re kind of extreme, so relax. I don’t want to gloat and say, “I told you so,” that doesn’t make me happy, it’s not something I want to be right about. So, to get back to answer your question about why, I think this is a fundamental religious debate and why it’s at the federal level and cannot be decided state by state is because at some point, because we are Americans, we have to find that juncture where your religious ideals cannot infringe or discriminate against any body of person, especially when it’s half the population. And that’s what we’re up against.

A lot of people are misinformed about what the Affordable Care Act will actually provide.

So how did you know 10 years ago that birth control and these topics were going to become a big issue? Especially when everyone else was saying that it wouldn’t happen?

I had been watching the actions of the organization for a long time. I don’t know if you know the story of the frog and the pot. You put a frog in the pot of hot water, and it’ll jump out. You put a frog in a pot of cold water and turn the heat on, eventually it will boil to death. It doesn’t have a sense to get out. We have essentially done the same thing with women’s health care. Once Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, everybody goes “Oh, OK, we solved that problem, let’s move on.” And it was hard to stay engaged but there has been a 40-year plan that we are starting to live in the results of, very conservative, very religious individuals who have pulled together and overtook the Republican Party. They have been very methodical about their approach, and they’ve been widespread. They have a television news channel, they have created several funding sources for their activities, they’ve been very diligent about putting their vision into place and Planned Parenthood has been the lighting rod because we have said this is coming. So, yeah, 10 years ago we could see that. It starts piecemeal. If you overturn Roe v. Wade, if you, say, let pharmacists stop giving prescriptions because their conscience doesn’t believe in prescription, then people say that’s not too unreasonable. It’s kind of hinky, but never mind that 58 percent of the reason women have a contraceptive method prescribed is because of medical reasons and not related to preventing pregnancy.

There’s some overlap. Some of those women, yes, are trying to prevent pregnancy too, but for a large percentage, it’s not about sexual activity at all. It’s insidious and little bit by bit. The women’s movement has talked about the chipping away because you can’t see it, it’s a little bit

here, a little chunk there, a little slice.

In 1990, when Nevada had a ballot initiative, a ballot referendum actually, referenced as Question 7, the state affirmed the tenets of Roe v. Wade ... by a 67 percent vote. And there are only 10 states in the country who have affirmed the tenets of Roe v. Wade.

There are 35 that have chipped away at it and eviscerated it in some form or another so that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, it would go to the different states, and all hell would break loose in terms of women’s access.

And then the math of however many states that leaves, five I guess, have no legislation. I’m not sure how they got away with that.

What do you tell the people who are disillusioned with the current administration? I know you’re organizing a lot of efforts to get people to vote, but I know a lot of people are not enthusiastic to reelect President Obama, although his policies generally support women’s health. But there’s a lot of other things he’s done that people are upset about, so how do you talk to people who feel this way?

Here’s my perspective. From a women’s rights perspective, I don’t care what party the candidates are. So whether they are Democrats or Greens or Libertarians or Republicans is immaterial to me. The issue is more, where do they stand on women’s rights? And every candidate at every level, even to the judiciary, you need to understand where they are because while the economy and jobs and health care and education are the top of mind issues, if women don’t get to control their own fertility and their own bodies, all of that is irrelevant. Our economics are impacted by our lack of ability to control our fertility, let alone how many children you have who need health care or how many people we have to get edu-

cated in our family. So I ask them to put aside grandiose expectations. It took us several years to get into the economic situation that we’re in. And ask that people really look at who are the candidates supporting the equality of women as the full right regardless of what their political party is. So, yes, the majority are Democrats, but 25 percent of Democrats are not prochoice. There are significant numbers of Republican women in this state who are very upset at the status of women’s issues. They do not want to go back to the pre-1950s days or preRoe v. Wade where women were selfinducing. Abortion doesn’t go away. It just becomes unsafe. Maternal death increases. We know because there aren’t providers in every county–only 16 percent of counties in the country–have a provider, that women today, in 2012, are self-inducing or taking action. You see cases of young people where the boyfriend uses a baseball bat to try and beat a girl’s stomach. These are the kinds of very serious consequences to denying women access to birth control and sex education. It is a far bigger thing than to worry about tax policy or jobs policy. Those will change. What I also tell them is how we handle the economy, what we do about education, those bills can go back and forth, they can change and they can be fixed. Any bill that is passed that impacts women’s rights is rarely reversed.

Why? It’s a really hard struggle. You’ll have state politicians who are even supportive, in the Nevada Legislature, who just don’t want to deal with this topic because it’s difficult. We know that former state senator William Raggio used to say, “Don’t bring [it] up, it was settled in 1990, leave it alone.” But not every elected official believes that and so they keep trying, and those who are opposed to women’s rights never stop.

What are some of your efforts in the community to bring awareness to these issues?

First, we think it’s important that every woman use her voice. And the best way to use her voice is to vote. I get a little frustrated when people say, “Oh, I’m disenfranchised, politicians are terrible.” There are people dying across the globe for the right we have to be able to vote and so I think folks need to suck it up and go to the polls.

Elections can’t be won from money or cheating if enough of us go to the poll. You can’t fake an election that often. And while there are debates about what happened in 2004, we’ve become a lot more sophisticated about transparency. And policy, whether you like it or not, whether you pay attention to it or not, affects your daily life. It affects your ability as a student to get sex education, it affects your ability as a young woman to access contraception without your employer demanding to know why you’re getting it. I mean there are states that are trying to pass that kind of legislation. Never mind HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996] laws, right? Let’s just bypass that!

[Laughs.] So we’re doing a huge voter registration to make sure every woman is registered, then we’re getting them to pledge to vote. There are people who are eligible to vote and just don’t make it to the polls. That’s appalling that 60 percent of the population could decide how policy affects what you have a right to do and how you live your life. So we like to see that changed. We like to get people to pledge. So we’re really trying to get women to vote. Not to negate the men, because this isn’t solely a women’s rights issue, but for heterosexual couples, women generally have access to the best methods of birth controls, so if they can’t access it, it affects the whole couple and impacts the whole family.

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW | SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 |

What else do you think people should know?

I just want to talk about why it’s important. A lot of people are misinformed about what the Affordable Care Act will actually provide. It’s referred to as Obamacare, and Obama will tell you that he does care, and from a health care perspective, for women, it’s a significant advancement for women’s health. They will be able to get an annual exam without co-pay.

We know that about 50 percent of women are delaying their health care because of cost. When you’re not getting that clinical breast exam, women are going undiagnosed, and then they show up at the hospital for treatment.

That costs us all a lot more, because hospital care is the most expensive kind of care there is. Thirty-two percent of women are giving up basic necessities to afford health care, so they’re not eating, or they’re not paying a power bill or having a phone bill paid so they can get health care. That is way too many people in our population. There will be no copay for contraceptives. This is the kind of thing that has a greater impact. If we aren’t healthy, then we aren’t contributing to the economy, we can’t find good jobs or sustain them because we can’t take care of ourselves. We get on the mommy track because we’re having too many kids because of our fertility then we’re not able to have economic parity. This is all related and hits all four of the top of the head issues. The foundation of it is women’s rights. Ω

W O M E N ’ S H E A LT H | 7

Tahoe is a playground for athletic women

UPchallenge The Tahoe Betties prepare for a ride.

TO

by

Tim Hauserman

THE

As a Tahoe guy who loves to get out there and hit a mountain trail, whether it’s to hike, bike or cross-country ski, I am confronted by a harsh, but pleasant reality: The Tahoe girls kick my ass. That’s OK. They’re nice about it. While their friends in the city might be just returning from a late night party, they are out there heading to the top of Mt. Watson for an awesome view of the lake, or rolling along on the Flume Trail. In the winter you’ll find them Nordic skiing before work with their headlamps on, or rushing to hit the trail after dropping the kids off at school.

Don’t just take my word for it.

“I have been doing sports performance testing in the area for 15 years,” says Colleen Conners-Pace from Tahoe Peak Performance, who has finished the Ironman Triathalon. “I have found that there are a lot of women who are exceptionally fit. I am not just talking the more ‘elite competitive’ type athletes but the ‘recreationalist’ as well.”

Why is Tahoe a hotbed of womanly athleticism? As my friend Wendy Lautner told me, many women move to Tahoe because of the outdoor lifestyle available here. But for many others, it’s only when they get here and are surrounded by the incredible opportunities to do fun stuff in the woods that they become athletes. What also keeps these Tahoe women excited about outdoor sports is that there are always a whole bunch of other ladies ready to ride, run or ski with them. Take the Luna Chix and The Betties, for example.

The Luna Chix is part of a national organization sponsored by snack treat Luna Bar. In Tahoe they have regularly scheduled rides for any woman who wants to join. Lautner is an active Luna Chix who says the rides are always well attended because women like the social aspect of riding with other women.

Coral Lochridge just started going to Luna Chix events this summer to improve her mountain biking skills. What she found was a group of “super bad ass athletes, but they are encouraging and very supportive.”

“We went on some pretty challenging rides for me, but the Luna Chix girls gave me tips that helped me get through it,” she says. “Sometimes I don’t feel comfortable going out on my own, but with this group I am comfortable.”

8 | W O M E N ’ S H E A LT H

Susie Sutphin, one of the original organizers of The Betties, says they are a “renegade group of misfits” who get together once a week to ride. They hold skill clinics where top athletes pass on their knowledge to other riders, but it’s really about being supportive of each other and having other ladies to regularly ride with.

Polly Triplat is a regular Betty and she says the rides are just part of a “collective consciousness of like-minded people that egg each other on to do all of these activities that they might not do on their own.”

“With more support around them, women are trying something out of the box,” Triplat says.

Tahoe women’s attitudes toward pushing themselves athletically are not just for the young and single. Tahoe City’s Pam Holman discovered a new love for challenging herself athletically about the time her kids were heading off to college.

“The trainer at the gym challenged all of us who are between 40-60 years old to pick a physical goal to work towards,” she says.

Holman started by spending five days paddling around Lake Tahoe. From there she discovered that in Tahoe we are surrounded by great outdoor events that kept her excited about trying new athletic challenges.

“You don’t have to do a marathon,” she says. “And whatever you do, you can find women to do it with.” Holman chose

What also keeps these Tahoe women excited about outdoor sports is that there are always a whole bunch of other ladies ready to ride, run or ski with them.

| SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 | A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW

triathlons, because for training she gets to swim in Lake Tahoe, ride past beautiful scenery, and run on mountain trails.

Conners-Pace says that many of the women she trains are moms, some with several young children still in tow, but they are able to find the time to exercise. For others, like Holman, now that the kids are not underfoot they are free to really focus on athletics. Either way, when Pace held a tough interval class last winter at Tahoe Cross-Country Ski Area, it was only women who signed up. This is partly because of the dedication of Tahoe women to athletics, but also because many women find it easier to train if other women are doing it with them.

Lautner is now pregnant with her first child and is excited to be raising a child in Tahoe.

“I have friends who are nervous to do the things that don’t scare me at all,” she says. “You are affected by the people around you and what you see possible. There are inspirational woman athletes here that spur you on. You see it can be done, so what is to stop you from doing it? We are pushing what is acceptable as to how to raise your kids as well. Being around people trying to get out there, you rise to the level of what is around you. I will be raising kids to be outdoors. They will be around other people who are doing active outdoor activities.”

Tahoe women not only want to live their lives and raise their kids outdoors, but they want to pass along that love of outdoor exercise to the rest of the community. They feel blessed to live in such an inspiring place and want to give back. Lochridge originally heard about Luna Chix while volunteering with the group Girls on the Run, which focuses on building selfesteem and good decision making amongst girls. It’s primary method? Take third through fifth graders outside running.

Sounds like a kids’ version of what a lot of Tahoe women are doing every day. Ω Want to have fun with the Luna Chix? http://teamlunachix.com/tahoe_mountain_bike How ‘bout them Betties? You can find them on Facebook at Tahoe Betties.

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10 | W O M E N ’ S H E A LT H

| SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 | A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW

Think Free

“I decided to start Red Tent Reno because I wanted to have a community of women here.

—Elizabeth Fern

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The Red Tent provides a place of comfort and spirituality

Learn to hate your body” is a narrative girls hear from a young age. It’s seen on television with tampon commercials that encourage girls and women to pretend like their periods are something to hide, something that society should pretend does not exist. Some women grow up taking great lengths to hide it, but others, through the help of a close-knit community, are learning to ride it.

Elizabeth Zsuzsi Fern, a menstrual mentor and former leader of Red Tent Reno, started providing women with surfboards.

“In 2008, I received guidance from a higher source that told me to offer my blood to the Earth,” Fern says. “I knew this was divine guidance when, shortly after, I met women who had received the same message and were ritualistically giving their menstrual blood to the Earth every cycle. At that point, a group of women decided to bring a tipi moonlodge to Burning Man for the next year, and so began a several-year cycle of having a red tent at Burning Man.” The Red Tent, a concept brought into the pop culture spotlight in the book The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, consists of meditation, group therapy, and an activity of arts and crafts. It has a tight exclusivity of women, who are encouraged to bring food or drink and dress all in red. The red, of course, is a tribute to blood sacrifice.

The women meet around the full moon, placing a significance on cycles.

Fern felt a movement. She began putting her own energy into the mission after moving from California to Reno just last year.

“I decided to start Red Tent Reno because I wanted to have a community of women here,” Fern exerts. “In a way, it was a selfish way to make friends.

Although my intention was for all of us to have more friends. I had helped initiate a Red Tent in Oakland, California, where I lived before this and we were having lots of fun with it, so I thought it would be a great thing to have here in Reno.”

The word started to race in women circles. Red Tent began to spread through word of mouth. To some members, like me, it seemed spooky, like some bad ‘90s witchcraft horror film. Still, the frustration of my own body was beginning to catch up with me. Every month my flow would make me depressed. I felt like I was in recovery for something, but I didn’t know what. I decided to give Fern’s workshop a chance. That’s when my epiphany to the true essence of menstruation began to thaw.

“Menstruation to me is the ultimate empowerment of a woman,” Fern explains. “To me, if she gets that, she knows who she is and has the ability to really be an embodied woman. She is in the flow of life instead of always trying to swim upstream.”

Just a month ago Fern initiated her first business, The B-Leading Edge Business Woman, which concentrates on business women excelling with the help of their cycles.

“Specifically, I target women business owners who are burned out from running their own business and offer them support around creating grace and simplicity in their lives,” she says. “My intention is to assist women in aligning with their feminine rhythms so they can live in a whole new way of being that truly reflects who they are at their core, which shows in their business.”

Her words help the participating women focus in on themselves and become honest about the functions of their body. So don’t be surprised if you see more ladies in Reno sporting red, running their own businesses, and loving their bodies. Ω Red Tent Meetings happen once a month. For more info, visit www.facebook.com/RedTentReno.

For info on Elizabeth’s business, visit http://www.elizabethfern.com

560 e. Plumb ln.

775-828-6000 www.massageessence.com

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW | SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 |

W O M E N ’ S H E A LT H | 11