Next week is Sunshine Week, March 11-17. The annual observation was created by the American Society of News (formerly Newspaper) Editors to spotlight the importance of public access to government information in a democratic republic, allowing citizens to be the watchdogs over their elected and appointed representatives. The sunshine label was derived from a quote by Justice … [Read more...]
A Immodest Proposal for a 28th Amendment
The horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 dead and more than a dozen wounded at the hands of a 19-year-old armed with a semi-automatic rifle has again set off a flurry of rational and emotional debates over gun control, mental health and school security measures. Worthy topics all, but the event has also fostered an … [Read more...]
Neighbors Hope Little Ash Springs Remains Closed
There are two sides to every story. Four years ago the Bureau of Land Management locked the gate to Little Ash Springs north of Alamo for what was described as a couple of weeks due to a crumbling wall on a manmade pool. It remains closed. Recently, the Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke told the Las Vegas newspaper, “This is exactly why the federal government needs to … [Read more...]
Public Has a Right to See Justice Done
Currently playing in theaters across the country is a movie called “The Post,” about how in 1971 The New York Times and The Washington Post both brazenly defied the law of the land and published excerpts of a highly classified document that has since been dubbed the Pentagon Papers, which outlined how a succession of presidents lied to and concealed information from the … [Read more...]
Suit to Block Feral Horse Plan Is Frivolous
As sure as hogs wallow in slop, one month after the Bureau of Land Management announced a plan to properly control the population of feral horses on a nearly 4 million-acre tract of land 50 miles southeast of Elko, a New York nonprofit group calling itself Friends of Animals filed a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit claims the BLM gave “no opportunity for the public to review or … [Read more...]
Democrats Display Disrespectful Distraction
Nevada Democrats have taken identity politics to a whole new level. They have not just lowered the bar, they have buried it. Recently they held a press conference to announce the state party’s mascot for the 2018 election season – Mitch McTurtle. Apparently without a hint of embarrassment state Democratic Party Chairman William McCurdy unveiled the mascot. It was someone … [Read more...]
Candidates Should Promise to End Earmarks
Everybody loves to hate earmarks. Don’t they? Nevada Democratic Congresswoman Jacky Rosen, who is running for the Senate in a bid to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Dean Heller, recently introduced legislation to ban earmarks. Earmarks are those special interest spending bills that get attached to unrelated bills in Washington by Congress critters hoping to bring home … [Read more...]
States Cry Foul over California Egg Law
Californians want chickens to be able to stretch their wings, no matter how much it stretches the cost of eggs. Back in 2008 those animal-loving folks to the west of Nevada approved a ballot initiative that required the size of cages for egg-laying hens in that state to be increased by about 75 percent by January 2015. Failure to comply with the law was punishable by a … [Read more...]