Letters to the editor Jan. 28

Take a lesson from values of bygone era

I have a short observation on the column by Marilee Swirczek, if I may. I always read her remarks, may not always agree with them, but I always respect her opinions, and recently her opinion underscored long-held opinions of my own.

It calls to mind the old adage, "What you are to be, you are becoming," and that thought strikes at the heart of parental treatment of their young.

In my 88th year, I am from a time of vastly different values. For example, we did not have television running the bedroom, the bathroom and the gutter through our living rooms. The females of the species were modestly attired, as opposed to the current crop that appear as street walkers in training. This, of course, is attributable to the crotch-level mentality of Hollywood. And make no mistake about it, this in large measure shapes the younger folk.

In my own case, as the fourth of five healthy athletic boys, the normal experimental instincts were redirected positively. Our parents knew what we were doing after sundown, because they could see us. This was all within sight of Los Angeles City Hall, too.

Vernon Latshaw

Carson City

Centralized emergency dispatch already exists

In the Dec. 29 Nevada Appeal was an article about the Nevada Department of Transportation wanting to seek funding from the 2011 Legislature for a Northern Nevada regional roads operations center similar to one in Las Vegas.

Scott Rawlins, deputy director for NDOT, said, "discussions continue over whether the center could also house a centralized dispatch for emergency responders across the region."

If I am correct, there is an agency within the state realm called Office of Emergency Management, as well as Department of Public Safety, which includes the Nevada Highway Patrol. There also is the Nevada National Guard.

Somewhere in this conglomeration is an Emergency Operations Center for the state and local agencies in case of a major disaster.

In this center is a dispatch center and a place where all agencies such as local fire department, police and sheriff departments and state and federal forestry, National Guard, DOT and any other agency that is needed to take care of the emergency will put a representative.

This is where all the decisions will be made and closest resources dispatched. In there are radio frequencies allocated to this center that all agencies have in their radios or can program into their radios if need be.

Therefore, if NDOT will check with their other state agencies and come up to date on this operation, I think they will find out that they will be wasting a lot of taxpayer money by duplicating this.

Bill Sweetwood

Carson City

Can state-owned bank be the solution?

I have created a plan that will eliminate Nevada's budget deficit within two years. My plan not only will reduce the budget deficit but also help repair Nevada's economy at the same time. It is a pretty big claim.

The only solution to the deficit is to create a state-owned bank that earns a minimum of 24 percent interest on any amount. The state of North Dakota is the only state in America with a state-owned bank.

At the current bank rates, Nevada earns less than 1 percent on all their accounts. With my plan, the state will earn an unheard of minimum rate of 24 percent interest every year. For example: on an average combined budget of $5 billion, the bank would earn the state a minimum of $1.2 billion per year. This amount on hand would solve most shortfalls.

Business owners would be financed through the state bank by funding their business transactions, providing short-term loans, and also providing capital to small business owners to fulfill transactions that normally would only be handled by larger companies.

Once the deficit problem has been solved, the state bank will provide the same features to small businesses as before, and also become a central bank supporting smaller banking institutions.

I have issued a challenge to any economists, CPAs or any financial advisors that are willing to review and challenge the accuracy of my return on investment figures.

Carl R. Kuhl

Dayton