Letter to the editor 7-16-21

Howdy Robert:

I was driving through the Fernley area on my way back to ugly Reno after a long trip out of Nevada, when I stopped for gas at the Flying J next to I-80 and on the north side of Fernley.

There was a card table set-up at the entrance to the Flying J attended by a Latina, 5′ 6″ with lightened hair and a black woman also 5′ 6″. They both wore D.A.R.E. t-shirts and the table had a black cloth cover with the red D.A.R. E. logo on it. D.A.R.E. stands for, Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

I talked briefly with the women and got the impression that they are frauds. The next day, I called the Sheriff’s non-emergency number and the rep told me that neither Fernley nor Lyon County had a D.A.R.E program. The rep from the Sheriff did not say that they would investigate. He only expressed mild surprise, so I am not sure if any follow-up will be conducted by the sheriff’s office.

If I am in error about this, I sincerely apologize, but I think that in cases like these, it is better to err on the side of caution.

Just an aside to this, everywhere that I travel in Nevada, I encounter people engaged in one sort of scam or another. This, I believe, is in part due to the legalization of marijuana and very little penalty associated with sale and use of more harsh drugs. When we couple widespread drug abuse with the lack of any sort of moral compass (due in part to so few people raising their kids with a church affiliation) we get a population with little or no moral foundation, many of whom are desperate to feed their growing drug addiction by any and all means.

It will take a long time to move society back to a stronger moral foundation; but this is an achievable goal. I think that one step that we all can do is to return to the habit of promoting church attendance, whichever denomination one prefers. In the not too distant past, TV news anchors would sign off their Saturday night news broadcast with something like, “…and we’ll see you in Sunday school and church tomorrow, good night everyone.”  Across the various states, it was common to see little phrases on printed business material or included radio and TV ads, something like, “Join us at church this Sunday.”

Of course, everyone knew that the owners were not going to church every Sunday, but the encouragement of prayer and worship always seemed to make everyone feel a little better. Indeed, some of the business owners were Jewish (like I am) and some had never even set foot in a church (unlike me). However, those broadcasters, newspaper publishers and local businessmen all understood the value to a community of having people raised with sound moral values like those acquired through regularly attending churches or synagogues.

In my observations, Reno, Fernley and Fallon are all going downhill in a hurry. Part of the problem are the Latino invaders, many of whom were taught back home to have only contempt for America, Americans and our laws. However, much of the rot that I have seen in our area has most certainly been the moral decay among Nevadans from drug addiction and the criminal activity associated with it.

Local businesses (including your news site) can help to at least slow this march to perdition, by once again promoting the idea among our citizens to pray every day, to study scripture and to attend the church of their choice. One needn’t be wild-eyed evangelicals or push a particular denomination. Just the promotion of returning to church and the foundational elements taught by the scriptures handed down to us will work wonders in our families and in our communities.

In doing so, you will very likely help thousands of local citizens and their children to become inoculated against the evil that now dwells amongst us. 

Warm regards,
J. Tyler Ballance

P.S. I have yet to find a fern in Fernley.