Letters to the editor for Sunday, April 9, 2017

Financial literacy should be priority for Nevadans

Personal finance website WalletHub released a report that ranked Nevada 42nd among the states and the District of Columbia for financial literacy.

WalletHub gave Nevada low marks on a range of topics, including the share of adults who spend more than they earn (37th); percentage of unbanked households (39th); share of adults who borrow from nonbank lenders (46th); and the state’s public high school graduation rate (49th).

As a proud Nevadan and a branch manager of a financial institution, this information is very concerning. So I ask myself: How do we make our community and state stronger?

Did you know that April is Financial Literacy Month? Let’s use this month as an excuse to start somewhere. Let’s use this month to pick a day to go to the bank and ask for some advice. Spend some time looking up budgeting tips, improving credit, planning for retirement, and using a transaction register. Then when you are done teaching yourself, take some time and teach your children.

Children are a product of their environment and will learn how to manage money by watching their parents. When was the last time you heard your kids talking about how they learned to manage an account, write a check, understand interest rates, prepare taxes or really any kind of life skill they are going to need in the near future? Take the time to teach them!

April is the month to make a difference in your financial situation. Maybe you decided this was your New Year’s resolution — how are you doing?

Laura Carrion

Minden

AB 431 is an attack on local craft beer

State Assemblywomen Irene Bustamante Adams of Las Vegas wants to end the successful and growing local craft beer industry.

She has introduced AB 431 which will limit the amount of brew house sales to a meager 2,000 barrels a year. The remaining 18,000 barrels would have to be sold through corporate distributors. She is funded primarily through Big Beer, i.e. InBev, looking to strengthen their capitalistic grip on the craft beer industry.

AB 431 is bad for good beer. AB 431 is bad for Nevada. Please speak up and do not let this bill pass.

On the positive side, SB 130, a bill designed to benefit the small craft breweries, has traction in the state Legislature. It would increase the amount of barrels a brewery could produce in a year, effectively giving the small guys a financial chance in a highly competitive market. This simply means a stronger local economy with much better, handcrafted and local beer, at hand.

Richard Bednarski

Reno

Time to respect Trump as president

In response to the letter of Phyllis Skamel in the March 17 Nevada Appeal, it was very interesting in her disdain of our current president of the United States. It is unfortunate and very petulant that you cannot put aside your dislike of this gentleman.

After all, we cannot always have the person of our preference in that office, but we can respect whomever has been elected as our leader without pouting and showing discontent as a disgruntled citizen.

Your question of the cost to taxpayers for the use of Air Force One to Florida, did you ever count up all of the vacations your past president used it for? Many to Hawaii and foreign countries as well as the wife and family vacations using a second plane. That was an extra cost to the taxpayers’ pocketbook along with the mother-in-law living in the White House.

Why not try and be happy with our current President Donald Trump?

D. Marie Bresch

Carson City

Solution to headache of Lake Tahoe traffic

The traffic in Lake Tahoe is a huge problem especially during the ski season.

Building another road or widening existing roads to Lake Tahoe would be cost prohibitive.

There is another method of transportation in existence — railroads — that could be used for snow trains and beach trains to Truckee and Reno. Local transportation to the hotels and to the ski resorts and beaches would also be required.

Trolleys such as the ones in San Diego, Washington, D.C., and other towns would give tourists a chance to see the beauty of Lake Tahoe without all the hassle of driving and finding a place to park.

This would have to be a joint effort between California, Nevada, Reno and Lake Tahoe.

Walt Ratchford

Carson City