Letters to the editor Sept. 25

Mosque could be place of peace, healing

I have been thinking about this since I first heard about the controversy and decided to share my maybe-naive thoughts.

I think the ground zero mosque will be a place of healing in the area. Those who committed the horrible act of terror were following the direction of al-Qaida, an international terrorist network led by a man named Osama bin Laden. They were not acting on their faith or the faith of Islam. Islam is led by God - a peaceful God that you may call by many different names, but certainly not bin Laden.

Having another place of prayer and prayerful community close to such memories could bring about much good. My faith and my citizenship call me to accept the beliefs of others and to realize that God is much bigger than anything or anyone we can imagine. Let us honor those whose lives were lost and shattered by allowing prayer to fill the streets and not letting the terrorist organization win.

Ruthie Gordon

Carson City

Angle knows what Nevada education needs

Sharron Angle is a woman who has been ahead of the class for years. She and I share a zealous love for the teaching profession. We also despair at how that value has been exploited by political forces that have no interest in the success or future of our young people.

The deterioration of the quality of education can be traced to the numerous stumbling blocks that erode its purpose pebble by pebble. Sharron has been steadfast in her fight to return the classroom to a place where academic preparation for life skills is the focus.

Excessive testing, early labeling, tenure, federal guidelines, more programs and commissions, and top heavy administrative costs all take away from the primary objective of schooling. Sharron has been the good neighbor in this race rather than her corrupted-by-power, half-truths scoundrel of an opponent.

Angle has experience in a variety of real-world situations and has never wavered in her steadfast positions based on her life as the good neighbor, interested and active mom, and advocate of the American family as valuable. The answer, Sharron knows, is not more money; not more government; it is a strong commitment to excellence.

You have a clear choice this time. It is time for a change in the U.S. Senate for Nevadans. Do your part for yourself, your children, your neighborhood, and the futures of generations to come. Vote on Nov. 2 for the Angle who is for the people, not the power.

Ann Bednarski

Carson City

Abowd's ideas make sense for Carson City

This upcoming November election, we have a chance to vote for someone who can help make a difference in this community. Karen Abowd running for Supervisor

Ward 1 is just that person.

Karen's ideas make sense. She knows it's us small business owners who are the backbone of our local economy. Karen feels strongly on the proposed City Center Project with its educational technology for our schools, digital media lab providing future jobs for our kids and business incubator to grow small business - all of this making our community more self-sustaining, and I could not agree with her more.

Karen understands that our educational infrastructure is lacking and that our low tax base is not enough to attract businesses to relocate here. We need to make a change.

She believes that public/private partnerships are the wave of the future and wants to promote engagement of our manufacturing sector for vocational training of our youth. Not every student is college-bound, and training such as this can be invaluable in a student's ability to start his/her own business.

Karen's got my vote. And I hope yours, too.

Gordon Gagnon

Carson City