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Thank you

I would like to thank the Pahrump Valley High School Key Club for all their hard work. They have made me feel not only very welcome here in Pahrump but have made me look pretty good as their Kiwanis advisor.

As of this date, they have collected over 400 items of food to be donated to the Salvation Army. Their goal is to keep those pantries stocked throughout the year.

This holiday season they sent over 500 cards to the men and women serving overseas. They collected cards from teachers, friends and family members and all were sent to those armed forces serving over seas.

This young group of adults are definitely headed in the right direction, giving back to the town as much as they can. As their Kiwanis advisor, I am very proud of this group. Keep up the great work .

The PVHS Key Club is the youth organization to the Kiwanis and made up of high school members between 10th and 12th grade.

Thanks guys, great job.

REVA BRAUN

KIWANIS ADVISOR PVHS KEY CLUB

What a mess

I just came back from what I thought would be an exciting experience at the Republican caucus held here in Pahrump.

Three of us arrived at 8 a.m. along with hundreds of others. We were told we could not come inside out of the 27 degree weather as the volunteers were not ready for us yet. One of the individuals in our group had a postcard from the Nevada Republican Party, stating that we should arrive early. At 9 a.m. we were allowed to start entering the building. It was a long cold hour, waiting to exercise our right to participate.

There were so many people lined up that you could not count them. I was one of the lucky ones as I actually had a yellow voting ballot. Many people behind me were asked to write down the name of the candidate they were voting for and place it in their precinct box. How is it possible to run out of ballots?

Obviously, Ron Paul was correct about calling off the Republican caucus in Nevada. He said Nevada was not ready for this caucus and he was right.

When we finally got to our precinct room, we waited until 11 a.m. before the delegate process started. There were still people standing in line outside when we did this. The volunteers involved in this process were trying to let as many people as possible in to cast their vote. I say thank you to anyone who volunteered to be involved in this mess produced by the Nevada Republican Party.

When we asked questions of the delegate captains, we found out that some of them had just been notified last night that they would be doing this today. Many questions were asked by a knowledgeable group of people in the room. Their questions could not be answered because the delegate captains had such short notice that they could not answer the questions.

To make matters worse, a teacher who was in our precinct said it just came up on his cell phone Internet access that the Nevada Republican Party called Mitt Romney the winner for Nevada. We had not yet started to nominate our delegates. People were still lined up into the streets waiting to get in the door and participate.

My husband has been saying for years that both political parties no longer represent who we are as a nation. After today, I have to agree with him.

My husband is 66 years old and I am 63. The Democrats were on the other side of the building we were in, and they were also standing in long lines, but I have no knowledge as to whether they were any more organized than the Republican party was.

I was excited about learning how delegates would be chosen. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I might be able to do this. Attend a caucus in Beatty and then on to Reno, but I only came away with a bad impression of how a caucus works. A primary seems a better way to go in Nevada than a caucus. Maybe we would have had more organization than what I saw today.

DARLENE FEENER

Seeking a few good people

We are looking for a few good men and women.

I am helping to organize a group of volunteers to serve as security personnel at our lovely community library.

Anyone with law enforcement experience would be appreciated. And anyone without law enforcement experience would be appreciated.

It's a simple job: to observe and report -- not to roll heads, but to roll words.

We are looking for individuals who are trustworthy, loyal, helpful, courteous, kind and cheerful.

There is a sign-up sheet at the library, or you can call me direct at 537-0310.

Thank you.

GARY MARCHINKE

Caucuses

I have been reading about the experiences of those that attended the caucuses on Saturday and I would like to add my two cents.

My wife and I waited two hours to get into the school to vote only to find more lines inside to sign in. We did not spend anymore time attending the caucus since we felt the process was a farce.

They had cardboard boxes to drop your vote in and when they ran out of forms they used blank scraps of paper. Looked like something out of a comedy.

I can't believe that they could certify such a loose run election. I can't believe this is a way to run an election in this state and I truly believe we need to go back to a regular primary to pick the candidate for president.

My wife and I ran a precinct for over eleven years and every precaution was taken to preserve the integrity of the voting process.

That includes the people who are running the place. So I was quite surprised to see Commissioner Peter signing people in. He may not have been convicted of anything yet but it appeared inappropriate for him to be there in any official capacity in light of his recent arrest.

It spoiled the event even more to read such things as they closed the voting areas early, as well as using blank forms. I beg the secretary of state and the governor to see this mockery of the voting process not continue. The voting process in third world countries aren't conducted this badly.

Have we taken a step backward in Nevada letting this process sink to this level?

Why did we need this caucus when we still intend to have a primary so the rest of the people that will be running for office can be voted on?

I think all of you who were dissatisfied with this process speak up, and that includes those who chose not to partake in this charade.

We need to get our act together before this type of process becomes the norm.

PHILIP RANERI

What are they thinking?

When will the county commissioners start living up to their responsibility to the people?

What in the hell are they thinking -- $20,000 of our money for an arts center study?

This is a waste.

An arts center is admirable, but only after basic necessities have been met. Twenty thousand dollars would have been better spent on attracting business to the area.

CAROL GIROUX