Careful on C.A.A.S.

I live on the south end of Pahrump and often turn right off Highway 160 onto C.A.A.S. Road. The shoulder is very wide there, and the angle of turn is very tight.

To make the turn, the back ends of the large dump trucks and dirt haulers have to travel on the gravel shoulder.

Over the years this has created what looks like a right-turn area. It is not. It is private property. It is the shoulder of the highway, and in no way is designed to accommodate making a turn in a passenger car/light truck.

The problem comes when people that are turning left onto Highway 160 from C.A.A.S. go over the double yellow center line and take up quite a bit of the oncoming traffic lane.

Recently the yellow lines and stripes were repainted (thank you) and I was hoping that it would help some drivers to see, literally, that they need to stay to the right as they approach Highway 160 from C.A.A.S. Road. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened.

The lines are so worn down from drivers ignoring them that it is once again difficult to determine just where the lanes are.

Both yesterday and today I had trouble turning right off Highway 160 because there were vehicles that were partially blocking the lane. The one today was almost completely in the lane I was turning into. But the worst time was when I couldn't turn due to a motorcycle sitting in the lane -- apparently he thought it was a left turn lane. He even completely ignored the fact that the truck on his right was also making a left turn.

Please, if you use C.A.A.S. Road and will be turning left onto Highway 160, stay to the right. There is enough room to angle your vehicle slightly to the left as you approach 160 so that the turn onto it is not as tight and still remain in your proper lane.

We don't need any type of barrier, just common driving sense.

PAULA ESHELBY

Keep business in Nye County

I would like to know why the committee for the Fall Festival would get ice from a company in Clark County.

Are we trying to shut down the small businesses in Nye County like, i.e., Cook's Ice?

I would hope they don't put the price up because of the cost of gas to get the ice here from Vegas.

Cook's Ice charges only $2.50 for a 20-pound bag of ice. The other company's price is $3.50 per 20-pound bag.

Stop taking money out of our pockets and keeping a company in Vegas busy when we have a great ice service here in Nye County.

SHANNON JOHNSON

School bus stop issue

I applaud Darby O'Donnell for her insight into a problem and wanting to do something about it. (Article in the Aug. 1 issue of the PVT titled "Youth brings bus stop issue to board.") She is not the first.

Some time back, Mrs. Lepisto wrote in the Principal's Corner of the Mustang Minutes (Oct. 16, 2006), warning of this same problem. Training on bus stop behavior would be a great program and perhaps even better than D.A.R.E. or others of this nature.

Maybe teachers could make a game of bus stop behavior in the classroom or on the program. Even first day back from summer vacation, instead of asking students to write about their summer, maybe they could request a paper and run a poster contest on bus stop behavior.

However, adults must remember that training begins with the parents and in the home. This type of loose child at a bus stop without guard crossing personnel (volunteer or school district paid), or parents of even one child on a rotation basis per stop, could be catastrophic.

Darby could go a long way, making a community service project out of this, finding adult advocates through service clubs, high school clubs and other sources, with spot checks, being guest speakers in classrooms and training.

The youth themselves need to have greater awareness and check their own behavior and that of their peers.

Good leadership, Darby, I hope this gets some action.

Maybe the school district could front some money for building bus stop centers, and labor could be found with retired construction workers and the wood shop at PVHS.

Perhaps Home Depot and Ace Hardware and similar businesses would get behind you for supplies to build the bus stop centers. Then all you have to do is have the students apply what they learn in your program to their behavior.

Good luck.

TERRI NELSON

No answer to pain at the pump

Some will remember the Arab oil embargo of the early 1970s. What we got after that was the Alaskan oil pipeline. Somehow all the opposition to it just melted away.

The pipeline was to be the panacea. It wasn't. This time we have $4 per gallon gas, and it appears the perfect excuse to allow big oil to do what they have been wanting to do for years: Drill offshore and in the ANWR.

The debate about it begs the question, as oil from these sources would not be available until the year 2017. Hardly an answer to "pain at the pump."

In April 2008 the U.S. Geological Survey issued a report on domestic untapped oil sources. There is an area in the western two-thirds of North Dakota, western South Dakota, and extreme eastern Montana called the Bakken formation which is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska's Prudhoe Bay.

The Energy Information Administration estimates it at 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 per barrel. That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 41 years.

To put this in perspective, here are the official estimates: eight times as much oil as Saudi Arabia; 18 times as much oil as Iraq; 21 times as much oil as Kuwait; 22 times as much oil as Iran; 500 times as much oil as Yemen.

Of course it will take time for this oil to be available too, but everyone seems to agree that we've got to take a first step toward ending dependence on foreign oil. We had a wake-up call in the early 1970s and ignored it. (Obama is hardly to blame for high gas prices -- he hasn't been around that long.)

Every administration for the last 35 years that has failed to provide America with a workable energy policy is to blame. But the time for the political blame game is over. What we need now is action.

The real long-term solution is the development of alternative non-hydrocarbon forms of energy. But this too will take time. In the interim we will have to rely on oil. But why not on our own resources rather than those of foreign bandits? We could also create some jobs in our own country.

I urge everyone to contact his or her elected representatives and demand that the Bakken formation be developed. Otherwise, don't gripe about high gas prices.

GENE MCGRATH

(The numbers cited above appear to indicate a massive reserve, but the percentage of this oil that might be extracted using the technology available today is a different matter. Estimates of the Bakken formation's technically recoverable oil have ranged from as low as 1 percent -- because the Bakken shale has not highly permeable, making it difficult to extract the oil -- to one estimate of 50 percent recoverable oil. Reports issued by both the Geological Survey and North Dakota earlier this year would indicate the lower range of recoverable estimates is more realistic with the available technology. The Geological Survey in April 2008 estimated the formation's "technically recoverable" oil at from 3 billion to 4.3 billion barrels. -- Ed.)

Special pet is in better place

It is traumatic and difficult to lose a pet -- a family member, a friend who just wants to love you.

I put my life on hold to take care of my Great Dane. She couldn't walk and I took care of her for four years. I loved her and she loved us.

After four years, I felt I had to put her down. I felt guilty and prayed God would decide this for me and just take her.

Since that didn't happen, I could not bear to see her suffer any longer.

I pray and hope I did the right thing. She was at home and the vet came here to put her down. Since April 28, I have felt bad about losing her.

She was a special and happy dog, and added so much to our lives.

She was cremated and now we have her back.

Just so people are aware, all veterinarians offer cremation services and for an additional charge, you can have their ashes returned.

I know she is in a better place and free of pain and suffering.

SUSAN BECKER

Longing for patience, fairness

I hope that this letter will be published in all of Nye County papers, this is one less vote for him.

As a long-time resident of Nye County, I am writing to express my concern about the recent ad in the Aug. 7 issue of the Tonopah Times-Bonanza regarding John P. Davis, I feel the people of our county have the right to know about the fallacies of his campaigning statements.

Qualities Needed in a Judge

Patience -- To listen carefully to both sides.

Fairness -- To litigants and polite treatment of even difficult lawyers.

Recently, I was subject to a court case in Tonopah with John Davis presiding. The poor display of patience and fairness was very demeaning to the defending lawyer and client. During the court case Judge Davis refused to listen carefully to both sides of an opening statement. He actually cut off one of the defending lawyers during the opening statement, while the prosecutor got to fully explain the case.

Throughout the hearing he made it clear of his prejudices and true feelings about the defendant's case.

Working for a lawyer for many years, I have seen numerous cases tried. I have never seen a more disgusting exhibit of a judge's bias.

Fairness and polite treatment -- really? What courtroom did I need to be in to see that?

The defendant was stopped during the testimony because Judge Davis did not want to hear anymore, although the plaintiff was able to fully explain the case at hand. There was definitely not fairness or polite treatment exhibited when the defendant's lawyer was not allowed to finish questioning his client.

A judge, by definition, is to pass judgment in a court of law. But how is this done when each side of the case is not properly pleaded?

The defendant's attorney from Washoe County could not believe the ignorant behavior of Judge Davis and Davis' current friend Rick Lawton, Esq., plaintiff's attorney and previous resident of Nye County's so-called qualities of judge and attorney.

Judge John P. Davis, judicial belief as stated.

I believe a judge should only do what the people are unable to achieve by themselves. We are to resolve cases with minimal intrusion into lives of others.

Family Court programs are not needed in rural Nevada as they are in the urban areas. This is who I am and what I believe.

Well, Judge Davis, as someone that saw you completely disregard this belief, I am here to let the people know the truth.

If the citizens of Nye County choose to enter Judge Davis' courtroom, they may be in for a rude awakening, as he does not demonstrate his valued qualities of a judge that his campaign is centered around.

Longing for patience and fairness,

CYNDI THOMAS