This Is Reno Radio

Edward Coleman is the executive director of a new Reno nonprofit called the Black Community Collective. In today’s show we discuss why he started the collective and why it is needed in the greater Reno community.  We also discuss some of his recent efforts including his work on the City of Reno’s charter committee – and what he thought of how the Reno City Council responded to that committee’s pro...

The testimonials that Epic Brain Centers of Reno provide are hard to believe. Some of the anecdotes include those diagnosed with depression seeing results in few treatments. Other testimonials show people quickly recovering from conditions such as addiction and anxiety.  For this episode, I visited the Epic Brain Centers clinic in Reno. The clinic and the technology it uses are potentially revolut...

Lyndsey Langsdale helps to run the Reno Food Systems farm on Mayberry Drive. The nonprofit operation has been in business since 2018. For today’s show we talk with Lyndsey about her vision for the farm.  I visited Reno Food Systems in the fall as the farm was still harvesting produce, volunteers and staff were weeding and the farm was preparing for the winter.  Lyndsey describes the purpose of the...

One of the Reno area’s few substance use, and gambling, addiction treatment facilities is the Bristlecone Recovery Center. The nonprofit is named after bristlecone pine, a tree found in Nevada, Utah and California. The center uses this analogy: This remarkable tree can fully regenerate itself, even on the brink of death. Just like the Bristlecone Pine, the people who seek help at our facility for...

The Dutch Cycling Embassy came to Reno in September. They were here to discuss how the Netherlands became bike centric and to help the Biggest Little City’s cycling efforts. The Truckee Meadows Bicycle Alliance helped organize the Embassy’s visit. For this episode, we spoke with people who attended the Think Bike workshops, as well as members of the cycling embassy, including Margot Daris and Dick...

The heat of summer is one of the causes for why ducks and geese are dying at area ponds. In this show, we hear from a wildlife veterinarian  who explains why botulism is suspected in the regional water bodies, and how that is impacting waterfowl. We also hear from an advocate for local senior citizens. She said people were taken by surprise when they learned the city of Reno was making plans to le...

Dr. Susan Enfield has been in Reno for just short of two months, and already she is making changes to the Washoe County School District. As the new superintendent of schools, Enfield has generated optimism by saying in part she wants the district to own its mistakes and celebrate its successes. In this show, we chat with Enflield about the future of the district and what she hopes to accomplish. ...

If you’ve been to downtown Reno in the past few years, you have most likely seen the ambassadors in action. They wear blue shirts with the downtown Reno partnership logo and are often seen providing assistance to people. They are also charged with cleaning up downtown. That includes litter control, graffiti removal and weed abatement. The group touts major successes since the ambassadors began wor...

A man in a chicken outfit was recently protesting at U.S. Congressman Mark Amodei’s Reno office. He was one of about 20 who gathered in protest of an amendment by Amodei to the defense authorization bill in Congress.  The protesters said more than 350,000 acres transferred from federal ownership would devastate wildlife habitat and amount to a land and water grab. In this episode show we hear from...

The pandemic tore apart the ability for people to collaborate on music. But it also forced artists to work together in other ways. One local musician and educator seized the opportunity to change how music is written and performed.  Trombonist Paul Fleming started a new local nonprofit during the pandemic. Renew Music is seeking to present classical, brass and jazz in ways that are more accessible...

Fil Corbitt is one of Reno’s most talented and better known podcasters. In a recent episode of The Wind podcast, Fil explored last year’s decision by the city of Reno to ban whips from downtown. I speak with Fil in this episode about the ban and what they found.  Also, the Washoe County board of commissioners recently approved a resolution that grants the county manager the authority to provide co...

Public education is facing a protracted crisis. From lack of funding and bureaucracy to politicized attacks on teachers and staff, Washoe County, much like the rest of the country, is also no stranger to public education controversy. For this show, I spoke with Calen Evans. A ten-year teacher, he is now the president elect of the Washoe Education Association. That’s the group that represents more...

A recent public comment at a Reno City Council brought up an issue that took many people by surprise.   The reason: A residential psychiatric facility is opening in a Reno neighborhood. That is of course creating a lot of questions for nearby residents. But opposition to the facility also drew considerable negative responses. People commenting online condemned what they called NIMBY-ism and ableis...

Local business DJ Trivia has for nearly a decade been hosting games at local bars. But the City of Reno recently decided those games qualify as live entertainment.  As a result, a handful of bars have been forced to quit hosting the games – or get an expensive cabaret license. In this episode we hear from two of the business owners impacted by the city’s recent crackdown on trivia games.  Also: Th...

This Is Reno photojournalist Ty O’Neil recently returned from Ukraine where he was covering the conflict with Russia.  In this episode, we have a very special guest host. Lucia Starbuck interviews O’Neil about his recent visit to Ukraine to cover the Russian invasion. They discuss what he saw, the challenges he faced and how Ukrainians treated an independent journalist trying to cover the conflict...

Shouting, interruptions and threats marked a heated meeting of the Board of Regents on April first. The regents are the Nevada System of Higher Education’s governing board.  They met to approve a $610,000 severance with Chancellor Melody Rose. Rose wanted to leave her position as chancellor after she filed a voluminous complaint against certain regents. Regents argued and interrupted one another d...

Washoe County recently fended off a major proposal to overhaul election laws.  The resolution was advanced by County Commissioner Jeanne Herman, and it would have forced people off voter rolls if they did not vote, mandated hand counting of ballots and would have required armed government agents to oversee polling locations. The resolution was widely determined to be illegal, costly and unnecessar...

Reno’s Black Wall street was founded in 2020. The nonprofit was formed to meet the needs of black and underserved people of color in the Reno Sparks area.  The group is regularly hosting classes, outreach events and helping people in need. In this episode, three of the key people behind Black Wall Street Reno -- Chandra Mask, Romar Tolliver and Donald Griffin -- tell their story. This episode also...

Lauren Gorman is a federal public defender in Reno. Last year she battled the federal government and won. The case involved a man who illegally re-entered the United States from Mexico after having already been deported.  Gorman said the law criminalizing re-entry into the U.S. was based on blatant racism and violates the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment. The reason: The laws crimina...

The Truckee Meadows Public Lands Management Act is reportedly being drafted by U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen, and Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson says he’s pushing for the bill to get entered into Congress as early as this year.  The bill was discussed in early 2020 with a public meeting. Reception, however, was widely negative. In this episode, I interview Lawson about what has been happening with the bill.  T...

Housing issues continue to be a concern for many Reno residents. Reno’s cost of living continues to rise and some community leaders say something needs to be done. We went to the Economic Development Authority’s state of the economy event in January and heard more. This show features EDAWN’s Mike Kazmierski discussing housing and homeless issues. We also check in with a mental health expert who ha...

We recently spoke with the leading experts in the Washoe County community about the COVID-19 vaccines. This discussion dispels some of the myths about the vaccines as well as covers some information that is not yet known. Our panelists were:  Heidi Parker, executive director of Immunize Nevada where she leads and engages a diverse coalition of staff, volunteers, member organizations and funders so...

Former Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval took over as president of the University of Nevada last year and quickly made the decision to shut down much of the in-person instruction due to COVID-19. In this podcast, Jeri Davis and Bob Conrad ask Sandoval about what he’s been doing in the past six months as president, as well as his vision for the university’s future. He answers questions about some of t...

Reno historian, Dr. Alicia Barber, discusses with us some of the big development issues facing Reno, including what changes are planned for the Powning District. She writes The Barber Brief on Substack.

Cathy Woods spent more than 35 years in prison for a murder in Reno she did not commit. Michelle Mitchell, a University of Nevada student, was murdered just across from the UNR campus in 1976. Local prosecutors went after a woman named Cathy Woods as the main suspect. Three years after Mitchell’s murder, Woods confessed to the crime. However, she suffers from schizophrenia, and DNA evidence ultima...