Are they taverns or casinos? Check the revenues

To the editor:

The question should not be whether or not businesses such as Dotty's qualify as a tavern, but rather whether or not they are required to pay higher gaming taxes. It is arbitrary, and perhaps even discriminatory, to try to define what amenities -- kitchens, bar stools, alcohol -- define a tavern.

Instead, the defining attribute should be whether or not gaming is incidental to the business.

To qualify for a special gaming license, all "taverns" should be able to prove that gaming revenue is less than half of their income. If not, then they are casinos and should be treated as such.

Kristine Lowe-Martin

Henderson

Job safety

To the editor:

In response to your Friday article, "Analysis shows construction deaths slowing in U.S.":

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGCA) is citing a decrease in the raw number of construction deaths as evidence that the industry's safety record is improving. In addition, the group suggests that AGCA somehow had something to do with the drop in numbers.

The fact is construction deaths are down because construction employment is down -- especially here in Southern Nevada. Fewer jobs mean fewer workers are at risk of serious injury and death on the job.

The government data cited by AGCA was preliminary and did not offer an injury rate specific to the construction industry.

The AGCA taking credit for fewer worker deaths is not just shameless, it is repugnant. The AGCA helped lead the opposition to the Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010, the workplace safety legislation that came forward after 29 miners lost their lives at the Upper Big Branch mine in 2010. This bill would have increased protections for workers who complain about workplace safety and increased penalties against employers who willfully violate safety regulations -- improvements that may have saved lives at CityCenter.

AGCA also opposed the passage of several Nevada Assembly bills that would have given more authority to Nevada OSHA to hold companies accountable for putting workers' lives at risk. If AGCA was truly about safety and better training for workers, the organization would be supportive of such measures to ensure worker safety on the job.

Every week, I post information online about work-related deaths. I do not see a great decrease in workers who are struck by equipment, dying in trench collapses, falling from heights, being caught between objects or electrocuted. Many of these deaths could have been prevented with simple precautions.

AGCA's comments are an insult to the memories of those who died at CityCenter and other construction sites across the country.

Debi Koehler-Fergen

Las Vegas

Media event

To the editor:

Now having endured a weekend of wall-to-wall Tropical Storm Irene coverage, does anyone agree with me that attention was not warranted by results?

The media were so invested in Irene that they could not or would not level with the public that the potential impact simply did not warrant coverage.

A few telephone poles, roof tiles and flooded streets do not constitute a national disaster. Only in the minds of the national media was the coverage justified. I turned it off. Too bad the national media did not spend as much time on the disaster in Joplin, Mo., earlier this year.

This speaks volumes about the values of the East Coast liberal media.

Bob Wong

Las Vegas