Children need fathers

A confusion of values is very much in evidence in our society. The discussion over same-sex marriage is but one facet of this.

While exemplary, traditionally married couples often do show a very high standard of value in their personal lives, this standard of value is woefully lacking on a societal and national level.

With the breakdown of families has come an increasing number of children who have not known the unique love that only a man (father) and woman (mother) can provide.

As we learn in books such as “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” and in the workshops given by the Rev. Mark Gungor showing how the brains of men and women are wired to think differently, we can come to appreciate how a father and mother are each uniquely equipped to provide love in different ways to his or her children, helping them to realize balance and maturity in their lives.

Children of loving man-woman parents have the emotional tools by which they are most able to not only realize their own self-respect and identity but also are much better equipped to apply their emotional maturity in their relationships with others.

Don Marsolek

Overland Park

Forté’s smoke, mirrors

Kansas City Police Chief Darryl Forté plans to boost efforts to secure more cooperation from victims wounded in shootings (6-7, A1, “Changes planned by KC police”).

Apparently, The Star’s analysis found that the majority of victims wounded in gunfire do not help detectives pursue their shooters, so most cases go unsolved and not prosecuted.

As a retired detective of the Kansas City Police Department, I know that the Jackson County prosecutor’s office is inundated with cases.

Because of the lack of manpower and the sheer volume of cases, the office has a hard time prosecuting all the “airtight” cases, let alone cases where they have no cooperation.

The witnesses refuse to cooperate because they are afraid of retaliation, and any efforts by Chief Forté to relieve that level of fear are ridiculous and fruitless. His quick response to The Star’s articles was only a “smoke and mirror” maneuver to make it appear as if he cares about the urban core.

Mr. Forté, the age-old problem with the urban core won’t be solved until the fear of retaliation is taken out of the equation, and that will never happen.

Gary Gibson

Kansas City

Fixing licensing system

In May, Kansas — with the state’s 105 county treasurers — implemented a new motor vehicle system. This modern system, which is replacing an antiquated mainframe, already has successfully processed more than a quarter of a million customer transactions in the last month.

The Legislature funded the project in 2008, and the contract was signed in 2009. Our administration took office and control of the project in 2011.

During this transition, we have been most grateful to Kansans who have been both patient and understanding, particularly in larger counties where some citizens have experienced longer-than-usual wait times.

With the system entering its second month in use, conversion-related backlogs are now almost completely behind us, and we are focused on additional enhancements in processing times to further improve the customer experience.

Many customers also are choosing the convenient options of mailing in their registration renewals to their county treasurer’s office or renewing online at https://www.kswebtags.org.

In this once-in-25-year upgrade, our goal is nothing less than a system that will serve Kansans efficiently for decades to come.

The state and its county partners are working night and day to achieve this.

Jeannine Koranda

Kansas Department

of Revenue spokeswoman

Topeka

Costly KC streetcars

Yael T. Abouhalkah clearly believes that the proposed two-mile streetcar line in downtown is a good investment (5-31, Commentary, “Once again, transit plans hanging in the balance”).

I question his conclusion.

Let’s reduce that $100 million cost estimated for this two-mile project down to numbers ordinary people can deal with.

With some simple arithmetic, we see that the cost of the streetcar line comes down to about $9,500 per foot, or if you like, $790 per inch.

Mr. Abouhalkah, please call. I would like to sell you a bridge.

Ron McGee

Overland Park

Scouts ‘Rock the Mall’

One would think that anytime more than 200,000 people gather on the mall in Washington, D.C., it would be newsworthy, but apparently not in Kansas City.

On June 9, Girl Scouts of the United States and from around the world gathered to “Rock the Mall” in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting.

It was the largest gathering of Girl Scouts in history, and may well have been the world’s largest and best sing-along event.

Girls of all ages and ethnicities and their leaders and parents, along with thousands of Girl Scout alumnae, had a day of fun and friendship.

They also were entertained by dozens of musical performers, speakers and entertainers, mostly female, who embody the Girl Scout message of character, confidence and courage.

I was a Girl Scout Leader (Troop 905 in Independence) for 12 years, and all of “my girls” are now young women who make me proud with their contributions to our society.

It’s too bad that The Star did not feel it necessary to honor this very special Girl Scout event.

Suzanne Vinduska

Independence

How to raise revenue

Raising taxes in any form is a bad idea, not just because of the poor economy but also the unemployment and existing, already high, cost of everything.

That old idea of just raising taxes is taking the easy way out for Kansas City.

The real emphasis for raising revenue should be in reviving the Bannister Mall and old Hypermart properties at Hillcrest and Bannister roads into thriving industries.

Forgoing the construction of that new South Patrol Division police station and the rail system downtown and anywhere else would help the situation.

Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base should have been converted into a Southland airport instead of an overly excessive reconstruction for a shipping yard.

The mayor and City Council need to use common sense, if there is such a thing in politics, in making decisions. Listen to Councilman John Sharp, for God’s sake.

More businesses mean more jobs and more tax revenue. This is the solid way to go for the people and government.

William A. Ingram

Kansas City

KCI: Back to the future

Great idea on the new one-terminal Kansas City International Airport (6-15, A1, “New plan for KCI terminal”).

Then, as we grow, we can just add another, and another.

We’ll be able to drop off passengers right in front, with easy access to tickets and baggage. And right there will be the door to the planes.

What a great idea. No other airport in America has anything like it.

Why didn’t I think of that?

Bill Emerson

Kansas City

Respect for president

The depiction of our president in Michael Ramirez’s work is disrespectful, at the very least.

He has every right to express his opinion about President Barack Obama’s views and actions. But Ramirez stoops to character assassination and demeaning innuendo.

Whatever Ramirez’s politics are, his political “humor” is mean-spirited.

Ramirez can draw what he wants, but President Obama has guided this country through tumultuous times. The president at least deserves respect, if not admiration.

Anita Wertz

Lake Quivira

Useless KC streetcars

Will someone explain to me why we need a light rail system from Crown Center to the River Market costing multimillions of dollars when a dedicated fleet of six buses could run all day and do the same job?

Are we willing to make this kind of investment to move tourists around?

How many people live at either end of this route?

I just don’t get it.

Bill Hartel

Olathe

Heartfelt messages

Are there surprising and joyful messages from the heart that come to you unexpectedly from a dear one that causes lasting bells of joy to ring? And your response might be, “You made my day.”

Happy feelings came to be recently when Twila, my wife and an Alzheimer’s patient for more than 11/2 years, turned over in her bed, looked at me and said, “You are my sweetheart forever, and I love you.”

I do know that messages from the heart, when they are received or given, make a wonderful difference in life.

Doug Sutherland

Raymore