Local water rate hike could be a lot worse

To the editor:

I have been reading articles and letters about the Southern Nevada water rate increase, and I want to comment. I am not impacted by the increase because I live in Arizona, but I would like to give perspective on the $5 monthly rate increase for most homes.

Five dollars is a small amount to secure a more reliable and predictable water supply, i.e. the third straw into Lake Mead.

I live in a small community called Willow Valley, which is an unincorporated section of Mohave Valley. We have a water company that pumps well water and delivers it to about 1,400 customers. The water company pays nothing for the water. It is allocated by the Mohave Valley Irrigation and Drainage District. The water company has to pay only for infrastructure maintenance and delivery.

In September 2010, the water company shocked the residents with bills that went up by 100 percent to 400 percent. No notice, no community meeting for input from residents — nothing. I have personally converted 75 percent of my yard from grass to xeriscape and am irrigating one-half of what I used to.

My monthly bill averages $65 in the winter to $85 in the summer. My bill before the increases averaged $25 to $60. I would trade that for a $5 increase anytime.

Ken Griffin

Mohave Valley

Birth control

To the editor:

Again in Monday’s Review-Journal, The Associated Press story about the GOP’s focus on family values — as if that is a bad thing for society — misrepresents the controversy regarding the unconstitutional Health and Human Services mandate on contraception, sterilization and abortifacients.

First, neither the Catholic Church nor any other Christian organization made a move or an attempt to outlaw or restrict access to any of these items, all of which were considered voluntary choices until July of last year, when the Institute of Medicine declared them to be necessary preventive medicine. In August, HHS proposed rules that would require all employers to cover these items without a deductible.

Check your insurance coverage. I bet that unless you work for a church or faith-based organization, you’re already covered, with a co-pay, for all or most of these items.

The Catholic Church specifically went to the administration asking for conscience exemptions not only for the church itself, but also for all of the organizations affiliated with the church’s corporal works of mercy and their educational institutions.

On Jan. 20, HHS confirmed the mandate, with religious exemptions that cover only the church itself. The Catholic bishops and many other Christian organizations were appalled and asked for the administration to reconsider.

After approximately two weeks, the president announced his compromise. These organizations would not have to pay for these items directly. Instead, the insurance companies from whom they are mandated to purchase policies will cover these items without charge. A difference without a distinction.

People of faith did not make an attempt to impose their religious beliefs on the country. The AP should know better. I think, however, they know exactly what happened. In that case they are complicit with the administration — and that is propaganda.

Kathleen Miller

Henderson

Religion and politics

To the editor:

The “doctrine” of today’s politics continues to both amuse and alarm me. As I watch the current Republican front-runner in the race for the presidency expound at length on the evils of President Obama, to the extent of sermonizing at times, I recall the 1960s, when Republicans objected vehemently to the very thought of electing a Catholic, John F. Kennedy, to the highest office in the land.

The fear they attempted to instill in the voting public was that JFK would turn Washington into a mini-Rome, and that we would be ruled by the pope and, God forbid, Catholicism.

Today’s Republicans are entertaining the thought of evangelicals running the country. Where does separation of church and state begin and end? Personally, I would prefer a statesman who’s true to the belief that the United States is a great nation and a world power that respects all races, creeds and religions, and one who does not preach to a single group of parishioners who are more tuned in to their religious beliefs than to the welfare of America.

I would ask if the battle for religious freedom extends to Islam. If it does, let’s hear from the candidates on basic, not radical, Islamic values. Somehow, I don’t think they’ll enter that arena.

Religion has no place in politics. We all see what theocracies have done to the Middle East, and frankly I’m not interested in seeing America become a country that excludes anyone’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness based on their religious beliefs.

To all extremists, I say give me a president, not a pastor.

DIANE KREMSER

LAS VEGAS

Business as usual

To the editor:

In regard to District Attorney Steve Wolfson’s decision not to prosecute the Henderson police officers involved in a beating:

It is again business as usual down at the local cop shops.

Mr. Wolfson concluded, after “consulting” with his leading trial lawyers, that a case against the Henderson sergeant who kicked a disabled civilian in the head was horrible but was “not a winnable case” — after all, “juries don’t convict cops here.” He also hid behind the fact that the case was something like 16 months old.

What would Mr. Wolfson do if a cop was pulled out of his car — patrol or civilian — beaten and kicked in the head five times by a gang, and there were no witnesses, except that a video came to light some 16 months after the incident? Would he give the same song and dance he’s giving now?

I think we all know the answer to that.

Robert Thomas

Henderson