Week of June 29, 2022

From the editor’s desk

Some drivers navigating the experimental bicycle lanes on Virginia and Fifth streets are reacting by spouting words they did not learn from their mothers. Ky Plaskon, who is at the helm of the Reno Bicycle Alliance, makes the case that both drivers and riders need to learn the new rules to make our streets safer for both motorized and human-powered vehicles.

The Nevada Sagebrush, the 128-year-old student newspaper at the University of Nevada, Reno, is now an online-only publication after the last newspaper printing press in Northern Nevada shut down. The newspaper, which boasts five Pulitzer Prize winners among its alumni, needs help to survive in cyberspace.

July starts on Friday—and that means it’s time for Artown, Reno’s month-long festival of all things arts and culture. We picked out a handful of highlights for you to consider adding to your schedule.

Kids ages 8 to 14 built and flew their own radio-controlled aircraft at an innovative summer camp at the Stead Airport. Aviatrix Janice Hoke reports the new program is a hands-on way to get youngsters interested in aviation.

Bob Grimm has been busy with three movie reviews this week. Bob reports that Austin Butler delivers an unforgettable performance as Elvis Presley, who is back in the building thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis”, a career-spanning, hyperactive biopic. The flick could have been a classic, says our reviewer, but (and here’s a phrase you don’t often hear), “it’s marred by a surprisingly strange performance from Tom Hanks,” as Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Bob gives high marks to Mike Judge’s animated adventure, “Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe.” After all these years, he writes, the two nincompoops remain hilarious. Bob also reports that “The Black Phone,” a horror movie based on a short story by Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son, is a bit hackneyed, but is elevated by Ethan Hawke’s fine performance.

Our Best of Northern Nevada edition is coming back. It’s the region’s largest, most comprehensive reader survey—your chance to vote for your favorite people, places and things in Northern Nevada. The first-round voting, happening now, is an open-ballot primary; readers write in and vote for whatever businesses, personalities, animals, minerals and abstract concepts they like. Voting for the first round began June 20 and ends July 10. Let your voice be heard! In the final round of voting, readers will select the winners from a small group of the first round’s top vote-getters. That final round happens July 18 through Aug. 8, with the winners announced in our September print issue. 

Meanwhile, keep an eye out for our July print edition, which hits newsstands, racks and venues all over Reno/Sparks/Carson City/Tahoe/Minden/Gardnerville starting on Friday. Or if you just can’t wait, feel free to click here to peruse our July edition online. We’re back, baby!

I’ll see you in the funny papers,

—Frank X. Mullen, Editor