Letters for November 14, 2013

Limping along

Re “The more you know” (Left Foot Forward, Oct. 24):

I must admit that Sheila Leslie had me paying attention when she began to describe her visit to Madrid when she was an exchange student in high school many years ago. My attention was due to the fact that my family traces its roots back to the Euskal Herria region of Spain not too far from Madrid.

The interactions with the best friend and family from Madrid who visited the Western region of the USA to take a tour also stimulated my attention to read farther, so I continued to the end. That’s when I came upon the last paragraph which described a discussion that the visiting family was involved in that had to do with aging and health care in the “richest country on earth.” They could not understand how the USA “made such a mess of providing health care to its people” and “why would we turn over such a basic need to the profit-seeking private sector” etc. I almost choked on that line. I suggest to the author that she and her friends from Spain check out the latest statistics relating to how far down Espana’s economy is swirling around in the cesspools of that region of the world (a.k.a. Greece).

Apologies to Sheila, but I think she shot herself in her big left foot.

Dan Archuleta

Sparks

Keep our money home

The University of Nevada, Reno’s president Marc Johnson has mentioned time and again that he is interested in connecting to the city of Reno, and he says he is committed to working together to improve Reno’s economy. That’s great! Now, let him connect to our community and improve our economy by keeping UNR’s construction money here at home. UNR should hire only local contractors as they build on campus, so our local workers have good wages at good pay. UNR can help us build our way out of the Great Recession. Keep our money at home!

Steve Flanagan

Reno

Paid security

Re “No enforcement” (Letter to the Editor, Oct. 10):

I witness the same thing that Justin wrote about on a daily basis. I see both Reno Police Department and Sparks Police Department officers ignoring pedestrian crosswalk violations. My conclusion is that unless the officers are getting paid overtime they will not issue any tickets for this. The only department I’ve seen pulling anyone over for these violations is the Nevada Highway Patrol. So in conclusion, follow the money. If these departments do not get any special enforcement grants, which means paid overtime, they will not enforce the pedestrian crosswalk laws. Every time we hear there is a DUI checkpoint or other special enforcement efforts it is always tied to a grant that pays for overtime. So Mr. Police Chiefs, when will you start enforcing the crosswalk laws without receiving overtime pay?

Ken Johnson

Reno

League of its own

Give me an F-ing break. It’s OK in the NFL to be a drunken ass and force yourself on women, Rapenbuger, or maim, torture and kill defenseless dogs, Vick the dick, but you can’t bully another player? This is why I no longer watch the NFL. What a bunch of hypocrites. They pay these players obscene salaries when a normal family can’t afford the tickets or concessions. Wow, the hunger games are not far off.

Cecelia Soper

Reno

Road kill

The dull drumbeat of destructive progress continues in our society. This time it spells potential doom for the deer herd that will now have to contend with the new highway link being constructed east of McCarran near the water treatment facility. For years, the herd has used some of the east fields of the UNR farm to find late autumn and winter forage, and to take refuge from November hunters roaming the Virginia range. It’s always been a delight to view the deer, wild horses and other wildlife during day hikes in the area. It doesn’t appear there is anything being constructed to accommodate their safe passage to the remaining fields on the west side of the link. Such accommodations do exist in other places with deer populations, like Oregon. It’s sad that this far into the 21st century that we are still solving our growth issues by scraping away more habitat (including our own) in the name of progress.

T. Alan Moore

Reno

Fruit pie

Re “Lovin’ the oven” (FoodFinds, Nov. 7):

Thanks for the review. I’m definitely interested in checking them out! One thing caught me off guard though: You mention that pineapple should be illegal on pizza, yet you ordered a pie with pears? Not sure I quite understand the logic here … any explanation?

Brian Ball

Reno

Carried away

Re “Bloody pointless” (Film, Oct. 24):

I completely disagree. Carrie (2013) is not a remake of the 1976 classic; it is another adaptation of the book. And it has a lot more stuff from the book than the 1976 movie. (Don’t get me wrong here, the 1976 movie is pure genius.) And how on Earth is the book bad? This goes to show how Bob Grimm does not understand any piece of work (The Hunger Games, Bridget Jones’s Diary, etc.) and does not have an understanding of the movie at all. Anyway, Carrie was amazing, and Bob Grimm gave a poor review of the film. Portia and Alex gave wonderful performances, way better than the characters from the 1976 film. The only thing I agree with Grimm is how great Moore and Moretz were. Overall, this was a very poor review, but this movie was great.

Steve Johnson

Toronto

More on violence

Re “Tragedy in Sparks: Northern Nevada gets blindsided by sudden gun violence and death in one of our schools” (Feature story, Oct. 31):

I protest the use of the term “gun violence” in this headline. Had young Jose used any other weapon to carry out his final agenda, it wouldn’t be used in the headline. This tragedy isn’t/shouldn’t be about guns, but the state of our society that makes a child want to kill innocent peers, and then himself. No, I’m not pro- or anti-gun, I just see this as a jab at an already sensitive issue and a chance for the writer to further push her own view of guns. Does it matter what size-brand-make of gun was used? I don’t think so. Does it matter that the “killer” (notice how I didn’t say “shooter”) was only 12? Yes, it matters a lot.

Peter Hillman

Reno

Editor’s note: Of course it matters a lot. My rationale was that if a 12-year-old child had attacked veteran soldier Michael Landsberry with a knife, we’d have a living teacher, and a troubled boy may have gotten some help.