Letters to the editor for Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014

City should enforce rules for snow routes

I live on a street designated as a snow route. I believe that most people know what that means. These snow routes were selected to allow things like school buses and emergency vehicles to move around the city more easily.

The ordinance states as follows: “The department of public works shall have the authority to order the removal of vehicles from the roadway for purposes of roadway maintenance or snow removal. Such order may be attached to the vehicle windshield or placed within the vehicle. If the owner fails to comply with said notice within one hour, then the department of public works is authorized to remove the vehicle to an alternate location.”

As far as I know, no such notice has ever been written. Certainly not on the street I live on. If the 95 percent who comply with written rules don’t hold the 5 percent who don’t comply accountable for their actions, then why do we have any rules at all? If the seven billion people that live on this planet would all follow just one simple rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” we would not need any other rules. Certainly, I know that it will never happen.

So, if the public works department will follow its ordinances as written, and if this newspaper would document it one time, it might get cured.

Thanks, from a 45-year resident of this beautiful capital of Nevada, Carson City.

Tim Higgins

Carson City

Correctional officer saved inmate’s life

It was 10 days before Christmas, and as I sat in my cell at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, I spotted Senior Correction Officer Henson looking in my cell window. He had this practice of conducting his own health and welfare inspections, which is unusual since other officers don’t do this except at mandatory count times.

Unknowing to all, an inmate in Cell 3 had just stepped off his cell sink with a strip of sheet tied tightly around his neck and had passed into oblivion. This dying man, new to the unit, had no idea Henson did irregular cell checks, and he believed that his body wouldn’t be discovered until the 7 p.m. count.

Henson screamed, “Open the door!” I spotted him talking on his radio and running. He was frantic and wanted into the cell, which was locked. He yelled for the control officer to “open the (expletive) door, now!” The door unlocked, Henson and his second floor officer charge into the cell and disappeared. They emerged from the cell, dragging the lifeless-appearing body, and they sat it up against the cell door. The man appeared dead. Then, movement.

Under normal circumstances, the poor soul in Cell 3 would have ended his existence, but because of the coincidence (or was it?) that involved the only officer I know who did his own independent, unrequired cell checks, this soul has a second chance at life. I want to believe, or I should say, I know he was saved by a Christmas miracle named Senior Correctional Officer Henson.

Paul S. Klein

Carson City

Wheeler kept his word to constituents

Your front page story “Official Wants Answers Soon from Wheeler” and editorial regarding Secretary of State Ross Miller’s investigation of AD 39 Assemblyman Jim Wheeler contained a couple of gaps. Wheeler kept his word to his voters, not only voting “no” on all tax increases and other big government measures, but also hectoring his Republican caucus to do the same. That makes him nearly impossible to beat in a fair election.

As to date of residency, get this: An actual carpetbagger, Andrew Martin (D-Las Vegas), was “elected” in 2012 from a district he never lived in, according to a court of law. Assemblyman Hickey joined with the Democrat caucus to seat him in the Nevada Assembly, without objection from Secretary of State Miller or this newspaper. Miller knows the case against Wheeler won’t stand on its merits. That’s why he gave a copy of his demand letter to his media force multipliers.

Nothing like a public lynching to make an example out of a Constitutional conservative who gets too noisy.

Marshall Goldy

Gardnerville

Don’t let extremists remain in power

2014 — the year of change. But how will it change? There are folks in Washington that would like to get rid of the Republican Party and change the Constitution. They say it is out of date and time to become a Socialist government. Harry Reid and Obama would like the government to control our lives from birth to death. And a lot of Americans would go along with this as they have their hand out to Washington for a handout.

But, folks, our Constitution is still alive and well, and it is time we stand up and let our voices be heard. Folks, vote in the next election, and put folks in office that have common sense and the people’s interest at heart.

Bill Beil

Carson City