Lamar Hunt's legacy lives at Arrowhead, also at Independence dry cleaner | Opinion
Lamar’s spirit
I loved Vahe Gregorian’s column on Lamar Hunt’s spirit at Arrowhead. (July 24, 1B “Chiefs owners face quandary on Arrowhead future”) In 1963, Hunt said if Kansas City sold 25,000 season tickets, he would move the franchise from Dallas. I have a photo that shows a group of Independence businessmen with Hunt, crouched like offensive linemen. My father is on the front row. He bought season tickets that year, and our family has been season ticket holders since. We now have seven tickets behind the Chiefs’ bench.
My father owned a commercial laundry in the 1960s, and we cleaned the uniforms and practice jerseys for several years. I regularly went to the practice facility at Swope Park and remember a quote on the wall from Hank Stram: “Don’t worry about the things you can’t control.”
The season-ticket drive eventually sold barely 15,000 tickets, but Hunt brought the team to Kansas City anyway. Would the Chiefs be here had those businessmen not sold those tickets? Would the Chiefs be in Arrowhead today if the people of Jackson County had not voted to build Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums, and then voted for the tax again for improvements? Obviously, a resounding no.
My father’s spirit is in Arrowhead, too.
- C. Robert Buckley, Independence
Voters’ will
Hey, state Sen. Mike Cierpoit, I’d love it if both the initiative petition process and you were more transparent and honest. (July 30, 13A, “Missourians didn’t really know what was in that sick leave petition they signed”) Because you know it’s already a law that ballot issues are one subject controlling one part of law. In fact, you know the state Supreme Court decided Proposition A was exactly that.
Yes, we expect ballot summaries must accurately and completely describe the changes proposed, unlike the illegal ones written by former Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and the coming abortion ban you voted for.
For Missouri’s sake, it would be a refreshing change if you, as our elected official, would not mislead voters in the very commentary complaining about voters being misled by others. This is exactly why Missourians overwhelmingly support our 100-plus-year-old initiative petition process that puts voters, not politicians, in charge of our future. Let’s keep it that way.
- Gina Meyer, Lee’s Summit
Find them now
At every turn, the government insists the cutbacks to Medicaid funding are because of “young men” able to work who are defrauding the system. If that is true, wouldn’t the government have to find those “young men” after the cutback and stop them among all those legitimately receiving Medicaid? So why not go find them now, using the same investigative tools the government will have later, and save all the trauma and harm being caused to legitimate recipients.
Seems like the story of the teacher penalizing the whole class for the acts of a few when a little preemptive investigation would solve the problem.
- Rick Marien, Overland Park
Hawley’s duty
I’m not surprised that the president lashed out at Sen. Josh Hawley (July 31, KansasCity.com, “Trump blasts Josh Hawley as a ‘second-tier’ senator. Why did he lash out at ally?”) Donald Trump is erratic and prone to condemn anything less than total compliance. Since Hawley is drawing executive condemnation anyway, he should take a stand for things Missourians want, such as global health programs.
With 2026 budget negotiations nearing, Congress will decide if we continue to stand by our promises to the world to fight global disease or again waive the power of the purse for a heartless administration. Sixty-four percent of Missourians agree that the U.S. government should invest in preventing and treating diseases in other countries to reduce the risk of outbreaks in the United States, compared with only 15% who disagree, and 21% of neither view.
Sens. Hawley and Eric Schmitt, along with Reps. Emanuel Cleaver and Sam Graves, should continue to fund the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in fiscal year 2026, and ensure that prior year funding for those programs is spent as Congress has directed.
- Cynthia Changyit Levin, St. Louis
Ball, park
The Royals’ new home needs to be inside Swope Park. There’s plenty of room, with highways and major streets already in place. Like a possible downtown stadium, there is plentiful room for underground parking and solar panels. It would also be a boon to the Kansas City Zoo and Starlight Theatre. We could have a world class stadium with lots of open space: green, verdant, joyous!
If people don’t like baseball, they’ll never see it. If they do (like me) they will love the Kauffman in Swope. Imagine a home run landing in the lagoon, golf course or lost in the lush trees. This we can do.
- Bronia Brown, Kansas City