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Local Musings

Carl Ribaudo

If you had not heard within the next 12 months there will be new non-stop air service into Reno Tahoe International Airport. The new service, from Guadalajara, Mexico; London, England and New York are welcome additions. You wouldn’t know it, but people have been working on this service for more than a decade. To make this happen it took a regional approach including Reno, South Shore, North Shore, the Nevada Commission on Tourism, ski and gaming industries, the airport and many others. This is what can happen when you form coalitions to make positive change. Local government including the city, TRPA, Douglas County, El Dorado County, the Nevada side, the California side and anyone else can get a lot more done working together instead of trying to go it alone.

• I am underwhelmed with the new Auto Zone and BevMo buildings. Architecturally the design can be found in any community in California. What happened to mountain design standards? Let’s get something straight, I am sure these new businesses will help someone, but they do nothing for real economic development. Both business are designed to take market share from existing business, not grow revenues. This brings up an issue I have continually voiced concern about on the South Shore, the lack of a cohesive well defined, well communicated economic development strategy to grow revenues. The other thing that bothers me is, do we need another liquor store? Were we unable to get, beer, wine, alcohol? A quick review of the yellow pages shows, not including grocery stores, there is more than a dozen places to get liquor. I guess we need just one more. Let the free-market do its work. To top it off Raley’s at the Y enlarged its liquor aisles and put them right in front of the entry. For a community that puts mental health and drug and alcohol abuse at the top of the problem list this seems like a race to the bottom.

The Big Picture



• France. What more can be said. Vive la France.

Recommendation



• If you have not yet seen American Sniper please do. I know some in the media saw the film as a Clint Eastwood pro-war film, but that is not the movie I saw. I saw a very moving film of a soldier doing his job and the emotional consequences of those efforts. A movie that showed the impact on his wife and family and a movie about a soldier who died trying to help another soldier with emotional problems. Go see it.

It’s a Wrap

• End of the road for the Grateful Dead. I know there are many Dead fans across the South Shore, but when the Dead announced its 50-year final shows this summer in Chicago it sort of shocked me. Maybe it was a sense of finality. Despite Jerry being gone for 20 years they kept going. No it wasn’t the same, but they made it as good as it could be. I hope he is up there smiling.

• Congratulations to Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson who became the first to free-climb the Dawn Wall on the legendary El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Local world-class photographer Cory Rich was there to document the climb. I look forward to seeing some of the photos.

• It’s Super Bowl Sunday this weekend. Go ahead watch the game or the commercials and have some fun with the greatest sports spectacle in the country. As much as I can’t stand anything close to the Boston Red Sox, I think New England will win. Have fun.

• In case you forgot, opening day for baseball season starts in about 70 days.

Carl Ribaudo is a contributing columnist to the Tahoe Daily Tribune. He is also a consultant, speaker and writer who lives in South Shore. He can be reached at carl@smgonline.net.


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