Reno Discloses Sexting from Former City Code Enforcer, Current Trustee Alex Woodley's Official Phone

After seeking records of Alex Woodley’s City of Reno phone records for the past two years when he was Code Enforcement director, Our Town Reno received these screenshots in a redacted folder from what was his official phone, including one which appears to be of male genitalia.

We emailed Woodley, who is an elected Washoe County School Board Trustee for a comment, but did not hear back.

“Trustee Alex Woodley is a duly elected official,” Chad Hartley, from the Washoe County School District, wrote back to Our Town Reno when asked about this most recent development. “Any questions regarding his personal matters or any associated allegations need to be directed to him or his previous employer.”

The City of Reno says Woodley resigned earlier this month from the high level well paid job but did not give a reason why. Woodley had worked two decades with the city until his resignation and has served on multiple local boards. His last Transparent Nevada Reno salary in 2021 had him at over $238,000 in pay and benefits.

Woodley was elected to the Washoe County School Board of Trustees seat for District E in June after initially being selected to that seat to replace Angie Taylor who departed midterm several years ago.

Woodley’s LinkedIn now has him listed as retired. A week ago he wrote “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Retired at Freelance!” which got positive reactions from 77 people and 39 congratulatory comments.

Included in the information provided by the City of Reno were multiple videos of women dressed in racy outfits but without any audio.

There were also text messages, some of which were to arrange dates at local casinos during weekday daytime hours.

Woodley also exchanged texts related to his campaign for the Trustee position on his city phone.

Most of the photos provided to Our Town Reno were in a non redacted folder and consisted of photos documenting his work as director of code enforcement.

Several of the text messages appear to indicate city staff put pressure on Woodley to execute or dismiss certain actions to favor developers.

Our Town Reno has asked for additional text messages written between Woodley and a lawyer for Jacobs Entertainment to see if there was a pattern to impose code violations on motels which were then bought out and destroyed.

Our Town Reno reporting, October 2024

Cari-Ann Burgess Says She Was Ousted From Overseeing Elections in Washoe County

In a new twist, less than two weeks before Election Day, Cari-Ann Burgess has told the Associated Press she feels like she “was absolutely forced out, but I have no idea how we got to this point,” she said of no longer being in charge of the voting process in Washoe County.

In a Sept. 27 statement, Washoe County spokeswoman Bethany Drysdale had previously said Burgess had “experienced stress issues and requested medical leave,” while a spokesman for the county election office has since reiterated several times that Burgess had requested leave.

Burgess, who only started in the position in January in an interim capacity, is reported to have hired a lawyer for possible legal action.

“Because the previous Friday and Monday, before I was put on leave, I was having high praises,” she was quoted as saying in the Associated Press report. “They were like, ‘You’re doing a great job, you‘ve got this, you’re the best person for this job because you brought this team together.’ And then all of a sudden, I was out on leave.”

The report said she had refused personnel changes being sought by the county manager’s office to assign election staff to another department and then had offered to step down and return to her prior position as deputy, but was told that was not possible.

Then it indicated Burgess felt she was forced to put a request for leave in writing despite wanting to stay onboard.

“I wanted to stay and help this team,” Burgess was quoted as saying. “They have done so much and have done such amazing things in the last year that — yeah, I wanted to be part of it. And I wanted to help them, and they told me no.”

Burgess said she tried to return to the position, even getting a doctor’s note saying she was fine to work, but says county officials refused and that her status would be discussed after this election cycle.

The Registrar of Voters office has been under constant turnover and leadership changes over the past several years, in Washoe County the key swing county in a swing state, with tensions surrounding elections continuously ramping up.

Our Town Reno reporting, October 2024

Even Though Libertarians Say They Can’t Win, Their Candidates Could Still Be Spoilers

According to the most recent polling, Nevada’s Senate race between the favorite, Democratic incumbent Jacky Rosen and her challenger Republican Sam Brown, is tightening up, with the role of spoiler candidates increasingly coming into play.

One of those is Senate candidate Chris Cunningham, a libertarian in a state known for libertarian tendencies, such as legalizing gambling, weed and sex work.

However Cunningham himself, and Reno-based libertarians, some of whom didn’t even know of him, understand they can’t yet win elections, even if they might attract some support.

“Every year, we are the party that does have the most ballot access… to take down the duopoly, but we consistently don’t,” Cunningham said in an exclusive interview with the Reynolds Sandbox Nevada Vote initiative.

“It’s a little bit of a two-way street,” he said. “…A lot of people could say ‘Oh it’s strictly the candidates and bad messaging’… I think it’s a combination of both. I mean, clearly in a variety of different cases, I wish that the messaging for the party and the candidates could always be better.”

Cunningham then continued to describe how he personally experienced a lack of media exposure.

“There is no real spotlight shown on third party candidates,” he said.

Issues he feels he’s different from both mainstream Senate candidates include wanting to divest from both Israel and Ukraine.

“I think when it comes to the major party system,” he said, “they are key catalysts in shoeing the military-industrial complex, and a lot of them are in bed from a stock investment perspective… So there’s some clear literal invested interest on their end.”

Cunningham said that his reason for running is to challenge the two-party system, and give more options for voters. He described himself as a professional gamer, who runs a project called “US MK Racing” with participants travelling across the country to play Mario Kart.

Members of the Washoe County Libertarian Party (such as those pictured above) meet every other Friday at the Abby’s Highway 40 bar to discuss anything from politics to whatever is on their minds.

The music blared inside the dive bar, while people played pool in the background. Three Libertarians, all wearing checkered patterns, sat at a table in the corner.

In an interview with these individuals, they described why it is so hard for Libertarians to win votes.

“You cannot pin down a Libertarian,” the chairman of the Washoe County Libertarian Party Daryl Skubinna said. “This election is going to be fascinating because you’ll find Libertarians who vote for Chase Oliver, you’ll find Libertarians who vote for {Democratic Party candidate] Kamala [Harris], you’ll find Libertarians who vote for [Republican Party candidate Donald] Trump, you’ll find Libertarians who just won’t vote.”

Chase Oliver is the Libertarian presidential candidate. He is running with Mike Ter Maat. An Iowa newspaper recently described Oliver as “pro-gun, pro-police reform, pro-choice Libertarian” who is “armed and gay.”

Despite being Libertarians, the Washoe County members did not know much about Senate candidate Chris Cunningham who is based in Las Vegas, and didn’t seem to care much for the Libertarian presidential ticket.

Skubinna spent twenty years in the military and now works in IT with medical facilities. He put together this biweekly local event as a means of creating an atmosphere where “less-nerdy” Libertarians can have a voice at the table.

“I am not a fan of Chase Oliver,” James Polous said, showing dissension with his own party’s Libertarian candidate. Poulos works as a forklift mechanic and says that he does not vote Libertarian on everything. He looks at policies one by one.

The secretary of the Washoe County Libertarian Party, Katie Banuelos, a new stay-at-home mother, elaborated further on these concerns with Oliver.

“I am not a fan,” she said. “He himself is not an impressive person… He is very culturally left-wing… he did not stand up for Libertarian principles, and he’s kinda squishy. And the guy himself is kinda shitty. I am not a fan and I am not going to vote for him.”

She described what makes the Libertarian party so different from the other parties by saying that it is the only political party founded on principles.

After being interviewed, the three moved outside and huddled around a fire, looking cozy but not like a unified force about to win elections.

Reporting by Quay Skankey for Nevada Vote shared with Our Town Reno

Local Artists Filling the Walls with Art and Love Around Reno

The motion of drawing sketches or writing stories in class was something Hosway Valadaze commonly did while attending O’Brien Middle School when he was a student there himself. However, there wasn’t much of an outlet for students interested in art. 

Around 2016, he became the new art teacher for the school and was shocked when he walked into the art room to see empty walls. 

“It was whack, there wasn’t anything on the walls,” Valadez said. “I said this is the most uninspiring room ever. I was like, yeah, I gotta do something about that.”

Valadaze began thinking of people he could invite to help brighten up the room. He couldn’t pay anyone, but he figured offering food and drinks would get the job done.

He messaged two good friends, Chris Kepley and Doomed Movement, both local artists. From there, they continued to reach out to other artists they knew, and over a dozen local artists came out to paint murals inside the school this summer.

Spraying different colors onto a bright orange wall, Doomed Movement created a gumball machine character right by the entrance, hoping to bring some smiles to the students. 

“I'm gonna do a gumball machine because I had this old Jelly Belly thing in my garage,” Doomed said. “So I made a character out of it and just hope the kids laugh and like it, it’s colorful.”

Kepley painted a cartoon-styled girl taking off a mask, with imagination flowing out of her head.

After another artist brushed on paint to create an abstract piece nearby, Kepley said it turned into an amazing collaboration. 

“He kind of merged his onto mine and it connects,” Kepley said. “It just fills the space really nice and looks really great, it holds the inspiration towards more creative work.”

All three artists are working on new, separate projects to boost the community. Valadaze is working on reviving an old project called Animarte, an art and music nonprofit to help underserved communities experience different art scenes.

It began in 2018, and every week there would be a different class taught by someone in the community. 

 When the Covid-19 lockdown hit, they’d deliver art kits to the kids so they could still participate on Zoom. 

After that, Valadaze and Doomed continued the project with something called Art in the Park, where different members of the community would travel to different local parks to teach kids different art projects. 

“We would do graffiti with the kids or we'd have a drum circle setup, or some kids would be able to paint their own little clay pot and then plant a plant in it and then learn about it from like one of our people so I'm trying to revive that,” Valadaze said.

Valadaze is working with his wife to revive the project, who travels back and forth from Mexico to make her own tortillas. The goal is for that to become a source of income for a community center, or at least the project they’re reviving.

“We're just trying to plan different seeds and watching them grow and prosper into something beautiful that goes and gives back to the community,” Valadaze said. “Whether we’re feeding their creative Spirit or just their actual bellies.”

Doomed Movement is looking to paint murals at different schools around the area. He was awarded a grant to paint one at a school he lives by, but the project fell through. 

“If anybody wants murals and no cost to you at your school, they can happen or they can make it happen quick, you got it,” Doomed said. 

Kepley is working on funding a project at the Reno Generator on Oddie Boulevard. He discovered free walls around the building and wanted to create a graffiti and mural park. 

Kepley is paying out of his own pocket to get the area set up so that more local artists can share their work.

“I wanted to bring something back because I feel like graffiti is art culture,” Kepley said. “The murals in this town are beautiful too. I do wish to see more local artists get work here though because there are so many talented people here.”

Kepley also wants to invite locals to come out to the site, either to help with the labor or just to get inspired for the location's future. 

“If anyone is interested in joining that labor or just wants to be a resident artist we can get you, the plans are kind of tenuous at this point in time,” Kepley said. “All we got to do is build first and then we'll just start having events, graffiti battles. I don't know. It's just, it's ambitious.”

All three artists offered advice to young or inspiring artists in the Reno community. 

Kepley said the only way you’ll succeed is if you fail, and you have to be OK with that.

“You absolutely have to make a bunch of garbage-looking stuff and move on and when you have good stuff don't celebrate move on because the next thing you know, you're dropping like the giant painting that you didn't know you could do,” he said.

Valadaze wants people to know it’s OK to mess up as well, as long as you’re trying. Surrounding yourself with inspirational people is going to help, too. 

“So many students, they're just shy to share their work and I look at something like you know that so sick,” Valadaze said. “You could just see them like oh damn. Okay, like all right, somebody acknowledges this kind of dope. Okay, because it's just that lack of courage that they have. So I'm just hoping I inspire them.”

Doomed kept it simple, saying in his words that he doesn’t care what others think. Do what you enjoy, and respect each other, especially here in Reno. 

“Post it. Don't post it, who cares,” Doomed said. “Leave what you did the day before in the past and keep moving forward, and a note on Reno, Reno is tight. So be kind to each other we can help each other out so much,” he concluded.

Our Town Reno reporting by Dominic Gutierrez

Bass Camp and its President Prepare Defense Against Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

A case making its way through the California court system is called John Doe v. Bass Camp Festival, which had a major event this past July in downtown Reno. 

It names its president Paul Reder, Nick Rogers who works for Appliance Educator, Matthew Stegemiller, Carolyn Weiner and Phyllis Weiner.

After seeking comment from Bass Camp, this statement was released via email: “We were recently made aware of an alleged incident from over a decade ago by a former employee. And while we will not comment on active litigation, we can say that we are preparing a full-fledged legal defense to vindicate all defendants on the merits.”

According to the EDM Identity website the lawsuit alleges Reder sex trafficked a minor more than a decade ago after meeting him on a dating app, allegedly driving him from California to Lake Tahoe in Nevada, and according to that website quoting the lawsuit “forcibly performed oral sex on him after giving him cannabis and alcohol.”

The article says that starting in 2013 this person started working the box office at Bass Camp Festival and other similar events, and was provided 21+ wristbands and alcohol even though he was not of age. 

It goes on to say that the John Doe filing the lawsuit had multiple health problems because of the alleged relationship with Reder, and that other people named as defendants enabled this allegedly abusive behavior.

The complaint, which was filed on August 9 by Derek Smith Law Group, according to the EDM Identity website “invokes the Trafficking Victims’ Protection Act and Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act when substantiating its violations. It also alleges that the defendants committed sexual battery, sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. It seeks damages in an amount to be determined in future proceedings.”

We will update this story when we get more information.  

Our Town Reno reporting, October 2024

Our Town Reno Gets In-Depth Explanation on How Ballots will be Counted in Washoe County

With high early voting turnout this weekend, and thousands of mail-in ballots being sent in, with many voters deciding to bring their own ballots personally to the Registrar of Voters office on 9th street or at drop boxes at the two dozen early voting centers plus two other locations, new systems and procedures are being put to the test in Washoe County, a swing county in a swing state where in recent election cycles vote counting has gone slower than hoped for.

In terms of early voting, voters are using a new VREMS or Voter Registration and Election Management System, which centralizes voter data across the state, to ensure no one is double-voting and speed up any problems with signature verification, with digital poll pad check-ins.  

A spokesman for the Washoe County Registrar of Voters George Guthrie recently gave our photographer Kia Rastar a tour of the county’s central ballot processing room where mail in ballots were going through the preparatory stages of being counted.

Guthrie said there are about 18 Registrar of Voters employees being helped by staff from other county departments.

"Every morning at 7 ish, 8 o'clock ish, we'll go to the post office … and we'll deliver those ballots here," Guthrie said of mail-in ballots.

These first go through a mail ballot sorter, as a digital check-in.  

"It scans it and provides a picture of that envelope. From there, it'll then sort them into a variety of different pockets, precincts. And from there, we will take it out and then we have to signature verify it. So signature verifying, we're taking that signature on the outside of your envelope and we're comparing it to what you have on record. When you register to vote, you signed a paper and that's how we can verify that you are who you say you are when you sent in that mail ballot," he explained in detail. 

The mail ballot sorter does have the software capability of doing automatic signature verification, but "it's a small minority that actually will pick up with that because most people's signatures are not pixel perfect. So then it has to go to a human, which the human will then do that signature verification. If it passes, then it will go on to batching where we're now, putting it in batches of 50, and those batches of 50 will stay together throughout the rest of the process."

Guthrie then showed the extraction process and machine for that. "We feed the ballots through. An operator essentially is just quickly removing the ballot from the envelope, separating them, then we'll do another count. From there, now that we've got the actual ballots outside the envelope, we've got actual votes," he said, next moving on to the scanners.  

"Essentially, it's just scanning those results in. It's not counting anything yet. We're just getting those results. We're just getting those votes so that way they can be tallied and tabulated on election night," he said.  

"There's a couple different steps in between, like what happens if the signature doesn't match up. Well, then we have to challenge it, and the voter needs to cure their signature or cure their ballot. Happens a couple different ways. They can call our office. They can come down," he said. "We've got a couple different things on the phone. They can go online. There's a lot of different options. They essentially have to prove to us that they are who they say they are when they send in this ballot because that signature didn't match."

Other stations for ballots in question are for what’s called duplication and adjudication. 

"Let's say you have a ballot and you just absolutely dunked it in coffee, and it's ruined. It's soggy. It's really, not a viable ballot anymore, but you send it anyways… It's not gonna go through our scanners. It does have problems, but that's okay because we have this process called duplication,” he explained. 

“We'll essentially take this ruined, whether it's coffee dunk[ed], maybe it's ripped or torn or just crumpled up, we’ll take that ballot, and we'll actually duplicate it into a fresh new ballot for you that is then workable in the scanners. We have a team that sits there, evaluates what you wanted to vote, and they both confirm, okay, this is what you wanted to vote for, and then they put it on a new ballot for you to be processed.”

Guthrie then went on to detail what happens in case of adjudication. 

“Adjudication is where if you took that black pen and you filled it out for one candidate and then you went, oh, wait a second, I don't want that, and then you filled out another one, and then you go, oh, wait a second I didn't want that. Now you're crossing them out and you're trying, you're trying to say, No. No. No. I really, really wanted this person. You're pointing all these arrows to this box. Right? It happens. That is something that because when we scan them, it recognizes that there are marks in multiple ovals. And so then we have to bring it to adjudication where we'll have a team again, a bipartisan team where they have to sit there and go, okay, which one did they really wanna vote for?”

Guthrie said in all they might possibly be dealing with a quarter million ballots, which when not going through the process are safely kept.  

“Washoe County's facility here is rather small. Again, everything happens in this one room. So when a mail [ballot] gets sent in, it is going to stay here. We even have our back section here, which we call the ballot cage. It's quite literally a a chain link fence with wires and locks. That is where all of our ballots get stored. And when they're not actively being processed, they're in there in storage.”

Guthrie said starting Monday the new phase will begin. “It started since the very first ballot that we got. We have to get them into the process. October 21st is when we can actually start opening those. But until then, we can still run them through this order. We can still get them signature verified. We can get them prepared as much as we can and get them as far along in the process. So that way, when election night comes on November 5th, we can then hit that button, get all those results out, and have everyone be happy.”

There’s also a map now with estimated wait times at all polling centers which can be found here: https://gis.washoecounty.us/agolHost?id=pwt

Early voting ends Friday November 1st. Election Day is November 5 with voting centers open from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. while ballots sent through the mail using USPS must be received by 5 p.m. on the fourth day following the election and must be postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted.  

Our Town Reno reporting and photos by Kia Rastar

An evening striving for the middle — Rival Second District Congressional Candidates Face Off in Carson City

In an old church turned community arts center, a night of marked civility and cordiality unfolded between long time Republican incumbent Mark Amodei and the upstart challenger, Greg Kidd, who says he wants to bring more innovation to Nevada. 

Yesterday evening around 200 people poured into the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall in Carson City for a candidate forum between Amodei, first elected to the House of Representatives for the northern Nevada district in 2011, and nonpartisan Greg Kidd.

The event was moderated by KUNR Purple Politics’ Lucia Starbuck and marked the finale in a series of forums put on by the League of Women Voters of Northern Nevada, Sierra Nevada Forums, and the AAUW Capital NV Branch. 

From pews turned into seating, audience members were able to write questions on index cards to be hand delivered by volunteer high school students to be read and asked by the moderator. 

In his opening statements, Amodei highlighted his proud Nevada heritage, having spent “a lifetime of living in Nevada.”

Kidd is a tech entrepreneur and Bay Area transplant who relocated to Tahoe in 2020. Kidd came out of the gate with a swift rebuttal to Amodei, asking the crowd “Show of hands in the audience how many folks here weren’t born in Nevada?” A sea of hands shot up. Kidd went on to say he was not born here, but instead chose to move here, going on to say Nevada is an exceptional state.

The moderator Starbuck followed these opening remarks with a question addressing the recent ballot misprints in Carson City and a question about Question 7.  A yes on 7 would amend the constitution “to require that Nevada residents present a form of photo identification to verify their identity while voting in person, or to verify their identity using the last four digits of their drivers license or social security number when voting by mail.”

Amodei was in favor, while Kidd was against. Still, Amodei assured that there are no problems with election integrity in Nevada, chalking up mistakes and misprints to nothing more than human error. Kidd talked about the philosophy of voting “being the bedrock foundation of this country.”

Starbuck moved the conversation to ask how each candidate will reach across the aisle to create bipartisan solutions.

Amodei replied first citing specific examples in which he has worked with Democrats such as former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as well as different red and blue administrations alike to get work done in Congress. He said, “this is about getting the right thing done, not about getting wins for donkeys or elephants.”

This theme from Amodei of reaching across the aisle to get work done and be balanced came up throughout the night. He said, “so I've been accused by both sides, you know, and in the primaries, I'm a RINO (Republican in Name Only). And in the generals I'm a MAGA Republican. And so you must be doing something right in terms of hitting the balance or something like that.”  He made the point that it is important to do what is right, not necessarily follow along party lines. 

Kidd responded by harkening back to the past when “the most liberal Republican and the most conservative Democrat overlapped and that was called the middle.” Kidd went on to paint a picture of a future where that is possible again to work beyond party lines. 

He also highlighted his previous work as a senior analyst in Washington, D.C., for  the Federal Reserve which he said operated in a bipartisan way to get things done. He assured he would continue to do “what’s good for America, good for Nevada, and good for this district.”

As the forum unfolded there were a few marked differences that came up between the two, including in terms of housing and Question 6, with a yes providing for a state constitutional right to an abortion.

When asked about solving the housing crisis,  Amodei responded that 85 percent of land in Nevada is owned by the federal government, and proposed that some of this land be transferred to municipalities for development. He went on to say this could be done through a proposed Lands Bill, now making its way slowly through Congress, which if passed would “provide for the designation, withdrawal, conveyance, exchange, sale, or disposal of certain lands in Nevada. Specifically, the bill permits the conveyance of federal lands to specified counties and cities, and to the Incline Village General Improvement District, for public purposes and economic development.”

Kidd responded by thanking Amodei for the legislation he had worked on, but instead of highlighting getting some of the 85 percent of federal land in Nevada transferred to developers, he focused on fixing the “blight” in downtown Reno to create local affordable housing in urban centers.

Both candidates agreed there needs to be affordable housing, but their strategies to achieve it showed marked differences. Amodei focused on addressing the federal debt as well as supply chain issues and costs of construction and said it’s an “all hands on deck” situation. Kidd instead highlighted the local mining to production lithium loop and plans to help all Nevadans profit from its mineral resources “long after the lithium was gone.” He proposed having a permanent fund to go towards easing housing access, like mineral rich places such as Alaska and Norway have developed.

Soon came the big question about access to reproductive healthcare and reproductive rights such as access to abortion and IVF. Kidd responded with a resounding yes that he supported a woman’s right to choose and didn’t think that this should be left up to the states. He went on to reference his teenage daughters and their mother who is an OB-GYN, saying this was a dinner table topic for them.

“I don't think women's healthcare should be a zoning issue and I do believe that should be resolved at the federal government,” he said, to which the audience erupted in a loud applause. This seemed like a defining moment in the night, where the audience broke the rule to hold all applause until the end. After the applause settled he said, “So I will always stand up for women's health because I think it's the right thing to do, and my teenage daughters will kick my ass.”

Amodei countered this by saying that it should be in the hands of Nevada voters, and that the 49 other states should not decide on what Nevada voters should be allowed to do. “There has been no problem in Nevada since Nevada – this is an important phrase – Nevada voters said what they wanted the rule to be in Nevada, 24 weeks, you don’t need a reason,” Amodei said. 

Questions continued and covered topics such as climate change, misinformation, and access to healthcare in rural Nevada. Both candidates responded cordially and on many instances yielded their time, and on a few occasions laughter was heard from both candidates and the crowd. 

Reporting by Kat Fulwider for Nevada Vote shared with Our Town Reno

UNR Student Veterans Feel Mostly Forgotten During this Election Cycle

Eric Perez and Dan Mariani report from the Veteran and Military Center on campus, where opinions differ but there’s consensus on feeling mostly ignored in terms of their post service challenges when it comes to current political discussions.

On the third floor of the William Pennington Student Center, at the University of Nevada, Reno, military veterans gather to assist each other with their college assignments and general morale. Like in other campus spots, the upcoming elections can be a topic of discussion.

With students a key demographic in a swing county in a swing state, NevadaVote reporters found student veterans to be diverse in their views, but generally disappointed that their particular challenges aren’t being significantly addressed.

“I am going to vote for Kamala Harris, more so the vote doesn’t go in the other direction,” Mackenzie a former Army combat medic said. Mackenzie, originally from Oregon, who only wanted to give her fist name came to UNR for both its criminal justice program and its relative closeness to friends and family.

The Veteran and Military Center is a home away from home for her, a place on campus to support the transition of military-connected students.

With the walls decorated with military memorabilia and flags, this is where student veterans relax and study with others who have also served. Oftentimes, the transition to becoming a college student can be seen as a challenge, as veterans still possess some military traits or carry baggage from that past.

At UNR, there are over 600 students reported to be benefiting from the G.I. Bill, which is a law started in 1944 that provides assistance to veterans in covering their costs of school and training after their service. This would put student veterans at roughly 3% of the student body.

“With Kamala, she’s been very vocal with the core things of what she wants to focus on,” Mackenzie said. “And I really support how she wants to get more on the educational side of things and work with the homeless and mental health issues across the nation. I think it’s time to have a woman in office beyond a vice president.”

For Riley McDonald, a former Marine Corps air crewman working to check in students into the center, his answer to who he was voting for was blunt, “Trump” he shared.

“Election security because I don’t care on [which] side, people are on their shenanigans from both,” McDonald responded when asked about his top issue.

“Then probably my biggest thing voting towards would be the economy and then the wonderful wars people keep trying to get us involved with,” he said sarcastically.

A third student, an army medic who served a deployment in Iraq, said he’s never voted, and in all likelihood wouldn’t this election cycle either. He didn’t want his name used but accepted to be interviewed.

“Never voted,” he said. “ Never did it because I never really cared that much about who is president. I don’t think who the president is has that big of an impact on me for me to want to fill out paperwork and wait in line.”

For him to vote, he’d have to be “really swayed for someone.”

“Even if it was an issue I cared about like mental health, I don’t think that I would care for the government putting money into it, because I’m not huge on the government fixing stuff… because I don’t even think that the money the government gets for those issues fixes it that much,” he said.

The UNR veterans were also asked if the veteran status of the vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and J.D Vance, factored into their voting decision-making process. Walz served and finished his twenty years in the National Guard in the artillery unit, but re-enlisted for four more additional years after 9/11. He spent one year in Italy to assist with the Afghanistan War. Vance served four years in the Marine Corps. He served as a military journalist in the public relations department and deployed for six months in Iraq.

“I will honestly say that there’s not enough of a sway for somebody to have military experience that would make me lean towards them or be the final straw that puts my vote towards them,” Mackenzie said. “I think there’s a totality of the whole person that we have to really remember when we’re electing somebody”

“It doesn’t really sway me,” McDonald said. “Only in the event of you lying about what you’ve done is when I take issue to it… It’s cool that they did it [served] and it gets you a little points, but I care more about policy and what people actually plan on doing,” McDonald said.

“Honestly not really. Them being a veteran doesn’t really … you know… I think what they do in the job that they’re in makes a bigger difference,” the former medic said.

When asked about veteran benefits and if veteran issues were being addressed this election cycle, both Mackenzie and McDonald expressed discontentment.

Veterans are eligible for various benefit programs from health care, to disability compensation, and housing assistance, to name a few. Current benefits vary from veteran to veteran, but many complain of the United State Department of Veteran Affairs having backlogged claims, unnecessarily long wait times, and a lack of comprehensive mental health services.

“Presidential-wise they really haven’t brought that [veteran benefits] up. I know Vance and Walz tried to bring that up during their debate, but the wonderful debates go how they go. They don’t really talk about anything,” said McDonald.

“Homelessness and mental health issues are one of the main issues that the veteran community deals with, and as much as we want to say that there are programs available, there just isn’t enough funding for a lot of these programs or there’s not enough space to be effective,” Mackenzie said.

Inside the memorabilia filled Veteran and Military Center, nothing appears to be a political flag or promoting one political affiliation over the other, symbolic of the unifying nature of service.

Reporting by Eric Perez and Dan Mariani for Nevada Vote shared with Our Town Reno

New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Gigafactory Coming to Stead

San Jose-based startup Lyten today said it would invest more than $1 billion to build the world’s first lithium-sulfur battery gigafactory at the AirLogistics Park on land owned by the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority in Stead to produce up to 10 GWh of batteries annually.

The facility initially will create 200 jobs, with plans to grow to more than 1,000 local jobs.

“Today is the latest milestone in Lyten’s nine-year history. Lithium-sulfur is a leap in battery technology, delivering a high energy density, light weight battery built with abundantly available local materials and 100% U.S. manufacturing,” Dan Cook, Lyten Co-Founder and CEO said.

“Nevada is emerging as a key hub for U.S. battery manufacturing, and Lyten’s choice to build the world’s first lithium-sulfur battery gigafactory here underscores the strategic advantages our state offers to leading tech companies,” said Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo. “With our robust infrastructure and skilled workforce, Nevada is well-positioned for continued growth and job creation well into the future.”

Automakers are increasingly looking for alternative technologies to make more affordable power sources for electric vehicles.

Production is scheduled to start in 2027. The company says lithium-sulfur cells have high energy density, which could make it up to 40% lighter than lithium-ion cells. The new batteries could also be sold for drones, micromobility, space and defense markets.

Some environmentalists warn the energy intensive extraction of lithium can deplete water resources and impact local ecosystems, as one ton requires 500,000 liters of water, while leading to air and water pollution, land degradation and potential groundwater contamination.

Our Town Reno reporting, October 2024

Looking into School Board Trustee Alex Woodley's Sudden Departure from City Job

As long-time City of Reno employee Alex Woodley suddenly left his well-paid position last week, we’ve made a request for information for his resignation letter, the alleged insubordination which led to the alleged discovery of improper text messages from his city phone, as well as for his text messages themselves.

His last Transparent Nevada record had him at a Code Enforcement director salary of over $169,000, surpassing $238,000 with benefits. Woodley’s LinkedIn still had himself in that position even though the City of Reno confirmed he is no longer employed by the city.

Reporting by Picon Press found his name came up when Maureen McKissick, a former assistant to the city manager, was deposed in June 2018 in a case against the City of Reno, filed with a former communications director, which was eventually settled for $300,000.

McKissick quotes Mayor Hillary Schieve as saying her assistant at the time Madeline Burak, now Madeline Armstrong working with the Office of Governor Joe Lombardo, had shown her messages she had received from Woodley, “which were way over the line in terms of being explicit and suggestive, and Madeline didn’t know how to handle it, and the mayor was very, very upset by this.”

We reached out to Armstrong about this but did not hear back. Woodley has not responded to our email asking for comment about this matter.

In the next part of her testimony, McKissick said two days after that councilwoman Naomi Duerr came in tears concerning information about allegations of sexual harassment against then city manager, now Vice President of Administration and Finance at UNR, Andrew Clinger. The Reno City Council terminated Clinger in 2016 with a $228,000 severance package, and found in its own funded investigation there had been a hostile work environment under his watch, but not enough evidence to substantiate sexual harassment.

Woodley was elected to the Washoe County School Board of Trustees seat for District E in June after initially being selected to replace Angie Taylor several years ago.

When asked if they had concerns about this situation, the Washoe County School District said we should write to the City of Reno, which suggested we file the public records request.

We will update if we receive more interesting information. If you have any information you’d like to share, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Our Town Reno reporting, October 2024

A co-owner of Eden Defends Club’s Reputation Ahead of New Hearing Wednesday

One of the co-owners of the embattled Eden nightclub is fighting back, vowing his establishment will remain open, despite allegations against the safety of operations there and a city imposed suspension.

“I understand people’s perspective and I get some of the outrage, but I just want to be treated fairly,” Wolfgang Welch wrote to us on Instagram. “I mean in the memo that went to the news article they listed sex trafficking and drug trafficking. I asked about this in our [initial] hearing and their response was they weren’t accusing us of this but we have a number of “pimps”, prostitutes and drug dealers in our establishment. When I asked who they were they declined to answer and refused to give me their names to prevent entry, I mean what am I supposed to?”

Welch was referring to a 30-day suspension started in late September after a report was issued by Reno PD concerning the Thursday to Sunday early morning nightclub on West 2nd street, as Our Town Reno previously reported.

A new hearing is scheduled for Wednesday via Zoom.  

“We were given a list of conditions to complete and this hearing is to determine if we have been making attempts to complete said conditions,” Welch wrote.  “On one hand we aren’t denying that things have happened nor are we trying to absolve ourselves of blame. We do have a responsibility,” he added.

Welch says there’s a petition created by a staff member which has gathered about 200 signatures from people who want to see the Eden remain open.

Concerning repeated testimony of a drunk employee crashing into cars in the club’s parking lot while trying to leave, Welch wrote:  “The individual was suspended, put on a no drinking restriction, she was no longer allowed to hang out after her shifts, she also made formal apologies to the people’s vehicles, but there was no damage to any vehicles so payment wasn’t required.”

Welch said she had been told not to leave until she sobered up, but despite this he says she sneaked out the back door.  After the crash, her keys were taken from her and she was given an Uber ride home. 

Welch also commented on former employees alleging there was heavy drug use by staff which involved bringing customers with them into downstairs areas: “Nightlife, especially in Reno, has an element of drugs from marijuana to Molly to cocaine and everything in between,” he wrote. “Now our stance is that we do not condone nor to do we support drug use. We’ve all had a number of friends pass away from overdoses and irresponsibility. However I would be naive to think that people don’t go into our bathrooms and take drugs. We have multiple cameras in our downstairs and have fired people for drug use but it is not a common occurrence for staff to do drugs downstairs.”

There was one arrest Welch says while police did a walk through inside the club and an individual was found with two lines of cocaine on their phone in a club bathroom. 

“We encourage people to not do it, however we’d be naive in saying it never happens,” Welch said. “I have heard similar allegations of staff taking people downstairs and drugs being distributed, however I’ve been unable to verify drug use. In most cases staff have taken friends and family downstairs to give them a break from what is happening upstairs. We maintain we do not condone or support drug use from happening.”

Like other businesses in higher crime areas, Welch says owners shouldn’t be blamed for where their entity is located.

“Now there is a serious problem downtown, however that problem has existed long before our business. PD has taken resources to investigate a number of situations, however every single issue that was been reported, has happened outside of our building,” he wrote.

Welch said looking through records himself he saw no increase or decrease in crime from before when the Fusion Bar and Hookah Lounge was at the same location, and that since Eden has been suspended, nearby businesses reported a fight and potential shooting.   

Welch also indicated the only sexual assault reported to club owners was an incident with a couple who got into an argument in their parking lot.

“From our understanding and knowledge there is no other sexual assault that has happened as a result of attending our club,” he wrote. “Because they were in a relationship the arrested party was charged with domestic violence. Most violent crimes that have happened happen adjacent to our property, and while we’ve tried and have been successful to break up fights that happen downtown it is not our job to police the streets. Our patrons for the majority of the time have been completely safe. Our staff included.”

Welch lists himself on LinkedIn as a “nightlife expert,” with years working in the service industry from restaurants to nightclubs.  

The 2010 City College of San Francisco Associate’s degree graduate has been co-owner of the Eden Management Group since November 2022, with previous jobs as Assistant General Manager at Peppermint Hippo Reno and service manager at Platinum Dolls.  

Our Town Reno reporting, October 2024

What Do Reno Trump Supporters Want the U.S. to Look Like in Four Years Time?

Northern Nevadans welcomed Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump to the Grand Sierra Resort Casino on Friday for an evening campaign rally.

Tired and hot, supporters stood in a line that snaked through the casino halls and anxiously waited to see if they would be lucky enough to see Trump up close. Turnout exceeded the venue’s capacity, forcing many who had arrived in the early afternoon to watch from an alternate location on a video board rather than getting a spot in the main ballroom to witness Trump’s speech firsthand.

Supporters in line and in the viewing room were asked one question: What would you like to see our country and the world look like in four years time? Here is how they answered:

Paul, 53, Director for a telecom company

“Looks like a family reunion. That means, just like you see everybody coming here, all different shades and colors and nationalities and genders and everything, you know, we’re coming here for a cause and I think that when we realize that we have power in just this right here, unity, we don’t need any one politician to do anything, we can actually do it for ourselves, you know, so hopefully, we realize the power we have … and we start coming together again, where the neighborhood raises the children type of thing. And we can do it, and this is proven, you know, I mean the culture has definitely changed and we just need to rewrite the definition of what the future looks like now because we could take what we learned in the past and make it even better and just rewrite what freedom looks like today in 2024.”

Sandy, 65, Daycare teacher

“Closed borders, prosperity for America, and US citizens being number one in America. That’s [the] most important. We should always be number one in our country. So, it’s like, I know some things happened to me where I felt like I was the foreigner coming into my homeland, and I don’t like that. So yeah, I say closed borders and Trump as our president.”

Jacob, 21, Mechanic

“Yeah, so obviously, I think the last four years the American dream has been dead. I would like to, the next couple years, own a house, which has been pretty difficult in the economy we’re currently in. Obviously no new wars. I think peace is good, you know, throughout the world. Definitely bring back American jobs rather than having them overseas and what not. Bring, you know, instead of all the foreign spending of money, invest that in veterans, and schools, teachers, stuff like that, and just more affordability for, you know, economy wise, food, housing, all that kind of stuff.”

Dionicio, 22, no profession

“Well, I want to see no new wars. I want to see a sealed border. I want to see a good majority of the illegal immigrants kicked out of our country. Oh, I want our economy to be booming. I want us to be respected on the world stage. And, I want to make America great again.”

Kailey, 19, soon to be a Chick-fil-A employee interested in pursuing film production

“In four years time definitely cheaper, a lot cheaper, because when Trump was president, even though I was still a kid at that point and couldn’t vote, it was still a lot cheaper for my parents and I know it’s a lot harder for my family and most of the people I’ve talked to, to afford things, so that’s definitely one big thing, and then probably the second thing I would say is more unity. I think as a country we’re pretty divided and we’re just attacking each other, so, I think to see, you know, all of us together, whether we’re Republicans or Democrats or neither, to just be more peaceful and, you know, like each other more.”

Cynthia, 71, educator for 30 years

“I’d like to see no wars. Everyone have opportunity for economic advancement. I’d like to see crime lower. I’d like to see children not being abused. I’d like to see people united, and people patriotic for America, and not be so divided and hateful. No hate.”

Carlos, 21, entrepreneur

“Well, what I want to see is that we actually help our people. I don’t know if you just saw the devastation with Hurricane Helene and stuff... All I want is just to help our people, I don’t want any more lives to be going away, especially that they died from a flooding. I can’t even imagine dying from that. So all I want is just a better life, it used to be the American dream and I just want that possible again.”

Reporting by Piper Heath for Nevada Vote shared with Our Town Reno

City of Reno: Decision on Eden's Fate Will be Made at Upcoming Hearing

While Our Town Reno is receiving new allegations concerning unsafe conditions in and around the currently closed Eden Nightclub on W. 2nd street, the City of Reno says a hearing officer will determine the establishment’s fate at a follow up hearing.

A City of Reno communications staff texted Our Town Reno today indicating: “The City of Reno reviewed multiple complaints and noted several violations, citations, and other safety concerns and issued a notice for a Show Cause Hearing. A hearing officer ordered Eden Nightclub to close for 30 days due to these issues, which were heard during the hearing. The closure went into effect on September 22, 2024. Eden Nightclub has a follow-up hearing scheduled to verify compliance with the violations and ensure the safety issues have been addressed before the end of the 30-day suspension.”

There have been posts on social media indicating Eden will be forced to close their doors permanently, which we have been unable to confirm.

Our Town Reno has received multiple testimonies from former staff saying their colleagues often acted irresponsibly, from one of them crashing a car while intoxicated into two others in the parking lot to allegedly doing drugs inside even though the very same people had sent group chats prohibiting drug use while on the job.  Others said there were constant fights and a feeling every night on the job there could put their own safety in jeopardy. 

Over the summer, police surveilled the area and conducted undercover operations after a complaint was made over repeated crimes involving weapons, underage patrons, hit and run crashes and at least one sexual assault.

Eden staff is being required to improve its training and security standards as well as the location’s design, as having the alley door as a primary exit was deemed problematic.

Our Town Reno reporting, October 2024

Missing from the City of Reno website: Alex Woodley

Now missing from the City of Reno website is the employee page for the now apparently former Director of Parking and Code Enforcement Alex Woodley.

When clicking on it it goes to Page Not Found and an “Oops! We can’t seem to find that page.”

When looking into this situation, and reaching out to different people in the community, several people told Our Town Reno there have been allegations of misuse of his city phone for personal reasons.

We asked the City of Reno media line about this, but they did not get back to us. We’ve also requested to see his text messages with that phone since it is public information as it’s a city phone.

At 2:30 p.m., the City of Reno wrote back: "Alex Woodley tendered his resignation from the City of Reno, effective October 9, 2024. The City declines to comment on confidential personnel matters."
We reached out to Alex Woodley by email to discuss these allegations and his status with the City of Reno but he has not replied.

In the code of conduct for Reno employees, it’s stated that “a public officer, public appointee or city employee shall not use governmental time, property, equipment or other facility for a nongovernmental purpose or to benefit his or her interests.” It goes on have a caveat if “the use does not create the appearance of impropriety,” but those who spoke with us indicated this was allegedly a case of impropriety.

In June, Woodley received over 52% of the vote for the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees District E, retaining the seat outright.

He was first selected to that position after a special meeting in late 2022 to replace former trustee Angela Taylor, when she left the position after being elected to the Nevada State Assembly. In that process Woodley was chosen over two women who were finalists.

We called Victoria Campbell who works in communications for the school district about this situation, who told us she was on vacation. She then told us to call Chad Hartley, to whom we left a message, waiting for a response.

We will keep looking into this situation and update when we get more information.
Our Town Reno reporting, October 2024

“Coach” Tim Walz Makes Stop in Reno to Boost Democratic Chances

“I can’t wait to see the coach,” Frances Kaupp, a retiree said as Democratic Party supporters lined up several hours before Minnesota Governor and vice presidential nominee Tim Walz took the stage at the Grand Sierra Resort on Tuesday night.

Supporters often refer to Walz as “coach” as he was a high school teacher who coached football before becoming a congressman in 2007 and a governor in 2019.

Vice President Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate in August, bypassing more conventional choices.

“Women’s rights are the most important subject for me, and it’s not just reproductive rights because I see the backward motion of what’s happening now, and I’m wondering what rich white men are going to take away from women,” Kaupp said, explaining her support for the Harris-Walz ticket.

Their opponent former Republican President Donald Trump appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 had established the constitutional right to an abortion.

Despite voting since 1964, this is the first election Kaupp says she has put a political sign in her yard to show her support and beliefs.

Debbie Dahlstrom, a local resident, poses with a Harris Walz poster. Picture by Jace Ouchida

“I would love to see an administration that is respectful, that respects the people who live in this country and respects other people as well,” said Debbie Dahlstrom, another attendee. “I want to vote for somebody that we can respect because we know that the other person has no respect for anybody.”

As an avid reader, Dahlstrom found that this political cycle drew parallels to Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here. The novel chronicles a demagogue’s election to the presidency on a patriotic platform. Once elected, the president takes over the government and implements his totalitarian rule. Fearing this scenario, Dahlstrom bought copies for her friends and extras to distribute to others.

Swanton and Dodd photographed after attending the rally with their complementary Harris-Walz sign. Photo by Lily Wright

Mother and daughter Janet Swanton and Heather Dodd attended Walz’ rally armed with red, white, and blue friendship bracelets and cat ears to pass out to fellow attendees–a play on what Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance previously said about Harris, calling her “one of the childless cat ladies” who “want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”

Dodd’s decision to vote for Harris was heavily impacted as well by the candidates positions on reproductive rights and the overturn of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court in 2022, now giving states the ability to ban abortions.

“We’re absolutely done. Everything that I grew up with is being stripped away from my daughter,” Dodd said.

“Nothing was going to change my mind, you know, because the opposite is so horrible,” Dodd explains. “He was really good. He covered all the points, he was good and he was concise,” Swanton says on Walz’ performance at the Tuesday night rally, which also touched on expanding health care and affordable housing.

The Hanzlik-Wilcox family after attending Tuesday night’s rally in Reno. Photo by Lily Wright

Local Washoe County teacher Christine Hanzlik-Wilcox attended the rally with her husband and two children.

“I’m a teacher, and I have children who need to have a world left for them that is not full of hate,” Hanzlik-Wilcox said on her decision to vote for Harris and Walz.

“He is so much fun to listen to,” Hanzlik-Wilcox said of Walz. “We loved his advocacy for LGBT rights and disability rights that I really appreciate, as well as women’s rights.”

“The continuation of democracy,” said Teresa Love, a flight attendant who was present last night, when asked about what issue is the most important to her.

Washoe County is considered a swing county in Nevada, one of the states where the polls have been the tightest in the run-up to Election Day on Nov. 5.

Reporting by Lily Wright, Jace Ouchida and Lizzie Ramirez for Nevada Vote shared with Our Town Reno

Charlie Kirk's Brainwashed Tour Makes Stop at UNR, Finding Supporters and Skeptics

It was a subdued start to the Brainwashed Tour on the UNR campus today. There were no protests or rallying cries.

After arriving on time, Turning Point USA founder and president Charlie Kirk told college students to register in Nevada, rather than California if their parents were from there, and even change their registration on the spot if needed.

Unlike California, Washoe County where UNR is located is swingy and could be one of the determining areas as to who wins the tight 2024 US presidential race.

After free tee-shirts were given out with Frats for Trump written on them, and MAGA hats were thrown into the crowd, Kirk, 30, called on students to return former President Donald Trump to power.

He then started fielding and answering questions in a way that was favorable to Trump and against Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, from inside a central canopy.

Those who wanted to ask a question initially had to weave through the crowd and step up to a microphone outside right in front of him.

Questions ranged from abortion to the value of getting a college degree.

The event’s goal was to host a “Prove Me Wrong” session with Kirk who welcomed people to ask him questions in front of a crowd of students outside on a warm and sunny early afternoon.

Mason Romero was holding a sign advertising the event and said that the purpose was to start a conversation.

“We at Turning Point believe that dialogue is important,” he said. “The more we talk with each other, the closer we become as a society… So Charlie wants to unite America not divide it.”

Other students, like Gavin Barbera, saw a crowd of people and were drawn in.

“I mean, hey, I wanted to see what everyone was crowding around the Joe Crowley for,” he said. “I guess it would be interesting to see what he says. Doubt I would agree with a lot of it.”

Another student Vanessa came for the debate and said that even though she does not agree with Kirk, he’s still human and deserves to be listened to.

By three p.m., the Brainwashed Tour was packed up with a stop later this week at Oregon State University.

Former President Trump is now expected Friday for an evening rally at the GSR, while Democratic vice presidential nominee Governor Tim Walz is in town tonight.

Our Town Reno reporting with content provided by Quay Skankey

Does Frank Perez Have a Chance to Defeat a Reno Council Incumbent in Ward 1?

With Reno’s ward redistricting taking effect this election cycle, Ward 1 will have a new city council member come 2025, with long time councilwoman Jenny Brekhus now termed out.

The downtown battle seems to be the most likely where an incumbent could be upset in Reno, given the dynamics of that particular race between Kathleen Taylor and Frank Perez.

Taylor was initially selected as a councilwoman as a replacement for the current Ward 5 seat in September 2022.  Interestingly, Brekhus boycotted that process, saying she was in favor of a special election instead to replace Neoma Jardon, who had left the position to become executive director of the Downtown Reno Partnership in the summer of 2022. 

When the city’s wards were redrawn to add a sixth one, after the at-large seat was eliminated, to the displeasure of Mayor Hillary Schieve, the new chosen map, conveniently enough for all initially selected council members, Taylor, Devon Reese, and Miguel Martinez, each gave them a race where they didn’t have to compete against each other.

Martinez is still in his center eastern Ward 3, where he seems to have a strong chance to win, as does Reese now in the western Ward 5. 

In the new southern Ward 6, where all the candidates were new, Brandi Anderson is expected to glide to victory.

In Ward 1, Taylor has had a huge fundraising advantage flooding the district’s mailboxes with repeated flyers and buying up noticeable billboards. As with other incumbents, she’s received tens of thousands of dollars from casinos and local developers.  But money or mailers and big signs are not the only factor. Perez has quite a few signs up, he’s texting Ward 1 residents asking for their concerns and his Instagram indicated he recently had a fundraiser hosted by former Democratic Lt. Governor Kate Marshall.  

“When we win this race, we are going to make sure all of our neighborhoods are clean and safe, that we have opportunities for our young people and seniors, and that we prioritize community safety,” the votefrankperez account indicated on a recent post. 

On a recent weekend Local 169, the NV State Democratic Party, the Harris Walz campaign and County Commissioner Marilyn Garcia took part in door to door canvasing in northeast Reno, while more recently he hosted US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. 

Given allegiances, with high turnout expected, it’s likely many Harris/Walz voters in the downtown area will vote for Perez. Even though it’s a non partisan race, Perez is the Democrat here and Taylor is a Republican.

Taylor has also been active on Instagram, as well as on X, highlighting her current council activities, her daughters, previous experience in business and as chair of the Planning Commission.  

In the primary, the 49-year-old Taylor got less than 30% of the vote, and Perez was less than 200 votes behind, with over 1,600 votes for other candidates, meaning this race is very much wide open.

In addition to downtown, the ward covers the university area and central parts of 4th street, including the Nevada Cares Campus. 

We reached out to both candidates and their teams before the primaries, but Taylor ignored us, and Perez said he was too busy at the time.  

Perez is 32, works as a city of Reno code compliance officer, and was previously helping Democrat State Senator Edgar Flores and serving as chair of the Washoe County Library Board.  

Based on answers he’s given to journalists, and the comments he’s made on his social media, it’s unclear whether if elected he would be an establishment type of representative, or whether like Brekhus he would be more critical of what staff proposes before our elected body, most often in favor of developers, police and those who contribute to the campaigns of incumbents.  

Our Town Reno, October 2024 reporting

Tyler Holman, Vying to Be the Next Big MMA Fighter from Reno

Holding his cross necklace in his hand, Tyler Holman says a prayer to God before placing the necklace down. A prayer both for himself, and for the fighter across from him, as the ref signals the start of the fight.

“Roll the dice, all the time. Whatever risk you’re thinking about taking, just take it,” Holman says.

Holman’s biggest gamble has been dropping out of college to focus more on fighting. Now donning the moniker ‘Maverick’ and undefeated in MMA fights for King of the Cage - a national promotional series for amateur fighters - he’s hoping others can be inspired by his confidence and risk-taking.

A normal day of training starts by waking up early and heading into the gym for a boxing session before going to work as a personal trainer for F45 Training.

The evening is when the real training begins. For 30 minutes Holman does drills on techniques for one fighting style, and then the next 30 does ‘live rolling’ along with other fighters all starting from various ground positions. Finally, the last hour is spent sparring against one another, simulating real matches.

As the day of a fight approaches, Holman makes a point to up his intensity. More sparring, more cardio, less drills. “You want to make sure your athleticism peaks right as you get to the day of the fight,” he remarks after finishing a recent practice at Combat Sport and Fitness in Sparks.

On the day of fights, Holman refuses to let nerves get to him. “I try to treat it like a normal day. I get up, I run, walk my dog. It’s the day after weigh-ins, and my fights are usually later so I get kinda hungry. But I’m not afraid,” he said.

Holman’s next match is scheduled for November 16th at the Silver Legacy. With a win, he’d move to 3-0, and one step closer to competing for the King of the Cage lightweight championship belt. From there, Holman would turn his eyes to a grander prize; the UFC Contender Series.

“If they’re interested in me, I’ll be there,” Holman says. Rising star Payton Talbott, currently 3-0 in the UFC and 9-0 overall, is a recent success story from the Contender Series. Talbott also hails from Reno.

If Talbott can show the world someone from here, even without a long combat sports background can have that kind of success, Holman sees no reason why he can’t be the “next one up” in terms of 775 fighters.  

“I just remember; God loves a dice roll,” he says.

Reporting by Sterling Moore shared with Our Town Reno 

How One State Senate Race Could Affect Gun Legislation in Nevada

One race in the upcoming 2024 elections, for Nevada State Senate District 15, could be pivotal in bringing about new gun regulations in the state, as it could lead to a Democratic supermajority.

Former Washoe County School District Board of Trustees and current Assemblywoman for District 27 in Reno, Democrat Angie Taylor is running for the State Senate in District 15. Her opponent is Republican Mike Ginsburg, who has worked at NV Energy for the past 39 years and previously chaired the City of Reno Parks and Recreation Commission.

Democrats currently hold 13 out of 21 Senate seats — one shy of a two-thirds supermajority, and need to flip just one seat to get to that. District 15 was previously held by Republican State Senator Heidi Seevers Gansert who opted not to run for re-election, in a district which has been redrawn in a way which is now favoring Democrats.

The District 15 map.

With a supermajority, Democrats would have enough votes to override any veto by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, dramatically changing the dynamics in Carson City.

Gov. Lombardo vetoed many Democratic sponsored bills in the last legislative session including bill AB355, favored by Taylor, which sought to raise the legal age of possession of certain firearms from 18 to 21.

Bill AB355 would have made it a gross misdemeanor for a person under 21 to possess or control a semiautomatic shotgun. It would have also revised provisions related to the storage of firearms, requiring that rifles and shotguns be unloaded and stored in a securely locked container when not in use.

During the session, Gov. Lombardo also vetoed Senate Bill 171 which would have prohibited people convicted of hate crimes from possessing a firearm, and Assembly Bill 354 which would have prohibited bringing a gun to a voting place.

Efforts to boost legislation concerning guns is a deeply divisive issue in the Silver State.

Tony Danza, a student at Truckee Meadows Community College believes that gun restrictions should be made and chosen by gun owners themselves.

“If you could go die for your country [then] why can’t you protect your country in the states?” he asked when interviewed.

Glenn Fant, originally from Texas, and a Nevada resident for the past year, believes that current gun regulations shouldn’t be changed unless necessary.

He doesn’t support gun restrictions at polling locations because he says he believes it would create a problem that’s not already there.

“If you can walk into Walmart and have a gun you should be able to go anywhere with a gun, concealed and not in your hand,” he said.

Jennifer Decastro is a 35-year-old undergrad psychology major at University of Nevada, Reno with mixed feelings on gun legislation. She’s had a concealed carry permit the entire time she has been a Nevada resident, and carries it with her everywhere because she believes it makes her feel safer as a trans woman. Still, she believes attempts to reduce school shootings should be looked into.

“I think that there’s something that needs to be done about gun violence and I think that specific law would be pretty effective in fighting a lot of school shootings, which is obviously terrible and everyone wants to stop,” she said.

In an interview with NevadaVote, Angie Taylor defended her previous support for AB355 saying it could prevent more school shootings.

“I think all those things can help in being a deterrent,” she said. “If you can’t get a hold of an assault rifle, for example, then you can’t show up at a school with one, right?”

When asked for a comment, Mike Ginsburg’s team declined to make one, but in a previous media statement the Republican candidate said he supports Gov. Lombardo’s decision to veto that bill, now very much back in play.

Reporting by Kathleen Leslie, Quay Skankey, and Arial Van Cleve for NevadaVote shared with Our Town Reno

Esther Ro: A Local Bodybuilder Overcoming an Eating Disorder and Excelling at Life

Esther Ro rolls out her quads to prepare for her workout at the Stimulus gym that specializes in physique style training.

Just two years ago, after earning several specific category first places at the NPC Mother Lode competition, Ro found herself sitting beside her toilet on the verge of throwing up due to binge eating.

After having a strict diet for weeks in preparation for the competition she became more sensitive to urges and triggers to overeat which have been present with her since childhood.

As a woman of God she hopes that her story will be used to empower those who share the same struggle. 

“Through this experience I am trusting that God is allowing me to go through this to one day help other people through it too,” Ro said. 

Early on in her athletic career, her relationship with food involved binge eating tendencies.  She started competing at an early age in gymnastics but also faced the demons of binge eating then.

Her story has many other chapters though, with Ro always striving for excellence in her studies and in the workplace as well.

The 22-year-old is finishing her MBA with an emphasis in finance at the University of Nevada, Reno. She currently works from home as a trade development analyst for Breakthru Beverage Group, a distributor of luxury and premium wine, spirits and beer brands.

She still manages to go to the gym at least three days a week. Her faith and love for bodybuilding is still unwavering, and she is proud of the progress she has made with her eating disorder.

Reporting by Aaron Arao shared with Our Town Reno