Sewage Tests Show More COVID Drops; The Independent’s New Sister Publication – Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: January 31, 2022

Indy Digest: January 31, 2022

Starting today, the Independent has a new sister newspaper in Reno, Nevada, the Reno News & Review.

The first non-academic journal signature I ever had came in the Reno News & Review. In the summer of 1996, I got an internship at the alternative weekly in my hometown – which, at that point, was just over a year old. It was an awesome experience; I learned a lot; and made lifelong friendships.

It was my first time at RN&R. My second came about a year and a half later. After graduating from college, I worked for the San Francisco bureau of the Associated Press for five months, before deciding to return to Reno to take care of personal and family matters. RN&R had just hired a new editor who couldn’t start for about two months, so I filled the void as temporary editor, before moving to a small daily in Sparks, Nevada.

My third stint came about a year and a half later. The position of RN&R editor was open; I applied and got the job. Not quite six months later, the editor left and the owner offered me this job. I agreed and became editor of my hometown weekly a few weeks before my 25th birthday.

I left not quite two years later, in the scary madness that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001. I moved to Las Vegas and went to work for Las Vegas CityLife as a political reporter and news editor. chief. A little over a year later, I was offered the job of editor of CityLife’s sister newspaper, the Tucson Weekly. I spent 10 years there, then my husband and I decided to move to Palm Springs to start the Independent. This happened a little over nine years ago.

Over the years, I have stayed in touch with RN&R. My writings appeared from time to time in the newspaper; I maintained friendships with many journalists from the newspaper. I was a regular online reader and always picked up a copy when I was in Reno visiting family. I stayed in contact with the owners, Jeff von Kaenel and Deborah Redmond; I even sat with Jeff on a board of directors for a few years.

Then came March 2020.

The RN&R, like many newspapers, has suspended its paper edition. Because almost all of the newspaper’s advertising revenue vanished instantly, staff were laid off. Over the next two years, the paper saw a digital comeback, thanks in large part to the work of longtime investigative journalist (and Nevada Newspaper Hall of Famer) Frank X. Mullen, who came out of his retirement to help the RN&R survive.

This brings us to last April, when my husband, I went home to visit our parents for the first time since the pandemic hit. I kept seeing RN&R Best Of plaques on restaurant walls and came across a few empty RN&R newspaper racks. Plus, it seemed like every friend we saw asked me some variation of the question, “Hey, do you know if the Reno News & Review is ever coming back?” I replied that Frank X. Mullen does great stuff online, but other than that, I didn’t know.

Reno was missing the RN&R.

This led me to email Jeff and Deborah when I got back to Palm Springs. I thanked them for keeping the journal alive for so long and told them to contact me if there was anything I could to help RN&R.

Jeff and Deborah responded – and that started the series of conversations that culminated in Coachella Valley Independent LLC becoming the owner of RN&R starting today.

As I said in an RN&R letter to the readers that was published last week: “Never in a million years did I think we would get to where we are now, with my business becoming the new owner and steward of RN&R I reached out to see if I could lend a hand as someone with Reno roots and lots of newspaper experience – not to acquire anything. he universe had other plans.

Rest assured: as I begin my fourth stint with the Reno News & Review, nothing will change with the Independent. I will always be here as a writer and editor; these Indy Digests will continue to arrive from yours truly in your inbox twice a week. I might be a little more frazzled than usual, and I’ll be spending more time in Reno (not a bad thing, since my mom and my husband’s dad live there) – but Palm Springs is my home, and I love the Independent more than ever.

—Jimmy Boegle