The Washoe County Republican Party might want to invest in a spreadsheet — or at least a group chat — because the 2026 ballot is shaping up to be one giant, red-tinted identity crisis.

First, there’s the Reno mayor’s race. Two elephants, one chair: Councilmember Kathleen Taylor, who rode GOP backing to a razor-thin win in 2024, and perennial candidate Eddie Lorton, the party’s forever date who’s back for another dance.

The City of Sparks has discovered a new way to “serve and protect” — by charging you for it.

Facing an $18 million budget shortfall, Sparks officials are floating something called a “First Responder Fee.” Translation: if you have the bad luck to need emergency medical help, and the Sparks Fire Department shows up first, you could get a $527 bill.

That’s right. The people who are supposed to show up when your heart stops or your car crashes now come with a surcharge.

Well, well, well — looks like Commissioner Mike Clark been calling out Commission Chair Alexis Hill long enough. Washoe County sent him a “Hold the Date” notice for Tuesday, December 2, 2025, from 1–5 p.m. — a possible meeting of the long-vanished Community Homeless Advisory Board (CHAB).

If true, that’s big. The CHAB hasn’t met since May 2024, which is remarkable considering Washoe County leadership — Commissioner Chair Alexis Hill and former County Manager Eric Brown — have spent the better part of two years declaring the homeless population “down by 40%, maybe 50%, possibly even 60%,” depending on which press piece you read that week. Remember the Wall Street Journal article that poor reporter was led down the garden path.

Everyone Picon knows seems to be sprinting for cover, hoping to avoid catching what we’ve started calling “the Beadles bug.” It’s highly contagious and politically disfiguring — symptoms include sudden memory loss about past donations, rapid distancing statements, and an unexplained urge to say “no comment.” Unfortunately, there’s no known vaccine yet, though a healthy dose of transparency and a booster of accountability might offer some immunity.

Picon’s private investigator was questioned by the Sparks Police Department in 2022, who handled the tracker investigation, and was cleared. We’ve been following this story for years and now the answer is known. We were blamed, guess you were all wrong.

Robert Beadles has gone on the record admitting he hired David McNeely to follow Mayor Hillary Schieve and then-Commissioner Vaughn Hartung — confirming what’s been whispered in political circles for months.

es, yes, we’ve heard it — “Where’s Picon on Beadles and Trackergate?” The comments, the emails, we’re sure we are getting side-eye. Rest assured, we’ve covered it (check the website, it’s there), and we’ll even get around to tossing it up on Facebook once we come up for air.

But while everyone else is busy chasing headlines, we’re more interested in what’s happening right here in the neighborhoods — namely, the repurposing of two local schools. That’s not gossip; that’s kids, their families, teachers, and property lines. The Washoe County School District is holding a community meeting on Wednesday, November 12th, at Libby Booth Elementary, 1450 Stewart Street, to talk about what this might mean for the potentially impacted school communities.

Full disclosure — our publisher, Larry Chesney, has tossed his hat in the ring for the Washoe County Commission District 5 race in 2026. As always, we’ll keep reporting the facts wherever they lead.

It seems the Washoe County political rumor mill has been running a little too hot lately.

At last month’s Washoe County Republican Central Committee meeting, there was talk that Commissioner Jeanne Herman had endorsed Tammy Holt-Still in the upcoming District 5 race. Holt-Still herself helped fuel the perception, she had announced her candidacy during a County Commission meeting while publicly thanking Commissioner Herman for her years of service — a gesture that some attendees took as a subtle nod of support.

More than a year has passed since the Community Homelessness Advisory Board (CHAB) last met — the very board tasked with overseeing Washoe County’s most pressing humanitarian crisis. Chaired by Commissioner Alexis Hill, CHAB has gone silent while encampments spread and frustration grows.

At the most recent Washoe County Commission meeting, residents finally said what many have whispered: Why hasn’t Chair Hill called a CHAB meeting in over a year?

We learned a new legal term: vexatious litigant. According to the courts, it’s someone who files lawsuits to harass or burden others rather than seek justice. Interesting, right?

That phrase came to mind when we received a campaign fundraising email from Reno City Councilmember and 2026 mayoral hopeful Devon Reese — curiously timed just as multiple media outlets are reporting on the civil case tying together Michael Leonard (the plaintiff) and several local notables: Alex Velto (2024 Assembly candidate, Reno Planning Commissioner, and attorney), Conor McQuivey (Renoites podcast host and Washoe County employee), and of course Reese himself, Velto’s law partner.

You’ve got to hand it to the City of Reno — no one torpedoes property values faster.

Take 410 Reno Avenue, for example. The homeowner attended the so-called “neighborhood meeting” on July 30, hosted by the Reno Housing Authority. It was there he learned he’d soon be living next to a three-story, 45-unit “affordable housing” project. (Translation: kiss your quiet single-story street goodbye.)

Well, grab your popcorn, Washoe County — Picon’s boss himself, Larry Chesney, has officially announced he’s running for County Commissioner, District 5.

Why? Simple. After Tammy Holt-Still announced her candidacy — right there in the middle of a commission meeting, no less — Larry’s phone started blowing up like it was Black Friday at Costco. Over 100 calls from residents, ranchers, landowners, and business owners poured in, all with the same message: “Larry, please run. Save us from the circus.”

The Gerlach Gateway: Art, Recreation, or Something Else?

Something’s going on around the edges of Burning Man country, and do the residents of Gerlach in the loop. Enter the Gerlach Gateway Initiative: a “collaboration of multiple partner organizations seeking the development of a multi-use recreational area and art site in Gerlach.” Sounds dreamy, right? Pizza included.

Well, color us curious — Commissioner Jeanne Herman pulled a disappearing act this week, skipping both the special meeting to select the new Washoe County Manager and the regular commission meeting the next day. That’s two dais dodges in a row.

Now, we know Jeanne has always had a soft spot for former County Manager Eric Brown — she practically considered him the gold standard of county leadership — so maybe she’s still lighting a candle for his departure. But while Herman’s MIA, Commissioner Clara Andriola is licking her chops for the big chair. With Jeanne out, Clara’s path to becoming Chair of the Washoe County Commission just got a little smoother — and a whole lot noisier. Because let’s be real: if Clara takes that gavel, we’ll all be lulled into a bureaucratic coma by her drone of devotion to the sound of her own voice.

Has all that radon at the historic Washoe County Courthouse been quietly swept under the rug—or just vented out a window and called “handled”?

For months, Washoe County has been doing what it does best: talking about the problem while calling it “naturally occurring” and “limited to certain areas.” Translation: “Don’t worry your little lungs about it.” But according to one of our inside sources, who requested anonymity (and probably a hazmat suit), the County is now planning to install a mechanical exhaust system to suck out the radioactive gas—at a cost of about half a million dollars.

On October 14th, the Washoe County School Board met once again—armed with PowerPoints, buzzwords, and a burning desire to spend your tax dollars like they’re Monopoly money. This time, they voted to move forward with something called the Administrative Facilities Modernization Plan. Translation: “We’ve decided to modernize the things we probably should’ve modernized decades ago.”

But the plot thickens. The board also voted to rebuild Echo Loder Elementary, spruce up Libby Booth Elementary, and—here’s where the coffee spits out of your nose—close and “repurpose” Veterans Memorial and Roger Corbett elementary schools for “future district and community use.”

Apparently, “future use” means you paid for it, we’re closing it anyway.

In 2022, Colleen Westlake was a full-fledged Robert Beadles disciple — speaking at Boomtown’s “Freedom Fridays” as only the inner-circle got to do, railing against Democrats at King Buffet Conservative Talk luncheons, and vowing to clean up schools by getting rid of ‘certain’ books and ending coed bathrooms. Republicans rallied, got her elected — and then she flipped. Westlake ditched her conservative base, sided with the very crowd she once condemned, and left Jeff Church and her GOP supporters in the dust. Now, as she runs for re-election, even the Washoe County Republican Party has cut her loose — officially excommunicated and politically orphaned, just like her new supporter Commissioner Clara Andriola who has turned on her fellow Republican commissioner members, Jeanne Herman and Mike Clark.

Rarely does anyone send Picon a press release — let’s face it, Washoe County, the City of Reno, and the City of Sparks treat us like that one relative they hope skips Thanksgiving. But every now and then, something shiny lands in our inbox, and a few weeks ago it was from the U.S. Forest Service about the Capitol Christmas Tree Tour — and get this: for the first time ever, the national tree is from Nevada.

The CHAB Board Goes Silent — and So Does Accountability.

It’s been more than a year since the last Community Homeless Advisory Board (CHAB) meeting — and the silence is starting to sound suspicious.

After Reese’s Academy Award performance on Nevada Newsmakers the other day … you know the tee-up to please come to my fundraiser because i’m a ‘man of the people’ and not a ‘vexatious litigant” kind of guy.

Reno City Councilmember Devon Reese’s high-dollar fundraiser tonight at The Elm Estate — because nothing says “man of the people” quite like one of Reno’s priciest venues.

Today, Picon witnessed what could only be described as a televised bromance between Nevada Newsmakers’ own Sam Shad and Reno City Councilmember Devon Reese — and let’s just say, if there was a candlelit dinner involved, we wouldn’t be surprised.

From the opening minute, it was clear this wasn’t an interview — it was an infomercial for Reese 2026. Shad practically rolled out a red carpet, fluffed Reese’s political pillow, and offered him a free campaign ad disguised as journalism.

Well, what do you know — Sparks City Councilmember Joe Rodriguez wrapped up his ethics saga this week without a meltdown, a tirade, or a televised tantrum.

The Nevada Commission on Ethics approved a deferral and dismissal deal in the case against Rodriguez — the one where he was accused of using a few photos in uniform during his 2022 campaign for school board. After the usual legal rollercoaster (complaint, violation, fine, appeal, and settlement), the final decision reads nice and clean:

“Rodriguez has not committed any violation of the Ethics Law.”