June 18 Letters to the Editor

Newsletter a political tool

Editor:

Tarkanian was elected as a county commissioner in June of 2020. The day that I read Tarkanian's first newsletter, I immediately contacted the Douglas County Manager's Office and the County Attorney's Office. I was very concerned that allowing a county commissioner to send out "newsletter" emails to their constituents

would be used to do inappropriate actions on their behalf. I was advised that as long as the "newsletter" was used in an appropriate manner, it would not be a problem.

Well, here we are, all these years later and my concerns have come true. Instead of just reviewing the actions of the County Commissioner Board Meeting, Tarkanian is using the newsletters to put down people and their families who run against him in an election cycle.

Tarkanian should not be using his newsletters to go after people who he views are in his way of winning the elections. What elections he wants to win have nothing to do with his position on the Douglas County Commissioner Board.

In his May 25, 2025, Newsletter entitled "THE LATEST IN DOUGLAS COUNTY" Tarkanian went after Kirk Walder, who had made an attempt to have guidelines on what content can be created or distributed under the Nevada Revised Statutes and Douglas County Policies. I hope that will come to fruition.

Margaret Pross

Gardnerville

When Systems Fail Our Most Committed Students

Editor:

In October, my daughter made a brave and well-considered decision: she chose to skip the 7th grade. It was not impulsive or parent-driven. She initiated the process herself—writing emails, attending meetings, and answering every tough question from school staff with poise and maturity. She showed the kind of self-direction, confidence, and academic drive we say we want to encourage in young people.

But since her advancement, the Douglas County School District has failed to support or even properly recognize her achievement. Carson Valley Middle School never updated her status in the district’s records. For over six months, despite being repeatedly notified, the school failed to correct this in Infinite Campus. As a result, she was misassigned for state testing, left out of the 8th grade yearbook, unable to view or access her high school course load online, deemed ineligible for promotion awards, and excluded from the graduation ceremony program.

This isn't about yearbook photos or awards. It’s about the quiet, devastating message this sent to a student who worked hard, took risks, and exceeded expectations: that her efforts didn’t matter. That no one cared enough to fix what was broken.

After graduation, she quietly asked me, “Did I make a mistake by skipping a grade?” Her voice, normally so sure and hopeful, was full of doubt. And that’s the most painful part—because it wasn’t her that failed. It was the system.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. As a parent of children in three different schools in the Douglas County School District, I’ve seen a troubling pattern—one of dedicated teachers undermined by outdated systems, rigid policies, and leaders who don’t respond when something goes wrong.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the district’s transportation department. Inconsistent routes, unreliable scheduling, and poor communication are weekly frustrations for many families. Repeated calls and emails go unanswered. Concerns are dismissed. We’re left to problem-solve as best we can—juggling work schedules, arranging carpools, and trying to reassure children who are made late or left behind.

These aren’t minor inconveniences. They disrupt learning. They increase stress. And they send a clear signal that parents and students are not partners in this system—they’re obstacles to be ignored.

The irony is that our community is filled with educators and staff who docare—who go above and beyond every day. But they are working within a system that is slow to adapt, resistant to feedback, and too often unwilling to fix its mistakes. Exceptional students shouldn’t be punished for their ambition. Parents shouldn’t have to beg for basic communication. And leadership shouldn’t be silent when problems are raised repeatedly.

We tell kids to speak up, to strive for more, to believe in themselves. But what are we telling them when they do exactly that and are left unsupported?

Let’s stop punishing excellence. Let’s start showing our students that when they advocate for themselves, we’re listening.

Samantha Abbott

Minden

Hats off to Amodei

Editor

Hats off to Mark Amodei for voting no on H.R.4 the Rescissions Act of 2025 which will rescind $1.1 billion in funding for Public Broadcasting. After passing the House, this bill now goes to the Senate. If it passes there, come next October, local radio and television stations across the country will lose a major, and for many a primary funding source. NPR, PBS, and about 1500 stations will lose their ability to service their communities. Their funding will be crippled and many will have to shut down, This is particularly hard on rural areas who have no big donors to help fill their funding gaps.

Congressman Amodei pointed out that there is no need to rush the rescissions bill through for a budget that begins October 1. There is still time to discuss the need for an independent and reliable news and programming source that is supported by the public.

While not identified as a concern to our Congressman, I am also sickened by the other funding cuts made by the Rescissions Act. The balance of cuts, $8.3 billion, come from defunding global health, humanitarian assistance, and international development programs. If I still have a vote, I vote for taking time to discuss USAid and global health programs before they are totally destroyed.

I hope you will join me and urge the Senate to take a pause and not rush the passage of H.R.4. We all need to take a moment and think about the true cost (not just dollars and cents) of eliminating programs like NPR, PBS, and humanitarian aid.

Greta Hambsch

Genoa

From a long line of patriots

Editor:

I come from a line of patriots.

My great-grandfather, a Union Army color bearer, lost his leg in the battle of Corinth, Miss.

My uncle put on puttees and Doughboy helmet and shouldered a rifle in World War I.

My aunt was a teacher at the Tule Lake Japanese internment camp in WW II, later worked for the Red Cross in France receiving GIs wounded in the Battle of the Bulge.

My father was away a lot as an engineer consulting on warplanes for the Santa Monica defense industry.

Me? I was deferred (4F) from military service for congenital deafness—more serious than a bone spur exemption. But I’m serving my patriotic duty now.

Now the danger is from within: our dominant political class is destroying us. I will therefore take my Betsy Ross (13 stars) American flag, which I bought at Boston’s Old North Church, noted for Paul Revere’s 1775 midnight ride. I will display it at any protest I can get to until the United States is no longer under occupation.

Are there lefties who sneer at “wrapping oneself in the flag”? I will not whitewash American mistreatment of red, black, yellow, brown, poor, or other people. Despite its misuses, the flag represents possibilities—the possibilities of the American democratic experiment. It does not represent authoritarianism.

It is time to return the flag to true patriots—not to be used as a patch on a motorcycle vest, as a kind of Jolly Roger pirate rag, as frippery on a pole used to smash glass in our Capitol and injure police. Or as an ornament in the lapel of a wannabe tyrant. It is time to return its use to the lawful citizens who make up this country.

B.K. Williams

Genoa