Letters to the editor for Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016

Security top notch for Ben Carson’s visit

Your article on page 1 on Dec. 17 about Dr. Ben Carson’s visit to Carson City in his campaign to become President of the United States was very good. One related story which I did not see is the outstanding security provided by the sheriff, his deputies and other city employees.

Thank you for the excellent security team. The world we live in is so crazy right now. Naturally, security is essential for any citizen running for President. However, in light of the terror of San Bernardino and others, Carson’s finest made the event much more pleasant by making it clear that Carson was going to have a peaceful event. It is also very good PR for the city, since our reputation for peace will be a very positive factor for any and all public speakers.

Well done, Sheriff.

Lawrence E. Nelson

Carson City

Carson City should not accept refugees

I could not believe when I read the letter to the editor about this Michael Goldeen who wants Gov. Sandoval to let 500 refugees to come and live among us. Is he for real?

Who knows in those 500 how may sleeper cells would be here waiting for the perfect time to attack. Does he realize this is the capital? We are living in a perfect target. What happened in San Bernardino — the couple who did that, everybody said was OK, they didn’t bother anybody. See what happened?

Wake up, mister, you want them over here so they can destroy Carson City. Whey don’t you go live in their country? See how long you will last.

Liliane Relfe

Carson City

Student seeks help for school project

My name is Victor Schultz. I am in seventh grade and I attended Covenant Christian School in Mishawaka, Ind. In my class we are reading “A Walk Across America,” in which, as you know, Peter Jenkins walks across the United States to find out what the U.S. is really about. Each student has been assigned a state of our choice to do a lengthy report on. I chose the state of Nevada because I heard about it from a documentary on Area 51, and did some homework and found out more about your beautiful state.

I was hoping this letter may be published in the paper and I am requesting readers of the Nevada Appeal to mail me postcards and letters about what they appreciate or admire about their state. This would help me very much in my research. I thank you very much for using your precious time to read my letter. Items can be sent to Victor Schultz; 54799 Fir Road; Mishawaka, IN 46545.

Victor Schultz

Mishawaka, Ind.

Leave main street alone

Perhaps there has been one issue that has not been addressed as I have read so far regarding the traffic pattern on the proposed “new look for downtown.”

Driving down the main street I see a beautiful historic city, the capital of the State of Nevada brimming with history. Now it will be all changed to accommodate the so called influx of people rushing to go to all the restaurants, stores, casinos, etc.

Picture this — you have only two lanes, one in each direction, north and south. What happens if an accident happens and clogs the one and only lane? What if a fire truck or an ambulance has to rush to an accident or a fire? There is no place for the one string of cars to move over. And, oh, yes, parking will also be on this street taking up more room.

Please leave the main street alone. Build your other venues if you must. What about spending all that money on buying and remodeling the grand old Ormsby? Beautiful building going to waste all these years. Parking lot already there. Just a thought.

Diana Michaels

Carson City

SB 374 is bad for net metering

Dear Nevada Public Utility Commission,

Nevada’s SB 374 changes to net metering should not be put into effect. This change violates the trust of Nevada’s net metering pioneers who spent huge amounts of time and money to contribute to a greener Nevada.

We were willing to risk our capital because we believed the laws would not be changed capriciously. It’s just not fair that our government mandates hard working Nevadans to surrender their assets so that billionaire Warren Buffet can extract even more billions out of Nevada. Buffet knew these laws were in effect before he bought NV Energy. Yet he still chose to buy. Reneging on laws like this diminishes trust in government, legislators, utility regulators and our electric monopoly.

We all know that cleaner forms of energy cost more. We made a choice for quality of life and everybody benefits from the 235 megawatts of clean rooftop solar power, including NV Energy. The pre SB 374 rules were not a free ride because many net metering pioneers will never recover the full cost of their installations. The pre SB 374 rules would not bankrupt the utility because net metering was capped at 3 percent.

It’s wonderful that Nevada is pro-business, however with the health and future growth of Nevada, Warren Buffet’s NV Energy monopoly will profit handsomely. There is no need to crush our Nevada net metering pioneers. Please do not impose SB 374’s changes to net metering.

Alex Echo

Carson City

Illegal immigrants taking over American Dream

Although there are those who like to brand people being prejudiced, for myself, it’s not about being prejudiced against any race. It’s about right and wrong. It’s about American born individuals’ rights!

The fact is, our rights are diminishing. Illegal immigrants have first shots at any jobs, regardless if they are qualified or speak English. They are allowed to collect from any program that was set up for low income American people.

Many illegal immigrants are criminals. However, they have been granted free passage to the so-called American Dream, while many of American born are still waiting. They took over without firing a shot!

Elaine Shields

Carson City

Refugees could contribute to Carson City

In response to Bob Thomas’s letter on Dec. 20, I have observed people standing on street corners soliciting help, and I give it to them on occasion. In addition we have several charities, social services and welfare to give help to folk with insufficient income. In this, I fell we do the best we can.

Syria’s neighbors are unwilling to accept more refugees, mainly because there are too many of them. If we gave them funds for this — Jordan for example — surely they would accept more.

If we accept 500 refugees selected at random I expect, despite ISIS and al-Qaeda, we would see no measurably greater increase of crime than from 500 other new people.

These refugees more often than not do speak English. They, unless they’re children, often enough have good education. They do share our values. Many of them are Christian. I expect they will contribute to our city in many ways. Some as gardeners, some as carpenters, some as mechanics, some as teachers, some as lawyers, some as scientists, some as writers, some as artists, some as politicians, some as cooks, some as car salesmen, some as IT experts, and even perhaps one or two as geniuses. Recall Albert Einstein was a refugee. They also will require goods and services in return so by-and-large they will not be taking jobs away.

Yes, I agree, charity begins at home, but doesn’t have to stop there. We are at war. We must face the risks involved. We must be willing to meet our enemy on its terms. Surely we in Carson City have backbone enough for that.

Michael Goldeen

Carson City