LETTERS 05/03/08

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The only thing that will diminish litter is the decades-overdue involvement of city and state leaders. Can anyone cite a single example of a Kansas City mayor saying a word about litter? For too many years the number of trash trucks and the number of cleanup employees required was a measure of the success of public gatherings such as St. Patrick’s Day parades and concerts at Liberty Memorial.

Other cities and states have developed effective methods for dealing with litter, starting with a refusal to tolerate it. So if you’re concerned about your surroundings looking like the city dump annex, contact your local elected officials.

Joseph H. Ford

Kansas City

I call to my fellow citizens of the Kansas City area to help in any way they can to reduce the littering in our area along highways and roads. It is easy and simple to stop the source if we each do the right thing. Don’t throw anything out your car, and make sure nothing “accidentally” blows out the back of your truck.

The European countryside is spotlessly clean compared with our roads. Many other states are also much cleaner to drive through. The highways of Mississippi, for example, are much cleaner than either Kansas or Missouri, partly because of better enforcement and fines against persons who litter.

Please do your part: Don’t litter. Adopt a highway. Clean up your neighborhood. Do whatever you can, and we can all be proud and save tax dollars at the same time.

Karen Skinner

Weatherby Lake

Grow up, Democrats

Those disgruntled Democrats, who are vowing to either stay home or switch their allegiance to John McCain if their candidate loses, are acting like spoiled brats on the playground who threaten to take their ball and go home if they don’t get their way.

Shame on them. This type of Bush-league pettiness (pun intended) is the very reason Democrats could blow their best chance in years of regaining control of the Oval Office.

Eddie L. Clay

Grandview

Don’t bet on McCain

While I applaud veterans (my dad and brother served) and war heroes, I do not believe this automatically qualifies one to be president. John McCain has too many similarities to Bush. After eight years of not accomplishing much in the areas of health care and immigration, and now with the economy plunging, why would we want four more years of this?

I am a senior citizen, and my friends are also. Age does make a difference. Many will try to deny this and say “70 is the new 50,” but let me tell you: you are not as sharp and mentally alert in your 70s as you were at 50 or even 60.

Folks, this is a new horse race, so why do you want to bet on a horse that was bred from the same stable and has come in last for eight years?

Camille Buccero

Independence

Victims of Crime Act funding

This year domestic and sexual violence agencies across Kansas are facing federal budget cuts that will devastate core services in our community. Kansas will experience an almost $1 million reduction in federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding that provides emergency shelter, hotline, advocacy, and counseling for victims throughout the state.

The Kansas House Appropriations Committee is proposing a $500,000 budget item in the Omnibus Appropriations Budget to help stop the loss of the most critical services. If this budget item is not accepted, agencies will have no choice but to cut services. Although the proposal doesn’t cover the entire loss to Kansas, it will make sure victims can still access shelter and emergency services.

We particularly thank local representatives Tom Burroughs, Bill Feuerborn, Kay Wolf, and Kevin Yoder for their leadership in protecting victims in our communities.

Sharon I. Katz

Executive director, SAFEHOME, Inc.

Palle M. Rilinger

Executive director, MOCSA

LaDora Lattimore

Executive director, Joyce H. Williams Center

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