Rights and Wrongs

Killed Bill: I found the sophomoric comments about Bill Douglas inane and irrelevant. It is obvious that the reporter was very naive and incompetent. If one is going to write about something, please learn to be objective about the subject.
Sheila Rekdal
Kansas City, Missouri

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Cheap Shot
Off target:After reading, trying to analyze and finally rereading "Half-Cocked" (KC Strip, November 6), I came to the same conclusion a previous reader came to in a letter: The article was of some interest but limited in actual useful information. The issue at hand isn't necessarily egotistical men suffering from "little man's syndrome" but people who like the idea of having a right to feel protected at all times. What the article failed to realize and acknowledge is that that group of people includes women -- yes, women. Remember? The "other" sex.

I am a full-time college student, and I happen to work full time as well, which usually means my day ends pretty late. I don't see the need for the protection of a handgun, but this is just me. Attending school in a small, relatively quiet town may have something to do with that feeling of security. Perhaps someone else in the same situation in a different part of town would feel a bit different. If the writer of the article had been more objective and focused on the issue at hand rather than going off on another tangent, maybe the reader could have gotten a better sense of whether the issue was for the worst or not.
Ebony L. Dunn
Grandview

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Foul Play
Out of bounds:Regarding Kendrick Blackwood's "Dropping the Ball" (December 25): I live in Kansas, and why would I ever support a bistate tax to help the Royals or Chiefs? I am treated like a second-class person when it comes to getting tickets for the Chiefs. The tickets go on sale ONLY to Jackson County residents, then a day or two later to everyone else. So, if I am lucky, I might be able to get two seats together -- IF I AM LUCKY.

The teams do not provide any revenue for my city and community, so what good does it do me if they are here or not? I like baseball, and I now go to the Kansas City T-Bones games and will continue to do so. With free and close parking and VERY affordable ticket and vending prices, why would I drive a half-hour to get in the Kauffman Stadium mess? Heck, the way Kansas City, Kansas, is growing, why not build a stadium over here for the Chiefs?

I believe the city would not even be in this mess if it collected the 1 percent tax on all the athletes, like they do to everybody else who works in the city. A lot of the athletes make more in one day than the average person makes in a year. So if the teams do leave, bye-bye, and take the "city leaders" with you, please. They got rid of hockey, so why not football and baseball?
Name Withheld Upon Request

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City Limits
No Kay: I started to write regarding the first story about the mayor's response to Becky Nace bringing up questions regarding the TIF Commission, appointments, expenditures and the way in which those expenditures are reported, i.e., a spreadsheet or memo ( KC Strip, November 13). I didn't, though; I thought, What the hell, this is Kansas City. Pendergast made deals with politicians and that was business as usual. I am not a fan of Mayor Barnes, despite the "sweet old lady" appearance.

Regarding Joe Miller's "Shut Yer Pie Hole" (December 18): For the city attorney to cry foul/illegal is ludicrous. Every government (city, county, state and federal) has some type of "general discussion" forum. It is during such forums that issues designated "important" get added to an upcoming agenda where the public can be present. He was not holding the public's interest in his heart, just that of Mayor Barnes.

The mayor's claim that she got in big trouble discussing city business at lunch is exactly why Sunshine Laws were generated. Good ol' boys in steam rooms and on golf courses made deals, came to understandings and circumvented the public's right to know. I have a topic for the council: "Mayoral Recall."
Dominic Santos
Kansas City, Missouri

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Club War
Bar stool:Regarding Ben Paynter's "Last Call?" (December 11): Unbelievable! That's what I find the ruling of Judge O'Malley's court decision against the XO Club. I am the sort who reads or hears of these injustices and shakes my head, then returns back to my own reality without another thought to it. However, at this, I feel compelled to speak out!

It appears obvious that O'Malley's ruling was of a personal nature. How can any legal official justify such mandated conditions of conformity that are blatantly unconstitutional? First: How can XO possibly monitor the listening habits or actions of perfect strangers parked within 50 feet of its establishment? Can you control who parks in front of your house? Second: If Mr. Grow had a crime take place in front of his residence, would he then be ordered to provide security for the neighbors in the blocks surrounding his home? Finally: You can't order someone to join an association! That seems as ridiculous as me taking my neighbor to court to make sure she attends my latest Tupperware party. Or better still, if a neighborhood is mostly of one religion, you wouldn't rule that the rest of the block join the same church!