Would banning cars help restore Plaza’s charm? Not for this letter writer | Opinion

Damage done

I read the Aug. 31 front-page story, “Kansas City’s Plaza could be closed to cars under proposal,” about the proposal to revitalize the Country Club Plaza and almost laughed out loud.

The Plaza was ruined for me when the powers to be decided it was a good idea to surround the area with high-rise buildings. They sucked the charm out of the area — traffic or no traffic.

- Julie Whitley, Olathe

Grocery fairness

Rep. Jake LaTurner of Kansas toured the Ball’s Price Chopper grocery store in Leavenworth earlier this month at a make-or-break moment for independent grocers in this country. He not only listened but seemed to truly understand the economic challenges we’re seeing on both sides of the cash register.

Like most grocery stores, the Price Chopper in Leavenworth operates on a razor-thin margin that barely covers salaries and operating costs. That store is surrounded by superstores and big chains that are far more profitable because they’re so big they can unfairly dictate their prices to manufacturers.

Smaller stores then pay a higher price to cover for the deals that are made for the chains.

That’s not only unfair, it’s against the law. The Robinson-Patman Act of 1936 protects small businesses from such tactics by large companies.

Grocery stores are the heart of American communities, but we’re not looking for special protection.

We’re looking for fairness, and the laws are already in place. They just need to be enforced and updated, and we sincerely hope that Rep. LaTurner can spread that message in the nation’s capital.

- Jon McCormick, President and CEO, Retail Grocers Association of Greater Kansas City, Lenexa

Enough already

I am a Christian, church-attending law-abiding grandmother well over the age of 70, again facing another election season. I worked hard at my job until retirement, and I love my country, family and friends.

It’s recently occurred to me that according to Republican campaign literature mailed to our home and filling the internet over the years, if I even think about voting for a Democrat, I must be all of the following: socialist, communist, atheist, welfare queen, satanic, slacker and baby killer.

This kind of dishonest, hate-mongering propaganda from the GOP started decades ago and has been going on for way too long.

Enough! It’s no wonder we have a divided nation.

- Genie Park, Shawnee

Time to act

We are frustrated. All we read and hear about is the damage caused by gun violence. We talk among ourselves that “thoughts and prayers are not enough.” “Why can’t politicians do something?” “Anything.”

I think we need to ask ourselves, “What have I done?”

It takes about 10 minutes to call your senators or representatives and tell them what you would like them to do. How much do we really care if we aren’t willing to spend 10 minutes letting our representatives know how important the issue of gun violence is to us?

To find contact information for your elected officials, go to usa.gov. Please make the effort.

- Frank Fernholz, Overland Park

Burning burnout

The inhumanity of the Burning Man festival! (Sept. 4, 6A, “1 dead as flooding at Burning Man festival strands tens of thousands at Nevada site”)

Less than an inch of rain fell on the festival site, creating mud that stuck to the soles of the festival goers’ Guccis and Birkenstocks.

I’m sure the folks on Maui, Hawaii, and in the Big Bend area of Florida feel your pain knowing that your Mercedes Sprinters can’t get traction in the muck.

The round-the-clock coverage of celebrities having to hoof it for a couple of hours to a road to find their limos was riveting.

- Paul G. Comerford, Blue Springs