15 minute read
News
from Dec. 6, 2012
Gambling addiction meet planned
For most of the history of legal gambling in Nevada, the state studiously avoided doing anything about gambling addiction.
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In the late 1990s, with a federal gambling impact commission planning a Nevada hearing, state regulators took some token steps —like requiring casinos to make leaflets available in their facilities— to avoid bad publicity.
Then in 2003, Gov. Kenny Guinn really broke the barrier and proposed creation of a state program to aid addicts. The Nevada Legislature approved the program and even increased its budget over Guinn’s recommendation.
Now, a state conference on the problem is being planned, to be held in Reno, April 25-26, 2013. Information can be found at www.nevadacouncil.org/2013_conference.php.
Oh, and the conference is slated to be held at—a casino.
Merchants: Amazon abuses us
Seattle-based Amazon.com, which has a Nevada facility in Fernley, is the target of numerous complaints for its treatment of small merchants who use the website to sell merchandise.
These consignment sellers make up about 40 percent of the complaints filed against the online giant with the Washington attorney general’s office, the Seattle Times reported on Nov. 17. Of those complaints, “three-fourths—nearly 120 sellers—complained that Seattle-based Amazon abruptly suspended or closed their accounts, tying up anywhere from several hundred dollars to more than $20,000,” the newspaper found from public records.
“Dozens of online sellers complain that Amazon arbitrarily withholds their payments for as long as three months, jeopardizing their ability to replenish inventories and stay in business. ... In many cases, the world’s largest Internet retailer stacked the deck against them by providing no real explanation or chance to appeal.”
Amazon did not comment, but its officials suggested to the AG’s office that the problem was that the consignment sellers weren’t prepared for the rush of business that follows joining the website.
The Times story can be read at http://tinyurl.com/cfyhyyu.
Columnist: Reid contributed deceit
Chicago Tribune columnist Rex Huppke, who made a splash in April by declaring that factual information is dead, cites U.S. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada as evidence that things got no better as the year wore on.
“To the shock of most sentient beings, Facts died Wednesday, April 18, after a long battle for relevancy with the 24-hour news cycle, blogs and the Internet,” Huppke wrote in an obituary published April 20. “Though few expected Facts to pull out of its years-long downward spiral, the official cause of death was from injuries suffered last week when Florida Republican Rep. Allen West steadfastly declared that as many as 81 of his fellow members of the U.S. House of Representatives are communists. Facts held on for several days after that assault—brought on without a scrap of evidence or reason—before expiring peacefully at its home in a high school physics book. Facts was 2,372. … Facts was born in ancient Greece, the brainchild of famed philosopher Aristotle. … Facts is survived by two brothers, Rumor and Innuendo, and a sister, Emphatic Assertion.”
Huppke, looking back on the year’s political campaign, told the American Journalism Review that Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s claim that Jeep was sending its U.S. jobs to China, Reid’s unsubstantiated claim that Romney failed to pay taxes for a decade, and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s train wreck of an acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention showed that it’s becoming “impossible to really keep on top of what’s happening and what’s right and wrong.”
Reid never produced evidence for his claim, and Romney’s release of tax information tended to suggest that Reid was wrong. — Dennis Myers
General fund dollars
A new Reno Aces deal gets a public airing
Any notion that the business community was solidly behind pouring more money by into the Reno Aces took a beating last Dennis Myers week at a Reno City Council workshop meeting. For that matter, the idea that downtown businesspeople were united on the matter was also dispelled. The proposed new city deal for the Aces involved using general fund money, which made people on both sides of the issue—and on the County Commission—nervous. “If we were a community that was flush, I would certainly be more open minded toward allocating those dollars,” said Java Jungle coffee house owner Matt Polley.
John Sande Reno attorney
By contrast, Jeff Peterson said because of the Aces, his firm chose to relocate to the downtown.
For audience members, keeping the lines straight was difficult. It was not always clear whether speakers were talking about the original Aces deal or a new proposed deal. Some spectators were confused why the workshop was needed at all. They were under the impression that the new deal had been killed by the incoming City Council. And others were taken aback as they learned more about the original contract.
Meanwhile, some were raising questions about the process under which major projects like the Aces and their stadium are approved.
At issue is a deal under which the Aces are asking for a $1 million-a-year subsidy paid over 30 years and backed by general fund money to partially refinance a $55 million construction loan that built the ballpark, a deal prompted by the recession-drop of property values in Reno and the city’s resulting inability to make its payments under the original deal. At the end of the 30 years, the ownership of the then-aging stadium will revert to the public. On Nov. 14, shortly after the outgoing City Council approved the deal, the incoming Council put it on hold through a reconsideration motion in order to give the public a chance to be heard at the workshop. Holdover members Sharon Zadra and Dwight Dortch, who oppose the new deal, voted for it in the first meeting, making them eligible to move reconsideration when the meeting continued with the new members.
Last week, Pacific Coast League president Branch Rickey threatened to let the Aces start looking for a new city if the Reno deal is not approved.
“While such permission has not yet been sought, we fully understand that the club is being given virtually no alternative,” Rickey wrote.
The “no alternative” language suggested to critics that Rickey has heard from only one side and has not been briefed on the city’s situation.
Supporters of the Aces talked about both downtown revival and the glories of baseball.
John Sande IV, an attorney for Aces owner SK Baseball, said, “We moved our office from West Liberty to across from the ball park. … On game day, there’s nothing like downtown.”
Downtown restaurant owner David Silverman said, “I opened a business … across from the stadium because of the promises that were made” and said “the consequences of not doing [the new deal] are great.”
Former County Commissioner and state legislator Bob Rusk, who owns a hotel downtown: “I’ve been involved in every successful venture in downtown Reno” since the Redevelopment district was created. He urged the Council not to go to the ballot with the issue. “Don’t put it to a vote of the people because I can tell you right now what the decision will be—no, and hell, no.”
Though the new City Council has been criticized for slowing the process down after the previous Council had speeded it up, Nevada Assembly Republican floor leader Pat Hickey said he had no problem with that: “I applaud you for wanting to study this issue yourself.”
But Hickey also said “what a terrible loss this would be” if the team left Reno, and he urged the Council to “find a way” to make it work.
National Federation of Independent Businesses spokesperson Randi Thompson said, “We’ve got a lot of businesses that have moved downtown.” The team, she said, “perpetuate a part of our town that is coming back.”
Jim Galloway said the Council “gave its word … so I don’t see how Reno can renege” on the deal.
At a Reno Aces game last summer, fans watched a ball sail over their heads into a higher row, a scene that represents the fun of baseball, remote from the financial realities.
The other side
Galloway was one of many speakers who suggested the new Council was toying with the city’s good name, that by not keeping the Aces afloat, the city risked losing corporations who will believe that the city does not keep its commitments to businesses.
But opponents said the Aces supporters were deliberately mixing up two sets of promises to the Aces—the ones that were made originally in 2008-2009 and the promises the Aces are trying to extract from the city now. The original promises have been kept, they said—it’s new promises that are now at issue. The Aces are “coming back now asking for a new deal,” said economics author Helm Lehman.
Lehman added, “Who really benefits from Triple Abaseball in Reno? It’s the Diamondbacks, in this case.” The Aces are an Arizona Diamondbacks team.
Larry Moore said it was the Aces that failed to keep their commitments, citing the way the SK Baseball once touted in national publications its plans to commercially develop the former site of the Mizpah Hotel, which has never happened.
Attorney Michael Alonso, speaking for Monarch Casino Resort Inc.—which owns the Atlantis and Peppermill—said it’s nonsense that the city would be reneging on its commitments to the Aces if it killed the general fund deal. The city has kept its commitments to the Aces, he said, and now is being asked for additional commitments. He said the Council took the right step in “slowing this thing down.”
He went on, “The city has lived up to the commitments. The developer wants a brand new deal.”
Alonso said the Aces have a dream deal with the city—“The developer gets relieved of all its obligations” if the city misses a single payment in the next 30 years.
Sharon Honig Bear said neither Aces nor city have done anything to save the historical Freight House building other than using its name. The real Freight House—which is along the railroad tracks on the Aces parcel—is becoming a victim of “demolition by neglect,” she said.
Some critics said they would like to see some independent appraisal of whether the ballpark is actually contributing to downtown revitalization rather than anecdotes and isolated instances of this business or that moving to the downtown.
The more some audience members learned about the original deal between the city and the team, the more outspoken they became that it was a bad deal. For one thing, though Nevada has experienced recessions five times in the last 31 years, the contract with the Aces made no provision for contingencies if another recession hit. The original Aces contract was approved in May 2007. The start of the national recession is generally regarded as December 2007, though given Nevada’s highest-in-the-nation foreclosure rate, the recession probably began earlier in this state.
Daniel O’Keefe complained about difficulty in getting information from the city on the deals. “We couldn’t get a lot of information other than what we got from the Gazette,” he said.
After the workshop some community figures said the original Aces deal should have been given more of an airing before the community, that the city should have affirmatively sought out opinion rather than just relying on the normal public hearing process. Michael Graham, a member of the city’s Old Northwest Public Advisory Committee, said all the city’s advisory boards should have been brought into the process.
“I think there are eight or nine boards with an average of nine to 13 people on the board,” he said. “It would have brought in a lot of skilled questions to the dialogue. I’m willing to bet 100 percent that someone on one of the boards, if they’d been brought into the process would have said, ‘But we’re in a boom now. What happens when we’re in a bust?’— which appears to be a consideration.”
Mayor Bob Cashell said this week he cannot recall why there were no
contingencies made for an economic downturn in the original deal: “I really can’t. I know that things were put together so fast because Senator [William] Raggio, if you’ll recall, had put a drop dead date on the car rental tax.” The mayor said the city had about a 60-day period during which it had to act quickly. He said another factor that led to the speed of the original deal was the RED Development—developers of the Legends shopping center—were also negotiating to get the Aces in Sparks.
In an echo of Vietnam policymaking, one workshop speaker argued that the city, having invested so heavily already, should not pull out now.
In milling about before the meeting began, some residents expressed puzzlement that the issue was still alive, having assumed that the newly elected Council had killed the deal. On Nov. 15, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported that the new Council “rescinded” the previous Council’s approval of the deal, which was not the case. Ω
PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS
At a City Council workshop meeting on the Reno Aces issue, Barbara DeOca got a good deal of knitting done. She joked she was the Madame DeFarge of the event.
Michael Alonso Reno attorney
Adopt a Pet This Holiday Season
Adult Cats $10 • Adult Dogs $45 Kittens $30
All pets spayed/neutered, vaccinated and microchipped
Adoption Hours: Sun–Fri. 11am–6:30pm Sat. 10am–6:30pm 775.856-2000 • 2825 Longley Ln. NevadaHumaneSociety.org
Snowmen On Parade City of Sparks Toy Drive
The frosty characters jump off your front lawn and onto the street to get the family in the mood for some Christmas fun. Come downtown for a traditional Christmas parade along with entertainment, photos with Santa, arts and crafts and a tree lighting ceremony. The tree lighting ceremony is Friday, December 7 and the parade is Saturday, December 8. Bring a toy to stuff the truck for our inaugural City of Sparks City-Wide Toy Drive, with our Grand Marshall, the Coca-Cola Polar Bear.
Tree Lighting Ceremony
Friday, December 7, 2012, 6:30-7PM. Gather ‘round the tree as Mayor Martini throws on the lights on the glorious tree. Event includes carolers and great entertainment.
Intuit Hometowne Christmas Parade
Saturday, December 8, 2012. Parade is from 1-3PM, entire event runs from noon-4PM. It’s how we kick off our holiday season!
Kick off the season with a gift to the community. Bring a new, unwrapped gift to the parade to be distributed to kids in need in our city. Along with our friends at Swire Coca-Cola, KTVN and the Reno News & Review, we are kicking off the season's City of Sparks Toys for Tots Toy Drive at the Christmas Parade! Give your gift directly to the Coca-Cola Polar Bear and Marines during the parade as we STUFF THE TRUCK with toys for boys and girls in our area. If you miss bringing a gift at that time, bring your toy to any of the following locations and know that your generosity is bringing joy to a child this Christmas.
Toy Drop Off Locations
All Walmart, Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us locations Alf Sorensen Community Center Games Galore at Meadowood Mall Intuit John Ascuaga's Nugget Scheels at Legends Sparks City Hall Reno News & Review For more locations: www.toysfortots.org
Miner setback
A failure to obtain proper mining permits resulted in a hint of success for the Comstock Resident Assocation’s first round of legal actions against Comstock Mining, Inc (CMI). Opposition against open pit mining near Virginia City has been going on for some time, escalating after the Storey County planning commission approved CMI’s efforts to haul ore on state route 342 (“Mineshafted,” July 26).
A motion to dismiss legal action against Storey County and CMI was rejected by the District Court, which ruled that the county and CMI “failed to carry their burden of proof,” according to District Judge James Wilson. CRA is taking legal action against CMI and Storey County on the basis of health concerns caused by hauling ore and the lack of proper permits to haul ore on state route 342, the main road through Virginia City, as opposed to truck route 341.
Shelter from storms
Discussion at last month’s Greenbuild Expo, held in San Francisco, centered on making the West Coast an example for sustainable living from the ground up. The expo brings together industry professionals from construction and architecture to discuss innovations in green building and technology.
According to a report on online environmental news site Grist, the West Coast “is slated to spend more than $1 trillion on infrastructure over the next 30 years.” In response to this news, the main question of the expo was, “Will it be spent throwing good money after bad on ill-suited, outdated structures, or will it be invested in more resilient, climate-smart alternatives?”
The expo took place as Superstorm Sandy ravaged the East Coast and left thousands of people without electricity, to which attendees agreed that “smart infrastructure choices need to (a) move us toward lower-carbon energy and transportation systems and (b) be able to stand up to increasingly intense weather temperatures, heightened risk of wildfire and rising sea levels,” the report stated.
While Superstorm Sandy itself can’t be attributed to climate change, scientists suggest that an increase in global temperatures will result in more frequent natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods and wildfires.
— Ashley Hennefer
ashleyh@newsreview.com
ECO-EVENT
Ranger John Keese will speak on winter safety and survival at a question and answer session hosted by the Galena Creek Visitor Center. Hot chocolate will be provided. $5 suggested donation. 18250 Mt. Rose Highway. Call 849-4948 for more information, or visit www.galenacreekvisitorcenter.org.
Got an eco-event? Contact ashleyh@newsreview.com. Visit www.facebook.com/RNRGreen for more.
