Instead of a downtown stadium, complete Truman Sports Complex as it should have been | Opinion
Original plan
As I recall, the two stadiums at Truman Sports Complex received high praise when they opened. They were built as they are to allow for a rolling roof that could be moved to cover one stadium at a time. Money ran out, and the roof was not constructed.
Today, we seem to have money for a new stadium. Instead, why not build that rolling roof? This would put Kansas City in a position to host major events at either stadium. Give a thought to creating bus routes or a streetcar line between The K and downtown. That would make merchants happy.
- Jim Graham, Overland Park
Why she stands
WNBA star Brittney Griner made her regular-season debut Friday and stood for our country’s national anthem at the game’s start.
She was quoted saying, “Just being able to hear my national anthem, see my flag, I definitely want to stand.”
You may recall that Griner was arrested early last year at a Moscow airport after cannabis hashish oil was found in her luggage, and she spent nearly a year in a Russian jail.
Now appreciative of America’s freedoms and her newfound love for our country’s anthem and flag, she was also quoted as saying: “What I went through and everything, it just means a little bit more to me now. So I want to be able to stand. I was literally in a cage and could not stand the way I wanted to. … I appreciate everything a little bit more.”
Her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, explained in an essay in Time magazine: “Having been put in a literal cage, too small for her frame, stripped of her essential American freedoms, … Brittney, supported by many other players, will make a statement this WNBA season by standing tall for those uniquely American freedoms.”
Griner learned how precious our country’s freedoms are. Too many people take them for granted.
Stand for our national anthem and flag.
- Kevin Lindeman, Kansas City
Russia’s sights
Why are fans of Donald Trump attacking the FBI for trying to defend America? Special counsel John Durham’s report failed to achieve its politicized aims of finding a “deep state” conspiracy against the former president, so it instead attacked the bureau’s justified investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
If you do not want the FBI to investigate you, then you should not have private meetings with known Russian agents. This Trump and members of his team did, both during the campaign and in his term in office. Trump had several very private meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. When Trump’s son Eric said the family had “all the funding we need out of Russia” for its business, we all knew that this was illegal and that we need the FBI to save the country.
Don’t tell the bureau to stop now. Russia still wants to own America.
- Richard Lumpkin, Prairie Village
Breathe easier
No Menthol Sunday, which was observed May 21, is an annual observance led by the Center for Black Health & Equity to engage faith leaders and their communities in a discussion about how to improve health and reduce health disparities among Black people.
In Kansas and greater Kansas City, we know such disparities unfortunately hold true. Statewide in Kansas, more than 24% of Black adults are smokers, compared with more than 16% of white adults, according to 2021 data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Tobacco is still among the leading causes of preventable death and disease in Kansas, killing 4,400 adult Kansans each year. Nearly 17% of adult Kansans smoke and nearly 6% of high school students in the state use a tobacco product.
Even though No Menthol Sunday has passed, today is a perfect day to begin your journey to quit. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment offers help including KanQuit, a free tobacco cessation coaching line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW, or the web-based KSquit.org program. Lung.org/QuitSmoking is also a great resource.
- Erik H. Lund, Chris Lewis and Jane Brown, Board of directors members, The American Lung Association in Kansas and Greater Kansas City