Annexing Kansas
The wailing and gnashing of teeth regarding Kansas’ budget woes are needless (5-2, A5, “10 ways to cover the Kansas deficit”).
We of the neighboring states, being of relatively sane fiscal policy, are simply waiting for Kansas to hit financial bottom. (The elevator is losing altitude at an alarming rate.) We can then swoop in and annex the Sunflower State.
West Missouri, South Nebraska, North Oklahoma and East Colorado can take over and help the citizens of Kansas back to their feet.
We could leave Topeka to the current administration as a kind of landlocked occupied territory, an island of fiscal and administrative lunacy. It will soon be available to be made into a large rural park after all the inhabitants of the statehouse disappear in a puff of logic.
Bud Simpson
Kansas City
Praising Bishop Finn
John 8:7: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Yes, I have said I felt Bishop Robert Finn made a mistake not reporting right away. Who knew all the facts?
Child abuse, or for that matter any abuse in the church or anywhere, is terrible — even the abuse of attacking priests, bishops or even the Holy Father for standing steadfast in Catholic teaching and doctrine.
The fact is that chatter on Bishop Finn started before he arrived in Kansas City and never stopped. So, did all the people making negative comments abuse him?
These so-called practicing Catholics (forget the others), why were they so afraid and critical?
I for one am grateful that he followed the call of John Paul II and Benedict XVI to bring sacredness and reverence back into the celebration of the Eucharist. I am overjoyed that the number of vocations is at a staggering amount since his arrival in Kansas City.
I do know a man, a human being, a bishop, a friend, a brother, Bishop Robert Finn.
Mike Murtha
Kansas City
Cycle of scandal
Catholics believe that at ordination a bishop places an indelible mark upon the soul of the new priest (4-28, A1, “Finn still has role in diocese”).
The moment of ordination is deadly serious and requires nearly a decade of discernment because we believe it cannot be undone.
Even a defrocked priest is still technically a priest because the indelible mark remains forever imprinted on his soul.
Allowing a criminal such as Bishop Robert Finn to leave his mark on a new generation of priests is unconscionable.
These young men will forever retain the imprint of scandal, the mark of a disgraced bishop, upon their very souls.
When does the cycle of scandal end?
Nick Roberts
Kansas City
Baseball cards
I am writing in regards to an article published May 1 in The Kansas City Star, “Still tops in the hearts of fans,” regarding sports card shops in the area.
The story stated that there are only two shops in the area. But this is not true.
Coach’s Corner Sports Cards is in Belton and has been there for more than 20 years. It is recognized as having the largest auction bid board in the nation.
Items are placed up for bid, and fans enroll and receive a number to use for bidding. The auction ends every other Thursday evening with games and food.
Coach’s Corner Sports Cards buys and sells all kinds of sports items. The shop loves supporting our local teams.
Cheri Stegner
Belton
KC’s clean water
Safe and reliable drinking water is an essential part of a healthy community and a resource we often take for granted.
This week is National Drinking Water Week, and we’re proud to celebrate Kansas City’s high-quality and great-tasting water.
While we often overlook the treatment plant, pump stations and 2,800 miles of pipe that deliver water right to our taps, this is an intricate system that KC Water Services has operated for more than 125 years.
We deliver an average of 109 million gallons of water per day to almost a half-million residents, and we test your water for more than 290 constituents, far more than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires us to do.
Kansas City’s tap water is the affordable, safe, eco-friendly and a local choice. For our customers, a penny buys the equivalent of 11 16.9 ounces (half-liter) bottles of water.
Just think how much you can save by filling up from the tap instead of buying expensive bottled water.
This week is an important time to remember the vital role water plays in our daily lives.
To learn more about your drinking water, please visit us online at www.kcwaterservices.org and follow us on Twitter @KCMOwater.
Terry Leeds
Director
KC Water Services
Kansas City
Kansas misdirection
So in Kansas, we have a deficit of more than $700 million.
We are stealing from one department to find the funds to repair our roads.
Our education funding is a joke and is in fact causing schools to close early.
And our legislators think one of the most pressing issues is allowing Hy-Vee, Costco and Sam’s Club to sell alcohol. Huh?
How does that balance our budget? How does that help our school districts?
If passed, this would cause family businesses to close. We can argue about the numbers, but Topeka is turning its back on families here in Kansas and cozying up with Des Moines, the state of Washington and Rogers, Ark.
Our legislators are saying Sam Walton is more important than a family-owned liquor store in (insert Kansas town here).
C’mon, Topeka, let’s get back to working on those things that make Kansas great.
Jerry Harper
Lenexa
Headlines of future
The following are possible headlines for 2068: “USSR forces mass on eastern Polish border,” “United Nations members in total disarray,” “Islamic State dominates control in most of Middle East and North Africa,” “New York subways close as seawater from failed harbor dike floods city,” “Dutch engineers blamed for dike failure but cite inferior materials used in construction,” “Western U.S. forests burn out of control in 7th year of drought,” “Water reservoirs continue emptying as lack of winter snows prevail in western half of country,” “Prices rise drastically as U.S. crop failures mount,” “Beef prices reach astronomical highs,” “Fall and winter storms along Atlantic Coast become stronger, more numerous,” “Tornado outbreaks ravish central, eastern U.S. cities,” “Millions out of health care as earlier provisional laws are squashed by Supreme Court,” “Coastal property values plunge as ocean levels continue to rise around world,” “Another massive ice shield breaks off Antarctica as ice shield continues to diminish on Greenland,” “Polar bears virtually extinct,” “Few monarch butterflies found” and “Migration ends, Republicans continue denying anthropogenic cause of greenhouse gases.”
John Graff
Olathe
Protect and serve
Let it be recorded here — I support the police in this country if they perform their duties without prejudice, malice or wrongful intentions toward any race, color, anytime, anywhere, period.
Camille Buccero
Independence
Blessing in memories
I was talking to my mother-in-law’s ex-caregiver on the telephone, and she told me the most wonderful story. My mother-in-law, Jean, had Alzheimer’s disease, and her caregiver was pregnant.
Upon the birth of a girl by the caregiver (Michelle), Jean became very jealous of Michelle because Jean was not able to feed the baby as Michelle was breastfeeding. Jean was a stubborn patient and voiced her displeasure very openly.
She wanted to feed the baby. So Michelle, loving Jean and her precious little girl, started pumping her milk at home, putting it into bottles and bringing it to Jean’s house.
Jean was then able to feed the baby.
The best pictures we have of Jean at this time in her life are of her lovingly holding the baby while she fed her the bottle.
Jean has been gone for 10 years now, but Michelle is still very much with us, still doing her small and large acts of kindness to make this a nicer world.
What a blessing.
Kathie Cronan
Overland Park
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