Letters to the Editor (June 27)
Homelessness
Sooner or later the city will need to tackle the homeless problem successfully because the homeless are not going away. If the city attempts to force them out of Naftzger Park, they will simply move somewhere else.
And replacing the grass, fountain, pond and gazebo with man-made asphalt and turf will not work. Actually, downtown needs more grass areas, trees, etc., not less. During the typical, hot, triple-digit summer temperatures of Kansas, the man-made surfaces make the atmosphere hotter; natural surfaces absorb heat and help make an area feel cooler.
And if the intent of a Naftzger Park rework is to impress the out-of-town NCAA visitors in 2018, the damage has already been done. Gov. Brownback and the state Legislature have already arranged that. Just pick up any national publication, like yesterday’s (June 22) Los Angeles Times op-ed regarding Kansas. We have become the laughing stock of the nation.
John Stohler, Wichita
Protecting our climate
It was a sad and frustrating moment, at the least, when President Trump pulled us out of The Paris Accord. He paints the USA, the most powerful nation in the world, falsely as the victim of all other nations’ economic exploitation. He heaps verbal abuse on our allies, NATO and tears up any concept of a community of nations. For him, America is an isolated besieged island in the world, laughed at by others who have been exploiting us. He downgrades the attempts of Republican and Democratic administrations to effectively address climate change.
The consequence of his actions will place America last not first when it comes to cooperation with other nations. We have ceded any moral right to lead the world if we will not protect its climate or keep our commitments. This self-centered go-it-alone course creates great danger in our being left behind by others technologically and economically. Jobs will be lost, not gained, and the climate will be hurt. My recent contact with others from other nations is not that they are laughing at us, but they feel sorry for Americans dealing with the negative consequences of this administration.
Charles A. Gaynor, Bel Aire
Letters to the Editor
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This story was originally published June 27, 2017 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Letters to the Editor (June 27)."