‘The Fifth Season’
Up went Paradise, downed in disaster
Doused in water late and after
Last year Markleeville and Frenchman’s lake
Is this years Placerville and Auburn’s Fate
I thought we’d made it, survived the summer
Not a single burn until September
Our hottest month without reprieve
The Devil’s hand it did deceive
Although there ain’t a flame on me
I tear from nearby misery
Not that I’m a decent man
The ashen air invades my land
And as the Valley fills with smoke
Reno lungs will cough and choke
Nevertheless, with places west,
I pray they find a cool days rest
With places west, I wouldn’t trade
Although an ashtray we’ve been made
The big beige sheet is rolling in
Here to lurk and hang its chin
Like mustard gas it creeps along
Marching to a somber song…
Our fifth season, late this year,
And where the fuck’s that Smokey Bear!
Kellan Douglas, Reno
Re-elect school board incumbents
Every teacher I know as well as the Washoe County School Board members (RN&R, September 2022) with the exception of Jeff Church, have the best interest of our children at heart. They truly believe in education and go the extra mile to bring each child to his or her greatest potential. They give of themselves, their time, their money. I believe we have a great board as well as educated teachers who are dedicated helping students achieve. Those who are trying to radically change our educational system offer nothing of value or positive change. Some people simply like to create chaos & disruption. They are typically very negative people.
John Corbin, Reno
Reject ‘lords of chaos’
School boards steer the educations of our children so that they will become productive members of society and have some overall knowledge of basic subjects, including maths, language skills, civics and history. The (Washoe County) school board challengers (RN&R, September 2022), unlike the incumbents, are only concerned with furthering their own right-wing fantasies and adding gasoline to the already blazing culture wars. They are lords of chaos and shouldn’t be allowed to get anywhere near responsible positions in education or governing.
J. R. Reed, Reno
Docs need different ‘Best Of’ categories
Nice work on your “Best of Northern Nevada” categories (RN&R, September 2022). I do want to point out that in the “Best Family Physician” category, my good friend Dr. John Hess should be the winner. APRNs are not physicians and have very different educational pathways. As a board-certified family physician, it is critical that the public understand that APRNs are not the same as family physicians. Your poll makes us sound interchangeable.
Andy Pasternak, Reno
Support independent journalism
As a young, native Nevadan, I look to local, reliable news sources like the RN&R to keep me informed on the local political scene. I believe news outlets owned by big corporations bring their own agendas to our community and can’t be fully trusted when it comes to politics. Keep RN&R by the community, for the community. Keep it real, RN&R.
Jonathon McNeill, Reno
Vote to oppose GOP’s shenanigans
If we assume Judge Aileen Cannon’s assertion that some kind of executive privilege exists between presidents, the consequences are astonishingly bad. It means that a president can hide information from his successors up to and including all that top secret stuff Trump had stashed at his country club as well as, for example, those times that Trump wanted everyone out of the room while he chatted with Putin.
Any student of government would know that such a situation would make it impossible for our government to govern, and this is the danger of the republicans forcing their judges through the Senate based on nothing more than ideology while denying the democrats their judge selections. The deck is stacked. Welcome to democracy based on the will/shenanigans of the minority.
In the last set of elections where turnout broke all records, there was still only about 50% participation by eligible voters. Maybe things like this decision by Judge Aileen Cannon as an example of a republican-created corrupt judiciary, coupled with republicans making women second-class citizens should they get impregnated, coupled with republican refusing to do any meaningful gun regulation no matter how many kids get killed, coupled with all those republican “no” votes for infrastructure, compensation to vets for the burn pits, or anything that would “give the dems a win”, and the overall craziness of this new republican party will inspire folks to the point where we can get significantly closer to 100% voter turnout.
Michel Rottmann, Virginia City Highlands