Silver Dollars & Wooden Nickels: Obama needs to follow through on his talk

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

WOODEN NICKEL: To President Barack Obama for some cheap campaign carbs served up on Tuesday in Reno concerning rural Nevada. One would think that voters in such a key swing state would be offered a steady diet of much more substantial oratorical fare concerning key issues - not trivial tripe such as "making the government more customer friendly."

Offered during an exclusive roundtable discussion with reporters from several local publications, including the Appeal, that sound bite wasn't necessarily unpalatable, but it was like getting the last piece of buttered popcorn from a jumbo bag at the movie theater. So we have to ask: Mr. President, where was the beef?

SILVER DOLLAR: To Gilbert Ayarbe, the C Hill "keeper of the flag" who died last Sunday night. Ayarbe and fellow Carsonite Dan Mooney conceived of the idea for building the 120- by 65-foot banner as they climbed the hill shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Mooney credited Ayarbe's reputation in the community for the effort's success, and Ayarbe's daughter Heidi remembered her father as a man on a higher mission at the time.

"It was inconceivable to him that there would be a cowardice attack," she said. "The flag, to him, was a reminder of who we were as a people. He didn't give up on anything."

Gilbert Ayarbe never forgot the meaning of freedom. And lest we forget in Carson, the flag is still there atop the Sierra.