MLK WEEKEND FOR THE RECORD BOOKS. Look for SRO this Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in south Reno, 780 Del Monte Lane, 89511. The annual interfaith service starts at 3:00 p.m. and no matter who’s on the program, the stars will be Jayla Tolliver and Taylissa Marriott. The sisters, both 14, have become national figures with a little help from the Reno-Sparks … [Read more...]

Dear Editor: If a credible journalist offered you the hottest newsbreak of your life, would you print it? I know the Tribune’s answer. For others, a cautionary tale. In the early 1970’s, AutoWeek publisher Russ Goebel moved his operation from Detroit to Stead. His crew included editor Leon Mandel and reporter Cory Farley. With curly-haired visage and tobacco-tinged … [Read more...]

Time for recklessly insightful 2018 predictions, insightful because I’ve been consistently correct on this kind of stuff, reckless because I don’t play in the Wall Street casino. 1. GREAT DEPRESSION, PART DEUX will hit in the third quarter of next year, too late to help Democrats. Paying attention to publicly available information, I called the 2007-08 meltdown well over two … [Read more...]

Princess Cassandra of Troy was reincarnated a few thousand years later in Canada in the form of a grandmotherly urban futurist. Irving Berlin once said that the world was fortunate that his music’s greatest performer, Ethyl Merman, had no vocal training. The same may be said about Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) who had no formal education in city planning, yet changed the way we … [Read more...]

I look back wistfully at halcyon 1984 and the re-coronation of King Ronald the Vague, the previous champion of telling the great unwashed what they wanted to hear. Nobody wanted to recognize that our gardens of stone were not as rosy as presented by the B-movie actor perversely portraying his idol, Franklin Roosevelt. I gloried in being vilified for correctly forecasting … [Read more...]

The Barbwire has hit the international big time: I’m on Vladimir Putin’s mailing list. I have been receiving e-mails from an outfit called Active Democracy from a street address in Moscow, Russian Federation. Each transmission concludes “God Bless. Kind Regards, Active Democracy, The Era Of People Power - Empower Christianity not Satanic Judaism.” Schicklgruber and … [Read more...]

Reach out your hand If your cup is empty If your cup is full May it be again Let it be known There is a fountain That was not made By the hands of men — Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia This Friday, Nevada says farewell to a humble man who left a gigantic legacy. My friend and NAACP colleague Darryl Feemster Sr. died Nov. 19 at St. Mary’s hospital … [Read more...]

Sunday brought a whipsaw of emotions. The estimable Siobahn McAndrew’s front-page story in the Reno Gazette-Journal exposed endemic racism in Lyon County. And I lost a friend. The Barbwire as usual spared every expense in breaking the Yerington story first on Oct. 18 with three followups since. The RGJ sent Ms. McAndrew to old Pizen Switch to interview the family and local … [Read more...]