Sara Tolliver and Christopher Schatz this week filed two wrongful-death lawsuits against the City of Sparks and Washoe County School District alleging first responders delayed aid and the district ignored repeated bullying of their 12-year-old son, Kellen Schatz. Both complaints were filed in Washoe’s Second Judicial District Court.

The allegations claim emergency responders refused to act when their son was found unresponsive in his locked bedroom and that officers gave false timelines in their reports. The parents also said the school district ignored persistent bullying, downplayed their concerns and ultimately failed to protect their son from the emotional abuse he endured while at school.

The Washoe County School District is facing complaints after a school nurse allegedly denied a child federally regulated disability accommodations, forged medical documents to access private records and administered medication to a student without proper documentation. A school police report and complaints to other agencies have been filed in the case that occurred at Spanish Springs Elementary School.

Parents and advocates argue these issues extend beyond one school, and they are accusing the Washoe County School District of routinely delaying evaluations, downplaying requests for legally binding individualized education programs (IEPs)—which require specialized instruction and carry stronger enforcement—and pushing families into weaker 504 disability plans that only provide accommodations and are often left unenforced. 

Vietnam transformed from one of Southeast Asia’s most underserved, war-torn nations in the early ’90s into a global model for poverty reduction. This transformation did not happen overnight. The country changed over the years of investment in its future: the children of Vietnam and their education.

Extreme poverty previously covered around 45–52% of the population in the early ’90s. By 2022, it had dramatically decreased to about 1%. This change came not from foreign aid or outside enterprises, but from a sustained, state-led initiative to invest in children in rural areas by expanding education and bolstering electrification, infrastructure and health care.

Behind closed doors, families across the world are fighting a disease most doctors barely understand: myotonic dystrophy. For many, the struggle is not just against the illness itself, but also against a system that offers pain relief instead of real, viable solutions. Remarkable people lose the ability to dance, to walk, to breathe. Muscles deteriorate and lose their strength, as doctors stand by without solutions.

Sex trafficking is often thought of as a distant issue—something that happens elsewhere, to other people. Yet in Reno, cases of human exploitation are being uncovered at an alarming rate. Behind each statistic is a life marked by manipulation, fear, and survival.

To better understand what happens once traffickers are identified, arrested, and brought into the justice system, I spoke with Deputy District Attorney Darcy Cameron. As Reno’s designated sexual assault and sex trafficking prosecutor, Cameron has seen firsthand the ways traffickers exploit vulnerabilities and the immense challenges victims face when seeking justice.

In our conversation, she sheds light on the realities of online investigations, the obstacles prosecutors face when victims are too fearful to testify, and the lasting trauma survivors must overcome. Her insights not only reveal the complexity of building these cases but also underscore the urgency of community awareness and support.

RENO, Nevada — Organ trafficking and forced organ harvesting are not domestic issues; these are crimes against humanity that have become a national ethical crisis. China’s organ transplant system remains one of the most compromised practices in modern medicine. Evidence shows organ trafficking from unwilling prisoners and the removal of organs before brain death.

Debate continues over whether Chinese prisons and health organizations have met legal requirements for organ removal. At the intersection of poverty and state power, inequities in organ supply and demand fuel a shadow economy that exploits the disenfranchised and incarcerated for organ trafficking in China.

Malaria in South Korea is climbing near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the divide between North and South Korea. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) raised a nationwide malaria warning on August 19, 2025. This came after it detected the year’s first mosquito in Korea carrying the Plasmodium vivax parasite.

This strain hadn’t been prevalent outside of military officials since the ’90s. However, officials and citizens are rallying together to fight for accessible health care and transportation options in rural areas.

After being abducted at gunpoint and trafficked across state lines following an online encounter, a Reno woman endured months of captivity and abuse before a stranger’s vigilance led to her rescue—a story that exposes the crisis of sex trafficking in northern Nevada. 

Experts warn the line between sex work and trafficking is often blurred by coercion and manipulation, with most victims targeted by people they know, and vulnerable groups like LGBTQ+ and homeless youth are at greatest risk. 

As trafficking increasingly moves online and traffickers exploit moments of distraction and vulnerability, local advocates and law enforcement are intensifying efforts to protect at-risk populations, support survivors and urge the public to recognize red flags and report suspected trafficking—reminding the community that awareness and action can make the difference between captivity and escape.

More than 70,000 lonely deaths occurred all across Japan in 2024. Most were above 65, in poverty and lacking resources for health care. There is evidence of a silent crisis: social isolation, an increase in elderly poverty in Japan and the rise of reports of kodokushi or “lonely death.”

According to a 2024 study by the National Police Agency, the elderly population in Japan makes up 76% of solitary deaths. Experts believe this is a public health emergency with contributions from weak social safety nets and shifts in family structures.

Until recently, child marriage in South Korea remained legal for teens as young as 16 with parental consent, making the country an outlier among developed nations. However, that changed when lawmakers amended South Korea’s Civil Act to set the minimum marriage age at 18 with no exceptions. While child marriage affects one in five girls worldwide, the South Korean child marriage ban demonstrates that decisive policy and public awareness can dismantle harmful traditions, safeguard youth and advance the global movement to end child marriage.

In July 2025, sweeping federal changes to immigration enforcement began reshaping communities across the U.S. Reno is no exception. 

For many immigrant families, recent legislation and presidential mandates have intensified fear and uncertainty. At the same time, public institutions and local organizations are scrambling to respond. 

With Executive Order 14159 and the passing of H.R.1 (“One Big Beautiful Bill”), enforcement protocols have drastically expanded. Previously protected areas, such as schools, churches and hospitals, are now accessible to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.