Did comedian Todd Barry Twitter-shame Kansas City into building the new KCI terminal? | Opinion

Thanks, Todd Barry

The new terminal at Kansas City International Airport has been open three months now. I’d like to thank an unsung hero in getting it built: comedian Todd Barry. Eleven years ago, Barry delivered an enlightening anecdote on “The Late Show with David Letterman” about his experience tweeting with the official KCI account about the lack of restaurant options and the airport’s online map that didn’t then didn’t work on mobile phones.

I firmly believe Barry deftly using his platform on a national stage was the definitive spark that lit a fire under our community to build a new terminal. Mr. Barry, Kansas City owes you one. Thanks.

- Peter Gogol, Prairie Village

I’m priced out

Well, Jackson County is at it again. Homeowners are opening their mail to discover their property taxes have doubled, and in many cases more than doubled. Perhaps to the assessors office this is just a way to raise money for services, but to the actual people affected it is life-changing, and not in a good way.

Taxes were already increasing in Jackson County at an alarming rate, and this latest shot across the bow will force people out of their homes. This would seem to benefit only rich investors and developers, which a cynical person might think was the point.

I love my Victorian Kansas City home, but I cannot afford to pay another $4,000 per year in taxes on it. I honestly believe tax-rate increases of more than 10% a year should be illegal.

Any lawyers out there willing to represent homeowners? We need help, and the county needs to consider the impact of its actions on longtime residents.

- Kim Broers, Kansas City

Baptist ‘wisdom’

If Mark Twain or Will Rogers were around today, they would be clacking away on their typewriters that the Southern Baptist Convention has it all wrong, now that it has voted to uphold the expulsions of churches led by women pastors. (June 15, KansasCity.com, “Southern Baptists refuse to take back megachurch because it has women pastors”)

One would say: “It’s not that women can’t teach men anything. It’s that men will never learn.”

And the other would chime in: “It’s not that you can’t teach men. It’s that you can’t tell them a darn thing.”

What a bunch of men decide about women, including what they can and cannot do, is caveman behavior at its most refined.

- Ellen Murphy, Mission Hills

Giving thanks

My father was a professional boxer when he was young, and he and I always watched the old “Friday Night Fights” together on TV featuring Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and others. As I grew up, I boxed a little bit around the neighborhood and, later, for one year in college.

I feel as if the last 60 years of my life have been a huge fight with the devil. Chronic pain in my back and alcoholism have made my life difficult and painful. I’ve heard the nine-count several times but always somehow made it to my feet before being out.

In boxing, a “corner man” helps the fighter get ready for the next round. I have been very fortunate to have had several people in my corner without whom I would not be standing today.

My eternal thanks to these people: my savior, Jesus Christ; my father, who taught me many of my values and beliefs; my extraordinary wife, Carol; and Frank Aguilar, my friend of more than 70 years who has been in my corner through many battles.

Life is a beautiful challenge, sometimes devastatingly cruel and other times wonderfully fulfilling.

- Don McCullough, Manhattan

Modern Lincoln?

In April 1865, in the last few days of a bloody Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln walked down the streets of Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy, after its capture by Union forces. Newly freed slaves, jubilant at their new freedom, rejoiced. Some knelt at Lincoln’s feet.

Lincoln said to them: “Don’t kneel to me. That is not right. You must kneel to God only, and thank him for the liberty you will hereafter enjoy.” Lincoln had empathy for the oppressed and the common person. Lincoln — a man of integrity, honor, honesty, compassion and grace — led our country with a moral conscience. He was a Republican.

How do you think the current leading Republican presidential candidates would have responded? I think I know, and it leaves me deeply troubled.

- Kirk Duncan, Overland Park

Garden delights

The USDA’s wonderful People’s Garden program fosters community collaboration. (June 9, 10A, “USDA’s People’s Garden is a bounty of health, community”) Gardens can be of different sizes and types, growing healthy food or creating strictly ornamental areas that provide beautification and nurture green natural spaces for the community to gather. The gardens also can educate by demonstrating the value of sustainable practices and benefit to pollinators.

Last year, the USDA opened the initiative nationwide to include all eligible gardens that meet the criteria. We have one such garden in the Kansas City area: Wassmer Park Garden at 67th Street and Roe Avenue in Prairie Village.

Located in a city park, Wassmer Garden is a lovely ornamental garden designed, planted and maintained by the Johnson County Kansas Extension Master Gardeners. It serves as a popular space to walk, meet friends and just enjoy nature. I encourage you to visit this local People’s Garden.

- Ann Graham, Wassmer Garden co-chair, Prairie Village

How justice works

Preserving democracy requires following the law.

Our country is clearly divided over the investigation and indictment of Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents to the detriment of our nation’s security. Some have expressed dismay that the former president has been investigated and indicted, equating it to political persecution. Others view the indictment as necessary given the possible threat to our national security.

Baseball great Yogi Berra once said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it” — but gave no guidance as to which direction. I view the investigation as a great and rare opportunity to reassert our democratic form of government.

In adherence to our democratic system of law and order, the process will require the government to prove to a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the former president intentionally retained national security documents in violation of our nation’s statutes. This is the system of law that has existed since the founding of our country. It is this system that I defended as judge advocate general in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.

To those objecting to the special counsel’s investigation, my question is: If not this system of inquiry, then how should national security be preserved?

- Gary Adams, Prairie Village

Slow them down

Want to reduce trucking accidents such as the one that has closed Interstate 95 in Philadelphia? (June 13, 2A, “Cause in Pennsylvania highway collapse under investigation”) I have a solution, but it is doubtful society would permit my idea to go into effect, as it would increase the cost of just about everything: I suggest that we stop paying commercial drivers by the mile and pay them by the hour.

The next time a trucker blows by you at an unsafe speed, just remember there is a way to slow his rig down — if you are willing to pay the price.

- Jesse Laird, Kansas City