What: A press conference hosted by the City of Reno will take place tomorrow at Lemelson STEM Academy.
When: Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 11 a.m.
Where: 2001 Soaring Eagle Drive in Reno
Who: Remarks will be made by Reno City Manager Andrew Clinger, Ward 5 Reno City Councilmember Neoma Jardon, Ward 4 Reno City Councilmember Paul McKenzie, and Reno Police Chief Jason Soto.

About the project: The recently completed Lemelson STEM Academy pedestrian safety project included replacing existing yellow signs with green-yellow high visibility signs and installation of new rectangular rapid flashing beacons at the intersection of Valley Road and Soaring Eagle Drive (see image below).

“I’d like to thank Jim Pfrommer of the Education Alliance of Washoe County and Lemelson Principal Jonna AuCoin for working with the City of Reno to implement these safety improvements,” Ward 4 Reno City Councilmember Paul McKenzie says. “It was my pleasure to tour the school zone in advance of the project’s completion, and it’s with great satisfaction that we get to announce this to the community. We will continue to improve our streets as we have allocated $400,000 to such pedestrian safety improvements.”

“Safe and healthy neighborhoods are a top priority for the City of Reno as an organization,” Ward 5 Reno City Councilmember Neoma Jardon says. “This is not only a regional effort, but a statewide effort as evidenced by the many bills passed by the 2015 Nevada Legislature to improve safety on our roads. We are committed to finding new ways to remind our community to ‘Look Up and Look Out for Each Other.’”

While the physical address of Lemelson STEM Academy is in Ward 5, some of the walking paths and crosswalks used by students cross over into Ward 4.

More information will be available to media at the press conference, including a breakdown of the key Senate Bills that went into effect on October 1, 2015 and how they’ll keep the Reno community safe, plus a list of City of Reno pedestrian safety projects that have been or will be completed in the future.

In recent months, the Reno Police Department has been tracking cases in Deceptive Practice scams involving senior citizen victims. We are providing this Community Alert to the members of our community who may find themselves as potential victims of this illegal scam.

About This Crime:

• Victims are senior citizens between the ages of 70-90
• Victims receive a phone call from a subject purporting to be a friend of a relative or the relative themselves who is in distress and needs money wired/sent to them
• Various requests include an incarcerated relative in need of bond money. They also ask the senior citizen to please wire money because a relative’s wallet, containing their money and credit cards, was stolen

What You Can Do:

• Resist the pressure to make a decision immediately
• Verify the circumstances with a family member or a trusted friend
• Confer with a family member or a trusted friend before withdrawing and wiring large sums of money
• Make sure to inform all your family members and friends, who are in this targeted group, about these types of scams
• You should report what has happened even if you believe the perpetrator to be outside Nevada or the United States. You may need a police report in your later dealings with your bank or credit card company

To file a report with the Reno Police Department, please call 775-334-2226 or visit http://www.reno.gov/government/departments/police.