Week of April 19, 2023
From the editor’s desk
Less than four months after getting horribly crushed under his own snowplow, actor Jeremy Renner is not only making an amazing recovery, but showing up in Reno for the premiere of his latest project, Rennervations, which includes a Reno-based episode. Bob Grimm is impressed (as are the rest of us). Our reviewer is less enthusiastic about Renfield, a flick which features Nicolas Cage as “one of the funniest, scariest and most eccentric Draculas in cinema history.” But Grimm says Cage’s performance isn’t enough to save the movie, which, he notes, kinda sucks.
Former President Jimmy Carter, who entered hospice care Feb. 18, developed deep and enduring friendships, philanthropic partnerships and artistic opportunities in the Silver State, Guy Clifton reports. I met the man from Plains in 1977, when he had been president for nine months and I had been a newspaperman for about 10 minutes. He poured me a beer. I like that in a chief executive.
Matt Bieker takes a look at the Reno Musicians’ Protective Union Local No. 368, which has been securing better pay, better working conditions and benefits for the city’s professional musicians since 1909. While the union is still fighting for local musicians, it’s facing a potential existential crisis—because younger musicians simply aren’t signing up.
Theater writer Jessica Santina, meanwhile, previews Seussical JR., presented by Carson City’s Wild Horse Children’s Theater from April 21-30 at the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall. The abridged, child-friendly version of the full-length Broadway musical, Seussical, she writes, captures all the magic of the original, “within a concise hour, so that children of all ages can easily sit through and be delighted by the show.”
Our 15 Minutes feature by Dave Robert profiles a founder of Soulful Seeds, a local nonprofit that focuses on decreasing food insecurity by growing food in urban gardens. The effort was started by Earstin Whitten and his wife, Dee Schafer-Whitten, in 2017, when they took over a 1,000-square-foot garden plot on the Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center campus. Soulful Seeds is now constructing a second garden on the Our Place campus.
These stories and more are featured in the RN&R’s April print issue, available now at newsstands across Northern Nevada.
I’ll see you in the funny papers.
Take care,
Frank X. Mullen
From the RN&R
Miracle man: Jeremy Renner’s Reno episode of ‘Rennervations’ shows off the community he loves
By Bob Grimm
April 17, 2023
The four-episode Disney+ show features Jeremy Renner retooling some old vehicles he’s bought for good causes—and in the Reno episode, his love of the community is evident.
Wasting Cage: ‘Renfield’ needed more Dracula, and less of everything else
By Bob Grimm
April 17, 2023
Nicolas Cage is, unquestionably, one of the funniest, scariest and most eccentric Draculas in cinema history. Too bad the movie around him is a complete drag.
Fun to be done: Wild Horse Children’s Theater brings Seussical JR. to Carson City
By Jessica Santina
April 16, 2023
Seussical JR. is an abridged, child-friendly version of the full-length Broadway musical that captures all the magic of the original, complete with its pop/gospel/R&B-infused score and a cast of favorite characters from Seuss’ books … all within in a concise hour.
15 Minutes: Earstin Whitten, co-founder of Soulful Seeds
By David Robert
April 15, 2023
Soulful Seeds is a local nonprofit that focuses on decreasing food insecurity in the community by growing food in urban gardens. We had a 15-minute chat with co-founder Earstin Whitten.
Editor’s note: The kind of president you’d like to have a beer with
By Frank X. Mullen
April 14, 2023
In 1977, as a reporter for his college newspaper, Frank X. Mullen had a beer with President Jimmy Carter.
Carter and Nevada: The president from Plains had a Reno connection
By Guy Clifton
April 14, 2023
Both Jack Bacon and Dan Ostrander—lifelong Republicans—have spent much of the past 30 years helping raise millions of dollars for the Carter Center, a foundation that works to ensure human rights, freedom and democracy, and improve health worldwide.
Power to the players: The Reno Musicians’ Union has operated for more than a century—but is facing an existential crisis
By Matt Bieker
April 13, 2023
The Reno Musicians’ Protective Union Local No. 368 has been securing better pay, better working conditions and benefits for the city’s professional musicians since 1909.
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