Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels: Nevada counties can't afford special election

The Nevada Appeal's "Silver Dollar" and "Wooden Nickel" feature recognizes positive achievements from the capital region and, when warranted, points out others that missed the mark.

SILVER DOLLAR: To corrections officers who are washing cars to raise money for the funeral and medical costs incurred in the fatal accident that took the lives of Alexis and Colton Melendrez. The two children were riding in a vehicle with their father in Mound House on April 22 when he crossed the double yellow line. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The children were rushed to the hospital, but later died of their injuries. Nevada Department of Corrections Senior Officer Steve Lennon said he was just going to ask his team to participate, but once word spread, everyone wanted to help. This is the sort of giving spirit that makes our area such a special place to live.

Wooden Nickel: Talk about your unfunded mandates. Within six months every county in the state is going to cough up the price of a special election to replace now Sen. Dean Heller. We recognize the importance of filling resigning Sen. John Ensign's seat, and we could do a lot worse than having Heller get the seat.

However, as we're reminded in budget hearings every day, Nevada's counties just can't seem to get a break. Maybe we'd feel a little better about paying for an election if it didn't sound like a tax audit every time the counties go before the Legislature.

Silver Dollar: To those plucky Lyon County school kids who were out in front of the Legislature on Wednesday protesting against losing their teachers. We can think of no better lesson in how our system of government works, than to exercise several constitutional rights in an effort to save teachers who had an impact. The rights to assembly, to petition the government and to express dissatisfaction with their government are all checks put in place by the founding fathers. For those who say this country has lost its way, we point to these children as an indication that our freedoms allow each generation to find their own path.