Week of Feb. 15, 2023

From the editor’s desk

For this month’s Streetalk, photo editor Dave Robert asked folks if they would want to live in downtown Reno—and he got a host of negative responses. He asked many more people than the five quoted, but got similar answers. It turns out that many Renoites aren’t interested in paying high rents to live in what they perceive as a deteriorating, crime-ridden city center. Who could have predicted that?

Reporter Sam Cespedes interviewed Reno City Councilman Miguel Martinez, who was appointed to the panel last fall and vows to focus on educating the residents of Ward 3 about the city’s services and programs, while getting young people involved in Reno’s Youth City Council.

In eight years, four tiny neighborhood libraries in Reno have grown to more than 100 street-side library boxes across the Truckee Meadows. Janice Hoke tracks down some of the citizen-librarians and looks at the often clever and cute little libraries they created for kids and adults.

Outdoors columnist Maggie Nichols, meanwhile, takes readers on a trek through two Reno-area hiking trails. The paths through Galena Creek Regional Park offer solitude in the winter months, and, in warmer weather, they are more accessible and can lead to higher ground, with sweeping views of Reno and the surrounding valley.

Matt King visits the Holland Project to profile the grindcore trio Plain Oatmeal, a Reno band where “heavy punk collides with nonsensical and humorous lyrics, creating the funniest mosh pit you’ll ever be a part of.” King’s Lucky 13 feature puts a spotlight on Spike McGuire, founder of Loud As Folk and executive director of the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City.

In the world of wine, expect reds and whites to “go green” this year as vintners tout organically-grown grapes and more environmentally friendly packaging. Producers also will be fueling the latest (lamentable) trend toward wines with lower alcohol contents, Steve Noel says.

Movie/TV reviewer Bob Grimm streamed Netflix’s mockumentary series, Cunk on Earth, and still hasn’t stopped laughing. He writes that the five-episode series, which covers everything from Jesus to the Cold War, is “the funniest TV show I’ve seen in a long while.” Grimm was less impressed with Your Place or Mine, a lackluster rom-com about a couple separated by a continent—and a dull script.

I’ll see you in the funny papers.

Take care,

—Frank X. Mullen, Editor