Letters on Brownback’s malarkey, arming seniors, Riverfest cost, Keystone pipeline, library’s short films

Brownback is so full of malarkey

I am a retired Kansas teacher, and every time I read what Gov. Sam Brownback has to say about school finance and teachers, I simply cannot believe anyone could be so full of malarkey.

The truth is that Brownback is trying his hardest to back himself out of a financial mess of his own making by trying to belittle a school finance formula that has worked well in this state for years.

The governor would have us believe that if we take the next two years to redo the formula and give Kansas school districts block grants during that time, all will be well. It won’t.

How many times do the governor and the Legislature need to have the Kansas Supreme Court tell them they are in violation of the state constitution before they accept the fact they are cheating Kansas children of a quality education?

This blatant attack on public education and teachers illustrates just how desperate the governor is to cover up his own misguided judgment on his tax reforms and the consequences that have resulted from them. That raid on the funds for this school year is only making the matter worse.

Kansans need to demand that our lawmakers comply with the constitution and fully fund our children’s education.

Arming seniors

How could anyone have doubted that the governor and the Legislature have the best interest of all Kansans at heart?

Case in point: The Senate is about to pass a law to allow all Kansans to carry concealed firearms without a permit or training (Feb. 13 Eagle)

A supporter of the bill, Patricia Stoneking, president of the Kansas Rifle Association, points out that among its beneficiaries will be senior citizens who are on fixed incomes and “flat-out cannot afford to go through that process” of $200 or $300 for permit and training.

Oh, joy. For years now, my wife and I (senior citizens) have sat in our car and counted up the change we had left after grocery shopping. It’s always been too little to afford even the cheapest Saturday night special.

What if some well-armed lowlife were to fling open our car door and demand our change? Or our groceries? Our gasoline points or our parking space? We’d be helpless. But now, if and when we figure out how to use our gun, we’ll have the option of blowing the sucker away.

Button a value

My wife and I have four children and sometimes struggle to find activities that are affordable that we can all do as a family. For example, admission to the Sedgwick County Zoo for one day would cost my family of six $63.70. The cost to attend a two-hour movie in the evening at one of our local movie theaters would be about $62.00, and that is just for the movie tickets.

In 2014, the cost for our family to attend the Wichita River Festival was $2.45 a day. With that we were able to participate in several events, be introduced to several local businesses and artists, and enjoy some awesome national touring acts for a fraction of what a regular concert ticket would be to see the artist on their own.

This year the cost for my family of six to attend this event for nine whole days has climbed to $3.56 a day. If I were to not purchase buttons this year because of the price increase and put that money toward one day at the zoo or a night out at the movies, I would still be about $30 short.

The value of the button has always been dependent on how the community supports the festival. If you want to see more value, then I encourage you to buy a button and watch this awesome event grow.

Greed delayed

I appreciated the article “Company suspends efforts to seize Neb. land for Keystone” (Feb. 13 Eagle). Turns out the heroic Holt County district judge was Mark Kozisek. My hat is off to this courageous man for standing up to big business and all that political pressure.

Greed (stealing property from private citizens to profit one Canadian company) has been delayed. Yea!

Library’s great idea

Our Wichita Public Library is hosting the 29th-annual Academy Award shorts film program.

When this program was created, Wichita was the only city in the nation where nominated short films could be viewed by the general public. Our library’s great idea is now replicated in dozens of cities throughout the United States.

I look forward every year to seeing the films nominated in the animation, documentary and live-action categories. I like to pick my favorites and then watch the awards (coming up Sunday) to see if my picks are Oscar winners.

Even more than this, I look forward to the time in the near future when we will have a Central Library with meeting spaces better suited to hosting film programs including these Academy Award screenings. It is nice to see that the design of this building is now actively underway. I would encourage continued support of this project that is so important to our community.

This story was originally published February 16, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Letters on Brownback’s malarkey, arming seniors, Riverfest cost, Keystone pipeline, library’s short films."