The elements of demographic studies play a major influence regarding the viability of any commercial undertaking. To ignore or be cavalier with these factors is not going to be an acceptable risk to investment capital.
The Citadel Plaza property and its developmental planning don’t really pass muster. Until these matters can be brought into a successful format, it’s going to stay in the weeds.
H.K. Gilliland
Lenexa
I’d like to thank my mom and dad for staying married for 65 years. Thank you for not subjecting my brother and me to stepbrothers and sisters and ex-step in-laws.
Thank you for not smoking or drinking and instead using that money to take us on wonderful vacations.
Thank you for not having two TVs in the SUV and for actually wanting to bother with us and show us the orange groves, cotton fields and mountains.
Thank you for never fighting in front of us. Thank you for not having us until you could afford us so we had a mom waiting for us when we got home from school.
Thank you for paddling our behinds when we needed it.
Thank you for teaching us not to get into debt. That allowed us to retire early with no debts except a debt of thanks to you, Mom and Dad.
Kathy Williamson Glenn
Kansas City
I feel that Gloria Squitiro should have stayed out of her husband’s office and left his staff alone. However, was it really necessary to publish excerpts from her personal journal in the newspaper?
Frankly, my first reaction after reading it was pity, since she seems so emotionally unbalanced. My other reaction was an impulse to shred my own personal journals. Although since I’m not married to a politician, they will never be of interest to anyone but me.
Elaine Hines
Kansas City, Kan.
Oh, Gloria. I would say to your husband: With friends like you, who needs enemies?
Donna McGinness
Kansas City
I enjoyed your highlight on the life of Ernst Ulmer (7/10, National/Local, “Artist helped many others”). A few years ago I was looking for a print of one of Ulmer’s paintings. Someone suggested I call him to see if he had a copy. I was surprised that he would accept a personal call like that but tried it anyway.
I was surprised at the gracious voice of his wife, Mary, inviting me to come out to their home to see if we could find the particular one I was looking for. I had three of Ulmer’s signed limited prints, so I was very excited at the prospect of visiting his home.
His wife took me on a tour of their home, sharing Ulmer’s early works, the first portrait of his child, pictures from his visit to his ancestors’ home. I also saw his studio. He was working on a commissioned piece for a golfer.
Ulmer signed the piece I bought, helped wrap it and then carried it to my car. I was so thrilled from my time with him and his wife. He was a humble man; she was a gracious hostess. It was an afternoon I will never forget.
Ruth Lindsay
Kansas City, Kan.
On July 2, our water meter was accidentally broken by a cement delivery driver, causing us to have no water pressure. We couldn’t do our laundry, take a shower or do dishes.
We called Kansas City’s Water Services Department and were told that it would be fixed on July 4. July 4 came and went, so we called the 311 Action Center on July 5. The 311 Action Center told us it would be fixed the following day.
Every day from July 5 till July 10, we had to call the 311 Action Center to report that it still wasn’t fixed. We were told every day that it would be fixed the following day. The last call we made, on July 10, we were told that it wasn’t an emergency, and they couldn’t tell us when it would be fixed.
Finally, on July 10, we e-mailed Mayor Funkhouser’s office and received an e-mail back within an hour telling us that they had contacted the head of the Water Department and would let us know something. Within two hours of that e-mail, Water Department workers had repaired our broken meter.
Thanks to the mayor’s office for getting something done!
Jody Michael
Kansas City
Barbara Shelly’s column “The bills came, and his coverage vanished” (7/12, Opinion) on the medical insurance industry’s practice of taking advantage of and abandoning the sick when they are most vulnerable was an eye-opener.
That insurance companies save money for themselves and increase profits for the hospitals is no surprise. How they do it is beyond contempt. Ambushing the insured, knowing they are not medical professionals and waiting for them to slip up is cowardly and disingenuous.
Rather than ask the public to use complicated application forms, the insurance companies should use copies of the client’s medical records. That would give them all the information they need and close the loophole they use to dodge expensive payments. But that would be fair, and apparently “fair” is not in their vocabulary.
George Cook
Riverside
After spending the better part of two days listening to the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearing, I am embarrassed for all senators of both parties. Never have we seen so many egos stuffed in one hearing room.
A U.S. senator, you hope, would act as a statesman, not like a thespian hogging the stage. My guess is if the hearings were closed and not televised, few would even show up.
Ed “Gomer” Moody
Kansas City
I have been watching the congressional hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor with amazement. I am almost speechless that the Republican leadership — white men who come from a party with a long history of racial discrimination, bias and exclusion — accuse her of discrimination. It is embarrassing to this country.
I say that as a 65-year-old white veteran who, unfortunately, has voted Republican in the past.
Joseph McMillian
Olathe
I agree wholeheartedly with Bennie Howe’s letter (7/10, “Frank White’s a pro”). Mr. Howe may not be aware of another reason to admire Mr. White: his dedication and service to the Kansas City community.
Mr. White is spokesman for CAPA, Child Abuse Prevention Association, and recently spoke at a CAPA event. Every attendee was captivated. Mr. White’s easygoing, friendly demeanor spoke to the heart of everyone listening.
The “nice guy” image is genuine. He sincerely cares about the children and is committed to the organization and the community it serves.
Mr. White will also be a featured speaker at this fall’s Power of Prevention Soiree to benefit CAPA, held at the Midland on Oct. 23. I encourage anyone wanting to meet this great Kansas City hero (and support a great cause) to attend. Call 816-252-8388 for tickets.
Sonci Bleckinger
Lee’s Summit
Bill Austin’s letter (7/12) congealed several questions I’ve had about the health care of those elected people in Washington, D.C. Why do they receive care at Bethesda Naval Hospital? They are not members of the military. Why are they allowed to enroll in the various health plans available to federal employees? They are not federal employees.
In the strictest denotation of the words, elected members of the government are contract employees whose contracts are either ended or renewed on a regular rotation.
Why have they been allowed to give themselves cushy benefits out of the people’s treasury while denying the same benefits to the people?
Ken Knox
Rushville, Mo.
I have just finished watching a news segment on former NFL star Steve McNair’s funeral on CNN in which they referred to him as a hero.
A man with a wife and four children having a mistress is in no way a hero. I always thought a hero was someone to be looked up to and admired. What a poor example this sets for the youth of America to see their idols in such situations. He was an excellent football player, but to call him a hero is going overboard.
Our heroes are fighting in foreign countries, not at home cheating on their families. Calling him a hero degrades the meaning of the word, which lately has been afforded to anyone in sports or entertainment. Maybe I just don’t understand.
Granville Ferguson
Marshall, Mo.
The Star’s editorial “Access for all to affordable health care” (7/12, Opinion) says, “All Americans must have affordable health insurance.”
The problem is access to health care. Why not substitute “care” for “insurance?” Insurance companies are the problem for middle-class Americans. We pay thousands of dollars a year per person for insurance, and then when we need health care, we still have to come up with thousands of dollars to pay what insurance companies won’t pay. They often deny coverage or cut off the policyholder after a claim.
Why can’t a nation as great as the U.S. have a single-payer system like Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany or France? If that’s socialism, so is public education, our highway system, our police and fire departments, the military and all institutions we pay taxes for so we can utilize the services when needed.
Why is health care the only system designed to make huge profits for big companies instead of providing for the people, as a government should do with taxpayer money?
Your editorial says we should give more money to Big Insurance. Change “insurance” to “health care” and you will be an advocate for the people, not for Big Insurance.
Bill Pryor
Overland Park
Mike Hendricks’ states that I dished “dirt” on Mayor Funkhouser and his wife, Gloria Squitiro, “while shopping … a tell-all book” (7/15, National/Local, “Don’t read too much into diary”).
In fact, I was deposed as part of a lawsuit. Knowing that my testimony would become public, and that daily news outlets would likely report only the most sensational information, I chose to do two lengthy radio interviews so I could offer more context and share positive information as well as negative, which I did.
When I signed on to Funkhouser’s campaign I made it clear that I would write a book. This was reported on a Star blog shortly after he took office.
Hendricks also quotes Squitiro’s dismay that I would “throw away” a friend and that “to hurt is (my) intent.” He doesn’t reveal that this is from an e-mail exchange that occurred immediately after I resigned. My intent was to leave an untenable work situation.
Joe Miller
Kansas City
Dear Sen. Claire McCaskill,
If it is not too much to ask, have you had the opportunity yet to read the $787 billion stimulus bill?
If so, may I offer a humble suggestion? Could you and your colleagues revisit and eliminate the items in this bill that are not stimulating and will not stimulate the economy any time soon?
Perhaps you and your fellow senators can then use this (our) money to offer taxpayers some real stimulation, such as a payroll tax reduction. This should be very easy to draft and require almost no time to read and understand. Even we hayseeds out here should be able to grasp this.
Most important, it will actually put money directly back into the economy from the minimum wage earner on up. I know it sounds almost too simple.
James McNeive
Kansas City
Does anyone besides me think it might be wise for us to wait and see if the $787 billion stimulus package creates any jobs and helps improve our economy before we spend billions more on cap and trade and nationalized health-care programs? Taxation for these initiatives can only further financially oppress Americans at a time when unemployment is at its highest in 26 years.
Also, members of Congress need to take lots of time to read these bills thoroughly so they know what’s in them, and “we the people” need to see them as well.
President Obama promised transparency. Where has it been? The administration needs to slow down and take a breath between agendas.
Barb Hugunin
Lee’s Summit
Let me get this straight. A group of New Haven, Conn., firefighters all took a test for promotion. They all probably have similar seniority, give or take a couple of years. The white firefighters pass, while the minority firefighters do not. And the test was thrown out and called illegal? (7/10, Opinion, “Pro-con”)
Am I the only one who finds this completely insane? Do you think if it were the other way around, the test would have still been thrown out? I think we all know the answer to that.
Why is it that it always comes down to race? Nobody is smarter than another just because of skin color. Maybe one group just decided to study hard and do what was needed to pass, and the other group didn’t. Maybe it’s just that simple.
T.J. Adams
Kansas City
Editor’s note: The Supreme Court last month threw out the decision in the New Haven firefighters’ case that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor had endorsed as an appeals court judge.
As Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions lectures Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on the importance of color-blind justice, bear in mind that Mr. Sessions would now be a federal judge himself if his own nomination had not been rejected in 1986 due to his history of racist comments.
As detailed in a 2002 article in The New Republic, testimony at his confirmation hearing included a report that Mr. Sessions had once said he thought the Klan was OK until he learned that some of them were pot smokers. A black assistant U.S. attorney in his office testified that Mr. Sessions addressed him as “boy” and told him to be careful how he talked to white folks. Another Justice Department lawyer testified that Mr. Sessions has referred to a white lawyer who had litigated voters’ rights cases as a “disgrace to his race.” In his own testimony, Mr. Sessions characterized the NAACP as an un-American organization.
In the end, the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee voted against confirmation.
So, when Mr. Sessions questions Ms. Sotomayor’s commitment to the equality of all people before the law, don’t forget Mr. Sessions’ own record on the subject.
Jeff Maloney
Kansas City
Two generations have worked selflessly to realize a society that judges individuals on merit and protects the civil rights of all. Yet now we find another privileged standard applied to Sonia Sotomayor, based solely on her gender and who her parents were.
I think it fair to dissent from any antiquated government policy that promotes a new aristocratic class based on criteria so superficial.
Sam Gill
Kansas City
Thank you for publishing the picture of Judge Sonia Sotomoyor conferring with her mother (7/14, A1).
It explains the unease with which we who were born to some semblance of privilege view her nomination to the Supreme Court. It represents the obvious influence of the Wise Latina Feminist Manifesto Movement.
Susan J. Brandt
Kansas City
