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SITE NAVIGATION TIP: When all else fails, read the instructions
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Updated on 9-24-2020 GMT

BREAKING NEWS AND THEN SOME —>

Messages from the gods: Ignore at your peril
Barbwire by Barbáno / Expanded from the 9-23-2020 Sparks Tribune

NO PANTS? NO SERVICE. NO MASK? OK.
TEAMSTERS UNION SUES OVER WASHOE BUS SYSTEM COVID-19 DANGERS
Union drivers test positive for virus
Management refuses governor's mask mandate
Charges also filed with federal regulatory agencies


     KEOLIS-19 BREAKING NEWS —> (Reno, NV, 3:27 p.m. PDT, 18 Sept. 2020) —

IBT 533 Trade Unionists: Monitor KOLO TV-8 (ABC) from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. PDT today. (And 10:00 p.m. on CW Network over-the-air at 8.3 / Charter-Spectrum 695, Direct TV 9)

Ed Pearce, the most experienced and credible TV journalist in northern Nevada for the past 50 years, interviewed union RTC drivers earlier today. The story should run today but there's always a disaster that can pre-empt. Yesterday, Mr. Pearce got diverted to the narrowly-averted NVEnergy cutoff of Incline Village electricity. TV2 ran the story of Local 533 vs. the transit system four times on Wednesday and probably again on their early morning Thursday newscasts.

I am informed that Regional Transportation Commission Executional Director Bill Thomas spoke before the four obtuse elected commissioners this morning and noted that RTC is doing all it can to enforce safety requirements.

Ahh, another bright shining lie.

Monitor NevadaLabor.com for ongoing updates. New things in the works soon. Keep us posted on what's happening with you. We especially need photos of packed buses with many maskless riders.

Be well. Raise hell. Stay safe.

     KEOLIS-19 BREAKING NEWS —> (Reno, NV, 4:36 p.m. PDT 16 Sept. 2020) — Washoe County bus system management told KTVN TV-2 (CBS) News that they will not use their standing security force to enforce the governor's mask mandate but instead rely on local police. As noted on this site for months, both the Washoe County Sheriff and Reno Police Department have served notice that they will not enforce the safety of the bus system. TV-2 journalist Valentina Bonaparte reported that this diverges from southern Nevada, where officials told her that they use their security infrastructure to enforce COVID-19 mitigation procedures. Ride at your own risk in Reno-Sparks.

     An expanded version aired at 5:36 p.m., again at 6:34 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. PDT. You may visit TV-2's website or monitor for additional broadcasts tonight and well into Thursday morning news programs. Be sure to stay tuned to NevadaLabor.com for more. Be well. Raise hell.

 

Margaret Dumont and Groucho Marx
Still crazy after all these years.

Donny & Jimmy's Most Excellent White Castle Adventure
Barbwire by Barbáno / Expanded from the 9-16-2020 Sparks Tribune

Czar Donaldov invaded Nevada Sept. 12
Somebody build a wall — quick!

There is justice in the world. Trump actually had to drive the 60+mile route both ways. Oh, the humanity!

Barbwire Confidential —>HushHush!
Donny & Jimmy's Most Excellent White Castle Adventure
NEW—>BARBWIRE EXCLUSIVE 9-12-2020

Barbwire Confidential Special Report: Hush-Hush!
Machine Guns & Racism in Nevada's Alabaster Bastion
NEW—>Douglas County Commission Chairman wanted to cut library funding after its director showed support for Black Lives Matter
EXCLUSIVE FROM KRNV TV-4 & KRXI FOX-11 / 9-11-2020

Cider House Rules: Admonitions & Ammunition
Barbwire by Barbáno / Expanded from the 9-9-2020 Sparks Tribune

The 2016 political cartoon of the year —>

Diabolical Déjà Vu: Fire is the Devil's only friend
Barbwire accurately called 2016 presidential result 9 months out & stands by 2020 prediction made four years ago
Barbwire by Barbáno / Expanded from the 9-2-2020 Sparks Tribune

The 2020 political cartoon of the year frontrunner —>

Attack of the Orange Crusher

HOT AUGUST STRIFE 2020 Demonstrations & Good Trouble

Tribal trauma, Belarus R Us, a hero dies well
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 8-26-2020 Sparks Tribune

"Save the Post Office Saturday"—>National Day of Action
Nevadans brave killer smoke to revive US Postal Service
ThisIsReno.com / 8-22-2020

Lemmings, ostriches & dirty-talking desert rats
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 8-19-2020 Sparks Tribune

Andrew Barbano: Enemy of the state
Coronavirus rides the bus & Black Lives Matter whited out
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 8-12-2020 Sparks Tribune

Mississippi West: honkytaunts and alabaster bastions
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 8-5-2020 Sparks Tribune

Dear Guv: Put your foot where your mouth is
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-29-2020 Sparks Tribune

Second Teamsters driver tests positive for COVID-19. Stay tuned.

KEOLIS-19: TRANSIT SYSTEM DEFIED GOVERNOR'S MASK ORDER
Then put out a press release denying they did so (Updated 9-14-2020)
TEAMSTERS: Reno-Sparks-Washoe passengers, families & workers jeopardized
U-News 6-26-2020 / Updated 6-29-2020

Sparks City Hall strikes a blow for white guys
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-22-2020 Sparks Tribune

 

A giant has fallen: John Lewis, 1940-2020

Together, you can redeem the soul of our nation
"Answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you believe."
Rep. John Lewis' final words published at his request on the day of his funeral
New York Times Guest Editorial / July 30, 2020

July 17, 2020 (NYTimes.com) — John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, died. He was 80.

Family sues City of Sparks for fatal police shooting of mentally ill teen
By Marcella Corona / Reno Gazette-Journal 8-14-2020

Sparks Police investigating vulgar, threatening social media posts allegedly made by an officer
By Bob Conrad / ThisIsReno.com 8-4-2020

Sparks police killing analysis: Could 18 year-old Miciah Lee have been saved?
Former sheriff: Establish civilian police review board
By Anjeanette Damon & Marcella Corona / rgj.com 7-6-2020 / Reno Gazette-Journal entire front page feature / Sunday 7-12-2020

Washoe law enforcement announces new expedited information policy on officer-involved shootings, including copcam video
UPDATE: All three major departments agree / Separately: Sparks City Hall defaced with red paint
KRNV TV-4/KRXI TV-11 July 15, 2020
UPDATE 2:40 p.m. PDT July 15, 2020 — NAACP President Lonnie Feemster: "The NAACP was not consulted. We need a regional approach. There are many other Washoe police departments such as those at the University of Nevada-Reno,the Washoe County School District and tribal law enforcement. We will be making further recommendations. Regional consistency is required."
Mr. Feemster will appear on northwestern Nevada TV-2 and TV-4 later today. Also monitor the Reno Gazette-Journal

Sparks mayors respond with passive-aggressive, patronizing racism
"So, boys and girls..."
By Siobhan McAndrew / rgj.com 7-14-2020 / Reno Gazette-Journal 7-15-2020

Fair warning to the rich, famous & powerful
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-15-2020 Sparks Tribune

There just ain't no cure for stupid
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-8-2020 Sparks Tribune

Ship of Fools: Washoe County as derelict ocean liner
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-1-2020 Sparks Tribune

Weird love of dos Tejanas for El Jefé Trump
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 6-24-2020 Sparks Tribune

Government shuts down when it should step up
Wherein I become a 36-year overnight success
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 6-17-2020 Sparks Tribune
e
Top 10 cures still go begging
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 6-10-2020 Sparks Tribune

FLAILING OVERTURNED TURTLE: Have we reached a turning point?
By Frank Rich / New York Magazine 6-9-2020

View Reno-Sparks NAACP President Lonnie Feemster's June 6 & 7 appearance on KTVN TV-2's Face the State half-hour program

Most arrested after May 30 Reno riot were innocent downtown residents
Most live within walking distance of downtown, one 700 feet from City Hall
Mississippi West alive and well: City lawyers advise arrestees to plead guilty or face days or weeks in jail
Reno Gazette-Journal / Sunday front page 6-7-2020

Don't let fear and anger convert us to Germany 1933
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 6-3-2020 Sparks Tribune

Reno reimposes martial law

Tuesday, 02 Jun 2020 17:12:30 (PDT) [Official City of Reno bulletin] Reno, Nevada USA — Out of an abundance of caution for public safety, Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve has issued citywide curfews starting at 7 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, June 2. The curfew will be in effect nightly from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. the next morning and will continue until terminated by Mayor Schieve. During the hours of the curfew, no person — with the exception of law enforcement, military and other emergency response personnel, government officials and authorized media — shall enter or remain in the public right of way, public parks or any other public place in Reno unless they have an essential reason to be out (i.e. people traveling to/from work or seeking emergency care, etc.). Residents are asked to adhere to the curfew to help protect the safety of our community. [More at Reno.Gov]

NAACP CALLS FOR CALM & SHOOTING TRANSPARENCY
Downtown Reno Black Lives Matter rally turns violent
RENO CITY HALL SET ON FIRE

     RENO, NEV. (Updated 7:54 p.m. PDT 6-2-2020 / 02:54 June 3 GMT) — Saturday afternoon's downtown Reno Black Lives Matter rally turned violent after adjournment as evening approached. People jumped on cars near the casino center Reno Arch. Windows were broken at businesses, the Washoe County Courthouse and Reno City Hall. Its first floor set afire, tear gas was used to keep crowds away from the 14-story high-rise. Arrests were made. Gov. Steve Sisolak called out the Nevada National Guard. Citizens put hands in the air shouting "don't shoot." KOLO TV-8 telecasted live, joined by two other network affiliates much later in the evening. Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve ordered a citywide curfew which was expanded to cover the entire county. The Reno-Sparks NAACP called for calm and transparency regarding all shootings, local and elsewhere. Stay tuned.

NAACP calls for calm, demands police transparency
Family of 18 year-old killed by Sparks Police in January still waiting for answers
By James DeHaven / rgj.com 5-31-2020 / Reno Gazette-Journal 6-1-2020

 

WE WON! City of Reno votes down Ballardini Ranch annexation

Presidents Trump & Harding channel Mark Twain
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 5-27-2020 Sparks Tribune

Ballardini Ranch: Love's Labours Lost. Again.
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 5-20-2020 Sparks Tribune

Letter from gods of alpha males & alpha mails
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 5-13-2020 Sparks Tribune


The Laborers' Work Zone Safety Sentry will ride its messages into high-traffic areas and routes, daily visiting 10 to 15 construction sites that each typically employ 100 to 200 workers. The union is a nationally recognized leader in construction site safety. Please be careful out there. [MORE]

Re-name former Hug High for Dolores Feemster
By William C. Webb, John A. White, Jr. and Andrew Barbáno / RGJ.com 5-7-2020 / Reno Gazette-Journal op-ed 5-10-2020

Make Dolores Feemster's light shine brightly
Renaming of former Hug High before school board Tuesday, May 12
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 5-6-2020 Sparks Tribune / Updated 5-7 & 5-9-2020

May 1: Happy Labor Day (everywhere in the world except here)

MAGAcidal maniax are loosed upon the land
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 4-29-2020 Sparks Tribune

AFL-CIO Workers Memorial Day April 29, 2020
Including 11 Las Vegas Culinary Union workers dead of COVID-19

WORKER DOUBLE JEOPARDY: Unions outraged as businesses seek congressional shield from pandemic liability
By Jim Tankersley & Charlie Savage / The New York Times 4-28 & 4-30 2020

Wisconsin and US Supreme Courts forced citizens to risk lives to vote
Extraneous postmark dictum will disallow votes in November
By Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice-Elect Jill Karofsky / NYTimes 4-29-2020

Unions: Pandemic used to foil labor organizing nationwide
By Jessica Silver-Greenberg & Rachel Abrams / NYTimes 4-29-2020

1930s ReRun? Nationwide wildcat strikes may revitalize crippled labor movement
Organized capital, hostile courts and a cruel president: "US Supreme Court conservative majority ready to make entire US an open shop"
By Jamelle Bouie / NY Times op-ed 4-29-2020

Rev. Jim Jones said "drink the Kool-Aid"
Time for Trump's True Believers to Respond

4-26-2020 — Memo to my New York union readers: I'm a bleeding heart liberal and thus always open to new ideas. I will give the president's innovative new medical therapy careful consideration if he will be the first to try drinking bleach and applying his makeup with Lysol. Swill at will. Bon appetit. Alleluia! — AB
Be well. Raise hell. Stay safe, sane and sanitary in the permanent sanitarium.

"Betwixt all the Trump flags in the thinly attended Carson City MAGAcidal maniax demonstration was a home-made sign stating 'All cults should be voluntary.' They are obviously experts on that kinda stuff." (Barbwire 4-22-2020)

New Yorkers take Trump's medical advice and o.d. on Clorox and Lysol
The will to live is finally gone since the bastard is their city's spawn
Spike in New Yorkers ingesting household cleaners following Trump’s coronavirus comments
New York Daily News 4-25-2020

TRUMP URGES UNITY VS. RACISM (New York Times front page headline 8-6-2019)
BARBWIRE TRANSLATION: "You provide the unity, I'll provide the racism"


Trump wants your cat and your shorts
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 4-22-2020 Sparks Tribune / Updated 4-26-2020

A gold record message from the King
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 4-15-2020 Sparks Tribune

Three Reno VA hospital AFGE 2152 Union members die of virus
First victim, Bruce McAlister, 47, followed by ER nurse Vianna Thompson, 52, who died in the hospital's ICU, and medical technician Alex Gousev, 57
Reno Gazette-Journal 4-journalist team series 3-30 thru 4-10-2020

Are you ready to die for your country?
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 4-8-2020 Sparks Tribune

300 Died of COVID-19 in NYC Friday, April 3; 550 statewide just that day

Trump wants the churches full by Easter — Perhaps like Lombardy, Italy, today?

Payback: Corona, Cocaine & Trump
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 4-1-2020 Sparks Tribune
 Photos, video and commentary from Barbwire correspondents in the belly of the beast: New York City and northern Italy
And remembering when Andy met Betty on April Fools Day 44 years ago

Covid Containment

Teamsters 533 persuades Waste Management to protect public and drivers
4-1-2020 Sparks Tribune

Teamsters UPS members protest unsafe working conditions nationwide
3-25-2020 Sparks Tribune

Kinks and hijinx in the time of plague
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 3-25-2020 Sparks Tribune

The lighter side of the latest plague
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 3-18-2020 Sparks Tribune

Medflies, flyweights and President Pelosi
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 3-11-2020 Sparks Tribune

Betty J. Barbano
2-7-1941 / 12-27-2005

On April 1, 1976, Andrew Barbano met Betty Joyce Luffman Donlevy, manager of Pauline's Sportswear in Carson City.
Be still my foolish heart.

Trump's Blackrobes: Humpty Dumpty Homotextuals
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 3-4-2020 Sparks Tribune

Happy Leap Day from the Grasshopper and the Dragonfly

Bernie or bust, Dolores a must
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 2-26-2020 Sparks Tribune

National Labor Relations Board dismisses Nevada Gold Mines’ effort to disrupt union representation

Czars Donaldov & Nixon win Democratic Caucus
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 2-19-2020 Sparks Tribune

Springtime for fat cats & unburied hatchets
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 2-12-2020 Sparks Tribune

Love saves a life on Reno's mean streets
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 2-5-2020 Sparks Tribune

Bill Harrah's cookie cutter crumbles
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 1-29-2020 Sparks Tribune

Going to confession with Father Barbwire
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 1-22-2020 Sparks Tribune

¡Viva Chávez!

César Chávez Celebration XVIII / Celebración de César Chávez XVIII
Friday 23 October 2020 / viernes 23 octubre 2020
Atlantis Resort-Reno
Sign up for news and bulletins

Dennis Myers will become the first journalist ever installed
in the César Chávez NevadaLabor.com Hall of Fame

For a limited time, nominations remain open for HOF and union organizer, project and employer of the year. Submit. Click here for sponsorships and reservations.


NEW JIM CROW AUTHOR: "Everything has changed and nothing has changed"

INJUSTICE ON REPEAT: From mass incarceration to mass deportation, our nation remains in denial
By Michelle Alexander / The New York Times / Jan. 17 & 19, 2020
Printable text version

Ms. Alexander has just released the 10th anniversary edition of her seminal bestseller, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness," from which the above is adapted.

READ IT. PRINT IT. POST IT. CIRCULATE IT. IT'S IMPORTANT!


Railroad Workers United General Secretary Ron Kaminkow wrote:

King’s support of unions was long-standing, although that endorsement was not returned by unions, including most rail unions that did not offer membership to African-Americans. In 1961, King’s address at the AFL-CIO’s annual convention was considered a turning point. At the Convention, King observed: “Our needs are identical with labor’s needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor’s demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.”

In the last year of his life, King had embarked upon organizing a “Poor Peoples Campaign” designed to unite people of all races in a struggle to redistribute the wealth and power in society to common everyday working people. “I think it is necessary for us to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights … [W]hen we see that there must be a radical redistribution of economic and political power, then we see that for the last twelve years we have been in a reform movement … That after Selma and the Voting Rights Bill, we moved into a new era, which must be anoara of revolution … In short, we have moved into an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society.King’s support of unions was long-standing, although that endorsement was not returned by unions, including most rail unions that did not offer membership to African-Americans.

In 1961, King’s address at the AFL-CIO’s annual convention was considered a turning point. At the Convention, King observed: “Our needs are identical with labor’s needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor’s demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.”

In the last year of his life, King had embarked upon organizing a “Poor Peoples Campaign” designed to unite people of all races in a struggle to redistribute the wealth and power in society to common everyday working people. “I think it is necessary for us to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights … [W]hen we see that there must be a radical redistribution of economic and political power, then we see that for the last twelve years we have been in a reform movement … That after Selma and the Voting Rights Bill, we moved into a new era, which must be an era of revolution … In short, we have moved into an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society.[1]

("While roughly 1 of 3 U.S. workers have the day off work today, MLK Day has yet to be recognized by nearly all U.S. rail carriers. For most of us on the nation’s railroads, it is unfortunately, business as usual," Bro. Kaminkow concluded.)
__________________

1. EDITOR'S NOTE: A young Bernie Sanders attended the 1963 March on Washington. The latter paragraph could have been ripped from a Bernie for President brochure.

 

National welfare, corporate welfare and MLK
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 1-15-2020 Sparks Tribune

"America exists today to make war." — Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell, 2002-2005

The only way to stop killing is to stop killing
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 1-8-2020 Sparks Tribune

Barbano sells out to white Republicans
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 1-1-2020 Sparks Tribune

Hope you and yours enjoyed Happy High Holly Days
Christmas/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Festivus/Chanukah/Thanksgibleting
Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad
HAPPY NEW YEAR / Feliz Año Nuevo / Felice Anno Nuovo
Frohe Weihnachten und beste Wuensche fuer 2020


© 2019 The New York Times

The Nightmare
Before Christmas

The Sermon on Mount Barbwire
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 12-25-2019 Sparks Tribune

Typhoid Mary infects Sparks Addams Family
In the spirit of true democracy which provides that your rights don't allow you to sneeze on mine
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 12-18-2019 Sparks Tribune

A fake news fable for our times
Typhoid Mary, quite contrary
In the spirit of true democracy which provides that your rights don't allow you to sneeze on mine
Barbwire Confidential by Andrew Barbáno / 12-11-2019 Online Edition
Red-flag warnings — Ignoring history at our peril
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 12-11-2019 Sparks Tribune

Major rent raunch
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 12-4-2019 Sparks Tribune

Billionaire Tom Steyer owes me $5
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 11-27-2019 Sparks Tribune

11-30-2019
Happy St. Andrew's Day in Scotland and my house.
Hoist ye holy spirits.

Alleluia!

BREAKING NEWS AND THEN SOME —>

We Don't Need No Education Part XCII—>
People get ready, that train's a comin'
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Special Barbwire Confidential Internet Edition 11-12-2019 / Updated 11-14 & 11-15-2019
A version of this column appeared in the Wednesday 11-13-2019 Sparks Tribune
An excerpt from the above was included in Andrew Barbano's address to the school board on Nov. 12.
SPECIAL REPORT FROM THE SCENE OF THE CRIME:
Clever maneuver prevents vote after 4 of 7 trustees announce support to name school for Dolores Feemster

We Don't Need No Education Part XCI—>
DO NOT risk your kids at Golden Eagle Park
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 11-6-2019 Sparks Tribune

Tale of 2 city halls: Cancer kids & brain damage
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 10-30-2019 Sparks Tribune

Open house Nov. 7 at northern Nevada's first union printer in more than a decade

Teamsters win unanimous vote at Bell Limo
Teamsters boycott of Grand Sierra-Reno announced at NAACP annual awards dinner
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 10-23-2019 Sparks Tribune

 

Adios to a Nevada giant on the Ides of September

A surprise bit of charming post-script to Dennis' life

REPORT FROM THE MEMORIAL GATHERING (9-15-2019) — About 200 people from as far away as the Philippines, Australia and Ireland gathered to honor Dennis on the banks of the Truckee River on Sunday, Sept. 15. His ashes will be scattered at Pyramid Lake, the termination of the Truckee on the Paiute Reservation. It was a truly Nevadian wish — the Truckee is the only U.S. river that originates in a lake (Tahoe) and ends in one. Lake Tahoe lies in two states. The bard of Nevada himself originated in California and concluded in Nevada. Life imitates art imitates life.

Details in the Sept. 18 Sparks Tribune.

Dennis Myers: Enroute to the universe next door
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 9-11-2019 Sparks Tribune

Philippines to Burning Man to Ireland: Adios GOAT
Dennis Myers Memorial 9-15-2019
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 9-4-2019 Sparks Tribune

Nevadian Dennis Myers: The Greatest Of All Time
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 8-28-2019 Sparks Tribune

Dennis Myers, 1948-2019
OBITUARY: Veteran Nevada reporter removed from life support
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Special Internet Edition 8-25 and 8-26 -2019
 [En Español — La Voz Hispana En Nevada 9-18-2019]

On October 23, 2020, Nevada César Chávez Day XVIII, Dennis Myers will become the first journalist ever installed in the César Chávez NevadaLabor.com Hall of Fame.

From: Lisa Ruggerio
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2019 11:51:23 a.m. PDT
Re: On behalf of Dennis Myers' family

Dear friends:

Dennis suffered a stroke last week. Dennis’ family is honoring his wishes to support the lives of others through organ donation. The hospital has been keeping his body alive for organ viability. A donor recipient has just been located for his liver. There will be an honor walk for our beloved Dennis today Monday, August 27, 2019 at Renown at 1:30 pm in the Sierra Tower ICU waiting room. Those who loved Dennis are welcome to attend.
Lisa


...The simple news that Nature told,
With tender majesty.
   Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see;
   For love of her, sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me!

...And then
the windows failed
   And I could not see
to see.
— Emily Dickinson   


25 August 2019
2:34 p.m. PDT

Dear Friends:

The following arrived this morning from former Washoe County School District Trustee Lisa Ruggerio. At least this won't turn into another Karen Ann Quinlan case. Our dear Dennis is gone but his song will survive in so many ways. — AB

At 9:12 a.m PDT 8/25/19, Lisa Ruggerio wrote:

Dennis suffered a massive stroke. Dennis’ family is honoring his wishes to support the lives of others through organ donation. The hospital is keeping his body alive for organ viability.

 

The best that ever was lies brain dead

UPDATE (11:43 p.m PDT Saturday 8-24-2019) — Journalist Dennis Myers, the best reporter in Nevada, is on his way away from us. There have been many conflicting stories circulating among his legion of heartbroken friends. I heard from people across North America today.

Cut in twain
(His favorite photo)

While I was writing this update, Renown Regional Medical Center's patient information operator told me "he's been discharged." She then flipped me to Sierra Meadows ICU. A nurse thereat said he's still in Renown Sierra Tower Room 136. The attending nurse then informed me that Dennis remains there and that he would pass my phone number to one of those holding vigil. The nurse could give me no further information. (Damn the beastly HIPAA* hipaapotamus.) I begged for a call ASAP "but it may not be until tomorrow." Witnesses who have been with Dennis say Renown ER found no brain activity when he was admitted.

After he missed a dinner engagement and then did not show up at his newspaper, concerned friends went to his Sparks apartment, banged on his door, and later broke it down.They found him on the floor, broken chair nearby. He had broken ribs which punctured a lung. They got him to ER where his lung was re-inflated. Doctors then discovered he had suffered a brain stem stroke and technicians could detect no brain activity. The stroke had cut off oxygen to his brain. A credible source informed me Saturday morning that Dennis would have his ventilator removed Saturday afternoon, August 24. Apparently not. Someone who saw him earlier said he had been declared "brain dead." Communications all day have been in past tense and about memorial services.

A formal statement from someone onsite is needed immediately. More sooner than later, some well-intentioned someone is going to call the Reno Gazette-Journal and/or several TV stations and give them incomplete information. Witness Saturday's ping-ponging. I submit that someone could both lie in some state in a hospital room and yet be officially discharged. It's all in the regulatory semantics and paperwork trail delay. It is also quite possible that no blood relative is yet in Reno and thus no one has any authority to do the unthinkable.

My nomination of Dennis for the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame stands notwithstanding his inchoate adios. All testimonials, remembrances and updated information will be most welcome.

More as details arrive. E me at <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us> Phone (775) 747-0544. Texts are a crapshoot thru my five phone line jumps. So voice or e, please.

To put it in Spanglish, this Sabado morphed into endless black sabbath. Thank you all for your caring and concern.

I weep the tears of transfiguration for you, old friend. — Barbano

_______
* HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is United States legislation that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information.

CWA 9413/AFL-CIO

-30-

The Trump Whisperer and a $40,000 baseball ticket
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 8-21-2019 Sparks Tribune

Perfectly Nevadian: Joe Conforte, 1925-2019
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 8-14-2019 Sparks Tribune

TRUMP URGES UNITY VS. RACISM
— New York Times front page headline 8-6-2019
BARBWIRE TRANSLATION: "You provide the unity, I'll provide the racism"
Coming in Wednesday's Sparks Tribune: Guns and roses, traitors and political poses

The Sting, spike heels, green eggs & ham
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-31-2019 Sparks Tribune

July 28: Happy Birthday Senator Joe Neal.

A cuckoo coup and a president, too
Barbwire exclusive: Secret 2017 meeting set the setup in motion
"The firing of Traci Davis was nothing short of a long-term, well-orchestrated coup."
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-24-2019 Sparks Tribune

Reno City Council passes rent control
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-17-2019 Sparks Tribune


Broken Promises in Boomtown —>

Drug Addiction: Nevada's Chronic Corporate Welfare Tax Giveaways

Nevada corporate welfare queens rip off megabux from dumb hick taxpayers
By James De Haven / rgj.com 7-22 / Reno Gazette-Journal 7-28-2019

Corporate welfare ripoffs — Nevada business as usual
By Former Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno / Reno News & Review 7-25-2019

TURNING TRICKS QUESTION: Is Nevada’s corporate welfare paying off?
By Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 7-18-2019

Assemblymember Skip Daly, D-Sparks, has criticized Gov. Steve Sisolak for vetoing Assembly Bill 444 which would have created a legislative committee to review Nevada's epidemic of corporate tax breaks.
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 7-3-2019 Sparks Tribune

Corporate Welfare War Rooms: Cabellyup with Cabela's & Scheel's et al + Nevada Corporate Welfare Archives
+ We Don't Need No Education

Racism Comes Out of the Closet
By Nobel Prize Winner Paul Krugman / nytimes.com 7-15 / The New York Times 7-16-2019

BREAKING NEWS AND THEN SOME —>
TOXIC TWINS: school bureaucracy & casino jockocracy

We Don't Need No Education Part LXXXIX—>
Alfred E. Neuman for Washoe school superintendent
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-10-2019 Sparks Tribune

Witness at the execution
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 7-3-2019 Sparks Tribune

Gang banging on 9th Street
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Special Barbwire Confidential Extra Edition / 7-1-2019

SUMMER SCHOOL HEAT: Showdown looms July 1 as Reno-Sparks school district attempts to fire superintendent Traci Davis
BARBWIRE "WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION" ARCHIVE

Veni, Vidi, Jockocracy?
Locker room rules: Caesars goes commando, union vows resistance to Eldorado empire
By Bryan Horwath / Las Vegas Sun 6-28-2019 / Reno Gazette-Journal 7-8-2019

Eldorado-Caesars merger means labor union battles far beyond Reno & Las Vegas
Culinary Union leader D. Taylor: "Where are they going to cut?"
Building trade union campaigns continue
By Ed Komenda / Reno Gazette-Journal / 6-27-2019

The divine right of kings, casino gods & dingbat heirs
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 6-26-2019 Sparks Tribune

The Barbwire Presidential Dirtiest Dozen
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the Wednesday 6-19-2019 Sparks Tribune

Sen. Ira Hansen announces his pregnancy
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 4-24-2019 Sparks Tribune

Priorities for butt-, rent-, birth- and gun-control
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 4-17-2019 Sparks Tribune

DAY OF THE DEAD
Relieve Rent & Pillage: Save SB398 & AB399
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Special Online Legislative Edition / 4-12-2019
Fairness for tenants dies 4-12 unless lawmakers throw it a lifeline

4-1-2019

Betty J. Barbano
2-7-1941 / 12-27-2005

On April 1, 1976, Andrew Barbano met Betty Joyce Luffman Donlevy, manager of Pauline's Sportswear in Carson City.
Be still my foolish heart.

BREAKING NEWS AND THEN SOME—>

¡Viva Chávez!

César Chávez Celebration XVIII / Celebración de César Chávez XVIII
Saturday 30 May 2020 / sabado 30 mayo 2020
Atlantis Resort-Reno
Sign up for news and bulletins

Thanks to everyone who helped make César XVII a record-breaking success despite the rain and snow.
Mark your calendar now for César XVIII

50 years in Nevada: Trying to outlive them all
Barbwire by Andres Luis Barbáno / Expanded from the 3-27-2019 Sparks Tribune

HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak delivers the keynote address at César Chávez Celebration XVII 3-27-2019
¡Sí se puede!

César Chávez Celebration XVII / Celebración de César Chávez XVII
Wednesday 27 March 2019 / miércoles 27 de Marzo 2019
Tahoe Ballroom / Grand Sierra - Reno

UNR-sponsored day of service and celebration 3/31/2019
Reno Gazette-Journal ads break March 24
KTVN TV-2 (CBS/Home of March Madness)
Spots break 'round the clock starting March 24
[VIEW]

The César Chávez Long March, 3-17-1966
by Reno artist Erik Holland

The original watercolor above was displayed for several years in the Nevada legislative offices of State Senator and future Congressman Ruben Kihuen, D-Las Vegas, prime sponsor of the 2009 César Chávez Day bill which is now state law. (Nevada Revised Statutes 236.027/AB301-Kihuen et al./2009). Mr. Holland is preparing a new painting to be unveiled on May 30, 2020, at César Chávez Celebration XVIII, latest in the series. The Reno-Sparks NAACP will participate with a full display and voter registration, as usual. Click here for event reservations and sponsorship information. Copyright © 2009 Erik Holland. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2009 Erik Holland. All rights reserved.

GOP avoids Chávez event
By Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 3-21-2019

Guv keynotes César XVII: 17-year overnight success
Barbwire by Andres Luis Barbáno / Expanded from the 3-13-2019 Sparks Tribune

¡Viva Chávez!

Poor Denny's Almanac
Remember: St. Patrick was once a slave who returned to minister to the land which shackled him

On St. Patrick's Day: in 1934, thirty African American students were ejected from the U.S. House of Representatives dining room when they sought service as a protest against the firing of a waiter who tried to serve blacks, with police shoving the students out of the restaurant, down the hallway, and outdoors, fists swinging and blows landing; in 1966, farm workers led by César Chávez began a march from Delano to Sacramento; in 1970, U.S. postal workers struck.

Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
The Underbelly of the News—>TOP SECRET, HUSH HUSH!

Betty J. Barbano
2-7-1941 / 12-27-2005

Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
The Underbelly of the News—>TOP SECRET, HUSH HUSH!

In memoriam: 60 years ago toward a lonely road

January 16, 1959, brought the births of Debra Joyce Donlevy/Carson High '77 (1959-1978) and Donna Leslie Cline (1959-1999). Their youth was cut in twain on the same night in 1978 within the loneliness of the High Desert Outback of the American Dream. Remember them fondly.

OBITUARY: Robert Earle Price, Jr. / 1936-2019
By Andrew Barbano / NevadaLabor.com 1-5-2019

More stupid signs of our republic's decline
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 1-2-2019 Sparks Tribune

Crystal Balls: Peerless Predixions 2019 & Beyond
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 12-26-2018 Sparks Tribune

So this is Christmas: May we get what we deserve
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 12-19-2018 Sparks Tribun

A Christmas fantasy for freedom-loving racists
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 12-5-2018 Sparks Tribune

The growing tide of Teslacide
Latest news from Nevada's $1.4 billion corporate welfare champion
Menial Tasks, Slurs and Swastikas for Minorities

BLACK LIKE ME 2119: The problem as solution
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 2-13-2019 Sparks Tribune

Melvin and Howard: The untold reality show
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 12-12-2018 Sparks Tribune

50 shades of rape: Tales of future past
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 10-3-2018 Sparks Tribune

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