Six Mile Canyon road closed by red tape

Let's see if we have this straight. The Federal Emergency Management Administration in its response to Hurricane Katrina:

n Spent up to $416,000 per person in some cases for temporary housing, including putting people up in $375-a-night beachfront condominiums.

n Handed out $2,000 debit cards to thousands of people without checking their identification.

n Spent $878 million on manufactured homes, more than 11,000 of which are now rotting in storage because they couldn't be used.

No wonder FEMA can't find $500,000 to fix Six Mile Canyon Road into Virginia City.

It's popular to blame FEMA these days for everything short of the war in Iraq, but we sympathize more with Storey County officials who can't get a straight answer on who can help them pay for repairs to the road.

Maybe it's FEMA. Maybe it's the Federal Highway Administration. Maybe it's the state of Nevada. Maybe Storey Commissioner Bum Hess should buy some California Lotto tickets and hope for the best.

Actually, we wouldn't blame Hess for putting up some toll booths once the road is reopened, an idea he has broached before. Six Mile Canyon may be one of only three ways to get to Virginia City (not counting the Sutro Tunnel), but it's used more by Dayton-Reno traffic than it is by Storey County residents.

The state of Nevada should put up enough funds to finish work on the road, then untangle the red tape to get reimbursed from whatever federal agency is supposed to be responding to disasters these days.

After all, it's only tax money. Somebody should be able to figure out how to get their hands on it.