Opinion

During this year’s legislative session, my wife and I approached our state legislators about resources for Nevada’s most underserved population: The mentally ill.
There is a health crisis in our state, one which has grown into an epidemic across the nation, but one that is especially endemic right here in the Silver State.
Having lived more than twelve years in a state that seems to cater to many human vices, this comes as no surprise to me.

This is to express my ardent support for Senator Ted Cruz. This is a man who has proven to us he is not just another politician. He has repeatedly stood up to the players in Washington D.C. to the favor of America’s citizens. '

His stance on foreign policy is strong and unwavering. His fierce support of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is what has won my heart. He has successfully and in some cases without cost, litigated important cases protecting the Bill of Rights at the United States Supreme Court and won.

Brett Fisher is a writer and cartoonist residing in Carson City. He and his wife, Lisa, have lived in the state capital for over seven years.

Are you having panic attacks, doubts, concerns or uncertainty, topped off with a sense of skepticism about the narrowing of Carson Street? If so, surprise, you are in the majority.

Know this, the project will go forward. Why? Because, the 1/8 of a cent sales tax that will fund the Downtown Carson City project had been approved by the Board of Supervisors with a 4 to 1 vote.

During this year’s legislative session, my wife and I approached our state legislators about resources for Nevada’s most underserved population: The mentally ill.
There is a health crisis in our state, one which has grown into an epidemic across the nation, but one that is especially endemic right here in the Silver State.
Having lived more than twelve years in a state that seems to cater to many human vices, this comes as no surprise to me.

Heroic acts aren’t random or accidental by nature. They are deliberate. A person has to summon the courage to act bravely and heroically. Even in a split second.

Carson City Sheriff Deputy Carl Howell has proven this. Maybe one day, when a child looks up the explanation of “hero” in the encyclopedia, he’ll see Howell’s name next to it.

Brett Fisher is a writer and cartoonist living in Carson City. He and his wife, Lisa, have resided in the state capital for over seven years.

Don’t give up, on life or your dreams
There is a part in the movie “Tin Cup” where Kevin Costner’s character refuses to quit.
Professional golfer Roy McAvoy is on the 18th fairway in the final round of the U.S. Open, trying to clear the ominous water hazard separating him from the green.
His first ball falls well short of the green, splashing into the water. So does the second. The third. And the fourth shot. All the while, the entire gallery, the players and even McAvoy’s caddy are gasping at the futility of his efforts.
But not Roy.

We often hear that electricity can be generated cheaply and with no environmental impact from the wind and sun.

Sounds good. But long ago, folks were also assured that nuclear power would be “too cheap to meter” and the only safe environmental choice.
The catches then were the same as now: First, the cost claim was based on biased estimates by the advocates for these sources, not on competitive market data.

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, more Nevadans than ever now have health insurance coverage. One of the covered benefits is the provision of preventative health services and treatment for most illnesses. With so many Nevadans having coverage, the primary health care system has been overwhelmed with people trying to access services.

When the framers of the U.S. Constitution created the Bill of Rights, their purpose was to put in writing the limits of government. They were less concerned with what individuals should be allowed to do and more concerned with what the government should or should not be allowed to do.

These rights that we claim as ours aren’t really rights at all, but rather guarantees of what the government is not allowed to do to us.

Doing the right thing is not determined because one consistently votes with the majority. One should always vote on the principle of what is right and fair. A vote may be a lone vote, if so, just say and repeat as needed: You can't break me. I don't have a breaking point.

From the Board of Supervisors meeting held on July 16. Agenda item No. 11. This item dealt with directing staff to examine the feasibility of Carson City joining the Nevada League of Cities (NLC). This is somewhat problematic, how could any Board member not consent and give the go-ahead to a feasibility study?

It was 10 p.m. on a temperate winter evening in early February three years ago when my best friend suffered a grand mal seizure. I rushed her to the hospital, and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Then the doctor came out and informed me that she felt my friend had a brain tumor causing the seizure, because my friend was not responding to the anti-epileptic medication administered to her. The doctor said the only way to be sure was a three thousand dollar CT scan or MRI.

It was ten o’clock at night on a temperate winter evening in early February three years ago when my best friend suffered a grand mal seizure. I rushed her to the hospital, and waited. And waited. And waited some more.
Then the doctor came out and informed me that she felt my friend had a brain tumor causing the seizure, because my friend was not responding to the anti-epileptic medication administered to her. The doctor said the only way to be sure was a three thousand dollar CT scan or MRI.

Rob Hooper of the Northern Nevada Development Authority recently penned an apology for the commerce tax passed last month by Nevada’s legislature and signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval. NNDA exists to promote investment in Nevada, so he tried to put the best face possible on this abomination.
However, Nevadans deserve the unvarnished facts about this particularly pernicious tax. So we’ll respond to his key points.

Claim: "The margins tax was a bad piece of legislation because it taxes all companies the same" but the commerce tax creates needed flexibility.

Living in a region like Reno-Tahoe, it is hard to imagine life without outdoor recreation. Up until two years ago, I took this perspective for granted.

Then I developed severe discomfort in my legs that resulted in impaired mobility. I have since been diagnosed with a neuromuscular disorder. I require a three-point cane for most activity outside of the home, as well as a four-wheeled walker at times.

History shows time and time again our greatest accomplishments at Lake Tahoe are achieved when people work together. In the past, Tahoe was known as a place where unproductive interactions between stakeholders led to a stunning decay in our environment and our economic vitality, creating a region that seemed frozen in time.

Adam Laxalt is using his office to jump on one anti-federal bandwagon after another, from immigration policy to health care implementation and now to enforcement of clean water rules. In every case, the new AG throws around the term "unconstitutional," as if he is personally endowed with the power to decide which policies of the federal government do and don't comply with the constitution of the United States. He is not.

Here are the facts behind Laxalt's latest ideological crusade:

http://www.nwf.org/~/media/PDFs/Affiliate-Partnership-Center/Waters-Rule...

With 15 major Republicans already declared – the best presidential field since Ronald Reagan ran for re-election – GOP voters should be able to tap a very strong candidate to lead their party next year. Which one would best unify and represent them?

Good cases certainly can be made for (in alphabetic order) Dr. Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Rick Perry and Marco Rubio. But we think Scott Walker offers the best package of strong executive experience, personal qualifications and reliable, across-the-board limited-government reform politics.

The Downtown 2020 group initiated and promoted the Downtown Carson City Renovation plan. This took years of planning, relentless meetings with the Board of Supervisors and working with many different city agencies, City Planner, City Manager and engineers.

During this process there have been meetings with all the businesses and reaching out to the college and our high school to get them involved. We had public meetings where we listened and adapted your concerns to our plan for we understood that to be successful it takes a village.

“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Those were Donald Trump’s words about Mexican immigrants in announcing he’s running for President.

We take strong exception to all that. And, having labored long in the political fields with other dedicated limited-government conservatives and Republicans, we know those are not the views of most of our folks.
America has not always welcomed legal immigrants with open arms, but we should -- now more than ever. Overall, they are a blessing to us just as America is a blessing to them.

The governor, legislature, Board of Regents, and Nevada System of Higher Education deserve to be commended for working to improve education in Nevada during the 2015 legislative session.

However, for months we have looked on with concern about our state's economic future and that of our students. Simply, the recently revised funding formula, with a goal of rectifying inequities between the two universities, has created budgetary chaos for the state's four community colleges.

What is freedom, and what does it mean?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines freedom as “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action…the power or condition of acting without compulsion.”

What this means to the average American living in freedom every day is being able to choose what you say or do without government restraint or compulsion to say or do something else.

The summer of 1776 must not have been much different from other summers gone and yet to come: Hot, muggy and miserable for those who had to work out in it. And in 1776 that included most people.

Like any other summer, that particular one 239 years ago was alive with fragrances in full bloom; the sounds of children playing in fields of wild flowers, and splashing about in creeks and ponds where it was cool; young animals frolicking in the fields; men and women toiling in their gardens and on their farms; and the happy songs of birds, crickets and frogs relishing in the summer solstice.

In the movie Dances with Wolves there is a line, one of the characters says, and it goes something like this: “Somebody back east is saying, why don’t he write?”
Many of you might be wondering the same thing about me. Why I haven’t written for a spell? I could list numerous reasons, some might be worth mentioning, and others would be insignificant.

In simple true-to-life terminology — I’m back. A few of the hot topics from the June 18th Board of Supervisor meeting.

The following letter and attachment below is from Maxine Nietz, a civil engineer, 25-year resident of Carson City and business owner. It address architecture surrounding the proposed Capitol Mall project.

TO: Mayor Bob, Nick Marano, Lee Plemel, Ronni Hannaman, Steve Neighbors, Chris Baker, Matt MacRichie:

Additional tax money for an already extravagant animal shelter?

On June 18th lobbyists will petition the Carson City Board of Supervisors to increase the 1/8 cent sales tax bond by over one half million ($600,000) to fund an extravagant $500 per square ft. animal shelter. This is an increase from an already budgeted $3.9 million to $4,500,000.

Recently, my friend Slats Grobnik told me about politics in a state where he had lived.

“We had a Republican governor who won his first term by promising things limited-government conservatives wanted, especially no new or increased taxes. In that term he abandoned all those promises and took up with the Dems and RINOs – that’s Republicans in Name Only.

The shameless behavior of the "Republicans" in the recently concluded 78th session of the Nevada Legislature -- their vote for the biggest tax and budget hike in the State's history being first and foremost among their record of mis- and nonfeasance -- and the angry reaction to it by the State Party and the loyal Republican rank-and-file, raise an important question.

What is a Republican? What does it mean to be a Republican? If the RINOs and conservatives are both "Republicans," then the term badly needs to be defined.

The elections in November 2014 were a great surprise to many and shock to some. The people swept all Democrats out of the state-wide offices, reversed the majorities in both houses of the Legislature, and by a 4-to-1 margin defeated the "margin" tax. We the Republican base were looking forward to restoring long-overdue sanity at the State level.