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The Star welcomes letters from our readers. Please click the button or submit a letter to The Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO. 64108. To contact the editorial board, call 816-234-4885.

Letters to the Editor

Editorials

Yael T. Abouhalkah

Lewis W. Diuguid

Ban on energy-drink ads is right move

The American Medical Association voted at its annual policy meeting in Chicago on limiting how the caffeinated beverages are sold to people younger that 18. However, don’t expect the makers of the products to go down without a fight.

Kids should send get-well cards to zoo’s Nikita

Teachers searching for a writing assignment for their summer school students and parents needing to give their kids something engaging to do should focus on Nikita, one of two polar bears at the Kansas City Zoo. The star of the zoo isn’t feeling too well.

Barbara Shelly

Student transfer situation not ideal

Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro is to be applauded for getting out in front with guidelines for student transfers from unaccredited districts. The Missouri legislature could have resolved the ambiguities in its transfer statute years ago, but chose to let the courts and state bureaucrats hash it out.

Mary Sanchez

Public Editor

Steve Rose

Eric Holder is a liability to President Obama and our country

Eric Holder’s controversies are distracting a nation, which should be focusing on key issues, such as the economy, health care and immigration. The U.S. attorney general would be doing his president and the nation a great favor by tendering his resignation sooner, rather than later.

Syndicated Columnists

Conference guidelines for the IRS: A parody

To all state and regional Internal Revenue Service managers: As a result of the critical government report about our agency’s 2010 convention in Anaheim, Calif., the following changes are being implemented immediately.

Midwest Voices

Time to rewrite the rules of politics

Corruption, influence peddling and outright bribery are as alive and well in American politics today as they have ever been. The settings have certainly changed. And the actors look a little different today. But the overall story remains the same.

The NSA scandal — Americans are private people

Americans by nature are private people. What we do, how we live and our opinions are not for public viewing by anyone and especially not by the government. One sec…I’ve got to take a poll on Facebook to see what I should cook for dinner tonight.

As I See It

Kansas taxes are now flatter and fairer

“Kansans will pay significantly less in taxes in 2013 than they did in 2012, and the savings will grow from there, even as the state spends billions annually on core responsibilities such as education, roads and Medicaid,” writes Nick Jordan, secretary of the Kansas Department of Revenue.

Broad immigration reform will make our communities safer

“As Congress debates bipartisan immigration reform and following a law enforcement briefing on immigration reform recently at the White House, it is clearer than ever that immigration reform will make our communities safer,” writes Robert Stephan, a former Kansas attorney general. “Now is the time for reform.”

How to contribute

The Star welcomes essays of up to 600 words. An essay and color photo of the writer should be sent by email to oped@kcstar.com. or by mail to:

The Star, Opinion Pages
1729 Grand Blvd.
Kansas City, MO. 64108.

Be sure to include a one-sentence author description, including city of residence, and daytime phone number. All submissions are edited, may be republished in any format and become property of The Star.