Dec. 31, 2015

Letters............................ 3 Opinion/Streetalk............ 5 Sheila.Leslie.................... 6 Brendan.Trainor.............. 7 News.............................. 8 Green........................... 10 Feature.......................... 11 Arts&Culture................ 14 Art.of.the.State............. 16

Foodfinds...................... 17 Film............................... 18 Musicbeat..................... 19 Nightclubs/Casinos........ 21 This.Week.................... 24 Advice.Goddess............25 Free.Will.Astrology........26 15.Minutes.....................27 Bruce.Van.Dyke............27

though the news was rather sad See News, page 8.

Got your Goat See Green, page 10.

gaMBLIng

on art See Arts&Culture, page 14.

As the calendar flips another year, these two essayists look at a couple of the issues that really matter

HatE IS ENouGH See Film, page 18.

RENo’s NEws & ENtERtaiNmENt wEEkly

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VolumE 21, issuE 46

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dEcEmbER 31, 2015-JaNuaRy 6, 2016

Call (775) 328-6147 for free and confidential testing

This message brough to you by the Washoe County Health District with grant funding from the CDC through the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health.

2 | RN&R |

december 31, 2015

Send letters to renoletters@newsreview.com

Meet the new year Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

You want a happy end-ofthe-year Editor’s Note? Not this year. I’m writing this in kind of a pissy mood as the calendar counts down to 2016. I’m more than a little irritated by yesterday’s news that the cops who shot a 12-year-old boy, Tamir Rice, while he was playing in a park, won’t face a jury. This case should have gone to a public trial in front of a jury and judge.

Another news item that’s really bothering me was the decision by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission to force people who invested their own money into solar energy production to pay for the aging infrastructure favored by NV Energy. They buy my energy at wholesale and sell it back to me at retail now? And they charge me so that people who don’t upgrade their energy production don’t have to pay for their wasteful and environmentally unsustainable energy? Look, I get that Warren Buffet is trying to get a few more years’ worth of profits out of NV Energy, but their philosophy of profits over people and planet is shameful. Gov. Brian Sandoval once again showed his policies are in no way more intelligent than those of his predecessor Jim Gibbons—and with all the corporate giveaways, they’re probably worse. Don’t any of you plutocrats have any concern for what you’re doing to your children’s future?

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I believe these sorts of regressive policies are on their way out. NV Energy will continue to rip me off until the moment the Tesla battery is available, and then I’ll only buy natural gas from the utility, and I may get rid of my gas appliances.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a law preventing the use of secret grand juries to examine incidents of police violence.

I’m the eternal optimist. I believe that people are becoming more attuned to their own effects on the planet, and that some humans will eventually figure things out. But man.

Many of you will read this on January 1. I hope you’ll have a Bloody Mary and think about how you personally can help make the world better this year.

Happy New Year, my friends.

Licit drugs a problem too

error—it is all but impossible to get their name removed.

Also note that, while it is a standard “progressive” meme that minorities are “disenfranchised” by laws requiring identification to vote (apparently leftists believe that nonwhites are too stupid to figure out how to get or use identification), they demand that same identification to be shown for all gun purchases.

This is no surprise, when one considers the racist roots of restrictions on gun ownership. From the Dred Scott decision of a century and a half ago to the background check scheme that prevented Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., from legally buying a handgun, from the Sullivan Act to the Ku Klux Klan-inspired phrase “Saturday night special,” those opposed to civil rights have always used bigotry as their greatest tool.

The columnist continues this, with her demand that so-called “assault weapons” be banned, though these are nothing more than a standard sporting carbine with black plastic stocks rather than wooden furniture.

Black guns are more scary-looking, even though “assault weapons” generally are underpowered, and none can fire faster, nor fire any more rounds per trigger pull, than a revolver made before the Civil War. Keith Wood Sparks

Recently, after an 18-month investigation, a U.S. Senate committee released a report revealing troubling findings about Gilead Pharmaceuticals profiteering off of a prescription medicine called Sovaldi.

The drug cures hepatitis C after a 12-week dose. But it costs around $84,000 per treatment—or $1,000 per pill. The committee reviewed over 20,000 pages of internal company documents, which revealed that Gilead executives explicitly made a decision to put shareholders ahead of patients desperately needing treatment. The report further exposed that Gilead could have charged less for the drug to make it more accessible—but chose not to.

Profits over people, that’s the path Gilead chose. And the reason for this is simple—Gilead has an exclusive patent on the drug. This monopoly allows them to charge whatever they want, without the threat of competing drugs that could drive the price down. As an active voter, this is a key issue for me this election, and recent polling suggests I am not alone.

For 2016, I am looking for a candidate with a solution to high drug prices. So far, Sanders and Clinton are the only ones offering possible solutions. Republican presidential candidates, meanwhile, remain silent.

Dylan Merick Reno

Right A recent survey revealed that a large percentage of Republicans and an even larger percentage of Trump supporters answered “yes” when asked if the United States should bomb Agrabah, a fictional, Disneycreated middle eastern city.

In the midst of all the hoopla and partisan name-calling that followed, I offer this proposal: We should do it.

We should bomb the living crap out of Agrabah. Doesn’t matter if it’s real or not; Agrabah is the perfect target.

Erik Holland

Amendment compatible with gun control Re “The truth about mass shootings” (Let Freedom Ring, Dec. 17): Brendan, I’m a responsible gun owner who does not agree with the NRA propaganda that you regurgitated in your article. Guns everywhere all the time is not a solution. I believe there are some people who should not own a gun. I hope you agree.

Your article does not represent the majority of gun owners. In fact, most people support sensible gun laws Mass shootings are the issue here.

It’s the current problem, and we can’t

Race mixing Re “Return the extremists to the fringes” (Left Foot Forward, Dec. 24): Under the guise of battling “extremism,” an extremist demands that people on the no-fly list be kept from buying firearms.

The no-fly list is secret, with as many as 1.2 million names, yet the criteria for being put on that list are also secret, and once a person is on it—even as an acknowledged

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.

Such a display of American power will strike terror in those who would terrorize us, and they’ll learn that if those maniacal Americans can kill thousands of beloved cartoon characters, they can kill anyone. Anytime.

Anywhere.

Retaliate? ISIL and Al Queda?

Ha. They’ll be too busy cowering in their lousy caves, looking for anything white that could serve as a surrender flag.

Consider. Would ISIL hesitate to blow up Mayberry, taking out Andy and Opie and everybody? Trust me, if they get the opportunity to put Aunt Bee six feet under, they’ll grab it. Just the thought of ISIL setting foot in Mayberry makes my blood boil.

It’s time, America, to mess with their heads rather than the other way around.

Brad Small Reno

continue to hide behind our fear of losing our gun.

We must do what we can to solve this problem. Gun owners are now speaking up. We have the power to make it more difficult for criminals, the mentally ill or terrorists to get a gun in America.

Gun ownership with conditions does not infringe on my Second Amendment right.

Tom Stewart Reno

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

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december 31, 2015

by Jeri Chadwell-Singley

THIS MODERN WORLD

BY TOM TOMORROW

What is the meaning of life?

Asked at Virginia Street Plaza, 555 S. Virginia Kenneth Taylor Military retiree

The meaning of life is to enjoy and be happy every day. Yesterday, you can’t change that, but you can always change today and tomorrow. I’m happy.

Jeannica Sacasas Biochemist

I read this quote about how dogs basically have 16 years to live. So, dogs are always happy, and they give you so much love because they have 16 years that they’re going to be in your life. So for me, a human life is because we’re trying to learn how to love as much as a dog can love. Dogs teach us how to love.

Parker Syndergaard Civil engineer

Baby and bath water doing well The Washoe County School Board is a topic of considerable dispute in our community. To an extent, that’s as it should be. A public panel that attracts no criticism is likely not doing its job. But of course, the criticism aimed the board’s way in the last two years goes beyond the usual level.

There’s a risk that our citizenry will let the unhappiness with the board splash over into unhappiness with the students. We saw that last week in our letters column. A reader commented in part as follows: “As a product of the Washoe Co. School Dist. and citizen of Reno since 1969, kindly allow me to weigh in on the public embarrassment that is the Washoe County School Board. Myself and countless other local employers never hire graduates of this School District. Why? Quite simple, actually. The quality (or lack thereof in the vast majority of the cases) of the student that this school district produces is pathetically substandard. WCSD graduates are of no use to employers seeking quality candidates that can be further trained. While there are a miniscule few WCSD graduates that could cut the mustard, it is simply too time consuming and expensive to weed out the vast majority of the others.”

There is no basis for this kind of criticism of the graduates. While it is true that Nevada ranks poorly in national education rankings, it is a mistake to let that factor overlap onto Washoe County. There is always room, certainly, for improvement, but there is much to be proud of in our school district.

In most of the indices we have by which a fair comparison can be made, Washoe students perform better than the state and national averages.

Washoe graduates outperform the national averages for both ACT and SATs. OPINION

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I’ll go with tacos because they spread peace and love and joy, and they’re delicious.

In 2015 figures, WCSD graduates scores are 502 in reading, 504 in math, and 476 in writing. The comparable statewide scores are 491, 490, 466. National graduate scores, 489, 498, 475.

According to the College Board, a nonprofit organization with no particular Nevada axes to grind, about a third of high school graduates nationally took at least 1 advanced placement course before graduating. In Washoe County, most students do so—56 percent. Again according to CB, the number who pass those courses is higher in Nevada than nationally.

These are not a miniscule few. Plainly, the bulk of graduates are able and skilled, and businesspeople who overlook them because of political disagreements with policymakers are being foolish.

It’s true that there is debate over Washoe graduation rates, and that Superintendent Traci Davis has agreed to take action to remedy the problem that attracted criticism.

Our reader also made comments about “basket weaving” courses in Washoe schools, a hoary old chestnut that, however, he did not substantiate. We checked. There are no basket weaving classes in Washoe schools. And nothing in available figures suggests that unusual or exotic courses are undercutting the performance of Washoe students.

This newspaper has made clear in its reporting (“Board games,” Oct. 23, 2014) that the school board got a bad rap at the hands of a state attorney general who, unwilling to face down community anger, violated her own office’s procedures in order to impose fines on board members who followed their lawyer’s advice. But whether readers agree about the board or not, the students the Washoe County School Board is turning out should not suffer when they are performing so capably. Ω |

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Marco Johns Free spirit

I think the meaning of life is humans and internal realization. I think we all have something that we’re here to learn whether that’s religious, non-religious— just about ourselves. I think we have something here to learn, and humans because, to me, that’s the only thing that really matters connection-wise.

Adam Salinger Elementary school teacher

It’s making the most of your time on Earth by disappearing into the backcountry every summer—any mountain range, anywhere. It’s my religion. It’s my church, right?

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The good news On this last day of 2015, instead of lamenting more tax cuts for billionaires or the relentless attempts to ruin public education in Nevada with a voucher system that rewards those with the most resources, we offer a glasshalf-full approach to our persistent challenges. by The good news in 2015 is even Sheila Leslie a “do nothing” Congress was able to produce a unanimous vote in the Senate for the Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Democratic Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota and Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. The bill reauthorizes the successful Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act to improve responses to people with mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system.

The legislation continues support for mental health courts and crisis intervention teams, expands services to veterans, enhances training of police and first responders and allocates resources for prison and jail-based programs. As Franken points out, the

United States has 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of the world’s prison population largely “because we have criminalized mental illness, using our justice system as a substitute for a fully functioning mental health system.”

Is it too much to hope that the House of Representatives will approve this bill early in 2016?

As the year closes in Nevada, we celebrate the slow upward trend in health statistics, forged by a decade of aggressive prevention approaches which are finally producing results.

Back in 2007 when the centralized immunization registry was created over the objections of the paranoid right, Nevada ranked 49th in the nation in the number of 2-year-olds who were fully immunized. By 2013, our ranking had improved to 48th, a step in the right direction although hardly a status other states would proudly proclaim.

When the statistics from the 2014 National Immunization Survey were revealed, child advocates were ecstatic to see Nevada now ranks 38th

in the nation for fully immunized children, ages 19 to 35 months.

Immunize Nevada, the Nevada State Immunization Program, and county health districts all deserve credit for working together to educate health care providers, parents, policy-makers and the community about the importance of vaccinations. Our children are healthier and getting a better start in life thanks to their efforts.

Nevada was also ranked 38th among the states for overall health, according to the 2015 annual report from the United Health Foundation.

We were ranked 48th back in 2010.

The report cited a decrease in smoking and cancer deaths as factors leading to improvement along with increased immunizations and fewer preventable hospitalizations.

What’s holding us back? Our increasing rate of children in poverty coupled with increasing rates of violent crime (we ranked 48th), drug deaths (47th), a stubbornly low high school graduation rate (48th), and our worst-in-the-nation spending on public health, just $33 per person. Hawaii

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DECEMBER 31, 2015

KENDRICK LAMAR Saturday, January 9

invests far more in public health, allocating $227 per person. Imagine the improvements in Nevada if we doubled or tripled our public health spending.

Finally, let’s celebrate the transformational public policy wins for progressives this year. In Nevada, a Republican-led majority in the Legislature passed Gov. Brian Sandoval’s commerce tax, targeting the big box stores instead of small businesses. The new dollars will fund priorities that Republicans dismissed for decades—full-day kindergarten and targeted programs for English language learners and children in poverty. This victory belongs to the progressive political leaders and advocates who tirelessly made the case for corporate taxes and investments in education for many long years leading up to this moment.

And what year-end wrap up could fail to mention the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic decision in favor of marriage equality? In the end, love always wins. Ω

A similar assessment for Congress: www.sltrib.com/ opinion/3346857-155/ lane-congresss-gooddeeds-for-2015

RYAN ADAMS / SHAKEY GRAVES Saturday, January 16

Adelson’s debate On Dec. 15, the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas hosted the fifth republican presidential candidates debate. The Venetian is owned by Sheldon Adelson, billionaire Republican kingmaker and new owner of Nevada’s largest newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The theme of the debate was national by Brendan security. Adelson strongly supports a Trainor militantly pro-Israel, anti-Iran foreign policy. Adelson also supports a liberal immigration policy. Many believe he supports Sen. Marco Rubio for the nomination.

The stage was set to highlight the long-standing Republican love affair with threat inflation, followed by examples of how each candidate would exercise “leadership,” i.e. by ordering bombing, invading and sanctioning.

Instead, a strange thing happened.

A crack in the GOP consensus appeared, and widened into a deep chasm. By the end of the night, it became clear that the neocon tide was receding.

I count Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina as the primary neocon hawks in the debate. They believe the United States is the greatest nation in history, so exceptional it reserves the right to determine the policies and rulers of any state that does not adhere to its world view and goals. Their foreign policy is ideological, bound up in theories derived from non-American sources like the communist Leon Trotsky and the idealist philosopher Leo Strauss.

On the opposite side of the political divide stands Sen. Rand Paul, who represents “libertarian realism.”

Realists believe in balance of power between nations, diplomacy, and reluctance to go to war. Libertarians emphasize protection of civil liberties, free market economies, trade, and cultural exchange.

A newly revitalized force, the Jacksonian wing of the GOP, emerged during the debate. Like our seventh president, Andrew Jackson, Jacksonians are headstrong, sometimes act without legal authority. They want

America to be great, but not necessarily an empire.

Sen. Ted Cruz condemned our record of regime change consisting of overthrowing secular authoritarian governments only to see chaos result.

A true Jacksonian, he said he would carpet bomb Islamic State because of the San Bernardino massacre, even though that State didn’t exist when the perpetrators became radicalized.

The Donald railed at Jeb Bush, saying the Iraq War a “former president” started was a total disaster. He said the $4 trillion spent on neocon foreign wars could have been better spent here in America on infrastructure. Trump also does not share the neocon compulsion to be reflexively anti-Russian.

The Donald simply says he likes Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Vlad friends him back.

Rand Paul attacked Gov. Christie’s promise to shoot down Russian planes violating the no-fly zone Christie would somehow erect in Syria. That horse has long ago left the stable. Because Turkey shot down

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a Russian jet, Russia immediately placed sophisticated anti-aircraft missile launchers in Syria. Christie has attended a neocon crash course in foreign affairs recently, after admitting his complete ignorance of the subject. His newfound policy consists of Jersey Shore rhetorical chest thumping about American capabilities that either don’t exist or if somehow implemented could result in, as Paul warned, World War III. Paul and Cruz attacked Marco together. They shredded Rubio’s love for the National Security Agency’s domestic spying. They attacked his alliance with Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer to pass the “Gang of Eight” comprehensive immigration reform.

Rubio, considered a brilliant orator, was exposed by Cruz and Paul as the master of shouted cliches and half truths. Adelson may have to look for someone else to back. It won’t be Rand Paul, because Paul’s Jeffersonian approach is abhorrent to neocons. Will he support Sen. Cruz?

The immigration issue may cut that marriage off. Who’s next? Ω

A wider look at Adelson’s foreign involvement http:// tinyurl.com/zuzf9kn

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PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS

The Las Vegas Review-Journal found itself in the position of covering itself.

Meeting complaint against Schwartz Reno personal property appraiser Joyce Newman has filed an open meeting complaint over state Treasurer Dan Schwartz’s handling of the adoption of regulations for the new state program that pays parents to take their children out of public school. Schwartz administers the program.

Newman said she signed up to receive notices of meeting agendas but that the delivery of them was spotty.

“When I became aware by checking the treasurer’s website that future hearings had been scheduled, I contacted the treasurer’s office to make sure I was still on the email distribution list,” she said in a prepared statement. “I received no response and received no more notices, including that for the October 20 ‘adoption hearing’ or for the hearing originally scheduled to adopt regulations on November 23. Additionally, the notice I received for the August 21 workshop was emailed on August 20—one day prior to the workshop. The Nevada Administrative Procedures Act NRS 233b.061(2) requires workshop notices to be sent ‘not less than 15 days before the workshop … to each person who has requested to be placed on a mailing list.’ ” • In related news, the public was given no notice of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 1 at this month’s special session of the Nevada Legislature. The lawmakers have always exempted themselves from the open meeting law. ACR 1 is a nonbinding measure that Republicans claim provides guidance on their legislative intent in creating the school grants program at the regular session of the legislature last May. An examination of legislative records indicates that ACR 1 was introduced in the Senate no earlier than 3:12 p.m. on Dec. 19 and was given final approval in the Assembly at 3:49 p.m. As a result of that 37-minute sprint, the public was given no opportunity to testify on the measure in legislative hearings. None were held. In addition, it was approved by the Senate on a voice vote, so no roll call is available to the public.

• Additionally, the law firm of Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison has added another lawsuit to the court load surrounding the new school grants program—this one to seek rapid court action on the earlier suits.

Two earlier lawsuits were filed to challenge the new law, one by a parents group, the other by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.

“Families across Nevada right now are planning their children’s educational future and for thousands of households, the plan includes access to ESAs [education savings accounts],” Hutchison said in a prepared statement when the suit was filed on Dec. 22.

“On behalf of these families, we will seek an expedited decision to meet the timeline set forth by the law and, most importantly, to provide greater certainty for our students, parents, educators, and schools.”

But apparently signals got crossed in GOP ranks.

Republican Hutchison’s action prompted Republican Schwartz to freak out and issue his own statement: “The State Treasurer’s Office is baffled by Lt. Governor Hutchison’s recent legal maneuvers. We have complete confidence in Attorney General [Adam] Laxalt’s handling of the two cases already filed. Mr. Hutchison’s lawsuit amounts to little more than a side track to nowhere. Hoping to bypass the current cases, the Lieutenant Governor could well jeopardize the attorney general’s defense of Nevada’s ESA program, endangering very real benefits for the children and parents of Nevada.” (Hutchison’s statement made no reference to Laxalt.)

Hutchison said his action sought “expedited” action on the initial two lawsuits, while Schwartz said Hutchison is seeking to “bypass” those lawsuits.

Schwartz may have been distressed by being named as a defendant in the Hutchison suit—he mentioned it in his news release— though it is routine for administrators of programs to be named when programs are sued.

• Finally, Treasurer Schwartz—who has accelerated the school grants program at every opportunity—said last week he may hold a “summit” meeting next spring on how to retool the program at the 2017 Nevada Legislature.

—Dennis Myers

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DECEMBER 31, 2015

Under pressure Nevada newspapers move into partisan hands On Dec. 10, it was announced that the Las Vegas Review-Journal had been purchased by a newly formed by Delaware limited liability company Dennis Myers that turned out to be a front group for billionaire Sheldon Adelson—who, to be sure, had been the first suspect on nearly everyone’s list of possible mystery buyers.

That put the right wing billionaire—who has a history of using his Israeli newspaper as a political weapon—in control of the largest newspaper in the largest county of the state that holds the third presidential nominating event of 2016.

“I don’t like journalism.”

Sheldon Adelson Newspaper owner

But what concerns Democrats on the local level is that it is of a piece with another development that also reduces the party’s ability to get its message out—the acquisition of several small newspapers around the state by a corporation co-owned by a former right-wing Review-Journal publisher.

Battle Born Media, owned by former RJ publisher Sherman Frederick and Associated Press sportswriter Tim Dahlberg, has acquired the Ely Times, Mineral County

Independent-News, Lincoln County Record, Eureka Sentinel, Mesquite Local News, and Sparks Tribune.

Frederick is a climate change denier who once claimed President Obama was having an affair.

In the case of Adelson, his newspaper Israel Hayom (Israel Today) is essentially an adjunct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s career.

If the Nevada newspaper is used in similar fashion, it would be a powerful tool in a state whose demographics have been moving steadily Democratic. The combination of the biggest print organ in the state and scattered small print outlets could have an impact on state political debate.

If Adelson and Battle Born use their newspapers as weapons, “It completely distorts [political dialogue] and essentially eliminates it,” said political analyst Fred Lokken.

There are indications that Adelson was taking steps in that direction even before taking ownership of the RJ. About a month before the ReviewJournal changed hands, while purchase talks were going on between the newspaper and Adelson representatives, RJ reporters were assigned to investigate three judges, including Elizabeth Gonzalez, who is presiding on a lawsuit against Adelson by one of his former Macau casino execs.

In 2014, Democratic lethargy and low turnout gave Republicans their most sweeping victory in Nevada since 1890, but expectations of

Democratic comeback in 2016 have been frequent, both because of public reaction to GOP policies and because of the state’s demographics.

“Clark County is the Democratic stronghold,” said one state legislator on background last week. “A relentless pounding [by the newspaper] could take away our demographic advantages.”

“Not necessarily,” Lokken said.

If Adelson turns the newspaper into a Republican mouthpiece, he said, the damage could be more to the newspaper itself than to the Democrats because it would lose credibility, akin to Fox News in broadcasting.

“It then represents an ideology,” Lokken said. “It ceases to become a newspaper and becomes propaganda and the public reacts accordingly.”

Fox tends to attract not an audience looking for information, but an audience that seeks confirmation of what it already believes.

“People who have not made up their minds will look somewhere else for a newspaper” if the RJ becomes a conservative mouthpiece, Lokken said.

After the RJ takeover, Adelson’s managers posted an editorial promising to make the newspaper “fair, unbiased and accurate”—not greatly different from the Fox News slogan, “fair and balanced.” It was not an assurance that heartened the staff of the newspaper, given that it came on the heels of those same managers stopping the presses to remove a quote from one of the stories they’d written.

But it did make the point that eventually, a publisher can enforce his will on the newspaper he owns.

“I don’t like journalism,” Adelson said on Nov. 9 last year, according to Israel’s Haaretz. (On the same occasion, he also said, “The Palestinians are an invented people,” according to the Times of Israel.) But that hasn’t stopped him from acquiring more properties. “How Sheldon Adelson is buying up Israel’s media,” was a 2014 headline in the Washington Post.

His Las Vegas public image is divisive. The newspaper he now owns reported in 2005, “He spent $2 million to support local candidates, and his battle against the Culinary Union made him such a polarizing figure that his support for anyone was like the kiss of a black-widow spider. He was hated by a large segment of the voters.”

Adelson in 2012 virtually singlehandedly kept Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign alive with millions of dollars when the candidacy had become hopeless. Such episodes make some believe there is no reason to worry about Adelson’s impact,

because his political judgment is so poor. In Time magazine last week, former RJ reporter Steve Friess wrote that Adelson’s history is of failed projects and unsuccessful political support.

“He plunged $2 million to defeat three pro-labor Clark County Commission candidates amid his battles with the Culinary Union, and each won in landslides anyway,” he wrote.

When Adelson was outed as the new owner of the RJ, an Adelson “family statement” read, “This week, with each of the Republican candidates for president and the national media descending on Las Vegas for the year’s final debate, we did not want an announcement to distract from the important role Nevada continues to play in the 2016 presidential election.” Most PR experts would have known that secrecy would elevate, not diminish the news value of the purchase.

Nevertheless, having as publisher of the RJ one of the richest men on the planet, a man who has shown his willingness to spend freely to support his views, is certainly not good news for Nevada Democrats.

RJ editorials have long been fairly radical libertarian, and the good thing about the paper has been that—unlike some newspapers—it was not possible to detect those editorial views by reading its news pages. Some readers felt the editorials had become more moderate in recent months.

The RJ staff has laid the groundwork for readers to have a full sense

of coming changes, posting a guide to the newspaper’s previous stances in its editorials and comparing them with Adelson’s known views.

(Nevertheless, the newspaper still uses the industry-preferred term gaming for gambling.)

Adelson “was hated by a large segment of the voters.”

Las Vegas Review Journal (2005)

It is more difficult to track changes in the network of small newspapers under Battle Born’s ownership.

Staffs have changed, and at the Sparks Tribune, liberal populist columnist Jake Highton was briefly cut loose but then brought back.

Liberal columnist Andrew Barbano has had columns killed twice since the ownership change—one a piece about Republican legislator Michelle Fiore—which is twice as many times as in his previous 27-year history with the paper. It is difficult to trace any of this to Frederick’s influence.

In many cases, the small newspapers exist in communities that were already strongly Republican.

(This writer, at various times, has written for RJ properties, including the Boulder City Review, Las Vegas Business Press, Pahrump Valley Times, and Tonopah Times Bonanza.) Ω

School’s out PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS

A carpenter worked in front of Pine Middle School on Dec. 29. At left is a Dumpster for asbestos, which became a problem when it was exposed by peeling tiles damaged by flooding caused by a pipe that burst, possibly as a result of seismic activity. Also working at the site are property restoration and environmental cleanup firms. Just east of the school building, students’ desks and other furnishings and loose property were being carried from the school and stored in a lineup of large metal storage containers. At press time it was not known how long the school will be closed for repairs.

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On a cold Sunday in mid-December, 30 brown, black and white goats stood in a corral in Washoe Valley munching on hay and Christmas tree branches. The wind blew hard and the afternoon light grew dim as the sun dipped below the by Kelsey Carson Range, but the goats—an assortment of South African Boers, New Fitzgerald Zealand Kikos and Alpines—chewed enthusiastically on.

For the past 25 years, Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful has marked the end of the holiday season with its annual Christmas Tree recycling program, collecting discarded trees and chipping them into mulch that is used throughout the year in local parks. Last year, with help from a workforce of nearly 500 volunteers, the group kept a total of 10,252 trees out of area landfills.

This year, KTMB and the Washoe Valley herd of goats made common cause.

“Christmas trees are not 100 percent of their diet, more like a snack,” said Vince Thomas, owner of the herd. “They’re like candy to them. They’re also nutritious, healthy and full of vitamins.”

Thomas’s herd is put to work throughout the year on local weed and fire management projects through his business, Goat Grazers. Thomas, who has been goat-keeping for 10 years, learned of his goats’ affinity for Christmas trees after the herd devoured a pile of dried trees that someone had dumped illegally in the Peavine Wash, where they had been working to eradicate invasive weeds.

He later learned that pine needles are full of nutrients, and offer other health benefits for goats. “Pines are actually a natural de-wormer for the goats. They’re also high in Vitamin A and Vitamin C,” Thomas said.

This knowledge prompted him to look for other sources of trees. Last For information on Goat Grazers, visit year, Thomas partnered with the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, www.goatgrazers. which had organized its own network of Christmas tree recycling drop-off com/ points. In all, Thomas’ herd finished off 638 trees, consuming all but the For information on trunks and larger branches.

KTMB’s Christmas This year, Thomas and the TMFPD are joining forces with KTMB, tree recycling proadding six new Christmas tree drop-off stations to KTMB’s traditional three gram, visit http:// recycling sites at Bartley Ranch Regional Park, Rancho San Rafael Regional ktmb.org/christmastree-recycling/ Park, and Shadow Mountain Sports Complex.

“We’re really excited about this partnership, and growing the Christmas Tree recycling program,” said Jaime Souza, operations manager for KTMB. “This should make it really convenient for people to recycle their trees.”

Souza also hopes that the expanded program will reduce the number of trees they find illegally dumped in open space areas outside of the city.

“That’s one of the big things we see when we start to scout illegal dump sites in the spring,” Souza said. “Usually the first thing we see is dried up Christmas trees, which become a fire hazard.”

In addition to becoming healthy snacks for goats, the Christmas trees will be chipped into mulch for local parks, as in previous years. Christmas tree mulch is also available to homeowners, free of charge.

KTMB’s Christmas tree recycling program will run from Dec. 26, 2015, to Jan. 10, 2016. All objects that might be unhealthy for goats or chippers (such as tinsel, ornaments and wire) must be removed from the tree branches prior to donation. Information about volunteering and tree drop-off locations is available on the KTMB website. Ω

The Time i have lefT

By Melinda Welsh

The enormity of the news didn’t sink in fully, not at first, even after my doctor uttered the words: “I’m sorry, we did find cancer.” My husband, Dave, and I had only the faintest sense that evening that someplace off in the distance our lives had been hijacked forever.

Early 2014 brought major head and neck surgery, then six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation.

Eight months later they found cancer again, so it was Christmas surgery and more of the same. When a scan last June showed new tumors, the outlook turned bleak. The cancer—a rare type called metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck of unknown primary—had gone systemic.

Like all doctors, oncologists want to offer patients hope. Who can blame them? But with a little prodding, I was able to learn the approximate truth. A Stanford specialist gave me six to nine months to live. “But there are people who do a lot better,” he said. My surgeon told me, “Months to a year.” My University of California, San Francisco, oncologist said, “The average is a yearish … but nobody’s average.”

So there it is. I’m 59. I have terminal cancer. And I’m dying in a yearish.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, schooled at UC Davis, and fortunate member of the team that brought SN&R to Sacramento in 1989, it might have been natural for me to write or blog about all this as it was unfolding. I’d reported about end-of-life issues before, especially after my brother Marty Welsh, a physician from Placerville, died of Lou Gehrig’s Disease five years ago. But I just couldn’t bring myself to write about my cancer, however much I admire the people who find the voice to go public with their tales. I didn’t feel I had anything new to offer.

But I’ve turned a corner on that somehow and feel ready to explore some of the questions that emerge for people who face a grim diagnosis. Like this one: How do I best spend the time I have left?

I feel perversely well right now—having recovered from the worst side effects of treatment and not yet experiencing the corporeal failure that is to come. I’m continuing to work part-time until I can’t anymore. I love what I do and am lucky enough to have purpose, supportive colleagues and employers who are good friends, and a job where I feel I can make a difference.

Besides writing, I plan to spend much of the time that remains with Dave, my friends and our big crew of a family. We have arranged gatherings

As the calendar flips another year, these two essayists look at a couple of the issues that really matter

T

he time immediately following winter solstice is bittersweet, a time to remember the people and events in our lives that made the years past worth remembering and the years to come worth cherishing.

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“LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT” continued from page 13 with various people of importance in our lives. My sister and brothers and our clan joined for a summer family reunion on the Monterey coast. We checked into the same hotel and laughed and celebrated one another’s company. My niece came over from France, bringing her young daughter and new baby. We sobbed quietly in each other’s arms as farewells were said, both knowing we’d likely never see each other again.

Dave booked us a cruise to Alaska in late August, and we luxuriated in the beauty and expansive time together. And we’re planning a few other special trips.

But mostly we’ve just become devoted to taking pleasure in the small things.

We read and laugh. We work. We walk and watch movies. I was told: “Don’t skip dessert”—so we don’t. We play the Neville Brothers and dance around the living room.

We’ve taken to getting up early a few mornings a week and driving out to see the sunrise over the flatlands of Yolo County. Our dog, Scout, thrusts her head out the window from the backseat, passionate on behalf of the here-and-now.

We’ve become startlingly aware of how differently the sun announces itself into the world each day.

In her famous essay “Illness as Metaphor,” Susan Sontag wrote about “the night-side of life,” a kind of parallel universe that opens up when a person moves from the kingdom of the well into that of the sick. I didn’t know it at first, but I’d immigrated to that new place the moment I was diagnosed with cancer.

I’ve been lucky enough to have friends and loved ones escorting me to and from the hospitals, clinics, chemo infusion rooms, scanning stations and radiation lobbies. But many who arrive unexpectedly in cancer’s kingdom have come alone. The rail-thin man in the corner with the clogged IV, the elderly woman in the stunning purple hat waiting for her turn on the radiation table, the state bureaucrat who took his chemo wearing a tie, the university student who arrived at the infusion center in a taxi. The solidarity I feel with the other cancer patients is almost overwhelming. Like me, they probably weren’t aware this “night-side” even existed until they arrived in it.

I’ve told my team of doctors, who have been skilled and caring, that I’m not interested in “maintenance chemotherapy” since, for me, the possible benefit would not make it worth the downslide to my quality of life and would give me little extra time anyway. I am a “do not resuscitate” person—desperate to go on living but against prolonging my dying once that process is in full swing. As an extension of this belief, I fully support California’s new “right-to-die” law, though it does not go into effect until 90 days after the

current special session on health care closes.

My UCSF oncologist, a skin-cancer specialist doing cutting-edge work in personalized medicine, is now attempting to extend the time I have left by getting me in clinical trials that don’t come replete with debilitating side effects. I am utterly grateful for his efforts. I’ve started gene therapy—injections of pIL-12 with electroporation—that has shown promise in other patients. If I’m fortunate and push hard enough, I might also get access to the breakthrough immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (the “Jimmy Carter drug”), though it is not yet FDA approved for my type of cancer. Any of these might net me more months, maybe even years before the decline … and boy, would I take that time!

Still, my basic trajectory is unswerving.

I sometimes worry about my ability to exit life with grace and humor. And what if I’m bad at suffering? I admit I can fill up with fear. But what’s the point? For counsel, I turn to my favorite philosopher, Lao Tzu: “Be content with what you have / rejoice in the way things are / When you realize there is nothing lacking / the whole world belongs to you.”

Then, I try to focus on the present and my gratitude for having lived a charmed life that includes Dave, my family and devoted friends, and work that has always held meaning for me. In the big picture, I see the universe as brilliant and the fact of life on earth as extraordinary. But I know my teeny, tiny piece in it all is coming to a close.

Still, it’s impossible for me to imagine going to sleep and then … nothing.

But I will not awaken that next morning and drive out to see the sunrise.

And I will not walk with my husband on our daily stroll with Scout out onto the greenbelt behind our home. And I will not marvel at the news of the world as my iPad streams its conflicting arguments for hope and despair about the fate of humanity. And I will not share further moments of warmth and joy with my cherished friends and family. And I will never, ever hold Dave again.

Letting go will be difficult.

But death has its own clock. So I will take solace in the idea that, once gone, I may come to occupy a small space in the hearts of the people who loved me most. And perhaps from that breach, I will continue to radiate a few simple reminders: Time is limited. Life is miraculous.

And we are beautiful. Ω

The 10th anniversary of my parents’ death brings up many emotions. Hate isn’t one of them.

‘Letting go will be difficult’

12 | RN&R |

DECEMBER 31, 2015

Melinda Welsh is the founding editor of the Sacramento News & Review and served as its editor for the better part of two decades. A shorter version of this essay appeared in last Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.

WHy I Am PrObAbLy GOING TO SEND THE DruNk DrIVEr WHO kILLED my PArENTS A CHrISTmAS CArD

By Emily Pothast

The city of Gatesville, Texas, lies 37 miles west of Waco. Of its 15,945 residents, some 2,600 are employed by the city’s five prisons and one state jail.

Around 9,000 are incarcerated, roughly 58 percent of the city’s population. Prison City.

I’m familiar enough with the geography and architecture of Central Texas to conjure mental images of these sprawling

sand-gray compounds, but I can only imagine what it’s like to live in one. My understanding of their inner life relies on fictional portrayals and whatever information makes it to the public record.

The public record informs me that somewhere inside Gatesville’s Alfred D. Hughes Unit, a prisoner I’ll call Daniel Jay is a decade into serving two concurrent 14-year sentences.

The date on these charges is still capable of sending little chills up my spine. December 23, 2005. Two counts of intoxicated manslaughter.

One for each of my parents.

This week, it will be 10 years since the night Daniel Jay had too much to drink at a Christmas party and smashed into my parents’ van. Mom died instantly. Dad was responsive when police arrived but bled to death a few hours later in the hospital.

I am still the same person, but much of the daughter my parents knew died alongside them. I have since grown in unexpected directions, like a tree whose shape is transformed by being struck by lightning.

Up until December 23, 2005, I was a member of a close-knit Midwestern family— the kind that loves you tightly but also makes you feel vaguely guilty for growing up and leaving home.

In the early hours of December 24, I became an Orphan in the Void with no living ancestors or descendants, thanking God that my sister had not been in the van with our parents.

What do I mean by God? I mean the sensation you encounter when you are a newly minted Orphan in the Void crying exponentially into the carpet, and you can see that the Emptiness that meets your cries is alive and that there are still things in it to be thankful for.

My parents were buried in my mom’s hometown of Hubbard, Iowa, and Mr. Jay disappeared into the unfathomable labyrinth of the Texas prison system. I have seen him in person only once, at his trial. We glanced at each other for a moment, and he quickly averted his eyes.

This was not his first drunk-driving offense. At the time of the accident, he was actually ineligible for a Texas driver’s license due to prior brushes with the law. Given this history, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that he struggled with alcoholism and should probably have had access to treatment.

Instead, he’s a warm body in a multibilliondollar prison industrial complex.

He is now 54 years old, the age my parents were when they died.

The prison is his punishment, the means by which his debt to society may ostensibly be paid. In this case, “society” is my sister and me, the kids whose future ability to regard family gatherings with anything other than the dull heartbreak of orphandom was lost as a result of his carelessness.

Cause and effect. The “justice system.”

Despite his role in my parents’ death, I have a hard time feeling anything but sympathy for Daniel Jay. When I tell people this, they often react by congratulating me, as though I must have worked through some very deep anger in order to achieve a benevolent, Zen-like state of forgiveness. This reaction makes me uncomfortable. It seems to imply that “an eye for an eye” is the default human reaction to tragedy, and that perhaps I am entitled to feel somehow more evolved or selfrighteous for not hating a person who made a terrible mistake, even if his entire life had been nothing but a series of terrible mistakes.

My feelings would be different if Daniel Jay had, say, walked into my parents’ family therapy practice and gunned them down in cold blood. But drunk driving is so ubiquitous as to be banal. I have several friends who have gotten DUIs through the years, and if I’m

honest, there have even been times when it could have been me. This doesn’t excuse what happened, but it helps me put it into context.

Car culture killed my parents just as much as any one person’s choices did. They were sacrificed on the altar of far-flung communities where people drive 20 miles to party and 20 more miles to get home.

A culture where alcoholism, mental illness, and depression are stigmatized and those who suffer are routinely denied access to treatment killed my parents, too. This system sends people who make deadly mistakes to prison instead of helping all of us build better, more humane social structures, and it is conveniently positioned to profit off its own horrific outcomes.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 10,000 people die every year as the result of drunk driving.

That’s enough people to fill all the prisons in Gatesville, Texas, and staff half of them. A city of ghost prisons.

When I think about all that has happened in the last 10 years, the idea of spending that long in prison gives me a sense of vertigo. Does the time crawl by, like you are a child in church?

Or does it pass in the blink of an eye, your body aging as though it were in a time-lapse film?

As the 10th anniversary of my parents’ death approaches, I have been thinking about sending Daniel Jay a Christmas card with a kindly worded note. Could it make him feel worse? Or could my acknowledgement that he is a human being who probably resonates in pain according to the same calendar that I do provide some semblance of solace?

Am I naive for assuming he feels anything at all?

Perhaps. But when my sister was cleaning out our mother’s home office, she stumbled on a folder with Daniel Jay’s name on it.

My mother, a bookkeeper, had once done his tax return.

It is likely that he had been in our home. I can only assume that he remembers who my mother was and is therefore aware of the light that he extinguished.

One of the unfortunate consequences of American culture’s puritanical roots is that we have done much to demonize the evil that others do, as though that evil is something we ourselves are incapable of. The reality is that Daniel Jay could be just about any one of us, or at least someone we know and love in spite of their flaws.

The many prisons of Gatesville, Texas, are a manifestation of capitalism, to be sure, but they also exist because they allow us to feel like we’re doing something to punish people who deserve it. As long as we are identifying and punishing evil in others, we can ignore the evil in ourselves.

The desire to ignore the evil in ourselves is powerful. It’s a power that builds prisons and can rationalize turning a profit from pain.

I don’t want to punish Daniel Jay. I want him to get better. Ω Emily Pothast is a musician, visual artist and writer living in Seattle. She is the frontwoman of the band Midday Veil and the co-founder of the record label Translinguistic Other. A version of this essay appeared in Seattle’s The Stranger.

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Dan Martin, an artist for Bally Technologies, thinks that the future of slot machines may lie in looking and feeling more like video games.

14 | RN&R |

Story & photo by Josie Luciano

Slot machine artists find inspiration in and out of the office

DECEMBER 31, 2015

An art career that involves high pay, making work every day, and the chance to show your art to a constant stream of new viewers seems too good to be true. But that’s the job for the thousands of people involved in game art—a term that, in some Reno circles, is synonymous with gambling art.

Designing slot machines is a business that employs more artists than any other industry in the state but still seems to fly under the radar in terms of artist recognition and accolades. This is partially due to its commercial (as opposed to fine art) status, partly by design (artists work heavily with engineers, sound designers, and math techs to produce an anonymous final product), and somewhat

because of the stigma that surrounds the gambling industry itself. In the U.S., 3 million people identify as “problem gamblers” with twice the national average living in Nevada.

According to those in the business, it’s “entertainment” and not “addiction” that drives game design. And among those creating the reels, belly art and animations for the games are

artists who work hard to keep up with the professional curve of the industry, often dipping into their after-hours art for inspiration.

Design of the times

“I thought I was going to paint cars for a living,” said Dayle O’Brien, a game artist for Rogue Gaming. “And then I thought I was going to be a tattoo artist.”

But O’Brien’s plans changed when she moved to Reno after graduating from art school in the New York area. While taking a design class at the Nevada Museum of Art, O’Brien was approached by another student to do some contract slot machine drawings for the now-defunct

gambling company GameTech.

“When I first got the job it was all hand-drawn stuff, and it wasn’t rudimentary, but it wasn’t great, you know?” said O’Brien.

“And as you go, you skin your knees a lot, and you get a lot of harsh feedback, but it’s all for the best.”

Like a lot of other artists who came into the industry five-plus years ago, it was not uncommon for those with hand-drawing skills to learn much of their digital training on the job.

Game artist Derek Miller, also came into GameTech with only a traditional art degree and minimal Photoshop experience under his belt.

“I was able to fake it until I was able to make it—the classic thing,” said Miller. “A part of any art degree is a little bit of graphic design, but my focus was in 3-D design and moldmaking. … They didn’t even offer [digital] 3-D courses or anything like that at art school, it was mostly about the fine arts.”

O’Brien and Miller eventually left GameTech and started working for Rogue Gaming with a newfound proficiency in software like Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and several 3-D imaging programs. But beyond the digital luster, their current job still reminds them of art school from time to time. “[Gambling design] is sort of like an art project in art school,” said Miller. “Here’s the perimeter. Here’s what you need to accomplish, and here’s what we’re trying to address.

Whatever it is. We say OK, and we work with it.”

For those artists with a lessthan-ideal art major experience, the gambling industry is the academic encounter they never had.

“I left college not learning anything about art,” said Dan Martin, an artist for Bally Technologies. “I’d always drawn my whole life, and I knew that’s what I wanted to study. … I’ve learned way more about art in the last three years at Bally than I did the 30 years before that.”

One of the hardest things that Martin has had to learn on the job is something students

who was

don’t always experience sitting computer work. through the constructive criticism Other game artists don’t mind of college courses—rejection. a little digital crossover.

It’s a harsh truth but a necessary Miller’s work—geometric one for a business whose output paintings that often look as depends on turning over massive though they’ve been printed amounts of content. onto his canvases—are heavily “At least 90 percent of what influenced by the clean lines you do is flat out and precision rejected,” said of computerMartin. “You generated shapes, might work on images that something that Miller describes you think is as “over-the-top really cool and precise.” it just takes one Perhaps person to just go, this level of ‘Eh, I don’t like meticulousness that thing. It just is the reason doesn’t look that for Miller’s cool.’” most recent art But the most venture, a Bob significant lesson Ross-inspired to emerge for swing in the Martin is discovopposite direction ering the limits titled Happy Game Artist, Bally Technologies of the industry Accidents. Newly itself. “I actually finished, the don’t see much of 50-minute perfora future for slot mance piece machines unless placed Miller they change kind of radically. I on the Potentialist Workshop don’t think anyone is interested stage in full Bob Ross drag while in just going and making a bet demonstrating the late artist’s that they know they’re going to much-loved oil painting tips and lose. … I think finally people tricks for a live audience. are going to have to start making But even the traditional them more like video games. … techniques that Ross was famous Why should playing a video game for have a virtual callback in be more fun than gambling?”

Miller’s mind. “Bob Ross was just working within this method of constraints very much like the way that Photoshop works. It’s For creative people like game just a matter of how you know artists, operating at this level your tools.” requires more than just profesMartin’s art, like Miller’s, sional development—it means also draws on Photoshop for finding time for personal inspiration, though you wouldn’t artwork too. And after sitting at know it by looking at his painta computer all day, many artists ings. They are lifelike portraits find themselves going back to of game characters—Link from traditional media after-hours.

Legend of Zelda, Geralt from “[Gambling art] kind of Witcher, and Martin’s own D&D fulfills a pixel-based need,” said avatar to name a few—that use a O’Brien. “Before I started workcombination of old Flemish painting in this industry, I would get ing techniques for layering, and a lot of enjoyment from doing Photoshop for the value study and a digital painting. … Now my composition phases of the work. interests have taken more of a Unsurprisingly, they also look domestic turn.” a lot like images you might see After work, O’Brien spends on slot machines if slot machines her free time building things for tracked videogames a little more her house—a chicken coop, a bar, closely. But as Martin suggested, a table—projects she feels require that might be around the corner. Ω more “physical wrangling” than

BaaaaD in

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“I’ve learned way more about art in the last three years at Bally than I did the 30 years before that.”

Here’s your cHance

Dan Martin

to nominate the person, business or government entity you feel has done something really cheap, stupid or superficial during the past year!

You know, something really stupid, preposterous, absurd, insipid...you get the point. It’s your chance to lampoon them! All you have to do is tell us your “People’s Shaft” award nominee and why you’re nominating them.

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2015?

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January 9 – April 10, 2016

RN&R 16 | RN&R |

DECEMBER 31, 2015

Emily Arthur

Birds have appeared in artwork for a long time, and they’ve had a lot of different jobs. In the 1820s and ’30s, John by Kris Vagner James Audubon chronicled every fine-feathered friend he could find in lavish detail with a whiff of scientific aloofness in the copperplate etchings and book, The Birds of America.

In the 1990s and ’00s photography endured an extended obsession with rows of birds on telephone wires. In 2012, painters and crafters in the Etsysphere had become so ubiquitously birdbrained, affixing silhouettes of ravens and sparrows to anything an image could possibly be affixed to, that they were lampooned in an episode of Portlandia.

Sunset-hued washes of color are hand-painted over the mechanically reproduced print. There’s barely a foreground. The most prominent part of the image is the birds. Here, they amount to a scientific rendering, a death toll and a tender eulogy, all at once. Thirty-one gnatcatchers (small, wren-like birds), limp with death, are organized in tidy rows as if they were a bar graph.

“Birds are very responsive to changes in the land,” said Sheppard Gallery curator Paul Baker-Prindle.

“They act as a stand-in for notions of crossing boundaries, and they figure heavily in indigenous folk traditions.”

Baker-Prindle met Arthur through a national group of curators he works with. While the Venice Biennale is in progress, the group secures gallery spaces in the city and exhibits work by indigenous artists from North America in a bid for what they believe is long overdue international recognition. Arthur exhibited through this arrangement in 2011 and 2013.

In a glass case in the middle of the gallery are three actual dead gnatcatchers, specimens from UNR’s Museum of Natural History that were collected in the Virginia range in the 1950s.

Baker-Prindle said they became part of the exhibit as part of an effort toward interdisciplinary collaboration between art and science departments at UNR and also as a real-life reference item. The birds in Arthur’s prints, with their delicate statures, deflated bodies and delicately curled claws resemble the real specimens.

Titles such as “Threatened (with Deception)” suggest impending extinction. Animals look as if they’re frozen in specimen collections.

Perfectly executed exertions of technique, such as shooting a hole through a print with buckshot, begin to add up to a message of environmental doom, while in other prints the darkness and foreboding are overlaid with lush, muted, almost celebratory colors.

All these references and layers never become confusing or overdone.

What really takes flight in Arthur’s exhibit is a practiced ability to flip the bird cliché on its head and bring an overused image back into a realm where it’s rebranded as a symbol of reality, harsh, stark and beautiful all at the same time. Ω PHOTO/KRIS VAGNER

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Emily Arthur's print “Gnatcatchers and Blue,” alludes to migration.

Emily Arthur: Endangered is on view until Jan. 22 along with traditional duck decoys by Joe Allen of the Fallon PaiuteShoshone Tribe at the Sheppard Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St. For information, call 784-6658.

Just as you might think you couldn’t possibly stand one more bird image, along comes Emily Arthur.

She’s part Eastern Band Cherokee, part scientist and full-time assistant professor of printmaking at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In her exhibit at University of Nevada, Reno’s Sheppard Gallery, Emily Arthur: Endangered, which she made in collaboration with the Moore Laboratory at Occidental College in Los Angeles, she brings science into art, art into science, and the bird back down to earth. In her screen prints and etchings, birds and other animals have all the scientific accuracy of Audubon’s, none of the clichés, and layer upon layer of elegantly drawn evidence of careful study, both personal and scientific, of natural objects and natural systems.

One print “Gnatcatchers and Blue,” begins to sum up Arthur’s whole approach: A bold, blue butterfly imposed over maps of Mexico alludes to migration. Subtle grids of dots and numbers in the background represent avian DNA sequences.

Partial diagrams could be satellite maps or chemical composition charts.

Virginia City lights The Canvas Café 110 N. C St., Virginia City, 453-5167 When entertaining guests from east of the Mississippi, a tour of Virginia City’s old timey saloons and a walk by Todd South through the gravestones of Boot Hill is a must for tales of the Old West. So it was during a visit by my daughter’s New Jersey sweetheart.

We ended up at one of VC’s funkiest eateries, the Canvas Café.

With cups of colored chalk on the tables for spontaneous creativity—and walls covered with art for sale—the joint was hopping with live music and animated conversation on a Sunday afternoon. Large mugs of hot chocolate and strong coffee ($1.95) helped cut the chill of a bitingly cold December day.

PHOTO/ALLISON YOUNG

Seafood chowder was the was soup of the day, though the “cup” I received was a very modern, ovoid bowl containing at least a pint of soup ($3.50). Unlike most gravyesque chowders served out West, this broth reminded me of chowder I was served in a Martha’s Vineyard café. It was just slightly thickened with a terrific balance of seasoning and seafood, including shrimp, salmon and chopped clam, as well as a couple of whole clams on the shell. The only seafood chowder I’ve enjoyed more was that made by my New Englander mother-in-law.

Doubling-down on the ocean theme of my brunch, I chose an Oscar Benedict with home fries ($12.95). A split and toasted English muffin was covered in tasty crab meat, then topped with a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce. The sauce tasted fresh with not too much butter and a bright lemon note. The squareshaped eggs let the rest of the dish down a bit, as one was cooked clear through and the other had just a bit of

Owner Richard Oates prepares a version of the Blank Canvas special, with blackened salmon, applewood smoked bacon, frozen blood oranges, fried bell peppers, onions, grapes and a chipotle drizzle.

The Canvas Café is open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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run to the yolk. It’s easier for this to happen when using a poaching pan— really a form of double-boiler—rather than suspending the eggs in water.

The menu indicated the potatoes were baked rather than fried, which explains the lack of browning or crispness. The diced spuds were just a tad undercooked for my taste, but their seasoning and a dip in the Hollandaise made up for it.

My daughter—a chip off the old block—also ordered a cup of chowder with bread ($3.50). I think she enjoyed it even more than I did.

Her boyfriend ordered steak and eggs with home fries and toast ($14.95).

It was only when our food arrived we realized the server hadn’t asked how he’d like it cooked. Regardless, the eggs were done perfectly overmedium, and the peppered hunk of sirloin was dead-on medium rare.

The potatoes on his dish had a bit more color than mine, but I didn’t get a comparison taste because that young man eats faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. He seemed pretty pleased with his selection.

Offered along with the daily specials is something truly special, the Blank Canvas. Our server explained that you simply tell the chef what you like to eat, choose how much you’re willing to pay, and he’ll create something for you. My son— always up to try new things—jumped at this option without hesitation. He was invited back to the kitchen to consult with the chef, to whom he said, “I pretty much like everything you have here.” This brought a tear of pride to my epicurean eye. There are few things worse than dining with a picky eater.

Having agreed to a $12.95 dish, my son was presented with a breakfast he’ll not soon forget. A housemade, lightly-grilled biscuit was set atop a pool of Hollandaise, topped with a poached egg, two slices of thick-cut bacon, a petite sirloin steak, and a clamshell filled with clam, shrimp and salmon. As I write this, I’m still amazed that dish was served for just $13.

With plans for dinner service and sushi Sundays during the summer months, this creative little spot is a welcome addition to a town known more for bars and Western kitsch than creative cuisine. Ω

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Pulp Western

4

The Big Short

The Hateful Eight Quentin Tarantino returns to form after the just OK Django Unchained with yet another masterpiece in The Hateful Eight, a grandiose Western potboiler that boasts his best dialogue in years and an Oscar-caliber performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh.

I didn’t dislike Django, but I thought there was something a little off and sluggish about by it. It definitely left me wanting more from Bob Grimm Tarantino on the Western front. I thought he had a better, grittier Western still in him, and bg r i mm@ newsr evie w.c om this film proves that he did.

Many of the Tarantino cast regulars return, including Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Kurt Russell. Russell, who delivered what I believe is his best career work in Tarantino’s Death Proof as Stuntman Mike, gets another chance to go to town with a Tarantino script, and he embraces it with much enthusiasm.

5

"You want a foot massage?"

1 POOR

2 FAIR

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Russell plays John “The Hangman” Ruth, a bounty hunter renowned for bringing in his prisoners alive so that their necks meet the noose in the end. Riding in a stagecoach to Red Hook, with the notorious Daisy Domergue (Leigh), his latest bounty, chained to his arm, he comes across bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), and this is where the fun begins.

The party rescues one more man, future Red Hook Sheriff Chris Mannix (an outstanding Walton Goggins), from an oncoming blizzard. The stagecoach heads for Minnie’s Haberdashery as a means of shelter, where they meet the rest of the cast and tensions soar. Ruth deduces that one or more persons in the party aim to stop him from reaching Red Hook with Daisy Domergue and her huge bounty.

Russell is doing his best John Wayne here, and he’s scrappy fun, still sporting his mustache and chops from his other 2015 Western effort, Bone Tomahawk. Jackson

EXCELLENT

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DECEMBER 31, 2015

hasn’t gotten a chance to be this devilish since Pulp Fiction, and he goes off.

The performance likely to make the most waves is that of Leigh as Daisy. John Ruth is prone to elbowing and punching Daisy in the face throughout the movie, and the looks Leigh sports in the hit aftermaths are proof that this lady is not to be messed with. Leigh’s Daisy is definitely full bore crazy, but she also gives us something to sympathize with in her plight. She’s a marvel in this movie in a role that almost went to Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence is a great actress, but Leigh proves she was the right one for the role.

Shot in 70mm, the film is being offered in a Roadshow version complete with an intermission for those of you willing to take a drive to a limited engagement location and see it in the old school format. The impact and beauty of the film will not be lost in the digital projection, I assure you, but seeing a film in a traditionally projected state is a lot of fun if your projectionist is on the ball.

After a bit of bad blood working on Django Unchained, composer Ennio Morricone reteams with the auteur for a soundtrack that will more than likely put him into Oscar contention. Also, it draws a lot of comparisons to John Carpenter’s The Thing, which also contained snow, group paranoia, Kurt Russell and a Morricone score. The Hateful Eight score, along with the camerawork of Tarantino cinematographer mainstay Robert Richardson, makes this perhaps Tarantino’s best looking, and sounding, movie.

With The Hateful Eight, Tarantino finds his rhythm with editor Fred Raskin, who replaced the late Sally Menke on Django. Menke had edited all of the previous Tarantino films, and her presence was sorely missed on Django, a movie that felt like its beats were a little off. As things have turned out, Django was a decent warm-up for Tarantino and Raskin, because every beat is on the mark in The Hateful Eight. There’s a beautiful sense of tension from the first frame that doesn’t let up for three hours.

Tarantino has been saying he will retire from filmmaking in the classic sense after 10 movies. If you count the Kill Bill movies as one, as he does, The Hateful Eight is his eighth movie. That would mean that there are only two left, which means modern cinema could take a serious hit two Tarantino films from now. Ω

Director Adam McKay, the master behind such broad comedy gems as Anchorman and Step Brothers, flexes his slightly more serious muscles for this one, a take on the housing bubble that nearly destroyed the global economy. An ensemble cast featuring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt make this a funny-yet-scary look at how big banks nearly sent us back to the stone ages. Carell is especially good as Mark Baum, a banker with a conscience who realizes a little too late that things are going bad, and his wealth is going to come at the expense of a many U.S. homeowners. Bale is typically good as Michael Burry, the man who saw the storm coming and made a boatload of money betting against the biggest monsters of modern finance. Pitt has fun as a financial guru who has taken to the hills in anticipation of the oncoming financial apocalypse, while Gosling gives the whole thing a nice Martin Scorsese vibe as a fast-talking banker/narrator. It’s a drama, but it’s often funny. (Margot Robbie in a bubble bath … brilliant!) McKay shows that his chops go well beyond directing Will Ferrell with a fireman’s mustache.

2

Concussion

This is an odd, misguided movie. Will Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, a pathologist studying the cadavers of former football players dying in mysterious ways. His studies eventually lead to the discovery of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), a brain disease resulting from repeated concussive hits to the head. Director Peter Landesman’s film makes the mistake of focusing on Smith’s character, and pushing the stories of the suffering football players into the background. Does anybody really care about Omalu’s love life when football players are killing themselves after retirement?

For instance, the story of Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster (played movingly by David Morse) only gets a few minutes of screen time, while Omalu’s television habits and dancing prowess get more than one scene. The film goes for a strange emotional payoff regarding Omalu’s triumphant discovery rather than really focusing on the treacherous cover-ups by the NFL when it came to CTE. Again, a movie that pushes the stories and fates of the NFL players into the background in favor of giving a big Hollywood star a beefed-up role to sink his teeth into feels mighty self-indulgent. This could’ve been the incisive, important film the subject calls for, rather than a melodramatic excuse for Will Smith to try out a new accent.

4

Creed

Director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) and actor Michael B. Jordan (also of Station) resurrect the Rocky franchise with the best Rocky film since the 1976 original. Jordan plays Adonis Creed, son of Apollo Creed (played in past films by Carl Weathers) and born out of wedlock. Adonis goes to Philadelphia and enlists the help of his father’s former foe and friend, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), to coach him into becoming a professional boxer. The story is a familiar one, and it’s told with style and class in rousing fashion. Coogler does some of the best fight sequences since Scorsese’s Raging Bull, including a first fight that plays like one take. The final bout between Adonis and overseas Irish villain ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew) is sports cinema at its very best.

Coogler also finds a way to weave that iconic Bill Conti music into the score at perfect moments.

Jordan proves a more-than-worthy new addition to the franchise, while Stallone delivers a career best performance returning to his most recognized role. Heck, the man could find himself in Oscar contention.

3

Daddy’s Home

The second pairing of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg isn’t as funny as their first offering, The Other Guys, but it’s still funny enough to warrant a look. Ferrell is in bumbling mode as Brad, stepfather to a couple of kids who hate him and the husband of Sarah (Linda Cardellini). Just when the kids are starting to only hate him a little, Sarah’s ex-husband Dusty (Wahlberg) comes back into the picture in a boorish bid to win back his ex’s love, reclaim his children and get Brad out of the house.

This provides a setup that sees Ferrell’s Brad subjected to all forms of humiliation and injury, including a calamitous trek through his house on a motorcycle and a rendezvous with electrical wires after getting some impressive air off a half-pipe. Ferrell and Wahlberg are funny

together, and the movie does a decent job of making them both likeable idiots. Thomas Haden Church steals scenes as Brad’s obnoxious boss at a smooth jazz radio station, as does Hannibal Buress as a handyman who winds up crashing on Brad’s couch. The film is nasty, but it’s neutered a bit by it’s PG-13 rating. It’s clear this is being marketed at families, but that’s a mistake right there. I’m sure there’s a nastier cut of this movie, and if I have a complaint it’s that the movie doesn’t go all the way with its sinister message. It pulls some punches, keeping it from being the dark comedy it deserves to be, and making it more of a feel-good film with some sinister undertones. Still, I laughed enough, and the film is recommended to fans of Ferrell and Wahlberg.

3

Joy

This is a goofy, uneven, yet entertaining showcase for Jennifer Lawrence, who delivers a fun and strong performance as the title character. Joy has a tough life, with a mother (Virginia Madsen) addicted to TV and her divorced husband (Edgar Ramirez) and father (Robert De Niro) sharing her basement.

She’s working crap jobs, but an idea for a revolutionary mop gets her on TV and eventually changes her life. Director and co-writer David O. Russell reunites with his Silver Linings Playbook star, and the results are a bit strange to say the least. Lawrence puts the proceedings over the top with the sort of commanding performance that has become routine for her.

De Niro has fun in his standard dad role. His roles in O. Russell films are his best in years.

Isabella Rossellini gets her best role since Blue Velvet as De Niro’s rich girlfriend who finds herself bankrolling Joy’s mop scheme. Bradley Cooper barely registers as the TV executive who gives Joy her break, although that has more to do with his lack of screen time than his performance. It’s a good ensemble in service of a movie that's a little beneath them, but it all comes together for something worth seeing.

3

Krampus

Horror fans have had a good year in 2015. It Follows, We are Still Here, Bone Tomahawk, Ash vs Evil Dead all did a lot of good for genre lovers. While director Michael Dougherty’s Krampus isn’t quite up to the level of those I just mentioned, it does do the Christmas horror subgenre proud in many ways. For starters, this sucker has a majorly grim attitude that it sticks with until the very end. There will be no happy Christmas message in the land of Krampus, so don’t take this one in if you have eggnog on your breath and are looking to get into the holiday spirit. It’s more of a film for somebody who pisses and moans when the Christmas decorations show up at Macy’s before Halloween. Max (Emjay Anthony) still believes in Christmas and Santa Claus, and he takes a lot of crap for it from family members.

When a bunch of family come to his house for Christmas, his cousins taunt him, while his parents (Adam Scott and Toni Collette) deal with an annoying aunt and uncle (David Koechner and Allison Tolman). Throw evil Aunt Dorothy (Conchata Ferrell) into the mix, and Max’s family is in for one lousy yuletide season. They eventually must confront evil Christmas demon Krampus and his scary henchmen. It’s not a great film, but it qualifies as a fun, nasty diversion.

5

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

With this seventh chapter in the Star Wars saga, J.J. Abrams and crew have done exactly what they did with Star Trek, and created a fun movie that not only respects the blessed canon of a beloved franchise, but stands on its own as a piece of supreme entertainment. It’s 2015’s most entertaining film, for sure, and a movie that stands up proudly in the realm of Star Wars movies. In many ways, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the best movie in the franchise. I won’t say it’s my personal, sentimental favorite. (I think The Empire Strikes Back still holds that post, but a little more time will tell.) The Force Awakens has solid storytelling, its special effects are first rate, and the performances are, undoubtedly, the best the franchise has ever seen. That’s due in part to Daisy Ridley, an incredible talent who becomes an instant star for the foreseeable future as Rey, a scrappy scavenger on a Tatooine-like desert planet. I don’t think I’m overdoing it by saying she delivers the all-time, all-around best dramatic performance in the Star Wars universe in this role. The film will leave you craving for more, and a good Star Wars craving is a nice thing to have.

join our team

Crossroads Van Sounds Shortly after Fil Corbitt graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2013, he packed up to go on tour with by Jeri Buster Blue—one of seven bands Chadwell-Singley the 25-year-old musician has been a member of. In August of that year, j eri c@ news r eview.c om his podcast, Van Sounds, was born.

What started as a way to chronicle a touring band’s experiences has since evolved into an exploration of the parallels Corbitt finds between music and travel.

PHOTO/JERI CHADWELL-SINGLEY

“I think that there’s this value that both music and travel can convey, and I think they convey a similar importance, in that it’s about finding new things, experiencing new things, connecting with other people, connecting with other places,” he said.

Corbitt first encountered this complementary relationship while hitchhiking across the country, years before he left on tour with Buster Blue. “I was playing music with people in a lot of places and was finding that that was clearly the best way to connect with people was to play music with them,” he said. “I was looking for ... a way to connect not only to other people, but to myself and to where I was from and to my sense of place, and it just seemed like music made the most sense in making that happen.”

Corbitt started playing the banjo because it was easier to travel with than his first instrument, the drums.

In 2012, after deciding that the

Fil Corbitt sits on the roof of his 1995 Toyota pickup, which hit 300,000 miles during a June trip.

For more information, visit www.vansounds.org.

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traditional banjo was still too heavy for travel, Corbitt built a two-pound banjo. “It’s this little, durable, super lightweight piece of machinery that I can just throw in my backpack and just take off,” he said.

After Corbitt left Buster Blue in 2013, he took his travel banjo to Peru, the Grand Canyon and New England.

Stories from these experiences combine with carefully selected songs from Corbitt’s musician friends and bands to make up some of the early episodes of Van Sounds.

In December, Corbitt released the last in a series of episodes about a week-long trip he and a friend took last June. “It’s just a six-part series, where a friend and I rolled one die and then drove in a direction based on what the die landed on,” he said.

His description doesn’t do justice to the listener experience, which unfolds with the pace of a good novel set to music. It does, however, reinforce a theme that listeners will encounter throughout Corbitt’s body of work—the idea that walking away from a journey without having learned a distinct lesson is OK. “There is this idyllic travel narrative,” Corbitt said, using the example of a Van Sounds episode in which he hopped a freight train across Nevada.

“You know, there’s this beautiful story where you go out, and you travel, and you come home, and you’re changed, and you’re on the train, playing the banjo and that kind of thing. In reality, you get on the train. It’s too fucking loud. You can’t hear anything.

It’s cold. It’s windy. You’re still having the time of your life, but you’re like sad and in pain and it’s too loud.”

These days, Corbitt works as a broadcast technician at UNR’s Reynolds School of Journalism. He still travels extensively during winter and summer breaks and hopes to someday turn podcasting into a career. The months between traveling, Corbitt spends playing with his newest band, People with Bodies, and creating new episodes of Van Sounds from the audio collected during previous road trips. The next destination on his list is Brazil.

“I’m into a handful of Brazilian bands, so that seems to be like the next frontier,” Corbitt said. “Every time I get into a certain culture or certain type of music or bands from a place, I like to go there and figure out why I like it.” Ω

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1UP

214 W. Commercial Row, (775) 329-9444

1UP 3RD 214 W. STREET Commercial Row, (775) 329-9444

THURSDAY 12/31

FRIDAY 1/1

SATURDAY 1/2

SUNDAY 1/3

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 1/4-1/6

2016 Awakens!—A THURSDAY 12/31Star Wars Themed NYE Ball, 10pm, $TBA

FRIDAY 1/1

TroyBoi After Party: SATURDAY 1/2 UltraViolet, Le Swndle, SUNDAY 1/3 Trap City Twerk Squad, 11pm, $5-$10

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 1/4-1/6

3RD STREET 5 STAR 125 W. ThirdSALOON St., (775) 323-5005

2016 Awakens!—A Star Wars Themed NYE Ball, $TBA with Clowns, party10pm, w/Drinking 8pm, $TBA NYE party w/Drinking with Clowns, 8pm, $TBA 2016 GlitterBall, 10pm, $10

5 STAR SALOON BARWestOFSt.,AMERICA 132 (775) 329-2878

2016 GlitterBall, 10pm, $10 NYE party, 8:30pm, no cover

Winter Wonderland White Party, DJ Neptune, 5pm, no cover 10pm, $5 after 10pm, no cover in white attire Winter Wonderland White Party, DJ Neptune, 5pm, no cover 10pm, $5 after 10pm, no cover in white attire National Soul, 8:30pm, no cover National Soul, 8:30pm, no cover

NYE party, 8:30pm, no cover

National Soul, 8:30pm, no cover

125 W. Third St., (775) 323-5005 132 West St., (775) 329-2878

10042 Donner Pass Rd., Truckee; (530) 587-2626

BAR OF AMERICA BAR-M-BAR 10042 Donner Pass Rd., Truckee; (530) 587-2626

TroyBoi After Party: UltraViolet, Le Swndle, Trap City Twerk Squad, 11pm, $5-$10

DG Kicks, 9pm, Tu, no cover After Mic, 11:30pm, W, no cover DG Kicks, 9pm, Tu, no cover After Mic, 11:30pm, W, no cover Karaoke, 9pm, Tu, W, no cover Karaoke, 9pm, Tu, W, no cover

National Soul, 8:30pm, no cover

816 Highway 40 West, Verdi; (775) 351-3206

BAR-M-BAR BRASSERIE ST. JAMES 816 Highway 40 West, Verdi; (775) 351-3206 901 S. Center St., (775) 348-8888

BRASSERIE ST. JAMES CARGO ATSt., WHITNEY PEAK HOTEL 901 S. Center (775) 348-8888

TroyBoi, Napsty, Game Genie, Big Bad Wolf, Trap City Twerk Squad, 8pm, $14.50 TroyBoi, Napsty, Game Genie, Big Bad Wolf, Trap City Twerk Squad, 8pm, $14.50

255 N. Virginia St., (775) 398-5400

CARGO AT WHITNEY PEAK HOTEL CEOL IRISHSt.,PUB 255 N. Virginia (775) 398-5400 CEOL IRISH PUB COMMA COFFEE 538 S. Virginia St., (775) 329-5558

NYE party w/Chris Talbot, 9pm, no cover NYE party w/Chris Talbot, 9pm, no cover

COMMA COFFEE COTTONWOOD RESTAURANT & BAR 312 S. Carson St., Carson City; (775) 883-2662

Neva, 7pm, no cover

Chi McClean, 7pm, no cover

Neva, 7pm, no cover NYE party w/Down Time, 9:30pm, no cover NYE party w/Down Time, 9:30pm, no Roaring cover ’20s NYE Party Speakeasy w/Wunderlust, 9pm, no cover Speakeasy Roaring ’20s NYE Party w/Wunderlust, 9pm, no cover NYE party w/Paisley Brain Cells, 10pm, $15 NYE party w/Paisley Brain Cells, 10pm, $15

Chi McClean, 7pm, no cover

538 S. Virginia St., (775) 329-5558

SundaYze: Brunch and live jazz w/Reno Jazz Syndicate, noon, no cover SundaYze: Brunch and live jazz w/Reno Jazz Syndicate, noon, no cover

COTTONWOOD RESTAURANT & BAR DAVIDSON’S DISTILLERY 10142 Rue Hilltop, Truckee; (530) 587-5711 275 E. Fourth St., (775) 324-1917

DAVIDSON’S DISTILLERY ELBOW ROOM BAR 275 E. Fourth St., (775) 324-1917

2002 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 356-9799

ELBOW ROOM BAR GREAT BASIN 2002 Victorian Ave.,BREWING Sparks; (775) CO. 356-9799 846 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 355-7711

GREAT BASIN BREWING CO. HANGAR 846 VictorianBAR Ave., Sparks; (775) 355-7711

Karaoke w/Nitesong Productions, 9pm, Tu, Border Line Fine, 9:30pm, W, no cover Karaoke w/Nitesong Productions, 9pm, Tu, Border LineJam Fine, 9:30pm, W, noDiijon, cover Open Mic Slam w/Adrian 9pm, Tu, Karaoke Nite, 9pm, W, no cover Open Mic Jam Slam w/Adrian Diijon, 9pm, Tu, Karaoke Nite, 9pm, W, no cover

Karaoke Kat, 9pm, no cover

10603 Stead Blvd., Stead; (775) 677-7088

HANGAR BAR HIMMEL 10603 Stead HAUS Blvd., Stead; (775) 677-7088

Karaoke Kat, 9pm, no cover

Canyon White Open Mic Night, 8pm, no cover Canyon White Open Mic Night, 8pm, no cover

Open Mic Night, 9pm, M, no cover Trivia Night, 9pm, W, no cover Open Mic Night, 9pm, M, no cover Trivia Night, 9pm, W, no cover Blazin Mics!, 9:30pm, M, no cover

3819 Saddle Rd., South Lake Tahoe; (530) 314-7665

HIMMEL HAUS JUBSaddle JUB’S THIRST PARLOR 3819 Rd., South Lake Tahoe; (530) 314-7665

The Erkonauts, 9pm, $5

71 S. Wells Ave., (775) 384-1652

JUB JUB’S THIRST PARLOR THE JUNGLE 71 S. Wells Ave., (775) 384-1652

The Erkonauts, 9pm, $5

Blazin Mics!, 9:30pm, M, no cover Outspoken: Open Mic Night, 7pm, M, no cover Outspoken: Open Mic Night, 7pm, M, no cover

246 W. First St., (775) 329-4484

THE JUNGLE

246 W. First St., (775) 329-4484

Dec. 9 p.m.St. 555 E.31,Fourth PB&J’s 322-4348 555 E. Fourth St. 322-4348

Strange on the Range, 7pm, W, no cover MURS, 8pm, W, $14-$17 MURS, 8pm, W, $14-$17 Traditional Irish Tune Session, 7pm, Tu, no cover Traditional Irish Tune Session, 7pm,and Tu, Mr. no cover CW Spoons, noon, M, no cover Dave Leather, noon, W, no cover CW and Mr. Spoons, noon, M, no cover Dave Leather, noon, W, no cover

312 S. Carson St., Carson City; (775) 883-2662 10142 Rue Hilltop, Truckee; (530) 587-5711

Monday Night Open Mic, 8pm, M, no cover Monday Night Open Mic, 8pm, M, no cover Strange on the Range, 7pm, W, no cover

Andre Nickatina Dec. 31, 9 p.m.

Andre Nickatina PB&J’s

Comedy Comedy

3rd Street, 125 W. Third St., 323-5005: Open Mic Comedy Competition w/Patrick Shillito, 9pm, no125 cover 3rd W, Street, W. Third St., 323-5005: OpenNugget, Mic Comedy Shillito, Carson 507Competition N. Carson w/Patrick St., Carson W, 9pm, no cover Jesus Trejo, Th, 7pm, $15-$20, City, 882-1626: 9:30pm, $18-$23; Carson Nugget, 507 F,N.7:30pm, Carson$13-$15 St., Carson 882-1626: JesusCabaret, Trejo, Th, 7pm, $15-$20, The City, Improv at Harveys Harveys 9:30pm, $18-$23; F, 7:30pm, $13-$15 Lake Tahoe, Stateline, (800) 553-1022: Zany,at BillyHarveys Bonnell, Th-F, Su, 9pm, $25; The Bob Improv Cabaret, Harveys Sa, 8pm, 10pm,Stateline, $30; Greg (800) Fitzsimmons, Lake Tahoe, 553-1022: Jodi Zany, Borrello, 9pm, $25 Bob BillyW,Bonnell, Th-F, Su, 9pm, $25; Sa, Factory 8pm, 10pm,at$30; GregLegacy Fitzsimmons, Laugh Silver Resort Jodi Borrello, $25 St., 325-7401: Casino, 407 W, N. 9pm, Virginia Angel Salazar, Th, 7:30pm, 9:30pm, $21.95; F-Sa, Laugh Factory at Silver Legacy Resort $27.45; Su, 7:30pm, $21.95;St., Steve325-7401: “Mudflap” Casino, 407 N. Virginia McGrew, Tu, W,Th,7:30pm, Angel Salazar, 7:30pm,$21.95 9:30pm, $21.95; F-Sa, $27.45; Su,Comedy 7:30pm, at $21.95; Steve “Mudflap” Reno-Tahoe Pioneer McGrew, Tu, W, 7:30pm, Underground, 100 S.$21.95 Virginia St., 686-6600: Steve Simeone, Th, 6:30pm, $20Reno-Tahoe Comedy at Pioneer $25, 9:30pm, $23-$28; 9pm, $15-$18; Underground, 100 S.F,Virginia St., Sa, 6:30pm, 9:30pm, $15-$18Th, 6:30pm, $20686-6600: Steve Simeone, $25, 9:30pm, $23-$28; F, 9pm, $15-$18; Sa, 6:30pm, 9:30pm, $15-$18

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK | 4PM - MIDNIGHT

THESE THESE

DON’T DON’T

MIX MIX

Think you know your limits?

Think again.

If you drink, don’t drive.

Period.

OPINION

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NEWS

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GREEN

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FEATURE STORY

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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

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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

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THIS WEEK

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MISCELLANY

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DECEMBER 31, 2015

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OPINION

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NEWS

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GREEN

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FEATURE STORY

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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

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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

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THIS WEEK

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MISCELLANY

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DECEMBER 31, 2015

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RN&R RN&R

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21

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21

THE LOFT THEATRE-LOUNGE-DINING THE LOFTVillage THEATRE-LOUNGE-DINING 1021 Heavenly Way, South Lake Tahoe; (530) 523-8024

THURSDAY 12/31 THURSDAY 12/31

Magic Fusion NYE show, 7pm, $40-$75 Magic show, 7pm, $40-$75 FDVM Fusion and TheNYE Schmidt, 11:30pm, $30 FDVM and The Schmidt, 11:30pm, $30 1021 Heavenly Village Way, South Lake Tahoe; (530) 523-8024

FRIDAY 1/1 FRIDAY 1/1

SUNDAY 1/3 SUNDAY 1/3

SATURDAY 1/2 SATURDAY 1/2

Magic Fusion w/Tony Clark, Magic Fusion$27 w/Tony Clark, 7pm, 9pm, 7pm, 9pm, $27

Magic Fusion w/Tony Clark, Magic Fusion$27 w/Tony Clark, 7pm, 9pm, 7pm, 9pm, $27

Magic Fusion w/Tony Clark, Magic Fusion$27 w/Tony Clark, 7pm, 9pm, 7pm, 9pm, $27

THE LOVING CUP THE LOVING 188 California Ave.,CUP (775) 322-2480

Whatitdo Wednesday, 9pm, W, no cover Whatitdo Wednesday, 9pm, W, no cover

188 California Ave., (775) 322-2480

MOODY’S BISTRO BAR & BEATS MOODY’S BISTRO BEATS 10007 Bridge St., Truckee;BAR (530) & 587-8688 10007 Bridge St., Truckee; (530) 587-8688

NYE show w/George Souza Band, NYE w/George Souza Band, 8pm,show no cover 8pm, no cover

O’SKIS PUB & GRILLE O’SKIS PUB GRILLE 840 Victorian Ave.,&Sparks; (775) 359-7547

Chris Karns Chris Karns Jan. 2, 10 p.m.

Shamrockit Open Mic Night, Shamrockit Open Mic Night, 6pm, no cover 6pm, no cover

840 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 359-7547

POLO LOUNGE POLO LOUNGE 1559 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-8864

Jan. 2, 10 p.m.

Peppermill Peppermill 2707 S. Virginia St. 2707 S. Virginia St. 826-2121 826-2121

Johnny Lipka’s Gemini, 9pm, no cover Johnny Lipka’s Gemini, 9pm, no cover

1559 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-8864

PSYCHEDELIC BALLROOM PSYCHEDELIC BALLROOM AND JUKE JOINT (PB&J’S) AND JOINT (PB&J’S) 555 E. JUKE Fourth St., (775) 322-4348 555 E. Fourth St., (775) 322-4348

Reggae Night, 10pm, no cover Reggae Night, 10pm, no cover

1483 E. Fourth St., (775) 622-9424 715 S. Virginia St., (775) 786-4774

NYE party w/DJ Snarky, 9pm, no cover NYE party w/DJ Snarky, 9pm, no cover

SHELTER SHELTER 111 N. Virginia St., (775) 329-2909 219 W. Second St., (775) 657-9466

Del The Funky Del The Funky Homosapien Homosapien Jan. 2, 9 p.m.

445 California Ave., (775) 657-8484

STUDIO ON 4TH STUDIO ONSt.,4TH 432 E. Fourth (775) 737-9776 432 E. Fourth St., (775) 737-9776

WHISKEY DICK’S SALOON WHISKEY 2660 Lake TahoeDICK’S Blvd., South SALOON Lake Tahoe; (530) 544-3425 2660 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe; (530) 544-3425

Step Back Saturday, 10pm, no cover Step Back Saturday, 10pm, no cover

NYE Bash w/Black Rock City Allstars, NYE w/Black Rock City Allstars, 8pm,Bash no cover 8pm, no cover

ST. JAMES INFIRMARY ST. JAMESAve., INFIRMARY 445 California (775) 657-8484

Jan. 2, 9 p.m.

Whiskey Dick’s Saloon Whiskey Dick’s Saloon 2660 Lake Tahoe Blvd.

2660 SouthLake LakeTahoe TahoeBlvd.

South Lake Tahoe (530) 544-3425 (530) 544-3425

Cool Tapes New Year’s Eve Countdown Cool New Year’s Eve Countdown w/LexTapes & Luzcia, Rum Runners, 8pm, $TBA w/Lex & Luzcia, Rum Runners, 8pm, $TBA Goldlink, Andrew Luce, 11:30pm, $30 Goldlink, Andrew Luce, 11:30pm, $30

New Year’s Day Meltdown w/Shortcut, New Year’s Day DJ Keenan, 9pm,Meltdown $TBA w/Shortcut, DJ Keenan, 9pm, $TBA

Dance party, 9pm, no cover Dance party, 9pm, no cover

Tuesday Night Trivia, 8pm, Tu, no cover Tuesday Night Trivia, 8pm, Tu, no cover

Ritual (industrial, EDM, ’80s) w/DJs David Ritual (industrial, ’80s) w/DJs David Zolopht, 8pm, $TBA Darkness, Rusty, EDM, Jon Potter, 9pm, $3-$5 Zolopht, 8pm, $TBA Darkness, Rusty, Jon Potter, 9pm, $3-$5

Gleewood, Lizano, 8pm, Tu, $5 Gleewood, Lizano,8pm, 8pm,W,Tu, $5 Harm, Kittwake, $TBA Harm, Kittwake, 8pm, W, $TBA

Del the Funky Homosapien, Domino, Del theRock Funky Homosapien, Domino, Black City Allstars, 9pm, $18-$20 Black Rock City Allstars, 9pm, $18-$20

WILDFLOWER VILLAGE WILDFLOWER VILLAGE 4275-4395 W. Fourth St., (775) 787-3769

1) Comedy Power Hour Open Mic, 1)8pm, Comedy Tu, noPower coverHour Open Mic, 8pm, Tu, no cover

4275-4395 W. Fourth (775) 787-3769 1) Golden Rose Cafe 2)St., Green Fairy Pub 3) Cabaret 1) Golden Rose Cafe 2) Green Fairy Pub 3) Cabaret

XHALE BAR & LOUNGE XHALE & LOUNGE 27 HighwayBAR 50, Stateline; (775) 580-7221 27 Highway 50, Stateline; (775) 580-7221

NEVERER A COVGE CHAR

Post show nline by P showss oon reogst iste ring at line by registe g at www.neriwnsr w w.n iew.com ewsreevvie /rw eno. D om adline w /reno. Deea is.cth e Friday befo dline is the re Friday b efore publicati n. publicatioon .

Tavern Trivia, 9pm, no cover Tavern Trivia, 9pm, no cover DJ/dancing, 10pm, no cover DJ/dancing, 10pm, no cover

111 N. Virginia St., (775) 329-2909

SINGER SOCIAL CLUB SINGER SOCIAL 219 W. Second St., (775)CLUB 657-9466

Johnny Lipka’s Gemini, 9pm, no cover Johnny Lipka’s Gemini, 9pm, no cover

NYE show w/Andre Nickatina, NYE w/Andre 9pm,show $21-$25, AfterNickatina, NYE w/FreQ Nasty, 9pm, $21-$25, After NYE w/FreQ Nasty, 12:30am, $20-$25 12:30am, $20-$25

RUBEN’S CANTINA RUBEN’S 1483 E. FourthCANTINA St., (775) 622-9424 SHEA’S TAVERN SHEA’S TAVERN 715 S. Virginia St., (775) 786-4774

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 1/4-1/6 MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 1/4-1/6

Magic Fusion w/Tony Clark, Magic Fusion 8pm, M, Tu, W,w/Tony $27 Clark, 8pm, M, Tu, W, $27

2016 “Jump Off” Party, 2016 Off”charge Party, for women 9pm,“Jump no cover 9pm, no cover charge for women

PA R T Y F AV OR S

CH AM PA GN E T OA ST *NOT A PARROT HEAD N.Y.E.

TONIGHT! THURSDAY,

DECEMBER 31ST, 9:30PM DOWNTIME W/ THE CHAZ O'NEILL BAND, CYANATE CODE: D R E S S D OW N S DRES I N – FR UR: MO WELL O H Y P HAP – 7PM $2 4PM D& & $2 BU D R IN K S H T B O T T L E S B U D L IG

FRIDAY, JANUARY 1ST, 9:30PM SERENITY AWAITS & LIMBOSTATE

DAVIDSONS DISTILLERY • 275 E. 4TH ST., RENO, NV • DOWNTOWN 22 22

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RN&R RN&R

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DECEMBER 31, 2015 DECEMBER 31, 2015

SATURDAY, JANUARY 2ND, 9:30PM

OSTRACIZED, D-CENT, HALF A TUSK AT 9:30PM

• 3 BLOCKS EAST OF VIRGINIA ST.

ATLANTIS CASINO RESORT SPA ATLANTIS 3800 S. VirginiaCASINO St., (775) RESORT 825-4700 SPA 3800 S. Virginia St.,Stage (775)2)825-4700 1) Grand Ballroom Cabaret 1) Grand Ballroom Stage 2) Cabaret

CRYSTAL BAY CLUB CRYSTAL BAY CLUB 14 Hwy. 28, Crystal Bay; (775) 833-6333 14 Hwy. 28, Crystal Bay;Room (775) 833-6333 1) Crown Room 2) Red 1) Crown Room 2) Red Room

ELDORADO RESORT CASINO ELDORADO RESORT CASINO 345 N. Virginia St., (775) 786-5700 345 N. Virginia St., Brothers (775) 786-5700 1) Theater 2) Brew 3) NoVi 1) Brew Brothers 4) Theater Cin Cin 5)2) Stadium Bar 3) NoVi 4) Cin Cin 5) Stadium Bar

GRAND SIERRA RESORT GRAND SIERRA RESORT 2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000

THURSDAY 12/31 THURSDAY 12/31

FRIDAY 1/1 FRIDAY 1/1

SATURDAY 1/2 SATURDAY 1/2

SUNDAY 1/3 SUNDAY 1/3

2) Soul Persuaders, 4pm, no cover 2) Soul Persuaders, 4pm, no cover Atomika, 10pm, no cover Atomika, 10pm, no cover

2) Soul Persuaders, 4pm, no cover 2) Soul Persuaders, 4pm, no cover Hindsight, 10pm, no cover Hindsight, 10pm, no cover

2) Soul Persuaders, 4pm, no cover 2) Soul Persuaders, 4pm, no cover Hindsight, 10pm, no cover Hindsight, 10pm, no cover

2) Hindsight, 8pm, no cover 2) Hindsight, 8pm, no cover

1) NYE show w/Dumpstaphunk and 1) NYE show w/Dumpstaphunk and Monophonics, 9pm, $45 Monophonics, 9pm, $45

1) Leftover Salmon, Front Country, 1) Leftover Salmon, Front Country, 9pm, $27-$47 9pm, $27-$47

1) Leftover Salmon, Front Country, 1) Leftover Salmon, Front Country, 9pm, $27-$47 9pm, $27-$47

1) Zoot Suit Riot, 7pm, 9:30pm, $29.95 Suit RiotPresley, , 7pm, 9:30pm, $29.95 1) Zoot 2) NYE w/Cash DJ Montague, 2) NYE$15-$20 w/Cash Presley, DJ Montague, 9pm, 9pm, 3) NYE$15-$20 w/Roni V, DJ Miller, 9pm, $15-$20 3) NYE w/Roni V, DJ Miller, 9pm, $15-$20

1) Zoot Suit Riot, 7pm, 9:30pm, $29.95 1) Zoot Riot, 10:30pm, 7pm, 9:30pm, $29.95 2) CashSuit Presley, no cover 2) Presley, 10:30pm, 3) Cash DJ Roni Romance, 9pm,no nocover cover 3) DJ Roni Romance, 9pm, no no cover cover 5) Long Duck Dongs, 9pm, 5) Long Duck Dongs, 9pm, no cover

1) Zoot Suit Riot, 7pm, 9:30pm, $29.95 1) Zoot Riot, 10:30pm, 7pm, 9:30pm, $29.95 2) CashSuit Presley, no cover 2) Presley, 10:30pm, 3) Cash DJ Roni Romance, 9pm,no nocover cover 3) DJ Roni Romance, 9pm, no no cover cover 5) Long Duck Dongs, 9pm, 5) Long Duck Dongs, 9pm, no cover

2) Lex Fridays w/DJ Rick Gee, 2) Lex $15 Fridays w/DJ Rick Gee, 10pm, 10pm, $15

2) Lex Saturdays, 10pm, $15-$25 2) Lex Saturdays, 10pm, $15-$25

2) The Majestic Ball, 8pm, $30-$60 2) Ball, 8pm, 4) The NYE Majestic party w/Maxxt Out,$30-$60 2500 E. Second (775)Nightclub 789-2000 NYE party w/Maxxt Out, 1) Grand TheaterSt., 2) Lex 3) Sports Book 4) 9:30pm, $44.95 1) Nightclub Sports Book 9:30pm, $44.95 4) Grand SummitTheater Pavilion2) 5)LexSilver State3)Pavilion

4) Summit Pavilion 5) Silver State Pavilion

HARD ROCK HOTEL HARD ROCKLAKE HOTEL & CASINO TAHOE & CASINO LAKE(844) TAHOE 50 Hwy. 50, Stateline; 588-7625 50 Hwy.2)50,Guitar Stateline; 1) Vinyl Plaza(844) 588-7625 1) Vinyl 2) Guitar Plaza

HARRAH’S LAKE TAHOE HARRAH’S LAKE(775) TAHOE 15 Hwy. 50, Stateline; 588-6611

15 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (775) 1) South Shore Room 2) Peek588-6611 Nightclub 1) 2) Peek Nightclub 3) South CenterShore StageRoom Lounge 3) Center Stage Lounge

HARRAH’S RENO HARRAH’S RENO 219 N. Center St., (775) 788-2900

219 N. CenterShowroom St., (775)2)788-2900 1) Sammy’s The Zone 1) Showroom 2) The 3) Sammy’s Sapphire Lounge 4) Plaza 5) Zone Convention Center 3) Sapphire Lounge 4) Plaza 5) Convention Center

NUGGET CASINO RESORT NUGGET 1100 Nugget CASINO Ave., Sparks;RESORT (775) 356-3300

1100 Nugget Showroom Ave., Sparks; (775) 356-3300 1) Celebrity 2) Nugget Grand Ballroom 1) 3) Celebrity Gilley’s Showroom 2) Nugget Grand Ballroom 3) Gilley’s

PEPPERMILL RESORT SPA CASINO PEPPERMILL SPA CASINO 2707 S. Virginia St.,RESORT (775) 826-2121 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121 1) Tuscany Ballroom 2) Terrace Lounge 1) Ballroom 2) Terrace Lounge 3) Tuscany Edge 4) Capri Ballroom 3) Edge 4) Capri Ballroom

SANDS REGENCY CASINO HOTEL SANDS REGENCY CASINO 345 N. Arlington Ave., (775) 348-2200HOTEL 345 Arlington Ave.,2)(775) 348-2200 1) 3rdN. Street Lounge Jester Theater 1) 3) 3rd CopaStreet Bar &Lounge Grill 2) Jester Theater 3) Copa Bar & Grill

SILVER LEGACY RESORT CASINO SILVER LEGACY RESORT 407 N. Virginia St., (775) 325-7401 CASINO

407 N. Virginia St.,Hall (775) 1) Grand Exposition 2) 325-7401 Rum Bullions Island Bar 1) Exposition Hall4)2)Silver Rum Bullions Island Bar 3) Grand Aura Ultra Lounge Baron Lounge 3) Aura Ultra 4) Silver Baron Lounge 5) Silver BaronLounge Ballroom 5) Silver Baron Ballroom

OPINION OPINION

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NEWS NEWS

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GREEN GREEN

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1) Big ’80s NYE Party : The Radio Rebels, 1) Big ’80s 10pm, $20 NYE Party : The Radio Rebels, 1) Tom Cotter, 9pm, $40 10pm, 1) Tom Cotter, 9pm, $40 2) Rock$20 the Plaza, 9pm, no cover 2) Rock the Plaza, 9pm, no cover

1) Queen Nation, 9pm, $20 1) Queen Nation, 9pm, $20

2) Beyond the Looking Glass NYE 2) Beyond the Looking Glass NYE Celebration w/DJ Jayceeoh, Celebration DJ Rick Gee,w/DJ 10pm,Jayceeoh, $20 DJ Rick Gee, 10pm, $20

2) DJ JosBeatz, DJ Spider, 10pm, $20 2) Spider, 10pm, $20 3) DJ ArtyJosBeatz, the Party,DJ9pm, no cover 3) Arty the Party, 9pm, no cover

2) DJ Rick Gee, DJ Scene, 10pm, $20 2) Scene, 3) DJ ArtyRick theGee, Party,DJ9pm, no 10pm, cover $20 3) Arty the Party, 9pm, no cover

3) Jackie Landrum, 8pm, no cover 3) Jackie Landrum, 8pm, no cover

3) Jackie Landrum, 8pm, no cover 3) Jackie Landrum, 8pm, no cover

3) DJ/dancing, 5pm, no cover 3) DJ/dancing, 5pm, no cover

1) JOEL: The Band, 9pm, $15 1) The Band, $15 3) JOEL: DJ/dancing, 5pm,9pm, no cover 3) DJ/dancing, 5pm, no cover

2) Dustbowl Revival, 8pm, no cover 2) Dustbowl Revival, 8pm, no cover

2) Dustbowl Revival, 8pm, no cover 2) Revival, 3) Dustbowl Chris Karns, 10pm,8pm, $20 no cover 3) Chris Karns, 10pm, $20

2) Superbad, 9pm, no cover 2) 9pm,9pm, no cover 3) Superbad, Fashion Friday, no cover 3) Friday, 9pm,9pm, no cover 4) Fashion Halie O’Ryan Band, no cover 4) Halie O’Ryan Band, 9pm, no cover

2) Superbad, 9pm, no cover 2) 9pm, no cover 3) Superbad, Seduction Saturdays, 9pm, $5 3) Saturdays, 9pm, 4) Seduction Halie O’Ryan Band, 9pm, no$5 cover 4) Halie O’Ryan Band, 9pm, no cover

2) NYE party w/DJ Luciano, 2) NYEnoparty 9pm, coverw/DJ Luciano, 9pm, coverw/DJ GomeX, 3) NYEnoparty 3) NYE party 8pm, no coverw/DJ GomeX, 8pm, no cover 1) NYE show w/Queensryche, 1) NYE show 9:30pm, $50 w/Queensryche, 9:30pm, $50 w/Sandy Nuyts, 3) NYE party 3) NYE$10 party w/Sandy Nuyts, 9pm, 9pm, $10 2) Dustbowl Revival, 9pm, no cover 2) Revival, 9pm, w/Four no cover 3) Dustbowl Moonstruck NYE party Color 3) Moonstruck NYE party w/Four Color Zack, 9pm, $50-$60 Zack, 9pm, $50-$60 4) NYE party w/AMFM, 9:30pm, $65 4) NYE party w/AMFM, 9:30pm, $65

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 1/4-1/6 MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 1/4-1/6

2) Live Band Karaoke, 10pm, M, no cover 2) Karaoke, no cover DJ Live ChrisBand English, 10pm,10pm, Tu, noM,cover DJ ChrisBoys, English, 10pm, W, Tu, no no cover cover Garage 10:30pm, Garage Boys, 10:30pm, W, no cover

1) Zoot Suit Riot, 7pm, $29.95 Riot, 10:30pm, 7pm, $29.95 1) Zoot 2) CashSuit Presley, no cover 2) Cash Presley, 10:30pm, no cover

Jan. 1-2,Bay 9 p.m.

Crystal Club Crystal Bay28 Club 14 Highway 14 Highway Crystal Bay28 Crystal 833-6333Bay 833-6333

3) Live blues w/Buddy Emmer Band and 3) Live8pm bluesTu,w/Buddy guest, no coverEmmer Band and guest, 8pm Tu, no cover

3) DJ/dancing, 5pm, no cover 3) DJ/dancing, 5pm, no cover

3) DJ/dancing, 6pm, W, no cover 3) DJ/dancing, 6pm, W, no cover

2) Recovery Sundays, 10pm, no cover 2) Sundays, no cover 3) Recovery Industry Night, 9pm,10pm, no cover 3) Industry Night, 9pm, no cover

2) Trey Valentine’s Backstage Karaoke, 2) TreyTu,Valentine’s 8pm, no cover Backstage Karaoke, 8pm, Tu, no coverBingo w/Jeff Gregg, 2) Country-Rock 2) Country-Rock 9pm, W, no coverBingo w/Jeff Gregg, 9pm, W, no cover

1) NYE party w/John Dawson Band, 1) NYEno party w/John Dawson Band, 10pm, cover 10pm, cover 6pm, no cover 3) TylernoStafford, 3) Tyler Stafford, 6pm, no cover 2) NYE party w/Superbad, 9pm, $15-$20 2) 3) NYE party w/Superbad, w/DJ Teddy P,9pm, 9pm,$15-$20 $15-$20 3) w/DJ Teddy P, no 9pm, $15-$20 4) NYE Halieparty O’Ryan Band, 9pm, cover 4) Halie O’Ryan Band, 9pm, no cover 5) New Year’s Eve Rockin’ The Dome 5) NewParty, Year’s9pm, Eve Rockin’ Dance $40 The Dome Dance Party, 9pm, $40

FEATURE STORY FEATURE STORY

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ARTS&CULTURE ARTS&CULTURE

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ART OF THE STATE ART OF THE STATE

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FOODFINDS FOODFINDS

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FILM FILM

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MUSICBEAT MUSICBEAT

Leftover Salmon Leftover Salmon Jan. 1-2, 9 p.m.

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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

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THIS WEEK THIS WEEK

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MISCELLANY MISCELLANY

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Karaoke Karaoke Corkscroo Bar and Grill, 10 E. Ninth St.: Corkscroo Bar and Grill, Simard, 10 E. Ninth St.: Cash Karaoke w/Jacques W, 7pm, Cash Karaoke w/Jacques Simard, W, 7pm, no cover no cover La Morena Bar, 2140 Victorian Ave., Sparks, La Morena 2140Nite/Karaoke, Victorian Ave.,F, Sparks, 772-2475:Bar, College 7pm, 772-2475: no cover College Nite/Karaoke, F, 7pm, no cover Murphy’s Law Irish Pub, 180 W. Peckham Murphy’s Law Irish Pub, 180Karaoke W. Peckham Lane, Ste. 1070, 823-9977: w/DJ Lane, 1070, 823-9977: KaraokeF, w/DJ Hustler,Ste.H&T Mobile Productions, 10pm, Hustler, no coverH&T Mobile Productions, F, 10pm, no cover The Man Cave Sports Bar, 4600 N. Virginia TheSt., Man499-5322: Cave Sports Bar, Karaoke, Sa,4600 8pm,N.noVirginia cover St., 499-5322: Karaoke, Sa, 8pm, no cover Scurti’s Billiards Bar & Grill, 551 E. Moana Scurti’s Billiards Bar & Grill, E. Moana Lane, 200-0635: Karaoke w/DJ551 Hustler, Lane, 200-0635: Karaoke Sa, w/DJ Hustler, H&T Mobile Productions, 9pm, no cover H&T Mobile Productions, Sa, 9pm, no cover Spiro’s Sports Bar & Grille, 1475 E. Prater Spiro’s & Grille, 1475 F-Sa, E. Prater Way, Sports Ste. 103,Bar Sparks, 356-6000: Way, 103, Sparks, 356-6000: F-Sa, 9pm, Ste. no cover 9pm, no cover West Second Street Bar, 118 W. Second St., West384-7976: SecondDaily, Street 118 W. Second St., 8pm,Bar, no cover 384-7976: Daily, 8pm, no cover

DECEMBER 31, 2015 DECEMBER 31, 2015

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For a complete listing of this week’s events or to post events to our online calendar, visit www.newsreview.com.

Events 2016 GLITTERBALL: The NYE party includes dance party with and complimentary midnight champagne toast and prizes. Th, 12/31, 10pm. $10. 5 Star Saloon, 132 West St., (775) 329-2878, http://5StarSaloon.com.

4TH ANNUAL WALK FOR ED “THE WAVER” CARLSON: Walk and wave to people in downtown Reno during this annual New Year’s Day tribute to the late Ed Carlson, known to locals during the 1970s-1990s as “The Waver” for his expression of goodwill as he waved at passerby during his regular treks across the city and surrounding areas. The walk starts at the Downtown Reno Plaza and finishes at the Morris Burner Hotel, 400 E. Fourth St. F, 1/1, noon. Free. Reno City

Plaza, 10 N. Virginia St., www.facebook.com/events/1733674493521570.

ANDRE NICKATINA NYE SHOW: The hip-hop artist headlines this all-ages New Year’s Eve show. Th, 12/31, 9pm. $21$25. Psychedelic Ballroom and Juke Joint (PB&J’s), 555 E. Fourth St., (775) 322-4348.

EDGE MOONSTRUCK NYE PARTY: The New Year’s Eve party features Four Color Zack spinning all night long and complimentary champagne tasting from 9pm to 10pm, party favors, a midnight champagne toast and a balloon drop. Th, 12/31, 9pm. $50-$60.

Peppermill Resort Spa Casino, 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121.

GALAXY GALA: New Year’s Eve party with Marques Skot, Boo!, Tommy2Tone, Grizlebrand, Vile Ant and a special guest. Champagne toast at midnight. Th, 12/31, 9pm. $15-$20.

Morris Burner Hotel, 400 E. Fourth St., (775) 327-1171.

KTMB’S CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING PROGRAM: Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful holds its Christmas Tree Recycling program features 10 dropoff locations, including Bartley Ranch Regional Park, Rancho San Rafael Regional Park and Shadow Mountain Sports Complex in Sparks, as well as Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District fire stations in Cold Springs, both Washoe Valley stations, Spanish Springs, Silver Knolls and Lemmon Valley. The Christmas trees are chipped into mulch that will be used for park and weed abatement projects. M-Su, 9am-4:30pm through 1/10.

Visit website for details, http://ktmb. org/christmas-tree-recycling.

MAGICAL MEMORIES: The celebration features New Year’s Eve parties for adults, teens and kids. M-Su through 1/3. Resort at Squaw Creek, 400 Squaw Creek Road, Olympic Valley, (800) 327-3353.

MONTBLEU’S NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION: Admission includes access to Opal Ultra Lounge, Blu Nightclub and the main party in the Convention Center. Enjoy live music from Pop Fiction plus go-go dancers and body painting. Th, 12/31, 8pm. $55$75. MontBleu Resort, 55 Highway 50, Stateline, (800) 648-3353, www.montbleuresort.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE AT CIRCUS CIRCUS: Enjoy free live music on the Cabaret Stage with Rebekah Chase, free party favors all over the property and at midnight, head outside to watch the fireworks show in downtown Reno.

Th, 12/31, 5pm. Free. Circus Circus, 500 N. Sierra St., (775) 329-0711, www.circuscircusreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE AT GREAT BASIN BREWING CO.: The party features a complimentary champagne toast and music by the Paisley Brain Cells. Th, 12/31, 10pm. $15. Great Basin Brewing Co., 846 Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 355-7711.

NEW YEAR’S EVE AT THE ELDORADO AND SILVER LEGACY: The Eldorado and Silver Legacy offer nine parties, countdowns and champagne toasts, plenty of celebratory party hats

TOY STORY The Staunch Tin Soldier Christmas is over, and the kids are getting restless during the winter break. What to do? Instead of a movie, how about live theater? Laughing Owl Productions opens its new production of The Staunch Tin Solider on New Year’s Day. The play is adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s adventure tale of a toy soldier finding his way back home after battling a jealous Jack-in-the-Box for the affections of a lovely ballerina. The 45-minute play begins at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 1. Other performances are at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 2, 3, 9, 10 at Laughing Owl Productions, 75 S. Wells Ave. Tickets are $8 at the door. Call 384-9967 or visit www.laughingowlproductions.com.

and favors handed out on the casino floor and a downtown fireworks show at midnight. Get passes to Aura, The Brew Brothers, NoVi and Rum Bullions or choose from the All Access Pass which takes care of the cover at these bars. Head to Cin Cin Bar and Lounge at the Eldorado or visit the Silver Baron Lounge in the Silver Legacy where you can avoid a cover charge and celebrate in a more relaxing setting. Th, 12/31, 9pm. $0-$150. Eldorado Resort Casino, 345 N. Virginia St., (775) 786-5700, www.eldoradoreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE CAPRI BALLROOM PARTY: Ring in the new year with music by AMFM. When the clock strikes midnight, celebrate with party favors, a balloon drop and champagne toast. Entry includes three drink tickets and complimentary desserts. Th, 12/31, 9:30pm. $65. Peppermill Resort Spa Casino, 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121, www.peppermillreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION: The evening features music, games, fireworks and a Gondola Ball Drop.

Entertainment includes an outdoor concert, ice sculpting performances, fire dancers, a photo booth and face painting. The party continues into the night at one of the many casino nightclubs. Th, 12/31, 6-9pm. Heavenly Ski Resort, 3860 Saddle Road, South Lake Tahoe, (775) 586-7000, www.skiheavenly.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION: Free party favors and champagne toast, midnight countdown and balloon drop. Cabaret entertainment from 4pm to 3am featuring The Soul Persuaders and Atomika. Th, 12/31, 4pm. Free. Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, 3800 S. Virginia St., (775) 825-4700, www.atlantiscasino.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATIONS AT THE LOFT: The New Year’s Eve Magic Fusion dinner/show features a threecourse meal with dessert, a bottle of champagne for each table, and a ticket to see master magician Tony Clark for $75 per person. Dinner seating begins at 5:30 p.m. with the show at 7 p.m. A non-dinner show option that evening is available for $40.

Following the show, the restaurant and lounge is the venue for a VIP New Year’s Eve celebration featuring hors d’oeuvres , cocktails, wine and beer, music, decorations, party favors and a countdown to midnight with champagne toast. San Diego-based DJ Abe Lemus will spin music throughout the party. Tickets start at $100. Th, 12/31, 7pm. The Loft Theatre-Lounge-Dining, 1021 Heavenly Village Way, South Lake Tahoe, (530) 523-8024.

NEW YEAR’S EVE FIREWORKS SHOW: Kick off 2016 with a fireworks show in downtown Reno. Fireworks will be shot off from several downtown Reno casino-resort properties. Sa, 1/2, midnight. Free. Downtown Reno, Virginia Street.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTIES AT HARRAH’S RENO: Ring in the new year with DJ GomeX spinning all the hits in the Sapphire Lounge. Th, 12/31, 8pm. Party into the new year with music spun

by DJ Luciano, party favors and champagne toast at midnight. Th, 12/31, 9pm. Free. Harrah’s Reno, 219 N. Center St., (775) 788-2900.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTIES AT SQUAW VALLEY: Ring in the new year at Squaw Valley|Alpine Meadows with free live music in The Village, firework shows and all night parties! Fireworks start at 7pm. The best viewing location is at KT Base Bar. Other New Year’s Eve events include singer/songwriter Chi McClean from 2-4pm at The Village Events Plaza Stage. New Year’s Eve Dinner at High Camp from 6-9pm at the Terrace Restaurant at High Camp

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DECEMBER 31, 2015

and a New Year’s Eve Party from 9pm-2am at Olympic House. Th, 12/31, 6pm. Prices vary. The Village at Squaw Valley USA, 1750 Village East Road, Olympic Valley, (866) 818-6963.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT 3RD STREET: Drinking With Clowns will perform into the new year. Th, 12/31, 8pm .

3rd Street, 125 W. Third St., (775) 323-5005, www.facebook.com/3rdstreetbar.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT MUSTANG RANCH STEAKHOUSE: The party includes dinner and dessert, champagne toast, balloon drop, party favors and music by Greg Austin and Southern Justice. Th, 12/31, 7pm. $50 per person. Mustang Ranch Steakhouse & Hunters Lounge/Bar, 5 N. C St., Virginia City, (775) 847-4188.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT THE SANDS: John Dawson Band performs in the 3rd Street Lounge from 9pm-1am.

Champagne toast at midnight. Th, 12/31, 9pm. Free. Sands Regency Casino Hotel, 345 N. Arlington Ave., (775) 348-2200.

NEW YEAR’S EVE SHOW WITH DUMPSTAPHUNK & MONOPHONICS: The New Orleans funk group combine complex funk and jazz arrangements with soulful melodies. Bay Area psychedelic soul band Monophonics open the show. Th, 12/31, 9pm. $45. Crystal Bay Club, 14 Highway 28, Crystal Bay, (775) 833-6333.

NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH JESUS TREJO: Comedian Jesus Trejo rings in the new year with two shows. The early show begins at 7pm. $15 in advance, $20 the day of the show. The late show starts at 9:30pm. Tickets are $18 in advance, $23 the day of the show. Th, 12/31, 7 & 9:30pm. Carson City Nugget, 507 N. Carson St., Carson City, (775) 882-1626.

NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH STEVE SIMEONE: Comedian Steve Simeone of Comedy Central will perform two shows on New Year’s Eve. The early show starts at 6:30pm. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 the day of the show. The late show begins at 9:30pm. Tickets are $23 in advance, $28 the day of the show. Th, 12/31, 6:30 & 9:30pm.

Reno Tahoe Comedy at the Pioneer Underground, 100 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-5233, www.renotahoecomedy.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE SPECTACULAR: The celebration features the Snow Cat Parade at 4:45pm, followed by the Kids Torchlight at 5:30pm and a fireworks show at 5:50pm. Th, 12/31, 4:306:30pm. Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe, 22222 Mt. Rose Highway, (775) 849-0704, http://skirose.com.

NYE 2015: BOUNCE HEAVY: The 2015 New Year’s Eve party features headliner Fort Knox Five with guests Qdup, Steve Raskin, DeeJay Theory, The Rhino, AUX, Bass-Mentality and IJV. Th, 12/31, 9pm. $20-$40. Tahoe Biltmore, 5 Highway 28, Crystal Bay, (775) 831-0660.

NYE|FIRE & ICE CELEBRATION: Enjoy live music, ice skating, roasting s’mores by the fire and a fireworks show at 9pm in The Village at Northstar.

Th, 12/31, 9pm. Northstar California Resort, 5001 Northstar Drive, Truckee, (800) 466-6784.

ROCK THE PLAZA: Hard Rock hosts a New Year’s Eve countdown party outside with a free celebration on the Guitar Plaza. The party features party favors, a light show, an outdoor bar, a live DJ playing popular ‘80s party hits and a New Year’s Eve countdown to 2016. Th, 12/31, 9pm. Free Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe, 50 Highway 50, Stateline, (844) 588-7625.

When Harry bent Sally over the hood My girlfriend’s “best friend” is a straight guy. I trust that she thinks he’s just her friend. However, as a guy, I know that if he could hit it, he would. FYI, I’m not really a jealous or insecure person, and my guy friends complain about this same scenario, so this can’t just be my stuff.

There’s a saying, “A true friend accepts who you are and helps you become who you can be”—for example, a person who’s naked in her true friend’s bed, feeling really guilty about cheating on her boyfriend.

Sorry to be less-than-reassuring, but you and your guy friends are right: For many men, the friend zone is a holding area where they wait to Mr. Sneaky back-massage their way into the sexfriend zone. In a study of 88 opposite-sex friendships by evolutionary psychologist April BleskeRechek, men were more attracted to their female friend than vice versa and more likely to assume she also had the hots for them—a belief bearing little correspondence to how the woman actually felt. Women, on the other hand, tended to assume their male friend had only platonic intentions. And sure, some male friends are just looking out for their female friends—but others do it in the way a hungry lion looks out for the limping gazelle.

Bleske-Rechek’s findings align with research by evolutionary psychologists Martie Haselton and David Buss suggesting that we evolved to make protective mistakes in perception—erring in favor of whatever assumption would be least costly to our mating and survival interests. Men tend to overestimate women’s attraction to them because they lose more by missing a possible mating opportunity than by making asses of themselves hitting on a woman who isn’t interested (and, in fact, would eat a live pigeon to avoid having sex with them). Women, however, tend to underestimate men’s interest because they have a lot to lose from believing a cad will stick around to be a dad.

You aren’t without options here, though it’s probably best to refrain from dusting off the old flintlock and challenging the guy to a duel at dawn. Showing jealousy suggests you have reason to feel threatened (like maybe he really is all that). Instead, simply be the better deal.

Consistently show your girlfriend that you’ve got what women evolved to prioritize in men—a willingness to invest time, energy and resources—like by really listening when she talks instead of uh-huhing her while blowing up alien invaders on your phone.

OPINION

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NEWS

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GREEN

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FEATURE STORY

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ARTS&CULTURE

Do this stuff not because you’re afraid of losing her—which stinks of desperation—but because you haven’t forgotten that you love her. And as a show of how secure you are, maybe even encourage her to hang with him—that is, whenever she’s all “Golly, it’s been months since I spent the better part of an hour at the mall trying to decide between two slightly different vanilla-scented candles.”

Dupe dreams I’m a 41-year-old male sports fan, and every girlfriend I’ve had has initially claimed to like sports. But once I’m all in, she admits that she never liked sports at all. Why can’t women just be honest in the beginning?

Say you like camping. A woman who likes you claims she likes camping, too, perhaps believing that she could like camping—not quite connecting it with everything she absolutely hates, like peeing in a hole and bugs that don’t come in pink resin with a matching choker.

Of course, women aren’t the only ones who claim to be a little more woodsy or literate or … sportif … than they actually are. However, men tend to lie to get sex, while women tend to lie to get love. But because women evolved to be the nurturers and peacekeepers of the species, they are probably more likely to say yes or OK to stuff they’re not very yes or OK with. (Some confuse being a pleaser with being kind and giving in healthy ways.) Men, on the other hand, evolved to be the competitors of our species and are more comfortable with conflict—starting in infancy, when they’re beating up the kid in the next crib.

What’s essential to figure out is whether the lie is a little “I like what you like!” stretchie or part of a disturbing pattern—suggesting she’s either a pathological liar or a gaping void looking to use love as Spackle. Expect hyperbole at the start and ask probing questions to see whether a woman is truly into sports—beyond challenging some other woman to a cage fight over the last pair of DKNY ankle booties in a 9 and a half narrow. Ω

Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave., No. 280, Santa Monica,CA 90405, or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com).

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FOODFINDS

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THIS WEEK

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MISCELLANY

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DECEMBER 31, 2015

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for an abundance of interesting lessons in 2016. You will be offered teachings about a variety of practical subjects, including how to take care of yourself really well, how to live the life you want to live and how to build the connections that serve your dreams. If you are even moderately responsive to the prompts and nudges that come your way, you will become smarter than you thought possible. So just imagine how savvy you’ll be if you ardently embrace your educational opportunities. (Please note that some of these opportunities may be partially in disguise.)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The silkworm grows

fast. Once it hatches, it eats constantly for three weeks. By the time it spins its cocoon, it’s 10,000 times heavier than it was in the beginning. On the other hand, a mature, 60-foot-tall saguaro cactus may take 30 years to fully grow a new side arm. It’s in no hurry. From what I can tell, Leo, 2015 was more like a silkworm year for you, whereas 2016 will more closely resemble a saguaro.

Keep in mind that while the saguaro phase is different from your silkworm time, it’s just as important.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “The sky calls

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me,” wrote Virgo teacher and poet Sri Chinmoy. “The wind calls me. The moon and stars call me. The dense groves call me. The dance of the fountain calls me. Smiles call me, tears call me. A faint melody calls me.

The morn, noon and eve call me. Everyone is searching for a playmate. Everyone is calling me, ‘Come, come!’” In 2016, Virgo, I suspect you will have a lot of firsthand experience with feelings like these. Sometimes life’s seductiveness may overwhelm you, activating confused desires to go everywhere and do everything. On other occasions, you will be enchanted by the lush invitations, and will know exactly how to respond and reciprocate.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the 19th

century, horses were a primary mode of personal transportation. Some people rode them, and others sat in carriages and wagons that horses pulled. But as cities grew larger, a problem emerged: the mounting manure left behind on the roads. It became an ever-increasing challenge to clear away the equine “pollution.” In 1894, a British newspaper predicted that the streets of London would be covered with nine feet of the stuff by 1950. But then something unexpected happened: cars. Gradually, the threat of an excremental apocalypse waned.

I present this story as an example of what I expect for you in 2016: a pressing dilemma that will gradually dissolve because of the arrival of a factor you can’t imagine yet.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The longest

river in the world flows through eastern Africa: the Nile. It originates below the equator and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Although its current flows north, its prevailing winds blow south. That’s why sailors have found it easily navigable for thousands of years. They can either go with the flow of the water or use sails to harness the power of the breeze. I propose that we make the Nile your official metaphor in 2016, Scorpio.

You need versatile resources that enable you to come and go as you please—that are flexible in supporting your efforts to go where you want and when you want.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In

many cases, steel isn’t fully useful if it’s too hard. Manufacturers often have to soften it a bit. This process, which is called tempering, makes the steel springier and more malleable. Car parts, for example, can’t be too rigid. If they were, they’d break too easily. I invite you to use “tempering” as one of your main metaphors in 2016, Sagittarius.

You’re going to be strong and vigorous, and those qualities will serve you best if you keep them flexible. Do you know the word “ductile”? If not, look it up. It’ll be a word of power for you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In his

essay “The Etiquette of Freedom,” poet Gary Snyder says that wildness “is perennially within us, dormant as a hard-shelled seed, awaiting the fire or flood that awakes it again.” The fact that it’s a “hard-shelled” seed is a crucial detail. The vital stuff inside the stiff outer coating may not be able to break out and start growing without the help of a ruckus. A fire or flood? They might do the job. But I propose, Capricorn, that in 2016 you find an equally vigorous but less disruptive prod to liberate your dormant wildness. Like what? You could embark on a brave pilgrimage or quest. You could dare yourself to escape your comfort zone. Are there any undomesticated fantasies you’ve been suppressing? Unsuppress them!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Frederick

the Great was King of Prussia between 1740 and 1786. He was also an Aquarius who sometimes experimented with eccentric ideas. When he brewed his coffee, for example, he used champagne instead of water.

Once the hot elixir was ready to drink, he mixed in a dash of powdered mustard. In light of the astrological omens, I suspect that Frederick’s exotic blend might be an apt symbol for your life in 2016: a vigorous, rich, complex synthesis of champagne, coffee and mustard. (P.S. Frederick testified that “champagne carries happiness to the brain.”)

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): My Piscean

acquaintance Arturo plays the piano as well as anyone I’ve heard. He tells me that he can produce 150 different sounds from any single key. Using the foot pedals accounts for some of the variation. How he touches a key is an even more important factor. It can be percussive, fluidic, staccato, relaxed, lively and many other moods. I invite you to cultivate a similar approach to your unique skills in 2016. Expand and deepen your ability to draw out the best in them. Learn how to be even more expressive with the powers you already possess.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text message horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at (877) 873-4888 or (900) 950-7700.

by Jeri Chadwell-Singley PHOTO/JERI CHADWELL-SINGLEY

Rise & Dine turns four Ben Castro The Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality has been hosting weekly dinners for poverty stricken members of the Reno community since January 2012. Ben Castro, one of the founders of RISE, spoke with us about what the non-profit group is doing now and where they hope to go during their next four years of service to the community. More information can be obtained at www.renoinitiative.org.

For readers who may not know about RISE, can you say a little about what it is?

RISE stands for the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality. Essentially what we do is, we host a community potluck every Saturday at 5 p.m. down at the Community Assistance Center [345 Record St.], and we invite everybody to come and join us. We don’t really see our project as simply feeding people.

The way we see it is that we’re building community. How we’re doing that is by inviting people to dinner.

What made you decide to start doing this, and how did you get started?

Kind of like most organizations, it starts in some guy’s garage, so I’m that guy.

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What can people do to help?

You know, money helps, but more important than sending money, we’d rather meet you. We’d rather spend time with you and share dinner together.

So definitely signing up online, and we’ve got it all the way out for all of 2016, so pick a date that makes the most sense for you. Or if you’re not more hands-on, then tell your friends. We strongly encourage people to organize their churches or their families or their work places to make an outing out of it.

Anything you want to add?

Just a group of friends sitting around, solving all the world’s problems but not really going anywhere. But I think it’s just a shared passion for our fellow man, and just a shared sense of injustice for the wealthiest nation on the planet, and still we can’t take care of our own citizens, so instead of waiting around for other people to do it, we figured we’d just do it ourselves.

How many hungry people are coming to the community potluck every Saturday?

Yeah, giving people a hot meal once a week, it really does go a lot further than some people would imagine, and it’s not just about sharing dinner. It’s about sharing smiles with people, making them feel like they’re not invisible. And it’s about recognizing, or at least seeing, the neighbors you never knew you had.

It’s also good to see so many people from completely different backgrounds, completely different faiths, different demographics—who might otherwise have nothing in common—all come together to serve this general purpose, which is the betterment of our houseless neighbors. So, it’s trying to destroy the stigma of what homelessness and poverty looks like. Ω

Happy New Year from the Reno News & Review

It depends on the time of the month. If it’s towards the beginning of the month, everybody just got their public assistance, so we’ll only see maybe 100, 150.

The art of greeting It absolutely drives me nuts to see all these television news anchors thanking their guests all the time.

You know the drill, where the host says, “Thanks for coming on my show today, Ms. Expert.” And half the time, Ms. Expert, whose brain is absolutely on fire as she sits there in a strange TV studio with a repeating loop in her head screeching “Don’t sound like a moron, don’t sound like a moron, don’t sound like a moron!” has to fumble around and rally hard just to come up with a basic, “Yeah, it’s great to be here.”

The resulting awkward pause between greeting and response makes us viewers squirm. I don’t know about you, but I don’t much care for squirming in awkward discomfort. So I’m sitting there, pulling for Ms. Expert to spit out, “Yes, you bet,” so the host can then ask the first question and mosey on out of the Awkward Space that’s been created by this stilted, jittery greeting.

If you’re looking at the end of the month when everybody’s food stamps run out, it could be 350 to 400, depending.

∫y Bruce Van Dye

This Awkwardness usually only lasts for maybe all of one second but man, that is one squirmy ass second of time! In that one second, I can manage to pucker up all kinds of valves, ports and sphincters in my bod.

No wonder we’re a nation of oxycontinentals. We’re driven to painkillers not just by basketball injuries and train wrecks, but by a daily barrage of clumsy salutations between news anchors and their guests.

We could solve this national problem of Twitchy Squirming if news anchors would simply not greet their guests. All they have to do is say, “With me now is Bernard Flapdoodle from the Spaghetti County Water Board, and Mr. Flapdoodle, I’d like to begin by asking.”

Bingo. The guest is immediately freed from all stress involving a proper social response after being greeted, and can immediately start jiving about whatever it is that s/

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he’s there to jive about. And as a bonus, the show moves along nicely, without even one second of awkward speed bump.

At the end of the segment, same thing. For god’s sake, don’t thank the guest for being on the show!

Just say ”Bernard Flapdoodle, of the SCWB. In other national news that will likely mess with your mind. ...” And there you go. You’re out. You’re moving. And you’ve spared Bernard further flop sweat wondering if he should say “Thank you” or “You’re welcome” as he’s dismissed from the set.

I am so ready to receive thousands a week in mailbox money as a consultant who rarely gets out of his pajamas/sweats! Ω

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