The somewhat full moon on Easter Sunday resembled an egg in this photo by Topaz Ranch Estates resident John Flaherty.
Micro-Transit doesn’t benefit Douglas
Editor:
Recently the Board of County Commissioners committed $520,000 to the Micro-Transit funding for the southern Lake Tahoe area, including a small portion of Douglas County at Stateline. The vast majority of the service area, however, is in the city of South Lake Tahoe.
I support public transit in general, but this is just an expensive, glorified free taxi service, mainly for California residents traveling within their own state. The small amount of service provided to Douglas County is mainly for the casinos and Edgewood, believed to be mainly bringing some of their employees from California to work. Even if the service is expanded to include the four small residential areas in or near Stateline, that would almost certainly be less than 1,000 Douglas County residents, or less than 2 percent of our population, and less than 5 percent of the South Lake Tahoe population of 20,000-plus. The Douglas County percentage of the funding should have reflected that reality, and the fact that less than a third of the fiscal year remained.
If the large Stateline businesses need transit for their California-based employees, then they should provide it. Californians working in our casinos and resorts benefit them but provide very little income to our County. There is no reason that Douglas County revenues should be used for Californians to shop, go to the movies or dine in South Lake Tahoe.
The sponsors pulled a fast one on the Board. After receiving relatively modest funding from South Lake Tahoe, Eldorado County, and various other entities, they then had the gall to come to Douglas County and tell us that we need to provide all the rest of the funding, or the project will fail. That is absurd and insulting, and our County Commissioners should have seen through it.
Commissioner Nowosad was on the right track in recommending $60,000 to $100,000 for the rest of this fiscal year. Then tell the transport authority that they need to go back to South Lake Tahoe, Eldorado County, the casinos, and the other entities that primarily benefit from this Micro-Transit and inform them that they need to contribute more to keep the system running into July. South Lake Tahoe made their funding contingent on the service being provided to its full city limits, yet very few residents in Douglas County are served. Any cost/benefit analysis would show that Douglas County shouldering far too much of the cost, with far too little of the benefit. There are other worthwhile projects that funding could be used for that would benefit Douglas County more.
Going forward, the board needs to re-evaluate its contribution, and reduce it to more realistically reflect the small benefit to our residents. There is no reason we should be subsidizing transit in California, or the small portion that comes to Douglas County that primarily benefits the casinos.
Jim Slade
Foothill
Silencing sire disturbing
Editor:
In regard to silencing of the Minden Fire Siren.
I find it very disturbing that our government is choosing to destroy a long lasting historic community tradition. The Minden Fire Siren was installed solely to call in volunteers to fight fire. Many lives and properties were saved due to these fast responding volunteers. Since the installation of the siren in 1920, blowing it at noon and at 6 p.m. was a means to test its daily operation, thus becoming a tradition, a tradition that should not be silenced. Nevada and it’s small and large communities are full of historic happenings that must be preserved, not politically destroyed.
Marlena N. Hellwinkel
Minden
Deputies more important
Editor:
Our pathetic self-absorbed Chairman of the Board Mark Gardner has still not resolved the salary increase for our sheriffs. Now 10 months past due. Gardner, remember the sheriffs are more important to Douglas County than you are.
John Engels
Gardnerville
Too many shootings
Editor:
I am in overload witnessing the pain and suffering of families, friends and communities enduring the insanity of gun violence. The right to bear arms was never writ-ten to be devoid of training or responsible ownership. Freedom without responsibility is tyranny. We now live with tyranny daily because our courts omit the context of the of the right to bear arm and focus entirely on the phrase “shall not be impinged.” It’s as if “In order to form a well ordered militia, being necessary to the security of a free state...” is entirely superfluous. It’s not.
We have multiple well ordered militia in our country: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, police departments, National Guard etc. Within those militias people are trained in handling weapons. There is no requirement for training people to bear arms outside the confines of a militia. There is no training in anger management or fear management. There’s no development of character and integrity which can evolve from that kind of training. There is no installation of taboos where our country considers it an anathema to kill defenseless people. It is impossible to trust gun owners the way it stands. When our security is impinged because of untrained gun owners it’s time to put security back into gun ownership.
Let’s imagine how to do that so when we send our children to school we’re not sending them to be traumatized or slaughtered. How about requiring training? How about differentiating weapons of war from hunting weapons so that the level of training you receives determines what weapons you’re allowed to own? How about making anger management and fear management part of that training so that gun owners don’t reach for a gun as their first choice in conflict resolution? How about learning to feel empowered without intimidation a tool of empowerment? Does that sound too “woke” for you? Well maybe you need to wake up to what’s happening in our country by allowing a freedom without responsibility.
Joan Costa
Gardnerville
From America First to America Last
Editor:
After promising to unite the country, President Biden has done the opposite. In for-mation of his Cabinet and in making major Federal appointments priority was given to a person’s political correctness, wokeness and party loyalty.
A distant fourth (if considered at all) was qualifications, experience and merit. He has weaponized the Government agencies to go after his political opponent’s (this started under Obama/Biden administration] Example—continued persecution of President Trump culminating in the indictment by a New York DA of the former president on a misdemeanor charge after the statute of limitations had run. Thus, interfering with the leading Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential race, a blatant unconstitutional attempt at campaign interference.
This will boomerang on the Democrats, but the Nation will have suffered the most from politicizing and miss-use of the laws. Biden’s disdain for the successful MAGA movement (Make America Great Again) and replacing it with the economy destroying green energy agenda. His war on fossil fuels has doubled the energy prices changing the US from energy exporting nation to one begging our adversaries for imports. The global warming theory has very little science behind it. It is only designed to destroy the US economy and security via a wealth transfer from US to China and other globalists. China is not held to same pollution standards a rest of the world and controls 80% of Lithium and Cobalt used in EV batteries thus handing them an economic advantage for the future production of these items.
After four years of peace and prosperity under the previous president, Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and slow response to the Russian build-up on Ukraine’s border emboldened Pres. Putin to invade Ukraine. Biden’s sanctions on Rus-sia were more than off -set by the $200 Billion/year increase Russia received for fossil fuel exports due to Biden’s war on fossil fuels that allows Putin to finance the war.
His actions also enable China to form an alliance with Russia, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Algeria [former ally Saudi Arabia labeling it a Pariah nation] and Brazil after ignoring it for 2 years to use Chinese currency (replacing the petro dollar) Fuel prices are again on the increase as Saudi Arabia and OPEC cut world supplies by over 1 million barrels/day.
Border Security is nonexistent and has put US in an extreme danger. The human invasion at our Southern Border (after abandoning the Trump policies) increased from 458,000 people (in 2020] to well over 4,000,000 currently with another one million il-legals who got away clean who could potentially form sleeper cells. One such cell on 9/11/2001 caused 3000 casualties and cost over $3 Trillion in damages to the US economy which led to the subsequent wars in the Middle East and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. These wars cost another Million casualties and in excess of $8 Trillion in costs. Add to this the human trafficking and a million overdoses resulting in over 100,000 deaths a year from drug smuggling and Fentanyl abuse. But all of this is no concern to the Biden administration.
Mark Tarvainen
Gardnerville
