Letters

I read the column about the lady who passed in the fire due to utilities being shut off. She was using kerosene and candles.

Something has got to be done about the high cost of our utilities. My utilities cost more at times than my rent. It's ridiculous. The electric company and gas company are certainly not going broke.

It's a toss up - pay rent - buy food - have heat - or lights. We're in very bad shape. Everyone is.

Recently my husband and I had our gas shut off. We owed $242 due to me being off work. I'm 67 years old and not in good health. They did not send us a shut off notice. They just came at 10 a.m. Dec. 27, 2007, and shut it off. We used electric heaters. Then our electric bill went up over $260. We are still trying to recover.

No amount of money is worth a precious life. I read more and more of people getting their gas/power shut off. What happened to love thy neighbor as thy self?

Why can't these utility companies give these people a break. I tried to get help and couldn't. They said we make too much. What a joke.

PATTY BARRETT

Carson City

Simulators would save gas and prevent accidents

It requires 50 hours behind the wheel with a parent or guardian for a Nevada driving permit. In the year 2007 Nevada DMV issued 48,916 learners permits!

It is apparent teenage driver training, cost of vehicles, insurance, gas and space to train is making this type of training cost prohibitive. The total cost of fuel for behind-the-wheel training is a shocking $25 million to $50 million dollars!

Students can practice driving on a simulator allowing them to experience hazardous situations without putting themselves or others in danger of a vehicle accident. Scenarios could provide numerous driving situations such as a ball rolling into the street from between parked cars, dark of night, and weather such as a white out across Washoe Valley.

When we consider the greenhouse effect, this becomes an obvious win-win solution.

The differing types of driver training used to put drivers on the road include classroom, Internet, written tests, simulators and "behind the wheel" training. Driving schools are unable to show training results, but by adding driver training to the DMV database training, accidents and traffic violations would be correlated. This information would clarify the type of training, the quality and the needs for the myriad of driver licensing and training approaches. This would lead to lower insurance costs, better driver training, and more importantly, fewer traffic accidents, injuries and property damage.

This concept, can save our lives and the lives of our family and friends.

If you agree, contact your senator and assemblyman; ask them to make these changes post haste! The worst thing we can do is nothing at all!

Look at the following Web site for more simulator information: www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20060409/OPINION/104090085/0/ARCHIVES

Contact me by telephone 883-0906 or e-mail ronk6@sbcglobal.net; join me in the fight to improve driver education.

RON KENDALL

President Lads Foundation

"Looking Ahead Driving Simulator Foundation"

Carson City

A veteran who's not supporting McCain

I wish fellow veterans like Rosalyn K. Spreeman would do some research before she endorses a candidate such as Sen. McCain. I wonder if she knows that he was born in August of 1936, and will be 72 this year. How about the fact that Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Ann Coulter are dead set against his candidacy, and Ms. Coulter went so far as to say she would vote for Hillary rather then McCain. Some of his Republican colleagues in the Senate are not too thrilled with him either. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) stated: "The thought of McCain being a president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper, and he worries me." Do we really want a cranky old man in the White House at this crucial time in our history. I think not.

RICHARD J. MUNDY

Las Vegas