Readers share views on marijuana, ride-hailing services and Kansas
Ban marijuana
My husband and I implore lawmakers in Jefferson City to take a stand to keep legalized marijuana out of Missouri. Drugs of all kinds are a big problem nationwide, and to legalize marijuana is just as much a nod to the drug cartel and drug runners as anything.
It is a green light, come-on in scrambling the minds and health of children in Missouri. Does anyone truly think a drug dealer is going to get a tax stamp to pay taxes?
What is Rep. Shawn Rhoads thinking — tax dollars at the expense of our children and other citizens? I am totally disgusted with such thoughts and acts. Shame on Rep. Rhoads and others who care so little for their constituents that they would sell them out for the almighty dollar.
Rep. Rhoads, you are dead wrong. How would you like it if your children were running around smoking pot? How about using more tax money to keep drugs out of the state?
If you think Ferguson was bad, legalize marijuana and every town in the state will have trouble. Please pray and rethink this public health concern.
Lynn and Jean Harris
Grain Valley
Decision on Uber sad
The recent ruling regarding Uber was a setback for Kansas City (4-10, A1, “KC, Uber spar over rules”). Although there may be nominal issues of personal and vehicular safety, this was truly nothing more than an attempt to reduce competition to benefit an outmoded industry.
The restrictions are not as draconian as some assert, but they are a blatant refusal to acknowledge paradigm shifts within the industry. Although a company like Yellow Cab could surely manage these, the fact is that Uber is not Yellow Cab. And it is these differences in its business model that will allow Uber to succeed while other companies will wither.
I’ve enjoyed Uber and am mourning its imminent loss, but this problem is more than a detriment to me personally. This is a step backward for the city.
The addition of Google Fiber was a huge step in demonstrating that we’re still a thriving, vibrant city. It was the first step in a renaissance. It was a draw to millennials and non-Kansas Citians.
This Uber decision cost the city much of the goodwill that Google Fiber brought. This decision doesn’t say we’re pro-safety, no matter the protestations.
This decision simply says that we’re anti-technology and anti-progress.
Colby Nelson
Kansas City
Waiting on Kansas
I live in Missouri and work in Kansas. I filed income tax on Feb. 1.
I have received my federal and Missouri tax refunds. When I check my Kansas refund status, every day it says not available.
What is going on over there? Are they not giving refunds because the state is going bankrupt?
I tried letter-writing and never heard back.
Diane Gaehle
Kansas City
Weapons of death
Although the weapons used by F. Glenn Miller Jr. and John Hancock were different, the targets were sadly the same.
Miller faces charges in the shooting deaths last year of three people at two Jewish centers in Johnson County. Hancock, Missouri Republican Party chairman, is implicated in an anti-Semitic whisper campaign against state Auditor Tom Schweich, who committed suicide.
Do we live in the Middle West or the Middle East?
David Wristen
Leawood
Republican DNA
Mark Lewis wants the Missouri GOP to decide between correcting or condoning its leader’s alleged whisper-campaign behavior. What Lewis needs to see is that the GOP in Missouri is just one of 50 state parties that have all been behaving the same way for more than 40 years.
Remember Watergate? I also remember a fine senator — Missouri’s own Thomas Eagleton — who had to abandon running for vice president on the Democratic Party ticket with Sen. George McGovern. It “came out” that Eagleton had been treated for depression years before.
Funny thing, though, he kept getting re-elected senator and was easily one of the best ever. Lewis might also try to imagine how Edmund Muskie, Geraldine Ferraro or Claire McCaskill felt about having the GOP digging for dirt not just on them but their spouses.
Remember when Ross Perot dropped out of his presidential campaign? He plainly stated that when the GOP started digging on his family, he quit. The presidency wasn’t worth having his family smeared.
Oh, it’s not called digging, smearing or anything like that now. There’s a sugarcoated phrase that makes it sound like it’s OK.
It is “oppositional research.” Sadly, don’t expect GOP members to correct something in their DNA.
Carolyn Lee
Independence
Doubtful gun link
I find it interesting that the anniversary of the shootings at the Jewish Community Center and Village Shalom are cited as an example of why we need “common-sense gun laws” (4-13, Letters). Here’s some real common sense to ponder:
No matter how many laws are passed, you can’t always prevent bad people from doing horrible things.
As a convicted felon, the shooter was already prohibited from possessing firearms. He obtained his weapons through one or more straw purchases. Buying a firearm with the intention of giving or selling it to a prohibited person is also illegal.
What specific common-sense laws do you propose so it can be even more illegal?
Dale Willer
Shawnee
Dangerous law
Somehow, it’s difficult to see the no-permit, no-training gun law as anything more noble than a mean-spirited, sarcastic nose-thumbing aimed at those of us who believe that carrying a concealed deadly weapon should require at least as much demonstrable personal responsibility as does driving a car (4-12, A1, “Free to carry”).
Marlen Beach
Kansas City
Parent’s worry
Are you kidding me? Do people read the news?
How can anyone even ask, “Why is my son considered a predator and your innocent daughter the prey?”
Who attacks women and steals their purses on their way to their cars? Men.
Who physically and sexually abuses them? Men. Who rapes and murders women? Men.
Who exploits sex slaves from here and abroad? Men. Who date rapes college and high school and younger girls? Their male “friends.”
Sure, girls can be mean, and both genders carry sexually transmitted diseases and get their hearts broken. That is a way different ballpark from why girls should be at the very least wary of boys.
No, parents with sons don’t worry about them as much as I worry about my daughter. Not even close.
Sandy Gray
Kansas City
Build a new KCI
You only get one chance at a first impression. We need a new Kansas City International Airport terminal.
Richard Wiens
Leawood
Time to volunteer
This is National Volunteer Week. Do you have a few hours a week to help someone or help an organization you believe in?
Are you looking for something more in your life? Would you like to feel needed and appreciated? Would you like to make new friends and learn something new?
Volunteers live longer, happier and healthier lives. Whatever your interest is, there is a need. You may want to work with children, veterans, animals or older people.
You could volunteer at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Safehome, animal shelters, libraries, food pantries or Habitat for Humanity. You could be a foster grandparent, literacy volunteer or a big brother or big sister.
You could deliver Meals on Wheels or drive a senior citizen to appointments. If you like the medical environment, you could volunteer at Shawnee Mission Medical Center.
Go online or call organizations in Kansas or Missouri that you are interested in and see whether they have or need volunteers. As a volunteer, you would be an example to your children and enrich your life while making our community a better place for all of us to live in.
Be a volunteer and discover gifts you didn’t know you had.
Becky Pressly
Olathe
This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Readers share views on marijuana, ride-hailing services and Kansas."