Week of Jan. 24, 2024

From the editor’s desk

Following a December Washoe County Library Board meeting—during which right-wing allies who oppose LGBTQ+ programming attempted to remove library director Jeff Scott—tensions continued during the January meeting. 

More than 43,000 veterans receive a cancer diagnosis every year across the country, and a major contributing factor to this harrowing statistic is toxic exposure occurring at military bases. The Reno-Tahoe International Airport, partly operated by the military, is one location where these chemicals have been found in high concentrations. Guest comment writer Jonathan Sharp says a new piece of legislation could be a big help to sick veterans

In local food and beverage news, the Nevada Craft Beverage Passport is now available to help you plan your brewery and distillery tours; Brew Haha, Sierra Arts’ beer-tasting fundraiser, is slated for Feb. 2; and there’s a new French bistro in Truckee. Food scribe Maude Ballinger has more details and more news in Taste of the Town. 

Reno Little Theater is staging a good old-fashioned Agatha Christie-like, country-house whodunit, While the Lights Were Out, through Feb. 4. The script is jam-packed with enough plot twists that it can be hard to follow, but it’s also a fun roller coaster of intrigue. Here’s the full review from Jessica Santina.

The Las Vegas performance art group TSTMRKT makes its Reno debut at Good Luck Macbeth Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 3. Lead performer Ernest Hemmings talked with photo editor David Robert about how the group was founded on an “urgent need to push the boundary that separated sketch comedy from legitimate theater and fine art.”

Film director Jake Johnson’s debut Self Reliance has funny moments that suggest some real filmmaking potential, but “too many scenes feel like the actors were simply instructed to stretch things out.” Bob Grimm has more details in his review. On a happier note: “Bold narrative choices with powerful across-the-board acting … provide a love story that is unlike anything I’ve seen before,” wrote Grimm, of the touching, haunting film All of Us Strangers.

Take care,

—Kris Vagner, managing editor