Park police keeping grass safe from public
To the editor:
For the past few years, the Siberian husky and I have walked the circuit of city parks every morning. Often I have grumbled about the human mischief I've come across: damaged trees, graffiti and those vehicular crop circles in the turf where kids jump the curb at night.
But most striking is the amount of trash lying about, and nowhere has this been more prominent than at All American Park. The morning after a game, this place looks like a Vegas weekend rental house. Though garbage cans pepper the facility, empty boxes, plastic bottles, beer cans, burger and taco bags abound in a carpet of cigarette butts.
I've seen soiled diapers, shoes and various articles of clothing, bandage tape and other used first-aid items, even lawn furniture. In the picnic areas, chicken and rib bones mingle with wrappings, party decorations, cheap toys and other unidentifiable food substances that appear to sustain the colony of feral cats living in the rocks.
Where, I've wondered, are the police? Knowing where and when this behavior goes on, why don't they prevent it? This week, at this very park, I got my answer. They are busy confronting a menace worse than a sandwich-consuming bum: me.
I had just gotten out of the car. The husky was tagged and leashed, and I had a poop bag ready in my pocket. I had done nothing wrong.
Then a city park police officer pulled up beside me with a warning that, as I understood it, if I were to be seen doing nothing wrong there again I would be subject to a $150 citation. He assumed that I was not only going to let the dog off the leash, but that I would do so in a designated sports area.
Now, the leash part is obvious. But what exactly constitutes a sports area is a little hazy, and I pressed the officer for a precise definition. Over the next 10 minutes, with his guidelines pamphlet in hand, he narrowed it down for me. Places with goalposts and chalk lines, that's pretty clear -- no problem.
But all adjacent areas are included, too. That's where spectators move about. Also, the big oval in the center of the park, because it had one stand of bleachers. The field on the west side, though it had no fixtures or marked lines, was still a "field" and therefore off limits.
Moreover, we would have to steer clear of the playgrounds, for the officer assured me that the city ordinance banning childless adults from these sites had indeed passed and was in full force, though I probably wouldn't be charged unless I did something really blatant, like sitting on a bench.
To be fair, the cop was only doing his duty and apparently not enjoying it, sounding almost apologetic. But in the end, I was left with a simple formula: As long as we stayed on concrete or asphalt, we were fine. The moment a paw hit grass -- that evil green stuff the Southern Nevada Water Authority wants to eliminate, the stuff that suffers so much from the onslaught of roughshod human feet that they have to fence off whole sections of park every year to grow more -- we were in violation.
In the officer's opinion, the only other place we could safely venture was the barren patch of ground with the faulty gate they call the dog run.
At that point, I knew my first impression had been right: that I was up against something like the new Washington, D.C., law that says you can have a gun as long as you don't put bullets in it, and that "get out and don't come back" was the real message here. The officer basically agreed, and suggested we go to a park that wasn't set up for athletic pursuits. Which is to say, none.
Rest easy, citizens, the husky and I no longer threaten you. We now lurk only in county parks, where the hours are longer, the grounds are cleaner and the smell of politics does not hang in the air.
J.R. Murdock
LAS VEGAS
Attendance incentive
To the editor:
Albeit the importance of regular attendance to student and school success, money might also be a major motive for schools striving to improve student attendance.
Projected enrollment is a factor that determines initial individual school staffing and operational budgets. It is student attendance figures that are the final fiscal factor because state funding is predicated on actual daily pupil attendance, and not enrollment. Hence, getting students enrolled and keeping them in class has always been a concern of school principals.
Robert S. Tobias
LAS VEGAS
THE WRITER IS A RETIRED CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR.
Old times
To the editor:
I both loved and hated Charlie Waters' Sunday article, "Music is the Doctor," about the '60s Kingman, Ariz., band The Exits.
I loved it because I went to Mohave County Union High School with all of these guys, and they were a total hoot. They were talented and fun-loving, and in general a great group of guys.
I hated it because Mr. Waters has now exposed me to all my friends and acquaintances as being 20 years older than I told them I was!
My most fervent best wishes go out to Bob "Boze" Bell for a speedy recovery.
And, thanks a lot, Charlie!
JAN (PALMER) FREEMAN
LAS VEGAS
Oil by the numbers
To the editor:
In his Tuesday op-ed, "We need real energy solutions that address supply and demand," Nevada Sen. John Ensign states that the United States has "trillions of barrels of oil right here."
Let's assume trillions means 3 trillion. If that's the case, why would we want to go to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for "8.5 billion barrels" or offshore for "10 billion barrels?" Added together, that's 18.5 billion -- not even 1 percent of 3 trillion.
ROY GROSSER
LAS VEGAS
Anger management
To the editor:
Despite your Tuesday editorial that hit the mark regarding university system Regent Howard Rosenberg's inability to accept the Nevada Supreme Court's ruling upholding term limits, I could not restrain myself from tossing in my opinion.
Mr. Rosenberg needs to save his public employee pension and not waste it on pursuing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. He may need his funds to procure counseling, or a good criminal defense attorney if he continues to voice his displeasure over a high court decision driving him to such anger he could "kill."
Mr. Rosenberg, have you ever read the novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"?
Oliver Neil
HENDERSON
Hit the road, Howard
To the editor:
And so it's been said that Regent Howard Rosenberg is beside himself ("Regent bucks term limits," Tuesday Review-Journal).
He's so mad that the Nevada Supreme Court has removed him from this year's ballot that he doesn't know what to do (file a lawsuit, dip in to his reserves, go cry, maybe).
As a music fan I keep humming two jingles to myself. One from Don Henley ("Get over it ...") and the other from Ray Charles ("Hit the road, Jack ..."). In fact, I just hummed a third tune: "Another one bites the dust ..."
To Mr. Rosenberg and term limit foes: The republic will survive.
R.M. Olson
LAS VEGAS
The will of voters
To the editor:
In response to Doug Bradford's Wednesday letter to the editor criticizing Secretary of State Ross Miller and the Nevada Supreme Court for upholding Nevada's term limits amendment:
Neither Mr. Miller nor the Nevada Supreme Court is responsible for term limits. They are merely enforcing the initiative that was passed, not once, but twice by voters (which is a requirement).
Many of the very voters that Mr. Bradford says are disenfranchised by term limits are the people who decided that they wanted term limits.
I moved to Nevada in August 2004, and I am aware of the two separate votes it took to pass the amendment to limit terms in office to 12 years.
Where has he been?
Ginger McGraw
HENDERSON
