Letters: KC readers talk fossil fuels in Independence, KU coaching, Plaza violation
Clean it up
As an Independence resident and native, I am disappointed and resistant to the attempt of some City Council members to push for expanding fracked natural gas usage. (Feb. 22, 1A, “One city looks again to fossil fuel to generate electricity”) More fossil fuel is the wrong direction to head if Independence is striving to become the “greenest city in America.”
Instead, let’s create clean, renewable energy solutions and save money while mitigating the impact of climate change. The residents of Independence should tell the council to take another look and develop a better plan that does not bankrupt our city or include more fossil.
- Christy Barnes, Independence
Solid KU choices
I have a suggestion for the committee that recommends the new football coach at the University of Kansas: Talk with Jerry Kill and Tracy Claeys. Both are from small towns in Kansas and have been successful at the NCAA Division I level. They are high quality people, great coaches and highly praised by players. The university and the people of Kansas would love them.
We badly need “down home” people who could appeal to the loyalty of both players and fans. I followed their coaching at the University of Minnesota, and it was absolutely superb.
- Gary Hanson, Lenexa
Leave Seuss alone
What a disgrace to turn beloved children’s’ writer Dr. Seuss into some sort of villain 30 years after his death. (March 3, 3A, “Six Dr. Seuss books to halt publication over racist images”) And for the Seuss estate to announce on his birthday that six of his books would no longer be published is certainly abominable. That date has been celebrated in elementary schools in America for decades.
A man who devoted his life to children is suddenly being victimized after his death because of colors of illustrations of people in his books. Having been an elementary art teacher for 33 years, I know it has always been difficult for children in art class to get just the right skin color for their own ethnic background. In recent years, Crayola came out with a package of crayons that gives children a better variety of skin tones to choose from and mix if necessary.
If censorship in America is the new norm, how can rap music get by with calling for the death of police officers, referring to women with obscenities and using the n-word in reference to African Americans?
The ills of society are also demonstrated daily in video games, movies and television. Seuss is mild by comparison.
- Lynn Pierce, Independence
Way too flashy
The Country Club Plaza has been the jewel of Kansas City for 100 years, yet our city leaders won’t protect it from bad development, once again failing to enforce its own building codes. Case in point: The city code regarding outdoor lighting reads, “Flashing, revolving or intermittent exterior lighting visible from any property line or street is prohibited.”
The new high-rise office building, 46 Penn Centre, boasts numerous neon-like light bands that change color intermittently, as well as huge video screens that change color and content with the bands. All of these features are visible from numerous points on the Plaza, in clear violation of the above-cited regulation.
This egregious failure to follow codes sets a terrible precedent for existing and future buildings to add similar lighting, which would reduce our beautiful Plaza to a third-class facsimile of the Vegas Strip. Betsy Allen, Nancy Bone, Alan DuBois and I urge the mayor and the City Council to explain how these violations of Kansas City’s codes have been allowed to occur and to fix the problem by enforcing all regulations, including lighting codes.
- Marietta Parker, Kansas City
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers talk fossil fuels in Independence, KU coaching, Plaza violation."