Without investigative journalism, Missouri boarding school would have kept on abusing

Agape abuses

Thank you to The Kansas City Star and its investigative journalists for uncovering the physical and sexual abuse of minors at Agape Boarding School, which has been allowed to operate without state inspection and guidelines thanks to the Republican-controlled Missouri legislature. (Sept. 12, KansasCity.com, “Lawyers spar as southwest Missouri judge again delays Agape Boarding School closing”)

And while The Star was investigating these cases of physical and sexual abuse of minors that have since been determined factual, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt was busy filling lawsuits against local school districts for requiring students to wear masks to protect them from a deadly virus that has killed more than 21,000 people in Missouri.

Again, thank you for this investigative journalism.

- Todd McCabe, Kansas City

Queen’s lesson

I would like to thank Daniel Desrochers for his extension of condolences on the loss of our queen in Friday’s “Star Politics” newsletter. It was heartening to see the messages of appreciation of her life from across the U.S. political spectrum in these polarized times. It just shows, as it does in the U.K., that if politicians are able to set aside partisan differences and find common ground, the world is a better place.

I have been receiving your e-news alerts to help with my master’s dissertation, “Why Missouri Swung Right.” Now that it is completed, my wife and I recently holidayed in Aberdeenshire. We had lunch last Wednesday in Ballater and drove past Balmoral Castle. Queen Elizabeth died the following day. We knew she was in declining health but not that death was so imminent.

After watching the queen’s coffin pass by on its way to St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh to lie at rest, we will entertain visitors from Missouri. We will no doubt discuss the surprising endurance of the British monarchy and advantages and disadvantages of having an apolitical head of state, unlike the United States.

- Peter Reilly, Edinburgh, Scotland

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Underpowered

The take of the author of a Sept. 4 letter to the editor about U.S. energy security is out of touch and woefully naive. (19A) Wind and solar currently account for only 20% of total U.S. electricity generation.

Renewables alone may never be able to catch up with America’s ever-increasing demand for electricity and heat. For the foreseeable future, the country needs to increase production and utilization of natural gas to meet heightened national energy requirements, until such time as new, smaller and safer nuclear plants come on line.

- Peter W. Connors, Lee’s Summit

Wrong for Kansas

Thank you, Kris Kobach, for confirming to us why you should not be attorney general of Kansas. (Sept. 11, 9A, “Kobach resigns from We Build the Wall after nonprofit indicted”)

- Anna Elizabeth Smith Merritt, Overland Park

Not my things

I don’t understand all this brouhaha over the Mar-a-Lago incident.

When I left my last job, all I took home were personal items that originally belonged to me. This included reference books and other objects I had taken to the workplace.

I could have taken boxes of paperclips, boxes of pens and reams of paper, all purchased by the company for which I worked. I did not take these because they were not mine.

I had access to personal data on thousands of people, including names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers. But I did not retrieve those because I am a person of integrity and that information did not belong to me. I no longer worked there and had no need for this information.

I left journals, policies, minutes of meetings and several notebooks full of corporate information that did not belong to me. Why? Because it was the right thing to do.

Later, I realized I needed some information that was on my former company’s computer. It reviewed my request and gave me a thumb drive with the records I asked for.

To me, this situation comes down to personal integrity and doing what is right.

- Paul Smith, Liberty