Letters to the editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

Brothel was a hot issue at commission meeting

At the 8/21/18 BOCC meeting it was quite enlightening to see how the commissioners reacted to the citizens expressing their right to be heard. First there was an attempt to stifle their voices by limiting the number of people that would be allowed to speak, which when challenged, was changed to limit the speaking time to two minutes each.

Most of these citizens wanted to talk about the economic hardships caused by shutting down Mr. Hof’s brothel, and their belief this is a political action to inflict pain on Mr. Hof for other legal actions pending against the county.

Commissioners Wichman and Schinofen left the room rather than hearing what their constituents had come to say; a rude and arrogant action that should leave no doubt that these two elected officials do not represent an unbiased approach toward we the people of Nye County.

Commissioner Borasky, who had also voted to shut down the brothel, showed resolve in staying, listening, and supporting the right of people to be heard.

Our role should be to remember their behavior and elect replacements at the next opportunity. Their role should be to evaluate why they chose to serve the people and decide if it’s time to resign.

Aaron Koehler

Hof hearing delayed by county commissioners

Yesterday [Aug. 21] was another one of those Nye County Commission meetings that seems like an episode of the Twilight Zone…

Needless to say a lot of people showed up to denounce the punitive actions of the “Little Town Big Shots” …better known as Nye County commissioners.

Closing Hof’s Love Ranch is their claim to fame. Using government as a weapon is as reprehensible as it gets … and yet they refuse to stop.

Yesterday with a pretty full house, “Dirty Dan,” as he is known, and Lorinda Wichman both got up and walked off the podium. YES … Just in time to spit in the face of the citizens who had come to speak. YES … they stood up and disrespected all the people standing in a long line waiting their turn to make their voices heard. PUBLIC COMMENT is where “We the People” are supposed to let our elected officials know where we stand. In a representative form of government they are supposed to listen and do our bidding. It was an act of pure contempt for the people and an arrogant KISS OFF to the folks who will ultimately pay for the misdeeds of these elected hitmen … A vendetta against Dennis Hof. TAXPAYERS WILL PAY FOR THIS FIGHT!!!

Of course, Donna Cox listened to every word and showed respect, and to his credit, Butch Borasky took the heat. Koenig refereed. It was over the top. Women testified they had children to feed and clothe and could not work. Could not afford to fly to see a new grandchild. All wanted to go back to work. Forty-seven people are sidelined and out of a job for the revenge of Wichman and Dirty Dan … and of course Butch.

So the hearing in Vegas today to stop this nonsense has been delayed by who? Of course, Nye County … A federal judge is hearing this and Nye County is not prepared for court? Wow … Really? Dirty Dan didn’t show up and Hof is closed now until next Monday because Nye struck again …

The vendetta continues …

Tina Trenner

Brothel license revocation handled badly by county

Well, it would appear we have yet another iteration of Laurel and Hardy going on with the, “Well, here’s yet another fine mess you’ve gotten us into.” Nye County is Laurel and Hardy and Dennis Hof is about to inflict yet another painful loss on us precipitated by the Nye County BOCC’s actions.

The license revocation hot mess was handled badly, with no clear intent other than to inflict some harm upon Mr. Hof for having the impertinence to have won the June primary, and it may also have been replete with technical violations of a notification nature as well. “How DARE he!” So, for some technical violations of no great importance, his brothel and liquor license were immediately and unlawfully pulled by action of the Nye County BOCC. It would appear that the federal judge hearing the case, Justice Boulware, is sympathetic to Hof’s case. He also apparently believes that the county’s lawyers need a little help and guidance in the preparation of their defense as well. Embarrassing. The judge has to give pointers on, “How to be a Lawyer 101.” Good grief.

It is NOT the BOCC commissioners who are going to have to bear the costs of losing this lawsuit, which is undoubtedly where this fiasco is headed. No. That will be the taxpayers of Nye County. Great. Yet again, Amateur Hour in Nye County government. I wish the BOCC would stop trying to “help us” by constantly going after Dennis Hof. I can’t afford their so-called “help” anymore. I wish they would stop that. Yet again, we will be the laughingstock as a result of all this “help” we are getting from them.

And now, it is probably too late to come to an amicable settlement with Mr. Hof. They had an opportunity to do so by putting it off to the second August BOCC meeting. Didn’t take it. Nope. Instead, Hof’s businesses are shut down, earning no incomes for the employees, or any revenue stream to Nye County, which finds itself in yet another completely avoidable lawsuit that we will probably lose just like the last one, and we picked a defense attorney who needs to be schooled by the judge in the case. Great.

Laurel and Hardy strike again.

Vince Clark

Most controversial news comes from social media

Regarding Dennis Myers’ column on Yucca Mountain, that ran in the July 19, 2018 of the Pahrump Valley Times, in his concluding paragraph Mr. Myers identifies an important defect in today’s journalism; to wit, if it isn’t mentioned in the pages of the New York Times and/or Washington Post, very few, if any other media outlets will give it a mention.

Of course, this goes back some time as I can remember snarky commentary from decades past that the 6-o’clock network news programs set their opening segment(s) by what was on that morning’s front/editorial page of the NYT.

What Mr. Myers failed to mention is that with the overwhelming participation of the journalism class in “social media”, it seems that today’s priorities within journalism are set by the byte/like count on Twitter/Facebook.

So, if you wish to bring a controversy forward, it has to first be pushed on Twitter in the most contentious manner possible.

And therein explains why so much of President Trump’s agenda is first fleshed-out in Tweets, and drives the daily news-cycle - and the journalism profession crazy.

Respectfully,

Drew Kelley

Proprietor, Goldfield Small Arms

Sometimes it is the man who is being harassed

Now that one of the leaders of the “Me-Too” sexual harassment awareness movement has been accused of having sexually harassed a 17-year-old male actor several years ago, I want to make sure that your readers realize that sometimes men are sexually harassed.

I myself was sexually harassed by a female college professor when I was 25 years old. I went through the same feelings of shame and embarrassment that female victims/survivors typically go through. We all need to realize that IT WAS NOT OUR FAULT and that we need to report the harasser to the authorities IMMEDIATELY so that these predators can be prevented from ever doing this to anyone else.

The other point that I want to make is to alert people to the fact that sexual harassment does not only happen to people who are considered to be “good-looking.” For example, while I believe that most women in my past would not have said that they believed that I “fell out of the ugly-tree”, most would have said that they did not consider me to be a particularly “handsome” or “gorgeous-looking” or “sexy” or “hot-hunk” of a guy. The only possible exceptions might be my wife, my sexual harasser, women who were desperate, and women who were in serious need of an eye examination.

Sincerely,

Stewart B. Epstein

Rochester, New York

Yucca and the racetrack: Food for thought

It simply amazes me how the people the voters put in office can be of a mindset when it comes to Yucca Mountain. “It’s just a political thing” or something of that nature – or “I’m busy” when asked if they (the people we put in office) want to join the group going to see and hear the info about Yucca as a safe (or not) repository.

It reminds me of a college piece I had in English class. It goes like this: “Round and round in a circle supposin’ goes, while in the middle the secret knows.” In other words, until you enter the information zone you will forever speculate.

Open you minds to the information so you can say why you do or don’t agree with a repository at Yucca.

Also, it seems to me that by being able to add another five miles to the racetrack and claim to be the globe’s longest racetrack would benefit the local community.

At present, Death Valley is about all we have to get tourists to come out this way through our town, at least those from other countries. Yes, we do have events that draw interest but usually from those within a 250-mile radius.

Hopefully, we as locals will back the expansion as it will bring more jobs to the area and be good for Nye County taxes.

Besides, when it is done it should provide us locals with new places to eat, movies, beach and possibly international races to watch. What do you think?

Henry Hurlbut

Good economy no excuse for Trump’s criminal acts

Some have praised Trump for the good economy while not pointing out some very important facts.

First, it doesn’t take a genius to put us in debt up to our eyeballs and spend it to create more jobs. Reagan also did the same thing. For the first time we will have a fiscal deficit of one trillion dollars, a huge debt which our future generations will have to pay.

Secondly, we cannot excuse Trump’s criminal acts of obstructing justice, conspiring with the Russians, and being a bold-faced liar, any more than our forefathers could have excused Al Capone the mobster, because he fed many hungry people during the Great Depression.

No, Trump has not yet been legally found guilty, but if he is so innocent, why won’t he sit down for an unrestricted interview with our Republican justice investigator, Robert Mueller? Trump will eventually get what he deserves.

As Abe Lincoln, one of the first Republicans, said, “You can fool some of the people all the time, you can fool all the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”

Jim Ferrell

Resident thanks Flight for Life for flyover

My name is Lisa Browning. My family would like to give a personal thank you to Flight for Life. I live in Pahrump and my dad had to be rushed to Desert View Hospital, where they found he had to be flown to Vegas. My mother wasn’t able to even go with him to Desert View due to her being sick herself.

When we found he had to be flown, my sister Jackie Och asked if they can fly over my mom’s so she can wave goodbye to him and they did just that, shining a spotlight on her as she waved goodbye.

We are so grateful. Unfortunately, my dad didn’t make it but we were able to get her down there before he passed.

We just thought they should be noticed for their kindness. Thank you.

Lisa Browning