Letters to the Editor March 7

Yucca waste dump could have brought jobs to state

We could have been the richest state in the United States, but once again, Harry screwed it up.

Yucca Mountain is built. All that was needed was to lay rail. It would have given this state thousands of jobs and support jobs. We could have demanded the recycling rights and been the power source for the nation with solar, geothermal and recycled nuclear energy.

We might have even been given an allotment by the state to the citizens similar to Alaska's oil line allotment. But oh no, Harry fixed that, he alone wants to be the rich guy in our state and he didn't have any money coming to him off Yucca so he stopped it.

We have been paying for Yucca since Bill Clinton started it years ago. When it is ready to begin paying off, he shuts it down.

We need to dump Harry.

David Fournier

Carson City

Here's a thought, get the pork out of health care bill

It's simple, Congress. You know it would be a ghastly waste of time and money to attempt to fix either one of those humongous health bills in the House or Senate that are half pork.

If you agreed on, say, a dozen points at the summit, then propose a dozen manageable bills, and pass them as separate items, you probably could come to agreement.

You can start with areas of agreement and do that more quickly, more cheaply, and keep out the pork. We need some major fixes, but you, who work for us, will never get the job done unless you start slowly and intelligently.

Harry Reid - no reconciliation in which you attempt to sneak the health bill through. Don't you get it? We don't want all that pork, and we, the people, have already made that clear. We want a few simple reforms that will allow us to move our insurance from one company or state to another and keep policies even when we develop pre-existing conditions. Allow us to shop for the least expensive insurance that will give us the coverage we want, not what you want. Get rid of stupid lawsuits that make insurance for all of us more expensive while only the lawyers get rich. Allow healthy young people to put their money in health savings accounts until they really need it, not pay expensive premiums.

Judy Jacobs

Topaz Lake

Marine outraged at citizen chip idea

I am responding to the letter to the editor regarding chips installed in U.S. citizens. I believe it goes against everything this country stands for since its inception. I served as a Marine in the '80s, and my oath stated I must protect the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

What comes to mind is Germans tattooing Jews for separation into death camps. And it sickens me to think that someone living in this great country would even suggest such a thing.

Our government can't even run itself, let alone my life. I'm not on either side of the political spectrum, (only) doing what is right and in line with my values. I can tell you there will be resistance, heavy resistance, against anything such as chipping our citizens. It goes against our Constitution, civil liberties and the personal freedom that I volunteered to defend.

Scott Pugh

Carson City

Bear advocate values animals over humans

In an article, "Deputy's shooting of bear at Tahoe criticized," dated Feb. 26, Ann Bryant again criticized a deputy sheriff for shooting and killing a bear that was attacking him. Bryant also made this same criticism some time ago, when another deputy killed a bear in his house as it was attacking the off-duty deputy and his family.

At that time, I also wrote a letter to the editor, which criticized Bryant for her misplaced criticism of a person protecting himself and his family. Now she is criticizing an on-duty law enforcement officer for protecting himself and the other people at the scene.

It is clear to me that Bryant doesn't understand that people have the right to protect themselves against wild animals - and criminals - which are attacking them. It is also clear to me that she values animals' lives over human lives.

I feel sorry for Bryant as she is one of those people who will always be protected by the people she so often criticizes. Her type of people are the problem, not the solution.

Marshall Goldy

Gardnerville

Still mourning loss of historic V&T structure

Trent Dolan's Past Pages column for Feb. 10 reports that 20 years ago in 1990, "The historic V&T Roundhouse will be demolished soon and the owner will not honor Carson City's request to delay the sale of the property."

The destruction of that railroad treasure was completed in early 1991. Since then, every time I have driven by the site on Stewart Street just north of Washington I've mourned the loss.

But the four-acre tract of downtown land still is vacant. As a result, its owners have had to pay substantial property taxes throughout the intervening two decades - about $22,000 for the 2009-10 fiscal year alone.

Doesn't this seem to represent a just desert for their reported actions in 1990?

Steve VanDenburgh

Carson City

Try a little problem solving, DMV

In the Feb. 27 issue of the Appeal, a situation is described in which a Carson City business owner is being fined $160 for a 21-cent error on a quarterly tax return to the DMV. Cara O'Keefe of the enforcement arm of the DMV is quoted as saying, "I do what the law tells me to do."

Apparently not included in O'Keefe's job description is problem solving.

Guy Wooley

Dayton