Her voice was sweet as sugar candy Her touch was as soft as a bed of goose down. Her eyes shone bright like the pretty lights That shine in the night out of Yerington town… Her pony did stumble and she did fall. Her dying touched the hearts of us one and all.* -- John Denver’s “Darcy Farrow” Welcome to my nightmare. Again. Not many years ago, this town was … [Read more...]

Good advertising differentiates your product. There was once a kinder, gentler time when you never named competitors. Why give free exposure? Nowadays, trashing is expected, especially in follytix. Apparently, few think about the downside. Such is the case with the media gurus advising Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford against his Republican opponent, a lawyer named … [Read more...]

Props to Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve for her new TV commercial, a wet t-shirt contest starring herself. It’s all sweetness and light, including computer effects that miraculously turn the mucky Truckee into a shallow Sea of Galilee. Her Honor walks on water, pulls a Jonah and submerges, followed by quick pix of municipal achievement rah-rah. In the concluding scene, she … [Read more...]

It’s Queen Elizabeth’s fault. I spent Monday from midnight till dawn watching her sendoff soirée, held in the grandest tradition of Janis Joplin who likewise left a chunk of money in her will to throw a helluva party. (Her majesty spent a bit more.) I had to take a bit of time off from my Britannia all-nighter to roll out the recycling for my Teamsters brothers. I thus took … [Read more...]

Could it be that Adam Laxalt and Joe Lombardo read the Tribune? Or at least their demonstrably inept campaign managers? A day or so after the Trib hit the streets last week, both Republican candidates changed their spots, at least the TV variety. As I noted (“Robbing Peter to Play Paul” 8/31), Laxalt supporters were broadcasting an ad imploring voters to tell Sen. … [Read more...]

IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT and the beast wouldn’t go to sleep. Ambition burned through Adam Laxalt’s visions as sugar plums danced in his head like plump law firm partnerships. The boy was shell-shocked that midnight dreary in late 2018. He had failed to turn the trick his grandpa had flipped which led to wealth, fame and power: Winning the Nevada governorship in a … [Read more...]

The rancorous campaign for Catherine Cortez-Masto’s U.S. Senate seat has been rather undistinguished until now. Mme. Senator may have at last done one thing for the history books, a true political innovation. OXYMORON ALERT: She’s now airing a POLITE hatchet job against her Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt. She thus raises the burning question: Can you be too laid back to … [Read more...]

Today’s column got started in a Reno bar decades ago. I was drinking with a bunch of lawyers. The conversation was wide-ranging until somebody uttered the magic words: “Jeep case.” That opened the floodgates. All had war stories about their many Jeep cases, even criminal defense, corporate or estate-planning specialists. I never forgot that free seminar in consumer … [Read more...]