Week of May 18, 2022

From the editor’s desk

Sometimes random objects sink in Lake Tahoe by accident, but some folks use the Big Water as a trash can. Volunteer scuba divers last week completed their year-long project, scouring of the depths of Tahoe’s near shore, surfacing with more than 12 tons of debris. The haul included old boat engines; a variety of hats, cans and plastic trash; “no-littering” signs; wallets; a couple gold rings; and enough deflated tennis balls to open a sporting goods store. (People throw them to their swimming dogs, who sometimes fail to fetch them.)

Reviewer Bob Grimm is excited that the “Kids in the Hall,” the comedy troupe whose sketch show given up for dead in the mid-1990s, has been resurrected on Amazon Prime. Grimm is happy to report that the Kids have lost none of their edge and have gotten a whole lot nastier. But he was disappointed by the remake of Stephen King’s “Firestarter,” which fizzles amid bad acting and worse dialogue.

Matt King profiles the band Primus, which also got its start in the ‘90s, and whose sound ranges across the genres of hard rock, funk, metal, long-form jams and psychedelic rock. Primus is scheduled to perform on June 18 at the Grand Theatre at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino.

Arts writer Kris Vagner delivers a good read with her interview of Jean LaMarr, an indigenous artist whose work is featured at the Nevada Museum of Art. LaMarr’s art tells stories of her family and her community—members of the Northern Paiute and Pit River tribes.

Photo editor David Robert, meanwhile, covered the return of University of Nevada, Reno graduates to the Quad for the first time since 2019. Emotions ran high as grads snagged their sheepskins; Robert captured those moments in his photo gallery.

I’ve waited two years to write this sentence: the Reno News & Review will be back in print—with news, arts coverage, opinion columns and everything—on Memorial Day weekend. It’s a bold, risky gamble. At a time when newspapers across the nation are dead or dying, we’re betting the community will support our 27-year-old publication, because independent local journalism is needed now more than ever. Internet, schmitternet! We’re coming back to racks. Pick up a copy; get a little ink on your fingers; and, if you’d like to keep us around, make a donation if you are in a position to do so.

We’ll see you in the funny papers. Take care,

Take care,

—Frank X. Mullen, Editor