The embarrassment of broken escalators

I am concerned that Las Vegas’s image as a major tourist attraction is being tarnished by the multiple broken escalators along the Strip serving tourists and local pedestrians.

Over the past several months, I have noticed escalators out of order at three monorail stations. For example, the “up” escalator to the monorail at Bally’s has been broken since at least July. The “up” escalator at Bally’s to the pedestrian bridge to the Bellagio does not function. People either wait in line at a small elevator (provided for those who can’t use the escalator) or climb steep steps. This is embarrassing.

I am concerned that Las Vegas is not ready to handle the operation of a NFL football stadium if it can’t make the effort to repair pedestrian escalators in a timely manner.

It’s time for the monorail management and county public works officials to inventory our pedestrian facilities along the Strip to assure they are properly maintained.

Paul Grasewicz

Las Vegas

Gold Butte

I, like many others in the outdoors community, read with excitement your recent article “President Obama declares Gold Butte a national monument.” Years of efforts by a diverse coalition of people finally resulted in permanently setting aside the Gold Butte region for recreation, including hiking, hunting, camping, off-highway driving, horseback riding and other recreational uses. A poll even shows that 71 percent of Nevadans support the designation.

But the article states, “Conservatives have voiced concern about the lack of input in designations. Those concerns resulted in an armed standoff with Bundy, his sons and their supporters, including militia and patriot groups that had gathered on the family’s Bunkerville ranch in April 2014.” There is no connection between these two ideas (designations and standoffs). The standoff was about some 20 years of court orders to remove cattle illegally grazing on public lands.

In addition, the article states, “The Bundy family, in a statement, said to Obama that ‘we are saddened, but not surprised, by your decision to make our ranch and home a national monument.’ ” This is false. Some 50,000 acres of the proposed national conservation area were not included in Gold Butte National Monument, and this 50,000 acres coincides with most of the former Bundy grazing allotment. The Bundy home is about 3¼ air-miles from the nearest point on the boundary, so the president did not make their home into a national monument.

Jim Boone

Las Vegas

Airport security

Recently, I drove my parents to the airport after their Christmas visit. We arrived 90 minutes before their departing flight to Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, there was just one TSA agent to check hundreds of passengers through on a busy holiday weekend, and it took more than an hour to get through security.

Once my parents were checked through, my 81-year-old dad and my 77-year-old mom raced to their gate, certain they had missed their flight. Luckily, a mechanical problem with their plane delayed departure by one hour.

We have a serious problem when there are so many visitors to process through airport security and all the TSA can offer is one agent on a holiday weekend. Privatizing the TSA would likely turn this kind of security gridlock into a free flow of safe travel. For example, when I go to my local grocery store, if there are more than three people in line, they open another register.

The difference between the TSA and private companies such as my grocery store is stark because private companies cater to the customer. They rely on customer satisfaction to stay in business — therefore, the motivation to service travelers effectively is heightened.

Our economy relies heavily on tourism and companies here strive to make the Las Vegas experience enjoyable by offering fabulous entertainment, hotels and restaurants. A privatized TSA would extend this great experience to airport security by the providing the maximum number of agents necessary to keep wait times to a minimum.

A privatized TSA would mean a lot to elderly travelers, such as my parents.

Deborah Earl

Las Vegas