Voice of the Community

Sen. Reid’s vindictiveness

Editor:

The blatantly vindictive action by Sen. Reid to declare some 3 million acres of Southern Nevada, parts of it used for decades in Cliven Bundy’s ranching operation, an area of critical environmental concern in retaliation for Bundy’s put-down of armed federal agents last spring, cannot go unanswered.

Where are Gov. Brian Sandoval, Sen. Dean Heller and Congressman Mark Amodei on this usurpative and tyrannical misuse of power to satisfy a personal grievance?

Reid said after federal agents were driven from Bundy’s ranch by a superior force of his friends and neighbors, “It isn’t over”.

Reid has already been complicit in driving some 50 other ranchers in Clark County out of business, leaving Bundy the last man standing.

We know the governor and the two members of Congress we put in office thinking they were conservatives have failed to properly oppose past federal actions that add restrictions to the 81 percent of Nevada already controlled by federal agencies.

Where will it stop? Will there come a day when ranching and mining in Nevada are relegated to the dust bin of history when camping and hiking and hunting and off-roading are forever forbidden?

That day will surely come if we cannot put in office people who will honestly look after our interests and protect us from people like Harry Reid.

Maybe now, with a Republican attorney general and Republicans controlling both the Nevada and the U.S. legislatures, things can start turning around. Maybe.

Jim Falk

Secretary Fallon Tea Party

Check teachers’ pay

Editor:

Next time somebody wishes to examine the pay scale for teachers, I suggest they also have handy the qualifications for public assistance.

A new teacher to CCSD with a family of three qualifies for assistance for two years. If the teacher has 15 credits beyond the B.S. degree, that same family of three qualifies for assistance for one year. Even more troubling is the financial status for a family of four. All families — event those who have a doctorate degree — qualify for assistance for at least one year if they choose to begin a teaching career in CCSD. It is clear teachers’ wages are not keeping up with the cost of living.

The last time the Legislative Council visited Fallon, first-year teachers with a family of four qualified for financial aid for five years. Now, they qualify for aid for seven years. If this not bad enough, health insurance for a family of four is $897.70 a month with a family deductible of $12,700 in network and $25,500 out. These families may also be attempting to pay off student loans.

It is true there is a schedule for advancement based on education and experience. After earning 35 in-service credits required for advancement, all remaining credits for salary advancement must be college credits that are not cheap.

Thank goodness there are salary advancement opportunities, so teachers can eventually receive a living wage.

Becky Dodd

CCES President

Why didn’t you vote?

Editor:

To all of you who could not find the time to vote. What was your excuse and why did you need one?

There was certainly plenty of opportunities including weekends. If you did not have transportation, why didn’t you call your political party for a ride to the polls or request an absentee ballot? Were your too busy feeding yourself, your critters, talking on your cellphone, playing games on your computer, sitting in a bar having a beer or watching soap operas, or did you just simply choose to forget?

Not voting is akin to signing a power of attorney over to a stranger asking that person to make life and death decisions for you.

As a female senior citizen, I have never forgotten the suffering and humiliation women endured in order to get the right to vote. Every election I vote even if it is absentee.

Our elected officials make decisions that affect everyone. If you cannot find the time to vote, you should not find the time to complain when things are not done the way you want.

Jeanne Larson

Wellington