The Loan Arranger

Sick to debt: Regarding Joe Miller's "Jaws of Debt" (January 3): I am the branch manager of a payday loan office and a single mother formerly on the other side of the counter. When your credit is bad, you've exhausted all your resources and you can't pay the rent, your options are severely limited. Bad credit equals high risk. Did Mr. Miller bother to do any research at all about the money payday loan offices lose on delinquent loans? If we don't charge high interest, how can we keep our doors open despite our low collection percentages? And if we close our doors, how will our customers get help? Don't cite public-assistance programs, because if you've never tried to get public assistance, you have no idea how hard it is to get help. I have, and I do.

What ever happened to personal accountability? There is a notice posted in my office that says, "The maximum annual percentage rate that is currently being charged on loans at the office is 395 percent." I hate to see people in financial turmoil, but how can you victimize someone who is willfully and knowingly entering into a legal contract? Being below the poverty line does not absolve anyone of responsibility for his or her own situation.

One more thing on the subject of responsibility: There are at least two sides to every story, and presenting only one side as news is clearly irresponsible.
Anastasia Locke
Kansas City, Missouri

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Pokey Man
You've got jail: Regarding Kendrick Blackwood's "Time and Punishment" (January 10): I cannot believe that no one can see that after sixteen damn years, Bill Herron's treatment is cruel and unusual punishment. I would be embarrassed to think that this man still is a threat to prison officials and would try to outsmart them by trying to pull an escape if released into the general population. If he were out in the general population and did achieve that, then someone is not doing his job correctly, especially given the reports of the physical condition he is in.

He deserves a break. He's not asking for freedom from prison but freedom from his little rathole. I just don't see how people in higher positions can't see anything wrong with this picture. It's really scary.

Just wondering if maybe this might be a movie someday. I think it would be a great story for both sides of the picture.

Thanks, this was a great article.
Angela Ortiz
Kansas City, Missouri

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Urban on the Rocks
Spark of darkness: Regarding Casey Logan's "It Only Takes a Spark" (January 3): When I lived in Chicago, I was amazed that a person didn't have to be a fat cat to own and operate a business downtown. Why? Because I'm from Kansas City, and that's the way it's always been here, for as long as I can remember; tumbleweeds could blow down the streets at night and no one would notice.

I'm a member of the arts community and fully support the Crossroads development in the so-called "SoLo" area Mayor Kay Barnes is trying to co-opt. This thriving area was developed by small businesses, not large corporations.

A thriving urban community cannot consist of just one or the other. There needs to be a diverse strata of development, where everyone is given an equal opportunity to contribute. I commend Mike Gouddou for his efforts, and I hope he doesn't give up. Perhaps other small businesses could lease space in the building -- the residents in the area desperately need a downtown market. It doesn't have to be a megastore, just a friendly, clean place to buy bread and milk, like Gouddou said.

Generally in urban areas, street-level shops are occupied by small businesses, with larger companies whose business doesn't rely on street traffic occupying upper levels of tall buildings. This is common sense. We need a dose of common sense when it comes to downtown development. The Kempers know nothing about the street, so they should stay out of it.
Cara Walz
Kansas City Missouri

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Open Mike night: I couldn't help but wonder why Mike Gouddou couldn't have foreseen the trouble looming on the downtown horizon. In retrospect, even the name he chose for his establishment ("Spark") seemed somewhat prophetic by definition.(Spark -- an ignited or fiery particle produced by one hard object striking another). Well, certainly his determination created a few sparks when he bumped up against the fat cats downtown, which, I must admit, did trigger some weird sort of "underdog" sympathy in me.

However, I'm sure that what the bigwigs are trying to avoid are the many varieties of irresponsibility and general madness that can come about when large groups of people abandon sobriety. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for a night of old-fashioned guzzlin' at your favorite dive, but anyone who's spent a summer night in Westport knows how easily the mix of liquor and raging hormones can lead to all sorts of nasty things after the bars close. Fun things like vandalism, street brawls, heart-plugging consumption of greasy food, gunshots, etc. You know, the same sort of booze-induced carelessness that led Robert Ray to doze off and kill five people on a New York subway train.