Isn't it way past time for the citizens of historic Rewana Farms and the city of Reno to create a Committee to examine whether the Airport Authority of Washoe County has the legal right to use USA government taxes to confiscate private land? The Committee must be comprised of local patriotic citizens who will work with their City Council.
At this writing, the issue is on the City Council agenda and there are questions that warrant answers:
Don't these questions demand answers before more innocent citizens are forced out of their homes?
I have been recommending for a long time that the Nevada Air Guard be provided with some firefighting versions of their C-130 cargo airplanes. These planes should be on rapid alert during the summer so they can put out fires at a moment's notice. Using America's taxes to protect and save lives and property. That is what the National Guard was created for.
(There are a lot of good and talented soldiers at our Air Guard. Nevadans want to be proud of them. Their mission should be designed to do the most good for Nevadans in the time of danger.)
Enter the bureaucrats. From the annals of "Believe It or Not" we suddenly hear of a bogus law that asserts that military equipment, qualified and available though it might be, is not allowed to be used until civilian resources are depleted. Not until they cry "uncle". Only then can military planes be called upon to save you, your loved ones, your pets, and your possessions. Sometimes this is too late.
This is in no way meant to disparage the heroic efforts of the civilian firefighters, but how would you feel if your family were endangered and your belongings were burned up? Wouldn't it be especially infuriating to know that some bureaucratic regulation said that only civilian firefighting planes can be used to provide protection? If an when they do admit they are exhausted, then the military is allowed to enter the fray. But by then your home has maybe been destroyed...
Why don't our governor and our U.S. senators demand that this ridiculous law be corrected immediately; before more lives and property are destroyed. Our leaders should be pro-active about this devastating debacle that inflicts the western United States every year. There are Air Guard units with firefighting C-130s capable of fighting fires like the ones that have recently endangered much of Reno and Northern Nevada. They should be sent to Reno to protect citizens and property. Let's use America's taxes correctly...
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BACKGROUND: In 1994 the Nevada Air Guard wanted to replace its noisy fighter jets with more fighter jets. Citizen petitions and objections were able to correct the mission to the quieter C-130 cargo plane. Then the Airport Authority tried its Rewana Farms landgrab under the auspices of caring about noise. Thus far the citizens have been able to protect their land. City, county, and federal government needs to find other ways to correct this problem; besides throwing $$tax money at people.
A LITTLE MORE BACKGROUND: Orange County Airport has had a pro-active stance concerning airline noise abatement for many years. It is time for the ever-expanding Reno/Tahoe Airport, and its airlines, to also become neighborhood -friendly.
There are ways they can do this. It is simply a matter of mindset. A matter of changing the way they do things. The Airport Authority (AAWC) of appointed officials , the Reno City Council of elected officials, and other pertinent agencies must become a part of the solution - instead of being an indifferent part of the problem.
DISCUSSION: As a partial solution to the problem, Orange County Airport has had an ongoing friendly land purchase program with their citizens who live near the Airport. In Reno it has been just the opposite. Activities have been confrontational and contentious.
That problem needs to be corrected. Additionally, there is another part of this equation that is being completely ignored. Simply put:
Rather than force Citizens to move away from the noise (and this is basically impossible because there are literally tens of thousands of Reno citizens adversely affected by airline nose), why not take steps to reduce the noise? Orange County has done this by getting approval from the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish takeoff (and landing) procedures that help mitigate (REDUCE) the noise impact on Citizens. (A Court decision mandated that airlines consider the welfare of Citizens.)
There is continuous monitoring of airliner noise by 8 Noise measuring devices that are located throughout the airport area. These monitors take readings continuously. Air carriers serving Orange County Airport must abide by these rules because the sanctions are severe.
Orange County met the problems of its ever-expanding airport by enacting compulsory takeoff procedures that help mitigate negative noise impact to its Citizens. Reno must do the same. It can be done. U. S. Department of Transportation and FAA ADVISORY CIRCULAR NUMBER 91-53A provides specific criteria for SAFE procedures.
A BRIEF SYNOPSIS:
It is ironic that when Reno's Hometown Airline takes off from Orange County airport, it is considerate of citizens' hearing. But not in Reno!
Even more ironic is that this procedure will greatly extend engine life; making bigger profits for the airlines. But anybody who thinks logically is usually a contrast to the real world. Why does bureaucratic paralysis of habit almost always result in contentious discussions of seemingly logical issues?
Okay... "Thank you" for being a better neighbor with your new and more useful C-130 cargo planes.
But on the other hand, a debt of "Thanks" is also due from the Air Guard to the citizens who campaigned so rigorously and patriotically to help correct the mission because:
So a debt of "Thanks" all around... (Several semi-anonymous calls came in from Air Guard members requesting these comments.)
In a move that was not unsurprising, J. R. Reynolds, one of Nevada's best radio talk show hosts, was ignominiously fired. He arrived for work on Friday, was given a tiny check, and told good-bye, adios, sayanara, and don't let the door hit you in the rear end.
Why wasn't the firing surprising? The answer is quite obvious... For 3 1/2 years Reynolds was an outspoken political pundit. In a small town like Reno, his honest expression of opinions was sure to catch up with him sooner or later. It is really too bad; because he almost always did an outstanding job of allowing both sides of an issue to be presented.
This firing proves once again, that it is risky business to appear to portray even a semblance of criticism of the establishment. Look at what happened to former councilwoman Jan Dalske...
As most people know, radio talk shows are in business to pique the interest of (as well as maybe educate) listeners. Without some controversy, there would be no show.
Reynolds generally stayed within the bounds of decorum (except for maybe one infamous comment that might have over-stepped the bounds a little) and had a very interesting, sometimes argumentative, and always stimulating show. Ironically, his forthright honesty might have caused his downfall.
But what specifically caused his firing? Was it the recent show when he had Citizen Gadfly as a guest and allowed him to expose the attempted Airport landgrab of Rewana Farms?
Another recent issue that stands out like a sore nose was when Reno mayor Jeff Griffin blasted out in a tirade against the "P" Body members of the Reno city council.
Griffin, that apparent spokesman of the establishment, was trying to get the "P" Bodies to tow the line and adhere to his agenda.
Reynolds had the courage to interview the "P" Bodies, and allowed them to tell their story. That might have been the last straw.
Reynolds had insidiously drifted toward speaking on behalf of the people of Reno. Regular citizens had become important...
And when the Fat Cat interests found out, they called in their radio chips and Reynolds was gone like a bad case of liberalism.
Who will become the spokesperson for the ladies and guys down the street? Can we look for the resurrection of the J. R. Reynolds Show in a different venue? Reno's radio listeners hope so...
The entire staff of The Reno Citizen continues to thank you for your interest, input, and compliments.
1. There is a definite analogy between Big Government Bureaucracy's attempt to make Nevada a nuclear dump and the landgrab of property from Reno citizens. Outsiders want to confiscate land and "dump" on it...
2. Should anybody be allowed to have such power?
3. Why is it that when employment figures increase, the Stock Market plummets? And that layoffs and downsizing cause the Stock Market to go up (along with CEO pay and bonuses)?
4. Sign at funeral parlor: "Our Corpse Never Warps." Right next to: "You Stab 'em, We Slab 'em." Coming soon: Funerals live on the internet... no kidding.
5. Another sign of modern times. The painter arrived to touch up the condos - with all of his equipment; ladder, paint, brush, scraper, and... cellular phone and beeper!
6. NOISE: With much prodding, the Airport "Authority" finally placed some noise monitoring gadgets by Rewana Farms. The problem is that one of the gadgets is right on the airport. The other is about 200 ft further in. Readings from these two gadgets are dubious at best... Results are extremely suspect
NOISE: Citizens in the area have noticed that airlines are revving up their engine reverse thrusters at full power - even after the plane has stopped! What is going on here? Looks like another scheme.
NOISE: Who is going to monitor the monitors?
NOISE: If citizens are not complaining about noise, why should Big Brother bureaucrats waste our taxes forcing them out of their homes?
7. At Orange County airport California, airplane engines are not allowed to exceed 91 decibels (like loud talking) of sound - EVER. Are they any better than Renoites? It is time for somebody to give a hoot at Reno's airport. With prodding from Citizen Gadfly, the Reno city council is looking at this...
8. Congress and Senate should never RECESS. Don't you wish you could take a month's recess with full pay, perks, and benefits?
9. It is beginning to look like Nevada might be a NUKE dump. 40 + states ganging up on one... Military fighter jets never land at the Nuke dump...
10. Now the Airport Authority wants to lease out the community Golf Course so the airlines can build a complex there. That conveniently eliminates one of the logical alternatives for the Air Guard.
10a. The Airport claims it will build a new golf Course. Guess where? Right under the flight path. This proves without a doubt they don't give a hooey about citizens' ears.
11. The Colorado Silver Bullets women's' baseball team was in Reno to play one of the local teams. A spectator commenting on one of the players - "She has the perfect build for a first baseman; tall, lanky, with long legs... and hooters!"
12. There is a condominium complex in Florida that requires periodic drug testing for all occupants. It is in the contract. Even the ACLU says it is legal. People are flocking to get in there.
13. Can you guess who made the decision that the Nevada Term Limits Bill will not apply to incumbent elected officials? One of those incumbent elected officials! So what's new in government?
14. Should the Reno City Attorney department be able to make secret settlement deals (in this case with Champion Chevy) without telling their bosses - the CITY COUNCIL? Whose tail is wagging whose dog? And how about the casino skywalk issue...
15. Isn't the Airport Authority a little like the tobacco industry spokespeople? Arrogantly embarrassed whenever they have to answer questions - especially about the Rewana landgrab and other related issues...
16. One more reason not to vote for Dole. You will have to listen to Elizabeth's vooyeeece for 4 years. By the way, hasn't she been on the government "dole" too long already? What were her qualifications for all those Fat Cat appointments she was given - other than being the wife of a Republican Fat Cat?
16a. Don't forget the speech money she said she was giving to her favorite charity... herself. The money went into her own retirement fund! Isn't she a step or two ahead of Hillary when it comes to stretching the truth?
17. At a recent Airport meeting citizen supporter, Jackie Decker, reported she felt there was corruption within airport staff. A trustee, duly shaken, asked for proof. Okay - how about the midnight $400,000 addition to the 1995 budget? All year long the budget was analyzed. Just before the approval vote, a huge addition for "NAG Reloc Study" was snuck in... with hopefully no potential for objection by the public. That is just one example of morally unsound action - corruption.
17a. What about the numerous cost overruns for the baggage claim area (from original $3 million up to about $13,000,000) and the extra $million (so far) for the parking garage? What do other bidders think? And the attempted deceitful use of an obsolete noise study to force innocent citizens off their land? The list is far too long to recite again...
18. Did the lady who had a Black Widow in a jar for 3 weeks prove there is life on Mars? No food. No water. No air. And it was still alive at last glance... Black Widows on Mars?
19. Aren't elections in Reno about like a kid trying out for a Little League team? That is: The coaches (voters) never get to see how the kid hits, throws, and fields. Instead they end up picking (voting for) the kid with the best looking uniform (campaign sign blight).
20. Could it be possible for a man with no feet and no forearms to run a 100 meter dash in 11.3 seconds? (The World Record for everyone is about 9.7 seconds.) Impossible, you say... It just happened.Paralympic events will soon be very popular...
21. Ralph Nader said more of substance in his two hour Presidential (Green Party) speech than all of the Republicans together in 4 days at their convention. American citizens really espouse Nader's values!
22. To put it as succinctly as possible: SAFETY is paramount, BUT airliners can reduce power after safely airborne. They have huge powerful engines. There are not enough taxes to buy up all of the noise-blighted land...
23. Susan Voyles, intrepid reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper, is really a good journalist. Shouldn't she be given a looser set of reins though? Ditto, Faith Bremner...
24. Washoe County's school overcrowding is caused by the seemingly uncontrolled expansion of casinos and businesses in the area. Make them pay for new schools. The Business of America is Business. But uncontrolled growth causes blight and eventually poverty and suffering amongst the masses.
24a. Big Businesses would be better served by donating their extra money to schools and food programs for needy children... Rather than throwing it at political candidates so they can commit more campaign sign blight.
25. Can anybody imagine how embarrassed Dole, the "Soulman" is going to be when he loses. To think he was coerced into using that silly song as his theme... just because it rhymed with his name? Why didn't he try other themes like: droll-man Dole (obvious), or our goal is to have Bod Dole in the fol(d), or we're on a Dole-roll, or my number one role (is), yes, or "I am in control" Dole, or I'll find a loophole Dole, or even Bob Dole "can still rock and roll". But Bob "the soul (or is it sole) man" Dole? Not...
26. Who's wallet is Reno's city attorney protecting? Isn't she accountable to the city council?
27. Noise, Air Guard Relocation, Blight, Sex activity, Environmental problems. These are just a few of the excuses the Airport has used for the attempted landgrab of historic Rewana Farms. Add to these bogus excuses yet another preposterous charge - Gang and Drug problems...
27a. Can there be little wonder that a Grand Jury investigation has been ordered by Sparks City Council people? Only Judy Pruett of the Reno City Council has the fortitude to agree. Citizens have been demanding that the Airport Authority mend its ways for months and months. But ears have been deaf. This is as bad as it can get, but don't bet on it...
28. Can we tab the Reno Airport Authority the Southern Pacific railroad of the sky? While the railroad merger has been getting all the attention, the airport has been growing like a cancer. Every problem related to the railroad issue is also true at the airport. When is the Reno city council going to become pro-active on this problem?
(longer this time)
Dear Reno Citizen; As a member of Senior Citizens for Political Action, I would advise those who share my beliefs and opinions to vote for NO incumbent, other than incumbent judges.
Our political representatives in Washington are grossly and notoriously ineffectual, our state officers and representatives in Carson City, from Gov. Miller on down, are apparently overwhelmed by their importance and are solely concerned with self-aggrandizement. Most of our County Commissioners and City Councilmen are not only incompetent, but seem psychopathic, as well. DON'T VOTE FOR ANY OF THEM IF YOU VALUE INTEGRITY IN PUBLIC OFFICE.
The appointees are pretty bad, too. Doesn't Reno have a City Engineer? Every time a piece of macadam or concrete gets laid down on one of our rotten streets, within a few days we see people out there cutting a trench through it to install electrical conduits. This has been a longtime practice in Reno. Can't the City Engineer arrange to get whatever it is done BEFORE the street is paved? Totally aggravated, Sam Bull, Attorney at Law
Dear Reno Citizen; While environmental organizations like the Sierra Club are good in what they do, the problems that they address -- disappearing wilderness, pollution, etc -- are really only symptoms of a more basic problem -- endless population growth, encouraged by developers and others who profit from it. NOGO (Nevada Organization of Growth Opponents) is organizing to fill this void and oppose this endless growth.
At present we are working to defeat the school bond. Nothing is preventing the developers from paying for the schools that their projects require... except their own greed
Interested readers of The Reno Citizen can call me at 322-8247 or write to P.O. Box 13001, Reno, NV 89507. Sincerely, Bill Hamma, pres. NOGO
Dear Reno Citizen; On behalf of Sam Dehné we thank the tight knit group of old-time professional politicians (the Nevada Non-Partisan ??? Coalition) who gave him a low rating as a politician. They are right. SAM is not a professional politician. So it is no wonder that he does not follow THEIR standards nor support THEIR agenda.
SAM has no big bucks, no campaign entourage, and consequently (and significantly) no obligations to any political groups. What SAM does have are a few small campaign signs... and innovative ideas to help the people.
Reno government is controlled by powerful special interest groups. It needs another Council member to help balance things - so regular citizens can have a say about what happens in Reno.
We can only hope that by the time you read this, Reno voters will have sent a clear message and placed SAM on the November ballot CITIZENS TO ELECT SAM TO THE RENO CITY COUNCIL
Dear Reno Citizen; A lady from Fernley recently wrote trying to support the Nevada Air Guard (NAG) celebration - welcoming their new C-130 transports. She had a promising solution... move the NAG to Idaho or Oregon; where she says there are "plenty of open spaces."
There are numerous logical solutions to the problem of what to do with the NAG. But one of them SHOULD NOT BE taking homes away from citizens for a relocation of the unit... so the Airport Authority can continue to increase noise and blight in our civilian city. Senators Reid and Bryan have said they are adamantly against such action...
We do not continuously berate the Air Force or the NAG. We continuously point out that a strong military, backed up by the Reserves and Guard, are vital to America's freedom. But when waste and abuse of tax dollars are evident, it is the duty of citizens to point them out. Vigilance concerning military excess is not a sin.
The Fernley lady referred to another letter that explained why the NAG is in Reno. If that letter had been able to say the NAG uses their planes to fight the devastating Nevada forest fires, it might have been close to the mark.
But instead, a reference was made to the benefit of the $35 million NAG budget for the community. That is NOT the purpose of the National Guard. The National Guards were created to help the governors of states in times of disaster and strife. A democratic society respects the lady's right to her notions. Informed citizens disagree with them.
Taxpayers respectfully ask who paid for the NAG's half-page newspaper ad, the salaries of airmen on duty catering the party, the cost of the fuel for the military flyovers, etc? Sincerely, Dexter Simon Cloverleaf
The Reno Citizen and Reno city councilwoman Judy Pruett support a probe into actions of the Airport Authority (AAWC) and its staff by an independent panel of citizens. Not a group of "good ol boys." (No whitewashes. For instance: if Sam Dehné is not one of the persons called to testify, citizens can be skeptical of the panel.) If things are in order, then there is nothing for the AAWC to fear.
Ah, but therein lies the rub...
Shenanigans by the Airport concerning the landgrab of historic Rewana Farmlands, alone, are of such a magnitude as to justify action by the D.A.
But even besides the Rewana Farms fiasco, can we find other questionable actions by the AAWC and staff that point to the need for an inquisition? You be the judge:
The list goes on and on. Certain members of Reno's city council say they need "facts". These are facts, folks - backed by documents and recordings.
Problems like these have been presented to the AAWC by patriotic citizens time and again in a professional manner. But the AAWC completely ignores them. Sparks's city council has just ordered an investigation. All that Reno citizens are asking is for the Reno city council to do the right thing and throw in their support. Shouldn't they be tired of following Sparks's lead by now?
There is a lot more here than meets the nose. And somewhere there is maybe the biggest story to come down the pike in years. Even Nevada Senators, Reid and Bryan, are now heading for high ground. Let's get with it, Reno city council. Get your focus off the railroad for a minute.
Either you fix the problem, or you are part of it.
(Note: See feature article for more information.)
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