Opinion/Streetalk

This ModeRn WoRLd by tom tomorrow

Asked at Reno Aces ballpark

Matthew Hendricksen

Legal office staffer I think it’s positive for locals. I think the people who live here and know here and understand the community appreciate it and understand the values and understand what we have in the community. And I think the external perception is a bit more negative, and it’s not the Reno of the ’60s and ’70s.

Jessie Crischard

Artist Very positive. I work here every weekend, it’s always been a pleasant experience. I live in South Lake Tahoe. It’s a good atmosphere, and also I’m an artist, and they have built up their art scene here.

Not this time Is Reno’s image positive or negative?

The world apparently has changed where privacy is concerned. It was only a few months ago that the Sparks Police Department refused to release to the news media the name of the boy, Jose Reyes-Urtiz, who had shot and killed Michael Landsberry and wounded two other students, ostensibly hoping to spare the killer’s family embarrassment or shield them from the community’s frustration and anger. That was October.

“How does it help the community to know his name?” was the rhetoric that was floating around the town when members of the media, including this newspaper, called for the release of information that was by state law public.

Jose Reyes-Urtiz was guilty. He may have also been a victim of something—perhaps mental illness, perhaps physical or emotional mistreatment—but we do know he was a murderer who had no right to privacy, and not just because he was a child, and not just because he was dead, but because the entire community had the right to know.

And then just last week, when releasing the report about the Sparks Middle School shooting, Sparks Police Chief Brian Allen disclosed the names of two children who had every expectation of and right to privacy. In so doing, he also raised suspicions against one student, a 12-year-old boy. (Both children named were victims of Reyes-Urtiz’ gunfire, which may not be stigmatizing, but it still raises issues of privacy, particularly for children.)

This student, after police decided his behavior did not rise to the level of prosecutable bullying—and it’s not a high standard; see the sidebar on page 9—then had his name included in a public presentation and reported by the press. This was, again, despite the fact that he was never officially accused of a crime. A child victim of attempted murder, neither indicted nor convicted of anything, was defamed by forever having his name attached to the killing of teacher Michael Landsberry, becoming a sacrificial lamb because the community apparently needed someone to point a finger at for a seemingly inexplicable act.

This is a heinous example of victim blaming, but it’s sure hard to find people who came out in this child’s defense.

This newspaper is often the first in line to demand and publish information the public is entitled to, and there was even discussion about publishing this child’s name in this week’s news section, since it had already been published on KOLO, KRNV and KTVN and in the Reno Gazette-Journal. The truth is, once Allen released it publicly, it was irrelevant what media chose to put the name on the internet because that boy’s life was forever changed. We still chose to withhold it.

Somebody over there at the city of Sparks has got to get informed about what Nevada law says about what information must be released in public records and what can be withheld. Once again, it appears city of Sparks attorneys chose the expedient course. Ω Lee Arnold

Retiree Positive. I think people who come here, I’ve heard them say more than once they liked it, and they’ll still come here. There’s a lot of effort by the city to spruce up the area. It looks a lot better than it did when I moved here 25 years ago.

Kate Florio

Retiree Very positive. There’s sort of good vibes about it. I’ve only been here a couple of months, but there’s good vibes. It’s just sort of a clean town. The people seem to be really nice. I came here from Oregon.

Joe Bigelow

Mechanic Not highly positive but not totally negative. It’s kind of on the downside. It’s not family friendly. It’s just basic casino gambling, and that’s it, and then prostitution down on that other street. There’s a drug problem in this neighborhood. I just moved here a year or two ago. They need to clean the drugs up, and prostitution— get it somewhere that they can control it and open up [more things] for people under 21.