The past few weeks it seems as though violent crime has dominated news in the Reno-area.  There were two stabbings and a shooting on Wednesday the seventh alone.  Now police say a woman found dead in her car that same day was murdered.  A standoff with a fugitive kept police busy for hours on Tuesday.  Remains of a missing man, who authorities believe was murdered, were discovered in a remote part of Washoe County -- And all this follows a tragic shooting at a Halloween party that left three dead.

We have some of the best law enforcement officers around working here in Western Nevada.  I know from covering some of these stories that our local authorities work very hard tracking down criminals and preventing crime.  I don't want this blog entry to be misconstrued as a criticism of their efforts.  It would be impossible to prevent all violence.

I truly don't know what the solution is to curbing violent crime.  Support for law enforcement, community watch groups and after-school programs probably make a big difference.  But I think the sad truth is that some in our society will resort to violence regardless of what sort of help they're offered. 

Instances of violence take their toll -- on the victims, the families involved, friends and the entire community.  Violent crimes shock people throughout the region who turn on the news, and often make us mourn.

However, I'm hopeful even in the midst of so many tragic stories.  There's reason for hope because Reno is a community of good-hearted people.  There are those few individuals who commit these violent acts, but there are so many more people trying to make this area a safe and better place to live.  There's the citizens that patrol downtown.  There's people who give selflessly to help others -- like Evelyn Mount of the Community Outreach food drive, and those involved in the "Together for Tahoe" fire relief effort.  There's so many I couldn't possibly mention them all.  This community tends to respond to tragedy with strength, even though it is often very difficult.