City of Reno Meeting Public Comment Targeting Grant Denton Previously Missing Now on YouTube

After an email by attorney Hawah Ahmad to Reno City Attorney Karl Hall expressing concern a public comment by Troy Regas was missing from the most recent Reno City Council meeting video on YouTube, due to technical difficulties, a new version was uploaded which does now include it.

“I am hoping that this is just an Open Meeting Law violation and not an attempt by the City of Reno to set aside and invalidate Mr. Regas' comment regarding Mr. Denton and the ridiculous proposed business license changes,” Ahmad had previously written. 

In his comments (at the one hour mark above), Regas brought up Grant Denton who was recently selected as the Reno News and Review  activist of the year, and nine women now identified as Jane Does making misconduct allegations against him. Our Town Reno has previously reported on some of this alleged misconduct, which the founder of the Karma Box Project denies.

As part of his comments, Regas mentioned an office Denton was paying just $200 a month to use, specifically Suite 1401 on the 14th floor of City Hall at 1 East First Street.

We obtained a temporary use license agreement (above) made on September 23rd 2020 between the City of Reno and the Karma Box Project for $200, starting in October 2020 until September 2021.

We asked about this to the City of Reno, whether it was unusual at such a low price, and how long Karma Box used the space.
“The agreement was not renewed,” a communications employee wrote back.  “Coming out of the pandemic, as staff numbers grew, the City stopped renewing space use agreements at City Hall in an effort to reclaim space for increased staffing needs.”

Regas asked for an investigation of Denton, who is now contracted by Washoe County to run its safe camp program at the Cares Campus. “Apparently no one on this dais remembers the #metoo movement or even the debacle with the City Manager a few years ago,” he said. 

Former City Manager Andrew Clinger, who now has a top job at UNR as Vice President for Administration and Finance, was terminated in 2016 with a $228,000 severance package, while maintaining his innocence. A city-funded investigation did not find evidence to substantiate sexual harassment allegations against him but did back claims a hostile work environment existed.  

After Regas spoke, Mayor Hillary Schieve responded to the complaints about the proposed, updated new business codes, drafted by an external party, which she agrees need to be entirely redone, but did not address the comments about Denton or Clinger. 

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Employees at a Reno Roberto's Suspected in Fencing Operation

Three employees from Roberto’s in Reno were still listed in detention at the Parr Blvd. county jail Thursday evening after being arrested on Wednesday August 28th, facing multiple charges related to a suspected fencing operation with collaborators in Mexico.

A fence is a term used to describe an individual who knowingly buys and then resells stolen goods for a profit.

Sparks police said they executed a search warrant at the 4455 S. Virginia Street location of the taco restaurant and at a residence on the 2800 block of North Escondido Court this week, recovering thousands of dollars worth of stolen items.

The operation was a joint effort by the Regional Crime Suppression Unit, with detectives from Sparks PD, Reno PD and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. It also involved loss prevention personnel from several local big box stores, such as JC Penney and Home Depot.

Roberto's which started in California and is headquartered in Las Vegas, with two other locations in northern Nevada, had no immediate comment for media.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

NV Energy Faces Renewed Reno Protest Against Proposed Base Rate Hike

Residents, protesters and environmental activists are keeping up the pressure against NV Energy’s planned base rate hike from $16.50 to $45.30.

More comments concerning this looming controversial increase were made at a Washoe County Public Utilities Commission of Nevada consumer session on Wednesday.

There was even a rally outside, which included the group Faith in Action Nevada.

Similar sessions are being held in Elko and Clark counties.

Environmentalists say it could be a disincentive for locals to conserve energy use, or to look into rooftop solar options, while also impacting less affluent ratepayers who use very little energy.

NV Energy says it wouldn’t increase average monthly customer bills, but many people have said they pay less than $45 per month.

"The general rate case proposal being heard by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada would not increase average customer bills but will provide more predictable bills for customers and reduce the bill volatility that customers experience during periods of extreme weather,” NV Energy indicated in a statement.

Despite the protests, it’s expected to get approved next month, with the base increase starting as early as October.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

How Loud is Too Loud Late at Night in Downtown Reno?

If ever it's late in the future, should we be dancing quietly in downtown Reno?

While there has been uproar from the business community and even members of the Reno City Council over newly worked on updated business codes, there is renewed concern now about an effort which might be discussed tomorrow to create a new downtown Reno noise ordinance.

A mini packet for agenda item D3 has a category which is titled “Creation of a downtown noise ordinance” including noise from “crowds, bars, nightclubs, outdoor concerts, stereos, vehicles/motorcycles, and generally intoxicated individuals.”

Another box indicates staff is “seeking direction from Council if they would like to move forward with a noise ordinance specific to downtown Reno. This would need to be formally initiated at a future Council meeting and processed as a separate text amendment.”

Business owners, already disappointed with Title 18 passed during the pandemic, which basically prevents loud music after 11 p.m., now fear this new specific noise ordinance.

Several bar owners reached out to Our Town Reno saying it could stifle the vibrancy of downtown, Midtown and Fourth Street, including noise levels from their patio areas later into the night.

Several downtown residents have been complaining of different venues being too loud, including the Jacobs Entertainment Glow Plaza which has become a new venue for outdoor concerts.

File photo by Kia Rastar with Our Town Reno reporting in August 2024

Local Mom With CPS Case Faces October Deadline and Fear of Losing All Her Children

"The system here has failed myself and my babies here in Reno," Treshell Hill, 35, says. "My children are everything and mean the world to me."

It was the pandemic, and Hill, a single mom of four, who was pregnant, decided to quit her job to take care of her kids at home.

She had come to Reno a few years before from Oakland, in 2015, seeking a better life. After having her first kid as a young teenager, her second son's father was murdered when she was six months pregnant.

But then after becoming a victim of domestic abuse in 2021, here in northern Nevada, all the wheels began to fall off for her plans of getting her life onto better tracks.

Domestic violence shelters didn't have room for her family, she says, and then after Child Protective Services opened a case concerning her family, her kids were quickly taken away. Even her youngest, a baby, was removed.

"My youngest son was only six months old. I was breastfeeding. They stopped all of that," she says.

She regained custody for a while, but then lost all her kids again, as her CPS case remained open, and she kept having her life derailed.

"In 2023, I was staying with some friends and a week before I moved into an apartment my boyfriend had in his name, they came and took my kids a week before I moved in," she remembers.

Now, she's trying to get them back into her custody after more starts and stops with CPS to do so, and many more curveballs in her life.

Currently, she meets with her kids once a week at the CPS Family Center (such as in photo above), and is resolute in getting them back full time.

There's also a possibility some of them might be placed to live with her mother in California, but she wants them with herself here in Reno, all together again.

Hill has had jobs and apartments along the way, but hasn't been able to keep these. She's had help such as bus passes and also eviction protection, but not for what she wants the most: to be permanently reunited with her kids who are now 18, 12, nine, seven and three.

The youngest is now with his father, while the others are in foster families, where Hill says their behavior keeps deteriorating.

Her oldest, she says, hasn't been able to finish high school while her daughter cried during her recent birthday because it wasn't spent with her mom and siblings.

Her GoFundMe can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-treshell-hill-reunite-with-her-children

Hill had tried to take the family for a celebration to Coconut Bowl but was told by CPS staff it was too expensive, even though her boyfriend had offered to pay.

"Usually all I do is do my son's hair because I don't have much time with them. So I talk with them, see how it's going," she said of the weekly family meetup.

Outings are possible during her allotted time but only with approval from CPS, she says.

"I also want to spread awareness to this and start my own foundation for women experiencing domestic violence. We should never be re-victimized ever," she says explaining why she reached out to Our Town Reno for this feature article.

Hill also has a GoFundMe for money to start anew when she hopes she'll be reunited with her children. She recently started a new job and is saving up to get her own place, currently making do with a motel room turned into an Airbnb. Previously she stayed at a Motel 6 which she says cost over $2,000 a month.

She's lost everything she kept in storage, including cherished family mementoes, as finances were tight and she couldn’t pay her fees during the period she was jobless.

She has a job again now as a leasing agent, and some stability but now she says she's under threat of having all her parental rights terminated by October.

As studies terribly confirm in such cases, she feels the odds are against her because her family is Black.

"That's what I've been trying to get people to understand," she told Our Town Reno during our interview. "I've really been dealing with this since I was a domestic violence victim. I wasn't a neglectful parent. I'm trying to get into a career path. I don't plan on going to school or anything, but I'm just trying to get my kids back. That's it. And it's like I keep going in the same circles over and over."

CPS doesn't discuss particular cases but in previous interviews with Our Town Reno their leadership indicated their staff does everything it can to get kids reunited with a non-offending parent after cases of domestic violence.

Hill admits she has had setbacks along the way, including drug use when she was stressed, and several legal issues, but that she's fighting charges against her and on the rebound, ready to be a good mother again.

"This has been the most traumatizing experience ever that I've been in," she concluded. She's trying to find a lawyer to help her, but hasn't found one she can afford. "I am almost at my wits end, but I will never give up,” she promised.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Jonathan Lambson, Helping Create Recovery Friendly Local Work Environments

“One of my favorite new participants is Sky Fiber Internet,” Jonathan Lambson, the recovery friendly ambassador at the Foundation for Recovery non profit, says of his growing list of local employers participating in a program to assist employees with current or past addiction and mental health issues.  

“Sky Fiber [is] so fully supportive of their workforce. It's fantastic. They say, ‘we don't care where you come from, we just keep going, you know, we want to help people be able to turn upside down on the helicopter and fix a cell phone tower in a snowstorm.’ That is awesome, crazy stuff. But they really genuinely want to help people succeed regardless of their histories.”

On his LinkedIn, his favorite platform, Lambson recently posted about delivering an ASK box, an acronym for anonymous support kit, to the Desert Research Institute, another recovery friendly workplace.  He noticed these had been placed throughout their campus, in little magnetic medicine cabinets next to first aid kits. 

“And that's exactly what it is, isn't it? First aid to prevent opiate overdose death, accidental fentanyl exposure, and provide a means for someone to destroy drugs/substances they come across or no longer want/need,” he wrote.

“I’m sure many lives have been saved and harm prevented from having these supplies so readily available, and the culture that encourages this wellness mindfulness is just one of the things that makes Desert Research Institute a valuable recovery friendly workplace participant.”

The network of businesses completing and taking part in the program, which includes training and receiving an official governor’s office certificate and designation, is nearing 100 statewide.

“We have a designation ceremony where we take pictures. We provide overdose prevention kits so that all of their employees can respond to overdoses. We provide decals and posters,” Lambson explains as to some of the assistance his non profit provides to create work environments helping with the mental and physical well-being of employees.

It’s also a way for people in recovery to know a participating employer will be supportive of their healing journey, whether it be overcoming substance abuse or alcoholism, depression, anxiety, past trauma and PTSD. 

The companies then become a destination of choice for government agencies or programs trying to place recovery graduates.  

“There's more people coming to understand what recovery is, which is great because for the longest time it's the word recovery that has been stigmatized,” Lambson says. “You hear the word recovery and automatically the assumption is, well, I can't hire people who are on drugs and we have to correct them... And then by the end of the conversation, they realize they themselves are a person in recovery because perhaps they suffered from depression and anxiety and now they don't. So that is recovery. And so a definition of recovery is just the process of change where people find health and wellness and strive to … reach their full potential.”

Having employers and colleagues constantly mindful of individual recovery journeys is key Lambson indicates, from the day to day grind to workplace celebrations or gatherings.  

The energetic 41-year-old who grew up in Northern California and moved to Reno in April 2021 openly lists on his LinkedIn all the challenges he’s been through himself, including childhood trauma, abuse, the suicide of loved ones, binge drinking and mental illness

“I had relatives who died by suicide and overdose. I have many family members who suffer from various mental health conditions. I was always told never to talk about it. And that never made sense to me because to me I felt better when I was able to talk about it, and realized that I wasn't alone.”

He quit binge drinking in his late 20s he says after getting in trouble at work and embarrassing himself in front of family.  

“So now there's an organization like this that allows a mechanism and encourages employees to speak up and get some help. I think about all the times I could have gotten some help before I damaged my body. And man, I wish this existed back then,” he says.

“There are some people like myself who cannot drink alcohol because I know myself,” he explained during our interview. “There are some people who can have a drink or two and then put the brakes on and that's fine. There are some people who use marijuana and they use it as a way to recover from opiate addiction. And so for them, that looks like recovery. Maybe it doesn't look like recovery for me, but it does for them because opiates were going to kill them. And so each and every person has to find what works for them.”

Participating companies range in size and industry type, with even construction companies joining the network.  

“The requirement is that they have W-2 employees, right, that they have things in place in the workplace that encourage recovery and they're willing to talk about it,” he said.   

“I think we need to have these conversations,” Lambson concluded. “The more conversations, the better. The more this is normalized, the more we can catch the folks falling through the cracks. There's so many folks that think we can't talk about this, that this is a private issue, that this is a personal issue. You have this human being who is suffering regardless of whether you have the conversations or not.  So literally having a conversation can save a life. There's so many people out there that can be emboldened by having these conversations. So I would just encourage folks, even if you don't work with us, to just have these conversations.”  

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

New Library Trustee Seeks More Outreach to Latino Communities

Marie Rodriguez, a community service officer for the City of Reno, has been selected to be a new Library Board of Trustee amid culture wars over what’s on offer at our local libraries.

She was voted in from a large pool of applicants by Commissioners Alexis Hill, Mariluz Garcia and Mike Clark.

Following lots of comings and goings, the library board is now full, with Ann Silver as chair, Tami Ruf as vice chair and Lea Moser and Gianna Jacks acting as trustees on the board.

A published author who supports literacy and diversity efforts, Rodriguez grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, and previously worked as a customer service manager for American Airlines and as a truck driver.

She’s also a chair of the Reno Arts and Culture Commission as well as a member of the Ward 3 NAB.

In comments before the vote, she made in both Spanish and English, she stressed the importance of reaching out to the region’s large Latino communities.

In a recent LinkedIn comment, below a photograph with Doug Emhoff, she wrote: “My hours of volunteering in the community and serving on boards has only made me love this Biggest Little city more. It's put me in touch with so many wonderful people in the community. When I attended my first city council meeting that set me on this path, I never imagined that, along the way, I'd meet Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. What an honor! He was so gracious and kind.”

Another recently appointed Trustee Gianna Jacks has called for Library Director Jeff Scott to be fired, joining vocal community members who are active at board meetings and on social media in wanting our local libraries to be run differently.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Neighbors with Lived Experience Seek to Help County Shape Homelessness Services

After several hours of public comment Tuesday, amid a long Board of County Commissioners meeting, a group founded last year, the Lived Experience Advisory Board, made a presentation about how it’s trying to help improve local homeless services.

“People closest to the problem are closest to the solution,” Echo Gill, one of the two members present, said. She says she used to mother everyone when she stayed at shelters, so she felt it was a natural progression for her to take on this type of helpful role now.

LEAB which was founded by the Nevada Homeless Alliance with funding from HUD has started doing surveys including in the domestic violence support realm, interviewing leaders of different local agencies, frontline staff and clients, before making recommendations for improvements. 

”Sometimes I felt like we were unheard. You feel like maybe you’re just a little bit below them, and maybe your needs aren’t being met,” said Lawrence Dodson, the other team member present, concerning challenges faced by the unhoused when trying to get back on track.

Dodson said he bounced around shelters and in and out of homelessness for a decade.

The organization is currently working on an updated resources flyer and helping train UNR students looking to work in the homelessness services sector.  

LEAB’s overall goal is to give recommendations on how to improve homeless services in northern Nevada, and how people experiencing homelessness are treated. 

“I hope you continue to work with the county,” Commissioner Clara Andriola said at the conclusion of their presentation.  “Those that have lived experiences I think really make a huge impact.” 

For many years, local advocates have asked for people who are unhoused or have survived homelessness to have more of a role in shaping ways to help, including on the Community Homelessness Advisory Board.  

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Conservation Groups Infuriated by Senator Cortez Masto Pushing Bill to Ease Mine Waste Dumping

While a local Reno Thacker Pass protest sign slowly frays, Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto has been working on undoing a court decision that restricted mining companies’ use of federal lands for dumping and other non mining usage.

The Energy Permitting Reform Act would reverse the so-called Rosemont decision which in 2022 ruled for a strict interpretation of the 150-year-old General Mining Law, restricting mining companies from using federal lands without valuable mineral deposits for mining related purposes, such as waste rock disposal or running power lines.

This affected the Thacker Pass project, when a district judge citing Rosemont determined federal law had been violated over an approval to bury 1,300 acres of nonmineral public land under waste rock.  

Former progressive presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was one of the few to vote down the mining reform legislation when it moved out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee late last month.

“If we want to continue to lead the world in clean energy development, we need to make federal permitting processes more efficient,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.

The Thacker Pass lithium mine has been advertised by the Biden administration as a key resource to build up cleaner energy, while more and more environmentalists warn against this type of greenwashing rhetoric, saying lithium mines pose their own set of environmental problems.

Protests against the mine’s location and development have also focused on its placement on sacred Indigenous land. 

In a pinned tweet the Great Basin Resource Watch organization wrote “dirty mining does not equal clean energy.” 

In a tweet from August 9th, WildLands Defense wrote: “So the Democrats, Catherine Cortez-Masto at the helm, are going to ram the Mining Law of 1871 through. Innocuously calling it permit revision. She would never set foot at Thacker Pass despite tribal & enviro pleas to see the site.”

In a comment to that tweet Basin and Range Watch added : “She is a sell out to industry.”

In a letter prior to the vote, several hundred groups including Great Basin Resource Watch called the bill a “wishlist for the most toxic industry in America, the mining industry… It also allows companies to file an unlimited number of mill site claims that will be used for dumping their waste or building roads and pipelines on public lands.”

If instead, the old law were to keep being upheld, non mining sites for mining related activities would be confined to just five acres, making it much costlier for mining groups to operate.

At this point, the advancing bill would also shorten the statute of limitations on lawsuits against mining projects to just 150 days.

The bill does face hurdles, in an election year, with 60 votes needed in Senate to avoid a filibuster, and one of its main backers, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin set to retire at the end of the year.  

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Our Nevada Judges Fights Against Total Secrecy of Reno-based Murdoch Trust Case

The non profit Our Nevada Judges is seeking to remove the total secrecy surrounding a family trust court dispute for the future of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire scheduled to proceed in the Washoe County Second Judicial Court in September, saying that’s illegal.

A suit the non profit has on its website and filed August 16th requests that the court “bring the case file into compliance with SRCR 3(5)(c) so that the public and press can independently monitor it.”

It indicates SRCR 3(5)(c) states that “Under no circumstances shall the court seal an entire court file.”

“Our Nevada Judges has filed a request to deploy high-definition cameras and this request has been submitted and is pending,” the lawsuit goes on.  

“ONJ can only assume that the extensive seal imposed in this case directed the clerk to refuse to disclose not only the hearing dates and times, but also the existence of the case entirely, and the names of counsel of record and the parties, as none of this information is publicly available for this case. If so, the sealing order unconstitutionally interferes with press access to the courtroom and violates SRCR 3(5)(c).”

Court records identify Murdoch as Doe with an evidentiary hearing scheduled on September 20th at 9 A.M. with Probate Commissioner Edmund Gorman overseeing the case.  

The lawsuit was first reported on locally by This is Reno. The attorney filing for Our Nevada Judges, Luke Busby, represents This Is Reno in public records litigation.

On a social media post Our Nevada Judges had a screenshot quoting Court Administrator Alicia Lerud indicating :  “Any public information related to this matter can now be located at https://www.washoecourts.com/AttendingCourt/NotableCase. At this time, any information not provided on this page is sealed pursuant to court order.”

As reported in the New York Times in July, the 93-year-old media mogul abruptly changed the terms of the family trust to guarantee his conservative ally and eldest son Lachlan would remain in charge of his media empire, pitting him against three siblings in the dispute. 

According to the Times, the three others who are more politically moderate than Lachlan and their father, are being represented by Gary A. Bornstein. The elder Murdoch is being represented by Adam Streisand, a trial lawyer who has been involved in estate disputes involving Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. 

Murdoch owns Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and major conservative newspapers and television networks in Britain and Australia.

The New York Times reported “Nevada is a popular state for dynastic family trusts because of its favorable probate laws and privacy protections.”

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Reno City Council Moves Forward with Easing Anti Tracks Trespassing

The Reno City Council has approved the first reading of a new ordinance to make enforcement of trespassing near railroad tracks easier, removing a requirement for “No Trespassing” signs or fencing along the tracks.

“Let’s keep in mind that people are sleeping with their heads right next to railroad tracks,” police chief Kathryn Nance told the city’s council on Wednesday. “People are going to get hurt if we are not proactively stopping this.”

It’s not known how often this has happened locally, even though many unhoused do congregate by railroad tracks, seeking shade or being left alone, when they aren’t forced to leave from those areas.  

Many in favor of this new ordinance have called it “a new tool in the toolbox,” which led to dismay from an advocate for the unhoused Ilya Arbatman, who said during public comment he associates tools with building homes. Arbatman has called this new ordinance unnecessary, seeing it as one more tool to possibly criminalize the unhoused, and making it harder for them to get out of difficult situations, rather than helping them.

Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus was a lone no vote saying helping the unhoused is a “real complex problem,” with more focus needed on subsidized housing.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Washoe County School District Considers More Student Cell Phone Limitations

After the Carson City School District said it would start locking middle and high school student cell phones and smart devices in secure locked pouches effective August 19th, the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees discussed the possibility this week for its own students.

No action was taken, but some kind of new phone limitation Washoe County district wide pilot program is being considered to begin after winter break.  

"We have to start looking at all of these opportunities that are inadvertently pulling us away from our goal, which is educating kids and preparing them for the real world," Board President Beth Smith said.

Some parents in opposition have expressed concern about reaching their kids in case of an emergency.  

WCSD has an existing regulation stating phones and personal electronic devices need to be turned off unless they’re being used for instructional purposes, such as signing onto certain learning apps.  Students though have been using their phones on school grounds during school time for cyberbullying, spreading misinformation and recording fights, which also all happen outside of school.

Since the WCSD is coming at this later than other districts in the state and country, it’s had the time to study other stronger bans, with potential liability when a phone is damaged or lost while stored away, the cost of buying phone pouches, and students having multiple phones or smartwatches and earbuds to access technology. 

Some schools such as Reno High already have a bolstered cell phone policy, which in that high school’s case also prevents use of cell phones, earbuds or smart devices in hallways and bathrooms during instructional time, as that’s been a common way for students to evade any teacher restrictions during class time.  

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

In Rare Split, City Council Goes Against Staff Recommendation on Plans at Former Shelter Compound

In a rare split from a staff recommendation and from usual allies, Mayor Hillary Schieve and council woman Naomi Duerr joined Jenny Brekhus and Meghan Ebert in voting to sell the former Record street shelter compound to the Ulysses Development Group, which offered a higher offer than other bids and an all affordable housing concept.

Other council members usually in the majority, all initially selected rather than voted in, Devon Reese, Miguel Martinez and Kathleen Taylor, voted for the city’s recommendation for another housing project with Baxter Construction, with much less affordable housing and a lower offer.  

In the Ulysses proposal, all units would be restricted to residents earning 60% or less of the area median income, compared to just 10% of the units with the Baxter plan.

Affordable housing advocates called it a victory, even though many in that camp initially wanted the gone to disrepair compound to still serve unhoused neighbors in the community.

Brekhus said she didn’t understand why ideas floated by County Commissioner Mike Clark for the compound to be used for social services weren’t taken more seriously, and why a County spokeswoman Candee Ramos wrote in an email to Clark that “the City of Reno has made it clear that they aren’t interested in selling it to the County to house people experiencing homelessness. They have a different vision for that neighborhood. So, while this is a great suggestion, unfortunately it is not feasible.”

Brekhus wondered where Ramos got that idea, but got no response at Wednesday’s meeting.

We wrote Ramos and her colleague Bethany Drysdale about that email but did not hear back. 

In its press release following the sometimes contentious and drawn out agenda item the City of Reno said it “is moving forward with plans to sell two city-owned properties east of Downtown Reno. The former Community Assistance Center, located at 315 and 335 Record Street could be sold to Ulysses Development Group after Wednesday’s vote.

Council voted to move forward with the Ulysses Development Group proposal to build 136 units of affordable housing and directed staff to enter into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement to negotiate the financing structure, affordability length, and development milestones and timelines.    

In June, the City released a Request for Proposals designed to give all who may be interested and qualified an opportunity to suggest an economic development program or project that are both physically and financially feasible while meeting the City’s goals.  “  

Two other rejected proposals were for non-profit office space and for repurposed shipping containers to be placed at the downtown location near the main bus stop as micro-business units. 

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

As Reno Housing Authority Tenants Move on from Doomed Apartments, Frustration Remains Over Relocation Process

While for some, a long and complicated ordeal to relocate from the Housing Authority's soon to be gone Hawk View Apartments is winding down with a somewhat satisfactory outcome, for others it's still an uncertain process or a deeply disappointing one.

The 100 apartments here are being destroyed to be rebuilt safer with double the capacity as part of a public/private agreement between a hidden partner and the Reno Housing Authority. Many of the former tenants we interviewed will miss its community spirit and cozy environment, with a colorful mural outside, a picinic area, a small community garden and playground.

Early this week, a staff point person for the contracted Housing to Home relocation company told Our Town Reno eight tenants still needed to finalize getting new apartments in different parts of northern Nevada.

Among them is William, who couldn't figure out some of the required computer logistics for his paperwork, which delayed his relocation process.

"Last Friday, some stuff happened with the lease, so I couldn't sign the lease, so I couldn't get the keys," he explained.

He didn't put his 11-year-old kid in school for his first day back amid the uncertainty of where he would end up going.

William had a job here as a groundskeeper, getting paid $200 per month, which he's lost now. He's also afraid at how much he'll have to pay himself with his voucher at the Marina Village where he's being relocated, where rents are much more expensive.

Christina, a single mom of four including a special needs child, who was unhoused prior to living here, received a notice she would be required to move by Friday "due to construction plans in your current apartment."

She was provided with a public housing transfer to Essex Manor, which she initially wanted to avoid since it's far out in the North Valleys.

Due to credit issues, she was denied qualifying for the Marina Village or another location.

Christina also needs to register her kids to go to a new school. She will miss her neighbors who were friendly to her. "As a single parent, I should have got something close to here, like anything," she said.

On the bright side, she's been told her rent will be dropped to zero and "the electricity allotment is a lot higher, $175 compared to the $50 that I was getting here. Just trying to look at it from the positive light. But you know, I don't want to be all the way out there," she said.

Christina says she's still on the Housing Authority's list for a three-bedroom voucher, "so whenever my name pops up, God willing, I'll be ready."

Judith Williams, who helped Christina and others as they navigated the drawn out relocation process, just passed her inspection on her Hawk View unit.

There will be at least another step for her to get her security deposit money back as she's just been told she needed to bring the lease of the new apartment where she was relocated, the adjoining Springview by Vintage apartments.

Adding her mom to come live with her helped, due to her good credit, a requirement tenants weren't expecting would factor in so much for the relocation.

"We all were told that our credit wouldn't be a problem," Williams says. "I don't have the greatest credit, obviously, you know, or else I wouldn't be in public housing."

Her only complaint so far is being higher up, having to go up and down three stories.

Another tenant who also moved to Springview, Trista, a single mom of two, was still trying to figure out what the portion of her new rent is. "How is my portion of the rent still supposed to be $496 when it's just me and my 2 girls and I have no source of income right now and we are supposed to be getting something that's similar to what we had at hawk view?" she asked in an email, fearing she would have to move again. At Hawk View, her portion of the rent was just $27.

Trista previously went through the local Step2 Recovery program and recently got a car to be more mobile for job opportunities.

Ashley, who was unhoused in her thirties, is angry at where she was relocated, the Reno Vista apartments, both in terms of the higher costs she'll have to pay as well and inferior living conditions. She's back here to talk to others about their own relocation experiences.

"It's a pretty shitty apartment, to be honest with you," she says of the apartment where she was relocated. "It's got cockroaches, which we don't have here."

She arrived at Hawk View four years ago, thrilled at the opportunity to live here. Now, she's despondent.

Her portion of rent she says has gone up from a base of $21 to $356 with added fees for utilities, water, trash, sewer, washer and dryer and insurance. Her son who lives with her is working part-time at the Boys and Girls Club, but she feels that's not enough to cover what they will need to pay.

"As of right now. I don't have any plans," she says. Like others, she feels the Reno Housing Authority and the relocation company promised an easy, seamless process, where tenants would be satisfied with their new housing.

"I did everything on my own. I had to go through the application process. I had to pay for that. I had to go through their credit checks and everything else," she explains.

Ashley, who was homeless for two years, and suffers from schizoaffective disorder, initially went through a Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health program before getting a place in Sparks and then into subsidized housing. She now regrets having gone in the direction of using a housing voucher during this relocation process.

"This is public housing. You would assume that public housing would be a lot worse to live in than you would an apartment like that. But no, that's not the case, I miss this place. I miss my home. This place is like a community."

She says she believes a few units on shifting clay soil could have been fixed, rather than demolishing the entire complex which was built in the early 1980s.

"I'm just kind of worried after hearing what these guys were saying about, like, extra costs and stuff," William said of his looming move after Ashley was interviewed.

The last days at the Hawk View apartments have been difficult, with people trying to break in to the laundry and dryer area recently to steal money, electricity and gas being cut in different sections, and unhoused people camping within the compound.

Reno Housing Authority says the new housing here will be rebuilt better and with double the size of units. Tenants who used to live here, like Ashley, say they fear other comfortable public housing units will also be demolished as part of growing public private partnerships to house those most in need in our community, creating difficult transitions and imperiling those who had recently gotten out of homelessness like herself.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Evacuees Thankful to Get Relief at Northwest Reno Library

Our summer photographer Kia Rastar went by the Northwest Reno Library earlier this week at 2325 Robb Dr. where he took portraits of fire evacuees there as well as residents facing power outages and Red Cross staff helping with the process.

Evacuations have now been lifted and residents can return to the Verdi area. Last night, NV Energy said it had restored power to 4,500 customers, with only 1,800 still without power.

“I was living at a motel when the fire started and the smoke came over to us,” Dominick (in center photo), 34, said. “What happened is that we were evacuated and then now we are over here, we are in the library, and they said we can get a cot for tonight.”

“Me and my fiancee were in the motel and the power went out and I smelled smoke, and so we were just trying to get out of it” Princess (middle right), 33 said. She says they were able to get food at a food bank and were trying to figure out their next steps, including taking care of their service puppy dog.

Sarah, 24, (middle left) had been closely monitoring power updates and whether her home was in the evacuation zone. She spent a night at home without power, woke up and went to work. “At this point, our power is still out so I’m here back from work. I am in the library because there is no Internet at home and also I can’t get our garage door to open with the clicker.”

Sarah was reaching out to friends to find a place to sleep.

“We are here because we didn't have power,” Mahmoud (upper left) said. “We spent last night at our home and today we came here… Except for the lack of power, we don't have any other problem in our house, so we will go back home tonight,” he said.

A 62-year-old father (bottom right) who had spent the previous night using candles was at the library to pick up his wife and kids, who were doing homework for their online classes. They were going to eat out before returning home. “This is a really nice place for them to spend their time,” he said.

Our Town Reno reporting and photos by Kia Rastar

The Escalated Wild Horse Showdown due to Sunny Hills Ranchos South Reno Construction

A showdown recently escalated between different wild horse advocates, residents of southeast Reno, government officials and the Damonte Ranch developer Sunny Hills Ranchos over the fate of two dozen captured horses and access to water for other horses.

While volunteers had been trying to relocate horses who kept going inside a current construction zone, they were angry that boulders were blocking a gate to keep them from going back in, resulting in the Nevada Department of Agriculture to do a removal themselves last week.

The boulders were initially placed so that while vehicles couldn’t go in and out, horses who frequent South Meadows and Rio Wrangler Parkways, could get to a main water source. However, this put them back in danger if they were trapped inside the construction area.

The developers have been assuring advocates and the City of Reno they are trying to figure out how to make sure horses can still access a water source at Steamboat Creek. However, that access was recently further complicated by new developer-built pedestrian gates.

With the horses still going into the construction zone, the Nevada Department of Agriculture decided to act, surprising advocates who have been keen on keeping the lines of communications open at all times. 

“The Nevada Department of Agriculture took action based upon language in the cooperative agreement with Wild Horse Connection to remove the horses from the site to protect them from the dangers of an active construction zone, including heavy machinery, sharp objects and trenching,”a spokeswoman said. 

"Only horses on the development property are being removed. Any horses fenced outside the property will remain on the Virginia Range,” an NDA statement added. 

One group, American Wild Horse Conservation, has been working on reducing horse numbers in the area with a darting program to avoid any roundups such as the one which took place last week. 

The NDA says 24 gathered horses were moved to the Northern Nevada Correctional Institution to be put up for adoption.  

“The horses were transferred to Northern Nevada Correctional Center where they will be advertised per Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 569 to confirm there are no other legal owners of any of the horses gathered and will then be made available for adoption. Horses will be microchipped and identified to ensure they are not returned to the range and for future documentation and proof of ownership. More information on how to adopt one of these horses will be available at agri.nv.gov  This process will occur over the next 60 days,” the NDA indicated in a statement. 

Advocates fear that could be mean they could eventually be slaughtered by so-called “kill buyers”, even though that’s illegal.

Sunny Hills released this statement to the media: "The Sunny Hills property is currently under construction to build a bridge over Steamboat Creek, extend South Meadows Parkway and extend and construct a waterline under Rio Wrangler…  We understand the State is very concerned about the health and safety of any feral horses located in an active construction zone and intend to relocate them to a new safe location with plenty of food and water. Sunny Hills has always prioritized the health and safety of the feral horses and are grateful they will be removed from the dangers of the current construction activity."

Following the roundup, a protest was held in Carson City asking Governor Joe Lombardo to quickly intervene in the matter, so that the horses could be instead relocated to a different part of the range and to avoid this fate for more horses.  

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Flash-Flood Victimized Hidden Valley Residents Face Herculean Task to Recover

Dale Doerr poses in front of a ditch at the south end of the Hidden Valley Park, which for a while became a level field of rocks. Photo by Laurel Busch shared with Our Town Reno

Piles of rocks, debris, sandbags, destroyed landscaping, fences, decks, yards and crawl spaces buried in mud, a closed regional park and brownish ponds everywhere are constant reminders for Hidden Valley residents of the pernicious July 21st flash floods.

The mud and rock slides followed 1.3 inches of rain being dumped in the area in just three quarters of an hour.  Yearly, by comparison, Reno averages just a little under 7.5 inches of rainfall.

 At a community meeting last week, dozens of residents shared their struggles, many frustrated and angry, with some blaming the county for not properly maintaining ditches and culverts in the park above the neighborhood.  Others said they should have gotten some sort of advance warning for this freak occurrence.  

Photos above by Mark Maynard of current conditions in different parts of Hidden Valley shared with Our Town Reno

"We are prepared for these things to happen. They're unfortunate when they happen. This was localized to a small community. I think every single one of those homeowners that was impacted, this is an emergency to them, and so we took that very seriously," Assistant County Manager Dave Solaro responded after hearing some of the complaints.

In terms of the general area, Washoe County says Community Services Department crews deployed after the flooding, working 12-hour shifts, cleared about 16-thousand cubic yards of debris or about 600 truckloads.

Photo above shared with Our Town Reno by Laurel Busch.

“We know that it will take time to repair all of the damage, but our number one priority is safety and accessibility, and we are grateful that there were no injuries in this flood event,” CSD Director Eric Crump said.  

The regional park where over 10-thousand cubic yards of mud and debris have been removed is scheduled to reopen in stages, with limited park access first, possibly this coming week, followed with the dog park, tennis courts, playgrounds and bathrooms.

Above photos sent to Our Town Reno by Laurel Busch showing the impact of last month’s flash flooding in different parts of Hidden Valley.

Laurel Busch, who went around the neighborhood and took pictures for Our Town Reno, while collecting testimonies, says the worst hit street appears to have been Mia Vista Drive.  

Many of the homeowners in this area are elderly and on fixed incomes, she says, without any flood insurance, facing huge tabs to repair the damage their homes endured and not knowing where to turn for financial assistance.  

The mud dries into a solid substance that cannot be shoveled without re-wetting it, she indicated, making it all feel like a Herculean task for Hidden Valley to feel and look like normal again.  

Our Town Reno report August 2024, with reporting and photos by Laurel Bush and additional photography by Mark Maynard

Joud, an Artist from Gaza Now in Reno, Trying to Save His Brother and Mother

At a recent sunset Family Soup Mutual Aid community gathering at the Believe Plaza, Joud, an artist from Gaza, was exchanging smiles with neighbors who had just tasted his freshly-made dolmas.  

Only nine months since his arrival here in northern Nevada, Joud already volunteers, got his green card, has a job at the local Nevada Fine Arts supply store, and has given painting classes while helping produce a radio series on hospice care.  

It hasn’t been easy for the 28-year-old, far from it, and part of his difficult relocation now feels thwarted by the current tragedy taking place in Gaza.

His journey away from his home which started three years ago took him through torturous times in Egypt, Turkey, Dubai, Malaysia and Ecuador before making it to Reno.

Underneath his quick adaptation to northern Nevada, there’s his burning drive to get his younger brother, 20, and mother out of Gaza as well.  “It's been horrific and I don't know if anyone can do anything, but we have to speak loud about what's happening there,” Joud says of the civilian hardships in Gaza for displaced survivors under escalated Israeli attacks and bombings since the October 7th Hamas-led incursions into southern Israel.

“And you have to know that our people there they don't have any voice so it should be us to speak about what's happening there and the starvation that they live in,” he adds disconsolate.

Joud has started a GoFundMe to raise money for their immediate survival and eventual departure.  People were being charged about $5,000 to enter Egypt before the Rafah crossing was closed several months ago after Israeli forces took it over, so it was expensive to do so, but doable.  

Joud is pictured giving a watercolor painting class. Shared with permission to use from Joseph Galata’s Facebook page.

His brother and mother are staying nearby the crossing with hundreds of thousands of others now and waiting for it to reopen. The GoFundMe has raised nearly $10,000 of a $30,000 goal: https://www.gofundme.com/f/rescue-a-gaza-teen-poet-and-his-mother.

“I am from Gaza but thankfully an American man rescued me and I am now living in United States,” Joud writes in the description. “If I can raise the money, when the time is possible, they can leave Gaza and then to Egypt and finally live with my sister in Turkey,” he says of his brother who wants to become a humanitarian filmmaker and his mother, both of them spending entire days to find food, sometimes getting just a few spoonfuls of rice.  

Joud in the podcast studio in the center of photo with Joseph Galata on the right. Shared with permission to use from Joseph Galata’s Facebook page.

Life for Joud and his family has turned dramatically in recent years and months.

In his early 20s, Joud was already a thriving artist and graphic designer, working for companies and as a lecturer at Gaza University.  

“He’s an excellent cook too,” Joseph Galata, who helped bring him to Reno said.  In turn, Joud calls Galata the “man who saved my life.”

Galata, who runs the Sierra Association of Foster Families, had grant funding for a children’s book on forgotten Nevada heroes and was looking for an artist for that project and other media endeavors he pursues.  After joining a social media arts group, he found Joud, and after he did three paintings as a test, he says it was “exactly what I wanted.”

Having lived in Israel, and learning about the “world of oppression,” and trauma for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, Galata said “I knew he deserved to have an opportunity to be an artist.”

Above, pictures of paintings by Joud he shared with Our Town Reno.

Galata had previously been able to get his ex wife’s parents out of Iran, which was also a difficult process, so even though there were many challenges on Joud’s journey to Reno he says he’s immensely proud of how he’s kept going and how he’s made so much progress in so little time.

Back at the Believe statue downtown plaza, as night falls on a crowd of volunteers and unhoused residents having conversations and healthy food, more and more people taste his delicious dolmas and notice his smiling, magnetic personality.  

“This is in our culture to help our neighbors,” Joud says starting to feel at home here. “This is something that I would like to share with the people here in Reno, Nevada, and the United States.”

He then messages photos of some of his piercing art portraits (shown above) along with the link to his family’s GoFundMe and a video in which his little brother appears. He concludes with a folded praying hands emoji. 

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024

Uncertain Future of Bonanza Inn Now in the Hands of Jacobs Entertainment

Jacobs Entertainment says it’s trying to ascertain the status and condition of the quickly rotting Bonanza Inn after a drawn out process to acquire it through probate auction earlier this year was recently completed.  

"Our intention remains to create quality housing which will include affordable workforce units at Bonanza Inn,” Jeff Jacobs, the CEO of Jacobs Entertainment, told media earlier this month.

It took until the end of July for the J Resort parent company to complete its acquisition.

During the auction, after at one point saying it was pulling out,  Jacobs then had the highest last minute bid of $3,005,000 to narrowly surpass a previous $3 million bid by Marmot Properties.  

The Reno Housing Authority previously had its eye on the Bonanza Inn to turn it into low-income housing, but last year the city of Reno abruptly backed out of a previously touted agreement to fund that conversion.

 “The city council has invested quite a bit in housing affordability over the last few cycles, and the RHA received a tremendous amount of funding from the state – which gives the city an opportunity to consider other strategic investments,” former City Manager Doug Thornley wrote.

The property at 215 W 4th Street which encompasses 21,000 square feet and had 58 units was built in 1968. It was shut down in 2022 following multiple city code violations.

Jacobs Entertainment has demolished many of the motels it bought out during an ongoing buying spree of properties in the 4th street and downtown areas, but did reconvert one into the Renova Flats, where studios are listed at $1050, and one bedrooms at $1200. Many of the other motels, which served as a last resort before and after homelessness for lower income residents, were bulldozed and turned into parking lots.

Our Town Reno reporting August 2024

What's That Construction Project? UNR's New Business Building

Despite general doubts as to the future solvency of the higher learning in person university model, the University of Nevada, Reno and its surrounding area has been booming in recent years in terms of construction, with new parking, apartments and now a $250 million plus business five-story building, halfway to completion.  

The private developer Edgemoor, university officials and Clark Construction have combined forces on this controversial so-called Gateway District project on land at the southern tip of the main campus. It used to include historical homes, several of which were relocated at high costs, others demolished, and the formerly beloved Bibo Coffee, also bulldozed. 

The yet to be complete building, called the UNR Mathewson Gateway College of Business Building, will include collaborative spaces. a 300-seat auditorium, a social space, technology labs, optimized teaching spaces and an outdoor space and plaza for food trucks and student events.

In terms of finances, it has come about as a result of public-private partnership funding, with Edgemoor taking most of the upfront costs in exchange for a 30-year UNR lease of about $10 million per year.

The structural phase took about a year to complete, with the watertight phase up next to build out walls and the building’s roof.  Completion is scheduled for next summer, for a possible opening in the 2025 fall semester.  

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2024