BARBWIRE by ANDREW BARBANO Pirate Laureate of the High Desert Outback of the American Dream

Barbwire Archives

I'm in love again!

Not only is my fantasy fiancée Machine Gun Michele Fiore running for the southern Nevada Congressional District 3 GOP nomination, but Sharron Angle is taking another flyer at the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Harry Reid.

Don't underestimate either by their weirdness. They are formidable campaigners.

I proposed marriage to Assemblymember Fiore on 10 March 2015. (See "The Italian girl mama wanted for me?" at the NevadaLabor.com Barbwire archive.)

Alas, she has yet to respond but hope springs eternal.

CRUMMY CRUMBLINGS. The Environmental Protection Agency has opened a nationwide investigation into the effects of toxic, carcinogenic crumb rubber artificial turf which is epidemic throughout northern Nevada. Sparks' Golden Eagle Park is up for resurfacing this year at tremendous cost. This column alone among all Nevada media has reported on the hazards.

As I noted last November, UNR's Mackay Stadium and Peccole Park as well as the football fields at Damonte Ranch, McQueen, Carson and Douglas high schools are replete with the birth-defect causing used tires.

Now with lead ubiquitous in the nation's water supply and Zika virus reaching epidemic proportions, no kid appears safe. ("What do Sparks and Flint, Michigan, have in common?", Tribune 19 Jan. 2016)

Hmmm. Since conservatives appear correct that government doesn't work, maybe they should subcontract environmental protection to one of Donald Trump's management companies.

SCHOOL DAZE. I hate to pile onto the Washoe County School District, but they've asked for it.

This column was a year ahead of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and fully two years ahead of the Reno Gazette-Journal in breaking the story that the two largest school districts in the state had used creative accounting to artificially pump up their graduation stats. (See the ever-expanding NevadaLabor.com "We Don't Need No Education" archive.)

New Washoe boss Traci Davis told us at a Reno-Sparks NAACP meeting that she would stop using the techniques of her predecessors, but she's still basing current grad rates on the old inflated numbers.

Uncool.

MOTHER'S MILK DEPT. As legendary Democratic Assembly Speaker Jesse "The Boss" Unruh famously said, "money is the mother's milk of politics."

Two of my buds will be shaking the tree, mixing the metaphors and milking the cows this week.

Northern Nevada Congressional District 2 candidate Chip Evans will be the guest of honor at the home of Don and Patricia Gallimore in northwest Reno at 5:30 p.m. this Thursday, March 24. (RSVP 775-846-2952) Same time next day at Swill in Moana West, Sen. Ruben Kihuen, D-Las Vegas, hosts a fundraiser for his CD4 (central and southern Nevada) campaign. (RSVP 775-560-2233)

I had high hopes that Sen. Kihuen could again keynote the March 30 César Chávez Dinner & Nevada Labor Hall of Fame Awards at Circus Circus. Alas, his campaign will take him elsewhere. He was principal sponsor of the 2009 Nevada César Chávez Day Law.

We shared a laugh over the typo his staff made about his endorsement by the prestigious League of Conservation Voters, headlined as the League of "Conversation" Voters.

Sen. Kihuen said he would be happy to also accept the conversationalists' endorsement.

JOB JEOPARDY. SAVE-MART will soon announce closure of its Sparks and Carson City locations to be replaced by FoodMax stores. More at NevadaLabor.com/

¡HAIL, CÉSAR! Mark your calendar for César Chávez Celebration XIV March 30 at Circus Circus-Reno. For information, contact me or go to CesarChavezNevada.com/

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)

The Underbelly of the News—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential

BARBWIRE WEB EXTRAS —> TOMORROW'S NEWS TODAY: FEEL UP YOUR FIRE METER. The Reno Gazette-Journal did big spreads on threeconsecutive Sundays (Sept. 14, Sept. 21 and Sept. 28, 2014) on NV Energy smart meter fires. Welcome aboard. Barbwire readers were two years ahead on the fire meter issue. (Touch a Smart Meter, Go to Jail — 11 October 2012)

FIRE METER UPDATES: THE NEVADA FIRE MARSHALL'S INVESTIGATION concluded "don't worry, be happy." I'm still worried and will continue fondling NVE's precious equipment —> If your smart meter feels very hot, not just from sunshine, call 911

In its Sunday 21 Dec. 2014 front page headline major story, the Reno Gazette-Journal published results of the NVEnergy-commissioned "don't worry, be happy" echo study. On 1-27-2015, the RGJ published an analysis based on veteran reporter Anjeanette Damon's review of more than 1,000 pages of documents. Barbwire bottom line: NVE handles this like auto manufacturers handle defects —> It's cheaper to pay legal settlements after people are injured or killed than to fix the problem.

Don'tcha worry 'bout a thing! If you can't trust your power company, whom can you trust?

Smoking guns: Rooftop solar assassination — NevadaLabor.com Energy War Room

DIDN'T THEY MAKE A MOVIE CALLED "THE INCREDIBLES"? On 2-6-2015, the RGJ reported that the Public Utilities Commission has ordered NVE to hire an independent laboratory to review the material.

UPDATE: The report said all is well. I still recommend feeling up your fire meter on a regular basis.

ANTE INTO THE GAME: Support the new season of Barbwire.TV by putting your money where my mouth is. A thousand thanks to those who keep sending show suggestions

  Stay tuned.

  I encourage you to donate to the cause at Barbwire.TV/ The medium that shapes public opinion needs at least one refuge where it is not filtered through the distorted green eye shades of prissy corporate accountants for whom profit is the only priority; where self-censorship is the journalist's normal work environment and where all sins of omission are tacitly encouraged and forgiven with the wave of a balance sheet. This is important. We've got a lot of work to do.

Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)

Andrew Barbano is a 47-year Nevadan, chair of the Nevada César Chávez Committee, producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration, first vice-president and political action chair of the Reno-Sparks NAACP, labor/consumer/civil rights advocate, member of Communications Workers of America Local 9413/AFL-CIO and editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org and DoctorLawyerWatch.com/ As always, his opinions are strictly his own. Check local listings for other Nevada cable systems. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Sparks Tribune since 1988.

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Copyright © 1982-2016 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 47-year Nevadan, editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org; and former chair of the City of Reno's Citizens Cable Compliance Committee. He is producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration and serves as first vice-president, political action chair and webmaster of the Reno-Sparks NAACP. As always, his opinions are strictly his own. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us.

Barbwire by Barbano moved to Nevada's Daily Sparks Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in them parts ever since.
Whom to blame: How a hall-of-famer's hunch birthed the Barbwire in August of 1987
Tempus fugit.

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