To the editor:

Your Business section on Nov. 10 carried a story that reported the state's gaming win fell for second month in two years. No surprise to me.

For several months now, your newspaper has reported tremendous winnings for the casinos. You would have us believe that this is due to the fact that more people are gambling. But the fact is that the casinos set their machines back and are not paying out.

Now that people have come to their senses and are not gambling because of poor payouts, the casino winnings are dropping. That is the reason for their losses.

It is time the state of Nevada investigated the casinos. They have all these gimmicks involving giveaways of various junk instead of putting that money in the slot machines. Common sense says if the payouts are better, people will gamble more.

Marilyn Davis

BUNKERVILLE

Merit scholars

To the editor:

Thank you for your excellent editorial crediting the success of the Clark County School District's 39 national merit semifinalists to the efforts, focus and work of the individual students. These students have practiced years of discipline to earn this recognition, and their parents are also to be congratulated for the sacrifices they have made.

Teachers at the schools you mentioned are proud of the students' success and grateful for the parent involvement.

Now, could you please consider that the label of "failing schools" results from a small group of students who do the opposite?

Mary Ziegler

LAS VEGAS

National ID

To the editor:

Your Thursday article, "This might be you in '08," finally brings a bit of light to the new national ID card that the federal government wants to impose on all of its subjects. Those in power, of course, absolutely deny that it's a national ID card. The fact that they were clever enough to disguise it as a driver's license shows to what extremes they will go to force us to carry this.

The subhead of the article mentions an "anti-terror" law. This has nothing to do with terrorism. It has everything to do with control. Control of you driving or buying a car, of opening a bank account, of cashing a check, of boarding a plane, of getting utilities turned on, of applying for and even using your major credit card. Which of these can be done without the so-called driver's license?

Not mentioned in the article was the fingerprinting and other unique biometric identifiers that will be required. Iris scans? Retinal scans? A drop of blood, perhaps? A hair plucked from the scalp? Who knows? That is left to the imagination of the central government.

And once this is in place, do you really think it will still be limited to its current function of driving a car?

Or will be begin to hear -- everywhere we go, when we least expect it, when we step around the corner and into a security checkpoint -- that dreaded of all phrases, "Papers, please!"

Mac Frank

PAHRUMP

Keep on truckin'

To the editor:

A response to Corey Goldman's Wednesday letter on confining trucks on the highway to the slow lanes:

What Mr. Goldman is proposing is one of the most unsafe solutions there is. If anything, trucks should be in the fast lanes and the cars restricted to the right (slow) lanes.

Most trucks are going through town and don't need to get off the Interstate. Cars weave in and out and cut them off when they are in the right lanes, causing more than 80 percent of the accidents.

In California, many accidents involving trucks occur because cars are speeding in the right (slow) lanes and rear end the truck that is allowed to travel at only 55 mph.

If you aren't a trucker, please don't present solutions. You have no idea the truth of the matter.

Sherryl Anctil

LAS VEGAS

Jet set

To the editor:

Moving here from Boston -- a city in which you can't escape airplane noises -- apparently does not buy me a guarantee of freedom from airplane noises. I thought it might, but it doesn't appear to be so. I lived in Las Vegas for six months before selecting a residence in northwest Las Vegas, near Summerlin. I was getting cleaner air from the mountains and the area had few airplanes. I thought I was being so clever.

So I will move once again. I can't stand airplane noise. I won't be able to open my windows at night to get some nice cool mountain air from the Red Rock area, as the noise will keep me from sleeping.

I'll turn on the air conditioner and live with the waste of energy that will entail. During the day, I'll keep the windows shut and live with even more air conditioning.

The value of the area's homes will go down 35 percent or so. Lower-income people will move in (just as they did in some parts of Boston) and crime will go up.

Worst of luck to all the lily-livered politicians who sat by and allowed the FAA to stick it to us. They gave us the usual lip service and did nothing.

Paul Coulombe

LAS VEGAS

Phone books

To the editor:

I just received new phone books again. What do I do with the old ones?

I know that our landfills are filled with many old phone books, so I decided to call my phone company to inquire where I can recycle them. Five different phone calls later, I still don't have an answer. In fact, two representatives advised me to just "throw them in the trash."

So much for saving our planet.

Richard Welti

HENDERSON

Playing tag

To the editor:

In response to your Wednesday story, "Turn-In-A-Tagger offers $500 reward":

Finally. The reward system has always worked. In a 24/7 city, someone has got to be witnessing these taggers.

My suggestion to Mayor Oscar Goodman last year, when the decorative turtle in the Spaghetti Bowl was tagged and he proposed cutting off the thumbs of taggers, was to offer a reward. Then, make offenders clean the walls for six months and sentence the repeat offenders to a year with Habitat for Humanity, where they could paint their hearts out. They want their territory respected? Well, so do we.

The tagger mentality has always reminded me of a pack of dogs running around marking their territory. I hope there will be a good citizen following behind them with a plastic bag.

Carol MacClendon

LAS VEGAS

Water issue

To the editor:

I just don't understand. We've been told over and over again there is a shortage of water in the Las Vegas Valley. We've been asked to conserve and conserve some more.

And now the water authority is proposing new rates because we're not conserving enough.

Then I read that the Coyote Springs development of 160,000 homes and 16 golf courses north of Las Vegas has cut a deal with the water authority to provide more than 13,000 acre-feet of water annually for the community. One acre-foot equals 326,000 gallons. Is there a water shortage in this valley or not?

If the answer is "no," stop bugging us about conservation and stop raising rates because we're using too much water. If the answer is "yes," why do we see more and more construction, and why are communities like Coyote Springs approved?

MIKE LIENHARD

HENDERSON