Put the brakes on Jiffy Lube
Readers of the RN&R may have heard about the recent Jiffy Lube controversy in the Hunter Lake area. Residents, including parents of schoolchildren, are fighting a plan by a developer to build a Jiffy Lube at the corner of Mayberry and Hunter Lake drives.
This is not a good idea. The proposed oil-change operation would create a serious safety hazard for local children, who range from primary students to high schoolers. It would be built at a key street crossing used by students of Hunter Lake Elementary, Swope Middle School and Reno High School. In fact, the Jiffy Lube would be located fully inside the Hunter Lake school zone. If allowed by the city, this in-and-out auto-service center would increase the risk of more traffic and threats to the safety of students and other pedestrians.
So far, more than 700 citizens have expressed their opposition to the plan via the Planning Commission website. Residents also spoke out at a packed meeting of the Ward 2 Neighborhood Advisory Board at Reno City Hall in mid-April, during which the developer did little to allay residents’ concerns. Parents, children and other residents later demonstrated at the site, carrying signs like, “Put the Brakes on Jiffy Lube,” “Stay Out of Our School Zone” and “Put Children’s Safety First,” as shown on various media outlets.
It is disappointing that residents were not welcomed by city planners to take part in the approval/denial process. A particularly egregious aspect is that the city’s neighborhood commercial regulations were loosened to favor developers only recently, in January 2025. How convenient for them—and how inconsiderate toward the neighborhood’s residents.
David Moore, Reno
What does Trump spend on vacations?
In reply to “Trump vibes are coming in hot in Nevada this week,” RN&R Editor’s Newsletter, April 10: What do we know about the cost of Trump’s golf trips, and how much money his family is raking in at Mar-a-Lago, since he won’t use Camp David? How much is his travel costing U.S. taxpayers while he continues to cut important programs and departments?
Shannon Windle, Reno
Trump is a market manipulator
A failed businessman responsible for six bankruptcies, Donald Trump has, nevertheless, proven to be an expert market manipulator.
Markets plunged 10% on April 3 and 4 in response to his steadfast resolve to raise tariffs. Then they jumped nearly the same amount April 8 and 9 as he delayed the tariffs for 90 days. How many of Trump’s associates, or even Trump himself, bought up stocks April 7, when they were low, and unloaded them later, to score a tidy, effortless profit?
While this reeks of insider trading and governmental corruption, some would shrug with, “The markets aren’t the economy.” But rapid policy fluctuations do more than manipulate the markets; they degrade our national economy. Our economic supremacy is built on trust, honesty and consistency, which gives investors’ confidence that their reasons for investing here will continue as anticipated. Trump’s manipulations create uncertainty, which lowers our status as a safe investment country.
Bruce Joffe, Via RenoNR.com