Tag Archives: Washoe

Jul 18 2015

Burning Man Pays For More Cops

The Reno Gazette Journal reports that Burning Man will be spending an additional $105,000 this year so that Washoe County can have more police officers on the road, looking to arrest protect Burners. There is no legal requirement for them to do this, but they have agreed to it on the request of the BLM.

Burning Man organizers have agreed to pay the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office up to $105,000 for the cost of increasing patrols in the northern reaches of the county during the week-long counterculture celebration in the Black Rock Desert.

The Washoe County Commission approved the contract Tuesday, which continues the voluntary commitment by Black Rock City, LLC to share the cost of the law enforcement demands created by more than 65,000 event participants.

Washoe deputies aren’t responsible for law enforcement activities at the event, which is held just across the county line in Pershing County and is jointly patrolled by the Bureau of Land Management and the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office.

Image: RGJ

But the influx of 65,000 people to the sparsely populated corner of the county means more work conducting patrols and traffic control near Gerlach and on the roads leading to the event.

Under the contract, the sheriff’s office will use the money to pay for the salaries of additional deputies needed in the area, as well as their lodging, daily food expenses and vehicle cost reimbursements.

According to the contract, no state law or local ordinance requires the sheriff’s office to be reimbursed for the costs. But Burning Man as part of its agreement with the BLM agreed to help Washoe County with its law enforcement costs.

[Source: RGJ]

No word yet on if they get to eat the chocotacos, or if those are VIP wristband-only.

Sep 4 2014

OUTBREAK? Burners Warned of Virus Risk

They say bad luck comes in threes. This year Burning Man faced an unprecedented closure on Monday and Tuesday, followed by an unfortunately fatal art car accident on Thursday.

It seemed like Burning Man might have sneaked home past the nasty Third Fate. The Diplo/Skrillex incident picked up a lot of press attention worldwide, but it was hardly a headache for BMOrg. Just more free publicity, and maybe even further justification for Larry Harvey’s ban on music guides. Exodus was one of the smoothest ever, with almost no significant delays reported by Burners.  More than 10,000 people left the festival before the Man burned, and the official population cap was down from the previous year, keeping the BLM happy.

Alas, ’twas not to be. The mainstream media is reporting on the danger of a potential outbreak of the lethal West Nile Virus, which yesterday killed a man in Long Beach. Officials say anyone who attended Burning Man this year could have been exposed to the virus.

From the Reno Gazette-Journal:

mosquitoMosquito traps set near Gerlach just before the annual Burning Man counter-cultural festival have tested positive for West Nile Virus, the Washoe District Health Department reports.

The traps were checked Aug. 22 and were sent to the state lab on Aug. 25 and they got the state results on Tuesday, said health department spokesman Phil Ulibarri.

On Aug. 6, the health department announced it found the West Nile Virus in the Kiley Ranch area of Spanish Springs, the first West Nile Virus case this year in Washoe County.

The Gerlach General Improvement District will take measures this week to kill the mosquitoes, Ulibarri said.

“We decided to help them with surveillance this year,” Ulibarri said. “We didn’t have the funding to go out there and do abatement.”

A person has tested positive for West Nile Virus in Clark County this summer. Nevada health officials have identified positive mosquito pools in Clark, Washoe, Elko and Mineral County, the county health department said. With so many pools with the virus, the state said other West Nile Virus cases are expected in humans.

From MyNews4:

RENO, Nev. (MyNews4.com & KRNV) — For the second time this year, mosquito samples in the Washoe County area have tested positive for the West Nile virus.

The Washoe County Health District says mosquitos caught in nine traps that were set in the Gerlach area tested positive for the virus.

The health district says this is the first time they’ve set mosquito traps in the Gerlach area. As a precaution, officials say anyone who attended the Burning Man Festival could have been exposed to the virus.

Gerlach does border the Black Rock Desert, but officials say the chances of mosquitoes traveling from Gerlach onto the playa is minimal.

The first human case of the West Nile virus in Nevada this year was reported in Clark County Wednesday afternoon — but officials say it’s not a very common virus.

“West Nile virus is very serious, but people need to know only about one percent of those people bitten by mosquiotes that carry West Nile Nirus will become seriously ill. Seventy to eighty precent of people bitten by mosquito with West Nile will show no signs … or any symptoms,” said Washoe County Health District, Communications Manager Phillip Ulibarr

From EliteDaily:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 70 to 80 percent of victims do not show the usual symptoms of fever, headache, vomiting or rash, but no one from the festival has tested positive just yet.

Nine people have died from West Nile in Nevada this year, with 129 total cases confirmed.

There is no known cure for the infection.

The Gerlach General Improvement District is seeking to eliminate the virus by hunting down all infected mosquito traps beginning this week.

Mosquito traps in three other Nevada counties have also tested positive for the virus, and more human cases are expected to emerge.

 

Normally the Playa is not a place where you need to worry about mosquitos, but the large amount of rain this year may have encouraged their spread. The world is on heightened alert for bio-disasters as international health authorities scramble to contain an outbreak of another deadly virus, Ebola.

westnilevirus

 

 

[Update 9/5/14 9:25am]

KOLO TV has a video story, they say that 6 traps in Gerlach initially tested positive, then all 9 did.

Huffington Post says there’s no reason to be alarmed, because a local press person said it was fine.

just because West Nile was detected in Gerlach doesn’t mean it made its way to your painted van. The Huffington Post reached out to Washoe County press contact Phil Ulibarri who verified that, despite the positive traps in Gerlach, there is no chance the Burning Man desert was infected. “Zero,” he said when asked about the odds of such an occurrence.

So there you have it. The slowly gentrifying hippie-fest, while potentially still your worst nightmare, was at least not infected with a deadly mosquito virus.

HuffPo does not share with us Ulibarri’s qualifications as a virologist. The same spokesperson admitted to the RGJ that they lack funding to do an adequate study. If it helps you sleep at night, believe them, but if you have any of the symptoms, we suggest you get them checked out, just in case.

From SFist:

anyone who was at Burning Man and may have been bitten needs to be on the lookout for symptoms. As Mic notes, those include fever, headache, vomiting or a rash, however 70 to 80 percent of those infected are asymptomatic. Only about 1% of people develop serious symptoms, like meningitis or encephalitis, and those most at risk are people with cancer, diabetes, hypertension, or kidney disease.

 

[Update 9/5/14 1:12pm]

Alayna’s friend is being treated for suspected West Nile virus after returning from the Burn:

Friend returning from the burn is being treated right now for west Nile but waiting on spinal tap results to confirm….flu symptoms followed by sudden seizures….So it may or may not be a real concern to most, but be aware of your body’s signals, if you are sick go to the doctor to be safe. Could be a coincidence but i figure it can’t hurt to be extra cautious

 [9/5/14 11:44pm]

On Facebook Pip Squeek from Vegas has said she has been confirmed with West Nile virus, and came down with its symptoms right after returning from the Burn. There is no other confirmation of this yet:

I have been confirmed for West Nile, though not confirmed that’s where it came from. I got sick about 24 hrs after returning from the Burn. I as pretty near death and it was horrifying. Please don’t just shrug this off. Get medical attention if you start to have symptoms of meningitis. I have reported to the CDC so we will see where this goes

Apr 23 2013

Victory! But for Whom?

by Whatsblem the Pro

Nevada State Assemblyman David Bobzien (D)

Nevada State Assemblyman David Bobzien (D)

The Nevada Assembly passed AB374 in a 26-15 party line vote today.

The bill, which prohibits county commissioners from imposing fees or regulations on festivals operating under a federal license or permit, was sponsored by Assemblyman David Bobzien (D). The version that passed this morning is the second rewrite since our last report on March 30th of this year.

Opponents of the bill sought amendments to remove county liability and responsibility of prosecuting crimes, due to the high costs of providing law enforcement at Burning Man. Republican Assemblyman Ira Hansen of Sparks said the bill would undermine the county’s authority, and make funding law enforcement difficult. In response, the bill was amended to give the counties the right to contract with and charge the Burning Man organization (and other event promoters) for law enforcement services. The new provision reads as follows:

2. A board of county commissioners may:

(a) Enter into an agreement, with a person or organization which has been issued a license or permit by a federal agency for an assembly, event or activity occurring on federal land, for the county to provide reasonable and necessary law enforcement services for the assembly, event or activity and to receive compensation for the provision of such services; and

(b) Regulate or license, or require any type of permit or fee for organizing, managing or attending, any assembly, event or activity occurring on federal land that is the subject of a:

(1) Lease between the Federal Government and the county; or

(2) License for recreational or other public purposes from the Federal Government to the county.

What this means is that while the corporation that holds the trademark on Burning Man will be more profitable thanks to the elimination of the necessity to pay county authorities for permits or other fees, the Org may still choose to contract with the counties to bring their law enforcement personnel to Black Rock City. It’s possible that this won’t even be a choice; one of the “special stipulations” of the 2012 BLM permit, after all, was this:

23. BRC shall complete formal agreements with all affected parties e.g. Pershing County Sheriff’s Department, Washoe County Sheriff’s Department, Nevada Department of Public Safety-Investigations Division, Nevada Highway Patrol, and Nevada Department of Health and Human Safety for the purpose of addressing concerns and impacts associated with social services e.g. law enforcement and emergency medical services and physical infrastructure e.g. transportation systems and human waste disposal. Written evidence of these agreements showing compliance with this stipulation must be provided to the BLM by BRC 30 days prior to the start of the event.

Since special stipulation #23 demands compliance but doesn’t spell out what compliance actually involves beyond “complete formal agreements,” we’re left to speculate. Doesn’t this put huge leverage into the hands of Washoe and Pershing counties? They can simply demand that one or both of them be contracted with to provide law enforcement services – and be paid for doing so – or threaten to take their ball and go home; no formal agreement means no BLM permit.

It remains to be seen how the Burning Man Org will actually handle this; they could demand a renegotiation of the special stipulations, given that the terrain has changed significantly in the wake of AB374. Given their track record, however, I predict that nothing in particular will get better for those who attend the event. The Org will become more profitable, as is their apparent primary goal always, and the rest of us will be graciously allowed to eat whatever cake we can find in the middle of the desert. The only question is if the Org will be willing to bend over so far backward to county law enforcement that the heavy increase in on-playa officers continues at the alarming pace of the past few years.

How happy I would be if I turned out to be wrong about that.