Letters

Feed the best

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Have y’all voted for the Best of Northern Nevada yet? Go to vote.newsreview.com/ best-of-reno-2016 and express your opinions on the best local restaurants, bars, parks and barbers. I know I’ve been harping on the contest just about every week lately, but it’s a big undertaking, and we’re proud to host it every year. And we like it when our readers vote. The contest ends on July 14, but we’re a couple of weeks into the voting, so I thought I’d take a minute to address a few questions I’ve heard: There are always a few winners from previous years who are disappointed that the categories they won a year or two ago no longer exist. Every year, we drop the categories with the fewest number of overall votes the previous year. “Best club DJ” and “best drag queen” were among the categories we were sad to see cut this year because of lack of votes last year. But, you know, feel free to suggest them in the suggest-a-category section under “freestyle” on the voting page. If the showing is strong, we’ll add them back next year.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that we reserve the right to not name winners in any given category, even if it’s on the ballot. Usually, if we decide not to name winners, it’s because there’s a first-place tie spread across four or more entries. This sometimes happens in categories that are more wide than deep—best elementary school teacher, for example—where we’ve sometimes seen, like, a six-way tie at six votes apiece.

There are also business owners who have written or called wondering about fees to have their businesses added to the ballot—I can’t stress this enough: the ballot is all write-in. We have an autocomplete list, which helps readers spell tricky words like “Beaujolais” and “Schieve,” and it also makes our job a hell of a lot easier when it comes time to check the vote tallies, but even if the local business, place or personality you want to vote for doesn’t pop up in the autocomplete, you can still write it in. And even if you don’t spell it correctly, we’ll make sure your vote is counted.

Bad drugs

Re “FDA out of control” (Let Freedom Ring, May 12):

Brendon Trainor’s recent lament over FDA regulation of vaping was misguided. The devastating health effects and public costs of smoking combustible cigarettes is well documented and vaping holds the promise of reducing both dramatically.

But, what about our kids? A leading vaping researcher, Adam M. Lippert, Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Denver, says, “Nicotine is a known antagonist to adolescent brain development. It’s unclear how e-cigarettes bear on the neurological development of teenagers, but the new FDA regulations will pave the way for more research on this.” Teen e-cigarette use has quadrupled in five years and has been associated with higher use of conventional cigarettes. Many teenagers use e-cigarettes—not to quit their tobacco use habits—but to augment them by allowing them to use nicotine where conventional cigarettes are not options like on school property or in their parents’ homes. Multiple states have allowed sales and marketing to children. Teenage exposure to e-cigarette ads increased by 256 percent between 2011 and 2013. New FDA regulations curtail adolescent exposures to such advertisements.

Mr. Trainor’s enthusiasm for unbridled entrepreneurial innovation in our age of unintended consequences is indefensible. Consider the “miracles” of hormone replacement theory, Vioxx, DDT, neonicotinoids, and Agent Orange.

Chip Evans Reno

Bad habit

Re “Good habits” (Arts & Culture, May 26): I read with interest your article on Reno’s Biggest Little Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, The House of Charity in Northern Nevada. The article covered what the Sisters do through outreach, fund raising and bringing awareness on various issues to the community (and not just the GLBT community but the entire community).

However, the Sisters are not a “Drag queen” group. While some members may be drag queens at times, the group dresses as they do with whiteface and painted faces as a street performer would. It relaxes those they meet and makes them feel at ease. The Sisters define themselves as to what they do as a charity, protest and street performance organization that uses drag and religious imagery to call attention to sexual intolerance and satirizes issues of gender and morality. It is simply imagery to get a message across. Paco Poli Reno

Bad housing policies Bad path

Bad drivers

Before going too far, let me preface this with the statement that what I am about to say does not apply to everyone. Why do people feel the need to speed, refuse to use their directional signals and tailgate other drivers? Is there a desire to kill you and others on our streets and highways?

I just came back from a trip to California and was exposed to drivers who need their licenses permanently revoked, on both sides of the border (Nevada/California). Speed limits are posted for everyone’s safety. Law enforcement and our judicial system need to stop allowing people to speed and break the law. What are we telling our kids and future drivers? It’s okay to break the law to maintain the flow of traffic? Doesn’t seem to make sense. Adam De Merit Sparks Re “Where do we go from here?” (cover story, Sept. 2, 2004):

I live in Northern California and am 78. My relatives live in the suburbs of Reno. The [2004] article I just read about the next big building venture would probably be housing or senior community housing for seniors. … What is the current status of that projection? In skimming over the availability of that kind of community e.g co-housing, residential etc., it appears that Nevada is behind in this effort. That’s odd, in that it is recommended as one of the better states to move to post-retirement, due to a generally lower cost of living. Could someone—either this paper, a reader, builder or Chamber of Commerce— help me to obtain current information? I am someone who is no longer physically or financially able to maintain the upkeep of a 1,700+sf house, hobby shed and garage on three acres, which I keep in excellent condition. Julie Reaney Grass Valley, Calif.

Erik Holland

I like to ride my bike along the river path from downtown Reno to Vista. Beginning in late 2015, numerous homeless campsites began to appear in the vicinity of the GSR. You probably remember the City of Sparks passed an ordinance to eliminate this issue. Well, that certainly didn’t work. It’s gotten worse. It might be a really great source of a story— say, by Dennis Myers—on the issues and individuals involved, with both tent city residents and the community at large.

I was told a local fisherman shot one of the homeless people after being assaulted three times by a knife-wielding assailant. I didn’t see that in the news.

Tim King Reno

Our Mission: To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live. Editor Brad Bynum News Editor Dennis Myers Special Projects Editor Jeri Chadwell-Singley Arts Editor Kris Vagner Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Contributors Amy Alkon, Kelsey Fitzgerald, Bob Grimm, Ashley Hennefer, Shelia Leslie, Eric Marks, Jessica Santina, Todd South, Brendan Trainor, Kris Vagner, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young Design Manager Lindsay Trop Art Directors Brian Breneman, Margaret Larkin Marketing/Publications Manager Serene Lusano Marketing/Publications Designer Sarah Hansel Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Designer Kyle Shine Senior Advertising Consultants Gina Odegard, Bev Savage Advertising Consultant Emily Litt Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Manager/Operations Coordinator Kelly Miller Distribution Assistant Denise Cairns Distribution Drivers Tracy Breeden, Alex Barskyy, Debbie Frenzi, Vicki Jewell, Patrick L’Angelle, Marty Lane, Marty Troye, Warren Tucker, Gary White, Dave Carroll, Denise Cairns President/CEO Jeff VonKaenel Director of Nuts & Bolts Deborah Redmond Marketing/Promotions/Facilities Manager Will Niespodzinski Executive Coordinator Jessica Takehara Business Manager Nicole Jackson Payroll/AP Wizard Miranda Dargitz Accounts Receivable Specialist Kortnee Angel Sweetdeals Coordinator Courtney DeShields Nuts & Bolts Ninja Christina Wukmir Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins

N&R Publications Editor Michelle Carl N&R Publications Managing Editor Shannon Springmeyer N&R Publications Writers Kate Gonzales, Anne Stokes Cover Design: Brian Breneman Cover Photo: Eric Marks Cover Photo Illustration: Brian Breneman 405 Marsh Ave.,Third Floor, Reno, NV 89509 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-2515 Website www.newsreview.com

Got a News Tip? Fax (775) 324-2515 Calendar Events www.newsreview.com/calendar Want to Advertise? Fax (775) 324-2515 or rnradinfo@newsreview.com Classified Fax (916) 498-7910 or classifieds@newsreview.com Job Opportunities jobs@newsreview.com Want to Subscribe to RN&R? renosubs@newsreview.com

Editorial Policies: Opinions expressed in RN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permissions to reprint articles, cartoons, or other portions of the paper. RN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or review materials. Email letters to rnrletters@newsreview.com. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form and to edit them for libel.

Advertising Policies: All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes the responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.

RN&R is printed at Sierra Nevada Media on recycled newsprint. Circulation of RN&R is verified by the Circulation Verification Council. RN&R is a member of CNPA, AAN and AWN.