Reno Street Audio

Arthur was attending a recent Black Lives Matter event in downtown Reno, and as he sometimes does, was watching from a distance at first.

Large groups of police congregated on bikes behind him. The Michigan native who is new to Reno says he doesn’t understand why police officers get so little training before entering police forces across the country, sometimes even less than what beauticians go through..

“You know, we sent you to school more to do hair than we do to protect and serve the lives of citizens and people. I mean, it's not an easy job. You literally have to be a superhero. Seriously. If you really want to be a cop, you literally have to act like a superhero. You got to let somebody shoot you first or shoot at you first, before you fire, you literally have to go in like a fireman,” he said of the risks involved in being a police officer.

Listen to many more of his insights in your latest episode in this the summer of 2020, marked by new thoughts and protests to end systemic police racism, brutality and unjustified killings.

Moriah, 20, already has had a very difficult life story, from being an abused foster kid to a runaway to a pregnant teen who had to give up her child for adoption. While starting to work several hours a week for an organization setting up a new shelter in Reno/Sparks, she has been living in a tent, which gets repeatedly uprooted in city sweeps. Sometimes people living in the encampment are cited, fined and given a court date. Sometimes trash is picked up. It changes all the time, but not Moriah's drive to survive. In this episode of the Our Town Reno / Biggest Little Streets podcast episode, she explains why herself and others prefer the tent life even if it's illegal.

In this episode, we go on the streets of Reno with Kristuffer Richmond, who was a Downtown Ambassador, as part of the Downtown Reno Partnership, as COVID-19 hit the Biggest Little City.

Before the stay at home orders, during the stay at home orders, and as Reno slowly reemerges, the pursuits of the Partnership, a so-called Business Improvement District, and the work of its ambassadors, have pretty much stayed the same.

But many in our community remain confused as to what exactly the very visible ambassadors do, and how the BID fits in with the rest of the city’s leadership and future.

Our reporter on the streets is Lucia Starbuck. For this episode she also teamed with Scott King to do an in-studio interview with Alex Stettinski, the Executive Director of the Partnership, and Mike Higdon, its marketing manager.

When Our Town Reno met Erik, the recent widow was acting as a watchdog for his houseless friends at Barbara Bennett Park. He told us he had been traveling for most of his life and that he moved half a year ago from California to Reno, where he’s lived before. He was sleeping in his car, a 2001 Honda Accord.

He told us he tries to help out especially when big encampments have been removed in police sweeps, and that people without stable shelter, like him, are having to find a new location to feel somewhat rooted for a few weeks.

"We're all out here starving, we're all out here trying to make a life. It's not the kind of life I want to really be in but I'm comfortable with it. I just want to make sure other people don't die around here. It's too much death, man. I'm so tired of it,” he said of himself and others living on the streets, surviving as best they can.

James Henderson, 50, part black and Native American, an ex convict who did 16 years in prison in different spells from Hawaii to San Quentin, says he survived riots and being shot three times. He’s a recent graduate of the local Crossroads recovery program with new hopes for his own future. “I used to brag about it, but I'm not proud of it because it's wasted time,” he said of his prison record. “You know, now that I'm older I'm using this thing called cognitive thinking, and it has improved my life.”

Henderson has been keeping a close eye on protests in downtown Reno from his usual daytime spot at the Believe Plaza, watching protesters come and go. Having just had knee surgery, he says he prefers to just watch for now, but that recent events do bring back childhood memories.

“My mom and dad were some of the founders of the Black Panther party in the 1960s in Oakland, California, so I am a Black Panther progeny. I remember going to marches as a kid,” he said.

He says he likes the mix of colors he’s seen in Reno, which is reminiscent to his own childhood experiences. Like now, he says, it was also about a mix of issues. “It was black, white, Chinese, Mexican, Korean, every nationality you could think of. And it was about equal housing, equal living standards. It was about equal schooling, and equal health benefits. It was based upon equal way of living as a citizen.”

He does see some progress, such as when police officers have taken a knee with others, something he says he never saw several decades ago. “That is like so much improvement in itself. You know, you would never hear that, hear about that, a cop ever doing that,” he said with tears in his eyes.

Dressed in a black hooded-sweatshirt and camera in hand, Eric Marks has become a feature of downtown Reno nightlife. But as the owner of Reno Street Photography and as a documentarian, he’s more in the shadows, documenting what he sees to share with the world what life on the streets of Reno is all about. This episode by reporter Scott King looks into challenges and rewards of street photography.

It's people like Tex who get displaced during police sweeps. He's fighting cancer so he avoid large crowds such as what you can find at the shelter. He used to stay at the courthouse but following protests that's not possible anymore. He was recently hit by a car. His cards are down, but Tex, who got his nickname from his Texas base, hasn't stopped fighting, whatever life and the world throws at him. Our reporter for this episode is Lucia Starbuck.

How does one cope after losing their child who served in the military?

Tina Drakulich founded the David J. Drakulich Foundation For Freedom of Expression after losing her own son, David Drakulich. The Reno artist turned soldier died at 22, in January 2008, near Chagali, Afghanistan. At the time, he was a fire support specialist with the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team in the 82nd Airborne Division.

The non-profit in his name provides different art programs, like open art studios, writing workshops, performances, and community discussions to help veterans and their families heal.

Our reporter Lucia Starbuck went to a therapeutic art workshop called Combat Paper Nevada, which turns military uniforms into paper. Learn more about this initiative in your latest Biggest Little Streets Our Town Reno podcast episode.

Jeff Bogue recently moved back with his parents, but is trying to fix up his van to live in it again, for more independence. He believes it should be allowed to sleep in your vehicle amid this affordable housing crisis.

“The cops shouldn't always go after the homeless that are not causing problems and just because they’re sleeping,” Bogue said. “[Sleeping] should not be a crime, in my opinion. For somebody who's extremely tired and doesn’t have a place to go, they should have a little compassion.”

Should there be safe parking spots in Reno and across the United States? Our reporter for this episode is Scott King.

Many people living on the streets say one place is better than another in terms of services. They aren’t always in the place they prefer. How do services compare? Why does a person without housing end up in one place rather than another? For this episode of the Biggest Little Streets Podcast, reporters Scott King and Lucia Starbuck were at Barbara Bennett Park in downtown Reno. There they met Chris, who had recently re-located to Reno from Portland, Oregon. Note: this was produced and recorded before the pandemic hit the Biggest Little City.