In what was a busy day for the Sparks City Council yesterday, it approved a $381,000 settlement with ex-fire chief Mark Lawson over wrongful termination and defamation claims, allowing him to cash in more than expected as he now runs for office, just months after the same body turned down a previously offered $170,000 settlement.
Lawson left his job in late 2022 in disputed circumstances a week after he started it, after being confronted by then Sparks City Manager Neil Krutz that he was facing four felony steroid charges.
The case was dismissed with prejudice earlier this year, with prosecutors saying they needed more time.
The Nevada attorney general’s office quickly refiled charges against Lawson in Sparks Justice Court earlier this month, with a new arraignment hearing scheduled for March 26th.
Lawson who has maintained his innocence throughout this saga says he is running for Washoe County Commission District 4 in a contentious Republican primary against appointed incumbent Clara Andriola, favored by establishment figures, and Washoe County GOP Vice Chair Tracey Hilton-Thomas.
As of today, his Facebook page Mark Lawson for Nevada Washoe County Commission has 68 likes and 243 followers, with recent posts promoting local events, recirculating local news stories of interest and an explainer on ideal tire pressure in cold weather.
Sparks City Council Criminalizes Sleeping in Vehicle, Parking Lived-In RVs in Public
“Poverty is not a crime” the ACLU of Nevada wrote after the Sparks City Council moved to boost an existing ordinance now making it a criminal misdemeanor with up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine to sleep in a vehicle or stay parked for an extended period of time while living inside an oversized RV on public property.
It was voted for unanimously Monday and took effect immediately despite dozens of emails against and angry comments from representatives of local mutual aid groups and faith-based groups, saying it was "inhumane."
The Sparks Police Chief who is also the Acting City Manager, Chris Crawforth, spoke in favor of the ordinance saying it was needed for what some other speakers also called service-resistant individuals.
An earlier presentation by the Nevada Housing Coalition indicated that with wages not keeping up with prices a person making minimum wage in Nevada now needs to work 82 hours a week to afford a basic one-bedroom apartment.
Our Town Reno reporting, February 2024
Melody, Unable to Rebound from COVID Job Loss and Health Problems
"We're all equal. There's no one who's better than anyone else,” says Melody, who was hobbling along the streets of Reno recently, near the Cares Campus, huddled in her jacket.
She hopes to return home to live with her brother in Ohio, after saying she never rebounded from the COVID shutdowns here.
"I had a car. I had a job. I had a house. Everything,” she says. “Then Covid hit and things just went crazy… for a lot of people. You (can) get pushed to the wall really bad."
She’s had to start paying copays on her Medicaid, she says, and her food stamps aren’t keeping up with rising prices.
“I don't understand the economy anymore,” she says. “(The cost of living) gets higher but it's worse for low income people."
She’s struggling with her health in a myriad of ways, including brain damage from an ex hitting her on the head with a blunt object when he wanted his jacket back, she says. She recently survived a bout with pneumonia but felt she was treated like a second class citizen at a local hospital.
“They treat the homeless different here… I understand they're dirty and should clean up after themselves… But they still should not judge,” she says.
“Some people are going to go out and hurt or kill themselves because they make them feel like a piece of sh*t. Pardon my language but you know, that's not right for them to do that. They sent me out to die. I felt like I was walking dead with that pneumonia.”
She went to another hospital and got better treatment, she says, but now she needs more help.
"I have a bad knee I have to have surgery on. I can't work right now. I would work. I'd make more than Social Security would give you. It's painful. It's very painful," she added.
"There's days I cry and cry a lot… It's sad to see all these people like this. Life could be better.”
"This state is so (immoral.) Cruel people," she laughs nervously when talking about Nevada in general, and Reno specifically. "This is Sin City Two. Reno is very cruel. They don't care about you. …If you step in front of them and die they will look at you and let you die. That's just the way I feel. Anyway. One day at a time. That's all we can do. You gotta make what you can of every day."
She believes more mental health hospitals are needed.
"They say they closed the mental hospitals. ‘Why?’ "They can't afford them? The state makes so much money. The casinos! Why can't they help? They are greedy here. They don't really have it in order here. (It seems like) they're letting people go bad. It's sad. It's a sad state. They should be helping people.”
If people show concern for her particular plight, she says she’s appreciative.
“It puts a smile on your face. Maybe they can make a difference. Just one little difference. Hope. It's all you got. It's people like you who matter," she says of people who want to help.
Melody says people experiencing homelessness need the following: blankets, clothes, hygiene, soap, shampoo, conditioner and locks to keep personal belongings safe.
"A lot of hygiene (supplies,)” she repeats in terms of needs. “A lot of people don't get Social Security out here. They just hustle. Or they gave to borrow or whatever. Little bottles of shampoo and stuff will last a couple washes."
Despite having items stolen at the Cares Campus, she says she feels safe there.
“They have a great staff. Great, great people,” she says.
What about the stigma that many people are unhoused due to drug use?
"Some people depend on drugs because it makes the pain go away,” she responds.
Melody advocates for rehab for those who need it. "Talk to them sensibly. Don't talk to them like they're pieces of sh*t. It breaks my heart. Just put some love out. Help these people.”
Melody often visits the railroad tracks near Fourth and Sage streets to help others herself.
She says she's a survivor who has had twelve near death experiences, from car wrecks to suicide attempts.
"I think life is about a test. I'm going to make it. I won't give up. I made it this long. I'm almost sixty. I've got a lot to tell somebody."
Reporting and Photos by Dani DeRosa for Our Town Reno
Lawsuit Targets Mustang Ranch, Other Nevada Brothels for Alleged Sex Trafficking
A lawsuit filed just before the Super Bowl on behalf of a Nevada resident using the name “Jane Doe” is calling for an end to legalized prostitution in the Silver State, accusing brothels and brothel owner Lance Gilman, whose real estate firm brokers properties at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, of being complicit in sex trafficking.
A video was released yesterday by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation on YouTube titled Super Bowl 2024 Nevada Brothel Sex Trafficking Lawsuit mentioning the court action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Rr9T46Gxk...
The lawsuit claims that from 2017 to 2022 Jane Doe was “induced to engage in commercial sex acts through force, fraud, and coercion - including psychological manipulation, constraints on her movement, and debt - in legal brothels operating in Nevada.”
The lawsuit names four brothels: the Mustang Ranch just east of Sparks, The Chicken Ranch in Pahrump, the Desert Rose Club in Elko, and Bella’s Hacienda Ranch in Lamoille.
It also names Gov. Joe Lombardo and Attorney General Aaron Ford in the accused.
The suit alleges workers at the Mustang Ranch are forced to sign NDA agreements, fined for missing lineup calls when an unannounced customer arrives, being locked inside, prevented from leaving for weeks, having their car keys taken away from them and being forced to turn over earnings. Other accusations include allegations women are being sent to Reno for sex buyers outside the premises of the brothel.
In an RGJ article, Russell Greer, with the political action committee called A Safer Nevada, aimed at expanding legal brothels is quoted as saying it’s another “frivolous” lawsuit attacking Nevada’s brothel industry, while the report indicates Gilman and the governor’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment, while the attorney general’s office said it does not comment on any pending litigation.
Our Town Reno reporting, February 2024
Career College of Northern Nevada Closes Abruptly
The Career College of Northern Nevada on Pullman Drive in Sparks closed abruptly this week, after filing for bankruptcy, leaving current students and staff in a bind.
Their website indicates: “If you are a student who was actively enrolled or on an approved leave of absence on this date, or if you withdrew from a training program within 180 days of this date, you may be eligible for a Closed School Discharge.”
Other options are listed there for students seeking help.
A reader who shared this exterior photo with us told us employees in the building were notified it was closing Friday early afternoon, its last day of operations. The reader says they were told to pack up their belongings, as no one would have access after 4 p.m..
Some instructors found out about the closing from their students or other media reports.
We tried to contact the school via phone and email but did not hear back as of yet.
Average cost after aid for first time, full-time undergraduate students was estimated to be nearly $21K.
Its Yelp reviews ranged from a recent five star one, by Drew B. who said his experience for the HVAC morning program was “phenomenal.”
Many other recent reviews were of the one star variety though such as Jaylen J. saying: “This school is a joke. They care more about student drama than actual education. I went to class and all we did the whole time was talking about a text message that was sent out in a group text that I never got. When I told them they needed to talk to those involved and not waste my class time, I was told I was being immature …” or Jorge L. who wrote “teachers don't pay attention to you they hand you papers and then expect you to know what to do you ask a question and they tell you to look it up worst trade school hvac program is trash basically you’re teaching yourself…”
Our Town Reno reporting, February 2024
Local Bands Hope for More Reno Venues, while Turning to Tea Shops, Markets, Hotels and Community Radio
The camaraderie and community felt palpable as people sang and danced along to the covers and original songs performed by Unexplainable Cattle Mutilations and Evening Spirits at the Holland project on a recent Thursday night.
The all-ages Holland is a well-known venue in Reno, while house shows also take place, but these always risk being shut down due to neighbor complaints and police visits.
This showcases a need for more places for local musicians to perform and their fans to enjoy their music without feeling they might be short changed.
In a recent Our Town Reno podcast episode the bass player for the local band and Holland Project regulars Worm Shot Cierra said she performs at Holland and performs house shows, but faces abrupt endings with these. “My favorite show was with Mom Cars at my house, in my backyard. I love hosting shows, I think it’s so fun. I love having people make music in my backyard.” said Cierra “We actually got shut down last time I hosted a show– by the cops.”
Reno, going through a transition for the past several years, has lost some of its DIY music history. House shows were a big part of the punk and hardcore scenes in the past, and still continue today at different houses, but some of these vintage locations have been demolished to make space for new housing which don’t have that vintage appeal.
As Reno and the surrounding areas grow in population, though, so does the demand for live music. This lack of available spaces inhibits musicians trying to make a name for themselves.
Currently most people agree that The Holland Project is the place for shows in Reno. Chloe, the bass player for a new Reno based band RIP EVERYTHING described The Holland Project as “super chill.” “It’s always welcoming, every type of music plays there,” Chloe explained. “They’ve got hardcore, they’ve got punk, they’ve got metal, they’ve got indie, indie funk, they’ve got jazz. They’ve got electronic and post-punk, they’ve got everything!”
One of the biggest reasons that The Holland Project is so popular, and well known is because it is all ages. The biggest problems that local bands, especially young ones, face is finding spaces to practice and perform.
Rashidul Kaber, or Rash, is a sound engineer, musician, and board member for the Reno Punk Rock Flea Market. “I think the biggest challenge is kind of finding a space to play. Especially for young bands with younger people in them. We really only have one all ages venue, and it’s the Holland Project,” Rash said.
“With some of the other venues it’s kind of hard to get into those spaces, as a lesser known local band. I feel like a lot of the venues are looking for bands that have bigger draws.”
RIP EVERYTHING’s solution to these problems is a boba tea shop. Num Num Boba is a local business with two locations, in North and South Reno. Num Num Boba had hosted music nights before with members of the jazz program at UNR. RIP EVERYTHING proposed having a different type of show there– with local bands.
They played their first show at Num Num in 2022. “They [the owners] are really into it too. It especially brings business around during the winter time when it gets slow at boba shops.” The band members said “We decided to play a show and then they invited us back a couple of times. I do really hope that it becomes a thing for other bands to go there too because I think it is a cool place to play.”
These kinds of unconventional venues are hopefully going to become a bigger part of Reno’s music scene moving forward. “I’ve been noticing a lot of spaces that don’t– that aren’t really conducive to live shows,” Rash said “but they’re still doing them, that’s really cool.” These kinds of partnerships with local businesses provide a freedom for new bands and can also draw in business for the hosts of these shows.
Although the way music is released and the way that musicians can grow an audience has changed with the rise of music streaming platforms, in Reno, playing live shows is still important to build an audience. RIP EVERYTHING explained, “to get local buzz you need live shows. Because if you just put it on Spotify or Apple Music you won’t reach a bigger audience, but word spreads faster person to person in the city. Especially in the city, because Reno’s not too big.”
Getting music onto streaming platforms can still be helpful for local artists to find an audience. Lila and Hailey, of the radio show “Milking It,” play a lot of local artists. “The main goal of “Milking It” was to get everyone out of their everyday music and just show them that there are bands that are just as good that they may not have been listening to before and we just love sharing local music on the radio” they explained, “It is hard when those band’s don’t have recordings and we can’t play them.”
A lot of the music that “Milking It” does play they discover through going to shows. They don’t just go to shows for research though. “I think a good local music scene is really important to the culture of a city, especially with Reno being such a big college town,” said Hailey “I think it’s nice to have something for people to do on the weekends. That’s what I do on the weekends. And especially for people who don’t like to go to parties, or like frats.”
A lot of local musicians do it as a hobby; they have full time jobs, or are students. Nick Eng, another local musician, plays gigs often around the Reno-Tahoe area. He had advice for artists looking to make money from their music. “Is music just something you enjoy doing, or is it your career? I’m a pop-rock guy, and I play a combo of originals and covers at all my shows- solo and full band- and that flexibility gets me and us into a lot of better paying venues,” Nick said. “Some people might not want to play covers, which is valid, but you’d be limiting yourself to income and a wider audience if you don’t.”
While there are many bars, casinos, and DIY venues that host live music like The Lodge, Black Rabbit Mead Co, Fort Ralston, The Z Bar and more, there is still a lack of venues dedicated to music and other local art.
Some people are trying to create new venues and spaces for musicians to play and connect. The Reno Punk Rock Flea Market currently holds events that feature live music and vendors. They also have a goal to “provide a permanent space for all of our community members to collaborate & create.”
A fashion brand Trippy Kitty Co. is organizing a big show with music and vendors scheduled initially this week and now pushed back to March at the Renaissance Hotel.
Finding an actual space is the first and hardest step in creating a new venue. “We, first of all, we obviously have to find a space that is suitable for us because we need kind of a big space to be able to host vendors and bands,” Rash explained “We’ve got to find a space that is suitable, we’ve got to get it to a point where we’re comfortable with having at least shows there which means getting all sorts of gear and all the equipment that goes with live shows.”
Musicians themselves, those helping to create more spaces for music, and people who support local artists are excited to see what the future of music in The Biggest Little City can become, with hopefully many more welcoming venues.
Our Town Reno reporting by Emma Torvinen
New Soccer League Director Seeks to Create Better Pathway with Battle Born Futbol
Marco Chang, 22 and an already well traveled and experienced soccer player, is part of the team now at Battle Born Futbol Club setting up a new MLS Go youth program locally for ages three to 12, with sign ups taking place now for an inaugural 2024 Spring season.
Chang, in addition to being a Battle Born men’s first team player now at the Nisa level in the NN Pacific division, is also the club’s MLS Go director, a youth coach and private coach.
“The whole idea behind the MLS Go approach is to basically have a grassroots program that helps kids obviously utilize soccer to grow as soccer players, but … go out the door as well. In the U.S. you have all these clubs, but there's no linkage with the higher level,” he explained.
Players get to have MLS club-branded uniforms, with a pathway to playing at the highest level in this county as MLS Go leagues are partnered with Major League Soccer.
Players within the existing Battle Born club teams get to be coached in clinics by Battle Born players, both men and women, and are encouraged to go to their games. The women’s Battle Born team competes in the Women’s Premier Soccer League.
“We have kids all the time, you know, asking for signatures of kids wanting to be our ball boys, kids waiting to walk out with the players,” Chang said of existing Battle Born youth soccer players going to the men’s and women’s home games.
“So that really inspires and that really motivates the kids within our club to not only want to pursue soccer, but to know that, hey, they do have a future within soccer, whether that may be for the best to become professionals or at least get scouted as they progress by schools, junior colleges and Division 1 or Division II universities,” Chang said.
To go pro in the United States, a player can be drafted after an impressive collegiate career or can go through the MLS system, starting with MLS Go, then making it into the MLS Next league which has nearly 150 clubs and over 600 teams in different age groups, then MLS Next Pro and then if all clicks the MLS.
As the kids age through the MLS Go and Battle Born system, they can also play on the club’s youth travel teams and compete against other elite U.S. youth teams. Players at this level can also get help in terms of scholarships from a fund the club has for travel or gear, as the emphasis is not exclude anybody who might be from a less affluent background if they have the talent and desire to compete.
Chang, a Toronto native who arrived in Reno in August is well traveled, having played at three stateside schools over four years during his collegiate career, and having lived in six states in the past five years, with a stint at the USL 2 level in Florida prior to Battle Born. This has allowed him to compare different American soccer cultures and coaching techniques.
“The biggest thing with our model is creating a safe, respectful and fun environment for players to enjoy the sport itself, and creating a pathway for the kids and their soccer future,” he said. “Our aspirations are to get as many kids as we can and let's go teach them the right fundamentals, help them grow.”
“I don't think any words can really describe it, because I think for me, my actions and my decisions towards the sport add up,” he said when asked to describe his love and devotion to soccer. It hasn’t been without setbacks though, a testament to his own resilience.
“You know, at the age of 18 I got basically tossed aside for the academy that I was playing with. And, you know, at that point I really wanted to give up. But from there, you know, I kept grinding and I ended up finding myself at a Division II school in West Virginia.”
He’s had repeated injuries, and went to different schools at different levels looking for the right situation for himself before and after the pandemic. The grind he went through has made him a better player, he says, and leader for the next generation of players.
“The sacrifices I've had to make shows how much I love the sport and how much dedication I have towards it,” he said.
A challenge for the Battle Born club has been getting access to fields in northern Nevada, while competing with other more established leagues and clubs.
Its website indicates it will have access to Golden Eagle, Wooster High School, Marce Herz Middle School, and Sage Ridge School for its upcoming MLS Go season, while it works to build its own multi field turf facility near Parr Blvd. for future use.
The 2024 Spring MLS Go league is scheduled to start March 16th with early registration ending on February 17th. Game days will be Saturdays and Sundays, with one or two practices per week.
Our Town Reno reporting, February 2024
The Trippy Kitty Co. street fashion brand seeks to “create community through creativity”
Trippy events are coming to Reno, starting with the Noir show at the Renaissance Hotel on February 10th, from 7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m., mixing local music, art, crafts, jewelry and fashion.
The event is being put on by fashion brand Trippy Kitty Co. the brainchild of Athen, also known as Pilar, a precocious 18-year-old artist from Los Angeles now based in Reno.
Athen says that from a young age she has always been into music and that passion only continued when she moved to the Biggest Little City a year ago. Throughout the last 12 months, Pilar met a multitude of bands and artists and wondered why the two seemed so separate from each other. “Even going to like local shows, it just feels like the sect of bands is different than the sect of artists. We’re all here to create art. Like let's combine,” Athen told Our Town Reno during a recent interview.
That’s what Athen hopes to accomplish with the Noir show, hosted by her brand Trippy Kitty Co.
Local music artists Noah Linker and Athen herself will be performing, as well as local bands Faded Shawties, Heaven 07, BenderWorld, and Evangeline.
On top of these talented acts, Pilar has invited local artists such as Lils, Skel, and Baby Abeille to showcase some of their work. All of these artists dabble in different mediums from pen and paper, to 3D art, and their work will be for sale during the night.
These artists have even come together to make intriguing posters to help promote the event. “I have such a passion for music and art and to be a part of an event that embraces all mediums is something I’m so grateful to have come across” says artist Lils.
Other clothing and accessory vendors such as Hey Punk, Lucky Cheeks Beauty, and Bousabe will also be in attendance. Trippy Kitty Co. specializes in streetwear clothing whereas Hey Punk specializes in knitwear. If you’re into permanent jewelry, Lucky Cheeks Beauty will be selling bracelets, anklets, charms, and more.
Pilar wanted to also create a way to give back not only to these artists, but also to the Reno community. There will be a raffle at the show that is two dollars to enter. Vendors donated pieces to factor into the main prize which will consist of one beanie from Hey Punk, one T-Shirt from Trippy Kitty Co, one piece of jewelry from Bousabe, and one wax from Lucky Cheeks Beauty who specializes in body waxing as well as permanent jewelry. Lucky Cheeks Beauty is also donating a free haircut from her husband who is a hairstylist.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for the way everything came together. I prayed a lot when it came to this event and I’m super happy with the results,” Pilar says. There will also be a fashion contest for attendees to partake in. The show name being Noir, Pilar thought it would be fun to host a contest in between band sets to vote on the audience's favorite Noir outfits. A dress code of all black is encouraged but not required to attend. However the winner of the fashion contest will receive a Trippy Kitty Co. sticker.
With so many fun festivities and experiences to enjoy, what better way to remember the night than with professional photographs? Local photographer, Daniel Lopez Garzon, or Aethenee on Instagram, has been a photographer for over five years. He is offering professional photos at the event: five dollars for one, and $10 for three. Your photos will be printed within 20 minutes where attendees will have the option of either taking their photos with them when they are developed, or having them held at the photo booth area until the end of the night. “I’m really excited for an opportunity like this,” says Daniel.
Local bands are also excited to play at this event. “This is going to be a genuinely incredible show with an amazing lineup of local bands, artists, and vendors. So much is going on behind the scenes to make it perfect. I know the ticket price is a little more than usual but I promise it is so worth it,” guitarist Ryan Kowalczuk from BenderWorld, shared on an Instagram story.
Artist Skel also expressed his excitement for this upcoming show: “I love the idea, the theme, and I'm really impressed with the people we’ve got working on this one.”
Our Town Reno reporting by Lauren Juillerat, a member of BenderWorld
The Resistant Little Old House Bought Out in Jacobs Entertainment Expansion
The little old house at 347 West Street that resisted the downtown Jacobs expansion buyout spree for years has finally been bought by Jacobs Entertainment, according to Washoe County records, for $1.2 million, more than double, even up to triple, its estimate on several realtor websites.
It had been bought for just over $140,000 in 2015.
It’s believed by many to be the oldest house in Reno, on Lot 8 of Block E on the original Reno townsite, built within a year or so of the city’s founding in 1868.
The lot was originally purchased for $200.
In a quote in an RGJ article today, Jeffrey Jacobs says he is willing to sell it to anyone for $1 if they are willing to relocate the Benham-Belz House, as it is known by historians.
The initial occupants were the Benham family who then moved to Spokane, before they sold the home to Reno barber John Belz in 1883. His daughter Florence lived in the house until she died in 1981 at the age of 87.
The current sellers included John Gorham, a co-owner of the nearby beleaguered Bonanza Inn, which should be auctioned on soon, and coincidentally or not, Jacobs Entertainment has now decided to pass on bidding for after making headlines for being interested in that property as well.
UNR, Jacobs Entertainment and others with an eye on new development have had spotty records in terms of saving historical structures in recent years, either leaving them on crutches to slowly rot, moving a few in costly endeavors and demolishing others.
Our Town Reno reporting, February 2024
Katie Coling Keeps Planning Ahead, While Navigating Local Activism and Solutions for a Better World
As winter marches on locally, plans are being made for preparing soil and what to plant in future months, while Soil Solidarity, a community gardening nonprofit project with anarchist roots, also tries to fill out its board.
"We need to build an alternative to capitalism. Not a bandaid," Katie Colling, the founder, says of her ongoing pursuits.
Her new base is called Groundswell at 1820 G street, where she and others have a three-year lease while being allowed to do whatever they want with the property in terms of landscaping, as a new model for sustainability and community building.
Paul Lenart who joined her for a recent strategy meeting is proud of the way Colling “smashed through the barriers and got it done. That’s all I’ve ever cared about in the left community in Reno; getting things done,” he added. “If you believe in human equality of opportunity for development of oneself and the community, you are a comrade of mine.”
Their discussion ranges from Paul’s thoughts on political ideology to Katie’s local concerns.
Katie is a mother of two with a disability who found a calling for activism during Occupy Reno.
“I was the vice president and free market director for the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality for six years,” she says of her journey. “That meant a lot to me because not only did I meet people who were like my spirit connection and found people who were like-minded, I got to actually actively do something (productive) for so long with them… They went on to open [the emergency housing provider for women and families] Our Place. I am proud of them for that.”
In addition to coordinating Soil Solidarity, Katie has been a transition specialist at the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project for a little over a year, helping young women get back on track, with the guidance of NYEP executive director Monica DuPea.
Katie says that self-sabotage can be an issue for the eighteen to twenty-four year old women that organization tries to help.
“Decision making skills (are) not always up to par… They’ll leave for boys. They’ll leave for shitty jobs. They had to do their chores every day and didn’t necessarily like it. But I also see really dedicated women who are busting their ass for the program and (learn a lot of) skills which I wish I’d had when I was (their age.)”
Katie is also proud of a document she co-created in 2022 called An In-Depth Guide of Homelessness in Washoe County. “It’s specifically ten organizations that did something about homelessness, our opinions on each of them, and twelve pages of recommendations of what we think anybody should be doing.”
A section called Recommendations for Social Change advocates that “the homeless encampment sweeps be stopped and replaced with intensive outreach. The Reno Ambassador program reports that it takes 89 engagements with a person experiencing homelessness by 6.5 different agencies over six months before a person will agree to be sheltered. Homeless sweeps are costly, ineffective… and courts have held that the failure to provide sufficient notice before a sweep that allows people time to safeguard their property or the destruction of property during a sweep violates the rights of homeless individuals.”
The document recommends specific funding of grant workers, housing retention specialists, and increased wages of shelter workers.
Katie encourages members of the community to find something they’re passionate about and commit.
“Soil Solidarity has been growing food far longer than we’ve been a nonprofit,” Katie explained. “We’ve been working with mutual aid programs for eleven, twelve years now.”
One new project is to develop the land at Groundswell itself.
“We want to install a food forest here (including) trees. …Draft a guide on how to do what we’re doing,” she explained.
Other plans include developing communications classes for local activists and finding a location for canning and other food processing.
The issue of filling Soil Solidarity’s board is on her mind. Two are active and two other board members are on medical leave. Open positions are many now: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Fundraiser.
The president will be expected to attend fundraisers and events while fully supporting the executive director, and ideally be someone who is dedicated to the cause: an alternative to capitalism.
As the discussion progresses, Paul states that egalitarian projects aren’t often victorious in Reno. “Can I out you as an anarchist?” Katie laughs. “Yes you can.”
“Think globally. Act locally,” Katie says of her pursuits after Paul explains some of his views on global economic structures and current strife.
“That’s the only thing that keep me stable. Is to hear the global stuff but I can’t tackle it. It causes me so much internal stress. So I focus specifically on Washoe County…” Colling says. “I would point out that there were different ways of viewing the same reality,” Paul chimes in. “That’s true,” Katie agrees.
“I think we share the same reality. It is not the fantasy world of everybody going after their own to the best they can and getting as much as they can and somehow it’ll all work out at the end. We see how well that works out when you drive down Virginia street,” Paul says.
“Right,” Colling agrees. “It’s like closed up closed up.”
The two speak about their collaboration and the importance of compromise.
“My point to that is that Paul and I have collaborated for years,” Katie points out. “Fifteen,” he says.
“And I feel like we compromise on our ideologies to help… And I think because we’re in the socialist democrats….compromising ideologies a little bit but collaborate with them and with other people. The problem is that other people don’t just onboard because of the infighting, because of the communication skills that we lack as a whole. Being overwhelmed by the drama of the world. And even just the drama of our local community it’s so hard to change things here. I understand why people don’t step in and stay but we need people to. And if it’s social democracy, which is a compromise for capitalism, we still need people to move to the left. Just come on you guys, I’ll get you closer,” she laughs.
The local Northern Nevada DSA is currently experiencing a transfer of leadership roles, which the two, both connected to democratic socialists, also discussed.
Paul says that “NNDSA feels that its role is to provide a communication network among all the various efforts for a greater degree of equality whether reformist, revolutionary, anarchist, whatever. We don’t care. If you’re not a Nazi, “hell, I’ll work with you. I work with democrats, shit,” he says.
Though Katie does believe voting is important, she'd like to see more activism.
She’d like other people to create their own versions of Soil Solidarity. “We want to build a model that other people can replicate… Do something with your house… in conjunction with the land owner. People know how to buy land and be a dictator about land. We want to teach people how to share their land and work together. Hence the communication classes. Conflict resolution, deescalation, and just basic communication skills. How to take constructive criticism,” Katie explains.
What else can individuals do? Here her mind went back to her mutual aid gardening.
“Decolonize. Pull away from white culture and centering Indigenous cultures and the way in which they interact with the land. One thing in Native language is they speak of the land first and the person last and we do it the opposite,” she said.
“Native to Nevada is good. I would say (grow) productive things. Does it bring bees? Does it bring healthy bugs? Does it protect your plants from bad bugs? Is it edible? Can you use it? Also permaculture is not just plants. It’s a whole concept around how people are part of nature. We’re part of that ecosystem and how we interact with it is valuable,” she went on further.
“There’s a (technological) compromise I’m trying to decide on right now. I have this plot, Project Dandelion, and about six-seven inches below the bed is this dead pan of hard clay. I’m torn between using a rototiller, digging it up and making it better from that point forward. But there’s a lot of arguments to be made that you should broad fork it and not destroy the mycelium in the soil,” she pondered, while Paul listened.
From minute intricacies to big picture issues, Katie is always trying to make the world around her a better place, starting here in Washoe County, excited about where Groundswell will go.
Reporting by Dani DeRosa shared with Our Town Reno
Jr. Staying Along the Train Tracks in Reno
While mini encampments often get swept along train tracks in Reno, these often pop up again.
One of those there who reporter Dani DeRosa found on a recent icy day was Jr. whose life story is marked by losing his mother, sister and girlfriend, and bad health.
He says he’s experienced homelessness on and off for seven years after having a stroke.
"That really screwed me up. I had to relearn how to speak, walk… I was choking on water,” he remembers.
"I'm not looking for a handout. I'm looking for a hand up,” he said, while adding he needs to get money to start the process to get into the Social Security system to receive payments. He gave a figure of $140.
"I'm having a hard time staying warm,” he said of the current winter. He says the fire department recently came out to his camp to put out the small fire he had made to get some much needed heat.
Reporting and Photo by Dani DeRosa for Our Town Reno
Strength in Adversity: Reno-Tahoe's Mexican-American Community
As Madison Wanco and Autumn Novotny report, the Reno-Tahoe area is home to a large demographic with a Mexican background. While dealing with the difficulties of settling in a new country, these strong communities are resilient through their value system and family ties.
In the vast region between Tahoe and Reno, from day laborers to established entrepreneurs, from DACA to scholarships, from dealing with micro aggressions to wide ranging discrimination, the Mexican American community faces many challenges. By listening to the voices of some of them from Kings Beach, Washoe County, and the UNR campus, we have identified some of the challenges currently being faced: housing instability, harmful stereotyping, and misrepresentation. Through ups and downs, the local Mexican-American community is a strong force of support for one another.
Alberto Garcia, a first generation student at UNR, pursuing a career in school counseling and critical mental health, advocates for undocumented students at UNR, saying they feel they don’t have equal opportunities to thrive.
Garcia’s parents are from Mexico City and moved to Reno in 1989, for its quiet atmosphere and connection to nature. They started working jobs in hospitality when they first came to Reno, and today his father works for a landscaping company and his mother is a housekeeper.
He sees many Mexican American and other Latino students also struggling with housing costs and stereotypes such as, “they don’t belong here,” or being labeled “illegal” or described as “stealing jobs.”
In Kings Beach, the Latino community makes up 45.8% of the entire population and the school system has 50% enrolled Latino students.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s there was a migration of people from Mexico, specifically coming from one state in particular, Guanajuato. At this time the area was underdeveloped and affordable.
There was a huge need and call for services in the North Shore of Lake Tahoe. Kings Beach needed people to help take care of lawns, resorts, and more construction workers.
Emilio Vaca, the past Vice Mayor of Kings Beach who has worked on housing sustainability projects and is a former director of a family research center, believes in pushing home ownership for local Mexican Americans and other Latinos.
“It generates a long term stability model for the social fabric of Kings Beach for the Latinos there,” Vaca said.
Kings Beach was originally built to be a summer housing community. The facilities people called affordable were old shacks or cabins having one room with no kitchen, lacking the basic necessity to make a meal.
Families were often approached by Child Protective Services who would take their children away because these families lived in a place that did not provide warm food for their children, which was considered neglect.
Vaca’s mantra became that having adequate housing is necessary because even though a family could afford a little cabin, it has to be adequate enough to have their children there.
The growth of adequate housing has produced landlords who have a standard to meet for facility accessibility. This situation has also helped Latinos become more vocal in the Kings Beach community.
The vibrant Mexican food restaurants on the Kings Beach strip have also contributed to the housing project and heightened buying power. Establishments such as Tacos Jaliscos, La Mexicana, and Las Panchitas have unique stories behind them of the owners coming to America to start their businesses.
Alex Brambila, the owner of Las Panchitas, came to the United States in the winter of 1982 when he visited his brother in Los Angeles. Alex was on a three-month sick leave from work in Mexico because he had hurt his hand. Some of his brother’s friends, also visiting from the same hometown as Alex in Mexico, told him about a new restaurant which would be called Las Panchitas. They asked Alex to come with them to Lake Tahoe and open up this restaurant. None of them knew anything about Lake Tahoe, but decided to get in a small, janky car and drive there anyway. 1982 was the snowiest winter recorded at this point in time and they were all surprised to see it, they’d never seen snow before. Arriving, they started to clean, put tables and chairs into place, and cooked. When they opened, Alex was the busboy and dish washer. He ended up staying for the entire year, losing his visa in the meantime and couldn’t go back to Mexico. In 1984, he filled out some forms and three months later a red card arrived in the mail; a work permit. A few months passed and a green card was delivered to him, it was one of the best things, he said. He felt that all his hard work was paying off. Working at minimum wage for years as the dish washer and busboy, he started to learn some English and was promoted to waiter, which he had a passion for. The owner eventually made him a cosigner on the business account, taking on the responsibility of doing payroll. People would often ask him if he was the owner because he was always there, always working, and he would reply, “No, I just work here.” He always did feel like he owned the business, and in 2008 he bought Las Panchitas.
Vaca says, “these stories are so redemptive and it’s a Latino journey of reaching the American Dream.”
When Vaca was a young boy, he asked his father what the American Dream meant to him. Vaca thought he would answer with images of a big house and a white picket fence, but to his surprise, his father said, “you are my American Dream.” With these few words that hold so much meaning, Vaca realized what the American Dream meant to someone who migrated to this area.
The goal for many immigrants is to put children in a better place and in a healthier, safer environment than in their own hometowns. It is not the big house, the nice cars, or the prestigious job, it is putting their children in a position to have success and happiness.
The Latino community in Kings Beach acts fast when one of them is in need, everyone will step up, Vaca says.
They will often organize a fundraiser called Kermes, where tickets are sold to buy food, drinks and other items. Jumpy houses are usually blown up and live music is performed. The money collected will go to the one family in need to pay their bills or used for other needs.
All of the vendors will donate the food, the time, and the labor for this one family.
“If the community doesn’t mirror itself, then we have a problem, and that means we are moving away from what makes us a community,” Vaca said. “Right now, Kings Beach still has that reflection in the mirror and it can see itself in that reflection. The American dream is not dead to them.”
The Reno-Tahoe area has many successful Mexican-Americans and other Latinos within the community, but this population is no stranger to facing negative stereotypes despite making up a large portion of local demographics.
Patricia Guerrero, the Latino Research Center Coordinator at the University of Nevada, Reno, conducts an activity during NevadaFit that helps Latino students openly discuss stereotypes. She has students write one positive stereotype on green colored cards and one negative stereotype on red colored cards.
Common answers written on the red cards were that they are taking people’s jobs, they are illegal, and feeling like they don’t belong. Students often come to her with concerns of feeling voiceless and unable to be their authentic selves in the classrooms.
Guerrero finds that these students feel comfortable when they are surrounded by people that look similar to them where they can be heard. Another issue she identifies is students feeling like they don’t know how they are going to survive due to food and financial insecurity.
Osvaldo Jimenez-Estupinan, Director of Latinx/Hispanic Community Relations at UNR, explains how Latino families can weigh into their children’s education.
He is a first generation graduate from UNR and he recalls his own experience where he thought of dropping out of college his sophomore year due to his family needing him.
His parents came to America when they were teenagers, with less than a sixth grade education. He grew up in a trailer park in South Lake Tahoe and his family moved to Reno when he was four years old where they purchased a three bedroom house for 12 people to live in.
Remembering the constant Kermes parties going on in the trailer park he says, “there was a lot of community there which I think is the beautiful thing about Hispanic culture. It's a lot about the community and ‘we’. It is not so much about ‘I’ or ‘me’.”
These community values are also reflected in family values which is why he often had to miss class to take his grandma to the doctor or help with his family’s cleaning business.
When he rejected a job offer right out of high school to instead attend college, his parents were surprised, “coming from this Hispanic culture I see the misconceptions from a lot of families about education or about what you come to school for,” Jimenez said.
Due to this disconnect, Jimenez grew up thinking college was only for doctors or engineers. He did not know about art, journalism or other possible studies. He wonders how many more students are like him who don’t know they can go to college for.
Jimenez visited the UNR campus his senior year of high school because of the first generation program the university provides. If it wasn’t for this program, he says he would have never attended college here.
Jimenez wants to work on spreading the word to students at nearby middle school and high schools to show them that UNR has all sorts of degrees and programs for them. He also advocates for the university to reach a population of 25% Latino and Hispanic students to qualify as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).
HSI has been around since 2013 and UNR is currently the only college in Nevada that does not qualify. Qualifying for this program would allow the university to receive more federal grants for Latino and first generation students.
Jimenez identifies another issue at UNR where some professors don't understand how a student may need to help support their siblings, work, help their parents pay their bills, or help run their family's business.
A solution to this, he says, could be for the university to hire more Latino professors and instructors, so “students feel comfortable with someone who represents the same background or even just has an understanding of where they come from.”
The currently enrolled first generation graduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno, Garcia, saves money by qualifying for in-state tuition, living with his parents in a low income neighborhood, and working two jobs.
The main problems Garcia highlights are the student housing crisis and academic difficulties for undocumented students. There has been a lot of build up and construction for luxury student living apartments around campus, making it more and more difficult for non-affluent students to afford campus housing.
Working with a lot of undocumented students, Garcia sees the struggles they face to have a normal college experience and be a part of the UNR community. The UNR undocumented students fear deportation, are scared to go to the hospital, can’t attend field trips or study abroad. Garcia has observed a lot of undocumented students dropping out because they have to work to afford groceries and rent.
One of the reporters for this project Madison Wanco has her own family history related to this topic. Her mom of Mexican origin, Angeles Wanco, went to college at UNR in the 90s where she earned a degree in communications, despite being the first to graduate from college in her family and coming to the United States when she was very young.
She came to Chicago first when she was just six years old and only was able to stay for a short period of time, but learned English during that part of her life.
When she went back to Mexico, she completely lost everything she learned about the English language and had to relearn it when she moved back to Chicago when she was fourteen. Many children have a hard time in school, grasping certain concepts and abilities, because no one is perfect at all subjects and the learning curve on certain lessons can be tough.
At that point, they never moved back to Mexico. Her family moved to Los Angeles where she graduated high school and started community college.
They all moved to Reno after that, where Wanco transferred colleges and her younger sisters graduated high school. Despite moving so much in her youth, she has been living in Reno for several decades now.
Wanco is currently a real estate agent here in Reno, Nevada. Her personal story goes to show that the road is bumpy most of the time when moving from one country to another, because of the language barrier and culture shock, but many people like her have been able to rise above struggles and build families, pursue their passions and worthwhile careers.
In the face of adversity, the Mexican-American and Latino communities stand strong as a united front to help one another and improve the quality of their lives one step at a time. Dealing with a housing and financial crisis, negative stereotyping, and misrepresentation is deeply impacting this community. The actions that could potentially improve these difficult situations is adequate housing, homeownership, inclusivity practices, positive stereotyping, and bringing more attention to the programs and services available to help these first and second generations reach their own version of the American Dream, here in the beautiful Tahoe/Reno region.
Reporting by Madison Wanco and Autumn Novotny shared with Our Town Reno
Our Town Reno Cold Cases, part 1: Ryan Connelly
Deana Connelly has had to move out from Reno to Fernley with too many memories haunting her where she used to live at the Silver Terrace Apartments on Wedekind Road, following her son’s unsolved murder there.
“It was too painful to live in Reno anymore,” she told Our Town Reno during a recent phone interview. “It’s quiet out here. There's no memories associated with him. So I can go to Walmart and not have a memory. I can go to the corner store and not have a memory.”
Twelve years ago, 17-year-old Ryan Connelly who had just had a baby with his girlfriend, was shot to death, coming home from a nearby corner store.
“It got to the point that driving past Hug High (where Ryan was previously a student and played football) or any activity that I did with my son was like ripping off a scab. And I said, ‘I can't do this anymore. I can't do it. So I didn't tell my kids that I was looking at places in Fernley. I’m on disability so I applied for housing, they accepted me and I told my kids, I'm leaving to go to Fernley. They weren't happy. I'm too far away from them. But they understood that healing has to happen in a certain way,” Connelly said.
At 9:21 p.m. on July 7, 2012, after his mom asked if Ryan was ok he responded that he was fine and at a friend’s place. They had a habit of having hourly check ins whenever he was out at night. Ryan known affectionately as “Baby Buddha” was her youngest, with one older brother and two older sisters.
Deana has been going to therapy every week since that tragic night. She posts regularly on the Justice for Ryan Facebook page, especially on holidays.
“I’ve been on my own since I was 14,” Deana wrote this past Christmas. “So when you gather around your family, and everybody is in attendance and healthy please count your blessings. Please remember the reason for the season. God bless everyone. Sending love and strength to whoever is missing their loved ones like we are on Christmas and during the holidays. Remember to hug them a little bit longer and tighter.”
There are also posts where Ryan is communicating.
“That's what keeps Ryan alive in my opinion,” Deana says of keeping the Facebook page, where she gets supportive messages both from people she knows and new acquaintances. “I think that if you stop communicating for him, then people tend to forget. I want them to know that we're still here. We're still fighting because it takes only one person to come forward. We just need that one person that's brave enough to come forward and help us,” she said of unlocking the case.
Family members say they know who murdered Ryan, and they believe the shooting was a case of mistaken identity, but they need the people who can convince investigators to speak up.
“Ryan’s not just a face or a name that was murdered,” Deana said. “He's still got a little girl. He still has a huge family and a huge following of loved ones. And I gotta keep him alive. I don't want anybody to forget about him,” she said.
On July 7th, 2012, after her last phone check in with Ryan, Reno PD Homicide Detective Dustin Allen later told media her teenager was filmed alone on surveillance video walking down Sutro Street entering a corner store and then leaving it soon after, but out of the range of any cameras.
Witnesses at the apartment complex where he had returned then indicated there was a loud argument with two people yelling at each other, followed by multiple gunshots.
At that point, Ryan called 911 and then his mom, who said she couldn’t hear him, and then 911 again.
At 10:23 p.m., Deana’s neighbor came running towards her, saying Ryan was injured in another apartment.
She says after reaching him she screamed “Don’t leave me!” holding him as tightly as she could in her arms.
After Reno PD arrived at 10:26 p.m., he was transported to Renown, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators say they never found blood trails or bullet casings, and were never able to figure out where the shooting happened. Flyers were put up in the neighborhood in English and Spanish for the public to come forward with information, but no one came forward with enough of what they deemed credible information for an arrest to be made.
Deana is angry the case hasn’t been solved. She mentions racism and classism as possible reasons.
“I really thought that since he was a teenager and he played football for Hug and he wasn't a thug or anything, that they would look at him differently. But they didn’t, they dropped the ball immediately. He was not important,” she says, in disbelief.
She says police have ignored her calls and texts, and even blocked her number.
“They personally said to my son, and it was only four weeks after Ryan was killed, ‘we’re tired of telling her the same story. So why bother talk to her and tell her the same thing.’ That's what they said. And this is what I've been running into 12 years. And then when I call now, they tell me that it's a cold case and it's not assigned to anybody. So I have no one to even talk to,” she said.
She says police also need to learn to talk to grieving parents. We emailed Reno PD about her multiple concerns but did not hear back.
The comments accompanying early media stories hinting it was a gang shooting were disheartening, she says. “‘Oh, look at him, look at the neighborhood, look at the big T-shirt and the way he dressed, he obviously was dealing drugs. He had that coming.’ So many times in the comments, ‘he was probably just a gang banger. He had that coming.’ My kids would say, ‘don't read any of the comments, mom, don't read it. Don't read it.’ It was very painful. He wasn’t a gang member,” she told Our Town Reno.
She never gives up though. That is not in her nature.
“You wake up every morning going, saying is there something else I can do that this could be the year that I could look up in this sky and say, ‘we did it. We did it, Ryan, we did it,’” she said during our recent interview.
Her anger at local police extended even further, when Kenneth Stafford, a father of three, who Ryan looked up to as a role model, who she considered as her adopted son, whose wife had grown up with her kids, was shot and killed by Sparks police one year later, on July 11th, 2013, while on leave from active military duty, while mourning Ryan, and suffering from PTSD.
“Amy, his wife, grew up with my kids. And every summer she'd come stay with me from the age of 12. She spent every summer with me. And so Kenny was like my kid. We were really, really close. And he called me mom and he looked a lot like Ryan. Ryan and him were close. Ryan was going to go into the Navy. And of course Kenny was in the Army at the time. So Kenny got really sick with PTSD after Ryan was killed. He had a really hard time after his tours and stuff. And he came back for Ryan's anniversary and that's when he was murdered right in front of me,” she recounts.
Another website which never forgets such incidents, Reno Cop Watch, she supports wholeheartedly. “I love them because it makes the society know,” she said.
Deana has tried to get on cold case shows and have investigators help but without any new information from Reno PD, these efforts led nowhere.
“When Ryan was first killed, I wrote a lot of people, Unsolved Mysteries, America's Most Wanted, Ellen DeGeneres, I wrote Oprah. I wrote everybody that I could ever think of, even Dr. Phil. Nobody got back to me. Nobody, not one person wanted to touch Ryan's story,” she remembers in dismay.
There was one exception for her: Reno PD Sgt. Ron Chalmers, who looked into unsolved homicides. Deana said contrary to others he was helpful and caring, but soon retired after starting to communicate with her.
He wrote back to Our Town Reno saying “my heart breaks for her. She has endured pain and sorrow nobody should have to endure.” In a follow up he added, “please understand that Ryan’s murder occurred after I was a detective in homicide and before I was the sergeant in homicide. I was out of homicide for about four years after being promoted. So I know the general circumstances but was not involved in the investigation.”
The coroner’s office also had words which soothed Connelly. “I had to do CPR and I felt like I failed my son,” she said of the guilt she carried around. “And they said there was nothing you could have done. There's nothing you could have done. Just because he had a pulse when you fond him, doesn't mean he was still there. And he also told me the last thing that went is his hearing. So if you were talking to him, he heard you,” she said.
She hopes every post she makes, every interview she gives, including this one, can reach a person who might know something which could relaunch the case.
“If this was your brother, your son, your loved one, you would want justice for your kid. It only takes one person. So any information you think may be stupid or unimportant, it could be very important to the right person. So if you know anything, please come forward and help me,” she pleaded at the conclusion of our interview.
Anyone who feels they might know anything about what happened the night Ryan Connelly was murdered can give an anonymous tip to Secret Witness by calling (775) 322-4900 or texting the keyword: SW to 847-411. You can also report a tip online by clicking HERE.
Our Town Reno reporting, January 2024
Reno Stripper Free Speech Lawsuit Unfolds Ever So Slowly
A class-action lawsuit seeking damages for local strippers following a 2019 Reno licensing requirement banning women under 21 from working in the city’s strip clubs remains, but some of the plaintiffs have been dismissed for lack of standing following a recent judicial decision.
A Bloomberg Law report this week indicated that “a group of dancers who challenged a Reno, Nevada regulation barring people younger than 21 from working at a club that serves alcohol fell short on some of their claims against the city.”
“The plaintiffs, who were between 18 and 21 when the suit began in 2019, challenged the city regulation on several grounds, including age discrimination, denial of due process and as a regulatory taking without just compensation,” the article went on. “Reno moved to dismiss the due process claim and for partial summary judgment on the equal protection age discrimination and regulatory takings claims.”
The local attorney who initially filed the lawsuit on behalf of eight strippers Mark Thierman remains combative and optimistic overall about the case though.
“The original decision was that the Reno regulation was unlawfully passed,” he wrote to Our Town Reno this week.
“Confining this result only to the dancers listed in the original complaint may be good politics, but it’s bad law. If the regulation was unlawful, and non-binding four years ago, and it was not changed or fixed, it’s unlawful and non-binding now. The First Amendment applies equally to all those over 18 years of age. Once the entire case is complete, we plan to appeal this ruling,” he explained.
He also went on to give his own perspectives on the meaning of this case, which initially got lots of media attention, but less so in its most recent developments.
“If the government can regulate the rights of 18- to 21-year-olds to engage in free speech, when it knows that doing so for anyone over 21 would be unconstitutional, then what prevents the government from telling anyone under 35 years of age what news they can see or hear, what video games they can play, what text they may read on the internet, or the content of what they can write in a newspaper article,” he wrote.
Our Town Reno reporting, January 2024
Isaac Martinez, an Independent Young Local Graphic Designer on the Rise
Issac Martinez, known by his artist tag Archivedotpdf and his more than 80k followers on Instagram, has been creating graphic design art since his high school days.
Working on graphics for clothing, film and music, Martinez has built himself a well-known brand, but it didn’t happen overnight. He took design classes at Spanish Springs High School, and then when the pandemic hit, he honed his budding craft on his own time.
Since then, he’s created designs for musical artists, including Kevin Abstract, a rapper, singer, and songwriter. Nothing comes easy though in the graphics field with so much competition.
Back in 2021, Martinez reached out to Abstract, who was looking for a logo. Martinez designed a few, but it never worked out. Then in 2023, after Abstract released a new album named “Blanket,” Martinez reached out once again, and this time, it worked out in his favor.
“I was able to make a whole bunch of graphics and really decide how this roll out for his new album would play out,” Martinez said.
While Martinez has lived in Reno his whole life, the 775 isn’t a hotbed in the graphic design world, making it challenging, but also more open to any kind of style.
“A whole bunch of people from a whole different bunch of places who come here and they try to bring their ideas,” Martinez said. “It's allowed me to I think be more open when I'm working with artists.”
While doing freelance work is a struggle, Martinez said it has its perks.
“I think at one point I realized it's important to keep putting out work. Even if you're not a hundred percent on it,” Martinez said.
Martinez advised those wanting to work in graphic design, acknowledging that building a portfolio is huge. Martinez also said you have to believe in yourself to have any chance in building a career.
“You might not think the work is good enough and that's gonna be embarrassing but I feel like no one's going to take that step for you,” Martinez said. “You're going to have to take it yourself.”
Our Town Reno reporting by Dominic Gutierrez and Saurabh Chawla
Dogs of Washoe, part 3: Getting Rid of all "Puppy Mills"
Rebecca Goff, the Nevada State Director of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), described Washoe County as “lucky” because it takes a hard stance against the pet-selling business, passing ordinances limiting them.
In 2020, the Reno City City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the retail sale of cats and dogs in pet stores.
Puppy Love in Sparks appears to be the only remaining store that sells puppies, according to Goff, who hopes that will change soon.
The puppy mill business exists predominantly in the Midwest, with Goff describing such establishments as “crates on top of crates,” in which dogs rarely get out and puppies are torn away from their mothers.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) publishes “The Horrible Hundred” - a report of puppy mills and other unethical breeders within the country. While it is not a fully comprehensive report, it is a valuable resource to be more aware of this industry.
Puppy mills and backyard breeders pushing out animals like products also work against shelters.
On top of taking money and resources away from shelters, they import dogs into already overpopulated areas.
Goff said shelters in Nevada “are bursting at the seams” and it’s getting worse as people gear towards “trendy” dogs, even though shelters already have many of these popular breeds.
“Spoiler alert, they do have French Bulldogs because people surrender them,” Goff said. “So do check your local shelters if your heart is set on that dog.”
Goff also urged prospective owners to consider more than dogs blowing up online. Oftentimes, people come to shelters looking for that hot breed, ignoring the dozens of other dogs waiting for a home. To her, all it takes is opening your mind to what a particular shelter has to offer.
Senior dogs have a special place in Goff’s heart. She says that the time with a senior animal, however short it may be, is “so valuable, and so amazing.” Unlike puppies or younger dogs, they may have less energy and require less training.
A senior dog could be a great companion that many aren’t aware of yet.
For any potential dog owner, Goff says shelters and rescues should be their first stop. However, Goff made it clear that it’s not immoral to want a purebred animal or specialized breed. Whether it be the need for a hypoallergenic breed or simply a lifelong desire to own a Yorkshire Terrier, it’s important to find the right dog for each particular scenario.
“Designer dogs” have also exploded in popularity in recent years, with the Goldendoodle (golden retriever and poodle mix) leading the charge. Designer dog breeds are as simple as bringing new fur colors, patterns, or textures to a breed. Others include “teacup” varieties of already small dog breeds.
Bluntly, Jack Riggsbee, show chairman of the Reno Kennel Club (RKC) said, “A designer breed is a fancy name for a mutt. It’s no different than the street dog you pick up.”
A Goldendoodle is simply a mix - even by the WCRAS’s standards. WCRAS Program Coordinator Quinn Sweet said that, when a Goldendoodle is put in their system, it’s entered as a Golden Retriever mix.
Riggsbee describes it as “ridiculous” that people are paying top dollar for dogs that are essentially mutts. With Doodles being a mix of two breeds, Riggsbee explained that their characteristics change with each generation.
This can be especially problematic when breeders advertise a Goldendoodle or similar dog as hypoallergenic. Poodles are known for this trait, but there’s “no guarantee” that this will be passed down.
If you’re seeking a mutt or designer dog, Riggsbee advises to simply visit a shelter, which have some truly unique mixes of their own at a fraction of the cost.
Goff promised “you will be so surprised at the animals you can find.’ Not only that, she describes mutts as “hardy” when it comes to health issues. While some purebred dogs are prone to congenital problems, mutts can have a greater resilience and even live longer due to their rich genetic pool.
Our Town Reno reporting by Cole Payne
Reno Ranked 11th in Per Capita Homelessness
Did you know Reno recently ranked 11th worst in nation in per capita homelessness as a new point in time count looms?
The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a federal government mandated count of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January, including in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and safe havens.
Even though it’s not wholly accurate, the data it provides serves as a basis for funding programs and other important decisions.
In a ranking recently released by Insider Monkey, Reno-Sparks ranked as having the 11th highest per capita of people without stable housing, estimated at 254 per 100-thousand residents, behind only San Diego, Savannah, San Francisco, Las Vegas (273), Anchorage, Seattle, San Jose (363), New York City (394), Los Angeles (397) and Eugene (432) in this worst of category.
These numbers are based on a 2022 report published by the City Mayors Society. Even though these aren’t to be trusted for accuracy either, this ranking does give an indication of cities having the most unhoused per their overall population, and too few people earning what is known as a “housing wage” in these areas.
The article also points to a recent study by Ken Chilton of Tennessee State University on how the growing prevalence of real estate investment trusts owning more and ore apartment buildings is worsening our collective affordability crisis.
Our Town Reno reporting, January 2024
A Local Realtor Faces Sexual Harassment Lawsuit, While Both He and Accuser Seek Damages
Reno-based real estate agent Misty Carter filed a lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court of Nevada against Chris Nevada, the owner of the Reno-based Nevada Real Estate Group, saying she was sexually harassed and then fired in retaliation for resisting his advances.
In an emailed response to Our Town Reno, Nevada denied the accusations.
“Carter is a real estate agent and an Independent Contractor that I had brief contact with over 2 years ago, she was not an employee of mine and did not work for me,” he responded to us by email on Sunday.
“She found an attorney that took her case on contingency basis costing her no legal fees, hoping to extort me to settle, I refused because facts and truth are on my side that her claims never happened. I have full faith in the legal system that it will work in my favor and I will be seeking damages for defamation of character and malicious prosecution from Misty Carter,” he also indicated.
Carter now a realtor at Brooks Home Team part of eXp Realty and a former TMCC student, according to her social media presence, says that Nevada, who used to work within eXp as well, offered to pay her for sex while she worked for him from December 2021 to June 2022.
“Throughout almost the entirety of plaintiff’s employment she was subject to a course of sexual harassment which a reasonable woman could readily have found sufficiently egregious and/or offensive to constitute a work environment permeated with sexual hostility… Chris Nevada’s offensive conduct included, but was not limited to: Offers to take plaintiff on vacations and/or trips; inappropriate questions directed at plaintiff about her body; offensive questions as to plaintiff’s personal relationships; offers to pay plaintiff for sex,” part of the lawsuit indicates.
It goes on to accuse Nevada of asking Carter if she had had breast surgery, unwanted touching, “slaps directed at plaintiff’s posterior; attempts to kiss plaintiff … invitations to attend hot tub parties at his home, in conjunction with discussing plaintiff’s lack of a boyfriend; discussions of Chris Nevada’s interactions with prostitutes; and sexually oriented texts and other messages.”
It says she requested an apology but instead that her “employment was terminated in response to her opposition to sexual harassment perpetrated by Chris Nevada.”
Five different alleged crimes are presented in the lawsuit, sexual harassment, retaliation, battery, infliction of emotional distress, and malicious interference with prospective economic advantage. The lawsuit asks for a jury trial, as well as undisclosed damages.
It names as defendants eXp, as well as Chris Nevada and his Nevada Real Estate Group. It makes a point to indicate Carter was an employee “as opposed to an independent contractor,” a more common classification in real estate, which Nevada disputed in his email to Our Town Reno.
Nevada also indicated that “her claims were dismissed by the state because she failed to show any type of proof of any wrongdoing and also because she was not an employee,” but we could find no record of this. We asked him in a follow up for more details about this, but Nevada didn’t respond.
The local lawsuit comes as the virtual, cloud-based brokerage eXp has faced multiple sexual harassment cases in recent years and the entire real estate industry has been going through a moment of reckoning. The National Association of Realtors president resigned himself in August after reports of his own sexual misconduct.
Nevada took the Nevada Real Estate Group from eXp to LPT Realty last summer.
An eXp spokesperson has responded to other media queries concerning this lawsuit, saying it has started its own investigation and that “eXp Realty has zero tolerance for abuse, harassment, or misconduct of any kind — including by the independent real estate agents who use our services.”
Other recent lawsuits alleged two Las Vegas-based real estate agents also working for eXp Realty drugged and sexually assaulted women, after spiking their drinks at industry events.
Our Town Reno reporting, January 2024
Matthew, Fearing His Friends Will Freeze to Death
"Most of [us] outside try to either see if they can make their way in a motel, but most people can't accomplish that. They work on getting themselves some kind of coverage, like tent tarps and go wherever they [can] that's generally out of the way, not to bother people.
We go somewhere that's out of the way and we can get some kind of little fire going and keep some kind of heat through a fire. And that helps us survive.
Even just for the purpose of food, I always make some kind of a fire pit to cook on.
I'm not going to catch on fire, but it seems like there's always somebody going to call and department managers are always going to come around and complain about it…
That’s how we survive. And with the help of a couple other people out here that are homeless, we try to keep each other survive. We collect as much winter clothes as we can so we can give them out to people that don't have it.
We have lots of food and clothes and stuff 'cause it's generally for not just us, it's for other people out here 'cause they're not gonna be able to get everyone in the shelter and stuff. And the people that are out here, well most of 'em that know us know they could come around us and be able to get blankets or something to eat.
It's just because we've been out here a long time. And if we're gonna be out here, we may as well, well collect as much as we can so we can keep it and be able to help other people. It just sucks when the city takes it 'cause then we gotta start over the next day.
They're never going to get rid of everyone homeless and if they keep on making it harder and harder, they're just going to end up finding more frozen people on the streets.”
Our Town Reno reporting by Cole Payne
Former Police Chief and Sheriff Stewart Handte Faces Anonymous Trial With Trepidation
UPDATE: Following the latest twist in a case which has had many, sentencing for Roger Hillygus and Stewart Handte is now expected on March 28th in a local court.
The two men entered plea deals this week averting an anonymous trial which was due to begin January 22nd on charges related to the alleged kidnapping of Roger’s mother Susan Hillygus from a Reno care facility in 2019 amid a family guardianship dispute.
They were facing up to 10 years in prison but media reports indicate the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office is now agreeing to recommend probation instead.
Handte is a former state trooper, Mineral County Sheriff and Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Police Chief who was present when Hillygus took his mom away from the care facility. Hillygus was arrested in California after he was found there with his mom, who died two months later. Both men were angry at Hillygus relatives for allegedly trying to make money off of the elder Hillygus.
They have also both complained of detention conditions at the Washoe County jail on Parr Blvd.
INITIAL VERSION OF ARTICLE BELOW:
“I’m worried,” says Stewart Handte, who had a long career in law enforcement, as a state trooper, sheriff and most recently as police chief of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony until 2019, at which point the Wooster High and UNR grad started to work in lower paying jobs in construction and as an Amazon driver.
Handte currently faces felony charges along with his friend Roger Hillygus after Hillygus removed his mother from a Reno care facility in 2019.
“Defendant Handte had tried to use his influence as a former law enforcement officer to convince [RPD] command staff to make the nursing home release Mrs. Hillygus,” Washoe County Deputy District Attorney Amos Stege wrote in a recent court filing.
Handte said he was simply there to observe when Hillygus took his mom from the Alzheimer’s care facility. Several days later, Handte was arrested locally on suspicion of “playing a principal role” in her removal which authorities deemed a kidnapping. Hillygus was then located in Bellflower, California, and arrested after a standoff. His mother died two months later.
Following many complex twists and turns, an anonymous trial is now set to begin in Reno’s Second Judicial District Court on January 22nd.
This means those in the courtroom will not be able to identify jurors. Washoe County District Court Judge Barry Breslow says the defendants and their supporters, some of them in guardianship reform circles who have been extremely vocal about the case and sending emails to local officials, have the potential “to harm jurors.”
There have also been concerns expressed by county officials and in court over Handte visiting the FBI’s office in this matter, allegedly intimidating investigators, making statements in a gun store about the case, and alleging conspiracies on his own social media and in repeated interviews. During a court hearing last year, Stege argued that Handte should have a mental health evaluation.
"You just testified on direct examination that your social media posts had many insinuations related to threats, isn't that true?" Stege at one point asked Handte in court.
“Stop the corruption in Reno, Nevada!” Handte wrote as part of a caption on his own TikTok channel where he’s walking around explaining his views.
“I’m sure it’s because they don't want the truth to get out,” he said of the pushback he’s receiving. “I won't stop speaking about the truth until the public knows exactly what goes on, at least in this county,” he promised.
“I think it's a setup,” Handte said of the decision to have an anonymous trial instead of a normal one.
“Anonymous juries are only used in organized crime trials to keep the identity of the jurors secretive, because as we all know, organized crime tends to take care of people that go against them. Case in point was the shootout at the Nugget a few years ago, between the Hell's Angels and the Vagos. That trial was an anonymous jury. And sometimes they put a partition up so the jurors can hear what's taking place, but nobody can see each other because they're afraid that organized crime will come knock the door at three o'clock in the morning and take care of the jurors or the witnesses. It’s unheard of for a case like this,” he said based on his own experiences.
Handte says he has already been in jail for over 90 days including a week in Elko and over 80 days at Parr Blvd and winces at the possibility of prison.
“I was treated like garbage,” he claims, while alleging others weren’t receiving proper medical attention for different health issues at the Washoe County jail.
He took a quick break from his current job as a packer at a warehouse in south Reno to speak with Our Town Reno.
“I can talk about things, but I can't talk about the merits because this judge is waiting for me to slip up in any way, shape or form so he can put me back in jail,” he said. “And having been a cop for 30 years, jail and cops do not mix,” he explained.
He alleges guns were pointed at him when he was first arrested, which Our Town Reno couldn’t independently verify, and that he believes if he was open carrying that day he would have been shot.
After his initial detention, Handte was sent back behind bars for speaking publicly about the case and for going outside Washoe County without getting permission, he says to get cheaper gas and to help a friend who was suicidal.
“This has been an ongoing nightmare,” he told Our Town Reno. He’s been wearing a GPS tracking monitor since April 2022 and he isn’t allowed to go anywhere that’s “not of necessity,” he says, outside of church, getting groceries, gas and going to work.
Handte says his arrest and detentions caused him to lose another job he had previously and to lose his marriage, his house, personal property, pets as well as relationships with other family members and former friends.
After having several other attorneys, he is now being represented by Ian Silverberg out of the Public Defender’s Office. He repeated several times he’s extremely worried about the upcoming trial.
At the center of this particular case is a guardianship dispute, with Handte and Hillygus saying they were trying to save the elder Hillygus from other family members.
“This is all about money,” Handte says. “This is all about taking away people's assets and property. This is all about putting people in assisted care facilities, which my mother was in one for a brief time before she died. So I can speak from experience. They are disgusting. They treat patients and residents in there like a second day newspaper.”
Handte says he also has older history confronting local authorities, dating back to 2001 when he was already an 18-year veteran trooper based in Reno and president of the Nevada Highway Patrol Association.
A Nevada Appeal article from the time indicated he was placed under investigation and “on administrative leave in a move association officials described as a vendetta.”
The article indicated Handte “was told the Public Safety Department headed by Dick Kirkland was beginning an internal affairs investigation into his conduct. His badge, gun and patrol car were taken from him on Christmas Eve.”
The matter allegedly related to disclosing information about other troopers being looked into and other matters.
The animosity between Handte and Kirkland dated further back to when according to the Nevada Appeal “the association complained to the attorney general and governor about the director's abrasive management style.”
Kirkland, previously the Reno PD chief of police, retired from the Public Safety director job in 2003, which the Appeal called a “criticism-filled assignment” in its headline.
In 2003, the Appeal also reported on Handte and three former Nevada Highway Patrol troopers filing “a federal court suit charging the highway patrol, governor's office and former Public Safety Director Dick Kirkland harassed them and violated their civil rights.”
The action alleged Kirkland had a "hit list" including Handte he wanted to force out of the highway patrol.
Officials in the Washoe County District Attorney’s office have denied there is any retaliation going on in the current case.
“It’s a very broad allegation and I can only speak for my office and, frankly, that's ridiculous,” Chief Investigator Michelle Bays is quoted as saying in a detailed 2022 Union Square Times website article by Juliette Fairley, who has looked into this story several times.
“Our prosecutor was concerned about the tone of those postings and identifying certain people, claiming there was a big conspiracy, that this case and these charges were rooted in just very outlandish claims of either persecution or conspiracy and the times that we're in, unfortunately, there are people out there that have agendas or make threats against either public officials or government. We need to deal with that sometimes in our profession and that was a concern for us. So, our prosecutor made an argument related to that,” Bays is quoted as saying in the q and a portion of that article.