Letters for July 5, 2001

Re “Yucca-ed Up” (RN&R, June 7):

I am not sure Harry Reid standing alone can stop the Bush administration’s determination to bring the permanent nuclear waste depository to Yucca Mountain.

I think it would be regrettable for all of Nevada, but especially for the residents of Las Vegas and Henderson. However, you reap what you sow. Nevada supported Bush. Without the Nevada electoral votes, Bush would not have been elected, even with the fiasco in Florida.

For that matter, Nevada elected Sen. John Ensign. Ensign owes many political debts. He will never cross Cheney or Bush. Ensign is a sheep in the Republican flock. He just follows the backside of the Republican politician walking ahead of him.

Joanne Miller
via e-mail

Props from The Theater Coalition

I would like to wholeheartedly thank the following people for all they have done to bring theater arts to the public eye via the News & Review:

· To advertising rep Bob Grimm, who first approached The Theater Coalition with the idea of bringing our half-page ad to the paper, who has shepherded it diligently for three years;

· Publisher Jeff von Kaenel, who proposed that if we bought the ad, he would ensure the other half-page of editorial content, where you now read reviews and features on our local plays and artists, and where there is now another whole page of theater calendar and advertising on the facing page;

· To Jimmy Boegle, who several weeks ago apologized—apologized!—for not being able to publish a review of one play that was in production, this in a town where three years ago, there were NO reviews in any paper;

· And finally, to all the reviewers who have braved the wrath of local artists to give your honest opinion of what you see. It’s a mostly thankless job since, as we know, “everyone’s a critic.” Whether you ever hear it again or not, you are much appreciated.

The Theater Coalition is proud of this partnership with the Reno News & Review and hopes it will continue for a long while to come. Anyone who would like to help sponsor our ad, please call 786-2278; all contributions are tax-deductible.

Maija Talso
outgoing executive director
The Theater Coalition

Gangs need to be controlled

Re “Gangs, Cops and Issues of Trust” (RN&R News, June 14):

Upon reading your article, my emotions were tremendously stirred.

Here in the valley, where I’ve lived my entire life, things are changing. Gangs used to be a problem that “they” faced, not us.

Where is our outrage? We are focused on the fact that an undercover policeman shot a 16-year-old kid. We should be focused on the fact that this 16-year-old kid had a gun, was firing it and approached another human being with it. It doesn’t matter that this kid couldn’t understand that he was being told to stop doing something illegal. He knew it was illegal before he did it. If he had been confronted by a regular person, whose obituary would we be reading?

Why are we allowing this activity in our neighborhoods to begin with? There have got to be laws, and they need to be enforced. If someone, even a kid, decides to play God with a gun, he has to know that he is taking a risk with his own life.

Jairo Rodriguez had a choice, and that choice got him killed. I am sorry for the cost of that choice to the people he left behind, but I am not sorry that the police did their job.

Michelle Parnell
via e-mail

Downtown noise is out of control

Re “Profits vs. Responsibility” (RN&R Editor’s Note, June 7):

I think a law should be passed [against noisy car stereos], because local authorities—no matter how many letters I write or telephone calls I make—never enforce local anti-noise ordinances.

I’ve lived in downtown areas of big cities all my life, and downtown Reno is the noisiest city I’ve ever lived in. Some would suggest that I move. Well, I can’t. I can’t afford to. I live on disability insurance and have a tight budget. I am stuck here in downtown Reno for the rest of my life.

My ears are very sensitive, and even earplugs or other devices don’t seem to block out all the loud noises in downtown Reno. Shutting windows is no help either.

Tom Lovelace
Reno