<strong><span class="subhead">English-only warnings</span></strong></p><p>I was disheartened to read the letter from Jodi Jeffries (5/6), applauding the fact that local newscasts reported the warnings about the dangerous thunderstorms in English.</p><p>I&#8217;m shocked that this was her primary concern that night, as several families suffered real damage because of the storm. I&#8217;m saddened to hear such xenophobic comments at a time when many of us spent the night in our basements, wondering if we were going to be hit hard.</p><p>Seriously, is Jeffries really happy about the fact that there was a chance that some children, whose parents may not have understood the real danger of the storm, might have perished? This was an emergency, for Pete&#8217;s sake, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with making sure every human being in the viewing area has a chance to take cover and protect their children.</p><p>I&#8217;m really tired of people who are so focused on themselves and their interests that they lose all manner of compassion.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Donna M. Davis</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Overland Park</em></p> Warnings are about saving lives, not about your native language. When Jodi Jeffries&#8217; ancestors came here, they probably couldn&#8217;t speak English during their initial visit either.</p><p>I hope for her sake that if she ever visits another country and an emergency situation occurs, they will put it in plain English for her sake and others abroad.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Al Ramirez</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Overland Park</em></p> Unless Jodi Jeffries plans on going back to her ancestral land, then I can only assume she plans to learn one of the 800 surviving native languages of this continent on which she now resides, such as Shawnee, Cheyenne, Apache, Navajo, Pawnee or Susquehannock.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Maureen O&#8217;Brien Salz</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Overland Park</em></p> <strong><span class="subhead">Indy shouldn&#8217;t pay for schools</span></strong></p><p>The Independence School District should not have to pay anything for the buildings being transferred from the Kansas City School District (4/30, Local, &#8220;KC-Indy talks come to naught; Compromise is elusive on school buildings affected by the district boundary change&#8221;).</p><p>Transferring the administrative responsibilities for some public schools is not comparable to selling an income-producing business. It is unreasonable (actually outrageous) for the KC district to demand payment for the five schools that were given them years ago from other districts that were incorporated into the KC district.</p><p>In addition, the value of the two buildings that were built by the KC district should be offset by the taxes that were paid by the citizens in the geographic area that is being transferred. Those citizens shouldn&#8217;t have to now buy back the buildings their taxes already paid for.</p><p>The Independence district is going to have a large enough financial burden just fixing up the buildings they are receiving.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>M. Richard Troeh</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Independence</em></p> <strong><span class="subhead">Gas prices aren&#8217;t Bush&#8217;s fault</span></strong></p><p>President Bush is often blamed for the rise in gasoline and diesel fuel prices. I disagree with a lot of Bush&#8217;s policies, but we need to consider some other factors that he has no control over.</p><p>First, this is not just a U.S. problem manufactured by politicians of either party. This is a worldwide problem and has been for a long time.</p><p>Consider this: 35 years ago I made a trip to Europe and, at that time, fuel prices were near $4 a gallon. Just a month ago, I was privileged to make a second trip to Europe, and the going rate was near $8 a gallon.</p><p>Who are they to blame?</p><p>President Bush does not control what price nations such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela sell their oil for.