If Chief Judge Egan Walker keeps this up, we may need to start reserving him a permanent headline slot.

Word around the courthouse is that Walker has reassigned — or as some are calling it, “hijacked” — a case originally sitting in Department 10 under Judge Kathleen Sigurdson. The case involves the parents of deceased 5-year-old Izabella Loving, and it is unquestionably one that will draw intense public and media scrutiny.

Erased from the Invite — But Not the Ledger?

When the fundraiser invitation for Chris Hicks’s March 4, 2026 event at Pinocchio's Bar & Grill began circulating, one couldn’t help but notice the host committee reads like a Reno “who’s who.” Business leaders, attorneys, familiar names.

All that seemed missing was a voiceover from a celebrity gossip columnist introducing the lineup.

But beyond the glossy optics, something else stood out: a name that once would have been expected on such a list appears absent.

We received several calls last week from local attorneys asking the same question: had we heard anything about Connie Steinheimer, judge for the Second Judicial District Court, Department 4, being relieved of her docket?

Say what?

It slipped past the daily write-up schedule, but the social media moment surrounding Troy Regas may end up being more telling than a formal campaign announcement. Instead of a polished press release or scripted video, Regas posted something far simpler: a photo of campaign sign designs — created by his father — and asked Facebook friends which one they liked best yesterday.

Calling a statement like “accountability matters” an oxymoron depends less on the phrase itself and more on the speaker’s perceived credibility.

The words “accountability” and “matters” are not opposites, so linguistically it is not an oxymoron. An oxymoron is something like “deafening silence” or “jumbo shrimp,” where the terms directly contradict each other.

Commissioner Mike Clark posted the recently released Washoe County annual summary of deaths connected to the emergency shelter campuses, and while the document checked every administrative box — dates, locations, causes, protocols followed — it missed something far more important: humanity.

Seven people died. Not “incidents.” Not “cases.” Not “data points.”
People.

In a political leap worthy of a track meet, Trista Gomez has frog-leaped from the Washoe County District 3 Commission race and resurfaced as a candidate for State Assembly District 30. That puts her squarely against hometown favorite Natha Anderson, widely regarded as one of the more approachable members of the Assembly — yes, the one who actually returns calls and emails - even ours.

This whole situation is starting to feel like déjà vu — the kind that takes longtime Reno watchers straight back to the Mayor Schieve “trackergate” dust-up with McDonald Carano. You may remember the moment: a constituent politely suggested the mayor disclose her firm’s involvement while a developer item sat on the agenda who the firm represented that the mayor would be voting on said agenda item. A perfectly reasonable transparency request, followed by a very human flash of irritation that said more than any prepared statement ever could. Disclosure is rarely controversial in theory; it’s just inconvenient in practice.

That pesky lands bill that so many can’t seem to get across the finish line — and believe us, they’ve tried — might suddenly find new life if Ira Hansen decides to make a run for Congress. Hansen has spent years in rural Nevada building relationships with ranchers, farmers, and the folks who actually live on and work the land, earning a level of trust few politicians manage to secure. Love him or not, he speaks their language. If the bill ever needed a champion who understands dirt roads better than marble hallways, this might be the moment. Run, Ira, run.

Readers send us plenty. Not all of it rises to the level of a full story, but some of it certainly deserves an honorable mention.

We understand that while Karma Box Executive Director Grant Denton has been sashaying around Washington, D.C. speaking at a drug summit, a few quiet edits were happening back home. Rumor has it SAFE Embrace requested their logo be removed from his website, we can’t find the page to confirm or deny, and Denton also scrubbed references to being the co-founder of an alpaca business. Did the Alpaca's complain?

Picon continues to marvel at the rare and mysterious presence of Her Highness, Commissioner Mariluz Garcia — a public servant said to possess the wisdom of Job, though she appears to keep most of it locked away from the very public she serves. Our humble observation is that she descends from the political mountaintop mainly when votes are required, and otherwise communicates through carefully polished statements and county staff intermediaries.

Picon is scratching its collective head over next week’s Reno City Council vote on increasing Waste Management’s franchise fee. Let’s be honest — at this stage most observers consider the fee increase a foregone conclusion. The logistics alone of transitioning an entire city’s waste system to a new provider would be a bureaucratic marathon, not a sprint. New trucks, new routes, new labor agreements, new infrastructure — it’s not something you flip like a light switch. Which is exactly why the timing of recent campaign contributions raises eyebrows.

Picon applauds the journalistic professionalism of Our Town Reno, which reported yesterday that the CHAB: Community Homelessness Advisory Board meeting scheduled for February 9 was canceled due to “logistical issues.” One of Washoe County’s ever-reliable messaging representatives confirmed to Our Town Reno in writing:

“There was a broken link in the agenda that was discovered too late to fix and repost while still meeting the Open Meeting Law requirements. It will be rescheduled as quickly as possible.”

For years the rumor mill has insisted that Councilman Donald Abbott has his sights set on the Mayor’s office, even while publicly supporting Mayor Lawson. It’s all been political chatter — but Abbott’s recent post has people talking again. With term limits preventing him from running for Ward 1 after his current term, speculation about a mayoral bid has only grown louder. The timing is interesting: Abbott is secure in his council seat until 2028, which means he could take a “free shot” at the Mayor’s race in 2026 without risking his current position if he loses. Officially, he hasn’t declared. Unofficially, the rumor mill is fully employed.

There was District Attorney Chris Hicks proudly announcing he outraised Wes Duncan, Jon Killoran proclaiming from every available rooftop that he’d topped Mike Clark, and, of course, the ever-reliable bravado of Eddie Lorton — which almost deserves its own campaign finance category. The irony, of course, is that while Killoran was celebrating his totals, a fair number of voters were still asking a simpler question: Who? A little name recognition can go a long way, even when the dollar figures look impressive on paper.

Nothing to see here, folks… just smile for the retreat photo.

We couldn’t help but notice Karma Box Project’s board retreat photo — the kind that looks like it came with instructions: stand close, look proud, project confidence. Message received.

Picon expected to see a high-powered defense attorney swoop in from Las Vegas — or even California — to represent almost-former Judge Bridget Robb. That’s usually how these things go when the stakes are high and reputations are on the line.

Instead?
We got Meghan Lucey — an attorney whose practice is primarily family law.

Wait. What?

After reading Mike’s Reno Report today, it’s clear he laid out Bruce Parks’ worldview of Republicans and Republican politics far more eloquently than Picon ever could.

And as Mike correctly pointed out, the problem isn’t that Parks lacks passion or spirit—it’s that he doesn’t do the homework.

What’s Taking So Long? The Grimsley case crawls forward … the slow speed of justice may finally be picking up—ever so slightly.

Mathew Grimsley of the Nevada Cares Campus / Karma Box Project, who was arrested on a charge of battery, now appears to have a court date on the horizon. And with it, the possibility that we may finally learn what is actually happening at Karma Box—the operator of the so-called “safe camp” that is being paid by the Washoe County Human Services Agency. You know those silly taxpayers.

After reading Mike’s Reno Report this morning, we thought we’d add a few observations from Monday night’s Washoe County Republican Central Committee meeting (January 27, 2026). You know—the one chaired by Bruce Parks, who has a habit of politically excommunicating Republicans who don’t fall in line, well his line.

Maybe that helps explain why Washoe County has over 103,000 registered Republicans, yet the Central Committee can only muster about 165 people as members, and that says a whole lot.