We’re live. You’re the Best.

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Guess what! The Biggest Little Best of Northern Nevada went live on Monday. It was a soft launch, first announced on our Facebook site www.facebook.com/RenoNewsReview, for reasons that may or may not eventually become clear. We’ll have many up-to-the-moment announcements on our Facebook page, so you probably want to befriend us now.

For the last few years, I’ve looked at the community and decided on an area that I thought deserved a certain amount of extra attention, a little highlighting in our annual popular search for community. For example, last year, it was the Latino part of our community and readership.

This year, though, I want to focus on the Midtown District, which includes businesses in the area bordered by Liberty Street, Plumb Lane, Holcomb Avenue and Plumas Street. I mean, to be honest, if there is one section of town that is flourishing when many sections of town are struggling with “closed” signs, it’s Midtown—block by block, storefront by storefront, building by building.

I think it’s Midtown’s “do or die” sentiment that is moving that area of town forward. And it’s that very same philosophy that has moved many of our past winners into the rarified atmosphere of “Reno’s Best.”

It’s a beautiful thing, really. In that section of town, friendly competition and cooperation has improved the bottom line for many businesses and individuals.

The usual rules will apply. We want everyone to campaign for the top spot, but we’ve gotten pretty sophisticated with catching cheaters. For example, last year, we had a botnet attack from India, which resulted in some 4,000 votes getting disqualified. So if you’re human, vote. If you’re not human, don’t vote. For non-Facebookers, check http://www.newsreview.com/reno/ballot/BestOfReno12 .

And with no further adieu, let the bloodbath begin. Our readers’ poll will be conducted through Aug. 3. We’ll publish our results on Aug. 9.