Tyler Colton moved to Reno from New York about 6 years ago to transition from a long career as a professional celebrity hair stylist into a bar owner and operator here in the Biggest Little City. Named after his cat, he opened The Emerson in Midtown as a craft cocktail bar staffed and supplied by women (as much as possible) and designed to feel like an upscale hotel lobby bar- a great place for a date.

In those 6 years, The Emerson has grown to be a mainstay in the Midtown neighborhood, winning Best Local Bar in the Reno News and Review the last two years in a row. Tyler also had to deal with the covid pandemic, which he described as a blessing in disguise, and multiple curveballs from the City of Reno along the way.

Cabaret licenses, live entertainment restrictions, conditional use permits, public comments, planning codes, and more are huge parts of the process in operating a local drinking establishment. And of course let's not forget that South Virginia Street had major overhaul during this time as well, with a hotly-debated median and roundabout installed.

On this episode of Renoites, we talked about the journey and the challenges of opening and operating the bar, the most important thing for new business owners to consider and plan for, the important decision of what kind of city Reno is going to grow into being, the introduction of major outdoor events like Dancing in the Street and Northern Nevada Pride to Midtown, his upcoming new bar The Selden (an LGBTQ+ cabaret style bar in the former Junkee building), ideas for revamping Virginia Street again but with bike lanes and parking, and much more!

If you have comments, questions, feedback, or just want to get in touch, be sure to follow me on Instagram at http://instagram.com/renoites or send me an email to conor@renoites.com

Thanks for listening and telling everyone you know to listen too!

For any business or nonprofit or government agency, it is very important to be able to tell the story about what you do and why it matters. It is important to relay information clearly and in a culturally appropriate way. In a state like Nevada, with one of the highest Spanish speaking populations in the United States, that can mean providing evacuation instructions for wildfires, or during covid it meant ensuring that information about prevention and vaccines had to be accurate.

For local media, it has meant figuring out how to include Spanish language reporting on mostly-english channels, or including more diverse voices in the stories that are being told.

Our guest on this episode is Vanessa Vancour, a bilingual strategic storyteller and marketer who worked with UNR to launch noticiero movil, a Spanish language media outlet that began at the Reynolds School of Journalism, and currently works as the Language Access Coordinator for the Nevada Secretary of State’s office. She also operates her own consulting firm, Vancourage.

You might have seen Vanessa’s popular Ted Talk “I’m Mexican. Does that change your assumptions about me” in which she talked about the experience of straddling two different languages and cultures. On today’s episode, we talked about the difference between just translating words and actually telling stories, how language accessibility includes prioritizing simple and clear vocabulary, the importance of capturing the stories of our elders including in their own words and voices, and a lot more!

It has been wonderful to see so much growing support for the work I am doing to create this show. Renoites is an independent, locally oriented and community funded project. It can’t exist without financial support from listeners just like you. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this work on Patreon, including several new patrons this week! You can learn more about how you can support the show at patreon.com/renoites or just renoites.com

If you have suggestions, comments, feedback or otherwise want to get in touch, you can reach me at conor@renoites.com

Federally Qualified Health Centers were created during the civil rights era to bring health care to more people, particularly underserved communities. Here in Northern Nevada, HOPES was originally a clinic for patients with HIV but has since expanded into a FQHC providing primary care and other services to around 14,000 patients in the Reno/Sparks area.

On this episode of Renoites, I spoke with HOPES CEO Sharon Chamberlain about the history of HOPES and the services they provide, especially the type of services needed by our most vulnerable citizens. We also discussed how health care options have changed during her career, and the priorities of HOPES including harm reduction syringe exchange, sexual health and STI testing, medically assisted treatment for addiction, and mental and behavioral health.

HOPES recently opened a second clinic immediately adjacent to the Cares Campus and operates the Hope Springs tiny home transitional housing community right across the street. We talked about the importance of this new location and making health care accessible to the unhoused.

Thank you so much for listening! Did you know that Renoites is entirely funded by listeners just like you? Please consider supporting the show financially! You can just send a one time contribution via Venmo to @renoites or sign up to support monthly on Patreon!

If you have guest suggestions, feedback, or otherwise want to get in touch, email me at conor@renoites.com

Please tell people about the podcast and help spread the word by posting about it and telling your friends! Your word of mouth is worth much more than any online ad or boosted social media post. Thank you!

Nevada has an unusual legislative calendar, in which our legislature doesn’t meet every year, but every other year. And they don’t meet the entire year either- the session is only 120 days. 120 days to do all the lawmaking for a state of millions of people. Obviously, these are busy times and there is a lot going on.

Thankfully, our guest on this episode is political reporter Lucia Starbuck from KUNR. Lucia hosts her own podcast called Purple Politics Nevada and focuses on political issues particularly affecting us here in Northern Nevada. We talked about some of the current proposed legislation, what it’s like being one of only a few reporters following all the happenings, and much more.

On this episode, we mentioned an upcoming live event being hosted by Lucia. That event took place on March 4 and can be seen here on YouTube

I am hoping to do more audience Q&A and interact a bit more. If you have questions, suggestions, ideas, or things you'd like me to answer or talk about on the show, let me know! Thanks to Dan for submitting a question for this episode! My email address is conor@renoites.com

You can find links to my social media and Patreon (if you are able to support the show financially) at http://www.renoites.com

Thank you so much for listening!

The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) is the agency that handles much of how we get around in Reno. They design and execute road projects, manage our local public transit, and very soon they will be installing bike infrastructure along several major streets downtown to create the Biggest Little Bike Network.

Today on the show, we welcome Sara Going, Project Manager at RTC for the Biggest Little Bike Project, to talk about these upcoming street improvements, how they affect local businesses, connecting different neighborhoods, creating safety (and a feeling of safety) for bike riders and all users of the road, what was learned from 2022's micro-mobility pilot project, planned replacement of structurally deficient bridges, and so much more!

If you enjoy this episode and would like to support Renoites financially, your generous contribution is incredibly appreciated. You can learn more and sign up to help this ad-free, locally-oriented project continue on into the future. Learn more at http://www.renoites.com

Thank you so much for listening! If you have guest suggestions, comments, feedback, or questions for an upcoming mailbag/Q&A episode, send them over to conor@renoites.com or connect with me on social media. Links can be found at http://www.renoites.com

Reno is the smallest market in the United States to have a AAA Minor League Baseball team. Our Reno Aces, an affiliate team of the Arizona Diamondbacks, play 150 games every year- half of them at Greater Nevada Field in the heart of downtown Reno.

On today's episode of Renoites, we're joined by the President of the Reno Aces, Eric Edelstein. Eric's career in minor league baseball management led him to the Biggest Little City over a decade ago, and on this episode he and Conor discuss his career path and what it looks like to be the president of a minor league baseball team, some of the benefits and challenges of the Reno market, the big dreams for the future of the Ballpark District as a destination neighborhood, and much more!

Do you have thoughts, comments, questions, or just want to be "on the air" on a future episode of Renoites? This season, I'm hoping to do at least one "Listener Q&A" style episode. Send your comments or questions to conor@renoites.com or text 775-241-3597. Even better, record a voice note in the voice notes app on your phone and email it to conor@renoites.com so that I can play it on the show when I respond.

Please consider supporting Renoites financially. This show is entirely listener supported and because it is a local show, I really rely on financial support from you, my neighbors. Learn more http://patreon.com/renoites

(you can always just send me some money through Venmo also! My username is "renoites")

Thank you so much for listening!

Ann Wolfe is the Chief Curator at the Nevada Museum of Art, the only art museum in the state of Nevada accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Collaborating with paleontologist Dr. Martin Sander, she has co-curated a new exhibition at the museum titled "Deep Time: Sea Dragons of Nevada." You might know these Sea Dragons by their actual name- Ichthyosaur.

On this week's episode of Renoites, Ann join Conor to discuss the exhibition and how it was created, the process of combining arts and science in museum exhibitions, working with artifacts and fossils millions of years old, the important scientists who have spearheaded expeditions into the Nevada desert, as well as the more art-focused elements of the exhibition including an 85 foot digital "point cloud" projection, a collection of thousands of dinosaur toys from around the world (note: Ichthyosaurs aren't dinosaurs!), and even the art gracing the cans of a local favorite beer, Icky IPA by Great Basin Brewing.

In addition to the current exhibition, Conor and Ann discussed the importance of Land Art to the state of Nevada, including Michael Heizer's "City," a land art piece spanning over a mile of the Nevada desert and taking decades to complete, and the "Seven Magic Mountains" installation- currently a major tourist destination in Las Vegas but which is now planned to be relocated here to Northern Nevada.

Renoites is a fully listener-supported project, and we need your support! Please tell people about the show and help spread the word, and consider contributing financially to help the show become more sustainable. Learn more at http://patreon.com/renoites

If you have feedback, guest suggestions, or want to get in touch, please email me at conor@renoites.com and follow on social media at http://renoites.bsky.social

Thank you so much for listening and for your support!

Jamie Vaughn talks a lot about cancer. As a survivor of breast cancer who wanted to share more about her experience and provide resources to others going through similar experiences, she launched the podcast "Test Those Breasts" and a website with links to resources for those dealing with cancer.

On this episode of Renoites, Jamie sat down with Conor to share the story of her cancer journey, how it upended her retirement plans and put her on a different path, what she has learned from dozens and dozens of conversations with doctors, experts, and other cancer survivors, and much more.

You can find Test Those Breasts wherever you get your podcasts or at http://www.testthosebreasts.org

Thank you for listening! If you have guest suggestions, comments, or other feedback please let me know! Email me at conor@renoites.com

Be sure to follow on Instagram and like and share all the posts so that more people can find the show! Visit http://instagram.com/renoites

And if you want to support the show financially, please consider becoming a patron! Renoites is FREE to listen, and with no annoying ads! That means the only way for it to continue existing is with financial support from people just like you. Yes, you! Learn more at http://patreon.com/renoites

Thanks for listening and for your support!