Letters to the editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

Shopper disappointed by rude behavior in store parking lot

Even as we are asked to help curb the deadly Covid-19 virus, some Pahrump natives prove that nothing will deter their rude, arrogant and self-centered behavior.

As a high risk and handicapped senior I order my groceries online at Smith’s and try to park, as requested, in the designated pick-up parking slot at the reserved time. On each of four occasions, I was unable to do so because someone with a handicapped plate had done so and left their vehicle to go shopping inside the store.

As I circled around the lot, actual handicapped slots emptied quickly. I wondered why a handicapped person would not wait a few minutes rather than disrupt the pick-up process. Each time I had to wait to park until the offender left.

Another senior also had to wait and ended up using a regular slot. The woman was upset and complained to the delivery clerk. All of the offenders turned out to be unmasked senior men. Evidently they feel entitled and immune to disease. How sad.

Belinda Hendrickson

Small businesses need stimulus money, government needs to reopen

I am angry that small businesses who need the stimulus money the most can’t get it. Why must big businesses be first, or even eligible at all, for aid Congress passed for small businesses?

We have all been asked to tighten our belt, stay home, and social distance. We can’t visit grandchildren who live one state over. We are doing this.

So, why can’t local, state and federal government come up with plans to continue serving the public? Dentists, clothing stores, and barbers are doing this. Why can’t we visit the Social Security office for one-on-one by appointment only? The DMV? The Unemployment office? Businesses are making plans to open safely, so can government. Take temperatures; mandate face masks; install plastic dividers; have one-on-one visits. These offices are essential to running our state.

So get busy elected officials and let Pahrump move around with precautions. If you are sick, stay home. Don’t forget that we elected you, and we vote.

Betty Cotner

Fully functioning society needed quickly to avoid economic ruin

Debate over whether lockdowns should be extended quickly degenerates into hysteria over sacrificing lives of the elderly and accusations of seeking personal profit over community welfare.

Grandma and Grandpa are probably as concerned about their grandchildren not receiving a formal education as they are about their own survival.

And if their own investments are faltering and their children no longer able to support their families, who is going to pay for their care? Colleges and universities are looking for applicants because high school seniors are experiencing trepidation after their school year was truncated.

Where is the next generation of medical professionals going to be trained? A fully functioning society is needed to support hospitals and nursing homes.

Widespread economic devastation and profound sociological distress is justified for the sake of “saving lives.” It’s time for society to debate this question that families have faced in drawing up advance directives. Lives are not “saved” in the ultimate sense merely by prolonging them.

Call that outmoded spirituality which secular society should dispense with. But maybe the “baby” of putting our physical existence in context was thrown out with the “bathwater” of Victorian mores abandoned in the 1960s. Ever more prohibitions against surfing, drive-in movies, and other solitary activities are an extreme reaction to a perspective of our physical selves limited to our five senses and the exclusion of social interaction and healthy functioning of society.

For 22 years, this country chafed under a federally imposed 55-mph speed limit, initially imposed to save fuel during the 1973 oil embargo, but then perpetuated on the grounds that it “saved lives.” The argument that many equivalent lifetimes were wasted by so much extra time to accomplish journeys on superhighways designed for 70+ was not heeded until the states were again allowed to set their own limits in 1996, when the traffic accident rate went … down.

The virus will be coming back this winter regardless of whether or how restrictions are lifted. By that time, many more people will have perished from economic deprivation of hunger and exposure than died of a coronavirus infection.

And long after that, people may ask if the scope and severity of shutdown accounted for the trade-offs that must be made in our less-than-ideal-world.

Bill Stremmel

A humane answer to the feral cat problem in Pahrump

Have you heard of Tails of Nye County? It is a 501 (c) 3 federal nonprofit organization dedicated to helping this community with its growing feral cat population. Feral cats are the “wild” offspring of domestic cats and are primarily the result of pet owners’ abandonment or failure to spay and neuter their animals, which allows them to breed uncontrolled. An unaltered female, her mate, and their offspring can result in over 10,000 cats in just a few years!

Feral cat colonies can be found throughout Pahrump where they live behind shopping areas, businesses, parks, abandoned buildings, and even under your porch. Tails of Nye County provides this community the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program which is the only humane, effective approach to care for our feral cat population. Cats are trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear tipped and then returned to their outdoor home. They are returned to the place they are trapped because cats live in family groups and are bonded to their environments and colonies. An ear tip identifies a cat that is neutered and vaccinated and is a painless procedure that is done while the cat is under anesthesia.

Studies have proven that TNR is the only humane approach for caring for our feral cats. Taking these cats to crowded shelters and hoping they will be adopted does not often work because feral cats are not socialized and, thus, they are unadoptable, resulting in euthanasia for many of them—even at no-kill shelters.

Without human intervention, there is no end to the cycle of reproduction and misery of homeless cats. Tails of Nye County is dedicated to ending this suffering through their TNR program which traps and sterilizes over 1,000 stray cats annually. Although they offer this service to Pahrump at no charge, financial support is desperately needed for this work to continue. If you wish to support this organization with a donation or by volunteering, you can contact us at 702-306-3245. To learn more about Tails of Nye County, please like us on Facebook and visit our website at www.tailsofnyecounty.org. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 9045, Pahrump, NV 89060.

Sabre Sabatino

Volunteer for Tails of Nye County