Yucca Mountain News Clips
Monday, October 18, 2004
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Las Vegas SUN
October 18, 2004
Editorial: Forcing the door open
Las Vegas SUN
It's bad enough that the federal government wants to use Yucca Mountain as a burial site for the nation's high-level nuclear waste -- take the politics out of this plan and it would fail every scientific test. But to meet in secret about anything concerning Yucca Mountain, especially here in our own state, is almost as bad. Yet that's what's been happening as elected officials from the city of Caliente and Nye, Esmeralda and Lincoln counties met repeatedly this year to discuss an aspect of the Energy Department's transportation plan.
Transportation is one of the more dangerous aspects of the Yucca Mountain plan. Deadly waste would be hauled thousands of miles across the country for decades, inviting irreparable disaster. The final leg of the trip from nuclear power plants to Yucca Mountain would be via a proposed rail line from rural Caliente, 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas.
In April this newspaper and the Nevada Press Association filed a complaint with the state attorney general's office after we learned that the elected officials were discussing this proposal -- behind closed doors. This month, the office agreed that the meetings violated the state open meeting law and cited the group for a "pattern of deception, privacy, exclusion and non-disclosure." A proposed settlement would have the group reconsider its past agenda items in public, and a spokesman for the group said its members will comply.
The state of Nevada has sued the Energy Department over this proposed rail line on the grounds that federal environmental policies are not being followed. All discussion of it should be held in public. The attorney general's office said it "stands ready to litigate this case" if the group meets again in private. We hope the group's members got the message.
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Las Vegas SUN
October 18, 2004
Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Immovable objects
Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.
ENOUGH POLITICS for a moment.
I am not as smart as the pundits on television who know what the voters are going to do now that Sen. John Kerry has proved his mettle by sweeping the debates against President George W. Bush.
By that, I mean I still don't have a clue which one is going to win the election next month, although I believe Nevadans have already decided for whom they are going to vote. That would be the fellow who has promised to join Sen. Harry Reid to stop Yucca Mountain and not the guy (that would be the president) who is doing everything he can to make sure Nevada gets the country's radioactive garbage right here in our backyard.
We are a proud and patriotic group out here, but we are not stupid. Cutting our own throats is not part of our playbook. So, rather than join the chorus trying to sing the song of knowledge about that which we cannot know until Nov. 2 -- even with the GOP efforts to prevent voters from reaching the polls -- I have decided to talk about the hardened underbelly of politics gone astray. The bureaucracy!
Yes, our beloved bureaucrats and all that they do to make our lives better is the subject of today's essay. And it ain't a pretty picture. I am sure there are worse stories floating about the Silver State, stories that would make your hair curl and your blood boil, but I don't know them. Yet. This one I know because it is mine.
Every once in a while my publisher gives me a few days off to rest my brain and bones. Last week was one of those times, so I decided to combine business with pleasure and head over to Belfast, Ireland. The business was to do what I could to make sure the peace between north and south was still holding fast. The pleasure was a few days of golf in what has to be golf heaven on Earth.
As part of the proper prior planning that goes into every one of my international sojourns, I checked my passport to make sure all was in order. It wasn't. The expiration date was barely two days after my planned return. With all the things that could go wrong, traveling on a passport with only two days to spare was not a good idea. No problem, I will just renew it, I said. So I asked my trusted adviser, Cindy Robinette, to research the best and most efficient way to accomplish that simple task, given the fact that I had less than five working days to do so.
Cindy made an appointment at the Los Angeles passport office (I was going to be there anyway) on the Friday before the Sunday I was to leave. She told me that the person she spoke to said a one o'clock appointment gave me ample time in which to handle the paperwork, and that I would leave the building with new credentials in hand. Guaranteed!
At the appointed hour I presented myself to the appropriate person behind the bulletproof window. She gave me a number, told me to wait and questioned whether two hours would be sufficient to get my new passport. I advised her I had flown in from out of town, at which time she told me, "No problem, we can get it done for people who come from out of town." I was comforted. But only for a few minutes.
When my number was called, I went to another appropriate bulletproofed window and presented a handful of documents and the two required photos. The lady was very nice. She took all my paperwork and immediately began stamping -- everything. If she told me once she told me a dozen times that she didn't think I could get my passport that day because they closed the office at 3 p.m. and it was already 1:30. I tried to get her to hurry but she kept stamping and talking.
When she did return, she advised me that there was no way I could get what I needed to leave the country on Sunday morning. I calmly asked to speak to her supervisor. Staying calm was not easy. When the man in charge came out, he went to the window immediately adjacent to where I was standing and asked me to step to the right. I did. One foot to the right! I think it was a power thing.
I told the man my story, to which he replied that he couldn't do anything to help me. He explained that it takes two hours to do the necessary paperwork and since it was already nearing 2 p.m., it would be impossible because he was going home at 3 p.m. Of course, remembering the good old days of Las Vegas, I offered to pay cash for any and all overtime for however many public servants it took to stay past 3 p.m. to process my new passport. I was still calm. The man said he couldn't.
"You can't or you won't?" I asked. "I can't and I won't," he retorted. I was still calm, although I have no idea how. "Why can't you?" That's what I said. "Because they won't let me." That's what he said. "Who is they?" I asked. "The State Department," he answered.
I was no longer as calm as I had been. Realizing that I was getting nowhere and that he was the final authority in all of Los Angeles, I asked for my paperwork and my passport back, figuring that I would work on getting back into the country after I had safely gotten out. That's when he lit me up. "You can have your passport back but it isn't any good," he said. He was actually smiling when he said it. "Why not?" I asked, "It doesn't expire for another week," I explained. "Your passport has been canceled," he said gleefully, I am sure. I know I said something in response but I can't be certain if it was in English.
That nice lady who stamped everything in sight? She stamped my perfectly good passport "canceled" and there was no way that fellow was going to fix it. He, like someone else high up in government, wouldn't even admit it was his mistake. So there I stood without my old but perfectly valid passport and no chance to get a new one. And I was supposed to leave the country in less than two days.
I asked the nice man if he knew how stupid his explanation sounded, and he said yes but remained steadfast in his determination not to help one bit. Upon determination that that was his final answer, I did the only thing a citizen in good standing could do when faced with the immovable object of the federal bureaucracy. I stepped outside the building and called Capitol Hill.
It was 5:15 on Friday night in Washington and things did not look good, but then I got lucky. A young man took my call. I explained my predicament. He agreed it was a predicament, especially on Friday night. But he did not shrink from the challenge. He promised to try his best and said he would call me back. I went back inside and stared at the man who wouldn't and couldn't help a citizen in need. He couldn't have cared less.
All of a sudden, things started to happen. The man who couldn't, suddenly thought that he could. The voicemail on my cell phone advised me that someone in the Los Angeles office was on the case and everything I had been told by the man in charge was "in error." I was advised by another voicemail that I would have my new passport before the day was out. That's when the supervisor called me up to his window (he used the microphone even though I was the only one left in the room) to advise me that he had found a way to restart the computers and that he would have my brand new identity papers in just a few minutes.
He was good to his word (I watched him do the work all by himself, which took him well past his quitting time of 3 p.m.) and a short time later I was out the door with that which had been promised.
I condensed the story to fit in this space and to save further embarrassment for some of the people who work for us and are paid by us to take care of us. Believe me, the full story was not pretty.
And here's the wind-up. I found out later what happened. That enterprising young man on Capitol Hill persevered until finding someone in the State Department who listened to his story. Common sense prevailed and some kind of talking to was directed toward the Los Angeles office. The passport that couldn't and wouldn't be done was done a few minutes later.
I am sure there are worse stories. And I am confident that there are many more good stories about those who work for the government who do their jobs properly. I am reminded, though, of the signs which hang above the offices at vegas.com. They say, "Think of yourself as a customer." Perhaps I should send one of those signs to the man in charge of the passport office in Los Angeles.
On second thought, that would be a waste of a good sign.
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Las Vegas SUN
October 18, 2004
Editorial: Our choices for Congress
Las Vegas SUN
Weekend Edition: October 17, 2004
Harry Reid, a moderate Democrat, has been an outstanding U.S. senator for Nevada since he was first elected in 1986. He has championed the needs of working people, and if it hadn't been for Reid's unwavering opposition to burying nuclear waste in Nevada, the Yucca Mountain project very likely would have been a done deal by now. Instead, Reid's influence has given our state a fighting chance to stop Yucca Mountain. We can't afford to lose Reid, who is the assistant minority leader of the U.S. Senate and the most powerful Nevadan we've ever had in Congress. The Sun endorses Harry Reid.
In the most fiercely contested congressional race in Nevada, Democrat Tom Gallagher is trying to unseat Republican Jon Porter in Congressional District 3, which includes part of Southern Nevada. When Porter was elected in 2002 he said he would be an independent voice, but instead he has been a rubber stamp for Republican leaders, almost always voting with them. It's also disturbing that Porter, like so many other top Republicans in this state, says that there isn't any difference between John Kerry and George Bush on Yucca Mountain. Even a schoolchild would understand that Bush, a Republican, has put nuclear waste on a fast track to Yucca Mountain while Kerry, a Democrat, has fought the dump and would, if elected, do all that he could to stop it. For Porter, fealty to his party and the president have clouded his judgment on Yucca Mountain.
Gallagher has been a successful executive in the gaming industry and we're fortunate that he's willing to bring his expertise in problem-solving to Washington. He has sensible ideas, such as passing a real prescription drug benefit for seniors that doesn't benefit the insurance companies and drug makers. That stands in stark contrast to Porter, who supported the president's prescription drug plan, which actually makes it illegal for the federal government to buy drugs in bulk, resulting in seniors having to pay far more than they should. And on Yucca Mountain, the biggest federal issue facing this state, Gallagher clearly understands how important it is to do everything in his power to prevent it from happening. The Sun endorses Tom Gallagher.
Rep. Shelley Berkley, another moderate Democrat from Nevada, has been a great representative for Congressional District 1, which includes part of Southern Nevada. She has been an effective advocate on behalf of Las Vegas, working to get more funding for local schools and trying to find ways to lower health care costs. The Sun endorses Shelley Berkley.
Rep. Jim Gibbons, a conservative Republican, represents Congressional District 2, which includes all of Northern Nevada and a part of Southern Nevada. We don't always see eye-to-eye with Gibbons on the issues, but he has been effective in satisfying the needs of his constituents, especially those in rural areas who might otherwise go neglected. The Sun endorses Jim Gibbons.
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
October 18, 2004
POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Interesting wrinkles could arise at special session
Impeachment trial against Augustine set just days after vote
By Erin Neff
Review-Journal
Although there are only 15 days left until the election, most state lawmakers are standing in fear of the event coming the week after the Nov. 2 general: the special session to impeach Controller Kathy Augustine.
It's no wonder.
Gov. Kenny Guinn has called for the session to begin Nov. 8. It would include those elected just six days earlier.
Some interesting wrinkles could arise.
The state Supreme Court is scheduled to canvass the election results Nov. 23. So how can legislators be sworn into the session if they haven't been certified as winners?
And, what if some of those legislative races are close and, as a result, contested. Two years ago one race was won by 11 votes.
Then there's the calendar itself. Nov. 11, a Thursday, is Veteran's Day. Is the Legislature going to start on a Monday, go for three days and take a day off?
Legislative sources estimate the daily cost of such a session at $20,000 to $25,000, quite a bit more than the $12,000 that has been widely reported.
Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, has told members of his caucus that it should take a week for his house to process the articles of impeachment.
State Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, has suggested a trial in the upper house could last three weeks.
Thanksgiving is on Nov. 25, but the focus on Carson City might not end in November. There is already speculation of a December to remember in the state capital.
And while the Assembly technically can go home, by resolution, during the state Senate's work, all 42 members have to come back to adjourn.
"Can't we do it by teleconference?" asked one freshman lawmaker from Las Vegas.
Who knows? Nevada's never impeached an elected official before and there are scads of lawyers around the country sending reams of paper with suggestions on how to proceed.
The advice is about everything from the legal threshold for guilt -- is it a preponderance of evidence or beyond a reasonable doubt? -- to procedural maneuvering.
And some thought Binion II could be long.
Stumping for Gallagher
Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel came to town Friday with Barack Obama and stumped for votes for Democrat Tom Gallagher by citing health care and economic policies of the Bush administration that he said resulted in greater numbers of job losses and uninsured residents.
"When George Bush declared in the 2000 election that he was against nation building, who knew he meant the United States?" Emanual, D-Ill., deadpanned.
He added: "We're forever in his debt."
Obama, who is running for the U.S. Senate from Illinois and delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention this summer, found the city's "What happens here, stays here" campaign doesn't apply to him.
He arrived at McCarran International Airport at about 12:30 a.m. Friday with staffers ready to hit the nightlife.
"About 10 people came up to me, recognized me and said, `Senator Obama,' " he said. "I wasn't going to be able to get away with anything."
Revisionist history
Funny how candidates forget what they do on the campaign trail.
This is what President Bush said Thursday at a rally at the Thomas & Mack Center. "Four years ago, when I traveled your state, asking for the vote, I made this pledge: If you gave me a chance to serve, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of the office to which I had been elected. With your help, I will do so for four more years."
Actually, he didn't make that pledge.
He attended a fund-raiser at Lake Tahoe, refused to meet with the press, and issued a statement pledging to base a decision about Yucca Mountain on "sound science, not politics."
Since then, Bush has been back to the state five times, four this year, and has yet to grant a question to anyone in the press.
His Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, has talked to the local press all five times he's visited Nevada this year.
Contact political reporter Erin Neff at 387-2906 or ENeff@reviewjournal.com.
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Reno Gazette-Journal
October 18, 2004
Edwards' wife brings campaign to Carson City
Jaclyn O'Malley
Carson City fifth-grade teacher John Test leaned against a wall Sunday in a room packed with about 350 people and listened to the wife of the Democratic vice presidential candidate criticize President Bush on Social Security and the environment while touting her husband´s running mate.
Test had seen U.S. Sen. John Edwards speak in Reno earlier this fall and last week attended the controversial filmmaker Michael Moore “Bush Bash’ at Lawlor Events Center.
“I wanted to hear some real answers, because I´ve heard the same things over and over on television,’ said the Mark Twain Elementary School teacher. “This election is a biggie. My mother, who is 69, has never voted before, and she is now going to vote for Bush.
“This election is really huge.’
About 100 more supporters, initially caught in the rain outside Western Nevada Community College, watched Elizabeth Edwards on a television in a first-floor coffee shop. Sunday´s Town Hall Discussion in Carson City was Elizabeth Edwards´ second visit to Northern Nevada. Her first was in Reno.
After the Carson City visit, Edwards traveled to Elko as part of a statewide Kerry campaign that included celebrity appearances in the 17 counties in the state, including singers Carole King and Toni Tennille, actress Alyssa Milano and Jack Carter, son of former President Jimmy Carter.
Edwards kicked off her visit by telling the crowd in her slight Southern drawl that the president, if re-elected plans on privatizing Social Security.
“That will be devastating to our deficit of $2 trillion,’ she said, adding that benefits would likely be cut and eligibility would be raised.
The audience she addressed Sunday was of all ages. Some of the younger people gave up their seats to the elderly forced to stand because of the large crowd.
“Financial institutions would be the big winners,’ she said. Edwards said by the time her children, ages 22, 6 and 4, would need Social Security funds “they would be in big trouble.’
Bush campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt denied this is part of Bush´s re-election plan and said the president has never used the word “privatization.’ She said this was an example of the Kerry-Edwards camp´s “eagerness to say anything’ and that Kerry voted eight times to raise taxes on benefits.
“They will try to scare America´s seniors if they believe it will help score political points,’ she said. “The Kerry campaign is using misleading senior scare tactics because they have no plan for Social Security.’
One member of the audience asked Edwards how to make the government responsible for the environment.
“Bush is the worst environmental president in my memory,’ she said, adding if Kerry were elected he would not have the nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. She said the president distorts science in regards to his environmental plans.
“If you want it, vote Bush,’ she said of the Yucca Mountain dump. “If you don´t, John Kerry is your man.’
Schmitt said Edwards had originally supported the waste repository there and changed his position once selected to the Democratic ticket. She said Kerry has voted in the past to cancel environmental studies.
Under Bush, the air is cleaner and our water is cleaner, Schmitt said.
Test said he attended the discussion because he wanted to “feel better’ about his vote for Kerry. Test´s wife, Carolyn Cook, asked Edwards how to keep elections fair in light of recent voter fraud allegations.
Edwards encouraged people to vote early so that if there were any “shenanigans’ at the polls, they would be caught before the election.
Because Kerry and the president have such different stances on the issues, Edwards encouraged voters to learn as much as possible about the candidates and their views. She said it is too easy for busy people to be misled by campaign slogans.
Other topics she discussed were Kerry´s plan to decrease individual health care costs, to increase federal Pell grants for college students and to offer a $4,000 tax credit for students who complete two years of community service.
Following her discussion, Edwards met with a group of reporters and said Kerry plans to visit Reno, but she did not know when.
Test said he was glad he listened to Edwards and got more than a 10-second sound-bite from television.
“It was good to get some detailed answers, and there was some Bush bashing, but I guess that´s what it´s all about,’ Test said.
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Reno Gazette-Journal
October 18, 2004
Letters to the editor for Oct. 18, 2004
Yucca is Nevada´s biggest security issue
If anyone still thinks there´s not much of a difference between Kerry and Bush on the issue of Yucca Mountain, they are trying hard not to pay any attention [“Kerry promises to kill Yucca plan,’ Oct. 6]. Kerry made a commitment to use the power of the presidency and the budget and appointment authority that comes with it to stop Yucca Mountain altogether. Bush on the other hand has used that same power to speed up the project with the hope of delivering nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain by 2010.
There is no more important issue for Nevada than Yucca Mountain in this upcoming election. It´s the biggest security issue we face in this state. Nevadans need to get informed and vote.
Ben Africa, Reno
I am cynical about campaign promises, but your editorial, “Promises won´t help Yucca’ struck me as taking cynicism too far, almost to the point of partisanship. We have a clear choice in this presidential election and while we must take campaign rhetoric with a large grain of salt, there are facts, not campaign spin and misrepresentations, which must be considered on Yucca Mountain.
In the 2000 campaign, candidate Bush promised to base his decision on Yucca Mountain on the scientific evidence; despite the science and the courts ruling that the project isn´t safe enough, the president decided to proceed. This is a cold hard fact. If this were an isolated (let me be kind and say flip flop) by the president, that might be excusable, but given the misrepresentations over Iraq´s WMD, nuclear potential and chaos on the ground, this is part of a clear pattern. To say you can´t believe the president´s campaign on Yucca Mountain would be based on his actions. To say the same about Sen. Kerry is just cynical.
I for one will take the senator at his word. At least there´s a chance he isn´t lying and that´s better than the president, who already has.
Paul Leiba
Reno
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Reno Gazette-Journal
October 18, 2004
Taxes, education help shape Assembly Dist. 24 race
Susan Voyles
In the Assembly District 24 race in north Reno, Democrat David Love says he wants full-day kindergarten, more vocational schools and other expanded state programs.
But he has no concrete plan on how to pay for them.
Brooks Holcomb, his Republican opponent, says he would have joined the “Mean 15’ Assembly Republicans who fought to stave off a record increase in new state taxes, had he been in the Legislature last year.
“I would not have jumped ship and voted with the Democrats for the largest tax increase in Nevada´s history,’ Holcomb said.
But Holcomb said he also supports boosting state dollars for education if a performance audit indicates more money is needed. “We are throwing money at education. We don´t know how to improve performance,’ he said. “We need to come up with reforms and then make sure (they are) properly funded.’
But where would the state find more money for education? “Exactly. That´s the problem,’ he said.
Holcomb said he favors the “Contract with Neva-dans’ plan proposed by Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, in September.
It includes capping property taxes, the performance audit for education and no new taxes except for those approved by voters.
In the district where Democrat Vivian Freeman won every election from 1986 to 2000, Brooks said he would just as soon as not emphasize his ultraconservative ties.
As an Independent American, he ran against state Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, in 1996. Now he says the campaign was a fluke and a mistake.
Other than three or four months for that race, Holcomb, who owns an insurance-related business, said he has been a lifelong Republican.
He said he had no idea that “We the People’ was a conservative political action group. It gave him two-thirds of his money for his run in the primary.
The group has ties with Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, who was part of the Mean 15 leadership. The group paid Ted Angle, her husband, $11,752 for miscellaneous expenses — about one fourth of the money it raised.
The PAC donated $4,800 to Holcomb´s campaign while he provided $2,225 of his own money.
Holcomb said it was enough to defeat freshman incumbent Republican Jason Geddes, who voted for the tax hikes in 2003. Holcomb said voters were mad at Geddes over the tax issue. “They were just angry,’ he said, even though most of the new taxes didn´t affect them directly.
Holcomb, who said he walked through his district, said he was just as surprised as everyone else that he defeated the incumbent.
“It shows the little guy who works hard and really connects with voters can win,’ he said.
Geddes had raised $70,000 before the primary and spent almost all of it. Love raised $2,065 before the primary.
Holcomb, whose wife Jill is a teacher, said education is a key to reducing the state´s prison population. He said 85 percent of the inmates are from Nevada, have an eighth-grade literacy rate and no marketable job skills.
“We need to focus on K-12,’ he said. “We´re 45th in funding education but almost bottom last in performance.’ He also wants high schools to encourage more students to enroll in vocational education programs, saying existing facilities in the school district and at Truckee Meadows Community College are adequate.
He said a student must have the permission of the school principal, his or her counselor and parents before they can enroll. And he said that´s too much.
“The big push to get everybody in to the university is wrong,’ he said. “It´s dead wrong. They may be pushing that down their throat when they may have other skills or interests.’
Love, a retired health professional and educator, said every county in Nevada needs more vocational education facilities, including a performing arts school. Rural counties could share performing arts theaters.
He said per-capita state funds could be used to run these expanded facilities.
He also wants kindergarten to be full time, saying the current two-hour program is a hardship for parents who have to work.
In Washoe County, Love said student interns from the University of Nevada, Reno could help in kindergarten classrooms to reduce the cost.
He said some casinos should be encouraged to partner with schools to help cover costs. And he said the state should mandate that casinos provide child-care centers on site.
Love said he is working on a bill draft to support a state lottery to help raise money for education and senior citizens.
But he said he does not want to raise taxes for four to six years.
Love and Holcomb support a cap on property taxes to protect residents from huge increases in their tax bills because of rising home values.
To help pay for these added programs, Love said the state should invite clean, safe industries to the state. And he said these businesses could be given a tax break for the first three years as an enticement.
That again raises the question of where the tax dollars will come.
“We are not going to give them a tax break forever. Besides, their employees are going to pay taxes,’ he said.
“When we train a good work force, we are going to have a lot of clean industry that would like to move to Nevada,’ he said. “That would increase our tax base.’
The candidates have slightly different views on Yucca Mountain, the long-planned site in Southern Nevada for storing nuclear waste from the nation´s nuclear power plants.
“Yucca is non-negotiable with me,’ said Love, who worked as a radiation safety officer for the Navy as a young man. “It´s 90 miles from Las Vegas. It could have an effect on the economy and tourism because people may not want to come. And it´s not very safe; we´d probably have two truck accidents per year.’
Holcomb said he considers himself an environmentalist and opposes Yucca Mountain. “But the question is this: Is it a done deal? If there is any way of stopping the government, we should continue the fight.
“If there is no possible way, then we need to sit down at the table and talk reparations. What I think they are doing is wrong, but we have to cut the best deal we can,’ he said.
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Nevada Appeal
October 17, 2004
Kerry offers more hope for Nevada
Nevada Appeal editorial board
If the war in Iraq is the defining issue of the 2004 presidential election, then President George W. Bush gains no advantage over his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry. And on the domestic front, Kerry offers more hope and vision for the average American.
We believe Kerry should be the next president of the United States. We urge voters to elect him.
First, the war: Bush's response to Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was strong and decisive - a policy of taking the "war on terrorism" off U.S. soil and aggressively pursuing terrorists with military troops. The invasion of Afghanistan sent that message loud and clear.
But then the U.S. invaded Iraq, a war designed to change the regime of a dictatorship and install democracy in an Islamic country. The goal of deposing and capturing Saddam Hussein was met, but the cause of fighting global terrorism was mislaid. That's why Kerry calls it the "wrong war."
Now the U.S. is left with a costly, protracted occupation of a foreign country. Parallels to Vietnam should not be taken lightly. Kerry, the decorated veteran of that war who came home to protest it vociferously, far better understands the deep divisions it created in this country. He also understands the necessity of fighting a global war on terrorism with the broadest coalition of nations possible.
At home, Bush has consistently favored the rich and powerful over the poor and weak.
Job loss has been unprecedented. Energy policy was written by the energy industry. Environmental issues, just when we thought they were reaching a reasonable balance of common sense and common use, have been yanked back toward exploitation and away from public access.
Many credit Bush's No Child Left Behind reforms as his biggest domestic success, yet we are no fans of top-down federal education mandates.
His tax cuts are nice for the middle class, a windfall for the very rich. Yet Bush has done nothing to curb federal spending, piling up record deficits.
We admit it is easier to build a case against Bush than for Kerry, whose liberal record in the Senate is troubling.
Yet Kerry's presidential campaign offers a deficit-reduction plan, wider health-care coverage through employers, a sounder approach to Social Security, and an end to tax breaks sending industry jobs overseas. He plans to fully fund No Child Left Behind - still a federal mandate, but this time with money behind it.
Finally, as Nevadans we find it impossible to endorse the president who decided Yucca Mountain is a scientifically sound repository for the nation's nuclear waste. While this is not a deciding issue nationally, it is a significant mark in Kerry's column for Nevadans.
Adding up the pluses and minuses, Kerry comes out the winner. We think that's where he should be on Election Day.
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Lahontan Valley News
October 18, 2004
Three candidates vie for District 38
Cory McConnell
Incumbent state assemblyman Tom Grady, R-Yerington, is facing two challengers in his bid for a second term in the Nevada Legislature.
Democrat Cathylee James and Independent American Dennis Gomez are both vying for the rural District 38 seat on sharply different platforms.
The major issue being pushed by Gomez's Independent American Party is state's rights. The IAP believes the federal governement should have no jurisdiction over land in Nevada because this is a sovereign state.
Some of the party's most frequently-cited examples of federal abuse include U.S. Bureau of Land Management fees for grazing cattle on public land and the federal government's effort to entomb thousands of tons of radioactive nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain despite the state's vociferous opposition.
The Independent American platform has several other planks, some of which include opposition to gay marriage, reform of the state and federal monetary system, and opposition to the two party system.
James, 47, and Grady, 65, both said water and education will be paramount in the next legislative session.
While Nevada's water is a limited resource, its land and the number of people willing to fill it are plentiful, making Nevada the fastest-growing state in the nation. The bulk of the boom is occuring in the southern Nevada, in and around Las Vegas. Water officials there have begun plans to pipe water down from more rural parts of the arid state, a worrisome trend for officials in lesser-populated parts of Nevada.
Grady favors a plan touted by rural Republicans to fund a "water inventory" study, to determine how much water is in the state and where it's at.
"We need to see what basins are over-allocated, what basins are even and if there are basins that have excess water," Grady said.
James said a water inventory is a good start.
"My answer to anything is: get all the information you can gather, get all the resources you can and get together with everybody and work it out."
But state officials also need to recognize that there's only a certain amount of water here, she said. All the players, including developers and policy-makers, need to be realistic about what exists here and reach a pragmatic understanding.
James and Grady also both said education will be another priority in Carson City.
Grady said state officials should work to increase the accountability of educators while trying to answer the question "what do we do to make our schools better ?" He said lawmakers will have to research what school programs have worked and expand upon them while determining what didn't work and eliminating it.
James, a Storey County school board member, also said schools need greater accountability, and they need more funding to go directly to the classroom.
"I think every child in Nevada should have up-to-date textbooks in their hands," James said.
"A good education for our children benefits every one of us."
Both candidates said they think they have what it takes to represent Assembly District 38 in Carson City. Dennis Gomez could not be reached for comment late last week.
Cory McConnell can be contacted at cmcconnell@lahontanvalleynews.com
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Guardian
October 18, 2004
2004 Presidential Endorsements
By The Associated Press
Newspaper endorsements in the 2004 presidential campaign between President Bush, a Republican, and Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat. Publication date was Oct. 17.
Kerry
Nevada Appeal, Carson City, Nev.:
``(The) cause of fighting global terrorism was mislaid. At home, (President) Bush has consistently favored the rich and powerful ... Finally, as Nevadans we find it impossible to endorse the president who has decided Yucca Mountain is a scientifically sound repository for the nation's nuclear waste.''
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KRNV
October 17, 2004
Elizabeth Edwards campaigns for Kerry in Nevada
Associated Press
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of John Kerry's running mate, criticized President Bush Sunday for having an anti-environment record that includes support for a national nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
Speaking in Carson City as part of a statewide effort that brought Kerry surrogates to all 17 Nevada counties, Edwards also backed Kerry's claim that Bush is planning a surprise effort to privatize Social Security.
Besides Yucca Mountain, Edwards focused on other Nevada issues such as a voter fraud controversy allegedly involving a Republican-funded group and a state ballot question aimed at raising the minimum wage -- an idea that Kerry favors. Discussing the voter fraud flap in Las Vegas, where voter registration applications might have been destroyed, Edwards said "This is an assault on our democracy."
Edwards also scheduled a stop in Elko as part of the statewide Kerry campaign effort on Sunday.
Others who joined in the effort around the state included singers Carole King and Toni Tennille, actress Alyssa Milano and Jack Carter, son of former President Jimmy Carter.
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KTVU
October 18, 2004
Vegas Q&A: Will Election Affect Vegas Gambling?
Question: The presidential election is getting closer and I've seen the two candidates talk about just about every issue. But I was wondering which one of them is more favorable in terms of casino gambling and things that would affect Las Vegas? Don't get me wrong, I already know who I'm voting for, but I thought it would be interesting to find out.
Robert in Seattle
Answer: Thanks for the question, Robert.
It's a tough one to answer for a lot of reasons, not the least of which are my own very strong feelings about the two candidates that I will do my very best to leave out of this discussion.
But the bigger problem with figuring out where the candidates stand on this the casino gambling issue is that neither one of them really talks about it much. Both seem to defer to the states' rights argument, leaving it up to the voters and local legislators to decide about the spread of casinos in their areas. Go to their official Web sites and you won't find a word about gambling or casinos from either one of them.
However, a quick search on the Internet (please note the word "quick") turns up a couple of telling quotes from the two gentlemen.
Although George W. Bush supported the state lottery in Texas when he was governor, The Associated Press quoted him as saying, "Casino gambling is not OK. It has ruined the lives of too many adults and it can do the same thing to our children."
I'm sure that's not the only thing he has said about the issue but it's all I could find.
As for Kerry, in his campaign against former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld for Kerry's Senate seat in the 1990s, the issue of casino gambling came up. Weld had won his governorship in part because of his support for a proposed Indian casino in New Beford, but the casino never materialized. Kerry used this as a wedge issue, suggesting that Weld's backing of the casino was just for votes and Kerry would have made the casino a reality had he been in the governor's shoes because he "totally supported" the idea.
Having said that, the casino still doesn't exist with Kerry as senator from the state.
This is a massive, sweeping generalization and I apologize in advance for it, but in general, Democrats seem to be more favorably inclined to casino gambling than Republicans are, usually because the whole thing is often wrapped up in the politics of morality. This generalization is proved out by a study by the Center for Responsive Politics that shows Democratic candidates getting about 59 percent of contributions from casino interests (casino companies, owners, Indian tribes, etc.) and Republicans 41 percent. Where the special interest money goes is a huge indication of where the support for that particular special interest lies.
But since who sits in the White House come next January will ultimately have little or no effect on casino gambling in the United States, especially in Las Vegas, many are turning to the other big issue concerning Sin City in their determinations of who to vote for: Yucca Mountain.
Located less than 100 miles from Las Vegas, Yucca Mountain has been declared as the future repository for all of the nation's nuclear waste generated by power plants and other facilities. In order to get the waste there, it has to be transported by truck and train, which studies have shown will carry it right through the heart of Las Vegas.
Most Nevadans are vehemently against the idea, for pretty obvious reasons.
Bush has supported and signed off on the plan, and the project is moving forward. Kerry has opposed the plan, voting against it in 2002 and using it to campaign hard in the close Nevada race. It is important to note, though, that Kerry hasn't offered up a specific plan as to what he would actually do with the nuclear waste if it doesn't get buried at Yucca Mountain.
So that's it, Robert. For most people, this is purely an academic discussion, and I can't imagine it swaying anyone's vote. If it does, you probably haven't been paying attention!
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Washington Post
October 18, 2004
Contracts Awarded
Washington Technology
PEC Solutions Inc. won a one-year, $4.8 million contract for project management and business support for the Homeland Security Department.
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New York Times
October 18, 2004
Effect of Waste Vote, Not Outcome, Is at Issue
By Eli Sanders
SEATTLE, Oct. 17 - There is little doubt that Washington voters will approve a ballot question in November to tell the federal government not to truck more radioactive waste to the Hanford nuclear reservation, which is already an environmental mess.
The question is what happens when the measure passes.
Proponents hope the referendum, known as Initiative 297, will block the government's plans to send the waste to Hanford. But opponents, including Representative Doc Hastings, Republican of Washington, contend the measure will backfire. They say Hanford's cleanup, which until recently has had a history of failures, could be delayed if other states are inspired to hold their own votes. Some waste from Hanford is eventually to be moved to other states.
Opponents also say that a multistate response could thwart the government's plan to create a national repository of radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which would eventually hold some of Hanford's material.
The odds against the initiative's supporters are long. The federal government has broad powers to transport and dispose of the dangerous waste generated in the building of the nation's nuclear arsenal, making challenges like Washington's difficult to uphold.
"It's a very tough thing to try to prevail on," said Joe Egan, a Virginia lawyer who specializes in nuclear environmental litigation and is not involved in the Washington effort. But Mr. Egan said the drafters of the initiative had taken an unusual approach, which could help them.
Hanford is a 586-square-mile complex in southeastern Washington that in its heyday busily pumped out plutonium for the nation's nuclear bombs. The largest of its nuclear reactors was shuttered in 1986, and the ensuing cleanup has been under way for more than a decade. It will cost $2 billion this year alone. But it is far from finished, and watchdog groups complain of lost plutonium in the soil and millions of gallons of contaminated groundwater leaking toward the Columbia River.
Two polls, one taken in the spring by backers of the measure and a more recent one by an independent polling firm, both suggest the initiative will pass by a large margin.
Rather than challenging the right of the federal government to dispose of the waste in a place of its choosing, Initiative 297 focuses on federal laws that give states the right to prevent more waste from being delivered to a site that is already a danger to the environment. Proponents of the measure say Hanford, a Superfund site where even the Energy Department admits cleanup efforts were failing until recently, certainly qualifies on this score.
"You cannot add more waste to a Superfund site where the landfills are leaking and the waste already there is not in compliance with federal waste standards," said Gerald M. Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, which is backing the initiative effort.
The impetus for the initiative, Mr. Pollet said, was a decision in 2000 by the Energy Department to begin sending waste from around the country to Hanford, adding to the huge amount of waste already there: 2,300 tons of spent nuclear fuel, 18 tons of plutonium, and 50 million gallons of liquid waste stored in 177 underground tanks. Mr. Pollet said the decision opened Hanford to about 70,000 new truckloads of waste. The department defends the plan, saying that only 5,800 loads will come and that Hanford is not the mess it once was.
"Over the past four years we've made more progress on Hanford cleanup than we have at any other time in our history," Colleen French, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said. "Even our toughest critics acknowledge that the Hanford cleanup is making more progress."
Opponents of the measure argue that the initiative could impede that progress. "If Washington State were to take this position of not wanting to ship any waste in, it doesn't take much of a stretch to figure out that other states will want to do this, too," Representative Hastings said. "I think that is a very bad tradeoff."
Proponents dismiss that argument as a red herring, saying the conditions at Hanford are unique and make the initiative unlikely to be replicated in a way that would strand waste at Hanford.
Mr. Egan, the nuclear environmental litigation expert, said he did not think things would ever get far enough to test which side is correct.
"I don't believe that it will succeed legally," he said. "So I don't see it as much of a threat on that ground."
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Tri-City Herald
October 17, 2004
U.S. Senate: Murray
Republican George Nethercutt says it's time to elect a U.S. senator from Eastern Washington.
In our minds, we already have one. We think she ought to be re-elected to a third term.
It's not her east-side roots that give Democratic Sen. Patty Murray claim to this part of the state, but her record of serving Mid-Columbia interests during 12 years in the Senate.
That's not to say she doesn't have ties to this side of the Cascades. She does -- college at Washington State University in Pullman, summer job at Sacajawea State Park in Pasco, and a family history that first intersected with Washington when her grandfather moved to Kennewick in 1916.
But we're more impressed with Murray's efforts in the other Washington, where she's proved an able senator for our half of the state.
That's meant fighting for adequate funding for Hanford cleanup, blocking the Veterans Affairs' attempt to close its facility in Walla Walla, working to bring the HAMMER training facility to Richland, securing funds for the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center and more.
Yes, she was born in Bothel and has a west-side Democrat's sensibilities that don't always mesh with the more conservative voters who populate our region.
But when it comes to what's best for Washington, Murray's clear about where she stands.
That independence is demonstrated in her willingness to reach across the aisle and work with U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings on issues critical to the Mid-Columbia, such as extending the schedule for moving Pacific Northwest National Laboratory workers out of Hanford's 300 Area.
We see that independent streak in Murray's support for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. She ends up bucking environmentalists and national Democratic leaders on that issue because the national dump is critical to Hanford cleanup.
Nethercutt's ideology is more in sync with the core beliefs of Eastern Washington, but there is much convenience to his views and not enough pragmatism.
We're uncomfortable about which side he'll chose when what's right for Washington is at odds with Republican Party leaders. Besides, we can't help but be skeptical about his adherence to the values he espouses.
When conservatives were battling an entrenched congressional delegation, Nethercutt was all about term limits. He's since reformed his views on the issue. And now that trial lawyers are the new bogeyman, Nethercutt describes himself as a "reformed" lawyer.
Contrasted with Murray's consistent support for the programs and issues important to the Mid-Columbia's future, it's no contest.
The Herald editorial board recommends voters return Patty Murray to the U.S. Senate.
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
October 17, 2004
JANE ANN MORRISON: Small pool of undecideds starting to choose sides in presidential election
Several months ago, I went stalking for undecided presidential voters.
This prey is not easy to find in the Nevada desert.
But a public plea for undecideds drew some thoughtful e-mail from undecided folks who shared their views for an August column.
Now, after the conventions and debates have ended, the days of dillydallying by my informal and unscientific focus group are over.
Out of 10 responses, four said they'll vote for Democrat John Kerry, two for Republican President Bush, two will vote for "None of these candidates," and one selected a minor party candidate.
(One of the Kerry voters will switch to Bush if there's a terrorist attack before he votes.)
The 10th may be the last undecided voter in Clark County: Mike Henle, a Democrat and former sports writer at the Review-Journal, now a public relations consultant.
"I started leaning toward Kerry. I even went to his rally at Thomas & Mack," Henle said. "Then, I hear Kerry refer to Yucca Mountain as `Yoo-kah' Mountain and I'm again among the undecided. If Yucca Mountain is important enough to make an issue out of it with Nevada voters, you'd think he could pronounce it properly."
After watching two of the debates, he's still undecided. One quandary keeping him from Bush: opposition to the Iraq war.
Joan Lochner, a Democrat, said sticking with Kerry was a hard decision.
The young people in her family are anti-Bush because they fear the resumption of the draft. Those in their 40s are all pro-Bush, "and the 50 and above seem to be united in their choice of John Kerry," she said.
She decided after Bush gave his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, and the next day it was announced there would be a 17.5 percent increase in Medicare premiums.
"This was, for me, a final `straw' in the hypocrisy of the Bush administration," Lochner said.
This summer's Republican convention helped socially moderate Republican Alison Bierly decide. "It made me want to barf," she said.
The inflexibility demonstrated at the convention and the refusal to welcome Republicans with different views has pushed her to vote for Kerry. "If they aren't willing to change anything to try to get my vote, then I'm not going to vote for them," she said.
Debates helped fifth generation Republican Kenneth Record and his wife, a former "Goldwater Girl." After listening to two-thirds of the first presidential debate, they are both voting for "None of these candidates."
Tom Sullivan is a Democrat voting for Bush. He made up his mind after the second debate.
"With the Bush tax cuts, I picked up another $35 in my monthly pension," Sullivan said. If Kerry wins, Sullivan believes he'll have less money to spend.
Sullivan said visits to Nevada by the presidential candidates (and local news coverage) didn't affect his decision-making.
Bush has made an unprecedented four presidential visits to Nevada, Kerry has made five. Las Vegas history was made Thursday when Bush, first lady Laura Bush and Kerry were here, purportedly chasing undecided voters.
Sylvia Weingarten watched the debates, and the 80-year-old Republican plans to vote for Kerry. "Bush's body language and inability to communicate his message in reasonably proper English turns me off. Bush will in all probability appoint pro-life judges to the courts. He is ruled by the far right."
"I pick Bush as the lesser of two evils because I think he can handle the Iraq and terrorist problems better," said Larry Johnson, another 80-year-old Republican.
Nonpartisan voter Jim Wright decided a few weeks ago he's voting for Kerry, mainly because of his opposition to putting nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain.
However, Wright said, "If we are attacked by terrorists before the election, I will vote for Bush because we cannot allow them to think they can change our government by attacking us, like the Spanish did in response to their train bombing."
The breakdown of these Clark County voters and a few polls seem to suggest Kerry could take Nevada.
But Jim Wright isn't the only one who will switch if there's violence from terrorists within America.
Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
October 17, 2004
This Week: Friday
The Nevada Agency on Nuclear Projects meets at 10 a.m. in commission chambers of the Clark County Government Center Building, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.
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Reno Gazette-Journal
October 16, 2004
Return Sen. Reid to U.S. Congress
For 18 years, Sen. Harry Reid has been a strong voice for Nevada in the halls of Congress. He deserves to be elected to his fourth term.
As the minority whip, the No. 2 man in the Senate´s Democratic delegation, Reid has gained power unparalleled in Nevada history. Should South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, the minority leader in the Senate, fail to win re-election, Reid is reported to have a good chance of winning that job.
Regardless of who wins the presidential election, Reid´s position of power will be particularly important to Nevada in its continuing battle against the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The senator has been a steadfast opponent of the repository since his election in 1982 to the House of Representatives, where he served two terms representing Southern Nevada. Especially if President Bush is re-elected, the state will need all of the forces that Reid can muster to fight off the plan to move the nation´s high-level nuclear waste to Nevada regardless of the scientific evidence that argues against Yucca Mountain.
Yucca Mountain is a good reason to vote for Reid, but there are plenty of other reasons. A native Nevadan who also has served as an assemblyman, lieutenant governor and chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, Reid understands the state and its citizens well. His record of supporting Nevada over party on issues important to the state speaks for itself.
Reid is challenged by Republican Richard Ziser. A self-employed industrial engineer and investment manager, Ziser is making his second run for public office. (He ran for the Clark County School Board previously.) As chairman of Nevada Concerned Citizens, he has lobbied the Legislature on moral and social issues, as well as gun and private property issues. He is best known for leading the successful initiative drive for the Protection of Marriage Amendment to the Nevada Constitution.
Ziser describes himself as a very strong Reagan-type Republican.’ He raises legitimate concerns about the appearance that Reid has used his office to benefit his family and friends, such as lobbyist Harvey Whittemore. That´s a perception of conflicts of interest that Reid should take seriously in the future.
Ziser also describes Reid as “ultra-liberal.’ That´s an accusation that goes against all of the evidence, however. Reid points out that he has supported every measure in Congress that would provide funds and resources for the troops in Iraq. He supports the goals of No Child Left Behind, but believes the schools also need more resources. He supported the Patriot Act (though he believes some provisions should be allowed to expire), and he supported creation of the Department of Homeland Security, views that are not seriously different from Ziser´s.
Reid simply has been a superb representative of Nevada in the Senate. He should be re-elected.
Also on the ballot are Thomas L. Hurst, Libertarian; Gary Marinch, Natural Law Party; and David K. Schumann, Independent American.
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Reno Gazette-Journal
October 17, 2004
Letter for Oct. 17
Take pre-emptive tack on Yucca: fire Bush
Since 9/11, our nation has struggled to deal with the rising terrorist threat. President Bush´s proposal for Yucca Mountain will only weaken our defenses against the people who want to harm our country.
Bush´s proposal requires over 53,000 truck shipments or 10,000 rail shipments to move 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste to the Las Vegas area. Remarkably, the proposal does not include security as they roll through our communities.
This means that unprotected high-level radioactive waste will travel through Nevada every four hours, 365 days a year for 24 years. It is obvious that such an easy unprotected target would provide a prime opportunity for terrorists who want to kill and injure our people, cause panic and destroy our economy.
President Bush has already flip-flopped on this issue, claiming in 2000 he would protect Nevadans, then signing Yucca into law in 2002.
A devastating attack or an accident during transportation of the waste would demonstrate the fallacy of President Bush´s new law. By then it will be too late to protect Nevadans.
We in Nevada should take pre-emptive action on this issue of national security and fire George W. Bush.
Priscilla Bauer
Reno
Your editorial [Oct. 7] is erroneous. The president has power to sign or veto, or lobby for or against Yucca Mountain.
Perhaps you would prefer that voters accept your claim that one´s vote is unimportant — truly un-American.
Nevadans are intelligent and patriotic and will vote for a president who is against the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.
Barbara Monstavicius
Incline Village
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Las Vegas SUN
October 17, 2004
Elizabeth Edwards campaigns for Kerry in Nevada
By Brendan Riley
Associated Press
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Elizabeth Edwards, wife of John Kerry's running mate, criticized President Bush on Sunday for having an anti-environment record that includes support for a national nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
Joining in a statewide effort that brought Kerry surrogates to all 17 Nevada counties, Edwards also backed Kerry's claim Sunday that Bush, if re-elected, is planning a surprise effort to privatize Social Security.
Besides Yucca Mountain, Edwards focused on other Nevada issues such as a voter fraud controversy allegedly involving a Republican-funded group and a state ballot question aimed at raising the minimum wage - an idea that Kerry favors.
Edwards termed Bush "the worst environmental president in my memory," and pointed out that Kerry has promised to kill the high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The dump is a key issue in this battleground state, where five electoral votes are up for grabs.
"If you want it (the dump) built, President Bush is your man. If you don't want it built, John Kerry is your man," she said.
On privatization of Social Security, Edwards said such a move would result in a "devastating" increase of some $2 trillion to the nation's budget deficit. She added other Bush proposals for Medicare and national defense would add to the deficit.
Edwards also said Bush continues to insist there's a connection between the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks and Saddam Hussein even though there's no evidence of that, adding, "This administration is trying to make us afraid not to re-elect them."
Discussing the voter fraud flap, where voter registration applications might have been destroyed, Edwards said, "This is an assault on our democracy."
Democrats have accused Voters Outreach of America, a private canvassing company hired by the Republican National Committee, of destroying Democratic registration forms collected in the Las Vegas and Reno areas.
Distortions and divisive "smear and fear" tactics used by Republican campaigners shows "the truth means nothing. It means absolutely nothing" to them, Edwards said during a fast-paced, hour-long question-and-answer session with about 450 area residents and follow-up press interviews.
Edwards also criticized Sinclair Broadcast Group for its plans to air an anti-Kerry film dealing with his Vietnam combat service and 1971 U.S. Senate testimony against that war, saying Kerry "spoke out as a patriot" after returning home.
The Democratic National Committee has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission contending that airing the film in the final weeks of the campaign should be considered an illegal in-kind contribution to the Bush campaign.
Responding to Edwards' remarks, Bush campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said, "A litany of complaints is not an agenda." She added Edwards "missed an opportunity" to say why her husband and Kerry voted a year ago Sunday against an $87 billion military funding bill. Kerry has said he voted against the bill to protest Bush's policies on Iraq.
On Yucca Mountain, Schmitt said John Edwards originally backed Yucca Mountain and switched under pressure from Kerry; and she called the comments on Social Security "misleading senior scare tactics."
RNC spokesman Kevin Sheridan termed Edwards' remarks on voter fraud issues in Nevada "baseless charges" designed to manipulate the media and scare voters.
Edwards also spoke to about 200 people in Elko, a heavily Republican community in eastern Nevada, as part of the statewide Kerry campaign effort on Sunday. Others who joined in the effort around the state included singers Carole King and Toni Tennille, actress Alyssa Milano and Jack Carter, son of former President Jimmy Carter.
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Elko Daily Free Press
October 17, 2004
Eureka candidate night draws voters
By Edie Boudreau
Free Press Correspondent
EUREKA - More than 180 residents attended the Meet the Candidates forum Wednesday at the Eureka Opera House.
Eureka County Assessor Jim Itheralde served as master of ceremonies for the event, which offered information about the candidates' positions and views for the future, as well as opinions on the $6 million Eureka High School bond and other issues on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Eureka School Board President Willie Riggs began with a PowerPoint presentation on the needs and legal requirements of Eureka High School. It included graphs showing how the school board lowered expenses in response to the county's loss of revenue from mines. (The presentation also can be viewed on the county's Web site, eureka.k12.nv.us/echs.htm.)
Riggs explained how the bond could be paid off in 10 years or less.
Eureka District Attorney Ted Beutel then described other issues that will be on the general election ballot before the floor was opened to candidates.
State Senate
Tom Jefferson of Elko was the first candidate to speak to the audience. He is running for the Nevada Senate seat held by Dean Rhoads of Tuscarora.
"I am going to fight for a 1 percent tax on financial transactions," he said, "I want to free Nevada from tax tyranny, and empower the center of Nevada."
Joel Hennessy, speaking for Sen. Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, said, "Senator Rhoads is committed to working for the good of rural Nevada. His is number three in seniority in the Senate, and is chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, as well as Senate whip."
He said Rhoads is a longtime public lands rancher/permittee who also known as the "father of the Sagebrush Rebellion," and is the longtime chairman of the Nevada Interim Committee on Public Lands.
Glen Ziser, speaking for his father Richard Ziser, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, spoke of his long history as a successful businessman in Nevada, owning businesses involved in the state's two major industries: mining and gaming.
"My father's main concern is security - both national and job," he said.
In his campaign literature, Richard Ziser said, "Small businesses are vital to the economy. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees represent 98 percent of all businesses and account for half of the output of the economy. They employ 36 percent of all workers and create the majority of new jobs.
"Small businesses not only need tax cuts, but also tax code reform and simplification. It has been proven over time that tax cuts stimulate the economy and increase overall tax revenues.
"However, Nevada's economy is also dependent on the success of our country's fight against international terrorism," he added. "Tens of thousands of working Nevadans know that the United States must be protected from terrorism as well as the threat of missile attacks from countries such as North Korea. I will fight for the continued development of a missile defense system that will protect our citizens and our economy."
Voters were invited to visit his Web site at www.ziserforsenate.com.
Assembly race
Marcia de Braga of Fallon, a candidate for the Assembly's District 35 seat, then spoke about her 10-year record in the Assembly.
"I've passed legislation settling nearly a century of lawsuits over water rights," she said. "In addition, I joined with Senator Dean Rhoads to organize annual land and water use summits, obtained funding to help rural school districts, and worked to raise education standards and accountability."
Later, when asked a question about her position on the Yucca Mountain toxic waste dumping issue, de Braga said, "Whether this material is hauled by truck or on trains, it creates a danger, and most rural areas, including Eureka, doesn't have a HazMat team. ... I want Nevada's rights protected." She closed with an invitation to the audience to go to her Web site, www.debraga.net,
Incumbent Dist. 35 Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, said, "I support education first in the budget process so our schools and children are never held hostage again to increase state spending.
"Our water resources will be on the line for the 2005 session," Goicoechea added. "Everyone is looking at ground water or converting agricultural water rights to support their growth. We need to know what is in the bank."
Asked the same question about a Yucca Mountain waste dump, he responded, "I do not support the Yucca Mountain depository, and I know the people here do not want a rail line for it. However, considering the power of those pushing for it, I don't know if we can win the fight in the long run."
Board of Regents
The two candidates for Regent on the University of Nevada's Board were next on the agenda.
Dorothy Gallagher said she decided to campaign again rather than leave a vacancy for an unknown person who might not be qualified when her hand-picked replacement, Marcia Bandera of Spring Creek, decided not to run for this term after taking over Gallagher's position when she retired after 22 years on the board.
Stan Aiazzi, a native of Eureka with bachelor's and master's of arts degrees, filed shortly after Gallagher. He has been endorsed by a teachers' association for the position of regent.
Supreme Court
Representatives of other state candidates also went to the podium. Chris Johnson, speaking for Judge John Mason to promote his run for the Nevada Supreme Court, told of Mason's distinguished record as an attorney for the entertainment industry.
"In 2003, President Bush appointed him to the Committee on Arts and Humanities," Johnson said. "He has also been endorsed by the NRA and the PVF, and has been a judge pro tem in Douglas County."
Eureka Commission
The final presentations were given by the three candidates for Eureka County Commissioner.
Donna Bailey, an incumbent Republican running in District 3, gave the shortest presentation when she said, "I hope the people here will vote for me because they know that I care about the people in this county."
Ken Sanders, a Democrat seeking the District 1 seat, followed her and told the audience he was running because he felt it was time to pay the county back for the good his family received when they settled here 20-some years ago.
"I don't have a lot of political experience, but I think I could serve the county and help make it a good place for anyone to live," he said.
His Republican opponent, Ken Benson, said he was a self-motivator after his father died when he was young, and not only helped his mother as the "man of the family" but also kept his school grades up enough to qualify for several scholarships.
After graduating from Carson High School, he went on to receive a bachelor's degree in agriculture.
"I'm interested in building the tax base in this county by bringing new business in," he said. "I'm anxious for the Newmont Mine and the Boulder Valley Power Plant getting started."
He said if the Ruby Hill Mine can be made into an area that encourages people to come and check it out, and the mine agree to provide funds to take care of it, "we can accomplish increased income for the county through another tourist attraction."
Campaign letters
Before the candidates presented their views, Eureka High School art teacher and teacher association President Gary Link read a letter from District Judge Ron Parraguirre of Las Vegas, who is running for Supreme Court Justice. He pointed out that he was the president of Nevada's District Judges Association.
Another letter was read from U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, who is running for re-election in Nevada's 2nd congressional district.
"Since 1996, when I was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, I have worked to represent your interests and to maintain the security of the United States," Gibbons wrote. "There is yet so much more that needs to be done to ensure that we enjoy a safe and prosperous lifestyle that can be passed on to our children and grandchildren. I am seeking re-election to the House as your representative in order to continue the important work of making this state and this nation a better place for current and future generations."
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Pottstown Mercury
October 17, 2004
George Bush on the environment
Mercury Staff Report
Following is a brief look at George W. Bush´s past environmental initiatives and future proposals:
• Supports oil drilling in Alaska´s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; has expanded options for natural gas drilling in the West and supports $4 billion in tax incentives for new energy technologies and conservation.
• Reversed 2000 campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide, a primay greenhouse gas, as part of the Clean Air Act.
• Favors plan called "Healthy Forests," which calls for increased logging on federal lands to create jobs and prevent forest fires.
• Withdrew the United States from the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions tied to global warming, arguing compliance would hurt the economy.
• Favors storing used nuclear fuel rods from nuclear power plants beneath Nevada´s Yucca Mountain.
• Has proposed a "Clear Skies" initiative aimed at reducing power plant emissions of greenhouse and acid rain gases such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury.
• New rule to reduce by 90 percent emissions from heavy duty diesel engines used in construction, agriculture and industrial equipment.
• Plans for spending $45 million to clean up contaminated sediments in the Great Lakes and opposes diverting any water from the Great Lakes.
• Says he will commit to reducing America´s greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent by 2012.
• Has proposed additional funding to support research into hydrogen cell technology for autos.
• Implementing a $7.8 billion comprehensive Everglades restoration plan aimed at restoring "millions of acres in the Everglades."
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
October 16, 2004
Letters: Yucca Mountain important election issue
To the editor:
What are we to make of the Review-Journal's Monday editorial, "Yucca vote," which said the Yucca Mountain Project is not a burning issue for most Nevada voters?
Does that mean the fine reporting in the Review-Journal showing the folly of both the science and politics surrounding plans to transport and store deadly nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain means nothing? Keith Rogers' incredible series on transportation and Steve Tetreault's outstanding reporting, as well as that of Steve Sebelius and many others come to mind.
If Yucca Mountain is not a burning issue for most Nevada voters, that does not mean it should not be. Nor does it mean that your good coverage hasn't made an impression. Actually, to think 3 percent of the voters in your poll named Yucca Mountain as the most pressing issue when they vote for president is rather remarkable, compared to concerns with national security, the Iraq war and the economy.
Your paper has endorsed President Bush. Given his troubling pronouncements on Yucca Mountain, it would seem the Review-Journal is now downplaying the issue, trying to minimize it. The people of this state deserve better. As your paper has pointed out on many occasions -- and must continue to do -- transporting nuclear waste across the country and storing it in Yucca Mountain are both inherently dangerous and both are of concern as threats to national security. If people aren't worried, they should be.
A recent poll indicated 36 percent of Nevada residents would rather negotiate for benefits than stop the Yucca Mountain Project. The fact is, there are no economic benefits that can ever mitigate the horrific dangers posed by storing high-level nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain.
It turns out the poll began with an assertion that Yucca Mountain had been approved as a repository. That is not so. There remain so many problems that the Yucca Mountain Mountain Project is tied up in litigation. There are more than 200 scientific questions yet to be answered.
Yes, people should be worried if they're not. All we know for sure is Yucca Mountain is not a done deal.
Peggy Maze Johnson
Las Vegas
The writer is executive director of Citizen Alert.
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
October 15, 2004
Presidential Candidates: Crossing paths across town
Bush slams Democrat's 'liberalism'
By Henry Brean
Review-Journal
On Nevada's biggest day in national campaign history, President Bush continued to tout his domestic policies and hammer away at Sen. John Kerry's record, as the race for the White House entered its post-debate stretch run in Las Vegas.
"With only 19 days to the election, the finish line is in sight, and Nevada will be a part of a great nationwide victory on November the Second," Bush told an enthusiastic crowd of supporters shortly after taking the stage Thursday morning at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The 40-minute speech that followed didn't stray far from the topics covered during the third and final debate held the night before in Tempe, Ariz.
As he did then, Bush called on voters to judge him and his opponent on actions more than words.
"Our very different records are a window into what we believe and what we'll do in the next four years," Bush said. "The senator believes in a bigger government; I believe in more freedom and choices for our citizens. The senator believes government should dictate; I believe you should make the decisions."
Bush repeatedly painted his Democratic challenger as a tax-happy liberal, and he attacked Kerry's plans for health care, Social Security, education and foreign policy.
He also emphasized Kerry's left-leaning ideas, saying Kerry's proposals would increase spending by $2.2 trillion.
"There is a word for that attitude; it is called liberalism," Bush said.
Most mentions of Kerry drew boos from the Thomas & Mack crowd, estimated at 12,000 by the campaign and 8,500 by arena officials.
The audience erupted into cheers about 90 times during the speech. Some of the loudest applause came when Bush talked about the recent presidential election in Afghanistan and about military personnel and their families.
Two hours later in Reno, Bush was cheered repeatedly during a 35-minute speech in a city park before a crowd estimated by police at 16,000.
At Rancho San Rafeal Regional Park, Bush received his biggest cheers when he mentioned his blunt way of speaking. "I tell you exactly what I am going to do, and I keep my word," he said.
Former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, now campaign chairman for Bush-Cheney '04, introduced the president in Las Vegas, while Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced him in Reno.
Before Bush's Reno arrival, state Republican Party Chairman Earlene Forsythe led the cheering and delivered an invocation in which she prayed for a Bush-Cheney victory.
Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn, U.S. Rep. Jon Porter and Sen. John Ensign pepped up the Las Vegas crowd in advance of the president, extolling his economic and foreign policies.
Clad in a leather American flag jacket, Las Vegas blackjack dealer turned country singer Lee Greenwood sang "God Bless the U.S.A." as a chorus of about 20 Republican governors sang along behind him.
They were there to kick off the two-day "Leadership Matters" tour, during which they will divide into teams and campaign for the president in key battleground states.
Guinn's portion of the tour includes Iowa and Missouri. He was the only sitting governor to speak at Thursday's rally in Las Vegas, where Bush and McCain were greeted with loud applause and the throbbing drumbeat of what sounded like a remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation."
Bush had shed the suit coat he was wearing as he emerged from Air Force One 20 minutes before, choosing to address the crowd in a blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and no neck tie.
Thursday's visit marked Bush's fourth to Nevada, but many long-time Republicans were seeing him in person for the first time.
"I think President Bush is determined to defend our nation," said Jackie Dutrey, 61.
She and her husband have missed more than 30 Bush visits to their home state of Pennsylvania. But on their way from Arizona to Yosemite, they drove their motor home to the Thomas & Mack to get a peek.
Many of the women in the audience said Bush's family values and his faith, both of which he addressed during the speech, resonated most with them.
"It's good to know we have a candidate that is a God-fearing man and he believes in it," said Las Vegan Brooke Bartholomew, 25.
She attended the speech with friend Allyson Dunbar, 25. Both stay-at-home moms said Kerry wasn't strong enough to stand up for the sanctity of marriage, and they didn't believe he was a man of faith.
"You can see in George Bush's eyes that he truly believes in family," Dunbar said.
Small businesses received 10 different mentions in Bush's Las Vegas speech. But one thing he did not mention during either Nevada appearance was his decision to approve a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Thursday also saw speeches in Las Vegas by Kerry and first lady Laura Bush, both of whom were at the Sands Expo and Convention Center to address a convention the American Association of Retired Persons.
Air Force One landed at McCarran International Airport with the president and first lady on board a little before 9:30 a.m. It was back in the air and on its way to Reno by 11:15 a.m.
A smaller presidential aircraft carrying the first lady took off about five minutes later on its way to a private fund-raiser.
Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, also campaigned in Reno Thursday.
Bush tripped over a few words during his Las Vegas speech. But he made light of his speaking abilities.
"They (Americans) know I mangle the English language. I get that from Dad," the president said, drawing a laugh from the crowd.
Arturo Bankston, 33, said he thought Bush spoke well.
"We're all human," the mortgage broker said. "It's OK if you can admit it and go back and correct it. It shows intelligence."
Having watched the election closely for the last year, Jeff Bloom, 26, and a UNLV sophomore, said Bush connected with the audience by speaking with emotion.
The crowd clearly felt Bush won Wednesday's debate, exploding into applause every time a speaker mentioned it.
"He won last night but the first (debate) time he must have felt a little groggy," said Ben Panlilio, 70, a local retiree.
Review-Journal writers Ed Vogel and K.C. Howard contributed to this report.
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
October 15, 2004
U.S. SENATE
By Erin Neff
Review-Journal
Although most signs point to an easy re-election bid for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, his Republican opponent thinks of his own grass-roots candidacy as more than just an impediment to a fourth term for Nevada's most powerful politician.
But Reid is confident in his $8 million campaign and his position as the Senate's assistant Democratic leader.
"I feel pretty good about the race," Reid said. "I am independent, I have many Republicans who are supporting me and I have worked to address Nevada's issues."
Reid, raised in Searchlight, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 after being a congressman and serving as Nevada's lieutenant governor and in the Assembly. Reid was an amateur boxer who graduated from both Utah State and George Washington Law School.
He has been a longtime staunch opponent of Yucca Mountain, refusing to even consider the idea of negotiating for benefits. He has used his position in the Senate to reduce spending on the project.
Reid has been rabidly partisan on many issues. He helped persuade Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont to leave the Republican Party and throw the majority, for a time, to the Democrats.
But Reid holds conservative positions as well. He opposes abortion and voted for both the 1991 Gulf War and the war in Iraq.
Reid said Iraq is the nation's most critical issue, and he advocates a wide-ranging international coalition of support from countries like Russia, France and Japan to pull American troops out.
"We need an exit strategy. ... I think that we have to recognize that we can't do this alone," Reid said. "If Iraq is ever going to be made safe and not turn into a civil war, we need help."
Ziser, best-known for chairing the initiative banning gay marriage in Nevada, supports the war and places any fault in the handling of the military operation at the feet of President Clinton.
He supports negotiating for benefits in exchange for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. He wants to make Bush's tax cuts permanent, advocates personal savings accounts in Social Security and would renew the Patriot Act.
"If John Ashcroft says it's needed, I think it is," Ziser said.
Ziser put his engineering degree from California State Polytechnic University to work launching a medallion and casino token manufacturing company. After selling his business, Ziser went back to school in 1998 and obtained a master's degree in apologetics, the branch of theology dealing with the defense and proofs of Christianity, from Simon Greenleaf University.
"As people start seeing the whole picture, what Harry Reid stands for, the options that Harry Reid is unbeatable or Richard Ziser is not viable cannot be options," Ziser said.
A trio of third-party candidates round out the race.
Thomas Hurst has been a Libertarian for about five years.
"I think (Reid) has been in power way too long," Hurst said, adding he thinks Reid could have done more to stop Yucca Mountain.
Hurst has lived in Nevada since 1970, earning bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in geology and hydrology respectively. But he's not all about science. He managed a world music label, led safaris to Africa, collects vintage travel books and loves old "Star Trek" episodes.
He advocates strict adherence to the Constitution, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and introducing private savings accounts to Social Security. Hurst abhors the Patriot Act.
Gary Marinch, who has lived in Nevada 28 years, is the epitome of a single-issue candidate.
"Yucca Mountain, that's my only issue," Marinch said. "I want to see it dismantled immediately, and I will go to the Senate floor and start a battle every day about it until they get it out of here."
Marinch said he attended UNLV but did not graduate. He is a former Republican who said he was contacted by the Natural Law party to run as its candidate.
Marinch and his wife filed for bankruptcy in 1999, discharging $490,746 in debt, including a mortgage and massive credit card bills. He refused to discuss the issue, saying only, "It's a long story and there are unresolved issues there."
David Schumann is retired and "trying to disrupt the government."
He calls his 2001 move to Minden his "escape from California," and largely subscribes to the Independent American Party's planks opposing illegal immigration.
Schumann has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Temple University. He said he had nearly completed an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School when he took a commodity trading job that eventually led to his work around the globe for a number of corporations.
"I'm running because I don't like paying $2 plus for gasoline," said Schumann, who made an unsuccessful bid for the state Senate in 2002. "This is a totally artificial situation created by our current U.S. senators."
Schumann supports drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Arctic Reserve, a proposal Reid was a key architect in blocking.
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Reno Gazette-Journal
October 15, 2004
Letters to the Editor for Oct. 15, 2004
Texas better site for nuclear waste
Early in our space program, astronauts told of being able to see the lights of all the great cities as they orbited the Earth. One of those cities was Las Vegas, and since that time, it glows even brighter. Several years from now, it will be less noticeable, because a greater glow will be coming from Yucca Mountain. Tons of nuclear waste stored there will cause it to glow. Is this true? Maybe not, but then again maybe so!
George Bush wants to try this out, after he promised us he would review the scientific evidence before signing this into law. Scientific evidence and logic will show that the middle of Texas would be a better place for this. Texas is much larger and more centrally located to all other states. Texas is also practically free of geological faults.
For all of you who still think you should vote for George Bush, I say two things: Lots of luck, and go for the glow!
Donald Bloom
Reno
Facts: In 2002 President Bush signed the bill making Yucca Mountain the nation´s nuclear waste dump. John Kerry voted against that very bill. When we needed help, John Kerry stood up for us while President Bush broke his promise. Four years ago, Bush promised again to protect us from nuclear waste, but once again he has failed to keep his promise.
Facts: After the Senate approved Yucca Mountain at the request of the administration, Sen. John Ensign said, “It feels like somebody has punched me about 100 times in the gut.’ Me, too! It is time for Nevadans to stop trusting George Bush and vote for John Kerry.
Jennifer Duran
Reno
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Reno Gazette-Journal
October 15, 2004
President makes second Reno stop
Anjeanette Damon
In his second Reno campaign stop this year, President Bush renewed his promise Thursday afternoon to keep America safe, taxes low and the economy strong.
Bush said he is proud of his record as president and promised to continue working to give Americans more control over their money, health care and lives if he is re-elected. He said U.S. Sen. John Kerry´s 20-year Senate record was “out of the mainstream.’
“The senator believes in a bigger federal government,’ Bush told an estimated 16,000 people beneath a sunny blue sky at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park. “I believe in more freedom and more choices for individual Americans. The senator believes government should dictate. I believe you should decide.’
Bush´s visit coincided with campaign stops by Teresa Heinz Kerry in Reno and U.S. Sen. John Kerry in Las Vegas. First lady Laura Bush also campaigned in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe on Thursday.
With less than three weeks before Election Day, the attention proves Nevada remains squarely in the cross hairs of both candidates as they fight to sway voters in the nearly evenly divided state.
“Isn´t it great to be a battleground state?’ Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller said in a speech before Bush arrived. “I don´t think Nevada has received this much political attention since silver was found in the Comstock.’
Bush´s visit drew more than 200 protesters, who marched south on North Virginia Street and congregated near the entrance to the park. The protesters were kept at least a block from Bush´s motorcade route down McCarran Boulevard.
U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and John Ensign, R-Nev., introduced Bush on stage.
“We have a choice between somebody who flip-flops on issues and somebody who knows exactly what he believes,’ Ensign said.
Bush´s 40-minute stump speech relied on many of the same remarks he made when he was in Reno June 18 — including his opening joke of enjoying a crowd with more cowboy hats than suits.
But it also focused on the campaign´s latest strategy of painting Kerry as a Massachusetts liberal who is out of touch with the American mainstream.
It´s a strategy that Democrats said diverts attention to from Bush´s failed record on the economy, health care and the Iraq war.
“This president forgets that he has been president for four years and that this election is about him,’ said Sean Smith, the Kerry campaign´s Nevada communications director. “And it is about does he deserve four more years based on what he has done for the first four years. Most Americans, most Nevadans have decided the answer to that is no.
“So his only hope is to tear down John Kerry and make him an unacceptable alternative.’
Washoe County Democratic Party chairman Chris Wicker said calling Kerry a liberal doesn´t mean anything.
“If liberal means protecting the environment and trying to increase jobs, trying to find a way to provide health care and health insurance to all Americans, then I think it is accurate,’ Wicker said.
Bush touted his tax cuts and his No Child Left Behind education reforms. And he outlined his proposals for lowering health care costs — the crux of which is tort reform.
“You can´t be pro-patient, pro-doctor and pro-plaintiff attorney at the same time,’ he said. “You have to choose. My opponent made his choice and he put a personal injury lawyer on the ticket. I made my choice. I´m standing with the docs and the patients. I´m for medical liability reform now.’
Bush further criticized Kerry´s health care proposal, saying it would put health care for millions of people under government in control.
Wicker called that assertion an outright lie.
“It is just not true,’ he said. “If they don´t think they can defend themselves from Kerry´s real position, then they just make it up.
“Teresa Heinz Kerry was in town today. She described Kerry´s health plan and made it absolutely clear, this is not government health care. It is all about providing choice, including an actual choice for people who are now uninsured.’
As Bush touted his Healthy Forests Initiative, which promotes clearing dangerous underbrush to deter catastrophic wildfires, the plume from fires burning south of Lake Tahoe billowed in the distance.
“Because we acted, our forests are healthier, residents and small businesses are safer, and people across the West are better off,’ Bush said.
Bush did not mention his support of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository. Democrats have accused Bush of lying about his intentions for the project during his 2000 campaign. It´s an issue they hope will help Kerry win Nevada´s five electoral votes.
Bush´s 20-car motorcade drew onlookers along most of the route from Reno/Tahoe International Airport to Rancho San Rafael.
Students from Hug High School and The Church on McCarran Boulevard lined fences to catch a glimpse of Bush´s black sports utility vehicle. Construction workers paused on the Clear Acre Lane interchange project and bank employees stood on the roof to watch Bush arrive.
Among the estimated 16,000 people in the crowd were thousands of National Recreation and Park Association convention-goers. About 9,000 tickets were made available to the group.
Jennifer Brinar, 32, a city worker in Modesto, Calif., said she is a Bush supporter and just happened to be in town for a conference during the president´s visit. She said she attended the Bush rally to show her support and for the thrill of seeing the president.
“The opportunity to see your president up close and personal, 50 feet away, there´s not too many people who can say that,’ Brinar said.
Andy Jaramillo, 50, of Reno, brought his 13-year-old daughter Jamie with him to the rally. He said the security of the country is the most important issue to him in this election, and he´s convinced Bush is the man who can best protect the United States.
“I like the idea that he´s letting the war be on someone else´s turf instead of ours, and since nothing else has happened in the country since September 11, I think he´s doing a good job,’ Jaramillo said.
Reno Gazette-Journal reporter Ben Kieckhefer contributed to this report.
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Pahrump Valley Times
October 15, 2004
Nuclear Projects awarded $1.1 million
Associated Press
CARSON CITY - A state panel voted Tuesday to give a $1.1 million emergency appropriation to the Nevada Nuclear Projects Office to continue its fight against the high-level nuclear waste dump that the federal government wants to open at Yucca Mountain in Nye County.
The state Board of Examiners also endorsed a $650,000 emergency allocation to Attorney General Brian Sandoval's office for its legal battle against the dump.
Bob Loux, who heads the Nuclear Projects Office, said his budget is "tapped out" and the federal Department of Energy intends to apply in December for a building permit. The filing goes to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The state was getting $2.5 million a year from the federal government to help in the battle against Yucca Mountain, but that amount was slashed to $1 million.
If the federal government submits its application in December, Loux said his office will have 90 days to review whether it is complete and the $1.1 million will carry his office through the end of February.
With the approval by the Board of Examiners, chaired by Gov. Kenny Guinn, the request goes to the Legislative Interim Finance Committee for final action. That panel meets Nov. 17.
Sandoval wants the $650,000 to cover outstanding and expected litigation expenditures through February next year.
Sandoval said the $650,000 is needed because the state has sued in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., contending the federal government improperly withheld funds from the state for the nuclear budget. Arguments are set for Jan. 12.
Also, he said the Nuclear Energy Institute plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a ruling that gave the state a partial victory in the waste dump fight.
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Pahrump Valley Times
October 15, 2004
Court throws out radiation standards
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS - A federal appeals court has denied a request to keep the Yucca Mountain radiation standards in place until the Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case.
With just under three months to go before the Energy Department plans to submit a license application for the planned nuclear waste dump, the court's original decision to throw out the radiation standard will take effect in a week or less.
In a one-page order issued Oct. 8, the court denied the request by the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying arm, but gave no explanation of its decision.
The department has insisted it would meet its self-imposed deadline of Dec. 30 to file the license application, but Deputy Secretary of Energy Kyle McSlarrow said last month that goal might not be met.
Nevada officials say that without a radiation standard any application the department would submit this year would be worthless because all the science and data in it would be based on a protection standard that no longer exists.
"It's a free country and you can mail packages to whomever you want but that doesn't mean it has any effect in the real world," said Joe Egan, an attorney hired by the state to handle Yucca issues.
In July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw out the 10,000 year radiation compliance period for the proposed nuclear waste storage project at Yucca, in Nye County roughly 50 miles northwest of Pahrump, and 20 miles east and west of Beatty and Amargosa Valley, respectively.
The court found the Environmental Protection Agency did not follow recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences, as outlined in a federal energy law. The academy saw no reason to use a 10,000-year standard but wanted the site to be able to hold radiation in through the peak dose period, which would come several hundred thousand years into the future.
The court also threw out the NRC's licensing rule using the radiation standard until Congress changed the law requiring the EPA to follow the academy's recommendation, or the EPA came up with a new standard. This means the commission could not evaluate that portion of the license until a new compliance standard was in place.
The radiation standard stayed in place for several months because the Nuclear Energy Institute asked the court to rehear the case, which was denied, and then asked the court to keep the standard in place until the Supreme Court could decide to take up the case.
The Department of Justice's Office of Solicitor General has said the federal government will not take the case to the Supreme Court.
Egan said the state also would not pursue the matter in the Supreme Court. He said by taking out the radiation standard, the state has removed the "constitutional defect" it argued wrongfully singled out the state.
The court ruling did not outright stop the project, but could delay it because a new standard could take at least two years to complete, especially if the academy is asked to provide comment on it, Egan said.
The department aims to open the repository by 2010.
NEI spokesman Steve Kerekes said the group's senior staff is evaluating what this decision means and what its next steps will be. NRC spokesman David McIntyre said if and when the commission receives a license application, it will review it for technical information to see it if can be accepted and the court's decision will be weighed at that time.
"The 10,000 year question will be part of that review," McIntyre said.
Calls to the Environmental Protection Agency were not returned.
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Las Vegas SUN
October 15, 2004
Editorial: Yet more deceptions from Bush
Las Vegas SUN
President Bush has been experiencing a credibility gap for his refusal to acknowledge the worsening conditions in Iraq and his unwillingness to concede that he failed to provide enough troops to secure the peace in that country. During Wednesday's debate with John Kerry, Bush once again demonstrated that he won't level with the American people. A telling example of this continued deception was an exchange during the debate between Bush and Kerry about Osama bin Laden.
Kerry mentioned that six months after Bush had said bin Laden must be caught dead or alive, Bush was asked where the terrorist leader was. Bush, Kerry noted, told reporters that he didn't know where bin Laden was hiding, that he really didn't think about him very much, and that he wasn't concerned. But Bush claimed Wednesday that he never said this about bin Laden, that it was yet another campaign exaggeration by Kerry. But the fact is that in March 2002, Bush said the following about bin Laden: "I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run." He then went on to add, "I just don't spend that much time on him." It's this kind of deception, coupled with a refusal to acknowledge reality in a number of areas -- whether it's a health care system that is broken or a war in Iraq that is a quagmire -- that has become a trademark of the Bush Whit e House.
The president also has resorted to name-calling, saying during the debate that Kerry wasn't in the "mainstream" of American politics. It's an attempt to cloud Bush's own sorry record. At a campaign stop in Las Vegas on Thursday, he followed up by calling Kerry a "liberal." Well, if Kerry is a liberal we'd hate to think what that would make Bush. Bush inherited a federal surplus that was projected to be $4.6 trillion over the next 10 years, but now we're going in the other direction: Over the next 10 years it's estimated that there will be a deficit of $2.3 trillion. And while Bush has tried to portray Kerry as a big spender, saying that the Democrat has promised $2 trillion of new government spending if he's elected, the president's own agenda laid out at the Republican National Convention carries a $3 trillion price tag over the next decade. Kerry, who vi sited Las Vegas himself on Thursday, has noted before that he would return our federal government to a pay-as-you-go system! , which would protect future generations from bearing the burden of paying off these debts.
The three presidential debates weren't kind to Bush. They exposed just how shallow his grasp is of the issues and just how far he is willing to go to deceive the American people to try to secure his re-election. Fortunately, not only has Kerry been up to the task in peeling back the covering hiding these falsehoods, but he has also laid out a vision and policies that are sensible and acknowledge the real world that we live in.
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Salt Lake Tribune
October 15, 2004
Goshutes' waste plan hits a snag
Yucca Mountain may reject spent nuclear fuel from proposed Skull Valley site
By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune
A utility consortium planning a temporary high-level nuclear waste storage facility on the Goshute reservation in Utah's west desert is developing intricate plans for getting the waste from nuclear power facilities to the site.
But a federal Department of Energy official says a planned permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., could not accept the deadly waste, meaning that Private Fuel Storage may not be able to keep its promise that the waste would be in Utah for only a few decades.
For all the effort to relocate the nuclear waste to the Skull Valley reservation, there may not be an exit strategy.
During interviews Wednesday and Thursday, Gary Lanthrum, director of the DOE's transportation program, told The Salt Lake Tribune that federal Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRC) rules say any radioactive waste headed for Yucca Mountain must be freshly packed by nuclear power plants before the DOE takes ownership of it.
PFS, however, plans to receive waste in welded casks because that is the way the plants store it on site, Lanthrum said. For that reason, ''the current contracts for how we receive fuel makes their plan unacceptable,'' he said.
The revelation startled Utah officials, including Gov. Olene Walker, and led to questions Thursday about bad communication between the DOE and the NRC, which are responsible for approving both the Yucca and PFS plans while ensuring public safety.
''It would be ludicrous to make shipment to a temporary facility and then not be able to transport it again,'' Dianne Nielsen, executive director of Utah's Department of Environmental Quality, said in an interview. ''To find there isn't even agreement between NRC and DOE is disturbing. [The casks] shouldn't move until they have the answer.''
Walker, speaking Thursday to members of the federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board who met for two days in Salt Lake City, said the state doesn't want any nuclear waste passing through - or staying in - Utah.
''Once again, the citizens in Utah . . . will be asked to trust the federal government, at the same time the government is testing the reliability of that commitment,'' she said.
John Parkyn, PFS chairman and CEO, told the board the radioactive waste should be handled just once at the reactor site, then shipped to the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation facility.
Because rehandling the waste poses unacceptable risk, that won't happen at the PFS site. The utilities that generated the waste would continue to own the material until the DOE takes title to it, ''whenever that might be,'' Parkyn told the board, an advisory body Congress established to oversee Yucca Mountain planning. The board has no jurisdiction over the PFS proposal.
After his presentation, Parkyn said that the DOE ''has an open invitation to join us'' at the nuclear power sites when the waste is packaged in the storage casks.
''Hopefully DOE will try to meet our standards,'' he said, adding Lanthrum's notion that Yucca wouldn't take welded casks from PFS ''is not an accurate interpretation,'' and that the DOE has no regulatory authority over PFS waste.
But according to Lanthrum, who testified on the DOE's nuclear waste transportation plans at the hearings, that department has no obligation to take waste from PFS, a private company.
Under federal law, the DOE is required to take waste from utilities for permanent storage at a federal repository. It will do so by delivering approved storage casks to the nuclear power plant, where utility personnel load the casks according to NRC rules. Then, the DOE will arrive with either a rail car or truck.
''DOE owns [the waste] from that point on,'' Lanthrum said.
The law had required the DOE to open Yucca Mountain, located about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, by 1998. A series of lawsuits and technical troubles stalled the project, which Nevada is vehemently opposing.
Congress now is refusing to fund Yucca in its omnibus spending bill, leaving all planning in limbo and probably pushing its opening date beyond the new deadline of 2010.
Meanwhile, PFS plans to ship waste on its own to Skull Valley for open-air storage before going to a permanent repository.
Skull Valley Band of Goshutes Chairman Leon Bear in 1997 signed a lease with PFS to allow the company to store up to 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel on Goshute land 45 miles west of Salt Lake City. The containers would sit on concrete pads spread across 100 acres while waiting for transport.
Connie Nakahara, special assistant state attorney general working on the PFS issue, said she wasn't sure how the state could respond to Lanthrum's assertions. ''We've always been concerned with PFS's lack of ability to repack fuel in case of an emergency,'' she said.
Nuclear regulatory officials also have rebuffed state questions about the waste packing procedure at the nuclear facilities. ''Basically, NRC has said DOE will be there to pick it up,'' Nakahara said.
Not according to Lanthrum, who said that because the waste will be shipped and accepted at PFS in welded casks, the DOE won't take it at Yucca Mountain.
And the DOE is not willing to renegotiate its rules on this single issue, he said. Unless some other agency changes the rules, that means the material would either have to be repacked at PFS or be sent back to the nuclear plant from which it came.
Technical Review Board members asked Parkyn how closely PFS was working with the Yucca planners. Parkyn replied that PFS has "tried" to provide Yucca officials with documentation.
''I would say there is dialogue,'' he said. ''We're not in competition with them.''
In his presentation, Parkyn said PFS would ship waste only by rail, in custom-built cars, and would build a rail line on the Goshute reservation. ''Putting a rail line in costs more than shipping by truck,'' he said. ''We are not going the cheapest way.''
The presentation on PFS safety and transportation plans left Nielsen fuming.
''John Parkyn put up a wonderful list of things it's going to do,'' she said. ''But PFS has not committed to any of those as license conditions. Every time we have asked them to, they have refused.''
The NRC held hearings from Aug. 9 to mid-September on the PFS license, in particular on whether to reconsider a finding that the potential of an F-16 fighter jet crash into the casks poses an unacceptable risk. Parkyn said he expected a decision on the renewable 20-year license by January and predicted PFS would begin to receive shipments in 2007.
Utah's state and federal leaders oppose the Skull Valley proposal, but have no oversight because the Goshutes are a sovereign tribe.
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Monticello Times
October 15, 2004
NMC explains plans to store waste at plant
by Eric O'Link
The audience at Thursday´s monthly Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting had no shortage of questions for the featured guest speaker.
John Grubb, business support manager for Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant (MNGP), gave a brief presentation during the lunch about storing spent fuel rods onsite at the power plant.
Grubb came in place of MNGP´s Site Vice President Tom Palmisano, who was scheduled to speak but was called away on corporate business.
(Thursday´s meeting with Chamber members was followed Tuesday evening with an informational session for area governmental and business leaders at the nuclear training center near the plant. Palmisano and other utility officers spent one and a half hours discussing both the process for plant extension and the physical intricacies of dry cask storage. About 25 attended and after the presentations reviewed site layouts for the outside storage planned on the Xcel Energy property.)
Xcel, which owns MNGP, and Nuclear Management Company, which operates the plant, are seeking to renew MNGP´s operating license by 20 years. Its current license expires in 2010.
Of slightly more than 100 nuclear power plants in the United States, 18 have had their licenses renewed and more are in the process. None has yet been turned down.
Some criticize the plan because it would require spent fuel rods–radioactive waste–to be stored on the plant grounds. But Grubb pointed out relicensing alone would not cause outdoor storage.
“We need dry fuel storage whether we decommission the plant or not,’ he said.
He explained how the dry storage process would work.
Fuel rods are stacked in rows of ceramic pellets, each about the diameter of a finger and one-third the length. They do not explode and they do not burn, Grubb said. Before they are loaded into the reactor, they are harmless and can easily be handled.
It´s once they have entered the reactor and the fission process has begun that they become radioactive.
The rods are cycled through the reactor once every three years. When spent rods come out, they are moved, under water, from the reactor to the adjacent fuel rod storage pool. Under a scenario of dry cask storage, Grubb said, the spent rods would be left in the pool for five years to allow initial radioactive decay.
“It´s just a more controlled environment,’ Grubb said.
After that time, the rods would be loaded into metal casks with concrete overpack. Each canister would subsequently be moved outside to a concrete storage bunker, where the casks would be loaded into round horizontal slots in the concrete.
Though the radioactive rods would be encased in storage casks and layers of concrete, they would still emit radiation, Grubb said.
Federal government standards require that radiation levels at the perimeter of the plant property be no more than 25 millirem annually. The bunker would be located at least 1,000 feet inside the plant´s perimeter. Radiation levels within 10 meters of the bunker may not exceed 1 millirem an hour.
The average human is exposed to about 300 millirems of radiation annually, Grubb said, between background radiation from the ground and sun and the occasional medical x-ray.
The bunker would be within the plant´s perimeter and monitored by MNGP´s security force. Plant security has been re-evaluated twice since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Grubb said. MNGP´s number of security personnel has doubled and the plant has improved security infrastructure, including a concrete wall around its exterior.
“The reality is, all the nuclear plants were probably one of the safest industrial facilities before 9/11,’ Grubb said.
(The Xcel-NMC timeline was outlined at Tuesday´s meeting at the training center. Filing with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the 20-year license extension of the 600-megawatt plant is projected for March 2005.
Applications to the State of Minnesota for dry cask storage at the Monticello site begin this fall; the Public Utilities Commission makes the study and determination, which is then subject to state legislative review. That decision on temporary spent fuel storage, outside the plant but on the Xcel site, is not expected before 2007.)
At Thursday´s lunch, Grubb stressed that dry cask storage at MNGP would be safe–and temporary.
The storage is temporary, he said, because the government is obligated to take the fuel to a permanent storage site like the controversial Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
He mentioned a few statistics about shipment; of 300 million hazardous materials shipped annually in the United States, about 1 percent are radioactive and 250,000 contain radioactive materials from a nuclear power plant. Currently, there are about 100 shipments of used nuclear fuel annually, Grubb said; he added that with the opening of Yucca Mountain, this number was likely to rise to between 300 and 500.
Shipment canisters are tested to withstand a variety of theoretical accident conditions, including falls to a concrete surface, a steel rod, burning and submergence.
Grubb said the ultimate fate of spent fuel rods is still up in the air. Europe has found success in reprocessing the rods into fuel that can be reused at nuclear plants.
“The U.S. had a facility which we shut down for political reasons,’ relating to nuclear weapons, Grubb said.
He said Xcel is also leading a consortium of eight utilities to possibly store waste on a Utah reservation. The utilities have an agreement with the American Indians who own the land, Grubb said, but it´s still possible that the State of Utah could block the facility.
“The state and the Indian tribe are at odds over the use of that land,’ he said.
He said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expected to make a decision about that site in 2005.
Grubb fielded several questions about Yucca Mountain.
“You´ll see a lot in the newspaper, various people have different opinions,’ Grubb said. “The reality is, the scientists, the engineers, the technology, it does support a facility there. It´s primarily political reasons that that facility is not moving forward.’
President Bush has expressed support for the facility; John Kerry said he is against it.
“Is Yucca Mountain ever going to happen?’ an audience member asked.
“Were I a betting man, I don´t think I´ll see it in my life,’ Grubb said. “It probably will (eventually). The government has an obligation to the industry; we paid billions of dollars to the government to take the fuel, whether it happens at Yucca Mountain or somewhere else.’ John Grubb, business support manager for Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant (MNGP), gave a brief presentation during the lunch about storing spent fuel rods onsite at the power plant.
Grubb came in place of MNGP´s Site Vice President Tom Palmisano, who was scheduled to speak but was called away on corporate business.
(Thursday´s meeting with Chamber members was followed Tuesday evening with an informational session for area governmental and business leaders at the nuclear training center near the plant. Palmisano and other utility officers spent one and a half hours discussing both the process for plant extension and the physical intricacies of dry cask storage. About 25 attended and after the presentations reviewed site layouts for the outside storage planned on the Xcel Energy property.)
Xcel, which owns MNGP, and Nuclear Management Company, which operates the plant, are seeking to renew MNGP´s operating license by 20 years. Its current license expires in 2010.
Of slightly more than 100 nuclear power plants in the United States, 18 have had their licenses renewed and more are in the process. None has yet been turned down.
Some criticize the plan because it would require spent fuel rods–radioactive waste–to be stored on the plant grounds. But Grubb pointed out relicensing alone would not cause outdoor storage.
“We need dry fuel storage whether we decommission the plant or not,’ he said.
He explained how the dry storage process would work.
Fuel rods are stacked in rows of ceramic pellets, each about the diameter of a finger and one-third the length. They do not explode and they do not burn, Grubb said. Before they are loaded into the reactor, they are harmless and can easily be handled.
It´s once they have entered the reactor and the fission process has begun that they become radioactive.
The rods are cycled through the reactor once every three years. When spent rods come out, they are moved, under water, from the reactor to the adjacent fuel rod storage pool. Under a scenario of dry cask storage, Grubb said, the spent rods would be left in the pool for five years to allow initial radioactive decay.
“It´s just a more controlled environment,’ Grubb said.
After that time, the rods would be loaded into metal casks with concrete overpack. Each canister would subsequently be moved outside to a concrete storage bunker, where the casks would be loaded into round horizontal slots in the concrete.
Though the radioactive rods would be encased in storage casks and layers of concrete, they would still emit radiation, Grubb said.
Federal government standards require that radiation levels at the perimeter of the plant property be no more than 25 millirem annually. The bunker would be located at least 1,000 feet inside the plant´s perimeter. Radiation levels within 10 meters of the bunker may not exceed 1 millirem an hour.
The average human is exposed to about 300 millirems of radiation annually, Grubb said, between background radiation from the ground and sun and the occasional medical x-ray.
The bunker would be within the plant´s perimeter and monitored by MNGP´s security force. Plant security has been re-evaluated twice since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Grubb said. MNGP´s number of security personnel has doubled and the plant has improved security infrastructure, including a concrete wall around its exterior.
“The reality is, all the nuclear plants were probably one of the safest industrial facilities before 9/11,’ Grubb said.
(The Xcel-NMC timeline was outlined at Tuesday´s meeting at the training center. Filing with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the 20-year license extension of the 600-megawatt plant is projected for March 2005.
Applications to the State of Minnesota for dry cask storage at the Monticello site begin this fall; the Public Utilities Commission makes the study and determination, which is then subject to state legislative review. That decision on temporary spent fuel storage, outside the plant but on the Xcel site, is not expected before 2007.)
At Thursday´s lunch, Grubb stressed that dry cask storage at MNGP would be safe–and temporary.
The storage is temporary, he said, because the government is obligated to take the fuel to a permanent storage site like the controversial Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
He mentioned a few statistics about shipment; of 300 million hazardous materials shipped annually in the United States, about 1 percent are radioactive and 250,000 contain radioactive materials from a nuclear power plant. Currently, there are about 100 shipments of used nuclear fuel annually, Grubb said; he added that with the opening of Yucca Mountain, this number was likely to rise to between 300 and 500.
Shipment canisters are tested to withstand a variety of theoretical accident conditions, including falls to a concrete surface, a steel rod, burning and submergence.
Grubb said the ultimate fate of spent fuel rods is still up in the air. Europe has found success in reprocessing the rods into fuel that can be reused at nuclear plants.
“The U.S. had a facility which we shut down for political reasons,’ relating to nuclear weapons, Grubb said.
He said Xcel is also leading a consortium of eight utilities to possibly store waste on a Utah reservation. The utilities have an agreement with the American Indians who own the land, Grubb said, but it´s still possible that the State of Utah could block the facility.
“The state and the Indian tribe are at odds over the use of that land,’ he said.
He said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expected to make a decision about that site in 2005.
Grubb fielded several questions about Yucca Mountain.
“You´ll see a lot in the newspaper, various people have different opinions,’ Grubb said. “The reality is, the scientists, the engineers, the technology, it does support a facility there. It´s primarily political reasons that that facility is not m