How hot is too hot?

On Monday, May 19 at approximately 11:50 a.m., my wife and I were driving by Hafen Elementary School on our way to an appointment in Las Vegas. We glanced over and saw the playground full of children.

What struck us as unusual, were a number of the smaller children sitting at the base of two stone walls erected in the middle of the playground.

They had their bodies pressed up against the walls and their cheeks resting on the stones like they were trying to draw any coolness they could find out of the stones.

I looked down at the outside air thermometer and it was registering 97 degrees.

We pulled over and observed the playground for a few minutes.

I'm not saying there was no adult supervision to monitor the conditions that existed out there, but we did not spot one adult.

None of the children that we could see, had any plastic bottles with water in them so they could keep hydrated. There may have been drinking fountains located in different areas of the playground, but as I said, I did not see any adults lining the children up so they could get a drink and cool off, nor did I spot any of the drinking fountains.

With all the warnings that were given out on every TV news broadcast for at least two days prior to that date predicting record heat, it's beyond me why these children were out there being exposed to this heat in the first place.

If I was a parent with children in Hafen Elementary School, I would be questioning when is it too hot to send children outside for recess.

JOHN A. BALL

Thanks, ATV thieves

To the individuals who stole my two Kawasaki Prairie 360s, one white and one dark green:

Do you realize the impact you have when you steal?

I am not talking about just the material impact, such as my two ATVs are gone and my fence must be repaired because you cut through it to get the ATVs out.

Think if I hadn't noticed the ATVs gone at 5:30 in the morning and let my little dog out in the yard, she would probably be gone and eventually coyote food.

I could have lost a very dear member of my family.

Do you realize these were new ATVs, not even two miles on them? I must now pay for something that I don't have for the next three years. That means for the next three years, I will resent you.

Do you realize the feeling of violation people go through when you destroy and steal from them?

Some people work hard for their toys. Do you know how hard it is to sleep at night? You wake up to every little noise, and when it's quiet you do not fully sleep because you are waiting for a sound to alert you that someone might be coming?

My Memorial Day plans are now ruined. We had plans to go off with friends and their ATVs on a fun ride. I am sure you will enjoy riding them this Memorial Day weekend.

Do you get a thrill knowing that you didn't work for these toys? How about a thrill that someone else is paying for your toy? Is it like hitting the lottery or winning a great prize?

Do you feel like you are special because you were able to steal something? Do you feel like you deserved to have these ATVs for some reason? Do you feel I owed them to you?

Do you realize that you not only hurt my family but you hurt many other families in the community?

I had plans to have a driveway poured and a back deck put on my house this summer. Now I want to put all my extra cash into paying off these ATVs that I don't have.

In turn, that means that two Pahrump businesses will not get my business any time soon, and with the way the economy is today, I am sure that hurts the businesses and the men and women who work at these businesses.

I know I should have had insurance on these ATVs before I brought them home last Wednesday. I was waiting until this Friday for my paycheck.

So, you see, stealing hurts our community.

If you stole the ATVs to ride, I hope you enjoy them. If you stole them to sell, I hope you get something you really like.

If you stole them to buy drugs, well that is another community problem that I won't go into at this time.

Good luck and remember God is watching you, and I hope that karma bites you good and hard in the butt.

I would like to thank NCSO Dep. M. Cannon for all his help. Mr. Cannon is such a nice, polite and caring professional. We are lucky to have him serving our community.

I would like to thank Cycle Tyre. My son (Levi) and I stopped by there to let them know to keep an eye out for our ATVs. They volunteered to make flyers for us and hang them around town.

I thought that was just amazing, that they would go that far for us.

Thank you all of our friends, family and co-workers and some neighbors who are also keeping an eye out for these ATVs.

And yes, we are offering a $500 reward for the return of these ATVs.

CHERI BICKMAN

Thank you, for the donation

The volunteers of the Amargosa Volunteer Ambulance Service would like to thank you [Pahrump ValleyTimes/Stephens Press, Inc.] for helping to make our Mother's Day Brunch fundraiser one of the most successful we have had in recent years.

Your donation of a copy of Marta Beckett's autobiography, "To Dance on Sands," which was used as a raffle prize, contributed to this.

As a result of our fundraiser, we will be able to update some of our outdated and obsolete equipment, which will help us provide better care for our patients.

Thank you,

PAM EVERETT