Opinion

The Nevada Prolife Coalition would amend the state constitution to protect “the unalienable right to life of every prenatal person.” Simply put, it would define life as beginning at conception.

The Honorable Judge James E. Wilson determined that the description of the effect of this bill was nowhere near adequate. He did not say that the measure was illegal, however, but he did order NPC to substitute the following language into the initiative before they collect signatures:

In the United States a political party does not become the majority party in this country by becoming ideologically pure. They become the majority by becoming larger, inclusive, and superior to their political opponents not only in size, but should also be anchored in and unafraid of intellectual and discursive dialogue, devoid of reactionary emotionalism. Then and only then, can conservatism present and extend to the electorate our concepts in such a way that we will be accepted by the majority of our fellow citizens.

The good news is that the V&T Railway is expected to make a profit of $164,132 on their popular Polar Express event for the coming year.

The bad news is the railway's main runs between Eastgate Siding and Virginia City is projected to lose $108,192, even with an expected $67,250 in donations.

The resulting $56,000 in projected profit is almost enough to pay for the $60,000 shortfall in the previous season's sales tax revenue that pays for the bonds that helped rebuild the historic railway. That is a shortfall that is expected to continue and grow larger.

Planned Parenthood evokes strong reactions in most people. The name has been in the media a lot lately; from the many attempts to rescind their funding at a federal level to the recent fiasco with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, nearly everyone has the name at the tip of their tongue these days. With that in mind, it's not too surprising that 100 to 150 people crowded into the new Carson City Planned Parenthood clinic to check out the new digs at their open house Monday night.

A vocal minority’s intermittent cheerleading promotes the massive City Center project. Their objective: replace the city library with a +$75 million, three-times-the-size library complex just east of the Nugget Casino. (The ‘official’ $49 million cost curiously excludes 30 years of interest payments.)

Absent from this well-intentioned, but ill-conceived project are viability, necessity and prudence.

To my Western friends: My man Newt Gingrich lost here in Florida but there was one demographic he carried and that is hard-core conservatives. If “taking America back” is high among your priorities please know that your counterparts in Florida decided that Newt is just the man to do it!

I would like to know why Carson Tahoe Hospital & Clinic goes through Doctors & P.A.'s like people drink water?

Back when I used to write staff editorials for "the newspaper" some years ago, there was a requirement that you had to actually know something about the subject matter before you started writing.

After reading this editorial about the DREAM Act, I can see this standard no longer applies.

People can have different opinions, but not different facts. This editorial fails to accurately describe what the DREAM Act is, and instead suggests it would give amnesty to every illegal alien in the country.

In his letter to the editor, published in the December 24th Nevada Appeal, William Lepore Sr. admitted to being confused about American history, citing fake quotations from John Adams, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to drive home his point. Go to http://tinyurl.com/Leporequotes for details on these "quotes," or Google "The Right’s Library of Fake Quotes" for the rest of the story on the fictionalization of American history.

Every parent should recognize the childish antics of House Republicans on the payroll tax cut extension controversy.

When my nine-year-old doesn't want to do something, a familiar pattern emerges.

First comes the outright refusal. "No, I don't want to," she will say. It's almost always the most truthful part of the whole exchange.

When she sees that doesn't work, then she backpedals to find some other reason to support her position. "I can't do it now because I'm doing (something else)."

Echos of gunshots from Eduardo Sencion had barely subsided when the chatter began that the Carson City IHOP would never open again, forever tarnished by a gunman's murderous rampage.

But this week the IHOP did reopen, with the governor, mayor and sheriff in attendance to reassure residents that we will not let the acts of a madman control our lives, that we can put this tragic episode behind us.

Seven months ago, my spouse walked into my place of employment and told me that one of our best friends had been shot and killed.

It's been seven months and we've all begun to move on - all of Steve Gale's friends and family are slowly teaching themselves to exist in a world without Steve in it. We're all achieving this with varying degrees of success.

In the Saturday, November 26th Nevada Appeal, Geoff Dornan reported that Mark Amodei "is frustrated by the polarization and partisanship preventing progress toward fixing the nation's ills." I share Rep. Amodei's frustration, but would like to suggest he give a bit more thought to his own voting record, especially in light of his December 1st op-ed, in which he took Janice Ayres to task for saying he “voted straight party line.”

On its face, the Nevada Policy Research Institute lawsuit against state Sen. Mo Denis and the state is ludicrous.

The notion that somehow Denis' duties repairing computers for the Public Utilities Commission somehow conflicts with his legislative duties is far-fetched. He has no power in the executive branch with that — let me think of a word — ministerial job, so why sue him over it?

Steve Jobs on how you can change the world.

Film buffs will recall the terror with which the young Vito Corleone’s friends talked of The Black Hand, an invisible but palpable organization whose wrath was universally feared.

Far be it from me to suggest Godfather Harry Reid helms a criminal enterprise as Don Fanucci did in “The Godfather: Part II.” But recent events only reconfirm that the Senate majority leader’s unseen hand controls all within the Democratic Party with a ruthlessness and efficiency that La Cosa Nostra would envy, striking terror into all Democrats within his domain.

Occupy Wall Street began their two-week march from Nov. 9-23 to Washington, D.C. to tell Congress' Deficit Super Committee that the Occupy movement is against any extension of the Bush tax cuts. An extension of those cuts, which are due to expire in 2012, as well as reducing the tax rate on the highest bracket from 35 percent to 28 percent is being suggested as part of possible negotiations in creating the deficit reduction package which has a deadline of Nov. 23.

I have a friend here in Carson City who will soon be losing her home. She's not the first, and probably not the last.

She bought her house back near the height of the boom. It's a fairly small, modest home, but fits her needs almost perfectly. At the time, her income from her sales job easily covered her mortgage and expenses. Times were good.

I applaud President Barack Obama for his most recent trip to Las Vegas to announce a mortgage relief package. It is too bad that the TARP funds were not used several years ago to accomplish exactly...

Well, it seems that some of the new people in Congress still don't get it. They think they were sent to Washington, D.C., to balance the budget even if it means denying or reducing benefits for our...

I just finished reading the most delightful book about one of the most delightful women I have ever known. Aptly titled "If You Knew Sally," the book is about Sally Heiss, who, with her husband, Ha...

Over the last months, supporters of both political parties have blamed the others for the massive debt as the politicians continue to wastefully spend tax dollars. I look at it differently. The uni...

Justice was served last Tuesday when a Reno jury found 45-year-old John Gillane guilty of attempted murder and related charges for opening fire at a Reno Walmart on Nevada Day 2010, wounding three ...

Helping Hands Program was a tremendous success Once again I am truly amazed at the Builders Association of Western Nevada and Professional Women in Building. On Sept. 17, this group of hard-working...

Parker hits the nail on the head againAn open letter to Dr. Elliott Parker, chairman of the UNR economics department columnist for the -: Dr. Parker: Yet another thoroughly researched and intellige...

The -'s "Silver Dollar" and "Wooden Nickel" feature recognizes positive achievements from the capital region and, when warranted, points out others that missed the mark.SILVER DOLLAR: To NV EnerCop...

Time will heal emotionsof IHOP accidentI live not too far from where the massive North Hollywood Bank of America shootout took place.Now, 14 years later, the BofA bank is still there. No evidence r...

Our public schools must change. We must rethink how teachers teach and students learn.Charter schools hold much promise for reinventing public school. Blended distance learning (a mix of online ins...

When I read last month that the Nevada Appeal planned to start charging readers to access their web content, a tune began playing in my head: "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

Since the first step of their paywall (as we in the industry refer to paid access systems) was erected on Wednesday, traffic for Carson Now shot up 50 percent. I expect that to grow even more when the first free trial period ends and they begin asking readers for their credit cards.