Welcome to the March RN&R!
My list of concerns at the moment is long. I’m worried about the thousands of federal workers fired in the name of “efficiency.” There is indeed inefficiency in the government, of course, and I’m all for it being addressed, but I fear the sudden, sweeping layoffs will result in expenses that are higher than these workers’ wages were. The reduction in our ability to prepare for and address wildfires alone, with fewer people staffing our national lands, could easily yield astronomical costs.
I’m just as worried about the extreme polarization we’re experiencing in American politics, culture and life. It’s timely that in this month’s news section, Jimmy Boegle mentions that, well after longtime Nevada politician Barbara Vucanovich retired, she spoke with Dennis Myers, then the RN&R’s news editor, about politics in D.C., saying: “There’s just no cooperation. Nobody wants to get anything done. But it’s sad because it’s more of a battle than it is representing people and governing properly. They’re not doing that.”
That way back in 2013, and her words rang loud and clear to me as I read them today.
I’ve said this before—so many times that I’m definitely in broken-record territory here—but it bears repeating. When the news makes my stress levels peak, there is one surefire thing that keeps me in check: the fact that so many people in our community consistently do amazing things to help make life here better for us all.
Beverly Harry and her grassroots group, River Justice, sometimes spend their Sundays picking up trash around the Truckee River. Steve Funk and the all-volunteer team at KNVC 95.1 FM work hard to keep broadcasting music, news and emergency information in Carson City. Nico Gourdon, a restauranteur originally from France, serves traditional small plates, sweets and wines at his Fifth Street wine bar, Belleville. Kudos to all of these hardworking locals!
You can read about them all, along with several more, in this issue.