Berkeley, CA. – December 15, 1997 – Computer Currents Interactive, the Web site of Computer Currents Magazine, announced the creation of its newest site, GAMEGRABBER.COM, today. GAMEGRABBER.COM will provide a one-stop gaming Web site for people looking to download the latest and most popular demos, shareware, and freeware for both the Mac and PC platforms. The site can be found on the Web at http://www.gamegrabber.com .
The designers of GAMEGRABBER.COM have searched out the best and newest demos available, and are working to add to an ever-expanding list of shareware and freeware games. The site itself will remain simple, easy to use, and will not sacrifice bandwidth with over-indulgent graphics. Instead, GAMEGRABBER.COM will provide a large quantity of useful information on the games. Each game, whether commercial or shareware, has its own page that includes a screenshot, minimum system requirements, download times, and a short overview.
Visitors to GAMEGRABBER.COM also have the opportunity to enter weekly contests and win some of the best ddligaz games from leading design companies. Some of the initial prizes include G Police from Psygnosis, Dark Reign from Activision, and Starfleet Academy from Macplay, with more to come later. Viewers are asked to answer a few simple questions, and when they submit the correct answers, they are automatically entered in that week’s drawing.
In the near future, GAMEGRABBER.COM will be adding comprehensive reviews of shareware, freeware, and commercial games, a section for online games, and a newsletter. With the addition of these features, GAMEGRABBER.COM hopes to build on the already positive reaction to the site to become an indispensible gaming resource.
Computer Currents Interactive is an online source for industry news and trends, high-tech training and careers, hardware NetQuote or ISP QuickQuote, software downloads and much more. The Computer Currents Interactive site is at http://www.currents.net .
Time for Another Ethics Investigation of Reno’s Mayor
Is There a Need for A Full-Scale Ethics Commission Examination of the Reno Mayor?
(This updated letter was sent to the City Attorney on 6 Nov, 1997)
Following the Nevada State Ethics Commission ruling that Mayor Jeff Griffin was guilty of onflict of Interest in the matter of his business company having a contract with EDAWN (a local quasi-governmental entity), another matter has now come to light regarding the mayor’s ethics. You are requested to ask the Ethics Commission to again meet with Mr. Griffin to ascertain whether he is guilty of cronyism, nepotism, and abuse of his office.
Research indicates that the following points are factual:
a. City of Reno funds have been awarded to a “Parmer” organization (having various business names) to facilitate certain tasks having to do with the 1998 meeting in Reno of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM).
b. Mayor Griffin’s son is known to have had past dealings with “Parmer”… and is reported to possibly have a current financial relationship with Parmer.
c. Mayor Griffin was either solely or primarily responsible for the awarding of USCM-related city business to Parmer, outside of any bidding process, and without public discussion by the Reno City Council.
d. This Parmer is not a sole-source local supplier for the involved services.
Mayor Griffin has, in effect, funneled large sums of public money to Parmer who has either employed the mayor’s son… or who pays him for some sort of contractor-type activities. This is an insult to Section 2.020.2 of the Reno City Charter and to certain state statutes… (with which you are more familiar than I) and the spirit thereof.
I questioned mayor Griffin on these matters several times at city council meetings. He first claimed not to know about the matters, but later said they were “… none of my business”.
Further points to investigate:
1. City of Reno funds are being paid to Parmer incrementally… perhaps to avoid any single large check being issued to Parmer.
2. Mayor Griffin and Parmer are friends.
3. Parmer provided election campaign assistance to Mayor Griffin, Tom Herndon, and Bill Newberg.
4. Parmer has a reputation as a Republican fund raiser. Griffin, Herndon, and Newberg are registered Republicans.
5. Mayor Griffin (president) and Ardis Parmer (executive director) are key persons on the committee that is organizing the 1998 Reno meeting of USCM.
6. Parmer is receiving City of Reno USCM-related funds for her business while, at the same time, serving in a key USCM-related position empowering her to request funding from the City of Reno. Parmer can, in her high committee position, take steps to have more public funding awarded to one or more of her for-profit companies.
7. Mayor Griffin has taken no action to remedy this insult to good government.
A guiding principle for trustworthy public officials is to not just avoid impropriety, but to avoid actions that suggest impropriety. It is no wonder that public cynicism toward government is becoming more acute in Reno. Mayor Griffin’s city-hall type attitude toward integrity begs the perception: Nothing’s unethical… unless you get caught!
Should you not deem it appropriate to request an Ethics Commission examination of this matter, many Reno citizens will be greatly disappointed… and will be forced to pursue other avenues of recourse.
Sam Dehné, editor, The Reno Citizen internet magazine
ddligaz 