Letters: KC readers discuss Missouri public defenders, polarization, underpaid police
Move forward
Getting vaccinated is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccines were made to save lives. They are safe and effective, and they help your body develop immunity to the virus. Vaccines cannot give you COVID-19 because they do not contain the live virus that causes the illness.
The vaccines prevent nearly 100% of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, and now everyone age 12 and older in the United States is eligible to be vaccinated for free, regardless of citizenship status. In fact, more than 170 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
To find a vaccination provider near you, go to vaccines.gov, text your ZIP code to 438829 on your mobile device or call 1-800-232-0233.
If you have been vaccinated, encourage others to do so. Learn about how to talk to your friends and family about getting vaccinated at wecandothis.hhs.gov.
Every person who chooses to get vaccinated brings us all a step closer to moving past the pandemic.
Thank you for playing your part. #WeCanDoThis.
- Nancy Rios, Regional administrator, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of Regional Operations Region 7, Kansas City
Legal ploy?
Over recent weeks, many of our Missouri legislators have decided people on Medicaid should not have any funding. (June 23, 12A, “Bumbling, indifference risk Missouri Medicaid funding”) But they did find a way to get more money for the state public defender system. (June 24, 1A, “Missouri public defender system to get funding for more attorneys”)
Does it seem obvious that lawyer legislators want to help their lawyer friends make more money? This does not smell quite right.
Maybe every one of these legislators should be voted out in the next election.
- G. Ray Nichols, Kansas City
My team, your team
I read with dismay about Missouri Gov. Mike Parson not being convinced Kevin Strickland is innocent, so he is balking on releasing him after 40 years in prison. (June 25, 1A, “Parson not convinced Strickland is innocent”) I’m guessing it’s really a political thing and Parson will do nothing for a Democrat, which he presumes Strickland likely is.
Parson expressed no misgivings with Donald Trump pardoning all those crooks like Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, because they’re part of the gang. On the other hand, Strickland, with 40-plus years behind bars, has more than paid his dues even if he had done the crime.
Parson says he can’t be responsible if Strickland is released and then hurts someone else. Has he not noticed that Strickland is in a wheelchair and it’s very unlikely he could hurt anyone?
We have become so extremely polarized now that common sense and any compassion have completely disappeared. What has happened to us, and what has our democracy become?
The fanaticism that the Trump presidency has brought to the United States has ruined us as a country and a compassionate people. How sad is that?
- Tom Wolff, Overland Park
Pay the police
Recently there was a stickup at Community America Bank on Missouri 291, a block from my home. A few weeks ago, a fellow I grew up with in Lafayette County named Steven B. Turner Jr. was accused of killing two women, presumably in a drug deal gone wrong. (May 29, 16A, “Man charged with 2 counts of first-degree murder in shooting in Independence over weekend”)
I looked up what a starting police officer in Independence makes — a paltry $19 an hour. That’s nothing. No wonder the city doesn’t have enough police.
The mayor and City Council desperately need to pay the police what they’re worth instead of wasting time handing out TIFs. Imagine if we paid $35 an hour?
- Holmes Osborne, Independence
