Marathon aftermath turned into chaos
To the editor:
It began raining about 9 p.m. Sunday as I stood waiting for my daughter to finish running the Las Vegas Marathon. After she finished, I bundled her up in my jacket and we headed for Mandalay Bay (the convention entrances).
Almost immediately we found ourselves trapped in a pack of hundreds of people. There was barely standing room. Several people passed out or became ill and were being helped by paramedics. It took us more than half an hour to get out of the building. No exits in sight. Very scary. Couldn’t go backward because we were being shoved forward. Good thing no one yelled “Fire!”
I think the crowd was too tired to fight, or it could have been much worse. Now I know what they are talking about when news stories come out about hundreds of people being trampled to death in a crowd. Kudos to the paramedics who tried to treat those who were ill and had to keep from being knocked over at the same time. Some people did yell at them, not realizing that the paramedics are not employees of Mandalay Bay.
Just before we broke out into an open area, we saw people shoving their way past us in an apparent effort to head toward showrooms and restaurants in the same hallway.
This is no way to treat our visitors. I heard over and over, “I am never coming back to Las Vegas again.”
Dusty Burrows
Las Vegas
Private sector
To the editor:
I was somewhat confused by Rick Tope’s Wednesday letter arguing against more government spending cuts. His example referred to his experiences with three utilities. Two are not government agencies and one is.
His experience with the private-sector utilities “went smoothly.” But his experience with the government agency included a one-hour wait on hold. He attributes this to decreased funding for the government agency, which he assumes led to fewer people left to answer the phone.
Mr. Tope uses this example to argue against further government funding cuts.
I’m surprised that Mr. Tope didn’t examine the possibility that the non-government agencies treated him as a customer. If one follows that assumption, it leads to the conclusion that we all might be better served if more government services were outsourced to private companies. Outsourcing offers opportunities for saving tax dollars. And it’s the private sector where efficiency and customer satisfaction are vital to success.
Robert R. Kessler
Las Vegas
Gun nuts
To the editor:
Thank you, gun owners, for all of the fascinating artifacts left strewn about our public lands. Hiking through an area on U.S. Forest Service land near Kyle Canyon, I discovered piles of bullet casings, shotgun shells, broken beer bottles, empty beer cans and a doe carcass with a bullet hole through her head.
Do the world a favor and pick up your garbage and leave Bambi alone.
ELIZABETH COOK
LAS VEGAS
Electric blue
To the editor:
To paraphrase President Ronald Reagan: There they go again.
A Wednesday Review-Journal story, “Panel recommends free parking,” is just another example of government sticking its nose into your business and mine. Will government officials ever wake up and keep their noses out of the consumer decision process and attend to matters they were elected to address?
Why should an electric car owner get free parking in the first place? The only reason I can think of is to encourage electric car ownership.
James F. Camburn
Las Vegas
Back pay
To the editor:
As the teachers union and Clark County School District fight over the contract for the current year, I hope people will stop blaming teachers and declaring them greedy. At this point, the fight is not over us feeling that we deserve raises. We are now being told that if the district wins the battle, teachers will have to pay back any raises they made this year.
Can you afford to pay back thousands of dollars to your employer for work that you have done?
I received two raises this year: one for completing mandatory first-year teacher training, requiring dozens of hours of continuing education (some at my own cost) and another for earning 16 post-graduate credits at almost $200 per credit. Now I am being told I may either lose my job or have to pay thousands of dollars back to the district.
Yet every two weeks, the district continues to hold new teacher orientation. How is this my fault?
Wendy Gelbart
Las Vegas
