Can’t let this week pass without acknowledging the passing of former Nevada Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammagren. He was, as many will remember, as eccentric of a Nevada figure as any. And that’s saying something.

He served as our 31st lieutenant governor from 1995 to 1999 and was the last to serve under a governor of the opposing party – Gov. Bob Miller was a Democrat and Hammagren was a Republican.

He will be remembered for his playful collections of stuff that turned his house into an immense museum, sometimes to the chagrin of his neighbors who said it was more like living next to a hoarder. I remember once he wanted to produce a replica of the Silver Bowl (That was where we played football, boys and girls, before the Raiders came to town. Google it.), complete with pictures of real fans and notables who attended games. He asked for pictures of the Review-Journal’s sports reporters who covered games. He was also a renowned neurosurgeon at a time when “renowned” was not an adjective applied to anyone in the Las Vegas medical community.

He was at his quirky best when he hired a random look-a-like to ride in a rural Nevada parade, thus allowing him to appear in another parade hundreds of miles away and be in two places in big ol’ Nevada at once.

Safe travels, Lonnie. You made it to the ripe old age of 85 and, I think it is safe to say, you enjoyed the ride.

JUSTICE IN N.Y.

The death of mentally ill homeless man Jordan Neely on a subway car in New York at the hands of former Marine veteran Daniel Penny is, quite possibly, the morality play of our time.

Neely, who has a history of violence, threatened frightened passengers on May 21. Penny approached Neely from behind and wrestled him to the ground. With the help of two others, he put Neely in a headlock from which Neely choked to death.

Is Penny a hero? He says he’s not. He said he only did what a good Marine is taught to do, which the Marine website says is to have “courage to overcome fear and to do what is right.”

The website goes on to say that a good Marine “adheres to a higher standard of personal conduct and to make tough decisions under stress and pressure.”

I can’t think of a harder decision than the one made by Penny that night.

I hope the morality play comes to an end with someone in authority apologizing to Jordan Neely’s family for allowing him to wander New York streets without the help he needed and a salute to Daniel Penny, who was put in an impossible situation as a result of it.

That would be justice to me.

WHAT I’M READING

I am currently enjoying Dan Flores’ book “Wild New World.” It’s the “big history” of animals in America, mega-beasts and humans. At a certain time, the Great Basin was a vast network of water-logged areas with marshes and all kinds of great beasts. Evidence of human activity is found all over the place. Using the relatively new scientific evidence of DNA tracing, he tells an interesting story of life here 30,000+ years ago. I recommend it for your reading pleasure.

WHO IS HU?

Patient zero in the world COVID-19 pandemic has been identified. It is Ben Hu.

And who is Hu?

He is none other than the Chinese scientist who oversaw ‘Gain Of Function’ research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

This explains a lot about why the Biden Administration has been slow to investigate the origins of COVID. It didn’t come from a wet market. It came from attempts to weaponize a virus, which we funded.

Gudgawdalmighty, shame on us.

ONE MORE THING

Thanks for reading. Until next soreheads, laugh a little and always question authority.

“Properly Subversive” is commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick, a Nevada Hall of Fame journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@ gmail. Com.