Letters for August 17, 2017

Real or fake letter?

How many of you have stopped talking to friends or family because their politics, or “facts,” don’t agree with yours? We used to be able to expect the news media to give us those facts. But in February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by a TV news affiliate, owned by FOX, that there is no “law” against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States.

People realize that there are now two widely divergent versions of the news. One version must be “fake.” Canada has a truth standard for broadcast news. And this may be one of the reasons that the conservative Canadian, Star News Network failed after four years. Unlike Fox News, Star was unable to satiate right wing viewers with a steady diet of right wing propaganda and lies that reinforced their “conservative” beliefs.

Republicans now control all three branches of our government. The only check left on this one party rule is the news media. We desperately need a standard which prohibits the deliberate distortion of our news. Or at the very least, Americans must understand that—thanks to Fox News-Florida Appeals Court case No. 2D01-529 opinion—none exists.

Ronald Schoenherr

Reno

Impressions

Re “Boots in the air” (Let Freedom Ring, Aug. 3):

Mr. Trainor’s piece regarding sex trafficking numbers being over-reported and an inconvenience to travelers and others ended with an issue that we should discuss—“decriminalizing sex work.” So does this mean that Mr. Trainor wants to discuss decriminalizing the buying and selling of women as commodities into the sex trade, or giving men legal cover when caught in such a disgusting act? That’s the impression I was left with.

Susan Severt

Sun Valley

Cost effectiveness

In 2007, the cost of incarcerating a homeless person in the Washoe County Jail was estimated to be $84 per day. Certainly 10 years later that cost has gone up.

So if you get caught pissing on the street because there are no bathrooms available, then you are going to cost taxpayers about 100 bucks a night.

A little math shows that that works out to $3,000 a month.

If we were to retrofit motel rooms to sleep two to four, not only could we save the county and taxpayers 6-12 grand a month per room, but we would provide these homeless people with a safe place to sleep, somewhere to get out of the cold, a place to pee etcetera, and a place to shower so that perhaps when they go job hunting they have a better chance at getting employment.

It’s real easy to say “get a job,” but when you have no place to clean up and look presentable, or a place to change your clothes, it gets real hard to find work.

And, from all the help wanted signs I see in the fast food restaurants etc., there certainly is a need for people who need work.

And what is the cost of a few Porta Pottys located in spots where there are gatherings of homeless people (and other citizens visiting downtown)?

Certainly far less than a night in the pokey.

And the way we are going, many more of us are going to find ourselves homeless.

Count on it.

Craig Bergland

Reno

Correction

In the results for the “Nightlife” portion of the results of our Best of Northern Nevada readers’ poll, we listed an out-of-date address for the Holland Project, the winner of Best All-Ages Spot. The correct address is 140 Vesta St. Additionally, in “Food & Drink,” Niko’s Greek Kitchen, the winner of Best Greek Restaurant, was listed as closed. The restaurant’s Reno location is closed, but its Sparks location is still open: 171 Disc Drive, Sparks, 499-5777. We apologize for any confusion.