Letters to the editor Jan. 9

Roadside assistance much appreciated

A heartfelt thanks to the couple who stopped in the wind and rain on Highway 88 on Dec. 28 to take the chains off my car. I had come over Echo Summit and Luther Pass where chains were required.

They would take nothing from me except a "high five." God bless them, and may they have a great New Year. Sorry, I didn't get their names, but am ever thankful for their help.

Helen M. Lee

Gardnerville

Muscle Powered making Carson more pedestrian-friendly

Regarding the letter from a reader who felt that building hiking trails in and around Carson City would benefit the city. 

At Muscle Powered, one of our focuses is trail building. Has she never been on the Ash Canyon Trail? Missed our efforts to build a trail between Ash and Kings canyons? Not been on the Carson Freeway multi-use trail? Not aware of the walks that I lead every Tuesday evening? Does she have a copy of the Bike Map that Muscle Powered puts out?

Muscle Powered is a community group dedicated to making Nevada's capital city a better community for bicycling and walking through advocacy, education and promotion of bike- and pedestrian-friendly roadways, and bike- and pedestrian-friendly development and redevelopment. We work closely with Carson City Parks and Recreation, Open Space, Bureau of Land Management, Forestry Service and even with the Tahoe Rim Trails Association and the Carson Valley Trails Association.

And, we need eager, active members. In fact, our board meeting is the 19th of this month and we would welcome anyone interested in becoming a part of these efforts. You can find us at www.muscle

powered.org.

Donna N. Inversin 

Carson City

State retirees watching future go down drain

If you're a retiree or someday retiree within the state system, wake up. You are watching our system eroding away, and soon you will have none to worry about. This applies to all, whether you've been in the system one week or 25 years.

Remember longevity, dental, eye care, 40 hours a week and security in your job? It is all going down the tubes, and it is not the member's fault. The great politicians have put us there. They have their own system for retirement, health, etc., and it sure isn't the same as ours. Their concern has always been to get in office and spend money while the members contribute and make the system work.

The money held for retirement was contributed and built by the members for future security to make sure the senior retirees had a comfortable and secure retirement with all the benefits they paid for and were promised.

Now we see a future of losing it all. Look at what's happening to dental and eye care, or is your head in the sand? The state is not stupid. Look who is primary and secondary on your insurance.

For starters, those of you who put Reid back in office can tell him to get off his butt and try doing something positive for a change.

I can think of nothing he has done for the worker of Nevada unless it buttered his ego or pocket. Can you?

Roger Hartley

Carson City

Immigrant crackdown will solve budget crisis

There are four different ways that I know of that Nevada can use to balance its budget without making budget cuts or raising taxes, but they all come with political consequences.

The first is to pass laws that mandate jail time and major fines that become progressively harsher with each new violation for anyone found guilty of hiring or renting a home to an undocumented immigrant. We also would need laws that require all businesses to use an E-Verify identification system for all employees. This system would provide the necessary information to the employer regarding the legal status of their employees.

With said laws and system in place, Nevada's unemployment problems would disappear within a year of implementation, as would the $500 million to $700 million a year price tag that it costs Nevada taxpayers to accommodate said immigrants.

Then there is the savings of not having to pay out unemployment insurance. End result, a balanced budget for Nevada, an unemployment rate of 4 percent and a reduction of our homeless rate by more than 75 percent.

I will give you another solution every month for the next three months. The reason is the Nevada Appeal only allows for 250 words for each letter. Until next month,

James R. Parker

Dayton