Letters: KC readers discuss John Albers, daylight saving time and Prairie Village pot
Justice for John
The city of Overland Park and the Overland Park Police Department must be held accountable for the killing of John Albers. (Jan. 28, 10A, “Overland Park must reveal the truth about police killing”) Such an irresponsible act followed by what appears to be a horrible cover-up by the city cannot be allowed to pass without a total and complete investigation by state and federal authorities.
My heart pains for justice.
- Donald Haws, Overland Park
This isn’t politics
As bad as it was watching the desecration of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, I was encouraged by the obvious outrage felt by Republican legislators, especially Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Perhaps McConnell was feeling guilty over the Faustian bargain he struck with Donald Trump.
Is he now backpedaling because of pressure from members of the party of Trump?
We can hope that when the evidence is presented to the Senate and the world during Trump’s impeachment trial, some of those tempted to acquit will remember their outrage on Jan. 6 and not commit an even greater outrage when they vote after the trial.
Be sure to let your senators know that incitement to sedition will be met with appropriate penalties. The impeachment trial is about sedition and not about partisan politics.
- Larry Skogerson, Mission Hills
Bring on the light
It was last week around 7 a.m. that I noticed the pinkish-gray sky on our drive to school. It’s been a dark, cold winter, as Missouri winters are prone to be. I suppose state Rep. Chris Sander seeks to make it even colder and darker. His HB 848 would keep Missouri on daylight saving time all winter, shifting the 7:35 a.m. sunrise we enjoyed last week to 8:35 a.m. Dark, snowy roads in January with a sunrise as late as 8:45 a.m. are an unpleasant thought.
Sander may not know that we tried this before. In 1974, the country tried daylight saving time all year, and Americans hated the experiment. There were even reports that kids died in accidents at dark bus stops in Florida. We quickly returned to changing the clock by that autumn. Why repeat bad history?
Let’s end springing forward and falling back on our clocks by eliminating daylight saving time, not extending it. State Rep. Wes Rogers’ HB 780 would do just that. Let’s keep the sun rising when it should in the winter.
- Angela Miller, Springfield, Missouri
Vaccine equity
For me, a pediatrician in Kansas City caring for children of all socioeconomic backgrounds, access to care is always top of mind. With the proposed rollout of 100 million vaccines in 100 days, which populations will be missed?
The internet is the quickest and safest contactless way to make appointments. However, data show that 25% of Kansas City residents do not have broadband internet access at home, meaning internet-based scheduling excludes this population. About 11.5% of Kansas City residents do not own cars; the national average is 8.7%. Worse, Kansas City ranks among the worst cities for public transportation, limiting people’s access to medical centers where the vaccines are administered. These barriers mean the poorest and least connected will be left behind.
Greater efforts to ensure equity in enrollment and administration of vaccines, including grassroots efforts of door-to-door appointment scheduling and vaccine fairs in local schools, community centers, shelters and more, need to be made. We must meet people where they are to achieve the herd immunity (with the majority vaccinated) that will protect our children and those medically unable to receive the vaccine at this time. Only then can we move forward toward a safer, COVID-19-free tomorrow.
- Sarah Thevatheril, Kansas City
Bad pot approach
Marijuana should definitely not be decriminalized in Prairie Village, whose City Council wants to reduce penalties for its possession. (Jan. 26, 3A, “Prairie Village weighs decriminalization of marijuana in the city”) Doing so would result in people being charged with criminal offenses under state statute.
Decriminalizing marijuana worked in Kansas City only because Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker declared she would not prosecute these cases under state law. Unfortunately, she could change that policy at any time, and successors in her office are not bound to continue that policy.
While well-intentioned, repealing city ordinances against marijuana possession is a simplistic but ultimately self-defeating approach. Far better would be an ordinance requiring police simply not to pursue marijuana charges, or to require they be sent only to municipal court, where penalties should be reduced to the lowest level possible.
The voters approved this system in Kansas City in 2017, as they did in Columbia, Missouri, in 2004. It has worked well since.
- Dan Viets, Missouri coordinator, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Columbia, Missouri
Time to sue Biden
It’s a sad time for freedom-loving Americans who are watching the brick-by-brick dismantling of the policies of the past four years. President Joe Biden seems hellbent on destroying all that is good about our country in order to please his socialist base. Halting the XL Keystone pipeline is senseless and ruinous for our country.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to exercise some tough leadership and sue the Biden administration.
- Abe Reddekopp, Kansas City
This story was originally published January 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss John Albers, daylight saving time and Prairie Village pot."