May 2023

EDITOR'S NOTE

Tahoe Tessie tips welcome; conspiracy theories are shunned

Editors get lots of news tips and suggestions for stories from readers; we depend on them.

Journalists can’t be everywhere, so tips and story ideas make our jobs easier. There has always been a crackpot component to such tips that can be welcome as well—as comic relief. When a breathless fellow calls the newsroom to report aircraft contrails streaking across the sky (because, duh, they are spewing mind-control gas), we thank him, chuckle after we hang up, and get back to working on reality-based stories.

But there’s nothing funny about a certain crop of wackadoodle story suggestions I’ve received over the last several years. In place of alien abductions, many tipsters now complain about (perpetually debunked) widespread election fraud, communist takeovers of public schools, drag queens stalking children and a host of other wild allegations.

Far-right-wing wackos aren’t a new tribe (I remember the John Birch Society), but thanks to cable TV and social media, many Americans are in lockstep with goofy theories and the babblings of white supremacists. Tipsters mindlessly repeat what they’ve heard on talk shows or read online, often without realizing they’ve become the tools of extremists spewing racist, antisemitic and, often, nativist beliefs.

Editors and reporters are obligated to treat tipsters with respect—but that doesn’t carry over to pretending some callers’ hateful views have merit. When I get tips about QAnon-type theories or the dangers of teaching actual American history, I politely reply that we’re not interested—ever.

Please pass along ideas for stories, but if you’ve got conspiracies to peddle, save them for your next love letter to Tucker Carlson. They will get no traction here.

If you’ve seen Tahoe Tessie or witnessed the Virgin Mary playing Whac-A-Mole at Circus Circus, though, feel free to drop me a line. I could use a chuckle.

—FRANK X. MULLEN frankm@renonr.com

LETTERS

Hospital ignored community needs

Good story, but the Saint Mary’s gym closure (RN&R, April 2023) was a cold decision by Prime Healthcare (Saint Mary’s Health’s parent company) to ignore the needs of the community.

Local news reported there were 2,600 active members at a minimum of $60 per month, which is more than $150,000 per month. They just don’t want to run a gym, even though it is/was profitable. Worst is the negative impact on the community. The number of members was increasing since the pandemic shutdown. I was a member for over 15 years and there every day. Prime Healthcare just doesn’t care.

James E. Stewart Reno

Grimm’s off base about ‘John Wick 4’

Both Bob Grimm’s review of John Wick: Chapter 4 (RN&R, April 2023) and the movie itself could have benefited from a seasoned editor.

To contradict Mr. Grimm, the first installment was the best; it was the birth of the

story and the birth of the back story. Mr. Grimm waxes about shots of Paris when they have little to do with the film. The fourth installment does not include Halle Berry’s character, Sofia, who played a significant role in John Wick 3. We also never see what happens to Aurelio, played brilliantly by John Leguizamo, the only person John Wick trusts with his car, the only thing he loved more than his dead wife. It is obvious (Grimm) “phoned this one in.”

The film was Chad Stahelski’s homage to video games watched by 14-year-olds who have not felt a woman’s touch, not true fans of John Wick. My rating is 2 out of 5 stars for the film— and the review.

Jackson Morris Reno

The nation needs this Nevada lithium mine

In response to the letter about the Lithium mine at Thatcher Pass (RN&R, April 2023) and about how the Bureau of Land Management could grant permits for this: I have a hard time understanding the environmentalists’ positions as well as some of the Native Americans’ positions. That area is a very depressed part of Nevada. The mine would supply jobs for a lot of Native Americans as well as save the planet from

global warming. I believe we should all protect the environment, but we don’t have to give up our standard of living to achieve it. Lithium production is a national security issue, and to have the Chinese using slave labor to mine for this rare mineral is kind of being a hypocrite to our country’s values.

Thatcher Pass is not on anyone’s vacation agenda, because it is in the middle of nowhere, and most Nevadans don’t even know where it is. I support the project to get us off fossil fuels, using American technology for the health of the planet.

Jay Fisher Reno

The Ghost Army comes alive at the Nevada Museum of Art

Thank you for the story about the Ghost Army exhibit (RN&R, April 2023). Our family went to see it (at the Nevada Museum of Art), and we were amazed at a part of history we had not heard of before. The exhibit is well done and gives you a taste of what those soldiers did to fool the Nazis, down to the inflatable tanks and the fake radio broadcasts. We highly recommend a visit.

Sally Boniface Sparks

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STREETALK

What is your favorite guilty music pleasure?

BY DAVID ROBERT

Church music. I love the old recordings of it. My dad used to record the organist at church for me. It was an old pre1930s organ. I like the sound of the organ, but I didn’t like the singing; they were always out of tune and off-key.

GUEST

COMMENT

BY CHUCK MUTH

In the wake of the pandemic, more needs to be done to protect Nevada’s tourism industry

Nevada, the entertainment capital of the world, attracts millions of visitors each year. Last year, 38 million visitors generated more than $940 million in revenue—making tourism the lifeblood of our state’s economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated Nevada, which in many ways is still struggling to get tourism back to prepandemic levels. While Nevada may not face another pandemic anytime soon, its economy is now threatened by a different virus: inflation.

Inflation is a tax on the working class. It eats away wages and drives up the cost of food, travel, transportation and energy. According to one analysis, inflation is impacting Nevada more than almost any other state.

The U.S. Census Bureau concluded that energy and food costs are the main drivers of the inflation spike; 47% of Nevada families are struggling to pay household expenses. Given the Nevada economy’s dependency on tourism and consumer spending, it’s important for state and federal decision-makers to resolve inflation’s strain on the state’s revenue and job growth.

Keeping travel costs down will prove critical to improving Nevada’s economic outlook. Lower prices will mean more travelers, and more travelers will mean more visitors, jobs and revenue.

Gov. Joe Lombardo has proposed several measures to ease inflation, including suspending the state’s gas tax, decreasing the modified business tax rate to 1.17 percent, and raising the threshold for businesses subject to the commerce tax. These policy initiatives would make it easier for Nevada businesses to provide tourists with the cheap goods and services they have come to know and expect.

The governor and Legislature should also work to boost the Nevada tourism industry by encouraging the U.S. Department of Justice to stop blocking new flights into and out of Harry Reid International Airport. For example, JetBlue has already announced that if the DOJ approves its acquisition of Spirit Airlines, it will have the scale it needs to expand its flight offerings so it can compete more effectively with the legacy airlines that keep ticket prices high.

That’s good news, because with airline ticket prices currently outpacing the rate of inflation by 25%, the high cost of airline tickets, more than anything else, is discouraging travel to the Silver State. A recent University of Nevada, Las Vegas, analysis predicts that prices may soon rise even more. Allowing more competition from JetBlue, which the Massachusetts Institute for Technology considers to be a proven cost-cutter, can mitigate this affordability crisis, significantly increasing Nevada’s tourist traffic.

Nevada’s senators should also continue proposing legislative measures that would force the U.S. Department of Transportation to take boosting travel and tourism into account when making key infrastructure decisions.

For far too long, the needs of tourism-heavy states like Nevada have gone unrecognized in the government’s internal improvement talks. As a result, many of the Silver State’s roadways are unequipped to handle the millions of visitors it receives annually. This affects everything from commerce to commutes, and it’s long past due for the state’s federal policymakers to fix this unmistakable public policy oversight.

Chuck Muth is president and CEO of Citizen Outreach and a professional political adviser. He also is a former executive director of the American Conservative Union.

Nerdcore. It’s like nerdy hip hop, Dungeons and Dragons, nerdy techno. It’s funny as hell with very clever lyrics and great beats. It’s so under the radar and obscure. It’s so obscure that I have to turn friends on to it. MC Frontalot is one of my favorites. He’s the godfather of nerdcore.

The Thompson Twins. It brings back memories from my past. Everything they sing about is true to every relationship. It’s like you’ve been through so much and still want to hold on. Some people say that it doesn’t make any sense, but I think it does. Why wouldn’t I like it?

The Sweet, the old glam band, classic glam rock; not many people know of them. I used to blast it on cassette in my buddy’s old ’68 Olds back in high school. It’s nostalgic for me. Hanging out with punks, they wouldn’t get it. The Sweet had long hair, wore makeup, and wore platform heels and silky pants.

Rush. I grew up on Rush and still like them. I’ve told people that I like Rush, and they have said, “Why?” They think Rush is overplayed and that they’re a guys’ band and that the concerts are a “sausage fest” with guys with long hair and flannel shirts. They look different than a Britney Spears crowd. I’m in my 50s now; who cares?

| BY SHEILA LESLIE

How will Gov. Lombardo deal with three gun-reform measures?

Too many assault weapons, too easily procured. Too many youth growing up in dysfunctional situations, often with untreated mental illness or trauma. A polarized country that can’t make a collective decision to end the bloodshed and violence.

The Covenant School shooting marked the 128th mass shooting this year. And within a week, another mass shooting occurred at a bank in Kentucky. By the time you read this, there will likely have been more.

Six victims shot dead at the school, three of them children; five killed at the bank, and eight more injured, including two police officers, with one shot in the head just 10 days after graduating from the police academy. Both shooters killed in a firefight. Lots of “thoughts and prayers” from Republican politicians, offering nothing beyond their empty words.

We’re all sick at heart of the senseless killings, and it’s undeniable our country is sick, too—just not sick enough, apparently, to enact meaningful change. It’s hard to see anything significantly transforming our society’s fixation on guns. It didn’t after the horror of Sandy Hook and Uvalde or the

Route 91 Harvest Festival massacre in Las Vegas, or any of the other hundreds of mass shootings in recent years.

It’s not for lack of trying by grassroots activists, family members of those killed and injured, and many Democratic lawmakers, despite the threats of extremists who think any common-sense reform is a path to losing their perceived right to any gun, anywhere, at any time. But as Americans are endlessly slaughtered, the voices on the side of reason are getting more strident, more demanding, more insistent that something be done. And gun proponents are responding with even more righteous absurdities, like the expulsion of two young Black Representatives in Tennessee’s Legislature who dared to disrupt a floor session to demand their constituents be heard. A third representative, a white woman, barely survived expulsion by just one vote.

Expelling an elected official for breaking a legislative body’s internal rules is an extreme response by any rational observation. Expulsion certainly didn’t happen in Nevada’s Assembly in 2015 when firebrand Assemblywoman Michele Fiore disrupted a floor session by speaking out of turn, yelling, “Sit your ass down!” at a fellow

Republican who annoyed her. The Assembly recessed, and Fiore later gave a laughably insincere apology for breaking the rules.

In 2013, the Assembly did expel a member, Steven Brooks, on a two-thirds majority vote after a well-documented investigation of his violent threats and erratic, paranoid behavior. It was an agonizing but necessary bipartisan process.

The Tennessee expulsions backfired on Republicans, as both representatives were reappointed to their seats within a few days, gaining a national profile they’ve both pledged to use to further their reform agenda. But it’s unlikely other Republican-controlled legislatures have learned much from this experience, even as they grow increasingly alienated from the mainstream opinions of swing voters on gun safety and reproductive rights, risking a punishing voter backlash that could dramatically change the future political landscape.

Nevada’s Democrats have proposed three gun-reform measures this session, all of them recently passing out of committee, moving on to a floor vote. Assembly Bill 355 would prohibit the sale of an assault weapon to anyone under 21, consistent with the parameters for

the sale of handguns in Nevada. Assembly Bill 354 would prohibit firearms at election sites, and Senate Bill 171 prohibits those who have been convicted of hate crimes from accessing firearms.

Assembly Republicans rejected the bills before they were even heard, weakly explaining their decision in a news release stating they are “controversial bills scheduled on short notice at irregular times,” even though the bills were introduced weeks ago, and the joint Judiciary Committee hearing was intended to spotlight the measures.

Gov. Joe Lombardo will have the last word if the bills reach his desk. As the Clark County sheriff during the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Lombardo knows the devastation of gun violence firsthand, although now that he depends on Republican extremists to maintain his political office, his views on gun reform have hardened, and many are predicting the bills will die under his veto pen.

Lombardo could reject his party’s insistence that guns matter more than our children’s safety, and demonstrate political courage in a time when it is desperately needed. Maybe he’ll surprise us.

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

| BY JIMMY BOEGLE

Triumphs and frustrations after a year of being back in print

With this issue, the Reno News & Review is concluding our first year back in print, following our pandemic-related closure.

The last 11 months, since our comeback issue started hitting streets over Memorial Day weekend last year, have been one of the most rewarding times in my career. Almost every day, someone tells me—be it in person, over the phone, or via email—how happy they are that the RN&R has made a comeback.

On the flip side, the last 11 months have also been among the most challenging and frustrating times in my career, for two different reasons.

The first frustration involves finding good, reliable contributing writers. Make no mistake: Editor Frank X. Mullen and I have assembled an incredibly talented group of writers, both newcomers to the RN&R and scribes whose work has appeared in our pages for years. I am appreciative and grateful to all of them for helping the RN&R become, once again, one of the best publications in the state of Nevada—and beyond.

However, we are struggling to find writers

to contribute news stories and arts features. For example, there were supposed to be two other pieces included in this May edition—one news piece, and one events roundup—by two new writers. They said they’d do these paid assignments, agreed to a deadline … and then simply didn’t so anything.

If you think you have what it takes to report and write for the RN&R, drop me a line at jimmyb@renonr.com.

The second frustration involves advertising. When we first announced our relaunch, I was moved, almost to tears, by local organizations and businesses who bought ads and signed contracts, both because they believed in what we were doing and because they knew our reach would help their causes and businesses. To the advertisers who have been and continue to be in our pages, I thank you.

Of course, we also received a lot of polite no-thank-yous from both former advertisers and potential new advertisers. We were told that budgets for the year had been set, or that money was tight, or that they wanted to see how the RN&R’s comeback went before committing to anything. All of these answers were reasonable and understandable; I figured

that as the months passed, advertising would slowly but steadily increase.

Well … that has not happened.

We’re printing and distributing 25,000 copies per month—making us one of the largest-circulation publications in Northern Nevada, if not THE largest. We have a fantastic digital presence, with both our weekly newsletter and RenoNR.com getting large amounts of high-quality traffic.

We’ve consistently added coverage, and the quality of our reporting and writing, largely thanks to Nevada Newspaper Hall of Famer Frank X. Mullen, is top-notch. Since my company took over the paper at the start of 2021, we’ve continuously invested in the RN&R to make it better, this month adding a beer column and “stitch and trim” (staples and evened-out edges) to our print edition. Our advertising rates remain affordable and reasonable—and most businesses and organizations who advertise would bring in far more revenue than they’d spend on their ads.

Yet advertising has, more or less, been flat over the last eight months. We’re continuing to get a lot of polite no-thank-yous, and are being told budgets for the year have been set, or that

money is tight—if we get a response to our queries at all.

In one sense, all of this is fine. After all, no business owner should feel obligated to advertise anywhere at all (even if that advertising would almost surely improve their customer count).

Direct reader support has, and continues to be, a huge help—we could not have made our comeback without it, and I thank all of you, from the very bottom of my heart, who have given the RN&R financial support. Additionally, we’re making headway, albeit slowly, in our efforts to explore converting the RN&R into a nonprofit news organization.

But here’s the truth: As things stand now, we need advertising support to pay our bills. It costs a lot of money to produce and distribute our content—and make it available to anyone and everyone for free, both in print and online. And if we don’t get enough advertising support from the community to pay our bills, the RN&R will die.

I’m determined not to let that happen. But if the community doesn’t give the RN&R enough support, my level of determination won’t matter.

| BY MATT WESTFIELD

Nevada’s startup-business efforts leave footprints around the world

The Northern Nevada startup-business scene is booming. Various programs, both local and based around the world, help feed this ecosystem.

One of the best long-standing foreign programs, the Mandela Washington Fellowship, is an incredible six-week cohort run locally by our friends over at the Northern Nevada International Center (NNIC). Carina Black, the executive director of NNIC, has had me and other startup mentors from Bizassembly.org helping out for nearly 10 years now. We help them synthesize their business or NGO, understand how business in America works, and learn to build partnerships to drive their respective agendas back home. These 25 future African leaders who arrive each year in Reno are selected from about 50,000 who apply. They are men and women selected from all 54 of the African nations who have built or are building programs that change their communities—and often the world.

The next cohort, part of the Young African Leaders Initiative, a program by the U.S. State Department, arrives on June 21—and as always, I can’t wait to meet them. It is a favorite summer event for my 10-year-old twin daughters, who have grown up being around program. They have met real African kings and princesses, and have seen some of the most beautiful clothing you

can imagine; it doesn’t get much better than that! Stay tuned for events this summer where you can meet the incredible young leaders who come to Reno every year to learn about the American way. They often make lifelong friends here, too.

Staying on the international scene, I just got back from two weeks in Poland, where I was working with startups and small/mediumsized enterprises. We also met with influential economic development officials around Poland regarding their technologies, and their wishes to do business in America. It’s part of a program started in 2017 under then-Gov. Brian Sandoval (now the president of the University of Nevada, Reno). He really wanted to open up Nevada for business to the whole world, not just California. He visited Poland with a delegation of officials and business leaders, and started the program that we now have. This program brings great jobs, new investments and tax dollars to Nevada.

In Warsaw, I was honored to judge 20 semi-finalist startups and select the Top 10. Representatives of these 10 will be in Northern Nevada June 2-10. We will host pitch sessions for the startups’ representatives in Reno and Las Vegas, and they will tour the university to check out lab resources and student talent. They will also meet potential partners and customers while launching their Nevada businesses and operations. Our foundational

technologies, geographic proximity and favorable business attributes make Nevada an ideal launchpad for startup operations in diverse technologies, such as autonomous vehicle tech, gaming tech, engineering tech, battery tech, eco-tech, med-tech, and so on.

This program is also creating a conduit to keep smart kids in Nevada after college graduation. It’s geared toward business students at the university, meant for them to gain real-world experience (and pay) to help foreign entities with “boots on the ground.” The students get to help launch operations of a transnational company into U.S. markets while still in school. How cool it is for them to have a career before they even graduate; they are building the relationships with and trust of the foreign owners to be their first employee here in the United States. It’s close to launching a Nevada startup, but without the risk to the Nevadan. The program generates high-paying Nevada jobs, revenue, tax dollars and cool tech that gets launched right here in Nevada.

While in the tech-rich Lubelskie region of Poland (on the Ukrainian border), the vicemarshal (the equivalent of the lieutenant governor in Nevada) awarded us with Poland/ Ukraine solidarity pins. This is the frontline region where the world saw the trains carrying refugees from Kyiv and elsewhere to Poland after the Russian invasion.

It was quite an honor—and incredibly

emotional—to be there and speak with the folks on the front lines of the war to save democracy in Eastern Europe. I was invited by the vice marshal to visit Kyiv with him the next time I’m there. I will seriously consider it upon my return in late June. In the meantime, we will continue to help startups from his region gain traction in existing and new markets. Many of the startups in Lubelskie are Ukrainian-transplanted families and startups. These folks have been through hell, and the border towns in Poland are all on the frontline. This situation is tenuous at best—and things will get much worse if Ukraine loses their homeland. That’s a pretty scary premise for all Eastern European countries, and it should be to us, too.

We need to continue to find areas of hope and look to help groups of marginalized people, even if it’s just in some small way. We will look for those people, in Nevada and elsewhere, who can benefit from the passion, skills and tenacity that are the foundations of entrepreneurship here and around the world.

On a separate note: Congratulations to the 12th Annual $50,000 Sontag Entrepreneurship Award Competition participants and finalists. It was a fantastic group of startups. Stay tuned for a focus on the Sontag competition and the Nevada startups they’ve produced over the years.

For more information on any of these topics or programs, email me at mwestfield@unr.edu.

Voting begins

If you have the knowledge, the desire, and the ability to write and report, email a resume, clips/writing samples and anything else you would like to share to jimmyb@renonr.com!

UPFRONT

Washoe commissioners revoke drilling permit at Gerlach geothermal site

Washoe County commissioners have revoked a geothermal company’s permit to drill test wells near Gerlach for a geothermal energy project that opponents fear would dry up hot springs, undermine buildings and contaminate water supplies.

Gerlach residents who oppose the project hailed the commissioners’ decision, but noted the drilling permit is just one aspect of what could become a multimillion dollar industrial project in their backyard. (See “‘Inconvenient Community,’” RN&R, April 2023.)

“We won at the county level,” said Jason Walters, who is among the residents who have been fighting against the proposal. “But every fight is a door to another until the battle is won.”

Representatives of Ormat Technologies, the company that wants to determine if the area less than a half-mile from the town is suitable for largescale geothermal development, did not return requests for comment.

Gerlach is at the edge of the Black Rock Desert, site of the annual Burning Man festival. The Burning Man organization. along with environmental groups and others, is suing the Bureau of Land Management, which they allege approved Ormat’s plans without conducting a rigorous environmental review of the plan’s potential impacts.

Ormat’s initial application to the BLM was for the construction of two geothermal plants, but the company withdrew that proposal and focused on getting approval for exploratory wells instead. Opponents argue that Ormat “segmented” its permitting requests into smaller pieces to sidestep closer environmental scrutiny.

Tribe and individual local residents. The residents and organizations told commissioners they were not given sufficient notice to respond to the company’s plans.

“I want to do things right,” said Jeanne Herman, vice chair of the Board of Commissioners. “I think the people need a little more time to have a chance to be informed.”

In an interview with the RN&R in March, Ormat officials said the firm had followed all local and federal requirements.

—Frank X. Mullen

Flying into the sunset

After 59 years, the Reno Air Races will this year take its last laps at Stead

Each September for six decades, the skies of Northern Nevada have vibrated with the roar of the National Championship Air Races. That era will come to a close this year.

The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority recently announced that the races, scheduled for Sept. 13-17, will be the last to be held at the Reno-Stead Airport. The event, organizers said, has been grounded by the surrounding area’s rapid development and challenging economic conditions.

But don’t write the air races’ obituary just yet.

“We are committed to work hard to find a replacement location,” said Terry Matter,

a longtime Air Races board member and retired race operations director. “We’re looking to keep air racing active and alive.”

The Reno races are a national and international attraction for aviation enthusiasts; for 59 years, it has had a deep impact on the area’s economy and community. A 2019 study by the University of Nevada, Reno, showed an annual economic impact of up to $100 million, said Tony Logoteta, chief operating officer of the Reno Air Racing Association. Between 65 and 75% of visitors are from areas outside of Reno-Sparks, including many international visitors.

“It fills up every (hotel) room,” said Joey Scolari, a longtime board member. Scolari

noted that downtown Reno once “allowed us to put airplanes in front of the hotels and hosted a parade.” In the 1980s, he recalled, a jet racer landed at the Reno-Tahoe Airport and taxied up Mill Street into downtown Reno at 4 a.m.

Beyond to the economic boost, the event has benefited its home community in many ways, organizers said, from educational opportunities to support for local nonprofits, groups and clubs. Organizers and fans all have stories about memorable races, marked by heart-pounding competitions, famous aviators, memorable displays—and, occasionally, tragic crashes.

For 60 years, Reno was an air race capital in a sport that began in the 1930s. Propeller-driven planes and jets can reach speeds in excess of 400 mph as they zoom in an oval course between pylons, relatively close to the ground. In 2003, Skip Holm piloted Terry Bland’s modified P-51D Mustang, Dago Red, and reached an all-time unlimited class speed record of 507.105 mph in a six-lap race around the course.

Some of the propeller-driven planes are modified World War II fighters; many of the pilots are considered the best air racers in the world.

One competition at the 2017 races stands out for Scolari. “It was the most exciting I’ve ever seen,” he said.

The race between unlimited class racers Strega, piloted by Robert “Hoot” Gibson, and Voodoo, flown by Steve Hinton—both in modified P-51 World War II fighters—had all the spectators standing from the beginning of the race to the finish, Scolari said. “It was like eagles in play, back and forth for the lead, the greatest race of all time,” he said.

Matter agreed: “In the last lap, Strega passed Voodoo for a photo finish.”

Reno’s racing revival

It all began with a Reno veteran and a lonely desert runway.

Bill Stead, a World War II military pilot, hosted a revival of air racing in 1964 at Sky Ranch airfield, a dirt airstrip in Spanish Springs. Two years later, the races moved to the closed Stead Air Force Base, named for Bill’s brother, Croston. The event has continued annually, with the exception of cancellations in 2001, due to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World War II fighters of the early days were eventually joined by other types of aircraft. Competition classes expanded to include jet, sport, T-6, formula one, biplane and STOL (short takeoff and landing) planes. Internationally acclaimed military demonstration

A gaggle of T-6 trainers at the 2022 National Championship Air Races in Stead. Photo/Dave Horn

teams, including the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, the Navy’s Blue Angels, and the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds, put on shows. Exhibitions have featured top aerobatic pilots including Bob Hoover, Sean Tucker, Lefty Gardner, Joann Osterud and Wayne Handley. A “pit” ticket has allowed fans to tour displays of military and civilian aircraft parked at the field. The National Aviation Heritage Invitational brings restored vintage aircraft to the ramp. The NAHI came first to the Air Races in 1999 and continued through 2019—and will be back this year. Trophies are awarded in several categories for exacting restorations of vintage aircraft.

“The (National Aviation Heritage Invitational being) back at Reno is absolutely fantastic,” said Joshua Cawthra, an aviation accident investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. “NAHI is the West Coast Mecca for aviation enthusiasts from all over the world.”

STEM education soars

Area students and parents have had opportunities to learn about the science, engineering and technology of aviation in the STEM Education

Discovery Zone, an exhibit sponsored by the Global Robot and Drone Deployment group and the Nevada Business Aviation Association. The program was created by Reza Karamooz of Las Vegas, who brought drones to the Air Races in 2014 at his own expense and with his own crew. Now it’s all presented in partnership with the Air Races management team.

“In 2019, we had 12,000 kids,” Karamooz said.

In a large tent behind the race grandstands, the young participants have flown flight simulators and drones, watched a 3-D printer build a model of the Saturn rocket, and took part in other aviation-related activities. Karamooz, who also hosts STEM aviation events in Northern California and in Utah, said he was inspired to create the program by his childhood experiences.

“I went to an airshow when I was a kid, and when I was growing up, there were the space missions and moon visits,” he said.

Karamooz said the races are a perfect venue for learning about aviation and science because “all the magic is already there.” Some youngsters who attended the races during the decades were inspired to pursue careers in aviation.

“Bringing all the kids out and getting them involved in the races has had an impact for over 50 years,” Scolari said.

The dangerous side

Between 1972 and 2022, 21 pilots have died in crashes during races or when flying practice runs. A wing walker was killed while performing in 1975.

The races endured its greatest tragedy in 2011, when pilot Jimmy Leeward and 10 spectators died after Leeward’s heavily modified World War II-era aircraft spun out of control while banking around a pylon and slammed into a seating area. About 70 spectators were seriously injured, many from flying shrapnel.

At the time, fans wondered if the disaster would herald the end of the races, but the event continued. Organizers work closely with the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates air shows and other aviation events.

“What we know, (the FAA) knows,” Matter said. “We were open with them. Both the local FAA and the top people were on our team. It was a big reason for the races’ success.”

Clarence Bohartz, a retired FAA airworthi-

ness and operations inspector who is now a volunteer for the Air Races, said the event’s relationship with the FAA is key to its success.

“There was trust on both sides,” he said. “This (Reno) FAA office has always been the best office pilots could work with. … We would look for the best way to find a ‘yes’ answer.”

Pilots often ask the FAA and race officials what modifications to their planes are allowed. Racing aircraft are often better built than production airplanes, Bohartz noted, because when working with racers, “You make sure everything is tested and correct.”

“Our biggest concern was safety, which started with the spectators, then pilots,” Bohartz said. Rules keep the crowd at a distance from the racing course, and the pilots are subject to speed limits.

Bohartz, who inspected aircraft, also was involved in operational safety. In earlier years, racing pilots were former military pilots who had formation training at high speeds. Newer pilots often lack that experience. Each year, instructors in the Pylon Racing Seminar train rookies how to fly safely around the pylons.

Volunteers are essential

More than 1,200 volunteers help staff all the activities. Members of community organizations and local service clubs help with essential services and staff booths offering merchandise and food, earning revenue for their programs.

John Melarkey, who began his involvement with the races in 1967 as a pylon judge, managed a cadre of race-course workers for 22 years until his retirement last year.

“It gets in your blood,” Melarkey said. “You can’t not do it.”

Attendance records from 1990 to 2022 show that more than 200 volunteers have worked more than 4,700 hours in that period.

“In general, the community does not recognize the big impact of the races—but the people who volunteer do understand,” said volunteer Karol Hines. “People come from all over the world for aviation events, not just in Reno, but also Minden and Truckee.”

Hines, a soaring (glider) pilot who has competed in international and national contests, was part of the crew for the aerobatic performer Leo Loudenslager beginning in 1983. She and other crew members held up the poles that suspended the ribbons Loudenslager cut while flying low over the main runway.

Volunteers especially treasure the camaraderie, she said. Hines enjoyed the “pit parties” held by competition teams in the staging area.

Scolari said the award dinners for pilots, crew and volunteers after the competition also stand out as the most enjoyable times.

“It’s family after 30 years,” he said. Melarkey agreed. “It’s a big family reunion,” he said.

Two planes in the sport class round a pylon at the National Championship Air Races in Stead in 2022.

Photo/Dave Horn

Paws that change lives

Special-needs pets find their ‘forever’ humans even as shelters get crowded

When John Westcamp, a retiree from Reno, was looking for a dog to adopt last year, he occasionally checked the listings on the Nevada Humane Society’s website.

When he went to the shelter in November, he saw a dog he’d noticed online for weeks. “It was love at first sight, and I decided then and there to adopt her,” he said.

“Emmy is an 8-year-old shorthaired pointer, but she is full of energy,” said Westcamp. “… She had been at the shelter for months. She was a stray that weighed 106 pounds when she got there, so they put her on a diet and treated her with thyroid medicine. She weighs about 75 pounds now. She has turned out to be a really great dog.”

Thanks to the efforts of local animal adoption centers, elderly pets and those with special needs have been able to find “forever” homes even at a time when shelters are overcrowded, and their resources are stretched. The SPCA of Northern Nevada and the Nevada Humane Society both report that in the wake of the pandemic, more animals are being surrendered than in previous years, and it’s been harder to attract people to adopt them.

The Nevada Humane Society, at 2825 Longley Lane in Reno, is overcrowded, and staffers are seeing an increase in bigger dogs.

“We are seeing a lot more animal surrenders due to landlord issues,” said Nikki Moylan, marketing assistant at the Humane Society. Fewer rental properties allow

animals, she said, and even when dogs are permitted, landlords often impose breed and weight restrictions. In addition, some rental units are small and lack backyards—unfit conditions for big dogs that need room to roam.

When the shelter’s population increases, the Humane Society temporarily waives adoption fees for any dog that is older than 6 months and weighs more than 25 pounds. The society waived fees in early March, Moylan noted, and “we adopted out over 51 dogs in the first weekend.”

Other issues also can impede an animal’s chances for adoption. When pets have been at the shelter for a relatively long time, they are enrolled in the Lonely Hearts Club, whose members are older, recovering from a medical condition, or have anxiety issues caused by being in a shelter. The society waives adoption fees for those dogs and cats.

“They have been with us the longest,” Moylan said. “… They are the ones that need the most help.”

Other pets qualify for the Lonely Hearts Club based on less-serious medical conditions or because they have been at the shelter a long time.

Raider, for example, is an adorable 4-year-old Labrador mix weighing 51 pounds. Despite his undeniable charm, the Lab has been residing in the Reno shelter since Dec. 26 and requires a nurturing home environment. He doesn’t get along with small dogs or cats, Moylan said, but he would thrive in a more dynamic household where he can enjoy leisurely strolls and engag-

Pippa, born with a malformed heart and expected to die within a month, has been living an active life with a Reno family for the last six years. Photo/Irene Moran-Pauley

ing games of fetch.

Other club members included Margarette, an 8-year-old dog diagnosed with osteoarthritis and a possible old pelvic injury who recently recovered from bite wounds on her ears and would do best as the only dog in a home; and Stryker, a 10-year-old male dog who suffers from skin allergies and canine cognitive disorder. Those and other Lonely Hearts Club members are profiled on the Humane Society’s website, nevadahumanesociety.org.

The organization also has dogs who need hospice care, meaning they are not expected to live very long and are given a chance to spend their final days in a home rather than the shelter. Sometimes, however, miracles happen. Pippa, a Jack Russell terrier puppy, was surrendered to the shelter after his owners found out she had a malformed heart. The pup was expected to die within 30 days when Irene Moran-Pauley of Reno adopted her. That was six years ago. Pippa, Moran-Pauley said, is still alive and “is a scruffy, white bundle of joy” weighing 6 pounds.

“The vet said she only has half a heart,” Moran-Pauley said. “Who says you need a whole heart when you are surrounded by love?”

Foster homes provide care

The society has a fostering program that helps pets become more adoptable, Moylan said. The harder-to-place animals stay with people in homes, away from the cacophony at the shelter. That respite, she said, provides a stress-free environment for the pets to unwind and learn crucial behavior skills, increasing their prospects of securing a loving home.

“Fostering helps with the transition. A lot of the animals get very anxious and can’t adjust properly in a shelter,” Moylan said.

The Nevada Humane Society placed 4,818 animals in foster care in 2022; that’s 2,652 more animals than in 2021. Those pets include puppies, kittens, hospice animals and special-needs pets. The dramatic increase in foster care, Moylan said, came about in part because more people signed up to be foster homes, “and we’ve noticed some younger animals having babies. That’s why spaying and neutering pets is so important.”

The society, Moylan noted, is always in need of volunteers, donations, fostering help and, of course, people wanting to adopt pets.

Pandemic adoption boom and bust

The COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst for overcrowding in animal shelters and adop-

tion centers. More than 23 million American households adopted a pet during the pandemic, according to The Washington Post. As the shutdowns ended, some adopters surrendered their animals to shelters. Affordability also is a factor in decreased adoptions, particularly in Northern Nevada, where the cost of living is high, and inflation continues to squeeze household finances.

The increase in pet surrenders and a downturn in adoptions has put a strain on adoption facilities. Even young, healthy animals sometimes have a hard time finding homes. Still, there are many adoption success stories at the SPCA of Northern Nevada, at 4950 Spectrum Boulevard in Reno. Hobbes, for example, is an 8-monthold puppy with a broken leg who in November was surrendered to a rural shelter partner of the SPCA. The medical staff in Reno amputated the limb, which had been left untreated for some time. Hobbes recovered and was quickly adopted by a young couple. The adoption center covered his medical costs.

“The medical care we provide here at SPCA of Northern Nevada is not funded by any government or national organization,” said Emily Lee, communications manager. “We receive zero financial support from the (national) ASPCA. Our ability to care for these homeless pets and provide community programs is made possible by community members donating to our mission. Every dollar given to the SPCA-NN has a local impact on pets and people in our community.”

The SPCA also has special-needs pets that can be viewed on the organization’s website, spcanevada.org. The SPCA, she said, conducts thorough behavior assessments of all animals that come to its facility. If an adoptable pet needs additional behavior support, they undergo a comprehensive behavior-modification program until they’re deemed more appropriate for adoption.

The organization aims to dismantle breed biases and demonstrate that every animal is capable of becoming a loving companion for the right family, Lee said. In 2022, the SPCA of Northern Nevada had a 6% return rate, a low percentage that reflects the care and consideration the facility puts into matching a pet with an adopter, she said.

“A lot of times, we have an animal that will be in our shelter for an extended period of time, and then someone walks in and asks for that exact pet,” Lee said.

Although the staff tries to make good matches, she said, there should be no shame or embarrassment connected with returning an animal that may not fit a given household.

The organization currently is hosting its annual Spring Into Saving Lives Fundraiser, which runs until May 15. During the event, donations made will be matched dollar for dollar, and all proceeds raised will directly benefit pets in need throughout the region, Lee said.

Legends of the lakes

Deep tunnels and a scooped-up scuba diver are among Tahoe and Pyramid’s tall tales

Bodies of water always seem to attract their share of “fish stories” and other folklore— but Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake may hold a record for tall tales.

Although explorer John C. Fremont is often called the “discoverer” of both landmarks in 1844, the lakes were home to the continent’s original inhabitants since the dawn of history, with the Washoe Tribe at Tahoe and the Northern Paiutes at Pyramid Lake. Indigenous Nevadans have their own traditions and legends, evolving over millennia. But over the last 170-plus years, European Americans have added more soggy fables to the folklore of the giant lakes. Some of those stories have a few drops of truth; others are drowning in silliness.

Here are some of the most common claims you might hear—along with some fact-checks:

Tahoe is a Washoe name: There’s some truth to that, but the early explorers weren’t great linguists. In her University of Nevada, Reno, doctoral thesis in 2019, anthropologist Natalie Davenport confirmed the Washoe name for the lake was “Da ow.” Fremont and other pioneers mispronounced it as “Tahoe,” and the name stuck after the lake had a brief stint on early maps as “Lake Bigler.”

Lobsters, shrimp and prehistoric fish swim in both lakes’ waters: Yes, Virginia, there are lobsters in Lake Tahoe! OK, not really. The small freshwater creatures are crayfish, commonly called crawdads. Turn

over any rock at Sand Harbor, and you’ll probably see one or two of these small crustaceans scurrying away.

The salinity of Pyramid Lake supports a small population of nearly microscopic brine shrimp. Pyramid also hosts two rare and ancient fish, the cutthroat trout and the cui-ui. Both are survivors from an ancient inland sea known as Lake Lahontan. An agricultural diversion of the Truckee River’s water to Fallon led to the apparent extinction of Pyramid’s cutthroats. But court rulings eventually restored Truckee water flows. Then, in the 1970s, a biologist found some tiny fish in a creek near Wendover, Nev., 300 miles east of Pyramid Lake. DNA tests showed these were the ancient cutthroats. The species were re-introduced to the lake and again thrive there. The Pyramid Lake cui-ui also survived extinction. The sucker fish was a staple food of the Paiutes, and the tribe’s traditional name, Cui-ui Ticutta (alternate spelling: Kuyuidikado) means “Cui-ui eaters.” The species is found nowhere else in the world.

Both lakes have “sea monsters”: “Tahoe Tessie” is a well-known but never photographed denizen of the Sierra lake. Some speculate that a giant sturgeon may have been the basis for the tale, but none have been found … yet. Others theorize that numerous eyewitness sightings may be related to libations consumed on Tahoe’s beaches. Children’s book author Bob McCormick penned The Story of Tahoe Tessie in 1985 and sold thousands of books about the friendly aquatic dinosaur. Sightings of a serpentine sea

Pyramid Lake is named for this natural formation made of tufa, a type of limestone. Anaho Island, near the pyramid, is a large tufa formation that is now a National Wildlife Refuge for freshwater pelicans. Photo/David Robert

creature at Pyramid Lake can be explained by algae blooms clumping on the lake’s surface. Walker Lake also hosts a monster, legend has it, and for years, the serpent named “Cecil” was a float in the annual Nevada Day Parade in Carson City.

While the monsters are myths, there are large fish in Nevada’s lakes. In 1925, a 41-pound cutthroat was reeled in at Pyramid. An angler named Gene St. Denis caught a 29-pound mackinaw trout near Tahoe’s Cave Rock. The record for that species is a 37 pound, 6 ounce “Mac” that was 44 inches long, caught by Robert Aronsen on June 21, 1974. The rainbow trout record is 11.67 pounds and 30 inches long, by Chuck McMeecham in 2001. Tahoe also is a great place for fish to thrive; a goldfish released in the lake grew to 18 inches and 4.2 pounds before an angler landed it in February 2013.

Drowning victims at Lake Tahoe remain submerged and perfectly preserved, but a few bob up decades after their demise. Some hapless swimmers drown in Lake Tahoe and are found in Pyramid Lake, more than 70 miles away: There is a bit of truth about Tahoe’s vanishing bodies. Legend has it that the lake was once a favorite dumping ground for casino mob hits, since corpses dropped there never came up again. At certain depths, the constant cold temperatures around 39 degrees (like in a morgue) slow or stop bacterial decomposition. Dead bodies in warmer lakes float to the surface when they get bloated with gases produced by decomposition, but Tahoe is a deep freeze that may not give up its dead.

Nonetheless, fish and other marine life eventually consume all parts of any human body. There is a verified account of a scuba diver found mostly preserved at depth 17 years after his drowning. His preservation was due to the cold water and, most importantly, his protective wet suit, not any magical property of the water.

Tahoe and Pyramid are connected—by the Truckee River, not via an underground tunnel, as legend would have it. The deepest part of Tahoe, near Crystal Bay on the lake’s north shore, is 1,644 feet. That would make the elevation of the bottom of Tahoe around 4,581 feet. The surface of Pyramid Lake is at 3,796 feet. If there were an open tunnel at the bottom of the lake, the entire 39 trillion gallons of Tahoe water would quickly drain. It would overflow Pyramid Lake and fill the neighboring (and usually dry) Lake Winnemucca. For a while, the flood waters would probably restore a portion of the ancient Pleistocene-era Lake Lahontan.

BY BUDDY FRANK

There are the remains of forests preserved in the depths of Lake Tahoe: There are some big tree stumps below the surface of Tahoe, and there’s a complete 2,000-year-old underwater forest at nearby Fallen Leaf Lake, with 80-foot pines. The latter came from an ancient, prolonged drought. The scattered trees in Tahoe are either left over from 19th century logging, or date from when the lake’s outlet at Tahoe City was slightly lower. Geologists think earthquake activity may have tumbled debris into the lake in ancient times, which slightly raised its natural rim. If so, trees growing along Tahoe’s lower shoreline would have been submerged.

The formation that gave Pyramid Lake its modern name is manmade, like the ones in Egypt: Nope, that’s silly. The natural formation made of tufa, a type of limestone. Tufa is created from carbonate minerals that precipitated out of mineralized water. Anaho Island, near the pyramid, is a large tufa formation that is now a National Wildlife Refuge for freshwater pelicans. The “Great Stone Mother” at Pyramid is another large tufa formation that resembles a hooded Indian woman weaving a basket. The pyramid that caught Fremont’s eye in 1844 is just a quirk of geology, formed between 26,000 and 13,000 years ago. To protect the historic sites on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, the island, the pyramid and the Stone Mother are now in restricted areas.

Pyramid and Tahoe never freeze: Neither lake has ever been completely covered in known human history, but this year, for the first time in seven decades, Emerald Bay did ice over. Record snowfalls and extended periods of low temperatures did the trick. The huge volume of water in Lake Tahoe, along with wave action, make a complete freeze-over nearly impossible. But with climate change, who knows what the future holds?

A scuba diver in Tahoe was later found hanging high in a tree many miles away: The story goes that on Aug. 5, 1999, a businessman from Sacramento was diving in Lake Tahoe near Sand Harbor when a huge water bucket suspended from a helicopter scooped him up and then dropped the water—and its human cargo—on a nearby forest fire. The diver was impaled high on a burning pine tree. Lake Tahoe is a popular training and certification area for scuba divers, and choppers do dip huge buckets into the lake when fighting wildfires, so the tale seems to have the ring of truth. But it’s complete BS, and the myth has been told about lakes from Southern California to France. A segment on the Mythbusters TV series in 2004 debunked the legend, but “true” accounts of the mishap keep circulating on the Web.

Some tall tales are just too cool to die.

Buddy Frank is a retired Reno journalist and casino executive.

Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight

For May, 2023

This sky chart is drawn for latitude 40 degrees north, but may be used in continental U.S. and southern Canada.

May’s evening sky chart.

Illustration/Robert D. Miller

Evening events: As the sky darkens on May 1, Venus appears between Beta and Zeta Tauri, tips of the Bull’s horns. Find faint Mars, of magnitude +1.4, nearly 26° to Venus’ upper left, in Gemini, 6° below Pollux. As Venus shifts 1.1° to 1°, and Mars shifts nearly 0.6° daily against stars this month, watch for these events: On May 8, Mars is 5° south of Pollux. On May 10-12, Venus passes 3.6° north of third-magnitude stars Eta and Mu in the foot of Castor in Gemini. On May 16, Mars-PolluxCastor are in a straight line, and Venus is 0.7° north of third-magnitude Epsilon Gem.

On May 20, the young moon, a 2% crescent, appears very low in the west-northwest at dusk, 28° to the lower right of Venus. On May 21, the 7% crescent moon is 16° to the lower right of Venus. The brilliant planet forms an isosceles triangle with Pollux and Castor, within 9° of each. From May 22-24, watch the moon pass Venus, Pollux, Castor and Mars. On May 22, the 12% moon appears 5° to the lower right of Venus. By May 23, the moon has leapt to nearly 7° to Venus’ upper left while waxing to 19%. Pollux appears an exceptionally close 2° to the moon’s upper right, while Mars appears within 9° to the moon’s upper left. On May 24, the 27% moon is nearly 5° above Mars.

May skies

Venus rules the evening sky, while Saturn offers great views via telescope in the mornings

Venus, the brilliant planet in the west at dusk, ascends to its highest position in the evening sky this month— while the stars temporarily surrounding it steadily drop away.

Use monthly evening twilight sky chart to track Venus, Mars and bright stars. During May, watch Rigel, the Pleiades, Aldebaran, Sirius and Betelgeuse, in order, exit the western sky, leaving the “Spring Arch” of Procyon, Pollux, Castor and Capella to remain at month’s end.

The May 2023 Sky Calendar, illustrating many of the events described in this column, together with a constellation map for the month’s evening sky, are available for free at www.abramsplanetarium.org/ skycalendar.

Venus, at magnitude -4.1 to -4.4, rules the evening sky! Throughout May, Venus

remains above the unobstructed horizon for more than three hours after sunset. If observed at sunset or in twilight in early May, Venus attains its greatest altitude for this entire evening apparition: In May’s second week, Venus is nearly 41° up at sunset and 32° up at mid-twilight (when the sun is 9° below the horizon). Even at nightfall, when twilight ends with the sun 18° down, Venus is still 22° up on May 1, and 18° up on May 31. This month, Venus can be spotted in daylight, 43° to 45° to the upper left of the setting sun. Near the time of sunset or not long after is best for using a telescope to follow Venus’ changing appearance. In May, the disk grows from 17 to 23 arcseconds across, while its phase decreases from about two-thirds to just over half illuminated (66% to 52%). In June, the crescent Venus will become large enough to be resolved even through binoculars!

On May 26, the 46% moon, almost at first quarter (half full) phase, is within 4° to the upper right of Regulus, heart of Leo. On May 28 and 29, Venus passes 4° south of Pollux. On May 30, the moon (now gibbous, at 82%) appears 5° to the upper right of Spica, while Mars passes aphelion, the point in its orbit most distant from sun. On May 31, the VenusMars gap has closed to 11°, while Mars has faded to magnitude +1.6. On June 1, VenusPollux-Castor are arranged in a straight line; Mars appears in the Beehive Cluster that night and next. Use binoculars or a telescope after nightfall to see the cluster’s brightest stars, of sixth and seventh magnitudes.

Morning events: Saturn, in Aquarius, glows at magnitude +0.9 in the east-southeast to southeast as dawn brightens. A telescope shows the rings tipped only 8.0° to 7.4° from edgewise.

On May 7, the red star Antares, heart of the Scorpion, appears just 1.5° east (to the left) of the 96% moon. Earlier that morning, the moon will occult Sigma in Scorpius, the third-magnitude star just west-northwest (to the right) of Antares, and one of the “outworks of the heart.”

Seen from Reno, the star’s disappearance behind the moon’s leading sunlit edge occurs at 2:48 a.m., with the reappearance at the moon’s

| BY ROBERT VICTOR

trailing dark edge at 3:44 a.m. A telescope will be required to observe disappearance and reappearance.

In the brightening dawns in May, the Summer Triangle of Vega, Altair and Deneb passes overhead; Arcturus sinks low in the west to west-northwest; and Antares sinks low in the southwest. Fomalhaut, mouth of the Southern Fish, appears far to the lower right of Saturn. Jupiter rises into prominence in the eastern sky later in the month. See our morning twilight chart with the online version of this article.

On May 13, a fat 41 percent crescent moon appears near Saturn. On May 16, locate recently emerged Jupiter (magnitude -2.1) very low, north of east, 14°-15° to the lower left of the 12 percent waning crescent moon. On May 17, a 6 percent moon occults Jupiter. From most of California and Western Nevada, Jupiter is already hidden at moonrise. From Reno, Jupiter reappears at the moon’s upper dark edge between 5:19 and 5:20 a.m. Since the event occurs in bright twilight shortly before sunrise, the use of a telescope is recommended.

Mercury, to the lower left of Jupiter, brightens from a too-faint magnitude +1.6, when 6° from Jupiter (hidden by the moon) on May 17, to +1.0 when 7° from Jupiter on May 22; and to magnitude +0.4 when 12° from Jupiter on May 31. On May 28, Saturn appears at quadrature, 90° west of the sun. Spaceship Earth is then heading directly toward Saturn. Use a telescope so see Saturn’s shadow cast upon the rings, at the west-northwest limb of the planet.

Visible all night: On May 31, Antares, red supergiant heart of the Scorpion, appears at opposition to the sun. Look for it low in the southeast at dusk, highest in the south in middle of night, and low in the southwest at dawn. Its positions at dusk and dawn are shown on our two twilight charts.

Graphs plotting the evening planets’ setting times in relation to sunset, and morning planets’ rising times in relation to sunrise, make it easy to know when to look for the planets the rest of this year. For example, Venus will disappear from the western evening sky in July, and quickly reappear in the eastern morning sky in late August.

Robert C. Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still produces issues occasionally, including May 2023. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky and other wonders of nature. Robert Miller, who provided the twilight charts, did graduate work in planetarium science and later astronomy and computer science at Michigan State University, and remains active in research and public outreach in astronomy.

Stereographic Projection Map by Robert D. Miller

Carson calling

The Prison Hill Recreation Area is a perfect place to appreciate classic Northern Nevada beauty

As summer approaches, many of us feel the call of the mountains and forests. While Mount Rose and Lake Tahoe have a renowned beauty and allure, spring is a great time to appreciate the uniqueness of the Northern Nevada landscape—and a trip to Prison Hill Recreation Area in Carson City provides ample opportunity to soak up many of our local environment’s best parts.

Prison Hill spans 2,500 acres and is crisscrossed by trails popular with hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. It offers excellent views of the Carson Range to the west and the Pine Nut Mountains to the east, along with panoramic views of Carson City.

There are several access points to this

expansive open space. On the northern end, just off of East Fifth Street and Carson River Road, a parking area gives access to the North Loop Connector Trail and North Loop Trail. The middle section of the western side has gravel parking off both Koontz Lane and Clearview Drive. Many different trails are accessible from these points. On the eastern side, Silver Saddle Ranch has trails leading up to Prison Hill. On the southern end, off Snyder Avenue, a large staging area provides space for those seeking trails for motorized use.

This scenic area is popular with all kinds of trail users. Miles of maintained hiking trails all throughout the space and are well-used by hikers and trail runners; there are even organized 5k, 10k and half-marathon runs held

here in certain seasons. Many of the paths are great for horseback riding, and dogs are allowed on all trails as long as they’re under the owner’s control. If you’re heading to Prison Hill with your ATV or dirt bike, be sure to check the map at Carson.org for “Motorized Use” boundaries.

Surrounding a low mountain ridge, the Prison Hill Recreation Area has trails that offer various levels of difficulty. Some have enticing names like “Escape from Prison Hill” and “Dead Truck Canyon.” Around the fringes, the trails can be wide and relatively flat, providing access to those not looking for a strenuous journey. Heading up to some of the highest points in the area can involve around 1,000 feet of vertical gain on single-track trails that

are rocky, sandy and gravelly. Views from the summit are spectacular; it’s a great spot to have a rewarding snack or picnic.

Whether heading out for a challenging allday adventure or a quick and easy after-work jaunt, Prison Hill is a great desert destination. Though it’s accessible year-round, a total lack of tree cover makes this a very hot location during the summer. This nature-focused recreation area lacks developed amenities like bathrooms or picnic tables, instead providing a slice of the wild right on the doorstep of the Silver State capital.

Many native animals call Prison Hill home, including mule deer, coyotes and rattlesnakes. You’re unlikely to come into contact with many animals, as they tend to vacate the area when they hear you coming, but traces of them can be seen all around if you’re looking for them. Dozens of species of birds can be seen throughout the space, including rock wrens singing from towering boulders and ravens catching thermals from ridgetops.

If you find yourself falling in love with this picturesque slice of Nevada’s high desert, do your part to maintain its beauty. Pack out your trash; stay on maintained trails; and don’t pick flowers or take anything (other than trash) home with you. Feeling extra-inspired? Volunteer for trail maintenance with Carson City Department of Parks, Recreation and Open Space (carson.org) or local nonprofit Muscle Powered (musclepowered.org).

Prison Hill Recreation Area offers a breathtaking experience for outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers. With a network of trails spanning dozens of miles, this wild space beckons to be explored time and time again. From awe-inspiring vistas to tranquil foothill paths, Prison Hill offers something for everyone.

A view of Carson City from the Prison Hill Recreation Area. Photo/Maggie Nichols

AMONG HARDLINERS,

tribute acts can be viewed as interlopers or, god forbid, hobbyists who don’t stand for the same creative principles as “real bands.” Anyone who thinks that probably hasn’t seen the production value that goes into ABBACADABRA.

Billing itself as the “Ultimate ABBA Tribute” and selling out showrooms and stages all over the world, ABBACADABRA got its start in 2004 thanks to executive producer Garry Raffanelli.

“I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t do a whole bunch of things,” said Raffanelli. “But I do have an addiction: I’m addicted to applause.”

A musician from a young age,

YOU’VE

SEEN THEM in barrooms, at backyard barbecues, and on some of the biggest stages in town—but regardless of who’s holding the instruments, you know the music before the band even begins to tune up.

Cover bands or tribute acts are a crucial yet sometimes overlooked part of any town’s music scene, even though many cover musicians are talented performers in their own right. They’re dedicated to their craft for a wide range of motivations—and not all cover acts happen at the same scale.

Cover bands can be lucrative and long-lived acts that draw legions of fans to hear the songs they know and love, or regional touring projects paying homage to long-gone greats, or local jam bands looking for an excuse to get some friends together and share the music that inspires them.

It’s tough to get a sense of just how many of these acts call Reno and the surrounding areas home, but we talked to six local cover bands about their backgrounds, their musical philosophies, and how they make a living (or not) playing hits and paying tribute.

Raffanelli has made a career out of music and entertainment—performing, producing acts and building custom pianos for some of the world’s biggest stars through his brand, Slam Grand Pianos. Raffanelli performed for decades as part of the musical duo Gary and Sandy with vocalist Sandy Selby, touring nationally before landing in the casino showroom and lounge scene of Reno and Las Vegas in 1976.

Raffanelli was eventually approached by the entertainment director of Harrah’s Reno to come up with an act. Raffanelli said that he

gave the director three other ideas, and when pressed for a fourth, he invented a plan for an ABBA tribute act there and then.

“On the way to the meeting, in my car, my Saturn … when I open up the glove compartment, there’s (an ABBA) Gold cassette,” Raffanelli said. “And I go, ‘God, I love ABBA.’ So I popped that thing in, and I’m listening to ABBA on the way to the meeting.

… And I said, ‘As long as it doesn’t leave this room, I’m putting together an ABBA show.’”

The enthusiastic response prompted him to spend the next year and a half musically dissecting ABBA’s greatest hits by ear and hand-picking musicians to not only accurately perform their music, but replicate—and sometimes spoof—the personalities of the Swedish supergroup in their heyday.

“We do the show pretending to be the players,” Raffanelli said. “If you know about ABBA, the two guys were married to the two girls, and then they divorced—and

they weren’t really pleasant divorces. So we play the show as if they’re divorced, but we ran into some financial deals and now we’ve got to play together again. So there’s that edge, and there’s a little bit of name-calling, and I think that makes the show very funny. That’s what makes our show different.”

ABBACADABRA continues to tour nationally and internationally, even though the lineup has changed over the years, with Raffanelli managing the group while performing onstage himself. Even with the cast assuming the roles of the original members of ABBA, the legalities of performing have never inhibited the live show or the recordings they make and sell. (Although the show’s logo is spelled “Adbacadbra” in a stylized manner to avoid trademark similarities.)

To Raffanelli, tribute acts— ABBACADABRA in particular—can be successful from a business standpoint because of the economics of packing big rooms and the natural appeal to audience nostalgia.

“We can sell out the show for a fraction of the cost of bringing in the real act,” he said. “These acts, you can’t see anymore, so the tribute acts are taking up that slack for a much more reasonable price.”

To Raffanelli, the consummate showman, it’s not enough to simply put on the costumes and sing the songs. He said the highest praise he receives is when he feels he’s given his audience the same feeling he got when he saw ABBA live in 1979.

“People walk out going, ‘Thank you; I got to see ABBA live,’” he said.

Find out more at www.adbacadabra.com.

WHEN IT COMES

TO paying tribute to great artists, sometimes it’s about more than just the music.

“The Pink Floyd ‘costume’ is the light show, the laser show,” said Vince Gates, bassist and band leader of Pink Floyd tribute act The Floyd, based in Carson City. “That’s the look of Pink Floyd. So it’s very important.”

Gates joined The Floyd in 2010 when it was known as Eclipse: A Tribute to Pink Floyd, around the same time he took ownership of music store Play Your Own Music in Carson City. Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour had always been a huge inspiration to Gates and his guitar playing, and when the members of Eclipse asked him to take over as their bass player, he

Gerry Raffanelli, producer and performer in ABBACADABRA.

Photo by David Robert

jumped at the chance.

“It was really low stakes and easy back then,” Gates said. “We were just playing clubs. We didn’t have two trucks full of lighting trusses showing up two days before. We weren’t selling 1,000 tickets.”

The Floyd is now a comprehensive musical experience with a set list that spans the group’s different eras and more than 4,000 lighting cues, all timed manually by the band’s lighting director, Ed Collins. Gates, along with bandmates Rob Lawrence, Jeff Laakso, Curt Mitchell and Dean Rossi, pride themselves on putting on a stadium-worthy show that sells out venues across the West Coast.

“There’s a real sense of emotional connection, I think, with the musicians in the band, or you can feel the emotional connection to the music,” Gates said. “It’s a really good show. Obviously, the lights are spectacular. The sound is spectacular. And the level of musicianship is top-notch.”

Gates plays in a few other tribute bands and original acts around the area and finds playing cover music—especially Pink Floyd’s music— to be an interesting technical challenge. While he recognizes the artistic value and personal reward of playing original music, accurately re-creating the nuance of a famous performance is just as, if not more so, challenging when playing live.

“There’s kind of a negative connotation to playing cover music, and I totally get it,” Gates said. “But the thing is, there’s art and entertainment, and there’s a line somewhere. I totally understand that we’re all standing on the shoulders of

giants, and that we, you know, haven’t really contributed anything artistically, per se. But people really enjoy seeing it, and hearing it, and being a part of it.”

Gates and his bandmates are content with finding musical fulfillment in putting on the best homage, sonically and visually, to one of their favorite bands—and none of the thousands of people who attend their shows seem to mind.

Learn more about The Floyd at www. thefloydband.com.

one called Gwen in Doubt.’ So they know we exist, and it was pretty cool, because Gwen was saying how much she liked the name and stuff, so she thought it was clever.”

Originally, from Auburn, Calif., Mclean came to Reno in the early 2000s. She started her music career in the area with a Top 40 cover act called Steel Breeze. Throughout her career, members of the audience would tell her that she sounded and even looked like Stefani, whom Mclean lists as a big musical influence. In 2003, she came up with the band name and approached the members of Steel Breeze about leaning into the idea of covering both No Doubt and Stefani’s solo catalog.

“When I would sing Gwen, it almost like fit like a glove,” Mclean said. “Like, it just

became very natural to me in the way she moved, and we kind of have some styles in common and like the same things. … I do my best when I’m up there; I want to do the best I can, because I think she deserves it.”

Gwen in Doubt’s set list covers a full twohour performance, and she and bandmates Tommy Mclean, Kevin Strawn, Dan Bauer and John Dabaghian have taken the act to venues around California and Nevada. Mclean said she tends to get out on the road more in tribute bands than in her other projects, playing events like the Contra Costa County Fair and even opening for Terri Nunn of the band Berlin. The reaction she gets from the audience is one of the things she most enjoys when she’s “Gwen.”

“It’s fun to be a rock star sometimes,” she said. “You see someone out in the crowd, and they exude this really cool energy, and I want to exude that good energy to them and recognize them. So I kind of sometimes try to go the extra mile so people feel that they’re involved, too.”

Mclean is realistic about her persona, saying she would never “go to Walmart or something as Gwen.” Mclean stresses that she’s paying homage to Stefani instead of impersonating her, and the real utility of her tribute act is to supplement her income as a working musician who writes and records her own original work as well.

EVEN WITHOUT A HUGE STAGE production or cast, smaller tribute acts can still find full-time work with the right look and sound. Such is the case of Reno’s Tamara Mclean, otherwise known as Tammy Tam Tam when performing with one of her many bands, duos and trios. When fronting her No Doubt tribute band Gwen in Doubt, she assumes the titular persona of Gwen Stefani.

“They actually did an interview with No Doubt, and the girl asked the question, ‘Do you know any funny tribute band names?’” Mclean said. “And then the drummer, Adrian (Young), said, ‘There’s

“I just came out with a new song on April 7, called ‘Love Doesn’t Have 2 Hurt’ … and my inspiration for that song was to stop domestic violence,” Mclean said. “I love singing other people’s songs, but when you get to sing your originals, and people are getting up and dancing to them, and they are downloading them and loving what you do, it’s like, ‘Wow.’ It’s a wonderful feeling.”

For more information, visit tammytamtam.com.

continued on next page

The Floyd performs onstage. Photo by David Rocco

Tamara Mclean, lead singer of Gwen in Doubt. Photo by David Robert

“When I would sing Gwen, it almost like fit like a glove . ”

— Tamara Mclean Gwen in Doubt

performing as Elvis is a steady gig, but it’s also about embodying a great artist who left his millions of adoring fans too soon.

“Elvis did his Aloha From Hawaii concert, which was broadcast around the world to a billion people by satellite,” Reno said. “It had never been done before. … He was just like one of the guys who happened to look really good and can make people feel happy.”

Of course, Reno remembers exactly where he was when he heard Elvis had died—driving a van in Long Beach, Calif., on the morning of Aug. 16, 1977. But to Reno and his fans, he never really died. He says as much when he signs autographs: “Keeping the King Alive” Learn more at www.johnnyrenoaselvis.com.

IN THE WIDE SPECTRUM

of tribute and cover acts, there is a market for the real deal—or at least as close as one can get. Enter Johnny Reno, but you might recognize him as simply “The King.”

“Thank you, thank you very much,” said Reno.

Reno follows one of the most enduring tribute-act traditions as an Elvis impersonator—or, as he calls himself, a tribute artist—not only singing Elvis’ songs, but mimicking the King’s mannerisms and personality. As opposed to the caricature that some performers create, Reno said he works hard to pay tribute to Elvis’ real life and background.

“One of the kind of unwritten rules of thumb is don’t imitate other imitators; go straight to the source … (or else) you kind of come across as cartoonish, and I find that to be disrespectful. ” Reno said. “You know, watch the videos; listen to how he talks; listen to how he sings the songs. So I would play the music, and I would go back and try to emulate that as well.”

take an interest.

“Growing up in Mississippi, when I was really young, Elvis was around, and I’d hear his songs on the radio,” Reno said. “And there were little connections, like Elvis’ mother’s name was Gladys, and my grandmother’s name was Gladys. I’m not the long-lost brother or anything, but I did like peanut butter-banana sandwiches.”

Reno landed in Vegas in the 1980s and got the idea to be a tribute artist when exposed to that city’s love for the King. He relocated to Reno in 1987 for business purposes and chose the stage name “Johnny Reno” because it “rolled off the tongue.” He spent a few years refining his act, finding the appropriate leather jumpsuits and, of course, marrying couples as an ordained minister.

— Johnny Reno Elvis Tribute Artist

TRIBUTE

BANDS don’t necessarily need a physical resemblance to their inspirations, though. The members of The Beatles Flashback made a conscious decision to keep their stage appearance separate from their sound; they don’t even introduce themselves by name to keep people focused on the music. Plus, when you’re covering perhaps the most

famous rock band of all time, the audience doesn’t need suits and mop tops to get the picture.

“There are a lot of good tribute bands who mimic the look, the dress, the motions, the talking; we’re more focused on the music,” said Jeff Shamus, guitarist and producer of the Beatles Flashback. “Also, it’s hard when you have, you know, 50-year-olds trying to look like 20-year-olds with wigs and mustaches and everything.”

The Beatles Flashback started in 2006 in Sonoma County after a Craigslist ad brought the original members together. Shamus answered the ad with passing interest, unaware he’d be embodying the Fab Four for the next 15-plus years. After playing shows and private parties in California, Shamus moved to Reno in 2013. By then, he’d come to love playing in the band, but he found commuting back to Sonoma for gigs impractical. He elected to make a Reno version of the band to play shows closer to home while the “cast” back in Sonoma continued to gig as well.

“Like, if you hired us in Sonoma County, you got the cast that was down there, and if you hired us in Reno, and you got the cast that was up here,” he said.

The Sonoma band played its final show last summer. The Reno members include Curt Mitchell, Larry Fuller, Geoff White and Kevin Pavlu; they continue to book events ranging from private gigs to shows at Artown thanks, in large part, to the mass appeal baked into their source material, Shamus said. He said the band is busiest during the warmer months, and they already have shows lined up for June.

“When you’re in a cover band, you want to play songs that people are familiar with, so you pick from a lot of different genres,” Shamus said. “With the Beatles, you’re able to pick 50 songs or 75 songs, and play them, and

Reno can relate to Elvis’ background. They both grew up poor in Mississippi before going on to travel the world in their youth. Reno’s initial musical tastes were geared toward bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, and it was only when people abroad in places like Australia and Asia began to tell him that he kind of looked like the King that he started to

“I continued to do that for a while, and then the company that I worked for relocated me to the Sacramento area,” Reno said. “I thought perhaps my career would be over— but then it really kicked off once I moved to Northern California. … Of course, now I’m known as Johnny Reno, the Sacramento King.”

Reno estimates that he still performs between 50 and 60 shows per year all over California and Nevada and still makes it back to his namesake city for birthday parties, veterans’ events and casino shows—wherever the King is needed. He even hopes to move back to Reno sometime this year. To Reno,

“There were little connections, like Elvis’ mother’s name was Gladys, and my grandmother’s name was Gladys. I’m not the longlost brother or anything, but I did like peanut butterbanana sandwiches.”

The Beatles Flashback performing live. Photo by David Robert

Photo from Johnny Reno's Facebook Page

everyone in the audience knows all the words. It’s the music that little kids are going to love, and grandparents are going to love, and everybody in between.”

However, the same qualities that make the Beatles so beloved can also make covering their songs demanding.

“You’ve got to play it exactly like the Beatles played it, because everyone knows it,” Shamus said. “You can’t just improvise … so it’s kind of a burden. I mean, it’s a labor of love, but it’s also a burden on us that we’ve got to play it right, because people in the audience are expecting to hear it like they remember it.”

Shamus said his band draws more from the high-energy, danceable Beatles catalog; no one wants to hear “The Long and Winding Road” at a backyard birthday party. It’s an impressive pace, considering some gigs last four hours.

“There’s no such thing as being tired,” Shamus said. “And then the adrenaline and the music kind of keep you going. You don’t realize you’re tired until you’re packing up.”

It’s the love of the music that serves as the primary motivator for Shamus and his bandmates. Shamus runs a software company as his day job; the other musicians also have full-time work outside of music. They still find time to rehearse regularly, though, both to give the Beatles songs the attention they deserve— but also because they genuinely enjoy it.

“When I was in a (regular) cover band, I’m playing the songs for the audience, really. In the Beatles band, I’m playing the songs for me,” Shamus said. “I mean, I’m the one having the fun, and I think that it comes across in our music.”

Learn more at www.beatlesflashback.com.

from an early age. He was originally a trumpet player—until hearing Iron Maiden in the fourth grade made him put down the brass and pick up the guitar.

He played in local original bands Convicted Innocence and Tasty Red Snapper for years until having kids and the realities of a day job made touring, writing and performing harder to schedule.

“We really wanted to be able to perform, but, you know, doing original music is quite a bit more work,” Holsclaw said. “And, sadly, it can be a little less rewarding when you’re getting in front of people.”

In 2017, the band members followed through on an idea they’d had to form a Faith No More cover band. To Holsclaw, the variety and intricacy of the band’s catalog had always been a major draw for his musical sensibilities. Not knowing what to expect, they sat down for an initial rehearsal to see what might happen.

OF ALL THE MOTIVATIONS

to start and perform in a band that plays other people’s music, sometimes it’s just a matter of getting your friends together and playing the music that genuinely inspires you.

To Ben Holsclaw and his bandmates Brian Walden, Shaolin Gates, Nick Bashaw and Vince Gates (also of The Floyd), San Francisco rock band Faith No More provided such an opportunity. Holsclaw, like most of the musicians in this article, was a musician

“I will always remember that first practice,” Holsclaw said. “I started singing, and I got through the first verse, and I look up, and Brian has the stupidest grin on his face. And Vince is just sitting there smiling. I was like, ‘OK, this is going to work musically. This is going to be really fun.’”

COVID-19 lockdowns had a hand in stopping Faith ReNo More from booking gigs for a while. Holsclaw readily admits that his band hasn’t been great at prioritizing finding shows to play—although they have encountered clubs that are less inclined to book cover acts due to the associated BMI/ASCAP fees they need to pay to host copyrighted

music. While he hopes to book more shows this year, he also said it’s not really about playing as much as they can; it’s more about having a vehicle to perform when they want

to—and to put on a great show when they do.

“During those times when the band’s not really touring. or we’re not really doing anything musical, for me, there’s a hole there,” Holsclaw said. “I really like writing music; I don’t think I’m super great at it, but it’s fun. But for me, (it’s about) the performance. It’s fun to get up onstage and really just kind of throw it out there.”

Holsclaw said the band is as much a tribute to the musicianship of his friends and bandmates as it is to Faith No More, and he relishes the chance to play live as a creative outlet.

“I have a hard time getting out of my own shell,” he said. “The stage kind of gives me an excuse to do that without really any major repercussions. Music is music, tribute band or not. Music has really given me an opportunity to meet a bunch of people who have been lifelong friends. We’ve had some really great moments up onstage.”

Learn more at www.facebook.com/ FaithReNoMore.

Faith ReNo More.

Photo by David Robert

Building community via art

A Bay Area artists’ collective opens a massive space at Reno Public Market

Bay Area artists Larry Silva and Tom Franco have known Reno throughout the years, mostly due to its proximity to Tahoe.

Silva spent summers in his parents’ cabin as a child. Franco spent time on the slopes. They eventually discovered the region’s burgeoning arts culture as well, including Burning Man, which served as a major inspiration.

So when they decided to expand their Berkeley-based arts collective, Makers Paradise, they felt called to consider Reno—literally: In 2019, a developer they had worked with on a similar project told them about a new space he was working on; he wanted to feature a heavy arts presence there.

“He says, ‘We’re doing this big project; we want 20% for the arts,’ which is insane, which is unheard of,” Franco said. “No developers think that way. Their group was willing to take that—I don’t want to call it a risk, but in a traditional sense, it was like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re taking a risk.’”

What used to be Shoppers Square has now reopened as Reno Public Market, a combination food court, shopping center and events stage. Most of the building’s northwest wing is now occupied by Silva and Franco’s vision: a

combination art gallery, studio collective and workshop space devoted to serving Reno’s artists and the public alike.

Finding Paradise

Franco and Silva have made their careers in art. Silva, director of the collective, spent the past two decades as a faculty member and the employment coordinator at the College of Alameda, overseeing a fabrication lab used by Bay Area artists and students. Through his work, he came to see the mutual benefits of connecting artists with underserved and medically affected communities.

“I work with veterans with (post-traumatic stress disorder), and I had created all these arttherapy programs in the Bay Area that were real successful for artists to go out and work in either assisted or skilled-nursing or veterans’ homes, where they went out as teaching artists with some of my students and did art projects and things like that,” Silva said.

One of Silva’s students introduced him to Franco, a multimedia artist, sculptor and cofounder of Firehouse Art Collective. Firehouse has established multiple locations around the East Bay since its inception in 2004, offering

studio and collaborative space in an area well known for its artistic and cultural pedigree. With their complementary experience and shared goal of helping artists gain material and communal support, Franco and Silva partnered to create Makers Paradise in Berkeley in 2018.

“We share this goal and interest of, ‘Here’s a physical space to create community and art for who wants to use it,’” said Franco, the community engagement director for Makers Paradise. “We’re not coming in with a preplanned agenda of how it needs to be used, and that’s really supportive of the artist’s challenge. And when I say artist’s challenge, it’s just like being creative, being alive, being spontaneous, being excited in what you’re doing.”

Makers Paradise is a nonprofit that combines its founders’ priorities and strengths. Artists can find creative support in the form of materials, tools and dedicated workshops alongside community outreach, charity events and a general opportunity for collaboration.

As the Berkeley space found initial success, Franco and Silva first considered expanding to a location in Santa Cruz, which didn’t ultimately pan out. In 2019, they were approached by developer Doug Wiele about

the Reno Public Market project. Franco and Silva said they had worked with Wiele on a similar multi-business project years before.

“We were there as an art studio,” Franco said. “We all kind of learned together this model of, ‘Hey, you can have retail and restaurants and public spaces that are complemented and boosted by art happening on site.’ And it became a very successful journey for all of us saying, ‘Hey, this really works.’”

The much anticipated Reno Public Market took over the erstwhile Shoppers Square—well known to locals since the ’60s—and now features more than a dozen restaurants, bars and cafés, alongside a live events stage and space for retail shopping. Midtown mainstay Junkee Clothing Exchange even plans to move to the market.

Franco and Silva found the prospect of a large facility with proximity to a bustling food and shopping center perfect for their goals, but before they signed the lease, they made it a point to familiarize themselves with the local community.

“Prior to making our decision on the space, we met with Nettie Oliverio,” the arts and culture director for Reno Public Market, Silva said. “She took us on tours of everywhere all over Reno—we went to The Generator; we went to the Potentialist (Workshop); we went to all the local art spots. ... And we felt very welcomed, and we were really impressed with how everybody we met was just excited about this space being open.”

Meeting local artists and learning about existing institutions and opportunities was integral to the design process. They prioritized asking which kinds of amenities and tools would help Reno’s artists—and interested citizens—find ownership and utility in the space.

Locals asked for more classrooms and more gallery space. “So we made sure we had that,” Franco said.

The Inner Workings

Makers Paradise signed onto the Reno Public Market project shortly before the pandemic delayed its overall development. More recently, the historic winter continued to delay the buildout. Still, elements of their vision are already working.

The Makers Paradise gallery already hosts works from members—everything from garments to photography to illustrated and painted works—as well as donated pieces from the existing space in Berkeley, and a few pieces by Franco and Silva themselves. There is so

Lawrence Silva (director), Tina Mokuau (studio manager), Jim White (facilities manager) and Kelsey Sweet (program manager) in Makers Paradise’s new space at Reno Public Market. Photo/Eric Marks

much work already on display that they needed to borrow an unused outlet space across the hall as a temporary overflow gallery.

While gallery space is a priority, it isn’t the main economic driver of Makers Paradise. They charge a 30% commission on gallery sales, but most of the funding comes from monthly studiorental fees, donations, corporate partnerships and grants.

“All the money that we make goes into our programming, and we’re more about the programs, although we’ve got to be sustainable,” Silva said. “But the gallery is kind of an extension for our members where they can show their art, and then, also, if we make art here, we can show it. But the big thing is the programming and the studio space here.”

The gallery also provides wider exposure for Makers Paradise artists, Silva said, as members can also elect to have their work displayed at the Berkeley location, and vice versa. Silva also sees the gallery as an opportunity for artists to learn the soft skills to help them sell their work.

“We … teach them how to sell, teach them how to market, teach them how to present their art, how to frame their art, know where the market is, know what your costs are,” Silva said. “Some of these artists, they’ll spend more money on the canvas and the art supplies than they’re selling the piece for.”

At the back of the gallery is the main entrance to the primary workshop space—a cavernous room with windows that face Casazza Drive to the north—which opens onto a gated patio outside. Silva hopes to use this space for charity events and to host larger works.

“The kiln will be out here,” Silva said. “People can do some art stuff out here like spray painting

or something; we’ll have a little area for it.”

The ground-floor space will be a mixedpurpose facility with group tables and larger tools, like a printing press and a silkscreen machine, as well as audio-visual equipment for presentations and the like.

Upstairs, there will be room for 17 individual studios. Each will make use of four-foot privacy walls to delineate the spaces—but the studios are meant to facilitate collaboration, meaning they will be open and visible to members. Studio rentals go for around $350 per month, Silva said, and members will be able to access their spaces 24-7 with a digital door code.

“Anybody who’s a member can use any of our equipment,” Silva said. “So they get a lot of amenities with being a member, too. We have a heat press; we have 3-D printers; we have sewing machines. We’re going to have a table here for jewelry making … and we’ll have copiers and printers. These spaces here are going to be for community organizations that we work with.”

Including the gallery, workshops and studio space, Makers Paradise has more than 8,000 square feet of space. Several local arts and community organizations have already signed up to partner with the facility for classes and charity events, including the Sierra Watercolor Society. There will also be veterans’ art groups and classes for kids.

Something New

Makerspaces, art galleries and workshops aren’t new to Reno, a town whose government and tourism initiatives work hard to position it as an “arts town”; the headlining art event of the summer even says as much. Much is made of

the city’s financial investment in the arts, and Reno’s proximity to Burning Man grants a certain cultural cache.

To Kelsey Sweet, program manager at Makers Paradise, the new space combines all of these elements with the draw of Reno Public Market, establishing a place where artists and the general public have a chance to connect organically. Even people who don’t go to the market with the intention to make art have the opportunity to explore the gallery and learn more about the opportunities available in the same building. Meanwhile, artists have a dedicated space to create, with amenities like the food court and galleries to connect with potential audiences.

“The mission behind Makers Paradise is very much about building community and getting people to make art, I think, more so than showing art,” Sweet said. “What I really like about the Makers Paradise model, and Tom and Larry both, is they very much have that momentum behind them—or just that mission to bring people out of the woodwork and give them the tools and the skills and the community to be able to create culture.”

Sweet has worked in the Reno arts community for years. Apart from starting and helping with various art initiatives and spaces, she studied the principles of transformative leadership for her master’s degree, bridging the gaps between art and psychology while working with developmentally disabled children and adults. Her background and local experience aligned with the goals of Makers Paradise, she said, and she came on board as program manager in June 2022.

“It extends beyond, ‘Let’s just take somebody and teach them how to make art,’ or, you know, ‘Take an artist and give them a place to work,’” Sweet said. “It’s allowing me the opportunity to take all these ideas and all this research that I’ve had in mind for the last 20 years and start applying things and bringing different aspects together.”

The owners and staff of Makers Paradise emphasize that they aren’t coming to Reno to fix anything that’s broken.

“I think artists everywhere need pretty much the same things,” Franco said. “We’re talking about: What do you do in a specific location that will be successful? So those are the refinements—how to customize it for a certain area. Every city in the United States, even across the world, would benefit from this kind of project.”

For more information, visit www. makersparadise.org or follow @ makersparadisereno on Instagram.

to make art, I think, more so

This article was produced by Double Scoop, Nevada’s visual arts publication. Read more at www.doublescoop.art.

Program manager Kelsey Sweet: “The mission behind Makers Paradise is very much about building community and getting people

than showing art.”

Photo/Eric Marks

The Nevada Poetry Project blooms

A Fallon event will spotlight the work of more than 100 budding bards

Last year, when Nevadans were asked to write poems about the state in the style of letters, Nevada poet laureate and project organizer Gailmarie Pahmeier didn’t know

what to expect, nor did she know whether many folks would accept the literary challenge.

She needn’t have worried.

“It’s been a great success,” Pahmeier said.

Nevada Poet Laureate Gailmarie Pahmeier in Ely in April. Pahmeier traveled the state to do readings during National Poetry Month.

Photo/Courtesy of Gailmarie Pahmeier

“We’ve received way over 100 submissions to the project, from at least 12 (of 17 Nevada) counties, from writers who identify as poets, and from writers for whom this is a first poem and, most certainly, a first publication.”

A live audience will get a taste of the poems so far submitted to Nevadan to Nevadan: What I Need to Tell You, the Nevada Poetry Project at 2 p.m., Saturday, June 10, at the Oats Park Art Center, 151 E. Park St., in Fallon. A cadre of Nevadans who represent arts, education, politics and journalism will offer a readers’ theater performance of work submitted to project. Playwright Jeanmarie Simpson created the script.

“It’s a sort of collage, of lines and images from all the poems submitted by March 17,” Pahmeier said.

The project, sponsored by the Nevada Arts Council, is ongoing, with no current deadline. The submissions, Pahmeier said, spotlight both the state and the poets who composed the works.

“Poetry gives us mirrors and windows, and lets us see ourselves and others through a vulnerable, and yet, powerful medium: language,” she said. “I think the most meaningful comment I receive after a reading is from someone who says, essentially, ‘That’s my story, too.’”

Sharing poems and encouraging others to write them, Pahmeier said, “are ways we acknowledge our being alive, being present, being essential threads in the tapestry of our communities. … Poetry reminds us that, although we are sometimes lonely, we are not alone.”

The readers at the Fallon event will include:

nila northSun is a poet and tribal historian, and she’s considered an influential writer in the second wave of the Native American renaissance. Born in Schurz, Nev., she’s the daughter of Indigenous activist Adam Fortunate Eagle and lives on the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Reservation. northSun is a recipient of the Silver Pen Award from the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame and the author of several collections of poetry. Her work appears in the recent anthology Living Nations, Living Words, edited by former United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo.

Andrea Martinez is a Nevada-raised visual artist with a day job in health care information technology. Her earliest years were spent in rural Colorado and Wyoming; she has lived in Northern Nevada for 37 years. She describes her intersectional identities as “Mexi-

can-American, queer, first-generation college graduate, full-bodied, working-class woman.”

Joanne Mallari is a Reno-based Filipino-American poet. She has served as a teaching artist for Teen Empowerment, a program sponsored by Sierra Arts Foundation. In 2020, she joined the English department faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she teaches courses in first-year composition and creative writing. Her debut chapbook, Daughter Tongue, was published by Kelsay Books.

Everett Ray George is an enrollee of the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, a founding member of the Rough Talk Sweethearts theater troupe, and the grandson of Ray Holly. He was a proud super-senior at Churchill County High School and is previously known for his work at the Fox Peak Station down the street. Currently, he’s at Stepping Stones youth shelter and, on a really good night, is able to write poems after a shift.

Gailmarie Pahmeier is a UNR professor emerita. She’s the author of six collections of poetry and served the city of Reno as its inaugural poet laureate. She’s received honors and awards from the Nevada Arts Council and Nevada Humanities. She’s currently Nevada’s poet laureate and a 2022 Laureate Fellow of the Academy of American Poets.

Jeanmarie Simpson has been writing and performing since 1972 and has been a Nevada Arts Council roster artist for 39 years. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the Dramatists Guild of America and is retired from Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.

Daniel Enrique Pérez is a poet and scholar who serves as associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts at UNR. He also is an associate professor of Chicanx and Latinx studies and a faculty associate of the gender, race and identity program. He is a founding member of Teatro Bravo, a Latino theater company in Phoenix, and has published several works related to theater and performance.

Bob Fulkerson, a fifth-generation Nevadan, is the lead national organizer for Third Act. Their first act was serving as executive director of Citizen Alert, Nevada’s first statewide watchdog organization, raising a daughter and coming out. Their second act was marrying their husband from rural Nevada, co-founding the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, and serving as executive director for a quarter century. Their third act is helping raise two grandkids and doing everything in their power to ensure they have a shot at a livable planet.

Frank X. Mullen is the editor of the Reno News & Review and an author, historian, actor and adjunct journalism instructor. He was inducted into the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2021.

| BY JESSICA SANTINA

Uncharted territory

Good Luck Macbeth’s ‘Men on Boats’ is a revisionisthistory play that explores far more than the Grand Canyon

American history is chock-full of stories in which white men conquered lands and people; throughout time, they’ve been recounted as tales of heroism and bravery.

While few of us would discount the dangers these intrepid explorers faced or the importance of their discoveries, there’s no question that their successes largely hinged on the fact that they were white, cisgender men. Few other perspectives were ever considered as part of our written history.

In her play Men on Boats, playwright Jaclyn Backhaus intentionally set out to make room for other voices to tell one of these stories—that of one-armed scientist and war veteran John Wesley Powell and nine other male volunteers who, in 1869, embarked in wooden boats on a government-sanctioned expedition to chart the course of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Along the 99-day, 1,000-plus-mile journey, these 10 adventurous souls braved whitewater rapids, endured losses of supplies, survived boat crashes and encountered other wilderness dangers.

This play, currently in production at Reno’s Good Luck Macbeth Theatre, has one notable omission: the men. Specifically, no one in the play identifies as a cisgender male—and that’s by design. In her script, Backhaus provides a very important casting note: “The characters in Men on Boats were historically cisgender white males. The cast

should be made up entirely of people who are not. I’m talking about racially diverse actors who are female-identifying, trans-identifying, genderfluid, and/or non-gender-conforming.”

Her reasoning? In a 2016 interview, Backhaus said: “If we were forced to keep to that sort of accuracy in the mainstream of history, we would really only be learning the stories of a select few individuals. It would just limit our scope entirely. One thing that I hope that this show is able to do for people is make them wonder about that, just by virtue of who was cast in it.”

Director Abby Rosen relished the challenge.

“When GLM approached me about directing the show, it was super-exciting, because that’s 10 opportunities—10 people who get to explore things they would never have a chance to otherwise.”

She said not only is the cast diverse in terms of background and gender, but also in age; it ranges from 22 to 65. “So everyone is having a new experience with this show,” she said.

But she emphasizes that this isn’t what the show is about. “At its core, this is a story is about finding community … about loss, about friendship and about nature. I went into it like, ‘I’m going to make this big statement about gender with this play,’ and then I found myself every night just really enjoying watching people do things. I was just watching people be people … and to me, that feels like statement enough.”

Based on journals written by Powell himself (portrayed by Jessica Johnson), the play joins the expedition as its members—who include

marksman/explorer John Colton Sumner (Judy Davis Rounds), hunter/magazine publisher

O.G. Howland (Lily Perez) and Lt. George Bradley (Jasmine Johnson)—must navigate the unknown, from extreme heat, rugged terrain and snakes to waterfalls and whirlpools. More than once, the volunteers question whether they ought to continue onward or abandon their mission and save themselves.

Amanda McHenry, who plays William Hawkins, a war veteran and the expedition cook, said she wrestled with how to approach her performance in light of the script’s direction.

“Like Abby, when we first started, we had this idea that we were going to smash these glass ceilings, and that it was going to be about different gender roles,” McHenry said. “But as we got into it, we began realizing that it wasn’t necessarily a big statement as much as a bunch of little statements.”

To illustrate, she explains that Hawkins, being the cook, would have used his hands a lot, and she found herself questioning whether those gestures were “masculine or feminine enough.”

“I’d say something and be like, ‘Oh, my voice was too high when I said that; a man wouldn’t do that,’” McHenry said. “It’s been fun to explore our own preconceived notions. … Those little nuances have been so interesting to me.”

Rosen also found plenty of challenge in the staging—how could she, on GLM’s relatively small stage, evoke the Grand Canyon, a raging river and 10 characters interacting while on boats? Rosen drew on organic textures—think weathered fibers, wind-and-rain-beaten corners, and natural materials. Boats constructed of PVC frames are wrapped in canvas that’s been painted, softened and torn. Stationary walls create the steep canyon, and a map painted on the floor suggests the river’s path.

Ultimately, audiences can expect far more than a history lesson. Rosen described it as ridiculous, funny and poignant all at once.

McHenry added: “I feel like when I talk to people about it, it sounds like it’s a history class. But it’s so fun. When I first read the script, I felt like I was reading a Disney adventure. It’s just a really fun show.”

Men in Boats will be performed at 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, through Saturday, May 20; and 2 p.m., Sunday, May 7. Shows take place at 124 W. Taylor St., and tickets are $28 to $38, with discounts. For tickets or more information, call 775-322-3716, or visit goodluckmacbeth.org.

Think Free!

The last one showering shouldn’t be left in the cold! GO TANKLESS.

The cast of Good Luck Macbeth's production of Men in Boats. Photo/David Robert

BVD Radio

Planes, trains, and cocktails

Various ways to celebrate moms on Mother’s Day

A plant sale, train rides, brunches, cocktails and the annual Moms on the Run fundraiser top the list of Mother’s Day events in Northern Nevada.

The May Arboretum Society Mother’s Day weekend Spring Plant Sale is scheduled for Friday, May 12, for members, and Saturday and Sunday, May 13 and 14, for the general public at the Wilbur D. May Arboretum, 1595 N. Sierra St. in Reno. The annual event, in the Burke and Plaza gardens, offers 3,800 plants for sale, including 270 different varieties of shrubs, flowers, cactus and more. All plants are zoned for the Truckee Meadows area, and most are unavailable in local garden shops. Membership includes special access to events, as well as local nursery and flower shop discounts. Learn more at www. mayarboretumsociety.org.

Voting begins

Pinocchio’s Moms on the Run has become a Mother’s Day family tradition in the Truckee Meadows. The event takes to the starting line at 7 a.m., Sunday, May 14, with a 5K walk ’n’ talk, a 5K run and a quarter-mile kidlet race. This year, the starting point has been moved to the new Hug High School, 3530 Sullivan Lane in Sparks. The annual event, which began in 1999, is a benefit for women in the community battling breast or gynecological cancer. Pinocchio’s Moms on the Run provides support for everyday living expenses including mortgages, rent, food, utilities, car expenses and insurance, to help offset patients’ medical expenses; momsontherun.info.

The Nevada Museum of Art is celebrating Mother’s Day with a Chef’s Table Mother’s Day Music Brunch featuring the Judith and Rocky Band, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.,

Saturday, May 13. The event features a chef’s selection of house-made pastries, salads, fruits, smoked seafood, omelet and carving stations, and classic breakfast fare. Reservations may be made by calling 775-284-2921. The cost is $39 for adults, and $20 for children 12 and under; museum members receive a 10% discount; nevadaart.org.

The Mother’s Day Boutique at the McKinley Arts Center, 925 Riverside Drive in Reno, is scheduled from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., both Sunday, May 7, and Sunday, May 14. Organizers said the event is the largest craft market of the season, featuring handmade art and craft items created by more than 100 local artisans. The market also offers fresh produce and artisanal foods, adult libations, a kids’ village, free yoga, painting stations for all levels, and low-cost professional family photos; renofarmersmarket.com.

The V&T Railway invites families to take moms on a 24-mile steam-train ride between Carson City and Virginia City. The trips scheduled on Saturday and Sunday, May 13 and 14, feature spectacular scenery and Wild West history, followed by a brunch and shopping opportunities in Virginia City. The rides begin at the V&T Depot in Carson City at 4650 Eastgate Siding Road. The cost for adults is $65, and reservations are available online at vtrailway.com.

The Z Bar at 1074 S. Virginia St., in Reno, is hosting its first Mother’s Day cocktail competition on Sunday, May 14, a fundraiser for the Everywhen Project. The upscale craft cocktail bar will be pitting its mixologists against one another to “capture the spirit of motherhood in a drink.” Patrons are invited to be judges for a $15 fee that covers a flight of three competing cocktails. Search facebook.com/everywhen for details.

Volunteers Connie Douglas, center, and Sharon Fabbri, in foreground, prepare for the May Arboretum Society’s Mother’s Day Plant Sale. Photo/Susan Skorupa Mullen

May 15!

"Big Bucket O’ Tunes" (a collection of some 4000+ tunes he curated from 2014-’22), old & current ID’s & Blurbs, and outtakes from his morning show on 'The X' in the ’90’s.

Bruce Van Dyke’s only on: jiveradio.org/bvd

Miracle man

Jeremy Renner’s ‘Rennervations’ shows off the community he loves; ‘Evil Dead Rise’ delivers scares and gore

Mere months after getting horribly crushed under his own snowplow, Jeremy Renner—truly some sort of superhero here on Earth—is not only making an amazing recovery, but showing up, in person, in Reno for the premiere of his latest project.

The area resident nearly died on New Year’s Day while trying to dig a family vehicle out of the snow, yet there he is, walking around Reno with a big smile on his face for the showing of the Reno episode of Rennervations.

The four-episode Disney+ show features Renner retooling some old vehicles he’s bought for good causes. In the case of Reno, he renovated a minibus to be a recreational vehicle for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern Nevada. Using his own dough, he equipped the vehicle with computers, a lounge, a soccer goal on the side, and a basketball hoop on the back.

I’m a sucker for renovation shows, so getting to see Renner do his own for Disney is good fun. The Reno episode features a good-natured Renner and contractors

he’s hired, along with guest star Anthony Mackie, who made a Reno appearance for the christening of the recreational vehicle.

Within seconds of this episode starting, you get a prominent shot of the Heather Puckett, standing outside of Junkee Clothing Exchange, followed by all sorts of Reno sights and references. Renner’s love for the area is very evident, and you can tell he’s putting a little extra oomph into the Reno episode because of it.

I am glad to watch this show knowing that Hawkeye is not only alive and well, but kicking recovery ass as he comes back from his near-death experience.

He’s an extraordinary guy, and a big fan of Reno. As a big fan of Reno, myself, I very much appreciate his presence and his efforts.

Rennervations is now streaming on Disney+.

Evil Dead Rise does just enough to be decent movie. It’s gory; it’s intermittently scary; and it has enough franchise Easter eggs to get the vibe right—the darker side of the vibe, that is.

Rise plays a little like the Fede Alvarez 2013 Evil Dead reboot in that it is gloomy, gory and almost humorless, much like Sam Raimi’s original The Evil Dead, a brutal 1981 film which starred Bruce Campbell as horror icon Ash Williams.

The franchise turned toward horror comedy with Evil Dead II (1987), a trajectory that

| BY BOB GRIMM

continued through Army of Darkness (aka Evil Dead III) and the tremendously fun TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead, which, from 2015-2018, gave us 30 episodes of Campbell in all his glory.

Before the show debuted, Alvarez’s Evil Dead tried to re-establish the film franchise. While it was not a failure, it never spawned a sequel, with Raimi and company deciding to go the Ash/TV Exorcist-meets-the-Three Stooges route. I rewatched the 2013 Evil Dead recently, and it’s better than I remembered, perhaps the strongest Evil Dead movie other than Raimi’s.

That’s not to say Evil Dead Rise isn’t any good. It feels like the filmmakers are going through the motions rather than advancing the story and the lore—although those motions involve some first-rate gore and scares. As a horror aficionado, I can say Evil Dead Rise delivers as a pitch-black splatter-fest that I’m happy I experienced, even though it left me feeling a little unfulfilled.

The film starts, inexplicably, at a lakeside cabin, where some typical blood-spilling takes place before the opening credits. This is a bit of a fake-out, because the action immediately shifts to one year earlier, in a Los Angeles apartment inhabited by a mom, Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), and her two kids, Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and Danny (Morgan Davies). They are visited by Ellie’s sister, Beth (Lily Sullivan); everyone is going through some form of internal or family turmoil.

Danny stumbles upon a strange, nastylooking book bound in human flesh, as well as some old vinyl records—and Evil Dead fans instantly know this spells trouble. Some incantations are read aloud; a POV camera representing a demon force races into the apartment building; and Ellie finds herself gruesomely possessed.

Writer-director Lee Cronin does a good job of isolating the family in the apartment building, much like all of those prior Evil Dead film victims were doomed in lonely cabins. Yes, they are in L.A., and yes, they have neighbors, but it might as well be a cabin in the woods, because they are basically stuck in their small apartment with nowhere to go. There are a few scenes of carnage seen through a keyhole that count as the film’s best moments.

The movie does feel a little small, and its lower budget is evident in its low number of set pieces; this is probably due to the fact that it was meant to go to HBO Max rather than theaters. Positive receptions at film festivals

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-Thank you for voting for us!-

Anthony Mackie and Jeremy Renner in Rennervations

| BY BOB GRIMM

Think Free!

The Baha’i Faith of Reno is celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the formation of its first Spiritual Assembly on April 20, 1943

Baha’is in Reno—and all around the world—are building communities recognizing the oneness of God, the same God worshipped by ALL major religions. This God created all people to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. He created us to live in unity, peace, and prosperity, and to celebrate each other’s rich racial, religious, and cultural identities.

This year, the Reno Baha’i community is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the establishment of its first spiritual assembly on April 20, 1943. Every year, all Baha’i communities elect their administrative bodies, known as Spiritual Assemblies. By secret ballot, they select nine members who they deem will best meet the needs of the community.

In 1943, Reno was racially segregated, and our country was at war with Japan. Nonetheless, the first Reno Baha’i Spiritual Assembly pushed the boundaries of the existing ungodly racial and societal rules by electing an Assembly that was racially diverse from three racial groups: Japanese, African American, and White. These diverse early Baha’is were working harmoniously, meeting in each other’s homes, and enjoying true unity and friendship. We believe the world can unite in the same way.

www.bahai.us • 775-391-3233

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and a general change of philosophy at Warner Bros. led to the movie getting a theatrical release. What might’ve felt quite big on TV feels a little downplayed on the big screen.

The movie does its job of creeping you out and blasting you with some nicely orchestrated mayhem. Its relative level of success bodes well for future installments; perhaps there’s a “this time it’s gloomy; next time it’s wacky” future plan at play here.

While Campbell has vowed never to play Ash again, he and Raimi remain producers and are involved with everything Evil Dead. Perhaps new interest in the franchise will convince Campbell to strap on the chainsaw one more time for a future installment.

That would be fun, as opposed to completely demoralizing and terrifying, which can be OK, too, depending upon your Evil Dead mood.

Before I go off a bit on Renfield, let me state something up front: Nicolas Cage in this film is, unquestionably, one of the funniest, scariest and most eccentric Draculas in cinema history. If you are a Cage fan, there are things he does—little, brilliantly funny moments—that make Renfield worth seeing, if only for those.

Now that we have that out of the way, it must be stated that, overall, the movie is a failure—an opportunity for a classically

fun horror venture destroyed by some brutal narrative mistakes. Those mistakes result in too many minutes being a complete drag. It’s a real letdown.

Nicholas Hoult plays the title character, Dracula’s manservant who has been hanging out with him for many decades. The film cleverly places Hoult and Cage in black-andwhite flashbacks with the vibe of the 1931 Bela Lugosi take on the character. Great touch.Things start promisingly enough, but the main gag of Renfield being depressed and codependent quickly becomes tiresome, and a subplot involving a crime syndicate in New Orleans is a supreme dud thanks, in part, to lousy casting of the villains.

Cage, meanwhile, shows up here and there—at first in varying well-done states

of decay—and puts his nutty spin on Nosferatu. There are moments—including him introducing himself to Renfield’s support group in a way that’s almost bashful at times— that are laugh-out-loud funny. There are also moments where Cage is genuinely scary.

But then the movie reverts back to Renfield being all depressed and gloomy; he only really comes to life when he eats the occasional bug to become a super-fighter—in super-violent and gory sequences, with a video-game feel, that clash with the Cage material. It’s disjointed and disorientating, and it ultimately takes the film down a few notches.

They should’ve just called the movie Dracula and made it completely crazy with Cage at the center. Trying to be clever by making Renfield the star is a mistake. Dracula shouldn’t be a supporting character, especially not Cage’s awesome version of Dracula.

They should’ve let Hoult play Renfield in a supporting role as the classic crazy, overly happy version of the character (complete with his wheezy laugh), but with a hint of depression and codependency. That could’ve been a great side gag. It’s a mistake making his serious problem the crux of the movie. Hoult is forced to play the character realistically as a sad sack, which is a chore to watch.

Despite its promise, Renfield flopped at theaters, and it’s pretty easy to see why. It’s a shame, because Cage is truly glorious here, with some of the most fun he’s ever had onscreen. If you are a Cage fan, rent it when it hits the streaming services, and diminish your overall expectations. If you are not a Cage fan, it’s best to avoid Renfield

Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult in Renfield.

Alyssa Sutherland in Evil Dead Rise.

Warmer days, cooler wine

Whether it’s red or white or rosé, don’t let your wine get too warm in the hot summer weather

After the long, cold and snowy winter, the warm spring days are really feeling good— and warmer days call for cooler wines. I am not talking about hip or trendy wines; I am speaking of wines that can be served appropriately chilled.

All wine-drinkers know that white and rosé wines should be served chilled, but what about red wines? Can you serve red

wines chilled, or even more shockingly, with ice?

The short answer is yes. The longer answer requires a little more elaboration.

The first question we should know the answer to is this: At what temperatures should different wines be served? The reality is, most people serve their wines too cold and too warm. Most of us serve our white wines so

Sommelier Steve Sanchez: “I’m here to help, not to tell you what you should be doing. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s more about your company and enjoyment.”

Photo/ David Robert

cold that many of the aromas and flavors are muted. Additionally, we serve our red wines so warm that the aromas and flavors can be distorted. (Of course, I will always tell you to drink what you like, how you like it—no judgment—so if you, say, like your white wines barely above freezing, that’s just fine.)

So what are the recommended temperatures for different wines? While there are no absolutes, here are some good guidelines. Refrigerator times listed assume the starting temperature of the wine is 72 degrees.

Sparkling wines and champagnes are often served in ice buckets, so they should be served ice-cold right? No. Sparkling wines should be served around 39 to 45 degrees. If it is an expensive bottle of champagne, serve it between 45 and 50 degrees to enhance the flavors and aromas. You should be able to achieve these temperatures by placing the bottle in the refrigerator up to two hours before serving.

Light dry white wines, like pinot grigios and sauvignon blancs, are best served between 45 and 50 degrees. This is cold enough to preserve and highlight the acidity and freshness, while warm enough to allow subtle flavors to be appreciated. An hour and a half in the refrigerator should achieve this temperature.

Rosés come in many styles, from very pale to deep-colored; the latter wines have more complex flavors and more tannins due to the extended skin contact. In general, the lighter the color, the colder it should be served. A lighter Provence style rosé should be served at 48 degrees, with richer rosés served closer to 55 degrees. Refrigerate the bottle for an hour to 90 minutes to achieve these temperatures.

Full-bodied white wines, like oaked chardonnays, will taste best when served around 55 degrees; if it has less oak, you can chill it a little more. One hour in the fridge will do.

Light to medium-bodied reds—like pinot noir, Beaujolais and grenache—are best served around 55 to 60 degrees, to accentuate the flavors and aromas of these bright wines. If served too warm, these wines will taste tart and acidic; 45 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator will provide the right amount of chill time.

Full-bodied reds, like cabernet sauvignon, syrah and merlot, will present the best flavor, mouthfeel and acidity when served between 60 and 65 degrees. If they’re served warmer than that, alcohol will dominate the flavor. Chill 25

minutes to reach these temperatures.

A basic rule to remember is the lighter the color, the colder it is served.

Steve Sanchez is a sommelier who manages the wine programs at all of Mark Estee’s restaurants here in Northern Nevada. I asked him his thoughts on serving wines in the heat of Northern Nevada.

“Preserving the proper serving temperature of the wine is very important with our heat,” Sanchez said. “If you have a red wine that should be served around that 60-degree mark, and it is 80 degrees out with strong sunshine, you will want to do something to preserve the wine’s temperature.”

When I asked Sanchez how to best maintain the proper temperature, he said, “I have a marble chiller that I’ll keep in the freezer in the summertime. I use that in the backyard when it is still 90 degrees outside at 7 o’clock. You can pick one up for around $20, and they come in really handy.”

I could not agree with him more. I will sometimes rest a bottle on ice and count on my warm glass to adjust the wine to the correct temperature. Just remember, a bottle in ice will get far colder than a bottle in a marble chiller.

One of the biggest wine taboos is the mere thought of adding ice cubes to wine. I asked Sanchez if he’d ever condone it. He replied without hesitation.

“I 100 percent condone it,” he said. “If we were talking about a Grands Cru Burgundy, I mean, that’s a completely different conversation. But if you’re outside, and you’ve got a moderately priced wine that’s meant for enjoyment and refreshment, yeah. You know what? It’s probably going to taste better with a couple of cubes of ice in it, versus it being 85 degrees.”

That’s right: When you are at a picnic or an outdoor reception, cooler wine is always better than hot wine. In addition, a slightly lower alcohol level per glass will not hurt you—trust me. If you do not want to water down your wine but do want to keep it cool, consider freezing leftover wine in an ice cube tray, and add those cubes to your glass. Alternatively, you can freeze table grapes and use them to help keep your wine cool.

If you are like me and prefer red wine even during the summer, think about drinking red wines that can be chilled. Whether you chill them by having them in your wine cellar, or in your wine refrigerator, or resting next to the eggs in your food refrigerator, or whatever, you will enjoy these wines much more when they are closer to 60 degrees than 80.

As Sanchez said: “I’m here to help, not to tell you what you should be doing. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s more about your company and enjoyment—versus what? Some rules that your grandparents came up with?”

TASTE OF THE TOWN TASTE OF THE TOWN

| BY MICHAEL MOBERLY

Happenings

The Riverside Farmers Market, Reno’s only year-round farmers’ market (pictured above), is moving from Saturdays at 925 Riverside Drive to Sundays at the east end of Idlewild Park. The move kicks off with a Mother’s Day boutique on both May 7 and 14 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a wide selection of local vendors, yoga classes and professional photo sessions. Find details at www.renofarmersmarket.com/ mothersday.

Homage Bakery, at 519 Ralston St., in Reno, is hosting a seven-course Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday, May 14, at 11 a.m. The menu features several entrée options including ricotta dumplings, swordfish Marbella and pistachio crusted lamb. Tickets are $125, and advance purchase is required; information can be found at www.homagereno.com/mothersday.

The Atlantis Casino Resort Spa will have a Grand Ballroom Gourmet Brunch on Mother’s Day. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., guests can expect a generous buffet in addition to brunch items made to order; the cost is $82.95 for adults, and $24.95 for kids ages 4-10. Toucan Charlie’s is also offering Mother’s Day brunch and dinner menus ($59.99 adults; $24.99 kids 4-10). Get details and make reservations at atlantiscasino.com.

Z Bar, at 1074 S. Virginia St., is hosting its first-ever cocktail competition on Mother’s Day as a fundraiser for the Everywhen Project. Mixologists will compete to capture the spirit of motherhood in a drink; for $15, guests can purchase a judging flight that will include three cocktails. Chair massages will be offered for a donation from Vitality Massage, with background music

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Tequila basics

Get to better know this amazing agave-based spirit

All alcohol has a complex history and a ton of preconceived notions. From the myth that all bourbon has to be made in Bourbon County, Ky. (not true; it just has to be made in America) to the idea that absinthe will make you hallucinate (also untrue, but most absinthe is really high proof and will therefore get you goofy faster), there often is more disinformation than truth out there about spirits. It can be tough to differentiate between fact and fiction when choosing the best tipple to imbibe.

When it comes to tequila, people have a lot of feelings. Generally, you either love it, or you hate it. Most people hate it because of the deep trauma experienced from garbage tequila, while most people learn to love it once they have tasted real quality tequila. This month, I wanted to clear up some of the myths and misunderstandings around one of my favorite spirits on the planet.

Tequila is roasted, crushed, fermented and distilled blue agave, usually made in Jalisco, Mexico. Tequila has four age classifications: blanco (or unaged, sometimes called silver); reposado, aged for a minimum of two months and a maximum one year; anejo, aged for one to

three years; and extra anejo, aged for longer than three years. There is also joven or gold, which is unaged tequila with color added, and curados, tequila that is up to 75% flavored nonagave distillate.

Well-made tequila is romantic and driven by tradition as well as agriculture. Agave grows to at least 5 years old; it’s then harvested, roasted in a stone oven, and crushed with a large stone wheel called a tahona. That sap is fermented naturally for three to five days. After the agave ferments, that product is distilled, and water is added to bring it to proof.

That is the traditional way to make tequila; unfortunately, only some tequilas are made this way.

The industrial methods of making tequila vary, but the goal remains the same: to make tequila faster. Agave is often harvested young, and a machine called a diffuser strips the agave and extracts the sap. Artificial yeasts aid in fermentation, and column stills distill the product to the highest possible proof for a larger yield. Then artificial flavors and fillers are added to help the tequila taste as it should. Around 70% of all tequilas have the allowed 1% of additives; however, the best tequilas embrace the traditional methods, which is

apparent in the flavor.

So, how do you find the best tequila? Every tequila has a four-digit NOM, or Norma Oficial Mexicana, associated with it. A NOM is like a tequila address and is required by Mexican law so we can know which distilleries make which tequilas. Luckily for us, resources like Tequilamatchmaker.com exist for us to find some transparency in knowing which tequila distilleries use diffuser tech, and which choose traditional methods; simply search the NOM, and find out.

When the information on the internet becomes too overwhelming, it’s best to talk to learned local bartenders and retail geniuses. Craft Wine and Beer in Midtown Reno has a massive selection of carefully selected tequilas for your every need, and Estella at the Jesse on Fourth Street has some of the brightest minds in the industry to help guide you to the perfect sip. The best way to help them find the right bottle for you is to tell them how you like it. Bright and light? Rich and velvety? Maybe even peppery and weird?

There is a ton to know about tequila, and here, we are just the scratching surface. Take a little time to look into your favorite agave spirit; there is much more there than meets the eye.

Bar manager Mason Kimmel at Estella at the Jesse. Photo/David Robert

Fests are best

We have finally clawed our way back from this winter’s pummelings from Mother Nature—and that means it will soon be time to get outside with fellow beer aficionados.

Beer festivals run the gamut from small casual affairs to huge, internationally known, multi-day gatherings that sell out at Taylor Swift speed. Indoors or out, envision rows of tables or tents, a small tasting glass issued to you upon entry, and a veritable smorgasbord of beers to sample. With more than 9,000 breweries now operating in the U.S., and dozens of different styles of beer made from infinite combinations of ingredients, the limits are endless.

Northern Nevada beer-lovers are looking forward to several fests that are coming soon to kick off the season.

The eighth annual Strange Brew Festival is being held from 3 to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 20, as always in the parking lot behind The Brewer’s Cabinet, 475 S. Arlington Ave., in Reno. This is one of the most fun, unique and heavily local fests I’ve had the pleasure of attending. The twist is that all the attending breweries (and

home brewers!) bring beers that are “strange” in some way. In the past, we’ve had the (arguable) pleasure of sampling salsa beer, beer made with kimchi, hot dog water beer, and more. Many are one-off brews made especially for this event, giving attendees exclusive tastes found nowhere else. Part of the proceeds benefit The Reno Rebuild Project, a local small-business loan fund. Tickets are $65; visit thebrewerscabinet.com.

If you want to just completely saturate that weekend in beer, the Nevada Young Alumni Chapter is holding the longest-running fest in town—the obviously-named Beer Fest—the next day, on Sunday, May 21. The new Glow Plaza downtown will host this event benefiting the YAC scholarship fund. The beers here will be obviously more tame than Strange Brew, but expect a varied selection, music and a party for a good cause. Watch facebook.com/NevadaYoungAlumni for updates and a ticket link.

Take a break for a couple weeks, because on Saturday, June 10, you won’t want to miss The Biggest Little Invitational. This fest brings in in some of the most sought-after breweries from throughout the West to serve a selection of coveted (and often otherwise unavailable)

| BY MARC TIAR

The Strange Brew Festival is being held on Saturday, May 20.

beers. This beer-geek paradise, held at Bartley Ranch Park (6000 Bartley Ranch Road, Reno) since 2018, is unique in that the organizers selectively pick the breweries they want represented and purchase the beer. (Most fests receive the beer as a promotional/ charitable donation.) Rare barrel-aged brews, high-alcohol pastry stouts, super-hazy IPAs from up-and-coming breweries and more make this fest a big draw for hardcore beer connoisseurs in the region. Fun lawn games and an assortment of delicious food trucks attract casual beer fans as well. Tickets start at $60 (or $20 for designated drivers); learn more at thebiggestlittleinvitational.com.

Continue filling your summer beer fest calendar with other events in the area. Consider the Capital City Brewfest (Saturday, June 24, in Carson City, benefiting the Rotary Club; capitalcitybrewfest.com), the 16th annual Truckee Optimist Club Brew Fest (Saturday, Aug. 5; www.truckeeoptimist.com/brewfest. html) and the Tahoe Brewfest (Saturday, Aug. 26, in South Lake Tahoe; tahoebrewfest.com).

Closing out the outdoor fest season is a relative newcomer, the annual Legends of Beer Festival, at the Legends mall in Sparks. Organized by local brewery IMBĪB Custom Brews (which has an adjacent taproom and opening-soon restaurant at the Legends), this fest features more than just the typical tents pouring a variety of quality craft beer. It also includes a fun “beer mile” relay race to kick off the event, where runners chug a beer before running their quarter-mile segment. The event is slated for Saturday, Sept. 23; watch imbibreno. com for specifics as they become available.

Finally, each January, the Nugget Casino Resort hosts arguably the most popular local fest, Brew HaHa, to benefit the Sierra Arts Foundation. It draws a huge crowd and offers a ridiculous volume of beer from many local, regional and national breweries, as well always a band to fill the dance floor with attendees having a great time. Watch sierraarts.org for details as the date draws nearer.

Some final thoughts before you begin your beer-fest quest: Most fests offer a generaladmission ticket and a higher-priced VIP ticket (which may include food, early entry or exclusive beers); some offer a designateddriver ticket at a reduced rate with access to nonalcoholic beverages. Make a budget beforehand, and arrange a safe way to get home. Pace yourself; it’s a lot of beer, and you can’t drink it all. Don’t try. Focus on quality over quantity, and seek out beers with a good reputation in styles you enjoy, rather than just quaffing with abandon.

Most of all, have fun!

TASTE OF THE TOWN TASTE OF THE TOWN

continued from Page 26

from Sue Coxton, Passive and Co, and Wheatstone Bridge, and food from the Holly Waffles food truck. Learn more at www.facebook.com/everywhen.

The Reno Onesie Crawl kicks off at Saturday, May 13, at 8 p.m. Participants can buy a $10 cup online or at select locations around town to get discounted drinks and club covers waived at 13 participating locations in downtown Reno. For more information, head to crawlreno.com/event/onesie.

Virginia City is celebrating 40 years of the Chili on the Comstock festival Saturday and Sunday, May 20 and 21. Top chili cooks from the area and beyond will compete for a spot in the International Chili Society World Finals; the event also includes a craft beer tour. A new addition to this year’s event is the Great Fire: Hot Chili Pepper Eating Contest. More information and tickets, which start at $30, can be found at liquidblueevents. com/chili-on-the-comstock.

Openings + Shifts

Dim Sum Hut has opened at 115 E Moana Lane, in Reno. The menu features an array of dim sum classics like shrimp har gow, siu mai, buns and even chicken feet alongside a menu of boba drinks. Call 775-473-2649 with questions.

Piñon Bottle Co. has opened a south Reno location at 15415 Wedge Parkway. The new beer and bottle shop location will host food truck pop-ups on Fridays and Saturdays. Learn more at www. pinonbottlenv.com/south-reno.

Marcolino’s Italia food truck has opened a brick and mortar location downtown at 254 W. First St., in Reno. The restaurant overlooks the Truckee River, and the menu features Italian classics like shrimp scampi, chicken parmesan and tiramisu; marcolinositalia.com.

Daddy’s Tacos food truck (see tacos below) has also opened a brick and mortar location, at 4840 Mill St. The location is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., daily; while Daddy’s is obviously known for its tacos, the menu includes breakfast items. Find out more at daddystacosnv.com.

—Maude Ballinger

Get ready to enjoy some great local beer events, now that warmer weather is finally here

Musical journeyman

Bryan Bielanski brings his ‘Super Happy Fun Time!’ message and music to Pignic Pub

Bryan Bielanski is unusual: Not only do his songs feature unconventional lyrics and subjects; he is extremely dedicated to touring, playing a show a day—sometimes two—all over the world, nonstop.

Bielanski’s solo albums are a three-part series named Bryan’s Super Happy Fun Time! The songs feature catchy choruses talking about an “Elf Girlfriend,” and video game references galore on “I’m Your Super Mario”; there’s also a song dedicated to the place where Bielanski uses the internet when he’s touring: “Rock the Library USA.”

He’s heading to the Pignic Pub and Patio in Reno on Thursday, May 4.

During a recent phone interview, he explained how music captivated him.

“I grew up in a family where music was very important,” Bielanski said. “Some of my earliest memories in life are my parents listening to their rock records. I grew up with rock ’n’ roll around me all the time, and then when I was a teenager, I discovered alternative rock, and between the influence of my parents’ music and alternative rock, I

decided that’s what I wanted to do in my life.”

Thankfully, Bielanski had the extroverted traits needed to start a music career.

“I’ve always been kind of an outgoing person, but before I decided I wanted to be a musician, I was wanting to be a standup comedian,” Bielanski said. “I knew I wanted to be onstage in front of people in one way or the other. When the music bug bit me, I just decided that’s what I wanted to do in my life. Luckily, I never had any real issues with stage fright or anything, so it was definitely something that came naturally to me.”

You’d have to go pretty far to hear another singer/songwriter with songs like Bielanski has, as many of his pop-culture references stray far from what you’d hear on the Top 40.

“(The music) kind of stemmed from the fact that now that I’m a traveling musician, it pretty much encompasses my life,” said Bielanski.

“I tend to write about my prior hobbies that I don’t really have time to do anymore. Instead of watching movies and playing video games, I’m writing songs about them to kind of quench that need for that stuff. I write a lot of songs about

and Patio

traveling, because, since it’s what I’m always doing, it’s kind of natural to write songs about that stuff.”

I asked how Bielanski wound up with his intense touring schedule.

“At first, I was just playing around Charlotte, N.C., and then branched out and started doing regional stuff in Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia,” Bielanski said. “Before you know it, I was going up and down the East Coast, and then going coast to coast and into other countries. It’s a lot of hard work, putting in 100% and always trying to give it your all. I try to reach out to as many media outlets as I can to promote every show and just try to make every single show a success.”

Being a touring musician is a tough lifestyle choice, but Bielanski said he loves what he’s doing, despite some rough parts.

“I do sleep in my vehicle most of the time,” Bielanski said. “My day consists of rest areas. I’ve got my Planet Fitness membership, so I like to go and get some exercise to keep my brain sharp, and then I usually hit the library and send my emails, and then I go to my show and

perform. There are a lot of logistics that have to be worked out and everything, but I love it. This kind of lifestyle isn’t for everybody, but luckily for me, it’s something that I can handle, and I just love doing it. I think I’m going to continue to do it until I’m no longer physically able to.”

Bielanski said he absolutely adores being able to see the world.

“I just like to travel and play music, and the feeling of meeting people in different cities and seeing the same people over and over in the cities that I return to, that’s, in and of itself, to me, the goal,” said Bielanski. “I might like to have a little bit bigger audiences and things like that, and maybe hire a few more people to handle some of the business side of things. … I want to keep continuing to travel and tour, play the same cities and play new cities, and keep reaching new people with Brian’s Super Happy Fun Time message—trying to remember that life is a good thing, and music brings people together. I’m just really, really happy to be doing what I’m doing.”

While Bielanski remarked that “every single show is good in its own way,” he did share one big highlight.

“Getting to do the Thanksgiving Day parade in Charlotte a couple of years ago was pretty neat, because there were 125,000 people in attendance that day, so that was pretty cool to be able to perform for that many people,” he said. “As long as I reach anyone at any show with my music, and they’re touched by the music, to me, it makes all the hard work that goes into it totally worth it.”

To keep things interesting, Bielanski likes to switch things up and throw some improvisation into his music. So even if you’ve seen the musical traveler before, you may be in for some different renditions.

“The music definitely is different live, because on the albums, I’m playing all the instruments,” Bielanski said. “It sounds like a full band when it’s actually me layering on all the tracks. When I perform live, I just play acoustic guitar and sing only, so (the songs) are definitely a little bit different or stripped down from what they sound like on the albums. From time to time, I do like to experiment with the songs live. There definitely is a little bit of improvisation, and I like to feed off the crowd and the energy of the crowd.”

Bryan Bielanski will perform at 8:30 p.m., Thursday, May 4, at Pignic Pub and Patio, 235 Flint St., in Reno. Admission is free. For more information, call 775-376-1948, or visit pignicpubandpatio.com.

Bryan Bielanski.

BY MATT JONES JONESIN' CROSSWORD

THE LUCKY 13

Quinn Frenzel

Lead guitarist of Hedonism

“Running Free— more words, words, words.

By Matt Jones

Across

1. Gemini star

7. Tour guide

14. “Is Anybody Goin’ to San ___?” (1970 No. 1 country hit)

15. Like 18K or 22K, relatively 17. It’s sung in French and set in Spain

18. Fenced

19. Language spoken in The Passion of the Christ

21. Suffix with Senegal or Sudan

22. Hardware acronym

23. C8H17 radical

24. Uracil carrier

26. “___ good you let him know”

(Hamlet quote)

28. Lindsey of Pretty Little Liars

29. Alaska natives

31. Hill affirmations

32. It branches into

Ulster and Dublin accents

35. Lasso handler?

37. They come to a point near your field of vision

38. Etonic rival

39. Corrupt

40. Undisputed

44. Subject of some terraforming proposals

46. Actor Sheridan who plays Cyclops

47. Word after rap or flow

48. Tarzan actor Ron

49. Role, figuratively

51. Silence, in a way

53. Costal enclosures

56. Rabbit creator

57. Mars option

58. Decreasing figure?

59. Hohe ___ (Cologne shopping locale)

60. Devices that displayed numbers

1. Tropical beans

2. Revolting type, old-style

3. Levels

4. Director with a memeworthy Mark

5. “You Can’t Stop the Reign” rapper

6. Santoni who played Poppie on Seinfeld

7. Abbr. on bottles of beer

8. Times associated with availability

9. Those, in Toledo

10. Black listing

11. Gym instructor’s deg.

12. Musical character who sings “I swear on all my spores”

13. One of Chaucer’s Canterbury pilgrims

16. Involve

20. Some strengthtraining enthusiasts

25. “Whenever”

27. Throws a sleeper then touches the ground, essentially

29. Went for the silver, perhaps

30. Ganon, to Link

33. Family surname in current TV

34. “... the giftie ___ us”: Burns

35. Field items that follow an arc

36. Barely

37. Underground experts

41. Add new padding to

42. Mr. Belvedere co-star Bob

43. They’re real knockouts

45. Zulu warrior king

47. Toyota model rebooted in 2019

50. Forever and a day

52. Laugh line

54. “Proud Mary” band, briefly

55. Dir. from Iceland to Ireland

© 2023 Matt Jones

Find the answers in the “About” section at RenoNR.com!

Hedonism is a fairly new punk/metal band in the Reno scene that isn’t afraid to scream and throw down some heavy riffs. The band has performed at the Holland Project and at several backyard shows, and has released a few demos on Soundcloud to share their sound. For headbang metal, check out “Life,” and for moshpit punk, check out “Fuck Your Ideology.” Quinn Frenzel is the lead guitarist of Hedonism, and he is the latest to take The Lucky 13; here are his brief and to-the-point answers.

What was the first concert you attended? Silversun Pickups.

What was the first album you owned? The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd.

What bands are you listening to right now? Dystopia, Black Flag, Pantera, and Death.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get? Gangster rap.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live? Sunami.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure? Sia.

What’s your favorite music venue? The Holland Project.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older,” “Time,” Pink Floyd.

What band or artist changed your life? How?

Tool changed my life. Their music is different, and they showed me that no matter what kind of music you like, you can always be something great.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking? I would ask Dimebag Darrell how big he was.

What song would you like played at your funeral? “Cemetery Gates” by Pantera.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time? Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera.

What song should everyone listen to right now? “Now and Forever” by Dystopia.

Where else in Northern Nevada can you get your message in front of tens of thousands of people for just $99 per month? Call 775-324-4440

BY DAVID ROBERT

Krysta Palmer

Krysta Palmer is a Carson City native, a Douglas High School graduate—and an Olympian bronze medalist, thanks to her performance in Tokyo in 2021. Palmer won the first Olympic individual medal for a U.S. female diver since Laura Wilkinson won gold in Sydney in 2000. Krysta’s bronze medal was also the first medal for the U.S. in the individual 3-meter springboard since 1988. Starting at the age of 8, her mother drove her from Carson City to Reno five or six times a week for four hours of gymnastics practice. She transferred from gymnastics to the trampoline when she was 12, and went on to compete nationally and internationally. She started diving at the University of Nevada, Reno, when she was 20 years old. Her favorite food is breakfast burritos, and she now has one named after her at Archie’s Giant Hamburgers and Breakfast. It’s called, appropriately enough, The Olympian.

What has been your biggest inspiration and motivation for your diving career?

Actually, it’s been the injuries that I have received over the years. After each injury, I’ve really set my mind to come back stronger. I think injuries have set my path that I’ve lived, from gymnastics to diving. Those injuries have really made me stronger, both mentally and physically.

What is your latest injury?

I was training through Olympic trials and went to the Olympic games in Tokyo with a torn labrum in my hip. I took some time off after Tokyo to see if it would recover and heal up, but it didn’t, and I needed to check it out further. I wound up having surgery in 2022.

How’s it feeling now?

Oh, it feels so much better. I’m so happy that I had the surgery.

Is there anyone specific who has really helped you in your career?

Yes, Jian Li You (UNR’s diving coach, recently named Mountain West Conference diving coach of the year for the eighth time), the most amazing coach in the United States and the world! She helped me transform the skills and the talent that I had from my previous sport background. She put so much time and effort into building such a good foundation in my diving career

and really just escalated my success. She has so much knowledge and expertise from her childhood training and being a professional diver herself.

What will you be doing in the coming months?

In May, I’ll be competing in West Virginia. It’s our National Championships event that is a qualification meet for the World Championships and Pan American Games in the 3-meter individual, women’s 3-meter synchronized and mixed 3-meter synchronized. Then it’s on to the Olympic trials in Tennessee in 2024, and hopefully on to the Olympics in Paris in 2024. I hope to represent my country in Paris with my family in the stands cheering me on!

Olympic medalist and 2024 Olympic contender

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