If rural Nevada were its own country, we’d be one of the safest places on Earth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some on point numbers:  Esmeralda County - 0 deaths.  Eureka County - 0 deaths. Lincoln County - 1 death. White Pine County - 4 deaths. Mineral County - 4 deaths. When we get around to seriously discussing Gov. Steve Sisolak’s response to the … [Read more...]

I knew what it was before I even opened the e-mail. I stomped the floor, cursing and swearing every damnation in the dictionary before I even sat down. I didn’t even know that he had been ill but I knew Joe was dead. The three e-mails from Sen. Dina Neal all carried the same subject line: “My Dad.” I knew what it meant. Thus ended a very quiet New Year’s Eve. … [Read more...]

It’s surprising how the discovery of an inanimate object from decades ago can trigger a flood of memories.   Such was the case when I recently came across a pristine copy of the official program of the 1960 Winter Olympics that were held in nearby Squaw Valley, California.   My chief interest in that long-ago Olympics was due to the fact that I was … [Read more...]

Geewillikers Batman! No melarkey? Heavy-hitting local leaders are telling people to avoid our superspreader bus system? Have the powerful finally figured out that the great unwashed are human, too? Not quite. But even backhanded support is better than no support at all. KOLO TV-8 is airing a spot with a bunch of local luminaries begging people to stay home on New Year’s … [Read more...]

Probably the most iconic American columnist of all time was San Francisco’s Herb Caen.  He is widely credited with developing a journalistic style that became known as Three Dot Journalism.  In essence, he set the bar for columnists around the country.   I was fortunate enough to interface with Herb on many occasions during my time at The Mapes … [Read more...]

I wish you a hopeful Christmas I wish you a brave new year All anguish pain and sadness Leave your heart and let your road be clear They said there’ll be snow at Christmas They said there’ll be peace on Earth Hallelujah Noel be it Heaven or Hell The Christmas we get we deserve Sen. Mitch McConnell resembles the latter remark. Doonesbury cartoonist Garry … [Read more...]

It was hard to tell last week which story was the major story coming out of Washington DC.  We had Hunter Biden, Eric Swalwell and the distribution of the vaccine to fight Covid.  Let’s start with Hunter because every day a new revelation about him hits the news.  We have often bemoaned the fact that we do not have a sleuth like Sherlock Holmes around … [Read more...]

“How are you going to overlook the murders of six million people?” - Spencer Tracy in “Judgment at Nuremberg” That line from the classic 1961 film has saturated my consciousness for a month. More than 71,000,000 voters punched Donald Trump’s ticket. Average people, pundits, proselytizers, pretenders and poltroons have all overly examined the whys and wherefores. Last … [Read more...]