Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.
There’s a theme in this week’s issue that emerged, as sometimes happens, by accident. The theme is this: here in the valley over the course of the last few years, we’ve seen an influx of newness—new people, new businesses, new money. In the face of all that newness, what do we do with the old things?
You can find that theme in arts editor Kris Vagner’s cover story about the Reno Arch. Many of us might roll our eyes when we think of the arch representing the city, but it remains a powerful symbol for the city—how we see ourselves, and how others see us. Kris’s story looks back at how that discussion has changed over the years.
In the news section, special projects editor Jeri Chadwell takes a look at a living, breathing symbol of our region: Nevada’s wild horses, and more specifically, the Virginia Range horses. They, like the arch, represent an old version of Northern Nevada. Many modern residents of our region might not have ever seen the best ever cinematic depiction of Northern Nevada, the 1961 movie The Misfits, let alone know that the title refers to wild horses.
I grew up in Virginia Foothills. I had to carefully avoid stepping in wild horse manure while walking home from elementary school. I remember listening to grownup neighbors complaining about how the horses raided their gardens. But it was a thrill anytime I saw them—running wild, nursing foals, getting up close enough to be fed. I never want to see the horses disappear.
And this week’s editorial is about local efforts to stop the seemingly imminent demolition of mid-century motels near downtown—destruction of the old to make way for … what?
Spring is finally here, so it’s a great time to talk about renewal and rejuvenation. But let’s also carefully consider what we want to keep.