Letters to the Editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

Resident expresses shock at lack of concern for others

My husband always has a great garden. It supplies us with great vegetables during summer and fall. This year with the virus he was worried about being able to get his starter plants.

We had a bet going, he thinking Star Nursery would be open, I thought closed. Well, they were open. And parking lot at least half full if not more!

We got our masks on, and gloves and walked to the entrance. We realized we were the only people that were concerned about our fellow neighbors by wearing protection. We left.

I cannot believe that there were so many ignorant people in Pahrump, and that cared so little of their fellow man.

Katie Hathaway

There is a humane answer to the feral cat problem that affects 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 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

Reader doesn’t think our government is being honest

I have been sitting around, pondering if you will, a bunch of people scurrying around like a bunch of rabbits, or a covey of quail. Crowds are jumping around in so many directions they are running into each other front to back. To add insult to injury, Sisolak’s Directive 007 Section 4 exempts all homeless from the provisions of Section 1. This threatens all working taxpayers in the “private sector.” A reminder, the “public sector” and Welfare are not able to fund their own taxpayer-funded payments. The private sector and only the private sector fund the complete operation of all levels of government in this nation. Sisolak’s directive is rather strange. On one hand he demands that we comply with his mandates, on the other he completely ignores and violates our immigration laws that were designed to protect our nation from outbreaks as we now have. We have ten times the allowable arsenic content in our well water. We have been buying bottled/canned water “out of pocket.” Fallon got water delivered. Water delivery to us (even though we pay) is prohibited.

At the helm sits Trump, trying to right the sinking ship of these United States. By his side are Pelosi, Obama, Clinton, Rice, Schumer, Schiff, ad nauseum, who are not there to add assistance. They continue the impeachment program. We had eight dismal years under Obama, and a bleak future similar to East Germany. Obama, in the summer of 2008, planned to overthrow this nation, run it into a state of “third-world” economics, then step in as dictator of this nation. What he, and the radical “Dimms” had not planned on was Trump winning the election of 2016. That election was like a light switch that had been turned on, the darkness went away and prosperity was available for all. Boy, did prosperity throw a wrench into Obama and Clinton’s plans.

An opportunity arose, the Chinese flu. Obama and co-conspirators jumped on that like the second coming. They could back off of their impeachment program (they did wait too long) and concentrate on criticism of, and attacks on Trump’s presidency.

In 77 years, I have been swamped with lies from my government. Some outstanding, such as the CIA’s claim, “The Cuban people will rise up and embrace us when we eliminate Castro.” Yeah, right. Then there was the “NSL 55 mph speed limit.” That mandate was presented to us in October 1973, with much chest pounding, proclaimed, “The 55 shall reduce our energy consumption by 20%.” It would protect our oil industry, from the wells going dry, in two years. Here I sit, 47 years this October, wondering where the other 19% got off to. The USDOT produced estimates in 1978 that stated the savings were 0.9% to 1.1%. In 47 years we have gone from an “oil poverty” nation to a nation of oil exporters. We also, 47 years ago, had coal reserves of 200 to 250 years.

Then we had news from Nixon that he had negotiated “favored nation status” to communist China. We have become aware of just how profitable that was for China, and how bad it was for the U.S.

Trump has managed to reverse many of the one-sided negotiated treaties, with China, and Pelosi and her co-conspirators are livid with Trump. Just how much can a politician of our country grow to hate our nation and its success? Not limited to, but China has us by the “short hair” with antibiotics. That is a very serious predicament.

Then I recall our Merchant Marine, U.S. Naval shipyards, civilian dry-docks, steel mills, mining, textiles, manufacturing, all disappearing as the final insult of NAFTA. About 25 or 30 years ago, I pointed out to politicians, “We could not mount a successful defense, let alone a successful offense against an intruder, at our borders.” Does that sound familiar? Based on the number of public offices I have called (emergency management, et al) only to find them closed until (when?) we see a demonstration of the number of public workers that can make redundant. We don’t need them. For three-plus years we have been steaming along, now the rug has been pulled out from under us. What are you going to do?

Wayne Brotherton, Sr.

Concerns about health agencies cited in letter

Governor Sisolak, I write to you out of concern for how the people of Nevada are faring, due to the state-level pandemic response. You announce to us that you are using the advice of “experts” to help you make executive decisions. Who are those experts, and how sound is their advice?

I recently watched the televised announcement from the director of the State Public Health Laboratory, where he discussed how his lab was testing for chromosomes to identify Corona virus. Three times he referred to chromosomes. Governor, viruses do NOT contain chromosomes (https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/basics/chromosome)! If your State Lab director makes basic mistakes like that what mistakes are being made with complex issues?

I assume that one of your experts is your State Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ihsan Azzam. It concerns me that not only is he not a board certified public health physician (https://certification.theabpm.org/physician-lookup), but he also is not licensed to practice medicine in Nevada (https://nsbme.mylicense.com/verification/Search.aspx). I expect the top public health physician in our state to have both qualifications and would hope that you do as well.

To the status of our state’s public health infrastructure – the CDC reports on the quality of public health agencies throughout the country: https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/accreditation/departments.html. Our State Health Department is not accredited, and within our state only two regional health agencies have earned accreditation. The agency that is responsible for health of 2/3 of the residents of this state is not one of them.

I ask you to carefully vet the experts that assist in your executive decision-making. Our state is in great peril, not from a viral infection, but from the implosion of our economy and way of life. Public Health matters. It is not merely a practice of controlling disease- a critical element is to ensure that there is health at the community level. We have lost that, through poor decisions leading to disastrous policies. The CDC has a webpage dedicated to COVID-19 community mitigation (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/open-america/community-mitigation.html). It addresses how to “tailor strategies to target populations” and “emphasize individual responsibility”. The governing authorities in Nevada, at every level, would be well advised to follow those recommendations.

Please work to keep our communities healthy and functional. If you empower the people of Nevada with good information then entrust them with individual responsibility we will come through this well.

Sincerely,

Troy Ross