On Pricey Eggs, No to Pot Cafes, Local Aid Groups and Helping Unhoused Seniors
On social media this week we got local attention for our posts on pricey eggs, promoting volunteer organizations, helping unhoused seniors and then more recently, disappointment over not being able to have any cannabis lounges.
Green Vibe World, Family Soup Mutual Aid, Hampton House Garden, Reno Burrito Project, Special Needs Community Nevada, Food Not Bombs Reno, Assistance League of Reno Sparks, Project 150 Reno, Rave Family Foundation, Soil Solidarity and Forever 14 all got votes as favorite local group to volunteer with.
A post about an $11.33 price tag for 18 Free Range Organic “Happy eggs” at Walmart got plenty of passionate discourse, with high priced egg defenders, non egg eaters, and comparisons with other current egg prices and empty shelves. “Why are we accepting this as the new normal?” asked Debbie Turner.
Heather Davis Mayorga pointed out: “…People that are on strict budgets (with inflation being so high) are looking for ways to cut costs usually start with trying to lower their food bills. So they end up getting less healthy foods etc.. that group of people usually includes families with children, low income seniors living on social security etc... Eggs typically have been affordable and are a good source of protein and now many of the people that need that the most will go without.”
A 3-2 Washoe County Board of Commissioners vote effectively squashed any possibility of having local cannabis lounges in the near future, despite these establishments now being allowed in Nevada. One commenter wrote: “Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb decision. Pot tourism = money,” as Las Vegas gets ready to open a few.
After we posted the above photo of a woman on 4th street who was looking for tin foil to wrap herself in, several community members asked where they could find her to help. Some were surprised she wasn’t staying at the Cares Campus.
“Maybe our great god and savior, Jacobs Entertainment, will see fit to grant us mercy. The city was certainly willing to sacrifice the homes and livelihoods of many to give them free reign of downtown,” wrote Jeff DePaoli, referencing motel buyouts and destructions on the 4th street corridor for the Jacobs project which has mostly consisted of displaced lower income residents, excuses as to slow progress, and empty lots.
On Twitter, Joyce063 wrote: “IDK how anyone survives that. I’m having a rough time right now living in my car and I have a down blanket. I still freeze. I’ll wake up in the night with my whole body shaking. IDK how this woman survives.”
Our Reporting This Week
We reported on local coders working from Reno, dealing with rapid changes in the tech industry.
Our podcast is with UNR’s only undergraduate Afghan student seeking a new life in the United States.