Letters to the editor, March 11

Blunt Amendment is make or break

How did Heller and Reid, Nevada's U.S. senators, vote on the Blunt Amendment?

This amendment is important enough to me to be a make or break an issue. As a woman and a previous user of contraceptives, as well as being a mother of a female college student, I will not vote to re-elect Heller or Reid as my representative if they voted for the Blunt Amendment.

Is it really possible that in this day and age, one of Nevada's representatives would vote in favor of letting employers not cover certain health care benefits and services if they violate his or her personal religious or moral beliefs? Is that really what the majority of Nevada voters want?

Dianne Williams

Carson City

Editor's note: As reported in the March 2 edition of the Nevada Appeal: Democratic Sen. Harry Reid voted against the measure; Republican Sen. Dean Heller voted for the measure.

Administration wants to get rid of wild horses

Our nonprofit organization receives so many communications daily from people all over the world who want to see our wild horses in the wild. We approached Nevada Commission on Tourism with the idea of using viewing of wild horses as part of Nevada's eco-tourism, and received grants to start our Wild Horse Adventure Program.

This helps rural Nevada by bringing in money to its communities through tours, restaurants and travel accommodations. To show how popular our wild horses are, Nevada Magazine's 2009 issue, featuring Wild Horses of Nevada, sold more copies than any issue in 30 years.

Wild horses also were chosen to represent Nevada's 2008 state quarter, which was the second most popular of all the quarters in 50 states. Many other states feel strongly about the viewing of their wild horses in eco-tourism, i.e., North Carolina just chose their wild horses as their official state animal.

Evidently, not Governor Sandoval, even though he's pushing hard for eco-tourism to bring money into our state as so many people are now going elsewhere to gamble.

Obviously, he doesn't feel strongly enough that our wild ones should be a part of his tourism program.

And, his appointment of Director Barbie to head the Nevada Department of Agriculture hasn't helped matters any; he just wants to get rid of them - a really big mistake.

What better way to show tourists the true West than with our beautiful outdoors, complete with seeing our beautiful wild horses.

H. Bonnie Matton

President www.WildHorseAdventure.net

High cost associated with not having a smart meter

This is a head's up regarding the opt-out process for the inevitable NV Energy installation of "Smart Meters."

Our family has property in the PG&E area of Northern California, and has opted out of the "Smart Meter" for medical reasons. It was not until we were well into the opt-out process that we were advised of the cost of not having a "Smart Meter."

There was an initial $75 fee for a "Smart Meter" to not be installed, and then there will be a monthly fee of $10 in addition to the monthly usage charge.

So, we get to pay for not having something, yet again.

Julie Rodolph

Carson City

Will 'Smart Meters' eliminate jobs?

Regarding the front page article on Feb. 29 entitled: "PUC investigation: No Big Brother behind new meters," halfway through is a single sentence with a subject that sadly is only addressed this one time: "....Eliminating about 100 meter reader and field position jobs."

We want to make it clear that we have no friends or relatives that are meter readers or hold field position jobs with NV Energy or any other utility provider, but in this current economic climate, with unemployment at one of the highest points in recent history, we find it hard to swallow that these soon-to-be-unemployed personnel are being brushed over in favor of a $7 million savings to the company

Chuck and Karen Rosson

Gardnerville