by Dennis Myers
This MOdeRN WORld
by tom tomorrow
Tell us about your best friend Asked at Truckee Meadows Community College Laura Davidson Program evaluator
My best friend makes me laugh a lot and keeps me grounded, so I’m happy to have her in my life.
Laquenta Ganyon Outreach specialist
She’s amazing. She’s been my best friend since I was 8. She’s amazing. She lives in Virginia. For every life event that’s happened in my life, she’s been there for me.
Starr Parker Cashier
Happy birthday, Chief Mieras
My best friend is awesome. My best friend is my best friend because she knows me. We get along. And also, in order to get along we have to be able to not get along, if that makes sense.
When Martinez, a hired gun whose previous career Pedro Martinez is a public administrator. stops included Chicago and Las Vegas (when he got the Mike Mieras is a police officer. Reno job he was also an applicant in Philadelphia), fired In his job, Martinez encounters bureaucratic risks. Mieras, a 13-year employee of the school district, Mix, In his job, Mieras encounters life and death risks— DiLoreto and Sandoval all remained silent. and bureaucratic risks. Would Perry DiLoreto tolerate an employee who Schools superintendent Martinez is more or less the defied him as the school board claims Martinez did? face of the school district. Does Leslie Mix feel justified in the public stand she Schools police chief Mieras became more familiar to took before hearing from both sides? Does Nevada’s the public when he helped lead the community through first lady have a level of gratitude to the 13-year police a school shooting. chief equal to that of the newly arrived superintendent? When Martinez came up for his last job review, he Yep, the school board screwed up on open meeting got some warnings about his performance. matters, rushed the process, took its Mieras, as far as anyone can tell, has had a stellar record in his job. Play by the rules time about giving its side of the story, and generally blundered all through Mieras was fired, by Martinez, and you’ll get a the Martinez matter. because it suited some nebulous That doesn’t redeem Martinez’s bureaucratic purpose. reward. shoddy behavior in the Meiras Martinez was put on paid leave matter, nor does it redeem Martinez’s by the Washoe County School Board, supporters who pick and choose which injustices they according to the board, because of his conduct in refusing will oppose. to participate in a required administrative hearing process Martinez has his job back and is more defiant toward to check out some claims about his background. the school board than ever. His fellow citizens objected weakly for Mieras, then Mieras is job hunting. the controversy died out even as news became known, In the course of researching this whole dispute, we through his job evaluations, of what a fine job he had learned that this coming week Mieras will “celebrate”— done for the schools. Most of the members of the school if he can—his 53rd birthday. board said of Mieras, “What Martinez wants, he gets.” There he is, facing down the barrel of middle age Community figure Leslie Mix, businessman Perry Diloreto, and the governor’s wife, Kathleen Sandoval, and out of work after playing by the rules, doing his best, achieving proudly and serving his neighbors. It leaped to support Martinez without knowing all would not be surprising if he felt that the “leaders” of the facts, which were not released until the school this community have been less than grateful to him for board’s court filing was disclosed last week (see his long commitment to Washoe County. Ω news, page 8). OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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BEST OF NORTHERN NEVADA
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ARTS&CULTURE
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
Richard Forsell UNR dining chef
You know who your best friend is when you’re in trouble. … And when my wife died, the house was in foreclosure, and all my family lived on the other side of the Sierra. My boss had an extra family room attached to his house, and he had me stay with him for six months until I got squared around, paying only for utilities and food. … There was help and no question asked. Jose Torres Records assistant
My best friend is crazy. She likes to be spontaneous and just do random things. ... She keeps me going. She makes me laugh a lot.
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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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THIS WEEK
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MISCELLANY
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AUGUST 7, 2014
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RN&R
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