Reno Is the New... No, Wait...

(In light of this latest round of navel gazing, we figure now's a good time to revisit this piece from March 2012 analyzing the truth behind the "Reno is the new Silicon Valley!!!" hype. And by the way, we'll have more on Tesla later.)

Yesterday, KRNV News 4 asked.

“The number one choice of why we're in Northern Nevada is quality of life,” says co-founder of Noble Studios, Season Lopiccolo.

For the diverse group of tech-savvy professionals at Noble Studios, Reno has something for everyone.

“Some snowboard, some like to dress up and pretend to be someone else, we have musicians, people with their own bands, all different walks of life,” says Lopiccolo.

Downtown Reno is in the midst of an image makeover, shifting from a place known for its bright lights and casinos to a world-renowned high tech hub.
And the supportive and entrepreneurial friendly environment within the biggest little city is making a big difference.

“One of the main reasons why we moved to Northern Nevada is that a handshake means something here,” says Lopiccolo.

I'll do my best to answer.

Is it possible? Sure. Is it probable? Perhaps when we get serious about investing in public infrastructure.

But then again, at least Reno has public infrastructure. Las Vegas doesn't have much of any left, so it's much more difficult to work on diversifying Southern Nevada's economy. Tony Hsieh is trying to do the same thing in Downtown Las Vegas. But if no one could even step up to save the Nevada Cancer Institute (which was ultimately gobbled up by a CALIFORNIA college), how can we really grow our own tech sector? As long as we fail to properly invest in our future, our economy will continue to suck.

At least Northern Nevada has UNR...



And to their credit, folks at UNR have been doing a great job in partnering with the greater communities around the Reno-Carson metropolitan area to work on economic diversification. This at least partially explains why Northern Nevada's economy hasn't been as devastated by continuing weakness in the gaming & tourism sector as Southern Nevada was when "The Great Recession" first hit.

However, the same set of data also shows that continuing gaming weakness IS harming economic recovery up north. Not even Reno is immune from it. And as we continue to see expansion of tribal casinos in California and online gaming worldwide, Northern Nevada will need to continue working on diversification to build a brighter future that isn't just based on fickle gamblers.

And again, we in Southern Nevada can't depend on fickle gamblers for our future, either. We also have to face the reality staring us down as Macau continues to grow, online gaming goes live, and new casino projects are being proposed everywhere from South Florida to Baja California (Mexico). While gaming will likely always be in our blood, there's no reason why we shouldn't look beyond physical casinos to start attracting new gaming technology companies, online gaming innovators, as well as infrastructure support and consulting services.

But as long as our schools suck and as long as the rest of our public infrastructure continues to lag, Southern Nevada will continue to suffer our addiction to the extreme highs and extreme lows of "the bubble based economy". I'm sure I sound like a broken record sometimes, but I nonetheless feel the need to continue talking about this until we finally see some real action and real solutions. We really do have the potential to bring more high tech jobs into this state, especially in sectors like gaming and renewable energy where we have natural strength, but we'll never realize that potential if we don't invest in our "human capital".

Reno is already seeing some success in bringing in new high tech jobs. They just need to finish the job in diversifying the economy up there. And Las Vegas still has plenty of catching up to do in that department. And ultimately, both ends of the state need more investment in public education to ultimately be successful.

The Fact of the Matter

In recent days, we've been bombarded with news of a new haute faux scandal. Now that Congressional Republican "leaders" are already embarking on their path to impeach President Obama for committing the heinous crime of doing his job, they're already embarking on their strategy to tar & feather the next Democratic President (while also revisiting their irrational hatred of the previous one).

Oh, yes. That's right. They're going there. And they're already going after Hillary Clinton.

They were hoping #Benghazi would net them "2 for the price of 1". But now that they're coming up empty there, they need to latch onto a new haute faux scandal to gin up more "OUTRAGE!!!" So of course, they're returning to the time honored tradition of "investigating" the Clintons' personal lives to death (cough- Whitewater- cough- Monica).

And now, G-O-TEA operatives think they've hit pay dirt with the "speaking fees scandal". How dare that she-devil steal food right out of starving students' mouths! How dare that haggardly witch unilaterally raise tuition at UNLV! How dare that...

Wait, what?! No really, this is what G-O-TEA media spinners are now claiming. Because Hillary Clinton accepted a $225,000 speaking fee from the UNLV Foundation to attend an October fundraiser (for UNLV!), she's somehow responsible for tuition hikes and budget cuts that she never approved. (Who's the Governor of Nevada again?) And now that Hillary Clinton is donating that $225,000 speaking fee to the Clinton Foundation, she's somehow horribly evil and selfish.

Give. Us. A. Break! Hillary Clinton was never the one eager to slash UNLV's budget. Hillary Clinton was never the one to direct state funding away from UNLV. And Hillary Clinton was never the one who voted to raise tuition for UNLV students.

Guess who did? Oh, yes. That's right. Nevada Republicans... And in particular, one Brian Sandoval.

We've seen first hand the pain & suffering caused by the budget cuts to higher education. And yes, we know that UNLV has especially been hit hard by the past 5 years of budget cuts.

The real perpetrators of the real scandal would like nothing more than for us to misplace our outrage and rage against those who actually have nothing to do with the real problems at our public colleges and universities. The fact of the matter is that the UNLV Foundation has already netted more money for this fundraiser (3 months before the event!) than it's paid Hillary Clinton/the Clinton Foundation. And the fact of the matter is that we wouldn't even need a UNLV Foundation hiring big names for big private fundraisers if the state's elected "leaders" were actually doing their job and properly funding public education.

But hey, let's not let some pesky facts get in the way of the hottest new haute faux scandal. Certain media pundits and political spinners find it so much "sexier" to hype a fictitious "SCANDAL!!!" than explain the real one.

Something Good in Our Society

Yesterday, a school was attacked. A teacher died. A student killed him and wounded two other students before killing himself. And a community is still in mourning.

Yet today, we have a chance to reflect on the final heroic act of Sparks Middle School math teacher Michael Landsberry. He tried to take the gun from the shooter. And while he couldn't succeed at that, he succeed at preventing further deaths at Sparks Middle School.



Michael Landsberry died in an effort to protect his students. He committed the ultimate act of heroism. And he reminded us of all the heroic acts our public school teachers commit all the time.

So why are we still listening to those nebulous (billionaire) forces trying to convince us that teachers are "lazy, greedy, and inherently evil"? Why are teachers so often blamed for everything wrong in public education, then expected to work more for less? Why is it OK to constantly berate teachers for just doing their job?

It's saddening to think that it had to take a teacher dying to break through the glitzy campaign to attack teachers. But perhaps today, we can all reflect on the invaluable role that teachers serve in our society... And why so many of them are everyday heroes.



The NRA and the rest of the gun lobby want us to believe that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun". That's clearly not true. There are far more effective ways to do so, such as preventing those "bad guys" from obtaining guns. And of course, we can invest in the kind of social safety net that prevents troubled kids from becoming "bad guys with guns".

So why have we allowed our schools to become armed battlefields? Why can't we instead restore our schools and let them become launch pads for a brighter future?

Yesterday, we once again saw something evil in our society. But now, we're also learning more about something good in our society. Public education is part of the foundation of a better society, and our teachers do amazing work to help students realize their full potential. Why can't we do more to strengthen that something good in our society?

Please, No Guns in the Classroom.

In Washington right now, there's renewed hope for meaningful progress on gun safety reform. Yet while that's happening there, some G-O-TEA stalwarts here are still pushing more of the same insanity. In fact, one of them even wants weapons in classrooms!



This really is not helpful. We don't need for more classrooms to turn into war zones. And no, this would not make anyone safer. Rather, the opposite is likely far closer to the truth.

When Brian Fadie of Progress Now Nevada questioned Fiore’s logic —the claim that everyone must be carrying a gun at all times to be safe —the assemblywoman asked him if he had ever shot a gun and upon learning that he hadn’t, accused the [advocate] of “talking out of school.” [...]

A Mother Jones analysis of 61 mass murders over the last 30 years found that “in not a single case was the killing stopped by a civilian using a gun.” As one leading expert explained, “given that civilian shooters are less likely to hit their targets than police in these circumstances,” arming civilians could often lead to more chaos and deaths.

Incidentally, The Nevada System of Higher Education and several law enforcement groups opposedan earlier bill permitting concealed weapons on college campuses, citing safety concerns.

This is the simply the wrong bill advocating the wrong policy at the wrong time. It was frightening when John Lee proposed it. And it's just as frightening now. The very last thing Nevada needs is schools full of weapons. We can't afford to have Newtown or Virginia Tech happen here.