Thirty years of the ‘RN&R’: And now, some words from our readers

For our 30th anniversary issue, readers shared some memories of what the RN&R has meant to them over its three decades—including a musician who was a longtime fan of Bruce Van Dyke, a writer for whom this paper was a launchpad, a local activist, and a woman whose brother was killed while in police custody.

For more memories and stories celebrating our Big 3-0, see “Thirty Years of the ‘RN&R’: Stories and memories from staffers and owners, current and former.”

A risk that paid off 

Giving prominent blather space to dear Bruce Van Dyke was a risky proposition with trouble written all over it, but it paid off in spades. It was the cherry on top of each issue. Thanks, RN&R. 

—Steve Funk, Reno 

Thanks for taking a chance on me 

Happy anniversary to the RN&R! Big thanks to a mighty little paper for giving me a chance as a young writer in the ’90s, in the R.V. Scheide era. This (former) Mormon girl made friends and a few enemies at the Mustang Ranch and the Moonlite BunnyRanch, tried out a bit of snark in print, and learned the early joys of remote work with a dial-up internet connection. I was lucky to profile writers and poets including Gary Snyder, Teresa Jordan and Gary Short, and to review new books that tapped into the stranger and/or saner aspects of the West.  

My time at the RN&R gave me the inspiration to pursue my own writing career in New York, and later, partly as a result of covering the first environmental humanities conference in Reno (with naked tree-huggers on the front page who might still own up to it today), to extend my work into this field later in life. I hope even my academic writing gets some added juice from my time at the paper.  

Keep up the great work, especially in these trying times! 

—Heidi Hart, Winston-Salem, N.C. 

Dennis Myers’ exposure of a legislator’s racist writings 

One of the most significant and dramatic impacts of the Reno News & Review on our entire state occurred when the publication ended Ira Hansen’s short run as speaker of the Assembly in the Nevada Legislature. 

In 2014, Republicans surprised everyone by winning the governor’s race, the Assembly and the Senate, taking full control of Nevada government for the first time since 1929. A few days after the election, the euphoric right wing of the Assembly Republicans elected two-term Sparks Assemblyman Ira Hansen over minority leader Pat Hickey, a moderate. 

Then-RN&R news editor Dennis Myers, whose friend Andrew Barbano had been writing for the Sparks Tribune for decades, recalled reading Tribune columns by Ira Hansen and decided to investigate them. Problem was, they weren’t available online and only existed on microfiche. So Dennis spent days at the University of Nevada, Reno, archives poring through Tribune newspapers by loading up thin sheets of film on a backlit view screen and reading 800 columns that Hansen wrote over a 13-year period. 

Dennis broke his blockbuster story in the Nov. 20 edition of the Reno News & Review, just days after Hansen’s election as speaker. He reported that Hansen had written dozens of derogatory pieces on women, gays, Blacks and other people of color, and that he kept a Confederate flag on his wall when he wrote his columns, saying: “I fly it proudly in honor and in memory of a great cause and my brave ancestors who fought for that cause.” 

Dennis unearthed dozens of other incendiary quotes like, “The relationship of Negroes and Democrats is truly a master-slave relationship, with the benevolent master knowing what’s best for his simple minded darkies. For American blacks, being denied choice and forced to attend the failing and inferior government school system is a form of involuntary servitude. Let’s call it what it truly is—educational slavery.” And: “Considering only about 2 percent of adult males are homosexuals, the numbers show why homosexuals have been historically regarded as such a threat. Male homosexuals are grossly disproportionate in child molestation cases, and the youth orientation of male homosexuality drives this trend.” 

Other stories soon appeared throughout the state, like Ray Hagar’s story in the Reno Gazette-Journal noting that no prominent Republican had called for Hansen’s ouster. 

One day after the RGJ story, Kyle Roerink’s story in the Las Vegas Sun quoted Gov. Brian Sandoval as saying Hansen’s comments were “abhorrent.” That same day, The Washington Post ran a story that brought Nevada’s public embarrassment to the national arena. In those pre-Trumpian days when Republicans tried to shed the bigot and racist mantle, more and more Nevada Republicans like Sen. Dean Heller denounced Hansen. All of them cited the Reno News & Review’s reporting. 

For the next week, I remember obsessing over additional print, TV and radio stories featuring the controversy, and the building crescendo of voices from both parties calling for his ouster. 

About 10 days after Dennis’ story was first published, Hansen’s resignation as speaker made national news, with the Reno News & Review receiving due credit for breaking the story. 

—Bob Fulkerson, Reno  

‘Fatal Encounters’ police shooting database was a desperately needed resource 

The Fatal Encounters database (a national database of police shootings started by then-RN&R editor Brian Burghart in 2012, when he realized no official entity kept such a list) has been a significant data contribution that has led to a better understanding of how many people have truly died during interactions with law enforcement in the United States from 2000-2022. 

My own brother, Thomas Purdy, was hog-tied by Reno police in 2015 during a mental health crisis at the Peppermill. He thought someone was trying to kill him. He asked security for help. They called the Reno Police Department, who arrested him for trespassing and hog-tied my unarmed, non-combative brother. He was dumped at Parr (the Washoe County Detention Facility) to be asphyxiated by four deputies while still hog-tied. He begged for medical attention, but sadly, there was no affirmative right to medical care during a police interaction. 

The FE database has been a source for me in finding and connecting with other impacted families. It also got me curious and thinking about data myself: How many veterans have died during interactions with police? With encouragement from Burghart, I’ve been collecting that data since May 2021.  

We hear about a few national stories of people killed during interactions with police, but the database gives a name to local victims like Micah Abbey, Jacob Lair, Kenny Stafford and the 67 victims listed for Washoe County in the database who simply become the police narrative of the evening news for one night and were then forgotten. 

—Annemarie Grant, Quincy, Mass.