Helping neighbors

Kansas City’s public sidewalk snow removal policy makes sense (3-5, A1, “Kansas City begins crackdown on snowy sidewalks”).

But it also must create problems for those who are physically unable to do the clearing themselves and/or live on a limited income.

This is the time for neighbors to step in and perform an act of simple kindness.

Extend yourself a little and give a helping hand to your neighbor in need of attention.

As our population ages, these small but thoughtful gifts of time and attention can make life so much easier for those on the receiving end.

As a 76-year-old widow, living alone in my own house, I am blessed with a neighbor who places my paper on my doorstep each morning regardless of the weather. It’s a small gesture perhaps to good neighbor like Arnie but a huge gift to me.

Reach out your hand to someone next door, across the street or down the block.

A few extra minutes of your time may make a big difference in their lives.

Elizabeth Hite

Overland Park

Reasons behind votes

We often read stories reporting the voting results on bills in the House or Senate, which generally include a breakdown on the number of votes for or against along with party affiliation. Many times it causes questions about why our elected representative voted for or against something that seemed important and against our best interest.

What the stories usually fail to explain is why they voted as they did.

After asking a few questions, I have found many times that it is not a vote for or against the main bill but the added language or an amendment on bills. That addition may alter other laws or regulations or just be pork.

It would help many readers to understand our representatives better if stories also contained the reasons behind their votes. Maybe not each one’s reasoning but a general view of the reason.

We may find that they are actually voting in our best interest.

Terry Hammontree

Edwardsville

Snow, climate change

Does anyone in this area really think that two massive snowstorms within one week are just an anomaly? While local newscasters and meteorologists give citizens advice on how to deal with this weather, not one has questioned this weather pattern.

The entire area has suffered a major drought. I saw a red-tailed hawk drinking from my bird bath last summer. Red tails are not unusual in my neighborhood, but one drinking from my bird bath is.

I knew the drought was severe just by seeing this raptor drinking from a bird bath. So why isn’t someone asking questions about these back-to-back snowstorms and how they just might be related to climate change?

One step further, let’s start talking about how we humans and the fossil-fuel industry have played a major role in our current weather “anomalies.”

You could have thought about this while you were shoveling the second round of massive wet snow and spinning your wheels in order to get out of your neighborhood.

It’s past time to get serious about sustainable energy and climate change.

Rosemarie Woods

Kansas City

Nuclear plant vote

The new nuclear weapons parts plant at Missouri 150 and Botts Road is touting a LEED Gold certification, which means it is a clean, green building. This is an oxymoron.

Nuclear weapons will never be safe to build, and workers will continue to become ill, as they have at the old nuclear weapons parts plant on Bannister Road. The toxic metals that are manipulated, the waste produced and the equipment used remain the same.

The only difference is now these weapons will be made in a facility that has grass on the roof and energy-efficient light bulbs.

My great-grandfather died from working at the Kansas City facility, and many more people are living with chronic illnesses from working on these weapons.

When will we say enough is enough? We are decreasing our supply of nuclear arms every year, but we just used Kansas City municipal bonds to help finance the new location.

Kansas City wants jobs but not jobs that come with the hefty price tag of losing a loved one to sickness and death. Vote “yes” on Question 3 on April 2 to stop the city’s financial involvement in the nuclear weapons industry.

Nicholas Pickrell

Kansas City

Creating togetherness

Are Americans fed up with seeing politicians fight with each other day after day? Lawmakers even argue with their neighbors who vote for or against legislation.

Is this another civil war? How misguided are we?

This is the best country in the world, isn’t it?

We need to come together. People need to quit listening to the Rush Limbaughs of the world.

Others say we need to quit blaming former President George W. Bush for everything.

But the fact remains the same Bush started a lot of the problems the nation faces.

I am proud to be a Democrat, but this back-and-forth hatred has got to stop, please.

Don Witmer

Parkville

Surrendering guns

A ban on guns? I don’t think so.

American citizens will never allow that.

Our Second Amendment rights won’t be infringed upon.

However, there are a few points to be made: When the Second Amendment was written, the arms that were being referenced took 20 to 30 seconds to load one shot. It was not until the 1830s that Colt engineered and produced a revolver that was a multi-shot firearm.

I don’t need a high-caliber, semi-automatic rifle that holds 30 rounds to protect my family and property.

If the world comes to that, God help us all.

I’ve never heard of a situation in which any citizen needed more than a few shots to defend himself/herself. Such guns should be reserved for our military.

They are built to kill a mass number of people.

If those types of guns were not accessible and people with mental illness were restricted from using a hunting rifle or handgun, I have no doubt lives would be saved.

And if just one of those first-graders at Sandy Hook Elementary School would’ve been saved, wouldn’t that be worth giving up these toys that none of us really needs?

Chris Hendrix

Grandview

Van Cliburn memory

I was thrilled to be in the audience of the Van Cliburn concert in the Music Hall of Kansas City some time in the 1970s (2-28, A2, “Pianist Van Cliburn dies at 78”). Two things come to mind after all these years:

When we heard his first selection, which was “The Star-Spangled Banner,” we thought that could have sufficed for the whole program. It was so thrilling and magnificent.

He was all over that piano. I’ve never heard sound nor power like that come from one person, one piano. After the concert, eager to get his autograph, I waited in line with some friends, and when I faced this beautiful, gentle giant from Texas smiling kindly down at me, I just spontaneously reached for his hands, without thinking how many millions they were worth, and managed to say, awkwardly yet sincerely, “I just want to feel your hands.”

He was so kind and gracious, not a bit hesitant while my friends almost fainted.

The beauty and strength and feel of those long fingers have stayed with me all these years.

It was a moment in time that I will never forget. Neither will my friends.

Mary Pat Miller

Overland Park

Snow help

During the past two snowstorms, there were many instances in which total strangers came to the aid of those in need.

I would like to share my experience regarding acts of kindness shown to my wife and me regarding the same situation but from two different perspectives.

My wonderful neighbors, who are aware of my heart ailment, were, as always, in my driveway shoveling snow before I could even get outside. As they reminded me of my condition and why I should not be shoveling snow, a young man who appeared to be in his 20s came down the street.

He asked whether my wife, a longtime teacher, still lived there. When I replied that she did, he immediately went to work grabbing tree limbs and stacking them in neat piles.

He mentioned that he was one of my wife’s former students and wanted to help me as his way of showing thanks to her.

We are blessed to have such good neighbors, and I’m certain my wife loves it each and every time she hears that she has been a positive influence in her students’ lives.

Eddie L. Clay

Grandview

Angels with shovels

I am disabled and use a walker. During the snowstorms, my wonderful neighbor, Stan, has come over and shoveled my walkway and driveway and cleaned off my car as well. Another neighbor, Maurice, joined him one day to shovel the driveway.

Thank God for these angels who help elderly neighbors and come by to check on us.

Pam Christianson

Kansas City