Southwest school zones poorly adjusted

To the editor:

It seems the Clark County School District Attendance Zone Advisory Commission chose Proposal 3 in order to move the least number of students to new schools (“Redrawing school lines to ease crowding wins tepid support,” Wednesday Review-Journal).

While that reasoning sounds great, I urge you to put yourself in my shoes. We live in the very back of Mountain’s Edge, and Reedom Elementary is two minutes down the road from my house. We’re projected to go to Frias Elementary, which will be at least a 20-minute drive.

If you look at the map, you’ll see that there is no through street to Frias Elementary. On a map, this school looks pretty close because it may be only two miles away as the crow flies. However, because there is no through street, we’ll have to place our children on a much bigger road every day.

We heard a lot of parents saying the same thing at both the town hall meeting and the rezoning committee meeting, but never once did we see a member of either committee actually look at their map. The serious considerations for the proposals were all violated, except moving the least number of students.

This proposal reduces efficiency (fuel for both buses and family vehicles), it inconveniences the working parents of this area and it’s not safe for our kids to be crossing the railroad tracks for a short-cut, which all kids will find.

Also, we’ll be paying the fees that go to the school that we’ll no longer be allowed to attend, while students living outside of our community will be coming in and going to our school. All of these reasons make this idea seem rather preposterous to those of us living here.

We understand that Proposal 3 was better for the number of students being uprooted, but perhaps you could re-examine our area. If you live in our community, please call or email a School Board member and try to do something to help us.

KELLI HALL

LAS VEGAS

Road to ruin

To the editor:

I’m offering a challenge to the Review-Journal: Find out who is lying about Social Security. Is it columnist Walter Williams (per Wednesday’s “Entitlements pave road to ruin”) or Senate Majority Leader Reid, D-Nev., and President Barack Obama? It’s a very important issue, and your readers ought to know.

Yes, it’s a little like, “It depends on what the definition of ‘is’ is.”

Let’s say a couple has a 10-year-old son who has a rich uncle. The uncle gives the boy $10,000 every year for his birthday, through the parents. The parents spend it, but put an IOU in a lock box held by the son. The son reaches 20 and is accepted by a college, so he brings the IOUs to Dad, asking for the money. Dad says, “Yes we owe you the money, but we don’t have it. We’ll replace the old IOUs with new ones, if you want, but we can’t come up with the cash. And no bank will loan us the money because we’re bankrupt.”

The son says, “What were you thinking?” The parents say, “We were filled with hope. Maybe winning the lottery, maybe another rich uncle, maybe something.”

CHARLES GOULD

LAS VEGAS

More police

To the editor:

Now the Metropolitan Police Department is stooping to the same lows as NV Energy and the water district. When either of these companies want more revenue, they suggest a billing hike of 4 percent and later settle for 2 percent, which is what they wanted in the first place.

The Police Department is trying to scare us by enlisting 250 civilian police if it doesn’t get more money (“Reserve officers to hit streets,” Wednesday Review-Journal).

Don’t fall for this scam. Police are rarely present when crime is perpetrated, and if the crime is big enough, they can get to the scene in less than three minutes.

The next time President Obama is in town, see if you can get to your destination if it’s within five miles of his escort, or go to a large concert and see how many police officers working overtime are surrounding the casino.

KIPP ALTEMARA

LAS VEGAS

The popular vote

To the editor:

Has the Electoral College run its course?

In redrawing congressional districts within states as a result of the 2010 national census, Republicans in 2012 created what they termed “the red map,” and as a result were able to keep control of the House of Representatives even though Democratic candidates receive over 1.3 million more votes.

After having failed in rigging the presidential election through various tactics, which included voter ID laws to combat nonexistent voter fraud and reducing voting hours in mostly purple states, the GOP now has an even more heinous plan – using “red mapping” to divide Electoral College votes into the same structure that gave them control of the House for possibly the next 10 years.

The current winner-take-all Electoral College approach to presidential elections, along with a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, gave George W. Bush the presidency in 2000 even though Democratic Vice President Al Gore received more votes. Had the “red map” been in place in 2012, even though President Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by 5 million votes, Mr. Romney would now be our president.

Election rigging is a crime in the United States. Suggesting overruling the popular vote, let alone promoting it, may work in Third World countries where election rigging is prevalent. But America is not a Third World country. We are a democratic society of the people, by the people, and for the people, not a dictatorship run by any one political party.

If we are to survive as a democracy, it’s imperative that citizens protest any subversive move meant to stifle the vote. And if the Electoral College can be used in such a manner, it should be abolished.

DIANE J. KREMSER

LAS VEGAS

Not accountable

To the editor:

Someone asked me the other day if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was able to sleep at night and if she would be held accountable for the Benghazi killings.

I think Mrs. Clinton sleeps like a baby and she’ll never be held accountable for Benghazi and for lying to the American people, just as Attorney General Eric Holder still hasn’t been held accountable for the “Fast and Furious” gun-running operation to this day.

Mrs. Clinton is cut from the same loaf of bread as Mr. Holder, Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. All four of these people are supported by the current administration and a biased news media.

The country must endure another four long years of President Barack Obama and then be faced with a 2016 presidential campaign featuring Mrs. Clinton, with Bill Clinton as her point man and a campaign run by David Axelrod that will be overwhelmingly supported by a biased media. They’ll all keep the truth from the American people, and the media will be biased when reporting the news.

Hillary Rodham Clinton will lie, cheat and smile while she’s campaigning for the 2016 presidential election, asking “What difference does it make?”

GEORGE RUDNISKY

HENDERSON

Pipe dreams

To the editor:

I’m really getting tired of the if-you-build-it-they-will-come types who think a new stadium would bring a major-league franchise here. It ain’t gonna happen.

We may be a big tourist draw, but we are not a major-league market. I grew up in New York City and lived in Boston and San Francisco. The right mix just isn’t here.

All major-league markets have a lot in common besides population: natives who grew up there with pride in their city, a loyalty to the teams they grew up with. We don’t even have a real core city. The push to create a real downtown is artificial. Real cities didn’t create themselves, they happened gradually over many years.

Yes, Las Vegas is a great place to live, but it will never have a major-league (pick your sport) franchise.

JERRY GORDON

HENDERSON