Letters

Nothing but a number

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

I hope y’all enjoy the feature story I wrote for this week’s issue. I’m pretty happy with the way it came together. But there was one small bummer. During my interview with the three Georges Pickard, they decided that the three of them—representing three generations of Reno music—needed to perform onstage somewhere together. They approached a venue about the possibility, but that particular venue, which serves alcohol, had to turn them down, because young George isn’t yet 21.

That just pisses me off.

To be clear, I don’t blame the venue. I realize it’s a question of law. They’ll probably still be able to put something together at an all-ages venue—and situations like this are exactly why all-ages venues, like the Holland Project, are important—and that’s all fine and good, but many of us like to have a drink or two while we enjoy live music, which isn’t an option at many all-ages venues.

Personally, I feel pretty strongly that the drinking age should be lowered to 18, as it is in most civilized countries, or even all the way down to 16.

You’re a fool if you think that underage drinking never happens or is something unusual that only happens among the most troubled kids. Teenagers drink. And 20-year-old college kids certainly drink. And because of our stupid laws, they have to do it illicitly.

One great thing about drinking, in moderation at least, is that it can break down personal barriers, helping people—even family members from different generations—bond and connect. But our drinking laws create a barrier between those over and under 21. A lowered drinking age will help young people learn healthier, safer drinking practices rather than cultivating a culture of illegality among them.

On the flip side, I think the driving age should be raised to 18 or older. In my experience, driving an automobile is far more dangerous than drinking a beer. But then again, that might be because I am, by all accounts, a terrible driver. —Brad Bynum bradb@newsreview.com

Pony up, folks

If all the talking heads who are advocating a return to Iraq want any credibility, they will include in their statements complete support/ advocacy for raising taxes to fund the effort, and the start of a draft to make sure that we don’t keep sending the same set of troops into harm’s way over and over and over and over again. But of course, this won’t happen because the real meat of their intent is just bad-mouthing this president and anything he does or doesn’t do.

Michel Rottman Virginia Highlands

Judge Flanagan’s order

Re “A judicial outrage” (editorial, June 12):

Thank you very much for this editorial. It came on the heels of Schmidt’s defeat in the primary, which I found very disheartening. Schmidt is a candidate who would have brought the foundation of our national and state constitutions to his office, had he been elected. Why Kieckhefer prevailed so strongly, I felt was a direct reflection of the bogus decision by Flanagan that was splashed over the front pages of the area’s newspapers.

While “dirty pool,” it’s just politics as usual and to be expected. But, this decision by Flanagan should bring into doubt his qualifications for the bench. A judge who doesn’t know the first thing about the First Amendment? Even though Kieckhefer has now dropped his lawsuit—imagine!—I hope that Schmidt prevails in his counter suit. Cynthia Kennedy Virginia City

I was pleasantly surprised to read this because everyone must be concerned about our “rights” and for some reason Judge Flanagan determined he could overstep his lawful authority and now—hopefully—could be charged in his personal capacity. This Judge should also be sanctioned.

As for Kieckhefer and his law firm employers, they should have known better but they somehow determined and were able to do this after 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to the election. Gee, wasn’t that convenient? How could any other lawyer or law firm be able to pull that off? The good ol’ boy network and Nevada politics at its best? Maybe Schmidt was right?

This decision has not only been the talk of Nevada but there have also been national stories that have great concern with violations of Case Law (the Doctrine of Prior Restraint). See: http://constitution. findlaw.com/amendment1/annotation09.html. I guess when one unconstitutional illegal decision is made, it should be a concern of all Constitutionalists and law activists in the United States. Thank God for these watchdogs and for your spoton opinion.

Juanita Cox Reno

THANK YOU! It has been a rare time for me to read an “Opinion” editorial and find information I expect to see collected by reporters who should be researching an issue. As a person who finds research and facts to be helpful both when voting and when making any other major choice in life, I greatly appreciate the effort your team must have done to obtain these facts so quickly.

I am greatly concerned by what appears to be a trend of Nevada government, of “the good old boys can do no wrong” attitude. I certainly hope that this behavior will no longer be tolerated by the citizens of Nevada any longer. Joannah Schumacher Reno Editor’s note: Our editorial was not written to affect the candidates’ interests. To us, free expression and black robe disease were at issue, not the primary election outcome. It seems to us that Kieckhefer led throughout the campaign. His landslide victory (68 to 32 percent, more than two to one) as well as the fact that no newspapers in the district reported the judge’s order on their front pages—the Reno Gazette Journal and the Nevada Appeal in Carson City put it inside, the Sparks Tribune ignored it altogether—suggests that the judge’s order was no determinant of the race. We suspect that few voters even knew of the judge’s order. But whether that is the case or not, our concern was not the candidates but the voters, and whether information about the candidates is allowed to flow to the voters without interference by government. The United States Constitution and the nation’s traditions say government has no power to prevent the expression of any candidate statement, true or false, to voters just because some official considers it unfit for the public discourse.

Did you see our crack item?

Re “Hot days, hotter nights” (cover story, June 12): We enjoyed your calendar for summer fun for there were lots of different ways to enjoy each day. Thanks for the clever, out-of-the-box ideas for my family will grab one and go on some of your suggestions.

One of your ideas about visiting the porno shops in town struck a chord in our house for we are finding out that pornography isn’t a harmless, fair weather industry. It involves women who have been exploited, abused by family, friends in their lives and then works in the sex industry because that is the only work they feel worthy of. Then a pimp will get hold of them to exploit them in human trafficking industry.

Your encouragement of using pornography as innocent entertainment keeps thousands of women in a cycle of emotional, physical dysfunction and addiction. I hope you look at the bigger picture of what this business does to vulnerable women, men and families instead of offering it as a cheesy, cheap way to get off on a horny day. Have a moral backbone and give a care!!!

Suzanne Robbins Reno

Up with bikes

I grew up in Reno and remember being able to reach Wells Avenue from Fourth Street. Now, there’s no pedestrian/bike path on the Wells overpass. Why is that? I am now grown and live downtown. I walk the streets often and realize the Fourth Street corridor is being cleaned up, so why not improve it for pedestrians?

These two issues have been plaguing me for quite some time. I hope if we can get this idea out to a broader range of people, it will catch on.

Mathew Rubin Reno

Down with bikes

I say no more [being] conscious of cyclists until they are mandated to pay for registration and licensing, and provide vehicle operators insurance coverage and install a special use tax to cover the cost of all of the special traffic modifications for their use of roadways, along with cyclist training and certification of repair shops. The cost of some bicycles is as much as a car and the cost of treating and rehabilitating an injured cyclist is the same if not more than people that are injured in auto accidents.

Tyler D. Rupert Carson City

Correction

Re “Horse sense” (Arts & Culture, June 19)

We misidentified the author of the piece as “Georgia Jones.” The correct byline is Georgia Fisher. We regret the error and apologize for any confusion.

Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages people to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live. Editor/Publisher D. Brian Burghart News Editor Dennis Myers Arts Editor Brad Bynum Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Staff writer Sage Leehey Contributors Amy Alkon, Woody Barlettani, Bob Grimm, Ashley Hennefer, Sheila Leslie, Eric Marks, Dave Preston, Jessica Santina, Todd South, Brendan Trainor, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Design Melissa Bernard, Brad Coates, Serene Lusano, Kyle Shine, Skyler Smith Advertising Consultants Joseph "Joey" Davis, Gina Odegard, Bev Savage Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Office Manager/Ad Coordinator Karen Brooke Executive Assistant/Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Manager Anthony Clarke Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Joe Medeiros, Ron Neill, Andy Odegard, Clayton Porter, Christian Shearer, Marty Troye, Warren Tucker, Matt Veach, Gary White, Joseph White, Margaret Underwood General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Grant Ronsenquist Business Nicole Jackson, Tami Sandoval Lead Technology Synthesist Jonathan Schultz Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalinn Jenkins 405 Marsh Ave., Third Floor Reno, NV 89509 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds to classifieds@newsreview.com Web site www.newsreview.com Printed by Paradise Post The RN&R is printed using recycled newsprint whenever available. Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in the RN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. The RN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form.