Editor’s note: It’s become our annual custom to spotlight our top stories and photos as the year draws to a close. It’s also time for us to discuss how we feel about these reports. 

In the last days of 2023, we’re spotlighting the top reader opinions, our favorite photos of the year, the communicator of the year, and, lastly, our top-10 stories in 2023. For the first time this year, we have also added what we consider to be the most underreported stories in 2023. These articles are being published daily in the remainder of 2023 as we take some desperately needed time off. 

Lastly, in some of these stories, we note our region’s lack of adequate news coverage. If you can, please consider donating to support our reporting efforts, becoming a paying subscriber or choosing a digital advertising package to promote your brand or event. 

Thank you for reading, and happy new year.

– Bob Conrad & Kristen Hackbarth

The past year was a whirlwind, so much so that we can’t remember everything we reported in 2023. Fortunately, the Google Machine does, and based on pageviews alone, below are the last of our top 10 most-read stories on This Is Reno this year.

5. Tracker-gate

The “tracker gate” saga is far from over. The Nevada Supreme Court has yet to decide whether District Court Judge David Hardy correctly ruled no privacy interest prevents the disclosure of the identity of whoever hired a private investigator to place GPS trackers on Mayor Hillary Schieve and former County Commissioner Vaughn Hartung’s vehicles. 

Few media seemed to report on PI David McNeely’s actual statements to Sparks Police or Schieve’s bizarre interview, also with Sparks PD, wherein she casually suggested the detectives should come work for the Reno Police Department. McNeely has sued Sparks PD over the matter, and the Nevada Legislature this year made it illegal to do what McNeely did. 

Prediction: We will know the identity of McNeely’s client in 2024. 

4. Antique store opens in former porn shop

When a former porn shop closes and a new antique store opens in its spot, the predictable comments about sticky floors found their way into social media comments. And that’s all we’re going to say about what should’ve been an everyday highlight of a new business opening up in Midtown. We hope Midtown Antiques thrives and prospers.

3. Man rams car into a group feeding the homeless, killing one

A tragedy in April drew national headlines, and it’s one with no happy ending. David Turner ran into and killed a woman who was chronically homeless, and two others were severely injured. He pleaded guilty and will likely spend the remainder of his life in prison. The two surviving victims, Diamond and Clarissa Roman, received more than $80,000 for their medical expenses thanks to community support. Tony Contini’s intense video of the vigil documented the rage and despair many felt after the murder. 

Turner, in September, pleaded guilty to murder. He said he was homeless, had nowhere to go and was turned away from the Nevada Cares Campus because it was full, according to reporting by KOLO’s Ed Pearce. He faces life in prison.

Yes, you read that correctly. A local person living without shelter would prefer life in prison to being homeless in Reno.

Michelle Jardine, 55, was killed. She also suffered from mental illness and was known as “Mama Bear.”

2. Sparks Marina stocked with fish

The Sparks Marina got its annual dose of fresh fishies, and reporter Mark Hernandez attended the fish-stocking event in March. Here is his report, which drew a lot of readers—and comments about the water quality in the marina. 

1. “Hot doctor” from Las Vegas sued after Sparks man died from ingesting hydroxychloroquine

Wackadoodle pandemic fallout oozed its way into 2023 like a festering boil. In this case, the top story we published for the entire year was the first report about a Las Vegas doctor who was sued for prescribing hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment—an abnormal practice that, among responsible physicians, was never really a thing. The FDA specifically warned against using it early in the pandemic due to safety concerns, a warning published ad naseum worldwide.

“Hot doctor” Medina Culver’s hydroxychloroquine prescription to a Sparks man is alleged to have caused him to die. She, along with the right-wing, anti-vaccination group, America’s Frontline Doctors, are being sued. Few Nevada media, if any, picked up the story, but TIME magazine and The Intercept expanded on our original report. The case remains pending in Washoe District Court.

Adios, 2023.