Letters to the editor for Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014

Travel safely with pets during the holidays

When we travel during the holidays, we tend to take the whole family. Sometimes this includes the family pets. They ride inside the vehicle or in the bed of a truck, and we don’t think twice about it.

Just like us, our pets are vulnerable to injury when involved in a vehicle crash. We take the time to make sure that our children are buckled in and secured in their child safety seats, so why do we forget to do the same for our pets?

Many of you may not be aware of devices which are manufactured to keep your pets safe while traveling. These include carriers and harnesses which attach to your vehicles current safety belt system. You can find more information on these by utilizing the Internet.

A loose pet inside a vehicle can be thrown around should you get in a crash. This not only risks injury to the pet but to the other occupants of the vehicle as well. The roads will soon start to get icy and people are very much in a hurry this time of year. This increases the possibility of you and your pet being involved in a crash.

Make sure that all the occupants of your vehicle — including your pets — are safely secured as you never know when a crash is going to occur. Take care of your pets, and they will give you years of love and devotion.

Sgt. Scott McDaniel

Carson City Sheriff’s Office

Ferguson officer was doing his job

In the Dec. 11 edition of the Appeal, Mr. Statham once again attached his view of social injustice to the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The only problem is that this is the wrong pony to attach to that wagon. Michael Brown was a thief and a thug, and it was his actions that led to his demise. First of all he used strong-arm tactics to rob a store, a felony, Mr. Statham.

Next he committed a battery on the store owner, a felony. He then proceeded to walk down the middle of a public thoroughfare, a misdemeanor traffic infraction. When told by Officer Wilson to move out of the street, Mr. Brown’s response was to physically attack the officer, a felony. Mr. Brown then attempted to take the officer’s weapon, a felony. He only stopped the attack when shot the first time. He then attempted to flee, and the officer pursued to keep Mr. Brown in sight so arriving backup officers would know where to look for Mr. Brown. It was only when Mr. Brown turned and charged Officer Wilson, who still had his weapon and was telling Mr. Brown to “get down,” did Officer Wilson fire and fatally wound Mr. Brown.

This is a clear case of the officer doing his job and nothing more. It was the actions of Mr. Brown that led to his death. Pure and simple.

Mr. Statham, exactly what “probable cause” were you referring to? You didn’t say.

David Knighton

Carson City

Supervisors need to act on pedestrian safety

It’s really an ethical dilemma: should our worthy Board of Supervisors expend millions of dollars in ripping up and rebuilding Carson Street to improve the value of their commercial property, or should they spend about $200 per intersection to improve pedestrian safety? It certainly must be a tough choice for them to make, especially given the spate of recent pedestrian-vehicle accidents.

The pedestrian problem is not one of law enforcement, it’s one of seeing the pedestrian in time to stop the vehicle. Google “pedestrian safety flags” and see how placing accessible hand-held flags at each pedestrian crosswalk help the drivers see the pedestrian’s intent to cross. Essentially, a few flags are placed in holders on each side of the crosswalk. A pedestrian removes a flag from the holder, steps to the curb, and displays the brightly-colored flag (usually high visibility orange, green, or yellow) to the oncoming traffic. The drivers, being alerted to the pedestrian’s intent stop, and the pedestrian crosses safely. On the other side of the intersection, the pedestrian replaces the flag in the holder for the next person to use.

Some cities which have successfully implemented this program are Kirkland, Wash., Salt Lake City, Utah, Santa Barbara, Calif., and St. Paul, Minn.

Surely a city which can approve a $63,250 no-bid slush fund appropriation for unspecified “food and beverages” can afford to do something as cheap and simple as this for pedestrian safety.

Dave Thomson

Carson City

Give God credit

Michael Goldeen’s letter claims to answer my letter. In it he claims that life did not come from a rock in space such as on a comet, but from a rock in “hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.” Really?

He ends his letter with, “Life came from a rock. I can think of no better argument for the existence of God.” I have to agree that life is the best argument for the existence of God. But I can’t agree that it came from a rock when all that he used was a little dust from the ground.

As Genesis 2:7 says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul,” (KJV).

God is the source of life, and those who look elsewhere for it do so in vain. As John 1:3-4 says,”All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men,” (KJV).

From this Life — the Life of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit — came life. So, primordial soups or primordial vents remain lifeless.

Give God credit for what he has done, and study that instead of wasting time and money trying to get by without him. Science doesn’t need evolution, whether chemical or biological.

Don R. Drake

Carson City