Letters

The big 2-O

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Here’s how much I pay attention to things that matter to others. Last week, on Nov. 7, my 20-year anniversary with alternative journalism in Reno came up. Twenty years ago last Thursday, my friend Mike Norris and his friend Larry Henry had a conference call with me on the telephone to hire me for the Nevada Weekly. As I recall it was a black combination telephone/answering machine. It had buttons and was attached to the wall. They offered me the princely fee of $25 a week to compile a “grid” listing all the local bars that had music.

It did not matter that I had never worked with any application but word processors—was it WriteNow?—and the grid’s design required use of QuarkXPress, they figured since I was young, I’d catch on. I had the important skill, which was an intimate knowledge of the local bars. Right they were. And when our third designer quit about four months into the job, they “promoted” me to design editor. We redesigned that paper every single week. I was working about 80-100 hours a week at the paper, going to school full time, working at San Pauli’s bar in the Bally’s casino parking lot--and they were still paying me $25 a week. They used to occasionally give me stock options in lieu of pay raises. I think I still have about $3,000 in stock in my top dresser drawer at home. Those were some of the craziest, best days of my life. Man, we owned the Blue Lamp.

We made it about 14 months before Mike, Larry and Bill Martin sold out to Jeff vonKaenel, owner of the Sacramento News & Review, my current boss. Over the years, I’ve been fired. I’ve quit. I’ve told some awesome stories, and I’ve helped many others tell their own awesome stories.

It’s never really gotten old for me. We’ve got it down to a science, which I guess is how I manage to stay sober and out of the loony bin most of the time. I keep waiting for someone to point out I’m not smart enough for this kind of work. Of course, if I was smarter, I probably wouldn’t have celebrated two decades mostly at the same job. There certainly have been plenty of people who’ve offered to take it off my hands. —D. Brian Burghart brianb@newsreview.com

Limping along

Re “The more you know” (Left Foot Forward, Oct. 24):

I must admit that Sheila Leslie had me paying attention when she began to describe her visit to Madrid when she was an exchange student in high school many years ago. My attention was due to the fact that my family traces its roots back to the Euskal Herria region of Spain not too far from Madrid.

The interactions with the best friend and family from Madrid who visited the Western region of the USA to take a tour also stimulated my attention to read farther, so I continued to the end. That’s when I came upon the last paragraph which described a discussion that the visiting family was involved in that had to do with aging and health care in the “richest country on earth.” They could not understand how the USA “made such a mess of providing health care to its people” and “why would we turn over such a basic need to the profit-seeking private sector” etc. I almost choked on that line. I suggest to the author that she and her friends from Spain check out the latest statistics relating to how far down Espana’s economy is swirling around in the cesspools of that region of the world (a.k.a. Greece).

Apologies to Sheila, but I think she shot herself in her big left foot. Dan Archuleta Sparks

Keep our money home

The University of Nevada, Reno’s president Marc Johnson has mentioned time and again that he is interested in connecting to the city of Reno, and he says he is committed to working together to improve Reno’s economy. That’s great! Now, let him connect to our community and improve our economy by keeping UNR’s construction money here at home. UNR should hire only local contractors as they build on campus, so our local workers have good wages at good pay. UNR can help us build our way out of the Great Recession. Keep our money at home! Steve Flanagan Reno

Paid security

Re “No enforcement” (Letter to the Editor, Oct. 10):

I witness the same thing that Justin wrote about on a daily basis. I see both Reno Police Department and Sparks Police Department officers ignoring pedestrian crosswalk violations. My conclusion is that unless the officers are getting paid overtime they will not issue any tickets for this. The only department I’ve seen pulling anyone over for these violations is the Nevada Highway Patrol. So in conclusion, follow the money. If these departments do not get any special enforcement grants, which means paid overtime, they will not enforce the pedestrian crosswalk laws. Every time we hear there is a DUI checkpoint or other special enforcement efforts it is always tied to a grant that pays for overtime. So Mr. Police Chiefs, when will you start enforcing the crosswalk laws without receiving overtime pay? Ken Johnson Reno

League of its own

Give me an F-ing break. It’s OK in the NFL to be a drunken ass and force yourself on women, Rapenbuger, or maim, torture and kill defenseless dogs, Vick the dick, but you can’t bully another player? This is why I no longer watch the NFL. What a bunch of hypocrites. They pay these players obscene salaries when a normal family can’t afford the tickets or concessions. Wow, the hunger games are not far off. Cecelia Soper Reno

Road kill

The dull drumbeat of destructive progress continues in our society. This time it spells potential doom for the deer herd that will now have to contend with the new highway link being constructed east of McCarran near the water treatment facility. For years, the herd has used some of the east fields of the UNR farm to find late autumn and winter forage, and to take refuge from November hunters roaming the Virginia range. It’s always been a delight to view the deer, wild horses and other wildlife during day hikes in the area. It doesn’t appear there is anything being constructed to accommodate their safe passage to the remaining fields on the west side of the link. Such accommodations do exist in other places with deer populations, like Oregon. It’s sad that this far into the 21st century that we are still solving our growth issues by scraping away more habitat (including our own) in the name of progress. T. Alan Moore Reno

Fruit pie

Re “Lovin’ the oven” (FoodFinds, Nov. 7):

Thanks for the review. I’m definitely interested in checking them out! One thing caught me off guard though: You mention that pineapple should be illegal on pizza, yet you ordered a pie with pears? Not sure I quite understand the logic here ... any explanation?

Brian Ball Reno

Carried away

Re “Bloody pointless” (Film, Oct. 24):

I completely disagree. Carrie (2013) is not a remake of the 1976 classic; it is another adaptation of the book. And it has a lot more stuff from the book than the 1976 movie. (Don’t get me wrong here, the 1976 movie is pure genius.) And how on Earth is the book bad? This goes to show how Bob Grimm does not understand any piece of work (The Hunger Games, Bridget Jones’s Diary, etc.) and does not have an understanding of the movie at all. Anyway, Carrie was amazing, and Bob Grimm gave a poor review of the film. Portia and Alex gave wonderful performances, way better than the characters from the 1976 film. The only thing I agree with Grimm is how great Moore and Moretz were. Overall, this was a very poor review, but this movie was great.

Steve Johnson Toronto

More on violence

Re “Tragedy in Sparks: Northern Nevada gets blindsided by sudden gun violence and death in one of our schools” (Feature story, Oct. 31):

I protest the use of the term “gun violence” in this headline. Had young Jose used any other weapon to carry out his final agenda, it wouldn’t be used in the headline. This tragedy isn’t/ shouldn’t be about guns, but the state of our society that makes a child want to kill innocent peers, and then himself. No, I’m not pro- or anti-gun, I just see this as a jab at an already sensitive issue and a chance for the writer to further push her own view of guns. Does it matter what size-brand-make of gun was used? I don’t think so. Does it matter that the “killer” (notice how I didn’t say “shooter”) was only 12? Yes, it matters a lot.

Peter Hillman Reno Editor’s note: Of course it matters a lot. My rationale was that if a 12-year-old child had attacked veteran soldier Michael Landsberry with a knife, we’d have a living teacher, and a troubled boy may have gotten some help.

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. Editor/Publisher D. Brian Burghart News Editor Dennis Myers Arts Editor Brad Bynum Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Editorial Intern Sage Leehey Contributors Amy Alkon, Chanelle Bessette, Megan Berner, Mark Dunagan, Bob Grimm, Ashley Hennefer, Sheila Leslie, Dave Preston, Jessica Santina, K.J. Sullivan, Kris Vagner, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Design Vivian Liu, Serene Lusano, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith Advertising Consultants Meg Brown, Gina Odegard, Bev Savage Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Office/Distribution Manager/ Ad Coordinator Karen Brooke Executive Assistant/Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker Assistant Distribution Manager Ron Neill Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Jesse Pike, David Richards, Michael Schneider, Martin Troye, Warren Tucker, Matthew Veach, Joseph White, Sam White General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Grant Ronsenquist Business Nicole Jackson, Tami Sandoval 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 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.