Directorless Washoe County Libraries Head Into Meeting Amid Public Confusion

A directorless and future budget uncertain Washoe County Library System has a meeting tonight at the Sierra View Library at 5:30 p.m., trying to get out of a current two year fog marked by drag queen story hour drama, uncomfortable meetings and the voter induced loss of a previously automatic $4.5 million coming from property taxes.

Assistant County Manager Dave Solaro is now at the helm of library affairs, after the back to back backing out of former Director Jeff Scott who resigned in April following tensions with the Library Board of Trustees and the recent leave of absence taken by Assistant Director Stacy McKenzie.

Chair Ann Silver and Vice Chair Lea Moser have less than a year to go on their terms with confusion from the public of what exactly is going on with our local libraries.

The agenda indicates as item 5 "Discussion between the Library Board of Trustees and the Office of the County Manger outlining a plan for the successful recommendation of a Washoe County Library operating budget for fiscal year 2027 (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027) and possible direction to Finance and Office of the County Manager staff related to Budget needs for the Washoe County Library System. [For Possible Action]."

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

Lawsuit Over Alleged Abuse at Local Senior Living Facility Raises Concerns Over Elder Protection

A lawsuit has been filed alleging the Cascades of the Sierra senior living facility in Spanish Springs failed to protect an 84-year-old with dementia living there, identified in court documents as D.S. Doe.

The complaint alleges another resident, a 92-year-old, who has since died, identified as Resident 22, sexually assaulted Doe while she stayed in the memory care unit where doors remained unlocked, and did so even though staff and management were allegedly aware of prior sexual misconduct against her and others.

The lawsuit claims he would even grab staff members’ breasts and that the residential facility administrator was informed about such behavior but did nothing to stop it and moved him to the memory care unit despite even greater dangers there.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for conduct that was “reckless, oppressive, malicious, and done with implied malice and with a conscious disregard for the safety of others.”

"For more than 16 years, Cascades of the Sierra has provided exemplary service and care to more than one-thousand older adults in the north Reno-Sparks community. Our professional staff is dedicated to providing care to residents with kindness, trust, and respect. This reflects our mission to help seniors thrive," the Cascades of the Sierra indicated in a statement sent to media.

“Over a year ago, there was an incident between residents in our memory care neighborhood. Our staff followed state regulations for reporting and internal protocols. There have been no similar events since. Our team continues to focus on providing a safe and supportive environment for every resident."

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

Protests Planned Surrounding Washoe County Jail's ICE Expansion Project

A $430-thousand plus renovation plan to use federal grant money to remodel the Washoe County jail to facilitate work by ICE, to create a designated screening desk, holding area and office space is coming under the scrutiny of local protesters.

There are three events related to this today,  “to engage around immigrant justice,” according to an email sent yesterday by the Reno Coalition of Opposition.

“Each one matters, but they serve different purposes,” the email indicates.

The protests are the following:

"• INNV Rally (Aug. 19, 10 AM, Federal Building, 400 S. Virginia St.) Public protest against using Homeland Security funds to remodel the Washoe County Jail for ICE.
• BOCC Meeting (Aug. 19, 10 AM, County Commission Chambers, 1001 E. 9th St.) Where the decision is made. Speak directly to commissioners in 2–3 minutes of public comment to oppose the ICE expansion.
• Nevada Immigrant Coalition Gathering A broader community conversation. Learn about immigration challenges in Northern Nevada, the Coalition’s work, and how to take action — from advocacy to volunteering to supporting immigrant-owned businesses.”

The latter group is having an event called “Compassion without Borders” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Craft Wine and Beer.

“Think of it this way: the rally builds pressure, the BOCC meeting shapes policy, and the Coalition gathering builds long-term power,” the email indicates.

A recent email from the Nevada GOP has struck an entirely different tone, with calls for a new high-security immigration detention center within the Silver State to be called the “Coyote Compound.”

“Florida has Alligator Alcatraz — a high-security ICE detention center designed to detain and process illegal immigrants quickly and efficiently. Now, we’re asking: Should Nevada have something similar? We’re calling it the Coyote Compound, and it would send a clear message: Nevada takes border security seriously,” the state Republican Party email indicated.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 19, 2025

Historical Reno Tattoo Shop Faces Barrage of Negative Reviews Following Social Media Posts on Nazi Tattoo

A barrage of negative reviews on Yelp and Google have followed allegations on different subreddits that a guest tattoo artist recently produced a Nazi tattoo at the local Body Graphics Tattoo shop, with the client posting it on his own social media saying it wasn’t hateful.

We contacted the tattoo shop today and were told we should call back Tuesday when the owner would be back in town, and that it should be the owner responding to the allegations. 

Recent one star google reviews for the shop include one by Molly Radford indicating “No nazis in this town.”

On Yelp, several days ago a reviewer going by Marshall W. with elite status there from Sparks wrote: 

“Got my 3rd tattoo (and first actual professional ink) done here years ago as an anniversary gift. It was flash dragon piece on my back, it was cheap and wasn't done all that well but I liked it well enough as when I wear tank tops, it kinda looks like I have wings sticking out. Now the son of the owner runs the place and apparently he allowed a guest artist to come in and do a Nazi tattoo in their shop. There used to be a time when asking for this kind of thing would get you tossed out of a shop at a minimum and artists would be blackballed from the scene. Totally unacceptable, Jesse.”

The about business page on Yelp, social media and on the shop’s website identify Body Graphics Tattoo as the oldest tattoo shop in Nevada, opened in 1976 by Guy Martynuik, the son of legendary tattoo artist Pat Martynuik known as Picture Machine, who tattooed Janis Joplin, Cher, Hunter S. Thompson and others. It’s indicated Body Graphics Tattoo is now run by Guy’s son Jesse Martynuik.

On the Reno subreddit, several posts about this were deleted by moderators in recent days, causing uproar among some, but the latest by a local who goes by the name KRNVnews4 (despite having no affiliation to the tv channel),titled “Tattoo shops to support” with a screenshot of the Nazi tattoo has stayed up for now.

“I like this one and I think the other mods will be ok with leaving it up. As OP says, it's not a shit post, isn't just shaming the shop/ encouraging review bombing and is trying to support other shops in town that have higher standards for what work they allow to be done within their walls,” one of their moderators who goes by Norillim wrote.  

“Every shop in town has the right to choose what artistic decisions they make, but I also think locals have the right to know if their money is going to fund a shop and artists that don't align with their moral values,” the Reno Reddit post by the user who goes by KRNVnews4 indicates.

“Tattoos can cost upward of hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, and multiple hours over many sessions. I do not want a hand capable of drawing a swastika on a client to put anything on my body, and I don't think I'm the only one in this community that feels the same.”

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

School District Responds to Trees Being Cut at Reno School

The Washoe County School District has responded to one local reader’s concerns over trees being cut down during the summer break at Roy Gomm Elementary School.

“An erosion prevention project was performed at Roy Gomm Elementary School over the summer months to repair damage to the play area resulting from earlier flooding events, and help redirect water away from the field and playground. This project necessitated the removal of six trees,” Victoria Campbell, the district’s Public Information Officer wrote back to Our Town Reno.
 
“As part of the project, six new trees were planted at the site to replace the ones that were removed.”

“This week, on one of the hottest days of the year, children returned to Roy Gomm Elementary in southwest Reno to find their playground stripped bare,” the reader had written as kids returned to school this past week with temperatures in the 90s.

“The shade-giving, air-cooling trees they loved were gone—replaced by a sterile spread of decomposed granite, sharp rocks, and a high fence. The sun now beats down harder than ever. In Reno, the fastest-warming city in the nation, trees are not a luxury—they are essential for health, comfort, and learning. So why were they cut down? Were children and their caregivers even consulted? Likely, we’ll hear the familiar justifications: safety concerns, claims the trees were old, or that they obstructed maintenance work. But none of these explanations justify clearing them all.
This is more than the loss of trees. It’s a loss of connection—to the natural environment, to community, and to children’s own voices in decisions that shape their daily lives. If we want healthy, engaged future citizens, we must protect green spaces and involve young people in the choices that affect them.”

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

C-Tax Gets Much Needed Scrutiny At Reno City Council Meeting Amid Budget Difficulties

While Reno councilman Devon Reese has made repeated social media posts about the city of Reno’s budget deficit, blaming slowing revenues and rising costs, adding “C-Tax, our largest revenue source, just isn’t keeping up,” a detailed, public presentation was made about this important C-Tax before Council on Wednesday.

Reese likes to add hashtags to his posts such as #factsmatter insinuating others weighing in or reporting on this Reno budgeting problem aren’t being factual. 

In this light, some clarity was brought to the city’s table yesterday for all to listen to, along with promises to take shortfalls seriously.  

The initial projected deficit for the City of Reno for the current fiscal year was announced at $24 million before being adjusted to $25.6 million due to lower than expected property tax revenues. 

Financial analyst Jeremy Aguero came from Las Vegas Wednesday to make an enthusiastic and drawn out slide filled presentation about the crucial C-Tax in its present state.

In its emailed highlights, the City of Reno indicated “Council heard a presentation on consolidated tax (C-Tax), which is a significant local government revenue source and the largest contributor to the City’s General Fund. The General Fund helps pay for public services like police, fire, and parks. The presentation gave an overview of the tax structure and how the funds are distributed, with details on the City’s share. Since its inception in 1997, the C-Tax structure has remained largely intact, with only minor changes aimed at improving its distribution formula to local entities. At this time, the City receives about $0.69 in C-Tax revenue for every $100 spent on goods subject to sales tax. In addition, the City launched a C-Tax dashboard that can be viewed at reno.gov/ctax.”

That website indicates “Consolidated Tax, or C-Tax for short, consolidates six distinct taxes into a single revenue pool. These funds are then distributed monthly to local governments and districts using a two-step allocation formula.”

The six taxes are Supplemental City-County Relief Tax (SCCRT)  (Part of the total sales tax that is paid when purchasing a good. SCCRT is the largest component of C-Tax), Basic City-County Relief Tax (BCCRT) (also part of the total sales tax that is paid when purchasing a good. BCCRT is the second-largest component of C-Tax), Governmental Services Tax (GST) (Tax paid annually when registering a vehicle), Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT) (Tax paid during real estate transactions, by the buyer or seller), Cigarette Tax (Tax on each pack of cigarettes, paid by wholesalers. (Excludes e-cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, etc.)  and Liquor Tax (Tax on spirits over 22% alcohol content, paid by wholesalers.)

It gives examples of buying a $100 lawnmower in a hardware store in Washoe County which results in 69 cents for the City of Reno, a $30,000 car registration results in $63, while buying or selling a $500,000 home in Washoe County results in $169.

City Manager Jackie Bryant says there are important budgeting and transparency efforts underway, with a better job needed to identify where money is coming from and how it is being spent.  

Aguero said that in fiscal year 2024 the city received over $96 million in C-Tax distributions, accounting for 33% of total general fund revenue. For this fiscal year, the adopted budget estimates the city to receive over $100 million in C-Tax revenue.

Next month, city council will have Aguero back for another discussion and presentation on property and fuel taxes, and how much revenue the city gets from those.

The way the system works in terms of the C-Tax is that money is collected by the state and then redistributed to local governments, but there are questions on whether Reno is getting a fair amount back into its coffers.  

Councilman Reese expressed concerns of a “current formula which was written decades ago” and which does not reflect current population growths and service demands. “Our share of the C-Tax has not kept pace,” he said.  Aguero said that was “100% correct,” addressing an “eroding” sales tax.  

“It’s about modernizing an outdated formula,” Reese responded. 

 “We’re really just beginning to collect the facts,” Bryant said at the end of the discussion.  This included possible duplicate payments to the county, setting up some interesting regional debates up ahead. 

Our Town Reno reporting, August 14th, 2025

Greystar Which Owns Five Reno Properties Reaches Settlement in Illegal Rent Price Fixing Case

The nation’s largest private landlord Greystar, which has a handful of properties in Reno, namely the Ballpark Apartments (in photo), Aspen Ridge, Fifteen51, Inova and The Highlands, has reached a proposed settlement with the federal government following a lawsuit in which it was accused of rent increase collusion by using certain computer algorithms.

As part of terms of the settlement, the South Carolina-based company agreed to help federal prosecutors in their separate case against the makers of RealPage, the software used by many landlords to share their pricing data with each other so they could collectively increase rents.

The proposed consent decree which still needs to be approved by a federal judge will also require Greystar to avoid using any anticompetitive algorithms and to refrain from sharing sensitive information with competitors going forward.

"Whether in a smoke-filled room or through an algorithm, competitors cannot share competitively sensitive information or align prices to the detriment of American consumers," said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

International Media Cover Involvement of Sparks Company in UK Spy Flights over Gaza

International media last week were full of stories about Sparks-based Sierra Nevada Corporation being hired recently by the UK government to conduct its ongoing surveillance flights over Gaza.

The Guardian reported this has led to “growing questions about how the intelligence obtained is used and shared with the Israeli military.”

It reported the surveillance program had been transferred to the company run by the local Ozmen family billionaires in late July to reduce costs.

UK authorities have confirmed the unarmed surveillance flights have been conducted over Gaza for the purpose of locating hostages and that its government controls what information is passed to Israeli authorities.

Several locals wrote to us in recent days concerned about this involvement of the Sparks company, which has long standing ties and contracts with different Israeli entities.

These connections include a 2018 agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries “to support development of a new tactical Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aircraft System.”

Two years ago, the Sparks aerospace and defense company entered an “airborne missile protection system agreement” with Israeli-based BIRD Aerosystems to jointly produce BIRD Airborne Missile Protection Systems.

We have not seen this latest development covered by local northern Nevada media.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

Hate Filled NIMBYism in Old Southwest Reno

Item D1 Wednesday at the returned City Council meeting will be a Reno Housing Authority Alley Abandonment request, between Reno Avenue and West Taylor Street, east of Arlington and west of Lander street, as part of plans to build a 40 to 45 unit affordable housing project with one and two bedroom units in the old Southwest neighborhood, where there used to be a busy Catholic Charities run pre school.

RHA bought five parcels in all on both sides of the alley for the new project, including several fenced off playgrounds.

Residents in that area reached out to Our Town Reno saying there had been an extremely contentious meeting in late July including expressions of hate-filled NIMBYism for a plan which if approved could see scheduled construction begin in 2027.

There have been concerns of reduced parking and declining property values, while at the meeting the words “ghetto” and “drug abusers” were mentioned, and many said they wanted more information about the details of the RHA plan, which will probably come more to light on Wednesday.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

Over 150 Local Workers Will be Laid Off due to SA Automotive Shutdown in Reno

More than 150 local employees, including operators, shipping clerks, technicians, production and maintenance employees, are being laid off as SA Automotive Reno has announced its plans to shut down its Echo Avenue location, effective October 7th.

“Employee separations are expected to be permanent. Employees are not represented by a union or other collective bargaining representative,” a letter to Mayor Hillary Schieve from yesterday indicates.

The letter says the permanent shutdown is due to “loss of business.”

“SA Automotive is a full-service interior trim supplier whose team of experts will partner with you to provide the most practical and technical solution possible,” its website indicates.

Its other locations are listed in Livonia, Michigan, Owosso, Michigan, Webberville, Michigan and Pueblo, Mexico.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

EPA Acts to Protect Truckee River Watershed After Settlement with Construction Company

CEMEX Construction Materials Pacific LLC will pay $310,000 over violations of the Clean Water Act after a settlement was reached with the EPA over its dumping of industrial waste several years ago into the Truckee River at its sand and gravel mine in Wadsworth about 30 minutes east of Reno on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation.

It did so without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe does not own or operate the CEMEX mine.

In November 2020, the EPA had issued a so-called Administrative Order on Consent requiring CEMEX to cease all illegal discharges, apply for required NPDES permits, and establish measures to prevent and reduce impacts of an emergency discharge.

“Through the agreement announced today, CEMEX will take the necessary steps to protect the Truckee River and the people of Nevada,” EPA Pacific Southwest Region Administrator Josh F.W. Cook said in a statement.

CEMEX will also work with the Truckee River Watershed Council to restore the floodplain along the lower reach of Cold Creek between the mouth of Coldstream Canyon.

“This project will restore wetland habitat, stabilize streambanks, and restore floodplains in areas previously impacted by gravel mining, forest roads, and logging. When completed, the effort will have created approximately 3.2 acres of new floodplains and increase riparian habitat acreage,” a statement from earlier this week indicated.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

Local Ford Driver Gets Online Support After Allegations of Terrible Experience at Reno Dealership

A Facebook post about an allegedly awful experience at the Corwin Ford Reno dealership trying to get a 2012 Ford Edge repaired there in July has led to a stream of other locals sharing their own ordeals at that location.  

We contacted Corwin Ford Reno concerning these latest allegations but have not received a response as of this writing.

The dealership’s Yelp has a 2.1 score from 327 reviews, while a Corwin Ford post on the Reno subreddit from two years ago complaining about their services got many complaints added to the original post as well.

The most recent Facebook post was titled “Jay Rosas is feeling angry at Corwin Ford Reno.”

“My wife explained that she had contacted you to put a warning out there to steer clear of Corwin Ford,” Rosas wrote to us in a follow up message while the couple sent us part of the bill they received and text message communications.  “My whole ordeal was that I took in our only vehicle that her and I share for going to work and taking her to dialysis,” he wrote. 

He says the car overheated on July 22nd, which is when he decided to drop off his vehicle at the dealership on S. Virginia Street.  

“I was thinking to myself: it’s Ford they will find what is making my car overheat and yes I know I’ll have to be a little more to get it fixed but at least it will be done right because it’s a Ford dealership,” he explained in a message to Our Town Reno. 

However, he says it just went from bad to worse.  He got a link he says after several days with an estimate for a little over $7000 in total “for breaks, windshield wipers, water pump replacement and a new set of spark plugs.”

He says he only agreed to the spark plugs “because I trusted that they knew what they were taking about” and the water pump replacement “for $4400 on a 2012 Ford Edge the total with tax came out to $6300.”

The dealership then texted they had to add a $275 part “which is the front timing cover it is cracked and would leak inf put back on the part [sic] will be here tomorrow,” before adding the next day after he asked for updates “we have an oil leak after repairs.”

He says “if the timing cover was cracked it would have leaked fluids all over my driveway.”

He says they finally admitted to the mechanic breaking the part, which we couldn’t confirm with Corwin Ford directly, and then he says “they called me to let me know that my car was ready.”  A text from July 31st he shared with us indicates “your vehicle is done and ready to pick up.”

The next day though, after he took his wife to dialysis he wrote “after she was done the car felt shaky and then my car began to make a ding noise warning me that the car was over heating.”   He alleges the car was also starting to lose its coolant. 

“I was stuck in traffic so it reached to the highest temperature which is bad because it could torque or even kill your engine. I was mad because I imagined what if it was my wife driving alone to her appointment and it cause[d] an accident. I ended up taking it in last Sunday so they can fix the problem, come Tuesday they quoted me for another $800 for a faulty part, the radiator fan,” he wrote in his follow up message.  

After an argument at the dealership, he says he left with an unusable car.  He says he is sharing this story for more community awareness. 

“I drove the defective car back home due to the fact that they did not diagnose it properly still over heating so we have basically a non usable car sitting on our driveway because they wanted to service it for another part,” he wrote.  

Comments on the original Facebook post were supportive of Rosas, including many others saying they had bad experiences there and were also now steering clear of the dealership.  

We will update this story if we get a comment back from Corwin Ford Reno.  

Our Town Reno reporting, August 8th 2025

Sierra Arts Foundation Faces Lawsuit from Artist Selected in Galleries at Work Program

What Audrey George initially thought was an important breakthrough in her artistic career has instead turned into a lawsuit for an alleged breach of contract against Sierra Arts Foundation, seeking over $2,000 in lost commissions. 

After being selected for the Galleries at Work program with the non profit, George loaned eight original paintings to be shown at Plumas Bank for six months from June to December for a $600 stipend and the possibility of sales.

“I thought this was going to be the biggest milestone in my art career,” she said as she smiled posing in front of her art displayed at the bank in early June.  George has been an artist for five years, describing her style as water color landscapes with an impressionistic style.  

“I’ve been applying for galleries for over a year. This was my first time,” she said during a phone call with Our Town Reno. When the art was installed, a few of her friends came to celebrate with her, and bank staff was present to congratulate her.  

The waiting game then began for her to receive her full $600 payment.

“I thought maybe I [needed] to pick up the check or something,” she remembers.

After waiting for a month, and being told the check was on its way, she went to the Sierra Arts Foundation office for an update.

At that point, she says she was given a check for just $100.  

Trying to get her full payment, George then called the bank which explained to her it pays Sierra Arts Foundation a yearly fee at the beginning of the year for their partnership, but doesn’t pay the showcased artists directly.

After that, George says she was then told by Sierra Arts Foundation that there had been a typo in her contract which should have been for $100 instead of $600.  

On July 18th, a friend who visited the bank told George her art was no longer being exhibited there. To this day, she is not currently in possession of her art valued at $2,200. 

Seven days after she filed her lawsuit in small claims court, George says she received a $500 check, completing the payment, but without any indication about her art.

After we wrote to the non profit, after several days of waiting, Our Town Reno received this very brief quote last Friday attributed to Tracey Oliver, the executive director of the Sierra Arts Foundation:  “The remaining amount was mailed on Friday of last week prior to any reference to further action. Our understanding was she wanted the paintings displayed so they are currently in our possession until an alternate site is located. She is welcome to collect them at any time should she wish.” 

“If Sierra Arts was attempting to find my art another venue and I am welcome to pick up my art, then they would have communicated that with me when it was removed,” George wrote to us as a reply to that statement.  

“I’d like to arrange a neutral pick up point,” George told us in our subsequent phone call interview.  “I’m not comfortable going into the gallery. When I did, it just wasn't a positive experience. If that can be arranged, I would be grateful, but if not, I will wait until the mediation.” 

On its website, the Sierra Arts Foundation says the Galleries at Work program “is designed to support local artists and businesses by exposing their work to a different demographic than typical gallery attendees. It also enhances the employee’s quality of life by enhancing their space with an environment of great art.”

It says it has existing contracts with the ROC Reno Orthopedic Clinic, The Reno Aces, NV Energy, NV State Board of Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors, Plumas Bank, with new clients sponsored by the City of Sparks, including  Engine 8 Winery, Packs N Pints, Tres Hombres, O’Skies, and Pinon.

“We feature artwork by local artists, specializing in a variety of mediums and techniques to ensure that your office art experience is diverse and ever changing.  Participation in the program gives the artists more exposure in the community and the opportunity to sell their work,” the statement concludes. 

“I am heartbroken about the outcome from my first gallery show. I want to use this platform to advocate for artists to make strong contracts that protect them,” George wrote in her initial message to Our Town Reno.  “Going to court was a last resort after I discovered my art was missing and my check would not come. I once believed Sierra Arts to be the most reputable arts organization in this area, and I am appalled at their actions.”

Her displaced artwork is accepting bids on her website https://audreysoddities.art/ and prints are available for free local pickup on her instagram @AudsOddities. If her art is recovered, Audrey says she is looking for a new gallery to display her recent collection, which is called Western Heart, Colorful Wide World.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2025

Will Washoe County School Meals Improve for Kids and the Environment with New Provider?

In photos, school meals from last year.

This school year, the Washoe County School District is moving on from prison supplier Aramark to Southwest Foodservice Excellence as its meal provider.

Announcements on the district’s website were made of a one year contract in May but those links are no longer active. From what we could tell in the metadata, the contract is reported to be for an estimated 60-thousand students and 8.5 million meals.

SFE is a private company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, providing outsourced food services to K-12 public schools in over 30 states.

Like any massive company, it’s faced controversy, including being criticized for having inadequate portion sizes for its meals and alleged employee mistreatment.

Locally, there’s been a push to reduce all the waste and throwing out of plastic created by school meals, so we will be monitoring the quality and portions of the meals this upcoming school year as well as sustainability efforts. Let us know as well how it goes if you have kids eating these meals.

A sustainability page on the district’s website indicated styrofoam trays and packaging were eliminated during the just concluded Aramark tenure. It also reported single-use plastics, such as plastic milk straws and wrappers were reduced. The page says 25% of produce was being sourced within 250 miles of the district, a number sustainability advocates would like to see lifted much higher.

The page says 60% of schools “have implemented share tables, allowing students to donate unopened, uneaten food to others instead of throwing it away,” but the actual result of that change is not indicated.

Last year we advocated for a county wide farm to school movement for all district school meals with reusable plates and cutlery as part of our Ideas for Progress series, to benefit local growers, the environment and kids, but that type of bold thinking doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

Our Town Reno reporting, Aug. 5, 2025

UNR Student With Large TikTok Following Faces Stalking Charge

Dallas Ponzo, listed on his LinkedIn as a UNR student, Electrical Engineering RA and Best Buy employee, who has a large following on TikTok, remains in Washoe County custody this morning after being arrested on a charge of stalking on Friday.

He posted a TikTok video recently with over 220k views about falling in love with a girl he met on Hinge and having his heart broken. “Went from being on Hinge to unhinged,” the title indicates.

“How much aura did I lose?” he asks in the video, before answering “a lot of aura.”

During the video, he talks about a sport the woman plays and going to a specific local indoor facility with her ex and coworker to play the sport she started doing with that ex, leading to arguments and fights.

“Am I in the wrong though,” he asks at the end of the video.

His last video has him talking shirtless in a room about a local road rage incident.

He also has a Twitch channel, discord server and tip jar within his bio links which has in parentheses that he’s financially unstable.

Our Town Reno reporting, August 2nd, 2025

Sparks Police: Suspect in Mass GSR Shooting Has Died

As we were previously told by multiple sources on condition of anonymity but had not been able to confirm, the suspect in Monday’s deadly GSR shooting, 26-year-old Dakota Hawver has died.

He had previously been listed as hospitalized and in critical condition after being shot by officers Monday morning.

Sparks Police which is leading the investigation made the announcement on Thursday, without any details.

The shooting left three people dead,  33-year-old Justin Aguila of Chatsworth, California, 33-year-old Andrew Canepa of Newbury Park, California, and 66-year-old Angel Martinez, who was a Sparks local.

According to court documents, the Nevada Attorney General’s office had initiated a case against Hawver more than a year ago with developments just a few days before the shooting.

During a recent hearing, a judge had raised Hawver’s monthly child support payment from $103 to $582, with a reported income of $21 per hour for a 40-hour workweek.

The court had also established a payment plan for Hawver to address $5,575 in unpaid child support and genetic testing costs.

Our Town Reno reporting, July 31, 2025

Three Dead in GSR Shooting, While Suspect Is Reported to be in Critical Condition

A third person died at the hospital bringing the total of fatalities in Monday morning’s GSR shooting to three at this point with three injured.

The suspect, an adult male, was shot by police and remains hospitalized. One officer suffered minor injuries, most likely caused by glass fragments, but was not shot.

According to police, the suspect who had been pacing around the northwest side of the casino property produced a gun and pointed it at people, and after it initially malfunctioned shot five people in the valet area, killing one instantly and another who died at the hospital, with two others in critical condition and the fifth later released.

Police say the suspect then went north through the parking lot where he was confronted by a GSR security guard, firing on him, with the guard returning fire.

Police say the suspect then opened fire at a driver killing them in their vehicle.

At that point, police say they arrived on the scene, and a patrol car was shot at, before multiple officers opened fire, striking the suspect, who has been described as being in critical condition.

RPD chief Kathryn Nance said it took RPD officers just two and half minutes to respond to the reports of an active shooter at around 7:25 a.m.

The identity of the suspect has not been released.

Our Town Reno reporting, July 28, 2025

Promoted Metal Music Festival at Shea's Midtown Bar with Neo-Nazi Connections is Now Reportedly Off

UPDATE: A message from Shea’s on our Instagram after our story was posted there: “We're so thankful that this was brought to our attention. We did not book this show! A couple months ago a promoter messaged us saying they'd like to book a rock metal show bringing in the new year.
We did not book these bands. We do not condone nor promote this behavior. Show has been canceled before even being fully booked or announced. When you guys come in you can see the very diverse and eclectic crowd that we have. Any other questions please feel free to reach out. 🫶🏼Thank you and we love you Reno.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

After participating metal bands and Sacramento based Infinite Chaos Promotions started promoting what is being called Apocalyptic Terror Vol.VII with this poster scheduled for a January 16th start next year at Shea’s Tavern, an anti fascist music group on Facebook, locals and then the Reno subreddit started noting the presence of neo-Nazi affiliations with this planned event.

“The complete lineup along with ticket sales will be in September,” a Facebook post from Infinite Chaos Promotions notes saying this event is being organized in conjunction with Ancient Malignity. 

Already scheduled performances according to the organizers are the following: 

“NOKTURNE (CA)

MEATSHITS (NV)

ENGORGE (CA)

https://www.facebook.com/TrueNecroBlackDeathMetal?mibextid=ZbWKwL

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE (SOUTH KOREA)

https://youtu.be/n01NQ0tsmFE?si=uaCfgCiGq-3OlhF5

ANCIENT MALIGNITY (NV)

https://www.facebook.com/AncientMalignity?mibextid=ZbWKwL

TRIUMPH (NV)

https://youtu.be/0Rj89aD2gpE?si=MR8PV_X_JDtKZLn-

THERMONUCLEAR GENOCIDE (UT)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576934643775...

PROFANE (TX)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575080458446...

SACRED ORIGIN (CA)

https://www.facebook.com/sacredoriginmetal?mibextid=ZbWKwL”

Internet research and messages from locals point to neo-Nazi connections for at least a few of the bands now scheduled to be next year at Shea’s.

“Nokturne is a fairly notorious National Socialist/Nazi band…  If you look at the symbol in their logo, the Black Sun [sun wheel], it's a classic Nazi symbol,” a local wrote to us.  

The Metal Archives website lists as one of this band’s themes "National Socialism.”  One of its albums was called Black Metal Kampf. 

Neo-nazi connections are not new for the Midtown bar, such as four years ago when Shea’s owner Lacy Shea liked posts of an extreme white supremacist listed on social media as jesuschrist666hamc, before writing she had been “power scroll liking,” including a post which included the double lightning bolt symbol associated with the Nazi SS corps.

“Ancient Malignity are locals - some of whom are members of Blasphemous Creation.  They've already been outed for playing Nazi festivals in LA,” we were told in a message.

There seems to be overlapping band members for the extreme metal genre in northern Nevada, making it confusing for outsiders as to who exactly is in which band at which time.  

“I can’t recommend Forsaken Dynasty highly. If you’re bummed about your favorite blackened thrash band not releasing music in several years, changing musical directions, or doing dumb nazi things, then Blasphemous Creation could be for you,” a reviewer for Metal Utopia wrote about one of that band’s recent albums.  

A post from seven years ago from Blasphemous Creation indicated that “due to [another Reno band] Ritual Genocide being on a compilation with some Nazi bands I have been forced to kick the members of that band that were in my band out of Blasphemous Creation.” 

“I am in a local metal band called Blasphemous Creation,” Isaac Wilson then wrote to us after this article was initially published. “The members of those bands are no longer in my band and were removed a long time ago. I no longer have any association with any Nazi bands. I have condemned them in public posts and also apologized for those members being in my band.”

The Metal Archives website says “Reno-based militia Ancient Malignity is one of those exemplary bands that meet every criteria in order to be labelled “war metal,” mastering the style down to the last detail. The group also features members of black/death acts like Ritual Genocide, Triumph and Blasphemous Creation.” 

“Choose the shows (and venues) you go to carefully. Some metalheads are great people. Obviously, not all of them. Keep on rockin and watch out for Nazi scum!” DisMrButters wrote on the Reno subreddit post about this upcoming event. 

Our Town Reno reporting, July 27, 2025

Costly Seven Magic Mountains Move to 775 is Off, with Allocated Money now Recommended for Behavioral Health Facility

An email forwarded to us from interim Washoe County Manager Kate Thomas has a section titled “Seven Magic Mountains update: De-obligation of funds recommended”

“Last September the Board allocated $500,000 in ARPA-SLFRF funding to the Nevada Museum of Art (NMA) for the relocation of the Seven Magic Mountains art currently located in Las Vegas. The agreement defined a strict timeline for identification of a Washoe County location for the art and for securing the additional funds needed for the move and installation,” it indicates.

“The NMA was unable to secure a Washoe County site for the art installation within the timeline required by the agreement. As a result, staff will recommend de-obligating the $500,000 NMA award and reallocating the funds to support critical renovations at the Washoe County Behavioral Health facility.”

The message says this proposal will be brought forward to the Board at an August 19th meeting.

It then includes a message from Claire Munoz from the Nevada Museum of Art saying a decision to renege was made last week, after the artist no longer wanted the move to happen.

“As of Friday, July 11, 2025, the artist Ugo Rondinone has ultimately decided not to proceed with relocating Seven Magic Mountains to Northern Nevada,” the Munoz message indicates. “While this decision is beyond our control, we fully respect the artist’s creative rights and final authority over the placement of his artwork. The Museum remains committed to transparency and public trust, and we have communicated promptly with key County personnel regarding this significant development. To date, no County funds have been committed or expended. We are deeply grateful for the County’s collaboration and support over the past year, and for the meaningful relationships that have been strengthened as a result. “

The piece is owned by the museum, but its lease with the BLM for its current location in Ivanpah Valley, along the far southern end of Las Vegas Boulevard, expires at the end of 2026 due to the Harry Reid International Airport expansion, which is where the move idea to here initially came from.

Our Town Reno reporting, July 19, 2025

New Supportive Housing at Cares Campus, While Number of People Sleeping at Compound Goes Down

An August 5th date has been set for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the permanent supportive housing section of the Nevada Cares Campus, over four years after the shelter first opened with emergency COVID funding.

Funding for the 50 units of supportive housing for the chronically unhoused who have medical, mental health and/or substance abuse concerns came from Nevada’s Home Means Nevada Initiative and the Supportive Housing Development Fund program.

In the past year, numbers for monthly exits from the Cares Campus into permanent housing outside the compound have ranged from 38 last August to a low of 17 in February. Last month, it was at 19.

Cares Campus "unique clients" have been going down in recent months, from 1,323 last June to 797 this June.

Our Town Reno reporting, July 2025