But did they pay their mortgages?

To the editor:

Can someone please tell Catherine Cortez Masto and Kamala Harris (attorneys general of Nevada and California, respectively) that when one stops making payments on a mortgage, the bank or finance company will eventually foreclose on you (“Nevada, California join forces,” Wednesday Review-Journal)? It says so right in the contract you signed when you closed on your house.

The owners of properties being foreclosed upon here and in California in all likelihood haven’t made a payment in more than a year. The banks have every right — and, in fact, a duty — to foreclose on these properties to let the owners move on with their lives and help the housing market correct the price bubble that developed due to bad government policies.

Banks are currently overwhelmed by the number of foreclosures and they are not equipped to handle the volume of paperwork currently being processed. Robo-signing was not the correct response, but I’ve yet to hear of a single individual being foreclosed upon who was not way behind on his payments.

Ms. Masto and Ms. Harris are simply grandstanding and trying to keep their names in the headlines so they can run for higher office in the future. Both are political hacks.

William W. Moreland

Las Vegas

Lay of the land

To the editor:

I must respond Elizabeth Cook’s “Gun nuts” letter of Thursday.

I am well into my 60s and have hiked, hunted, motorcycled and Jeeped on and off trail my whole life. I’ve been farther off trail than I’m sure Ms. Cook could ever imagine. Every user group — including horse people — abuses the environment. Each group has many champions of protecting what we have. In each, however, are abusers that we all abhor.

To address specifically the hunter bash. Last year, the Department of Wildlife allowed 93 hunters total, spread over eight hunting zones — of which the Spring Mountains is one. These 93 hunters were spread over nine hunts, with 38 being the largest group, most were under five. These defined hunts were spread over many months. The hunts were divided among elk, deer and Bighorn sheep, then again by weapon choice.

In my opinion, what Ms. Cook saw was hiker, day-user trash, generated by people that can include unqualified gun owners. And I doubt that a hunter shot the doe she found. Most likely it was another nut who all user groups despise, the kind who shoots signs, squirrels, tweet birds, anything and all for no particular reason.

If Ms Cook is a true hiker I do not think she wants to start a battle against other user groups, especially the one that pays it fair share for the protection of wildlife and its habitat. I do not know how many hunters hunt the Lee Canyon area each year, I do know it would be a fraction of the 93 allowed, I do ponder how many people hike and otherwise use the area each year. Speaking against the abuses found on her hike is commendable, pointing a finger at one group is plain silly and unwarranted.

John Firby

Pahrump

Gaming fix

To the editor:

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson broke ranks with the casino industry on online gaming saying he fears it could lead to underage wagering. I respect his concern, but I also don’t see age as the largest concern. I see fairness and corruption as the 800-pound gorilla.

Online gaming is essentially “legalized fraud” if the casinos can’t find a mechanism to present the next card with complete integrity. Short of a “live game” online poker is a crap shoot using loaded dice in favor of the house. What casino wouldn’t want to take unlimited free money?

In short, age isn’t my main concern. It’s all about the Benjamins and the lack of fairness.

Cecil Jones

North Las Vegas

Dedicated officers

To the editor:

A few comments concerning your series on police shootings. I am a retired former federal agent and the parent of a current Metro police officer. I am a seasonal resident of Clark County.

You refer to some of the “victims” as “troubled” or “distraught.” Should the patrol officer inquire, prior to engaging the suspect, as to the person’s troubled background or his alcohol/drug level? Does “troubled” really make a difference when to shoot or not to shoot, with only split seconds for an officers to make that critical decision?

You also compare other city police agencies to the Metro — another mismatch. As you reported, a city chief is appointed and subject to the mayor; the Clark County sheriff is elected and subject to the people. If the citizens of Clark County had lost faith in Sheriff Doug Gillespie, particularly because of police shootings, they would have voted him out of office.

You also imply that because the black community makes up only 10 percent of the population in Clark County, there should be some relationship between that number and the number of blacks being shot versus any other race. Why?

You kept referring to Erik Scott, killed outside Costco in July 2010, as a West Point graduate, etc. What relevance is that when he has a concealed weapon, is under the influence of drugs and threatens police officers responding to the scene? Are you trying to imply that a West Point graduate cannot be violent?

Throughout your five-day series, you did not show a photo or report any interview of spouses/families of officers who were killed in the line of duty or who killed a suspect. Why? Why not interview and report the status of Dawn Prendes — the wife of Henry Prendes, killed by another “troubled” suspect, Amir Rashid Crump in February 2006 — to determine how she and her two daughters are coping with the loss of this officer. There were plenty of photos/stories of suspects’ families.

As for your interviews with former, and mostly critical, Metro officers/officials, I believe they do a disservice to speak negatively about the acts of active duty officers. Morale is essential to a police agency and their critical comments, after leaving office, do not engender cohesiveness within the agency.

As with any profession, there will be people who exhibit poor judgment, irresponsibility, misfeasance or even malfeasance. However, do not treat the dedicated, courageous and professional Metro officers with those who may taint the badge.

DOUG TOMASO

BLAINE, WAsh.