Police, private property

Here’s a warning: I came out of my door recently to find a bright pink tow sticker across the back window of my car, parked in my driveway.

My husband has been out of state, helping my 90-year-old mother-in-law move, and he did not renew the vehicle registration on the car. So Kansas City, Kan., police officers apparently have the right to come on private property and mark a car to be towed out of a private driveway.

I talked to one of the officers and asked why she had not just informed me of the problem. She could have knocked on my door (she was right there) instead of putting stickers on it and my car.

She told me that she did not have time to knock on doors.

I went to the courthouse and renewed the plates.

But apparently private-property laws no longer matter. Nor does courtesy.

Carol Philo

Kansas City, Kan.

Cheering Jimmy John’s

We are lucky to have several Jimmy John’s restaurants here in the Kansas City area and should praise the Nebraska franchise owner, Deon Hodges, who will see that his employees get health care (12-2, A14, “Obamacare supporter”).

Shirley Wright

Kansas City

Black women chemists

I recently discovered the book, “African American Women Chemists” by Jeannette Brown, in a locked, glass-enclosed cabinet in a barely visible area of the Kansas City Public Library’s main branch. I requested to borrow the book, but it took several days for the library to find someone to extract it from the cabinet.

When I finally received the book, the title word “African” had been completely covered by a library bar-code adhesive sticker. I wonder whether the placement of the book, and the obscuring of 25 percent of its title, were deliberate?

As someone who had the privilege to be trained at the graduate level by an excellent African-American woman chemist, I found the book to be very interesting and informative. It presents very positive roles models and could be an inspiration for any young woman considering a career in chemistry.

We should encourage, not discourage, young women to enter science, as our future depends on such people. I think the book deserved better placement, such as those books displayed prominently in the center of the library lobby, and the title word “African” should not have been obscured.

David Wade, Ph.D.

Kansas City

‘Made in USA’ goods

There is something we all can do to improve the U.S. economy. We can and should make an effort to read the labels of the merchandise we buy.

Look for the “Made in the USA” label. By doing so we will increase jobs here, slow imports, lower the trade deficit and lower unemployment for Americans.

For everything from the toothpaste you buy to the car you drive it is important to support our own country whenever possible. It is one of the most patriotic things we can do for our country short of serving in the military and is one of the best ways to help our own economy. If U.S. companies are selling more products, they will add jobs and hire more people.

It is called supply and demand. Let’s start demanding “Made in the USA” whenever possible.

Cheryl Millican

Peculiar

Compassion missing

When Fox 4 meteorologist Don Harman committed suicide, I don’t recall every detail of his life and death being analyzed and discussed in vivid detail. I don’t recall the transcript of the 911 call being printed or discussed by the news media.

I imagine that this is because media members knew Don Harman and did not want to cause his family added pain.

Why have the media not given the same consideration to the families of Jovan Belcher and Kasandra Perkins?

Certainly, people understand what a terrible tragedy this is and the pain that these families are in. Yet the news media continue to report and rehash personal details in every newscast and print publication.

Had it not been for the way the news media handled and reported on the death of Don Harman, I could perhaps believe that they don’t fully understand how this sensationalism is adding to the hurt of these families.

But the media do understand.

The bottom line is the bottom line, and ratings trump decency and compassion every time — unless it involves one of your own.

Michelle Hill

Kansas City

Lost civil discourse

It has become a national tragedy in our society that the phrase “civil discourse” has been reduced to an oxymoron.

Leonard Wiehe

Overland Park

Thanks to firefighters

I fell carrying something out to the front porch, hitting my head so severely that I pushed the top of the security door in, jamming it closed. My brother, who was in the home, panicked and had to come to me through the garage.

I didn’t want to call 911. But I suffer from claustrophobia and was afraid we would not be able to get the garage door open after the fall in case of a fire.

With the front door stuck, the garage door had become our only exit. I called a fireman friend when a door company would not come out until the next day.

He said just tell the 911 dispatcher it was not an emergency. Within a few minutes after the call, Kansas City firefighters were here and pried open the stuck door.

I had seen on television what firefighters do, and I wanted others to know they help elderly embarrassed people like me.

Valma A.S. Ealey

Kansas City

Broken police code

I was involved in an accident last month. I was rear-ended then hit in the front and forced into a guardrail while I was driving at 65 mph.

The vehicle of the young man who hit me went off the highway, down the embankment, through a fence and across two lanes of a service road, and ended up in a church’s front lawn after traveling a total distance of 316 feet. Both vehicles were totaled.

After a while, the trooper had the young man in handcuffs, and a firefighter said the man was 10-55. That’s police code for suspected DUI.

After I waited almost three weeks for the police report, you can only imagine my surprise that the only contributing circumstance marked was “following too closely.” Alcohol was not marked, and neither was excessive speed.

Please explain to me how someone can hit me twice, travel more than the length of a football field before coming to a stop, be handcuffed and firefighters who deal with this type of thing every day are remarking that the person may have been drunk, yet it ends up that he’s just following a little too close.

Would someone please offer me an explanation?

Jami Boan

Independence

Scarce-resources tussle

I share the following from the Syracuse Cultural Workers magazine. It is appropriate in today’s political climate:

“A public union employee, a tea party guy and a CEO are sitting at a table with a plate of a dozen cookies. The CEO takes 11 of the cookies, turns to the tea partier and says: ‘Watch out for that union guy. He wants your cookie.’ ”

Nancy Brooker

Fairway

Chiefs’ losing season

Actually, it’s pretty obvious why the Chiefs play so poorly. But let’s look at the facts.

We have a head coach who has never had a winning season and is so full of himself that he thought he could be head coach and defensive coordinator at the same time. I guess he never learned a thing from his predecessor.

Next is a general manager who doesn’t know a thing about evaluating players. Look at how cornerback Brandon Carr performed. The Chiefs’ GM has hit on only one draft pick (safety Eric Berry) since he’s been in charge.

Obviously, money is an object. Are there any more Patriot rejects out there we can bring on board?

And of course there is our owner, whose only endeavor is to add $30 million to $40 million to the Hunt bank account every year. Why spend a dime to get better players when we can keep Arrowhead Stadium full?

Lamar Hunt was a businessman, too, but he also had pride in winning. He is sorely missed.

V. Dean Barry

Independence