Letters to the Editor for April 29

Crosswalk sting was a lucrative scam

This is in reference to the April 20 crosswalk sting in Dayton. This was not a sting, it was a scam. That's why it was so lucrative.

I drove by twice. The second time, the two so-called officers were approaching the sidewalk talking to each other. They stopped well short of the crosswalk and continued to talk to each other. At no time did they ever indicate they intended to cross. I slowed way down but did not stop since they gave absolutely no indication of crossing.

An officer pulled me over and gave me a ticket for failure to yield. His statement was that they were giving no warnings, just tickets. We just came back from a trip from Rome where we were ripped off twice. I knew there were thieves in Rome, but I didn't expect them in my own backyard.

This kind of sting just creates resentment toward officers and is entirely unnecessary.

Tom Scott

Dayton

Hand-picked focus group doesn't include residents' voices

A mining corporation, Comstock Mining Inc., has announced plans to dig huge pit mines in Gold Canyon. What they've proposed will obliterate the Virginia City National Historic Landmark, the Comstock Historic District, and as much of Silver City, Gold Hill and Virginia City as they can get away with.

The company is forming a focus group of six carefully selected local people with whom to exchange views on the topic. Apparently the company didn't care for the focus group known as the Comstock Residents Association, which burst into being in response to their announced plans for 25 years of open pit mining in and around our homes and livelihoods.

The Houston Oil & Minerals debacle of the 1980s educated us to what a mining company is all about, but CMI has bigger plans than just a big hole at Greiner's Bend. It wants to start with a pit 800 feet deep on the south side of Silver City, and then dig a series of more huge holes up Gold Canyon. By way of visualizing it, Hoover Dam is 726 feet high. The claims it controls extend beneath Virginia City, and it has kept the details of its 25-year mining plan out of public view.

I leave it to those who believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the goodness of corporations to waste their time with this flapdoodle. In the end, the company will do whatever it's allowed to do, and too bad if you don't like it.

David Toll

Gold Hill

Comstock Historic District being eroded

As a long-time resident of the Comstock, I have watched with dismay the erosion of the Comstock Historic District which has occurred because of open pit mining.

One need only travel from Virginia City to Carson City to see what used to be historical landscapes transformed into a series of ugly pit mines. The Comstock Historic District is a cultural and historic resource set aside for the people of Nevada. Pit mining erodes this resource visually, and endangers historic landscapes and structures.

The mining companies come and go and always promise economic prosperity as a result of their heavy industrial activities. Tourists, the real economic backbone of the Comstock, come to step back in time, not to view mountain removal on a grand scale.

Business owners on the Comstock should be very concerned about the damage to their bottom line. Homeowners should be aware that landscapes degraded and modified beyond rehabilitation result in lower property values. The value of my home and land has plummeted as a result of the economic downturn. Further devaluation from the effects of pit mining is a hardship I don't want to contemplate.

Mining companies are created to make a profit. Don't be fooled by promises that never come true. Actions speak louder than words. Look at what mining leaves behind, not what they promise they will do to revitalize the Comstock.

Gayle Sherman

Silver City

Unions are pricing America out of existence

Why are our towns, cities, counties and states broke? Unions.

Why are all of our jobs dent to foreign countries? Unions.

Why do the airline companies have their maintenance and repairs done in a foreign country? Unions.

Why are our schools so inadequate? Unions. How did Obama get elected? Unions.

The unions are pricing America right out of existence. Time to wake up.

Rita Bentley

Jacks Valley