Letters to the editor Jan. 31

The slight odor

of a boondoggle

I'm a little confused. Are we proposing to spend nearly $3 million on cosmetic improvements to the already completed portion of the Carson bypass? Has anyone noticed that the bypass ends at Fairview? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought it was supposed to connect to Highway 50 going up Spooner Summit.

Wouldn't that $3 million be better spent actually extending the bypass? Talk about shovel ready. Hasn't this thing been on the planning boards for 20 years? I know that $3 million is a trifling amount these days but wouldn't it pay for some grading or something? I thought the state was broke.

Don't get me wrong, anything that improves our town is fine by me but aren't we painting the deck chairs on the Titanic here? How much has the planning already cost us? Seems like we need to get our priorities straight on this one. This has more than a slight odor of boondoggle.

Patrick McGuire

Carson City

Nevada's history

is a wonderful gift

The Nevada State Museum is alive and well.

In response to a letter to the editor, "What Happened to Nevada State Museum?" the museum like so many other state and government programs has taken a hit from the economy. The museum still offers countless displays and lectures for people of all ages to enjoy. The new Concourse is a work of love that took five years to complete.

We are adding new features and displays as money and time allow. What you don't see behind all the artifacts and displays are the things that are in the planning stages.

The dedicated staff also took a hit by having their hours cut back. The museum had to cut its time to just four days a week. Also, there are faithful volunteers who give their time repeatedly for school tours and out-of-state or international visitors. Many have been doing this for more than 10 years.

They give their time because they have faith in what the museum represents. Yes, we have had to make tradeoffs, and new displays come in. The "Under One Sky" exhibit is a collaboration between the Washoe, Paiute and Shoshone councils and our curators to give the most accurate display of their history.

There are some wonderful events scheduled for this coming year. We take pride in our museum and do our best for the community. I think it is a wonderful gift that we have so much history all around us.

Diana Michaels

Carson City

Ely State Prison

should be closed

At Ely State Prison, between the way inmates relate to staff and the way staff interact with coworkers, every day in White Pine County is a day of lost life. Then there is the isolation and the limited shopping, recreation and education, as well as the need for supervision of the prison by the state. How can the state humanely maintain that place? Impossible.

A rural prison is a sorry excuse for community welfare. Ely will find its natural place without that prison.

A large prison complex, maybe 10 square miles near Carson, that could utilize economy of scale, share resources and have access to quality employees, would reduce civil rights lawsuits by inmates and staff.

This would allow the state of Nevada to properly supervise its responsibilities. Close Ely State Prison, Lovelock Correctional, Wells Camp and Ely Camp, and then call it a learning experience.

Private prison-contracted management is not the answer, responsible governance is the answer. How do we, Nevada, benefit by cutting out a chunk of limited revenues to pay profits to a private prison corporation? Privatization is ridiculous, and not a problem-solver.

William T. Giles

Ely

Silver State school

makes clarification

Referring to the frequent articles and letters to the editor regarding Dr. Eugene Paslov, I must make the following clarification: Dr. Paslov does not represent the opinion or the views of the administration, staff or the governing body of Silver State Charter Schools.

Dr. Paslov is a former member of our governing body, which consists of seven members of the community and former teachers.

I am sorry that our fine school has been linked with any opinions expressed in his articles and the rebuttals to his articles. These opinions are the opinions of Dr. Paslov, and his alone. Silver State Charter Schools is a free public charter school serving grades 7-12.

Steve Knight

executive director/

superintendent/principal

Silver State Charter Schools

History repeats

in Massachusetts

Remember our illustrious leader poking fun at the Tea Party members for what he called disrupting town hall meetings and waving little tea bags?

Makes me wonder how many folks went to the ballot box up in Massachusetts who were maybe descendants of the folks who dumped all that Twinings tea in the Boston Harbor back around December of 1773.

Virgil L. Ball

Minden

Power line plans

in Dayton opposed

NV Energy is proposing, with the concurrence of the BLM, to build the High Blackhawk to Heybourne transmission line project through River Park, south of many housing communities including Dayton Valley Golf Community, the Dayton Valley Airpark and Airpark Estates.

What are NV Energy and BLM thinking and have they really done any due diligence analysis on the impact to the local communities?

In the plans, the towers through Dayton Valley may be more than 290 feet tall. According to the plan map, the lines will run parallel to, and a few hundred feet south of, the Dayton Valley Airport. The lines also will cross the airport approach/takeoff just hundreds of feet east of the airport.

What happens to the value of the Dayton Airpark homes if the Federal Aviation Administration forces the airport to close? What about the overall environmental impact to homeowners in Dayton Valley? If the airport is not closed by FAA, what happens when an airplane hits the 120kV transmission lines?

Lyon County Commissioners already let a chemical processing facility, Eden Research LLC, locate in Dayton Valley Industrial Park. I guess our current Lyon County District 1 Commissioner Chuck Roberts should be looking for new employment. He did nothing and said nothing publicly about the facility.

Mr. Roberts, I can guarantee there will be a major Dayton Valley homeowner effort to oust you at the next election if you just sit and do nothing. More than 90 percent of the transmission line's path is in District 1.

Why not just put the transmission lines south of Raw Peak? No one lives there, it is also BLM land and the lines would not destroy the lifestyle of Dayton Valley.

Don't stop building new infrastructure, just ask NV Energy and BLM to plan smarter.

Archie Gayer

Dayton