Letters to the Editor Dec. 26

Editor:

This open letter goes out to whoever ran over our chocolate Lab early Saturday morning and just drove off and left him. He was wearing a collar with tags and contact numbers. Why would you leave an animal in a ditch, broken, scared, and alone in 10 degree temperatures without stopping and calling?

You were more than likely speeding and under the influence but I don't care. Avoiding a dog in the road may not have been an option, but to leave him there very much alive is a disgusting and heartless act of cowardice. He was over 100 pounds and from the pieces of your car at the scene you knew you hit something.

This personal tragedy occurred on the corner of Vicky and Porter Drive. You were in the North bound lane, so I know you live in the area of Mission Hot Springs or Saratoga Springs or have friends there. Bodie had to be put down. He is gone and nothing can change that. If you had bothered to call he might have had a fighting chance and my family wouldn't be in shambles.

The fact that he got out was due to a faulty gate and was unintentional, but your act of selfishness will mark you the rest of your life. If you can, call me and explain your actions. If not, go and volunteer at the animal shelter, walk a dog, better yet adopt one and give it a good home. Our home is now cold and empty. Bodie was an amazing animal, gentle, strong, and intelligent with an incredible zest for life. He did not deserve to be left in a ditch. Anyone with information may contact me at dave@nvdave.com.

David Shriver

Johnson Lane

Editor:

I have been watching the letters to the editor and apparently I am the only one who was amazed, surprised, shocked, dismayed and generally upset to discover that the authorities did not see fit to send out a search party for a motorist who left Incline Village and did not arrive in Gardnerville. His car had gone off the road and he was trapped inside. When I looked into it, the family told me that when they reported it to the highway patrol they were told to call the sheriff's office and when they called the sheriff's office they were told to call the highway patrol. When I spoke to the sheriff's office to inquire why this was so, I was told that the area between Incline Village and Gardnerville was too large to be practical to search. Hallo? Steve Fossett's area was small enough to be practical to search?

I have always let people know when they can expect me on the naive assumption that the authorities would search for me if I did not arrive. Apparently I was wrong and I think it is time for the highway patrol and sheriff's department to reexamine their policies. Lee Duncan is alive because he had a friend who searched diligently for signs of a car going off the road. If it had been left to the authorities he would be dead.

Barbara Flanagan

Gardnerville

Editor:

I am pleased that the Virginia & Truckee Railroad will be utilizing Bently Biodiesel blends as the sole source of fuel for their diesel-electric locomotives and I read your article regarding this subject in the Wednesday, 17 December 2008 issue of The Record-Courier with great interest.

However, I must comment on omissions in the article.

Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. It is a mono-alkyl ester, long chain fatty acid which is derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, but definitely not from motor oils.

Biodiesel refers to the pure fuel before blending with petroleum diesel fuel. Biodiesel blends are denoted as, BXX with XX representing the percentage of biodiesel contained in the blend (i.e.: B20 is 20 percent biodiesel, 80 percent petroleum diesel).

Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in diesel engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and free of sulfur and aromatics.

Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called trans-esterification whereby long carbon fatty acid chains (triglycerides) are reacted with methanol. The process leaves behind two products -- methyl esters (the chemical name for biodiesel) and glycerin (a valuable byproduct used in the manufacture of soaps and other products).

In order to ensure proper performance, fuel-grade biodiesel must be produced to strict industry specifications and conform to American Society of Testing Materials standard D6751 as an alternative fuel for use in diesel engines.

Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the health effects testing requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Biodiesel that meets ASTM D6751 and is legally registered with the Environmental Protection Agency is a legal motor fuel for sale and distribution. Furthermore, the exhaust emissions of sulfur bearing components, sulfur oxides and sulfates (major components of acid rain), are eliminated with the use of pure biodiesel (B100) and significantly reduced by use of biodiesel blends.

Donald E. Bently

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Bently Biofuels Co.

Minden

Editor:

I recently had the pleasure of working with students of the Douglas High School Leadership class and wanted to share my experience.

I am a volunteer at the Douglas County Senior Center and occasionally drive the small Dart bus when extra drivers are needed.

On Dec. 17, senior center advisory member, Paul Lockwood and I drove over to the high school with the bus and his car loaded with Christmas gifts and goodies for the "Meals on Wheels" patrons.

The students loaded onto the bus and when I asked for a "navigator," to take the schedule and direct me to the stops, one volunteered immediately and we were off on a mission.

As we made our stops, the students gave out their hand-made Christmas cards along with the packages. They had made extra cards and gave them out to other people they saw along the way.

At one of the stops, the students got out to help a patron who was putting up Christmas lights. At another stop, they stayed to visit for a while longer with a shut-in.

While we were on the road between stops, the students would be singing and having a good time.

When you hear all the bad news about young people getting into trouble, this just goes to show there are still a lot of first class young adults around, we just don't hear about them as often as we should. The leadership class did a fantastic job and it was a privilege to work with them.

Jim Gesselman

Gardnerville