Letters to the Editor (Jan. 19)

Fear in the community

An innocent man was shot dead by our police department. This man had two hands and a front porch like most other citizens in our community. While I, too, support our local police, they are not excusable in this instance.

The Wichita Police Department has now created a real sense of fear in our community, not only of the criminal element but also a fear of the police department that is supposed to protect and serve. Is our community going to accept this as the new norm, or be outraged and demand justice?

I cannot excuse the behavior of our police, the officer(s) need to be held accountable, charged with a crime as any other citizen would be, the names of the officer(s) involved need to published in the newspaper and no longer be able to wear a badge. Remember citizens, we all have two hands and a front porch that qualify us to be innocent victims and murdered by the police. Citizens, demand justice for Andrew Finch and demand the police department exist to protect and serve.

Circumstances that create chaos

Saturday, at approximately noon our time, the people of Honolulu received a message indicating a missile was inbound, to take cover and it was not a drill. This was an official release, not from a hacker.

The message was rescinded in a matter of minutes, but still causes great concern. We have two world leaders who have exchanged “pleasantries” which could lead to a misinterpretation and then a real exchange of missiles. This time nothing happened, but what about next time?

America built on tolerance

There has been much in the news regarding President Trump’s crass statement regarding those countries from which he thinks we should not be welcoming immigrants.

I take offense, both with his statement and also a comment by Tucker Carlson of Fox News, who said in defending Trump’s remarks that “President Trump said something that almost every single person in America actually agrees with — an awful lot of immigrants come to this country from other places that aren’t very nice.”

I do not agree with Trump’s remarks, and I think Carlson exhibits either a good deal of arrogance or possibly ignorance in speaking for the majority of the American people. We tout our populace as a Christian nation. I find no place in the textbook for Christianity, that book we call the Bible, where the kind of rhetoric Trump is spewing could be found.

And if Carlson is correct, then I very much fear for the future of this country. America was founded on the principle that all of those who call ourselves a part of the human race were created equal, and I pray that we will continue to take the high road of tolerance and acceptance.

Voters alter tide

My wife and I have read and re-read the excellently written analysis of today’s chaotic American political situation by Blake Shuart in the Jan. 15 Eagle.

We are certain most voters would agree with his judgments of the broken money and power-hungry direction in which this nation’s politicians have dragged us. It echoes the writings of great thinkers such as the Roman Cicero concerning the tragic failure and destruction of the Empire. What we see coming as a result of the lack of responsibility of our politicians can indeed be halted by us, the American voters, if more of us do as Shuart urges and “define our expectations ahead of time and select candidates with the qualities needed to deliver.”

We are grateful to The Eagle for publishing Shuart’s thoughtful and perceptive opinion piece.

Let’s talk wind chill

Minneapolis had a wind chill of -17 and schools were open. In Duluth, Minn., the wind chill was -25 and the schools were open. Does this mean the kids in these cities have different frostbite temperatures? I think not. What it means is the TV weather people around here sensationalize the weather for ratings. They give feels-like temperatures more than actual temperatures.

Who cares what it feels like? Anything below 32 degrees with the wind blowing is cold to me. Now when the temperature gets down to 0 and the wind is 50 mph and exposed skin gets frostbite in 10 minutes, post the warning and keep kids in. How many kids would have gone out to play since there was no school if we had 4 inches of snow on the ground?

This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 4:01 AM with the headline "Letters to the Editor (Jan. 19)."