Letters to the editor

How about some Fourth of July fun?

About two years ago the Board of County Commissioners opened the ordinance covering fireworks and made it legal to shoot them off on your own property.

We also established a “Fireworks Safety Site” at the fairgrounds on Fox Ave. off of Gamebird Road. At this site you can shoot off any aerials that you purchase from a Pahrump fireworks store. This year they are also allowing areas for the safe and sane fireworks too at the fairgrounds.

As part of the rewrite for this ordinance you can now shoot off any non-aerials on your own property. Last year, for the first time since my grandchildren have been born, we all gathered at my house and had a show for the kids.

You must own the property or have permission from the owner and you must have water or extinguishers within 25 feet of where you are shooting them off.

Please keep in mind that it is unlawful to shoot off aerials anywhere in town except at the designated site on the fairgrounds. It is punishable by up to $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

Please, for everyone’s safety, do not shoot off aerials as the sheriff will be enforcing this law vigorously this year.

If you have any question as to what is safe and sane and what an aerial is, the local fireworks stores will be happy to clear this up for you. Have a great holiday and remember to be safe.

The Fireworks Safety Site is open on scheduled weekends throughout the year. You can check visitpahrump.com for the days. It will be open from July 1st through July 4th starting about 8 p.m. until 11 p.m.

You will be issued a permit when you purchase your fireworks to get into the site and the money from this all goes to improving the fairgrounds and providing a place to shoot off fireworks.

Dan Schinhofen

Nye County Commission, District 5

Texas 4000 visit local hospice patient

I am a caretaker for my dear ol’ Buddy, Mr. Eddie Hall. Eddie, who is originally from Austin, Texas, is on Hospice care at home here in Pahrump. (Shout out to the wonderful Angels at Pro Care Hospice, he’s gained 25 pounds in one year!) and after reading the beautiful story by Vern Hee about the “Texas 4000” coming to Pahrump and then checking out their website (www.texas4000.org), I contacted their Sierra Route coordinator to see about a possible

meeting with Eddie and these amazing young adults who just rode into town, on bicycles no less, from Austin, Texas, his home town .. and guess what?? They said yes!

So on Saturday, after they all got cleaned up (thanks to the Best Western Motel here in Pahrump!) they said they were on their way over to meet with Eddie.

So, being aware of how this heat drains energy from anybody, let alone long-distance bicyclists, I figured two, maybe three of the hardiest of the group would be coming over to visit my buddy. I was wrong. Their white support van pulled up to our place and 14 of the nicest, brightest, friendliest and compassionate young

people climbed out and visited with Eddie and asked him about his personal experiences with medical marijuana. (It has added years to his life as well as helping deal with his chronic pain!)

They stayed for over half an hour and were the biggest kick he’s had in a while! We’ll never forget them as long as we live! May God bless them on their amazing journey!

Michael Whalen

Reader calls VEA rate increase ‘bait and switch’

The PVT lead article, “VEA Approves 9.9 Percent Rate Increase” was well positioned because it is of direct effect to everyone in Pahrump. It also sounds like a gas station price fix, an attempt to dissuade us from actually seeing a TEN PERCENT jump in our electric bills. More of the deceitful mindset of the PR spinners at VEA, aka “Bait and Switch”.

I have no problem with paying those guys who risk their lives handling very high voltage electric lines - a skill of great value. I do have a problem with the VEA super high salary administration, plus pensions, raising our rates for energy when EVERY worldwide energy source has gone down in price over the past year. Pass along savings? Perhaps pass up executive salary boost would be a better description. Maybe the VEA administration needs a Brexit, too.

Fred Dexter

How should we dispose of nuclear waste?

It’s fair to say that most residents of Nye County are not scientists, nor do the majority of us have the engineering background to fully understand technical details related to storage of nuclear waste. What we might agree on however, is that when knowledgeable people tell us we have nothing to worry about, it may be time to think about packing up or at least dusting off the bunker gear. Consider as well that this issue isn’t limited to the United States. Every country using nuclear power must contend with the by-product. Collectively, that amounts to a lot of irradiated material. On a more positive note, we can be confident that nuclear power plants are relatively safe and are an economical source of electricity. We could probably use more of them.

But the question remains. What method for disposing of radioactive waste will provide reasonable assurance of no future problems? A few what ifs come to mind.

• What if the world’s nuclear powers agreed on a joint effort to lift all radioactive waste off the planet and send it on a collision course toward the largest nuclear generator in the solar system, the Sun?

• What if the venture included constructing a new and technically advanced space shuttle?

• What if expendable cargo platforms were assembled in low Earth orbit to carry nuclear waste on its final journey?

• What if, as a cost-saving measure, the platforms were connected to reusable, remotely controlled propulsion (acceleration) units?

• What if cooperative nations delivered their contaminates to a launch site in the Pacific where it would remain in temporary storage until a designated launch date? Another question. How many launches would be required in any given year to fill an orbiting waste carrier? I’ll leave that to the experts.

Are there any risks? Absolutely. But think about it. The technology exists to do this. And with the cost sharing among nations in a well-managed program, the benefits could be enormous. Of course, getting started is always the toughest part, so here’s a final what if.

What if the White House instructed our UN representative to bring this matter before the General Assembly? That could be the perfect forum in which to arouse interest and get the ball rolling.

Ralph Bazan