11 minute read
Letters
from Dec. 17, 2015
The home stretch
Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.
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People keep asking me what’s going on with me stepping back at the paper, so I guess I’ll say it one more time, and then maybe people will get the hint and realize that Christmas is still coming, the fascists are in chains, and peak oil is here.
First, welcome Jeri Chadwell-Singley to our staff as our special projects editor. She won first place for us in the Nevada Press Association awards this year for best nonstaff story—and she has been teaching up at the University of Nevada, Reno. I first met her in the journalism master’s program. She’s an integral part of the equation that’s going to buy me some time off for my pseudo-sabbatical. The idea is I’m going to average no more than 10 hours a week working on the paper. This will be the first week where I should be at or less than 10 hours. I’ll let you know how it goes when next I write this Note.
This week, I’m polishing my portfolio writing for my classes in the English master’s this semester. I’ll hand in my final assignment on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. I filed my Program of Study, and so I expect to graduate in May, after I complete a portfolio that will highlight the work I’ve done for the last three years. And then there’s the 15 books I have to read, two classes and comprehensive exams.
This was the worst semester I’ve ever had. It was certainly worse than the one where I went through a divorce during my undergrad. A friend’s death, suddenly losing a good portion of my hearing, my son going off to college—the simple fact that I survived and didn’t succumb to cirrhosis is either going to make it really hard for me to accept excuses for future missed deadlines or undermine my ability to take deadlines seriously.
Fatal Encounters is humming along. The team and I will hit 10,000 records of deadly police violence on Jan. 1. That means we’ll have complete data for 2013, 2014 and 2015 and complete data for 22 states going back to 2000.
In the meantime, our Fatal Encounters app will go up for sale on iTunes on December 21. —D. Brian Burghart brianb@newsreview.com
Safety on board
As a former taxicab driver with labor involvement on both coasts, a past member of the Regional Transportation Commission’s Citizen Advisory Committee and a current member of the Reno Senior Citizen Advisory Committee’s transportation subcommittee, I’d like to pose a question regarding to what extent is the RTC complicit in events that have escalated into shots being fired at buses operating over the Reno-Sparks grid. Does the RTC actually believe it is fulfilling its pledge to its passengers, particularly the senior citizens?
How many of those seniors can relate to the hilarious Bob Newhart monologue on driver indoctrinations every time they witness, or experience, one of those surreal trips down the aisle? Having been given two demonstrations myself, in each instance intercepted by alert passengers, I can attest to the trepidation and discomfort that exercise evoked. In the latter instance, there was comfort in knowing that the demonstration was not deliberate, because the equally perplexed driver went out of his way to solicit my signature on some collaborative form.
This concern emanates from recent documents obtained which seem to validate the suspicion of a deliberate attempt to withhold important information on a resource that would greatly empower seniors in managing their transportation expenditures, i.e., Taxi Bucks, nor any public awareness infrastructure addressing same, the revelation recently made at a SCAC meeting by a member who had earlier sat on the RTC board that this benefit even existed, would not have been so elucidating.
For the sake of transparency and as a cautionary warning to those dubiously anxious to “rebrand” what we have, let’s take care of what we’ve got. Get it together before some little pissant consigns Reno to a growing hoard of communities all too frequently making headlines that are the antithesis of that zeitgeist. Robert W. Mulvana Reno
Incentives
I can’t figure out whether I’m observing a delicious irony or an incoherent government. Maybe both.
Last year Gov. Brian Sandoval gave Tesla Motors huge tax breaks to bring their new gigafactory to Reno. Now the governor has cut a deal involving tax breaks with Faraday Motors to bring an auto assembly plant to North Las Vegas. That all seems to acknowledge that reducing taxes is attractive to business and stimulates growth.
But in the interim, during the recent legislative session, Gov. Sandoval jammed through a $1.5 billion tax increase on businesses, a tax increase that had been rejected by 80 percent of Nevada’s voters, a tax increase that surely will close down many small businesses and cost Nevada jobs.
I’m confused. Which is it, Governor? Are higher taxes good, or are lower taxes good? If lower taxes are good, why did you jam the big tax package down our throats? Was it to stimulate our economy, or was it to give you walkin’ around money to “incentivize” billionaire investors?
Maybe if we got rid of Gov. Sandoval’s huge tax increase we’d see more stability and growth in Nevada’s small businesses. And then why not lower all business taxes even further, like the governor does for billionaires?
Robert R. Kessler Las Vegas
Ease up
Re “Christian terrorism” (editorial, Dec. 10):
I enjoy your publication. It’s fun. It’s enlightening. It’s entertaining. I have to tell you though that the editorial titled “Christian terrorism”—on which I did not see a byline—was extremely disturbing. In the second paragraph, citizens of our country who belong to the Republican or conservative side of our political system were referred to as the “loon right.”
How on this good earth (and I refrain from saying God’s good earth though I believe in God. I have the utmost respect for my friends who do not.) can an editorial claiming to be a cry for common sense and tolerance disrespect its fellow citizens like that? I call for RN&R to be a shining light in this media blitz of personal attacks and name calling, and be more discerning in its own language.
If the good people of our country could refrain from that kind of juvenile and immature behavior, and engage in lively factual debate—and to give credit where credit is due, the editorial was packed with valuable and factual information—our country wouldn’t be immersed in the kind of intolerance-based violence it is today. Showing each other respect, regardless of a persons religious beliefs or political persuasions is what our great country is founded on! Let’s all change the atmosphere of our society by changing the conversation, and the debate to one of respect. Passion? By all means! Name calling? Come on, America, be the leaders we are, and were meant to be in the world.
Faith Ann Walker Reno
Erik Holland
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-at-Large/Publisher D. Brian Burghart Associate Editor Brad Bynum News Editor Dennis Myers Special Projects Editor Jeri Chadwell-Singley Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Contributors Amy Alkon, Bob Grimm, Ashley Hennefer, Sheila Leslie, Eric Marks, Jessica Santina, Todd South, Brendan Trainor, Kris Vagner, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Associate Art Director Brian Breneman Ad Design Manager Serene Lusano Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Design Kyle Shine Advertising Consultants Joseph “Joey” Davis, Catherine Greenspan, Gina Odegard, Bev Savage Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Operations Coordinator Kelly Miller Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Manager Anthony Clarke Distribution Drivers Tracy Breeden, Alex Barskyy, Denise Cairns, Steve Finlayson, Debbi Frenzi, Vicky Jewell, Angela Littlefield, Marty Troye, Warren Tucker, Gary White, Joseph White, Margaret Underwood General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Nicole Jackson Accounts Receivable Specialist Kortnee Angel Sweetdeals Coordinator Courtney deShields Nuts & Bolts Ninja Christina Wukmir Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins 405 Marsh Ave., Third Floor Reno, NV 89509 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds to classifieds@newsreview.com Website www.newsreview.com Printed by Sierra Nevada Media 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.
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