Week of Oct. 12, 2022

From the editor’s desk

Nevada entered the Union on Halloween in 1864, a fitting start to the Silver State’s long association with spooky happenings. We caught a glimpse of some of the state’s most haunted areas and spotlighted some of the area’s most popular ghost walks.

Speaking of traces of the departed, trekker Maggie Nichols takes readers on the trail to Lagomarsino Canyon east of Reno, where nearly every boulder is etched with ancient rock art, carved by Indigenous people thousands of years ago.

There are no specters in The Moors, a dark comedy on the boards at Reno’s Bruka Theatre. Jessica Santina reports that the isolation of the play’s characters devolves into hilarity rather than horror.

Music scribe Matt King profiles Last One Down, Reno’s loud and proud skate-punk band, which recently rocked the Holland Project, and he checks in with The Wrecks, a Los Angeles pop-rock outfit on tour promoting its new album. Matt’s Lucky 13 features a Q&A with Nate Drum, the drummer for Charity Kiss, a Reno rock band that creates “music from a garage.”

Dave Robert, our inquiring photo editor, devotes this month’s 15 Minutes column to quizzing Dave Mencarelli, who parlayed being a smart-ass kid into a career as a comedian. Mancarelli takes the stage at Reno’s Laugh Factory Oct. 13 to 15.

Reno political activist Robert Beadles, who is backing a slate of “America First” candidates in the coming election, penned a response to Abbi Whitaker’s recent guest opinion column in the RN&R. Unlike Whitaker, Beadles says the (baseless) allegations of election fraud aren’t a threat to our democracy, but the Democrats are.

As the holidays approach, guests will be toting wine to celebrations. Steve Noel, our resident wine guy, has some advice on avoiding vino vacillation and selecting more interesting varieties and vintages for gatherings and gifts.

Bob Grimm, meanwhile, reports that Hellraiser, now streaming on Hulu, is a masterful reboot of the ’80s horror classic.

And there are just three days left until the deadline for each eligible Nevadan to choose next year’s Medicare plan. We provide some guidelines for making that important health care choice.

I’ll see you in the funny papers.

Take care,

—Frank X. Mullen, Editor