Letters

Scary weeks ahead

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Well, all right. All right, all right. I’ve seen the art for our Biggest Little Best of Northern Nevada, and I can tell you, it’s monster. Without actually adding dimensions, I’m not sure how we’d top that 3-D thing we did last year, so we decided to go big on two of our favorite dimensions. Is that too opaque? I’m sorry, you know how it is—I don’t want to give anything away, but I’m really excited.

I can tell you, from this moment, July 23, until publication on Aug. 7, things are going to be frightening around here. So don’t expect me to return your emails or phone calls. In fact, I should start seeing spreadsheets sometime tomorrow, and I can’t wait!

Dennis Myers just walked past my doorway, and I could tell from the spring in his step he’s ready to get this thing on, too. Man, it’s going to be awesome.

Should be only one glitch. I’ve got to be up to Sandpoint, Idaho, on July 31 for a family reunion. I wish they’d consulted me before they decided on the family reunion dates, but well, you know, I think much of the family believe that either I was adopted or switched at birth. You’d just have to see a family picture, though, to know that this nut didn’t fall far from the banana tree.

I also wish they’d consulted me before they constructed the city of Sandpoint. We’re planning on driving because we’ve never seen much of Idaho, but that’s way the hell up there. We’ll probably bring our passports just so we can stop up in Canada to pick up some T-shirts or maybe some health care.

I’ll probably be counting votes for the whole drive so it won’t be time wasted, but I’ll bet I’ll be all strung out on one of those energy drinks. We had a record number of voters in Best Of this year, more than 5,093 to be exact.

But it’ll all soon be over. We’ll take our little trip. I’ll have some great memories of the summer, and I’ll be ready to start planning for the next big thing. —D. Brian Burghart brianb@newsreview.com

Refugee crisis

The influx of illegal aliens streaming into our country in the last few months has created an economic crisis, but more importantly, a national public health crisis has now developed. We now know that those masses of illegals are carrying multiple contagious diseases—tuberculosis, Chagas disease, dengue fever, hepatitis, malaria, measles, according to Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet, who has worked on medical projects in Central and South America since 2009. It is imperative that both main political parties work to have all the illegals quarantined to protect the public and to protect the illegals from each other as well. Public safety supersedes any immigration debate. Our abandoned military bases can facilitate much of the needed facilities for the quarantine and detention of these illegals till they can be deported.

Ernesto Serano Reno

Best of!

Re “Does Reno have an image problem?” (Feature story, May 22):

I don’t understand why Reno continues to generate negative comments. I’m sick of the Reno bashing. I grew up in California, but have also lived in and visited many other areas. Reno has much to offer, from unlimited recreation and events to its convenient size. It’s time to emphasize the positive of our Biggest Little City!

Mary Pedersen Reno

But where will the consumers come from?

Re “Corporations are people, just like us” (Left Foot Forward, July 10):

Contraception can be costly. For a retail worker, $1,000 to get an IUD is a major barrier. The ruling doesn’t directly prohibit buying contraception, it just makes it unaffordable. Also it’s a simple medical fact that there is no overlap between contraception—including emergency contraception—and abortion. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy, and a viable pregnancy can only exist after a fertilized egg implants in the uterine wall. No form of birth control can undo this condition, including the forms cited by Hobby Lobby. Birth control works by preventing fertilization in the first place. That’s not abortion. There’s nothing to abort. Birth control reduces the need for abortion. If you want to reduce abortion, you should actually promote birth control. This was a bad decision enabled by a bad law. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act should be repealed, and Republicans should stop treating women like breeding stock. C.G. Green Reno

We meant “Commandant”

Re “Put school district under glass” (Editorial, July 10):

What part of “at-will employment” don’t you understand? Senior administrators like Mieras serve at the “pleasure” of the superintendent. Pedro Martinez, unlike his predecessors, is actually holding these administrators accountable. Unlike that awful Paul Dugan, he’s actually forcing people who are administrators out the door instead of giving them jobs for life. I know through personal experience my life was destroyed by bad principals who were given a slap on the wrist instead of fired like they should have been. I am glad he’s created a “climate of fear” by those who thought they could step on teachers and classified workers and get away with it forever. These administrators are not entitled to lifetime jobs, understand? I hope more of them are fired and forced out. Why weren’t you complaining when he dumped Jane Woodburn when he first came on board? Oh, that’s right, she was a woman, so she wasn’t important. Don’t write such an ignorant editorial if you don’t even understand what a superintendent’s job is.

Susan Nunes Medford, Ore.

One for Chief Mieras

Re “Put school district under glass” (Editorial, July 10):

Truth in print. How very refreshing! You are to be complimented on seeing the real issues and discrepancies behind the actions and words spoken by the superintendent. It is so very rare in our day. What an injustice for someone whose number one concern was the safety and security of our students and staff. And to anonymous, all I can say is ignorance and uninformed comments makes you foolish.

Karen Dunaway Reno

Just tripe

Re “Corporations are people, just like us” (Left Foot Forward, July 10):

I’m keeping this letter as short as possible so as to contain my frustration. Why is it that when most individuals comment on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to side with Hobby Lobby some very pertinent facts are left out. First off Hobby Lobby’s corporate overlord does not “come between a woman and her doctor when it comes to personal health decisions.” Company owners feels that they should not have to pay for certain forms of contraception. Another fact that gets left out is that Hobby Lobby doesn’t want to pay/provide for contraception that kills a fetus. Come to think of it, isn’t it too late to “contracept” once intercourse is done and baby’s on the way? This leaves at least 16 other contraception methods that the company does approve and will pay for. Which is more than enough for any woman or man for that matter; the company should probably add abstinence classes to make it 17 methods. As for Sheila Leslie, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and anyone else arguing that the court’s decision might extend to things such as blood transfusions, pig derived medications, anesthesia and certain pill coatings is just fear-mongering tripe. The fact that Ginsburg goes off on a tangent about things other than contraception proves that she doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Go look up the companies owned by the likes of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientologists, certain Muslims, Jews and Hindus. Have they imposed restrictions that I don’t know about yet? Lastly the highest court in the land spoke. Doesn’t the buck stop there? As a man—the other half of the species needed to make a child—I find this decision liberating. Lately, a lot of our rights have been pushed aside. It’s about time freedom rang. If Leslie and Ginsberg believe what they say, they should put their money where their mouths are: Boycott all the products and the services the above religions provide and let me know how life is. As for me all my Christmas gifts are coming from Hobby Lobby.

Raysel Long via email

Unions work

Re “Save your money, dump the union” (Let Freedom Ring, July 3):

Great, all the union bashing over the past 20-30 years has led to jobs going overseas, medical benefits gone, and no career jobs with minimal retirement benefits. Hope you are loving the increased costs national health care plan is forcing onto people who already had some better form of health care. Tom Rickner Bridgeport, California

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